"Hmm... mm-hmm-mm..."
At the entrance of Highway Town.
Cradling her rifle, Tail leaned against a rust-mottled highway sign, leisurely humming a tune Sisi had never heard before.
It actually sounded quite nice.
"What are you humming, Ah-Tail?"
Seeing Sisi look over, the corners of Tail's mouth curved upward as she said smugly, "A song I heard on the radio!"
"The radio?" Sisi was taken aback.
*What kind of ancient setting is that?*
Tail's eyes sparkled. "There's a radio in the first-floor reception room of the sanatorium! At night it broadcasts weird things I can't understand, but in the afternoon it loops several tracks. It's suspected to be the game's built-in OST! I observed it for a whole day! Ah, I can't believe Sisi didn't notice this easter egg!"
*Why would I pay attention to something so boring?*
Sisi looked helplessly at the clouds drifting slowly across the sky and sighed softly. "Speaking of which, is it really okay for us to slack off like this every time?"
Tail cast an indignant glance at Sisi. "What do you mean slack off! Hasn't Tail been working hard?!"
Sisi reminded her, "I heard that getting distracted while on guard duty is a death flag."
Tail replied nonchalantly, "No fear! Tail is an Agility-type! As long as Tail is fast enough, death will always be one step behind!"
Sisi: "..."
The squad they were currently part of was situated along an interprovincial highway leading east.
The highway sat on elevated terrain with gentle slopes running downward on both sides. Because it was an interprovincial route, buildings were rarely seen nearby. Beyond the guardrails stretched stands of pines and cypresses, dotted with dead branches, fallen leaves, and shrubs scattered through the woods.
The survivor outpost was called Highway Town. As the name suggested, it was a settlement built right on top of the highway. Its only landmark was likely the roughly three-story-tall highway signboard Tail was leaning against, which was probably how the settlement had gotten its name in the first place.
The survivors here had used materials salvaged from scrap cars and lumber felled from the trees to build a long, narrow settlement along the road.
Doing this had its perks: in rainy weather, they never had to worry about their houses being flooded, and when packs of wolves or hyenas roamed past, they wouldn't dare recklessly charge up the slopes from either side to attack the residents above.
The architectural style here was quite wild, matching the temper of the local inhabitants.
They rarely grew crops, primarily raising goats that stood as tall as horses. If one had to find the sole difference between them and nomads, it was that they didn't easily relocate, and occasionally planted cash crops like Cam trees, selling the harvested rubber and oil-bearing Cam fruits to passing merchants.
Truth be told, Sisi truly admired the operators of *Wasteland OL* for designing every single survivor settlement with such distinct flair. Moreover, these unique styles weren't merely reflected in the models and textures, but penetrated deep into their core.
These survivors possessed their own unique cultures and customs, holding moral codes, worldviews, and faiths distinctly different from others.
Such meticulous detail wasn't just reflected on a collective level; it was precisely tailored to every single individual in the group.
Even as they stood guard, a child bundled in fur clothes stood beneath a small sapling, seemingly bidding farewell to something. A man and a woman with packed knapsacks slung over their backs stood by their doorstep, staring at their newly repaired home with faces full of sorrow.
Not far off, an elderly man in his fifties was arguing fiercely with a scar-faced man, desperate to take with them the Cam trees wrapped in hemp rope and plastic sheeting from the plots.
They felt just like living, breathing people.
Not only did they possess lives of their own, but the trajectories of those lives were swayed by countless variables, branching out into a tree of endless possibilities rather than a straightforward, predictable one-way street.
This was vastly superior to any sandbox game she had ever played.
It was even more impressive than reality itself!
She almost felt like setting out right now, packing her bags to travel the world.
*Then again...*
*Doesn't this count as me slacking off too?*
Sisi glanced sideways involuntarily and realized that no one was paying attention to them at all.
Perhaps the other squad members hadn't expected much from them to begin with. I'm the Darkest and another Perception-type teammate had voluntarily headed out for physical reconnaissance.
Brother Battlefield, rifle propped on his shoulder, was restlessly wandering about in the distance looking for a fight. Unfortunately, the weather was simply too cold; he couldn't even find a stray mutant hyena.
Sporting the server's only "orange" exoskeleton, Captain Spring remained anchored in the most secure spot, orchestrating commands and ultra-cautiously assigning specific tasks to every teammate—including Brother Battlefield and I'm the Darkest, who were serving as bait out in the open.
All in all, this squad was fairly reliable—at least far more reliable than Edge Slacker's squad, Midnight Chicken Slaughterer's squad of death, or the Psycho squad.
