Scavenger's Off-the-Charts Stat Panel

That night. West of the Second Ring Road, gunfire and artillery roared without pause. Supported by airstrikes and heavy shelling, mercenaries clashed in savage combat against the swarming mutants. By contrast, the northern sector—which had raged with noise all through the previous night—was dead silent. Separated by more than ten kilometers in a direct line across a forest of concrete and steel, gunfire naturally carried no distance, but the dull thuds of explosions should have been faintly audible. Zhao Yongxu, however, was not the least bit surprised. It would have been a miracle if a bunch of country bumpkins armed with glorified fire pokers could hold their own against the Tide. Last night's battle must have spent every ounce of strength they had. Even if they hadn't drowned under the raging surge, they had almost certainly tucked their tails and run for their lives. Gazing out at the silent northern night sky, a flicker of disdain crossed his eyes. "Fools." If you lacked the strength, you stayed as far away as possible. Charging in was simply asking for trouble, wasn't it? It was common knowledge that the Tide moved toward areas with dense human populations and fewer slime-mold mutants. Population growth or large-scale purges of slime-mold mutants generated "aggro." Of course, it was only natural that those country bumpkins had no clue. Their heads could barely hold half an issue of the "Get Rich Quick" guide from the *Voice of Boulder City*. Most of them couldn't even read, so what could they possibly know? To his eyes, there was no essential difference between those people and the beggars groveling at the gates of Boulder City. They were cut from the exact same cloth. Pulling his gaze back from the north, Zhao Yongxu, standing by the high-rise window, turned his attention east. As an officer of the militia and the frontline commander personally appointed by the city lord, his true duty was to neatly eradicate the Tide that threatened Boulder City's prosperity and stability. Not far off. Two streaks of light cut through the night sky. Four black specks plummeted in rapid succession, and searing flames engulfed an entire street, scorching every speck of dirt down to baked dust. A vacuum was cleared around the entrance to the underground complex, and the mercenaries pressed forward. Between the West Third Ring Road and the West Second Ring Road, two surface-level newborn broodmothers had been pulverized by airstrikes days earlier, but three more lay hidden inside the subterranean commercial complex. Mutations within incubation chambers were random and impossible to predict. Even with carpet sweeps, slipped targets were inevitable. Especially when mutations occurred underground. Linked beneath towering skyscrapers, the subterranean caverns and rail transit lines were a tangled web, intricate as a spiderweb—or rather, a snarled ball of yarn. It was said that in the distant Prosperity Era, people relied on quantum computers just to find the fastest way home. Unfortunately, Boulder City had no quantum computers to ask for directions, nor did it possess strategic ordnance capable of striking tens of meters—let alone a hundred meters—into the earth. Not that it mattered. They had an endless supply of cannon fodder and ample logistics. With indirect and direct fire support, even a rare pair of potent evolved variants stood no chance against them. Optimistically speaking, they could take down one underground broodmother tonight. Pessimistically, it would take two more days at most. Zhao Yongxu waited calmly for good news from the front. Just then, a pilot's voice came through the comms channel. "Airstrike complete. Targets neutralized... Returning to base." "Well done. Head back and get some rest. You're done for the night." The moment the words left his mouth, a sudden thought struck Zhao Yongxu, and he quickly added another instruction. "By the way, take a detour north on your way back." "I want to know the situation around the North Fourth Ring." Whatever happened in the northern suburbs was none of his business. He asked purely out of idle curiosity. The mission pilot gave no thought to his motives, replying with curt efficiency. "Understood." The two aircraft banked across the sky, tracing a wide arc toward the north. Zhao Yongxu waited patiently. Before long, a report crackled through the channel. "Arrived over the North Fourth Ring. No anomalies detected." "Any engagement?" "Negative... Pitch-black down here." It seemed the artillery had ceased, and the gunfire had completely died out as well. Zhao