Expansion Pack Launch! Target: Xizhou!

Tong Lu felt that Lord Lion Fang was deliberately making life difficult for him. It was true that he had been born beside a furnace, but whether that furnace had actually been made of copper, he couldn't say for sure. Like many tribals who had no idea who their parents were, an elder in the tribe had simply grabbed the first word that caught his eye and slapped it onto him. From then on, Tong Lu—Copper Furnace—was his name. Still, an order from Lord Lion Fang was an order. Not daring to drag his feet, he stepped down, gathered his brothers immediately, returned to their quarters to grab their gear, and shouldered their rifles and shotguns as they passed the checkpoint and headed into the forest south of Qingshi County. A squad of ten men. Heading out with their boss got all the marauders excited. Ever since that retreat, they had been stuck here digging trenches and building huts, or watching slaves dig trenches and build huts. Their bones were rusting from sheer boredom. "Boss, where are we headed?" "South!" A dark-faced brute exclaimed in excitement, "Are we finally heading south?" Tong Lu glared at him. "Are you an idiot? With just the few of us going over there, what's the difference between that and finding a utility pole to hang ourselves from?" The marauders thought that made sense and exchanged nodding glances. The counselor had said that meticulous planning was required before any operation. The fate of acting without a plan was the guy next door, Black Snake, whose corpse had hung on the gallows for a full month until spring came and it started rotting before anyone took it down—and even then, nobody knew where it was thrown. "South! Those blue moles found a copper mine. We can't let them dig up ore right under our noses. Lord Lion Fang wants to teach them a lesson, but first, we have to help him find out where that copper mine is!" Tong Lu halted and turned around to look across his men. "Do any of you know what a copper mine looks like? Anything distinctive, any shape... or whatever else? I need a clue." The marauders stared at one another blankly. Tong Lu's face fell with disappointment. These useless bastards were just as dumb as he had expected. Just then, though, one fellow raised a hand. "I think I remember something! Back at a town we raided before, they laid two steel rails across the mountain... and put carts on the steel rails." "I remember that too! I think they called it tracks!" "Good!" Tong Lu nodded with satisfaction and tossed the monocular spyglass hanging at his waist to the knowledgeable fellow. "In a bit, we're heading up the mountain! You take this and look!" Though Tong Lu looked rough and burly, he was actually quite cautious. Not daring to get too close to the vault dwellers' outposts, he led his brothers north of Yuanxi Town and then swung east along more than twenty li of mountain paths. Finding a ridge that offered a decent vantage point, he finally led his men creeping up. Fortunately, there were no outposts from Yuanxi Town here. The blue jackets probably figured this spot was too far out and resupplying it would be too troublesome. The marauder, skinny as a monkey, lay prone on the high ground. After scanning the area around Yuanxi Town through the spyglass, he suddenly let out a sharp cry. "I see it! I see it!" Tong Lu hurried over and asked, "What do you see?" The marauder exclaimed with excitement, "A railroad! Those blue moles built a railroad in the town!" Surprise and delight surged in Tong Lu's chest. He stepped forward quickly, snatched the spyglass, and looked in the direction his lackey was pointing. Sure enough, south of the small town, he spotted two iron rails. The rails emerged from the edge of the forest and ran straight into the town, pointing directly toward the town center. Though he couldn't see where the copper mine itself was, those two rails were unmistakable! Just to be safe, Tong Lu passed the spyglass around to the others next to him, letting his lackeys take turns looking. After looking through the glass, the marauders all agreed that they had seen similar things in towns they had raided in the past. Seeing his subordinates' solemn, dead-certain expressions, Tong Lu's heart sank slightly. Those blue jackets really were mining in Yuanxi Town! This news had to be reported to the chiliarch at once! "Fall back!" Tong Lu waved his arm and quickly led his lackeys down off the ridge. *** "...They really found a copper mine?" Inside the Qingshi County Department Store. After listening to his subordinate's report, Lion Fang gripped the armrests of his chair and sat up straight, his eyes filled with shock and delight. Facing the chiliarch's question, Tong Lu swore on his life. "No mistake! Several of my boys have seen it before. They took a look and said what those blue jackets built is identical to what they saw in towns we hit in the past!" Standing beside Lion Fang, Bernie knitted his brows, fixing his gaze on Tong Lu as he pressed, "Where is the copper mine? Has the location been confirmed?" Compared to whether it existed at all, this was what he cared about more. Tong Lu replied, "It should be inside the town... People were hunting in that forest, with gunshots going off every now and then. We couldn't get too close, so we couldn't make out the exact spot." *Inside the town?* *Something's not right.