Expedition to Red River Town!

Nine o'clock in the morning sharp. The caravan set off on schedule. Black smoke billowed from vertical exhaust pipes as ten tracked trucks loaded to the brim with munitions roared to life in unison, rolling out toward the eastern wasteland. According to plan, after departing Changjiu Farm, the caravan would travel east along the interprovincial highway, pass the abandoned Highway Town and the battery factory, then veer southeast. This routed a V-shaped detour across the map to bypass territory controlled by the Bone Chewer tribe, reaching the area around Trash Town before heading north toward Red River Town. With the trucks packed to capacity with cargo, the escort could only march alongside the vehicles on foot. Not that it made much difference, anyway. Even if there had been space in the cabs, nobody would have wanted to ride. Once off the interprovincial highway and heading east, finding an intact stretch of road was out of the question. Even with the tracked vehicles' formidable off-road capabilities, it was impossible to smooth out the violently uneven terrain. What was worse, every single truck was hauling munitions. The drivers dared not drive recklessly, keeping their rigs crawling along in low gear. Under normal circumstances, the artillery shells were stable enough, but who could guarantee that every brutal jolt fell under normal circumstances? To avoid catastrophic disaster, they had no choice but to exercise the utmost caution. Aside from the punishing bumps on the road, the greatest threats came from the beasts, birds, bugs, and vipers lurking in the forests and mires. Whether hulking yaoguai or multi-legged beasts darting low along the ground, any of them posed a genuine threat to a caravan escort armed primarily with light weapons. Beyond these dangerous species, there were washbasin-sized flies and arm-length mosquitoes. Such mutant creatures might look like minor nuisances, but underestimating them could prove just as fatal. Certain red-headed and green-headed flies had even evolved ranged attacks—spitting thumb-thick white eggs. Teeming with bacteria and parasites, these eggs caused little direct trauma, but if they landed in an open wound, the result ranged from severe infection to maggots festering in the flesh. Left untreated, it could quickly cost someone their life. God only knew how many perils lay hidden across this wasteland. "...Past that snowfield ahead lies a desolate stretch of wilderness," Brother Mole said, walking beside the convoy and peering to the southeast through a pair of binoculars. "It used to be a small town, but the buildings have mostly been reduced to concrete rubble, leaving only a half-collapsed opera house... We ran into a Deathclaw there last time. There were bones on the ground too—couldn't tell if they belonged to marauders or mercenaries." The snow had almost melted away, leaving only a thin crust on the ground. Puddles had formed in numerous hollows, and fresh green sprouts were already poking up through the slush and mud. Life on this planet proved far more resilient than humanity had ever imagined. "Will we run into it?" Elven King Fugui asked, itching for action. "Why would we? We're delivering goods, not hunting," Brother Mole said, lowering his binoculars. "We'll detour around it in a bit. Unless the beast comes looking for us on its own, but the odds of that are tiny." A Deathclaw was considerably smarter than a yaoguai, possessing a far keener instinct for danger than ordinary mutants. Unless someone intruded into its territory, a Deathclaw rarely picked a fight with a large group of people. The odds favored both sides minding their own business. Moreover, within a one-kilometer radius of a Deathclaw nest, one was unlikely to encounter any other highly dangerous predatory mutants. Hearing they wouldn't encounter one, several nearby players looked visibly disappointed. Elaina remarked, "Speaking of which, I've never tasted Deathclaw meat... I mean, not that I'm dying to eat it, just curious what it tastes like." Indebted Big Eye grinned. "Wasteland gourmet confirmed! That's our Old Na!" Elaina replied, "Get lost." Indebted Big Eye gazed up at the drifting clouds in the sky and sighed. "A hundred kilometers... How long is this going to take?" Was there no portal or fast travel? Even a one-click auto-travel would do! Brother Mole checked the map on his VM, thought for a moment, and said, "If we didn't have to take a detour, we'd probably arrive in two or three days. Taking this roundabout way will probably take five or six." Construction Site Youth and Brick protested, "Why don't we just fight our way straight through? I think we totally could!" Indebted Big Eye agreed. "+1. They're just a bunch of losers we already beat