Yongxu chuckled faintly to himself, thinking his assumptions confirmed. Yet right then, after a brief pause, the voice spoke again. "Not just the North Fourth Ring. It's quiet all along the Changling Viaduct, no open fires spotted... However, farther north toward the Fifth Ring, scattered lamplight is visible." Zhao Yongxu froze. Scattered lamplight? The survivors there hadn't fled? Could they have dealt with the Tide... But how could that be possible?! His face contorted in bewilderment, and he pressed urgently, "What about the clock tower on 65th Street? What's the situation there?" Silence hung over the comms channel for a long moment. Then came a firm confirmation. "We're directly over 65th Street now. Heavy fungal plaques observed on the clock tower walls, confirmed as the remains of a broodmother..." "A battle must have erupted here earlier. Looks like it was brutal, bodies everywhere on the ground... But they won." The cigarette slipped between his fingers and fell straight to the floor. Zhao Yongxu's eyes widened in sheer disbelief. "Broodmother remains? Are you sure you didn't mistake it?!" The pilot answered with utter certainty. "...Positive!" Their patrol mission concluded, the aircraft turned back toward base. Staring dumbfounded through the window toward the northern sky, Zhao Yongxu stood silent for an eternity. He couldn't fathom it. Without aerial fire support, how could those people have wiped out swarms of mutants using nothing more than crude shells and iron pipe rifles? After a long, agonizing silence, he finally squeezed out a baffled murmur through his teeth. "...How is that even possible!" *** "Damn, that blast last night sounded like thunder... Does anyone know what the hell happened out there?" "You mean to the south? Heard it too!" "Must be the Tide. Those bluecoats have been fighting that thing for two weeks straight. Heard it's lively as hell on the front line." "The Tide? I've been coming to Qingquan City plenty of times, and this is the first I've ever heard of the Tide pushing north." "Maybe this year is different from the past? After all, it wasn't nearly this lively last year." "Strange. How would the Tide know where more people are?" "Just shows how little you know. My uncle in the Boulder City militia told me that every gnawer you kill out in the wastes comes back looking for you next spring in the form of the Tide." "Cut the crap! If it were really that uncanny, the survivors of Qingquan City would've been wiped out ages ago!" On North Gate Street in Changjiu Farm, inside the roadside inn beside the trading post, the ground floor was alive with the clinking of glasses and rowdy clamor. Whenever dusk fell, this place transformed into a tavern for mercenaries, traveling merchants, and caravan guards. Some drank and tore into meat, some played dice and cards, and others bragged to strangers at neighboring tables about their travels and wild rumors just to earn a free mug of beer. As everyone knew, wherever there was booze, there were stories. Even if most were concocted on the spot, an occasional kernel of valuable intelligence would slip between the drunken embellishments. So whether they had work or not, mercenaries and merchants loved to lounge here and kill time. "My men and I need a room for another night." Approaching the bar, Sun Shiqi roused Old Hook, who was dozing behind the counter. In a place this loud, it was a wonder the man could sleep at all. Opening cloudy eyes, Old Hook lifted his heavy eyelids to glance at the young man, letting out a yawn. "No problem... Why the sudden extra night? I thought you were in a rush to head back and strike it rich?" "Order got delayed. Rotten luck..." Sun Shiqi muttered, taking a stool. "Give me another beer. The kind without watered-down crap." His order wasn't the only one delayed; all arms export orders across Changjiu Farm had been pushed back a day, supposedly because the industrial zone's stockpiles had been rushed to the front line. A young girl named Shuanghe had personally come to the inn to offer her apologies, explaining that the trading post was willing to compensate him ten silver coins for lodging expenses. Sun Shiqi had wanted to complain that an extra day's stay cost far more than a mere ten silver coins—the mercenaries' wages, food, and lodging all came out of his own pocket—but seeing how sincere the girl was, he hadn't made a fuss. Besides, causing a scene wouldn't have helped anyway. There was nothing to be done. With war at the front, no one was going to haul ammunition back from the front line. In some unreasonable survivor settlements, merchants