It made Sisi frequently wonder what purpose she and Tail served by just standing here.
Glancing at the time on her VM screen, Tail stretched and yawned. "Sisi, looks like there won't be any fighting today. We'll have to wait until tomorrow to show off our skills."
"Ah-Tail, please remember that you're actually a girl—"
A sudden loud detonation in the distance cut short Sisi's teasing retort.
Both of them snapped their heads toward the sound of the explosion, instinctively tightening their grips on their weapons.
"Enemies?!" Tail perked up instantly, her eyes glowing.
Sisi glanced at the map and pondered for a moment before speaking. "No... that sound seems pretty far away. It's probably another squad."
Just then, Brother Battlefield's distant curses drifted over, validating her guess.
"Fuck! Why wasn't it us triggering the event?! Zero stars!"
Unlike the disappointed players, the survivors of Highway Town were visibly terrified by the explosion. Halting their work one after another, they turned toward the northeast with looks of panic and suspicion.
"What happened?"
"That sound..."
"Did something blow up?"
"Could it be the Bone Chewers?!"
"Those damned marauders! If I catch them, I'm twisting their heads clean off!"
The crowd buzzed with uneasy murmurs.
Standing in the Cam tree grove, Night Owl furrowed his brows, the burn scars on his face bunching together. His hand instinctively rested on his waist, only to withdraw a moment later.
That noise had originated at least four kilometers away. With vast ruins and wasteland lying in between, it would take some time for anyone to reach this place.
The old man who had been fiercely arguing with him a moment earlier also fixed a sharp gaze toward the northeast, murmuring under his breath, "It's coming from the Battery Factory."
His name was Hook, fifty-six years old this year. In his youth, he had been an agile hunter until a bullet took out his knee, turning him into Old Hook the Cam farmer.
Though he wasn't an Awakened, surviving to his age meant his wealth of experience was by no means inferior to genetic strength.
Looking at him, Night Owl asked with a grim expression, "Those blacksmiths?"
Hook closed his eyes and gave a slight nod. "Most likely... Listen closely. There's gunfire, and a lot of it."
Night Owl held his breath and listened intently for a while, his brow furrowing deep into a scowl. "At least forty people."
"Double that, at least."
Glancing at the two whole mu of trees, the old man finally let out a defeated sigh, shaking his head in quiet regret. "Go find your father. We need to move even faster!"
***
Outside the western gate of the outpost, not far from the guard team's shooting range, stood a red-brick building with only a single barred iron window facing the outpost.
This was the outpost's prison. Currently, several captives recently transferred from Changjiu Farm were locked inside.
Aside from them, a rather peculiar "prisoner" was also held there.
Inside a wooden shed, a four-meter-long Deathclaw lay curled in a corner.
Bound in iron chains and ropes braided from devil silk, its amber pupils gleamed with a dangerous light as it glared at the figures by the entrance.
Under that beast's gaze, Xia Yan instinctively took a step back, nervously gripping the Scythe assault rifle in her hands.
This thing was far more dangerous than a Crawler!
"Why... why did you bring this monster so close to our doorstep?"
Standing beside her, Chu Guang replied without hesitation, "For research, of course."
He was clad in power armor, with carbon-nanotube body armor beneath it that he had acquired from the very start, and a Nitrogen Power Hammer strapped to his back. He was armed to the teeth.
Never mind a mere Deathclaw—even if a split-claw crab empress were standing before him, he was confident he could withdraw unscathed.
"By the way, you really didn't need to come along."
"What kind of stupid talk is that? With something this dangerous, how could I let you come alone?"
Chu Guang gave the tense Boss Xia an amused look, wondering when exactly this woman had become so brave.
Was it because of that new prosthetic leg?
*Looks like the money was well spent.*
"Unbelievable... this is simply magnificent!"
Murmuring to herself, Heya stepped forward with a fanatical look on her face, prompting Chu Guang to quickly yank her back.
"Have you lost your mind?"
*That's my SSSR card!*
*No, that's the players' SSSR card!*
"Lost my mind? No, the world has lost its mind! I have never seen such a breathtaking organism!"
Staring rapturously at the giant reptile, Heya continued, "I've examined its DNA. It undeniably belongs to Chordata, Reptilia, Squamata! Yet its body has evolved an internal thermoregulation mechanism capable of maintaining a high metabolic rate throughout the winter, just like a mammal. As long as it wants to, it doesn't even need to hibernate in the cold!"
"Even tegu lizards can only maintain a constant body temperature for brief periods during their breeding season... Could this really just be radiation-induced mutation?"