anyway." Glancing at the two overconfident players, Edge Paddler couldn't help but chide, "Cut it out. We're here to deliver cargo, not to feed them kills." The enemy didn't just have a single thousand-man unit, but three full regiments, likely numbering five to six thousand in total. Even if five or six thousand chickens were lined up, it would take quite a while to slaughter them all, let alone five to six thousand gun-toting bandits. Having butchered their way down from the center of River Valley Province, these marauders were bound to have Awakened decurions among them, not to mention Legion commanders directing operations. If they showed no obvious openings, the survivors of Red River Town would be hard-pressed to hold their ground. A spark of excitement flashed in Edge Paddler's eyes. An evenly matched war? Nice. Now that's thrilling! Indebted Big Eye and Construction Site Youth and Brick exchanged a look, their expressions suddenly turning strange. "Are you panicking?" "I wasn't before, but now I am." "Wait, if we die and respawn back at base... wouldn't all this walking be for nothing?" "Holy shit! Is it too late to switch teams?" "Why don't you... go ask Brother Mole if their squad has an opening?" Edge Paddler: "???" ... Shortly past noon. Less than four hours after the caravan bound for Red River Town had departed, the caravan returning from Boulder City arrived at the south gate of the outpost. Just returning from a quest, Jieyan caught sight of Kuang Feng and Ye Shi wrapped in bandages, surprise written all over his face. "Holy crap, how did you two get wounded?" Lao Bai smiled. "We got shadowed by marauders on the way back—about twenty of them. Nothing serious, though." Though Lao Bai made it sound trivial, the looks on the faces of the caravan's NPC escorts told a far less relaxed story. The caravan leader named Qian Lai still wore a lingering expression of shock. And the guard beside him bore fresh injuries; Jieyan remembered the man had one arm bandaged before leaving, but now his other arm was wrapped up as well. Jieyan's expression turned quizzical. "Damn, those marauders actually ambushed you?" Fang Chang explained, "It wasn't really an ambush. We spotted them early on, and they clearly knew it, following us the whole way. We were escorting cargo, so we couldn't move fast or shake them off. They probably couldn't gauge our strength and didn't dare get too close, trailing us while waiting for an opening without making a move. "Once we reached the edge of the Fourth Ring Road, they probably figured it was now or never. Unable to hold back any longer, they attacked, and we traded lead in an alleyway." Jieyan asked excitedly, "Awesome! How many did you drop?" "About half. The rest broke and ran mid-fight," Lao Bai said with a smile, nodding toward the rear of the column. "Look, we even took two prisoners." Beside a two-headed ox, two crestfallen men clad in animal skins stood bound by iron chains hitched to the ox. Not far off, another ox bore captured gear: aside from a few pipe rifles that not even total noobs would bother using, the haul surprisingly included two assault rifles and a grenade launcher. Two caravan guards stood watch nearby, keeping an eye on the captives. His shoulder wrapped in bandages, Ye Shi grumbled angrily, "Dammit, I swear the slums are crawling with marauder scouts! The minute I stepped outside, my gut started ringing!" Kuang Feng remarked calmly, "No need to doubt it. If I lived in the slums watching loaded merchants pass by day in and day out, I'd look for a way to take a bite out of them too." Unlike Ye Shi, Kuang Feng had taken a bullet to the thigh, but it was a steel-core round that punched cleanly through, leaving no grave complication. Fang Chang nodded in agreement with his teammates. "Indeed. Those marauders probably came right out of the slums. I'd even wager they marked us the moment we entered the city." Where did the marauders around Qingquan City come from? They certainly hadn't popped out of cracks in the rocks. As the largest survivor settlement in southern River Valley Province, Boulder City drew populations from across the province and even neighboring regions. All those people couldn't squeeze into the city itself; there wasn't enough room to house them, let alone enough jobs. The vast majority could only pitch shacks outside the walls and do the dirty work the inner-city dwellers disdained, coalescing over time into sprawling slums. These massive slums served as a breeding ground for chaos and crime, turning out not just mercenaries, cannon fodder, and scavengers, but marauders as well. Rumor had it that slum gangs even fenced stolen goods for marauders; the black market there offered items rarely seen in the city proper. Keeping an eye on plump sheep that