were lucky if their goods weren't seized until next year. A delay of a day or two was hardly the worst outcome. Doing business in the wasteland meant accepting risks. "This isn't Boulder City. We don't sell watered-down swill." Never missing an opportunity to take a jab at his neighbors while making a sale, Old Hook hobbled over to a wooden cask, turned a silver tap, and filled a wooden mug as thick as a man's thigh. He brought it back and set it down with a thud. "Five silver coins." "Put it on my tab." Taking the heavy wooden mug, Sun Shiqi peered inside. Good grief. Whether the beer was watered down or not, foam filled half the cup. He realized now that this inn didn't make its real money off room rentals—it turned its profit on what the patrons consumed. At this rate, a single barrel of beer could probably buy a whole cow. Utterly daylight robbery! "How's the front line holding on the North Ring?" Old Hook answered casually, "It's over." "Over?" Sun Shiqi's face filled with surprise, wondering if his ears were playing tricks on him. "You mean the Tide?" Old Hook retorted, "What else could it be?" Masking his shock, Sun Shiqi offered a wry smile. "I just didn't expect it to end so soon." Normally, the Tide lingered until late March. Yet it wasn't even late February. Deciding not to pry further into the Tide, Sun Shiqi brought the mug to his nose by habit, catching the fragrance of wheat malt. "Brewed it yourselves?" Old Hook replied offhandedly, "Malt and hops from Brown Farm, combined with Shelter 404's special fermentation process. I guarantee you won't find a brew like this in any Boulder City tavern." The spiel came out so smoothly Sun Shiqi wondered if the old man had memorized it by heart. Still, that wasn't what caught his interest. Sun Shiqi pointed at the cask behind him and asked curiously, "How much for that whole barrel?" Old Hook's eyes lit up, his wrinkled face splitting into a broad grin. "Interested? Five hundred silver coins and it's yours." Five hundred?! That cask held fifty liters at most—probably closer to forty. Whether it could even fill a hundred mugs was questionable. Only an idiot would buy it! Sun Shiqi rolled his eyes, took a sip of beer, and let the topic drop. He had made a tidy profit recently, yes. But he was no fool. The smooth taste put him in a better mood. Just as he was about to fish for some commercial leads, the inn's wooden door swung open, and a dust-covered figure strode inside. Old Hook glanced over, asking out of practiced routine, "Food or a room?" "Neither. Looking for someone..." Spotting Sun Shiqi standing by the bar, Zhou Nan's eyes brightened, and he hurried over. "Hey, friend! Just looking for you!" Sun Shiqi recognized him as a guest staying at the inn across the street. When Sun had first arrived at Changjiu Farm, this man had invited him to travel together to Boulder City. "Get him a beer... and two skewers of charcoal-grilled lizard meat. Put it on my tab." "Coming right up." Hook turned toward the kitchen. Taking a stool next to Sun Shiqi, the merchant from the south smiled warmly. "Thanks!" "Don't mention it," Sun Shiqi said, looking at him. "What brought you looking for me?" "I wouldn't bother you over nothing." Grinning, Zhou Nan continued, "Here's the thing: we're planning to set out for Boulder City tomorrow at noon. Have you thought over what I asked you yesterday?" Sun Shiqi made a helpless gesture. "My order got delayed. No telling if it'll be ready tomorrow. Go on ahead without me; looks like I'll have to stay here another day or two." Zhou Nan clicked his tongue. "Ah, that's a shame." Curious, Sun Shiqi asked, "You've gathered enough men already?" Zhou Nan chuckled. "Not quite, but word is the fighting around the North Fourth Ring is completely finished. Those bluecoats wiped out the broodmother. Regardless of whether the Tide has ended elsewhere, it's definitely over in the northern suburbs. Right now is the best window to make for Boulder City! My companions and I went over the map carefully. If we follow the North Fifth Ring west, then cut south, we can make it to Boulder City in complete safety." Sun Shiqi looked at him with envy. "...Mind if I ask what trade you're running?" The goods accessible to most traders were largely the same, so Zhou Nan saw no reason to hide it, speaking animatedly. "Salt and sulfur. Those two sell best down there, especially during the Tide! Oh, and gas masks and devil cloth bought from the trading post." At that, Zhou Nan couldn't help letting out an appreciative sigh. "There are just too many good things here, and dirt cheap! Do you know