Chu Guang had no answer for that. After all, he had been in this world for less than a year, and this terrifying monster was a first for him as well.
Standing nearby, Yin Fang's eyes also reflected profound disbelief.
However, his focus differed from Heya's. His gaze was fixed squarely on the pitch-black device fastened around the Deathclaw's neck.
It looked like an oversized ring!
"It truly is absurd... Can the device attached to the back of its skull really establish a neural link with human thoughts?"
"The interrogation results claim so. Want to give it a try?"
With that, Chu Guang took out a device resembling a headset with a microphone and tossed it into Yin Fang's hands.
Yin Fang caught it, inspected it for a moment, and intuitively slipped it over his head.
Power on.
Dial cranked to the maximum!
A faint electrical hum buzzed, like a jolt passing straight through his brain.
Other than that, there seemed to be no other sensation.
"How does this thing—hiss, ah!"
A sharp pang of pain surged from deep within his mind, making Yin Fang let out a wince as he instinctively pressed a hand to his temple.
Fortunately, the pain passed as quickly as it had arrived. Once he grew accustomed to the prickling sensation, he lowered his hand.
Seeing Yin Fang recover, Chu Guang, who had already tested it once before, said, "You can try giving that beast an order... for example, command it to stand up."
Adjusting the mic near the corner of his mouth, Yin Fang took a deep breath, glared at the Deathclaw, and commanded, "Stand up!"
Its body shuddered violently. Though fighting against the command, the Deathclaw dragged its scarred frame and slowly rose from the ground.
*Holy shit?*
*It actually works?!*
Yin Fang was stunned, entirely forgetting his headache. He barked another order into the microphone, "Lie down!"
The Deathclaw obediently collapsed back onto the ground.
His expression shifted to utter amazement, as if he had just discovered a new continent. Excitedly, he rattled off more orders.
"Stand up!"
"Hop on one foot!"
"Draw a circle on the ground with your tail! Tsk, that doesn't work? Then bark like a dog!"
"..."
Subjected to this relentless torment, a look of agony surfaced on the Deathclaw's face. Its internal neurons fired wildly, and its brainwaves grew chaotic.
Chu Guang could clearly tell that if it weren't for the heavy iron chains restraining it, this beast would have undoubtedly torn the man apart with a single swipe of its claws!
Yet Yin Fang couldn't care less.
He only wanted to find the device's limits.
Having exhausted nearly every plausible command he could think of, Yin Fang was just pondering what else to test when a sudden wave of dizziness struck his head, his shoulders swaying as he fell backward.
With a gentle push of his left hand, Chu Guang caught the falling Doctor Yin, using his other hand to pull the headset off his head.
"It's best not to use this thing continuously... It doesn't just place a mental strain on the controlled subject, but on the operator as well."
Chu Guang had tested it once earlier.
Rather than mind control, the device operated more like a form of "hypnosis."
It couldn't directly manipulate the subject's movements; instead, by exerting psychological pressure through mental suggestion, it compelled the collared mutant to carry out a few simple commands.
Such as preying.
Or advancing, retreating, or running in a certain direction.
Hopping on one leg was barely feasible, but drawing a circle with its tail or barking like a dog was completely out of the question.
The device could not make the subject perform actions beyond its cognitive scope, unless it had actively done something similar at some point in its life.
Even so, while impressive, it was far inferior to the "morphogenetic field" housed within his shelter.
Players hailing from an "alternate world" could directly possess cloned bodies with their souls. Wasn't that vastly superior to some indirect psychological coercion and master-slave conditioning?
As long as the clone didn't die, the player could fight endlessly.
Unlike this beast.
Break the collar around its neck, and it would likely go berserk on the spot.
"Sorry, I got a bit carried away. I've never seen technology like this..." Yin Fang shook his head, regaining his balance.
Chu Guang asked thoughtfully, "A technology unknown even to the Academy?"
Yin Fang said helplessly, "The Academy isn't omniscient. There are things we know very little about, or don't understand at all."
Pausing, he continued, "I believe I mentioned this to you before. To facilitate the rebuilding effort, we classify technologies into seven tiers—F, E, D, C, B, A, and S—based on the difficulty of reconstruction, allocating personnel and budget accordingly."
Chu Guang nodded. "You did mention it once."
Yin Fang continued, "In reality, beyond the seven widely known tiers, there is an eighth tier outside the system—we call it the Singularity."
"Singularity?" Chu Guang frowned. "What does that mean?"