looked ripe for the picking came as second nature to them. Why didn't Boulder City crack down? It was a question with broad vision, but somewhat detached from reality. From Boulder City's perspective, one could easily counter: Why should they? "Regardless, we made it back in one piece," Lao Bai said, turning to Ye Shi. "You and Kuang Feng head back to the shelter to save your progress. His wound isn't bad, but yours will need minor surgery in the infirmary." The incubation pods accelerated healing. For minor cuts and punctures, even an Intelligence-type could heal completely in a few hours—roughly the duration of a standard offline save session. As for severe, non-crippling injuries, they usually took a day or two in the pod. If recovery took more than three days, most players simply saved their data, then finished themselves off to respawn. A single gunshot wound was nothing; the slug just needed to be extracted. At first, Lao Bai had planned to disinfect Ye Shi with alcohol and dig out the bullet himself, mimicking the NPCs. Unfortunately, the round was wedged right in the subscapular joint. Lao Bai had tugged at it with tweezers, but it wouldn't budge. Not daring to pull too hard and turn a small issue into a major injury, he had bandaged it up instead. The uninitiated NPCs had been utterly shocked by the pair's antics. Small wonder. One guy was digging around inside an open wound with tweezers while the other impatiently urged him to hurry up—all without a drop of anesthetic. Such sheer hardcore stoicism was outrageous even for an Awakened. To this moment, several caravan guards still looked at the two with undisguised admiration. Ye Shi nodded. "Got it. What about you and Fang Chang?" Lao Bai grinned. "We need to deliver the items everyone ordered, and then we have to turn in our quest to the warehouse manager." Thanks to Tengteng's handicrafts selling like hotcakes in Boulder City, their journey had not been in vain; in fact, they had turned a massive profit. After conferring, instead of spending the two thousand chips they earned on an exoskeleton, they bought a secondhand hydraulic crusher at the auction house. The machine could process raw cement aggregate as well as crush discarded concrete rubble. Ordering a new one from a factory would cost at least five thousand chips, so snagging it for two thousand was an absolute steal. Even though the base had a magnetically confined plasma cutter capable of producing precision instruments, the inert gas working medium and fusion power cells were expensive, leaving heavy equipment still scarce at the outpost. Converting chips into consumer goods to sell to other players was a one-off transaction that yielded a modest markup at best; bringing back production machinery meant a steady stream of passive income! With the outpost's demand for construction materials skyrocketing, what constituted the meta choice was self-evident. After talking it over, the Ox and Horse Squad immediately decided to add a cement production line to their existing brick line, manufacturing recycled cement bricks from concrete debris. Word had it that Boulder City's cement plants sourced their raw materials entirely from concrete rubble scattered across the wasteland, having perfected the art of recycling construction debris. Next time they visited Boulder City, Lao Bai planned to scout the talent market for a bargain hire skilled in aggregate recycling technology. Supposedly, players could now commission recruitments through the administration office—applying with Luka or the warehouse manager—and pay the hired help in silver coins, which made the whole process remarkably convenient. Besides the gear they bought for themselves, they had about two thousand chips belonging to other players. Part of that sum had been spent on requested goods, while the rest was returned as change. Take rich girl Tengteng's share, for instance. It consisted of a 220-kilogram sewing machine complete with its own power box and smart modules, plus 21 chips in change. "Delivering to Tengteng's Cabin?" Ye Shi's eyes lit up, and he chuckled. "Count me in! I'll help carry it." "Help my ass," Kuang Feng said, rolling his eyes. "Look at your shoulder—it's swollen like a balloon." Ye Shi shot back, "Screw off! It's just a game, who cares? It doesn't hurt anyway!" While they were talking, Tengteng arrived at the south gate. Seeing the caravan parked at the unloading zone, she was about to step forward to ask if her order had arrived when she noticed the bandages wrapped around Kuang Feng and Ye Shi. She asked softly, "Are you guys okay?" Before Kuang Feng could speak, Ye Shi wailed, "Waaaah, not okay at all! I took a bullet to the shoulder, it hurts like hell!" Tengteng gasped, "Ah?! Th-then hurry to the infirmary..." "Cut it