how much nutrient paste costs around here? Wholesale price is only 299 silver coins a ton!" Two hundred ninety-nine silver coins... Equivalent to one and a half assault rifles? Currencies across the wasteland were a chaotic mess; even the same currency carried vastly different purchasing power depending on the region. Sun Shiqi instinctively ran the conversion in his mind. The moment he realized what that figure meant, shock rippled through him. "Are you sure?! A ton of nutrient paste for the price of two assault rifles?!" In Boulder City, nutrient paste retailed for one to two chips per kilogram, with wholesale running between three hundred and four hundred chips per ton. Converted to Drone assault rifles, that was at least two rifles! And that was assuming the rifles themselves weren't cheap to begin with. Seeing the shock plastered across Sun Shiqi's face, Zhou Nan shot him an odd glance, surprised that anyone could be unaware of this. Remembering that the man had only arrived two days ago, Zhou Nan relaxed and grinned. "Incredible, right? It blew my mind when I first heard it, too! I suspect the nutrient paste produced by that Didiwei Food Processing Plant doesn't even cost two hundred silver coins a ton to make! If I had the capital, I'd build a plant of my own!" Changjiu Farm's bank offered loans, but not just anyone qualified. You had to meet specific criteria. Either you brought technology. Or you brought equipment. Alternatively, you had to have made sufficient "contributions" to the local economy. As a merchant arriving from the south, he had none of the three. Still, that didn't stop him from hauling nutrient paste south to trade for grain or livestock, then driving the livestock back to sell for silver coins. Zhou Nan had spent yesterday studying the market, finding that demand for livestock here was remarkably strong. Selling a single two-headed ox to Changjiu Farm fetched three to four thousand silver coins at minimum! Hauling two or three tons of nutrient paste south and converting it into local currency made it effortless to buy a head or two of two-headed oxen from local farmers and ranchers. Noticing the gleam of temptation in his friend's eyes, Zhou Nan chuckled. "Brother, want to partner up? If we pool our funds, we could start a plant. I've looked into it: gather some secondhand machinery from Boulder City, and two hundred thousand chips would be enough to get the factory running." Sun Shiqi had to admit he was sorely tempted. Yet after wrestling with the idea for a long while, he ultimately shook his head. "...I admit the offer is tempting, but traveling to Jinchuan Province is simply too far. A round trip could easily swallow half a month." The northern suburbs had weapons and grain—precisely what Red River Town lacked—while the latter had the ore and laborers the north desperately needed. Hauling slaves and ore from Red River Town to sell here, then flipping rifles and grain back down south, offered massive profits all the same. There were countless ways to strike it rich, and he couldn't swallow them all alone. Securing the trade route he already had was the true path to wealth! Sun Shiqi had already mapped it out. He planned to save up enough to purchase a few trucks, assemble a convoy, and monopolize the copper ore trade between here and Red River Town. Demand for copper ore was insatiable here, vital for laying power lines and manufacturing ammunition, and the price remained rock-solid, with a far better shipping-to-profit ratio than steel. Once he stacked several hundred thousand silver coins, he would buy a plot on North Street, build a warehouse first, then a flour mill. With luck, he would hit the autumn harvest, milling incoming corn and wheat into flour. Whether he sold it to Red River Town, Boulder City, or Garbage City, he would rake in a fortune. Grain had a modest unit price, but the gross margins were never low. Not everyone wore shoes, but everyone had to eat. Last year had been a harsh winter. This year ought to bring a bumper crop, and grain prices were bound to plummet. As Sun Shiqi indulged in his vision of the future, Zhou Nan felt a pang of regret, but said no more, raising his mug. "A real pity. If we teamed up, we could easily become the biggest grain merchants in all of Qingquan City." "Nothing to regret. Plenty of chances to strike it rich," Sun Shiqi said, clinking his mug against Zhou Nan's with a smile. "May Boss Zhou's business grow bigger and bolder by the day!" "Haha, from your lips to heaven's ears! Cheers to you, brother!" "No, cheers to you!" The two drank until their faces were flushed