Yin Fang explained, "It represents the absolute frontier, a blank slate reserved for the future. These technologies are like singularities in calculus, non-analytic points in complex analysis, isolated islands beyond the set... They are the bottlenecks standing between us and the future."
"For example, neutrino channels, which you've probably never even heard of, or the mutants that plague the wasteland... Both are Singularities. Though immature, they carry extraordinarily enticing prospects. Once completed, they are virtually guaranteed to ignite a technological revolution. The former corresponds to faster-than-light travel, allowing us to reach distant galaxies faster and cheaper, while the latter corresponds to super-lifeforms with universal environmental adaptability."
With that, Yin Fang shrugged.
"Of course, the technological revolution I'm talking about assumes an intact society. What we need right now clearly isn't radical innovation, but renaissance. Therefore... the Academy doesn't know much about Singularities either. We've only selectively retained a few projects worth pursuing, while the core focus of recovery work remains centered on mature technologies within the established system."
Isolated entities outside the system; "future technologies" that hadn't even been completed before the war.
To make an imperfect analogy, were they something like forbidden magic in a fantasy setting?
Chu Guang could only rationalize it that way.
"I'm suddenly curious—do the Legion's clones count as a Singularity?"
To Chu Guang's surprise, Yin Fang gave an immediate nod.
"Yes, but only halfway. The full name of the project is 'Full Lifecycle Regulation Technology.' If completed, we could theoretically shorten or prolong any stage of any lifeform's lifecycle, achieving true mastery over evolution."
"As long as you wished, you could remain a child for a lifetime, or stay an adult forever, attaining genetic immortality. Our species would completely break free from primitive r-selection and K-selection strategies, no longer bound by natural selection, but defining ourselves by our own will."
Standing nearby, Heya was utterly stunned.
"Is such a thing even possible?"
"Who knows?" Yin Fang shrugged. "Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Only the future holds answers about the future."
Yin Fang and Heya immediately dove into an academic dispute over whether such a feat could be realized. Heya was clearly skeptical, insisting she had never heard of anything of the sort.
Yin Fang merely curled his lip at her certainty.
"So young... Didn't your mentor ever teach you not to jump to conclusions about the unknown?"
Hearing Yin Fang drag her mentor into the debate, Heya bristled instantly.
Xia Yan, meanwhile, was utterly lost, unable to remember at which point the conversation had flown completely over her head.
Chu Guang, however, sank into thought.
He was suddenly reminded of that audio recording, of the words describing the "morphogenetic field."
Organizing his thoughts for a moment, Chu Guang interrupted their bickering. "What if there were a technology capable of establishing a strong correlation between consciousnesses in two different dimensions, transmitting information across the boundaries of space and time?"
"What kind of nonsense is that? Magic?" In the heat of the argument, Yin Fang blurted out without thinking, his tone dripping with ridicule.
Yet, perhaps remembering that this man was not someone to be trifled with, he shut his mouth the very next instant.
Chu Guang didn't take offense, however.
Because he felt the exact same way.
Something unheard of—it sounded like nothing short of a miracle.
Still, observing Yin Fang's reaction, Chu Guang understood the gist of it.
The technology hidden within Shelter 404 had clearly surpassed the Academy's comprehension, meaning it couldn't possibly fall within the F-to-S classification system.
Without a doubt, it had reached the realm of a "Singularity"!
And it was seemingly already mature...
Just as Chu Guang was about to discuss the Church of the Torch with Heya, Xiao Qi's voice suddenly chimed across the communication channel.
"Master, something happened to your players!"
Hearing this, Chu Guang paused slightly. Without time to ask for details, he snapped his helmet's visor shut and tapped his index finger in the air before his tactical visor, switching to the map interface.
Seeing Chu Guang's abrupt actions, Xia Yan sensed something was amiss and quickly whispered, "What happened?"
Staring at the map, Chu Guang furrowed his brows and said in a heavy voice, "We have a situation."
Almost the moment the words left his mouth, a guard came jogging over from the distance.
Halting before Chu Guang, he snapped a crisp salute and reported solemnly, "Lord Administrator! The squad you dispatched to the Battery Factory to cover the evacuation of the local survivors has been ambushed by marauders!"
"Understood. I've already dispatched reinforcements."
Chu Guang looked up toward the sanatorium, watching a reserve Hummingbird drone shoot into the sky and swiftly vanish toward the northeast.
Just moments ago, he had already mobilized nearby squads conducting operations to move in as reinforcements, issuing a defense order to the players on the front line.
Before backup arrived, they had to hold the line at all costs!
*Hold on, you guys!*
Chapter 207