out and quit the damn act," Lao Bai said, rolling his eyes at Ye Shi. Turning to the flustered Tengteng, he pulled 21 chips from his pocket and held them out. "Your machine is loaded on the two-headed ox. It's over two hundred kilos, so you won't be able to carry it. We'll haul it over to your place in a bit." "Thank you! That's a huge help!" Tengteng nodded gratefully, but felt embarrassed to take the chips. Glancing at Kuang Feng and Ye Shi, she whispered, "Keep the remaining chips... as medical expenses." "Take them," Lao Bai insisted, pressing them into her palm with a hearty laugh. "Don't listen to that idiot whining. Injuries in this game don't hurt at all. Besides, we should be thanking you. If not for your art pieces, we never could have afforded that massive beast back there." "But..." "We already received our agreed-upon fee. What's fair is fair," Lao Bai said, shaking his head. "We don't pull sleazy stunts like tacking on extra charges." Seeing his resolve, Tengteng stopped insisting. Whispering a quiet "thank you," she accepted the 21 chips. However... With Lao Bai hogging all the limelight, Ye Shi felt thoroughly aggrieved. "Damn it! What do you mean 'doesn't hurt at all'?! There's at least a little sensation, okay?!" Kuang Feng chimed in deadpan from behind, "Objection. Only Ye Shi was faking his agony. I never made a peep." Lao Bai gave an awkward grin and scratched the back of his head. "Uh, well... I didn't pay close attention. It was mainly Ye Shi's over-the-top acting. I'm just too upright a guy to watch him mess with a sweet young girl." Ye Shi barked, "Piss off! You just wanted to look cool! Bah!" Kuang Feng: "+1." Lao Bai: "???" Watching the trio bicker, Tengteng felt her cheeks warm slightly. For some reason... They seemed so close. I ship them so hard! Oblivious to Tengteng's blushing reverie, Fang Chang noticed she had changed into a lightweight suit of leather armor and asked curiously, "Are you heading out?" Snapping out of her wild imagination with a startled squeak, Tengteng nodded, blushing shyly. "Mm, I'm planning to visit Boulder City!" "A quest?" "Sort of, but mostly to do market research!" Her eyes sparkled with excitement as she continued, "Boulder City's cultural flair and clothing styles are totally unlike any country in the real world. Photos can't capture the essence, so I want to see it with my own eyes!" Fang Chang nodded in agreement. "True. Guides can only cover so much; reading walkthroughs is never the same as experiencing it yourself... But how do you plan on getting there?" The road to Boulder City was perilous. On their way back just now, aside from the marauders, they had been ambushed by a pack of burrowers lurking in the sewers. While they hadn't wiped, it had still been a tough scrap. Before Tengteng could reply, an agile figure sprang out from behind her. "Mercenary Tail is here!" Clad in a flak jacket and steel helmet, Sisi walked up beside her, nudging up the rim of the helmet covering her eyes. "Oh! Sisi is here too!" Seeing how pumped the pair was, Fang Chang was taken aback. "Are you two going for market research as well?" "That's right! Tail wants to be a mercenary!" At that, Tail sighed with precocious world-weariness, shaking her head. "Damn it, it's all Spring Water's fault for being useless—wasting all his luck on the lottery! We didn't get picked for Red River Town! So mad!" Sisi glanced at her. "Looking at it another way, could it be because we dragged down the squad's rating?" Tail immediately shot back, "No way! Tail is an Awakened too, okay?!" The two had awakened half a month ago. Having played the game for some time, their progression pace was respectable, their combat prowess wasn't weak, and with a bit of effort, they were solid Tier 2 contenders. However... Fang Chang shifted his gaze to the cat-eared girl standing nearby. She had to be a newbie, right? "You too?" The cat ears atop her head twitched slightly. Feeling his gaze on her ears, Aoao Sesame Paste nodded shyly. "I... I haven't awakened yet... I'm still a little short." "I didn't mean that. Awakening isn't really the issue. I mean, do you plan on traveling with them?" Fang Chang offered a kind warning. "The road to Boulder City is quite dangerous. Just look over there—those two idiots are level ten-plus, and they still ended up getting hurt." Aoao Sesame Paste nodded vigorously. "It's fine! I-I've been on a battlefield before!" Even if she had only logged off to deliver a message, it had been a pivotal contribution! At the very least, she was confident she wouldn't panic. Seeing the resolve in her eyes, Fang Chang smiled and nodded appreciatively. "Mm! Good, that's the spirit! Go for it, girl!" It was a game, after all. Having fun was what mattered; there was no need to overthink it. Even