red, draining mug after mug in high spirits. Behind the bar, Old Hook listened to their grand boasts, a wrinkled grin spread across his face as he chimed in with supportive quips from time to time. No matter how rich they got, the tab for the booze was coming straight to him. He was only too happy to see them drink their fill. In the end, Zhou Nan stumbled out leaning against the wall, while Sun Shiqi slumped over the counter for half the night until the tavern staff carried him up to his room in the early morning hours. Waking the next morning, Sun Shiqi's throbbing, groggy head cleared in an instant at the sight of the bill on the nightstand, his face turning entirely green. "Two hundred twenty silver coins?!" What in the world had he drunk last night?! *** Official Website Forum. Normally, this hour was peak login time for players, and the official site was usually deserted. Today, however, it buzzed with frantic energy. Jieyan: "I can't log in!" I'm the Darkest: "Same here! Weird." Similar posts popped up one after another. Many Level 9 players, upon strapping on their helmets, were shocked to discover that they had shattered their bottleneck! None was more overjoyed than Scavenger. He had been stuck at the Level 9 hurdle for nearly an entire month! Now, he had finally broken through! Scavenger Lv99: "Bwahaha, awakening! I've finally awakened!" Staring at the prompt in the upper right corner of the website, Scavenger wept tears of pure excitement. How long had it been since he first created his character? As one of the early European-luck players to enter the game with a dedicated lucky-draw account, it should have been a glorious ride. Yet he had been slapped right out of the gate with a once-in-a-decade brutal winter. Add in his "harder to gain exp" debuff, and he had only managed to reach Level 10 right as the Alpha test was drawing to a close. Watching his "juniors" awaken one by one, only he knew the bitter grief he had endured. It had been agony! Ye Shi: "Holy shit, Scavenger awakened?!" Mole on the Run from the Canyon: "Shocking! Will he turn into a deathclaw?!" Scavenger Lv99: "How would that be possible? But the power is undeniable. I feel like I could square up against the deathclaw by the west gate! (Grinning)" Fang Chang: "Good brother, show us your stat panel!" Tail: "Hurry up! Let me see! (｀·ω·′)" Urged on by the crowd, Scavenger couldn't resist the urge to show off after all, pasting his attribute panel straight into the thread. [ ID: Scavenger Lv99 Gene Sequence: Mutant · Lizardman Level: LV.9 → LV.10 —Basic Attributes— Strength: 17 → 27 (+10) Agility: 9 → 14 (+5) Constitution: 9 → 14 (+5) Perception: 9 → 11 (+2) Intelligence: 2 → 3 ] [ Talents: Cold Blood (Superior stealth; slowed movement in low-temperature environments) Fused Digits (Superior endurance; difficulty operating complex machinery) Flesh Regeneration (Superior recovery; slower progression through gene sequence levels) Boiling Blood (Temporarily removes the debuffs granted by 'Cold Blood' and grants a 10%–20% boost to Strength and Constitution.) ] The instant the stat panel was posted, the reply section erupted! Tail: "?" Jieyan: "???" Ye Shi: "Holy shit?!" Commander Spring: "Did you turn on a goddamn cheat engine?!" Edge Paddler: "Sweet mother of mercy... These stats are insane!" Lao Bai: "Are you serious with that Strength stat?!" Construction Site Youth and Brick: "Devs, I'm begging you, nerf him already!" Within minutes, screams of "the balance is ruined" and "power scaling has collapsed" flooded the board. These players pulled out all the stops, screaming as if the closed beta server would shut down tomorrow if he didn't take a nerf bat to the face. Naturally, part of it was in jest. For Scavenger Lv99, however, the joke didn't feel very funny. Seeing everyone start tagging the developers, Scavenger panicked and typed frantically. "Screw you guys! I'm an entire size bigger than you anyway, is it so crazy for my stats to be higher?" Cut the Crap: "Way too crazy! High stats are one thing, but showing off in the thread is unforgivable! (Raging)" Makka Pakka: "Exactly! What kind of human does this! (Raging)" Scavenger Lv99: "??? Weren't you bastards the ones who told me to post it?!" You shameless bastards! Just as Scavenger was fighting a war of words against the entire forum, a sudden announcement popped up on the official website, coming to his rescue. The unexpected update drew the attention of active players and lurkers alike. [*Wasteland OL*'s closed beta server will launch its Phase B test in 6 days! A brand-new version awaits our players. Stay tuned!]