if she died, it just meant spectating on the forum for three days—no big deal. Everyone started out as a rookie. Besides, the Administrator never said rookies couldn't take on quests, did he? As long as they had the resolve, anyone could contribute to the grand cause of reviving the Human Alliance. "Hold on, Tengteng, are you really sure having just these bodyguards is enough?" Ye Shi asked anxiously. "How about I tag along too? I can at least serve as a scout." Tengteng waved her hands in refusal. "No, no need to go to such trouble. You should focus on nursing your injury. We have a Perception-type in our team." Just as Ye Shi was about to ask who, a muffled yet sharp voice accompanied by the heavy clanking of steel echoed from the side: "That's right!!" Everyone turned to look. A walking "tin can" clad from head to toe in steel plating was striding over with booming steps. "Heh heh! Level 12 Perception-type, Awakened Yaya reporting for duty! With this loadout, who dares say I only know how to pick mushrooms?! Huh?" The four members of the Ox and Horse Squad stared in utter bewilderment. Even the caravan guards and outpost sentries nearby gaped in shock at her absurd appearance. This plate armor... It had to weigh at least three hundred kilograms, right? Tail's eyes sparkled. "Whoa! So cool!! Si, we win!" Sisi blinked, fell silent for a moment, and muttered in a voice only she could hear, "...Recovering her VM is going to be such a pain." Lao Bai gulped and asked gingerly, "Is that... a KV-1? Or a Miner Type I?" Looking at it from the outside, it was impossible to tell! "KV-1!" Pushing out her angular chest plate, Yaya boasted proudly, "Forging this plate armor cost me a ton of silver coins! Well? Impressive, isn't it?" Lao Bai's expression turned complicated, too polite to burst her bubble. Fang Chang cleared his throat and said, "Let me guess: Mosquito. Only that idiot would make something like this. By the way, didn't he warn you... about the battery life?" Yaya blinked. "Battery life? What's that?" Fang Chang: "..." Lao Bai: "..." Kuang Feng: "..." Ye Shi blurted out in frustration, "The power! Have you ever driven an EV? An unarmored KV-1 exoskeleton only has enough battery for about a day! You slapped three hundred kilos of dead weight on it! Will your battery even last until the afternoon?" Truth be told, this turtle shell was even more absurdly defensive than the one the Administrator used to wear! Did these people not use their brains when playing games? Why the hell would you copy an NPC?! "No problem! I'm fully charged!" Yaya declared with supreme confidence. "It's only twenty kilometers! It can definitely handle that distance!" "I wouldn't be so optimistic about those twenty kilometers," Fang Chang said tactfully. "Twenty kilometers is the straight-line distance. The actual route can't even be measured directly." Lao Bai nodded in agreement. "He's right. It's not like you can fly there. To me, the march to Boulder City felt no shorter than the trek to Yuanxi Town. You'll see what I mean." "Huh?!" Yaya froze, her confidence wavering as she asked in a small voice, "Is it really that far?" "Yeah," Lao Bai nodded quietly. "That's why I didn't even wear an exoskeleton." Yaya panicked. "Th-then what should I do?" Lao Bai said, "If you were a Strength-type, marching in three-hundred-kilo heavy armor wouldn't be an issue, since most of the weight rests on the exoskeleton frame, and you could just flip the power on when you need mobility. For other branches... I don't know, but I definitely wouldn't recommend it." Tail looked at her. "How about letting Si wear it? She's a Constitution-type!" Sisi gave her a sidelong glance. "There's no way I'm wearing something like that." It was too late to modify the gear on short notice. After unloading the locomobile, the caravan at the gate would depart again in two hours at the latest. However... Yaya hadn't given up. Everyone agreed that taking it to Boss Xia might salvage the situation. Watching the group head back into the base, Ye Shi couldn't help but look at Lao Bai. "Will they be all right?" Lao Bai stayed silent for a second, then shrugged. "Beats me." Ye Shi hesitated. "Should I... tag along after all?" Kuang Feng shot him a look. "You're not their dad. Why stick your nose into everything?" "But—" Fang Chang patted Ye Shi's shoulder. "Don't worry too much. Three Awakened players—it shouldn't be an issue." Even if it was an issue, it didn't matter. Just three days. As that hand brushed against the bandages on his shoulder, Ye Shi shuddered violently. "Fuck! Don't touch it! My arm is swollen as hell!" Lao Bai rolled his eyes. "Then why the fuck haven't you gone for surgery yet?" "Keep stalling until your arm is ruined, and we'll have to put you down ourselves!"