* Bernie was baffled. He stared at the scout and asked repeatedly, "Are you sure you didn't mistake it? That's a copper mine?" Tong Lu looked thoroughly annoyed. *Why does this counselor have so much damn fuss!* A few months ago, everyone had respected this guy quite a bit; after all, the chieftain had said these people could help them win battles. Yet months had passed, and forget winning battles—they hadn't even seen a hair of those blue jackets, just digging pits day in and day out. And after digging all over Yuanxi Town, they had scuttled back to Qingshi County to dig more. What was the use of this stuff? In the end, killing people still came down to guns. Tong Lu thought about it for a long time and could only reach one conclusion. Cowardly! This counselor was simply too cowardly! No wonder the Legion had suffered a defeat in the north. Word was that over a million men had been wiped out. If Tong Lu had been in command, a few million men charging together would have drowned the Great Rift Valley in spit, even if it had three heads and six arms. "I definitely didn't see wrong. How could I make a mistake looking through a spyglass? If you don't believe me, come along with me, or I can call my boys in and you can interrogate them one by one." Just as Bernie was about to speak, Lion Fang burst into hearty laughter. "Excellent! Who would have thought those moles had some real skill—actually finding a copper mine in Yuanxi Town for us! Let's not make any rash moves yet. Once they dig out the ore, we'll hit them with a surprise attack!" Bernie frowned. "I believe we should still exercise more caution." "Hahaha, doesn't matter!" Lion Fang slapped the armrest with his right hand and looked at his confidant standing to his right. "Iron Fang, head to Xizhou City in a bit. Carry a message to the chieftain for me: say that a copper mine has been discovered in Yuanxi Town, but the blue jackets there are tough to deal with. We need reinforcements!" A burly man wearing an animal-hide coat strung with human teeth stepped forward. "Yes, my lord!" *** Dawn City, North Street. Rows of red-brick houses with bright tile roofs lined both sides of the street in neat order. Merchants gathered in crowds along the sidewalks, selling pots, pans, and hardware sundries, vegetables and dried rations, or exotic imports brought from afar by caravans. Every day, one could see things here that had never been seen before. Passersby dressed in wildly differing clothes browsed and picked through the stalls. Among them were traveling merchants from afar, caravan guards, mercenaries hired along the way, plenty of locals, and patrolling guards on their rounds. Overhead, Y-1 quadcopter drones occasionally drifted past at a leisurely pace—they were Xiao Qi's eyes, and Chu Guang's as well. It was noon, the liveliest hour on the street. Although the buildings here were not as tall as those in Boulder City and there were no towering mega-walls, the hustle and bustle here was not in the least inferior to the street beside Boulder City's warehouse district. As a "permanent partner" of the Enterprise and a survivor settlement whitelisted by Ideal City, nearly every caravan passing north of Qingquan City—whether originating from Ideal City or not—would drop by to take a look, replenish freshwater, or trade goods for supplies. Finding a survivor settlement rated "lawful neutral" or above on the wasteland was extraordinarily difficult. Aside from desperate vagrants and broke paupers who traded with their heads tied to their waists, very few dared approach an unfamiliar survivor settlement uninvited. God only knew whether the meat floating in the bowl served to you was pork or human. Earning Ideal City's recognition at least proved this wasn't a slaughterhouse disguised as an inn. The most comfortable among them were probably the lifestyle-profession players. The cutting-edge technology they possessed might not stand out much here, but their "otherworldly delicacies" were exceptionally popular. A long line stretched outside Haiji Ramen. Behind the stall stood three native young men: one pulling noodles, one boiling them, and one handling payments. Plain noodles were 2 silver coins a bowl, and beef noodles were 4 silver coins, with orders served in under five minutes. Fair prices and generous portions had won over many locals, and several players were queuing right alongside the NPCs outside the door. Chu Guang was delighted to see people from two different worlds—even with completely different aesthetic styles—mingling seamlessly under his governance. Though there were still many problems to solve during the Beta test, and new issues and challenges were bound to emerge in the future, this was a solid start. Walking beside Chu Guang, Xia Yan looked around in excitement, very much like a child in an amusement park. To her, this place was far more interesting than the farmland. Xiao Yu, on the other hand, acted like a well-behaved older sister, holding onto Xia Yan with her little hand the entire time. Although she was equally curious about everything around her, those unfamiliar faces still made her instinctively nervous. Her dad had told her never to trust outsiders easily; there were plenty of swindlers and bandits among them—with the exception of Big Brother Chu and the vault dwellers. Still, unfamiliar strangers couldn't be trusted. Who knew where they had picked up their coats? People running around all over the place when the outside world was this chaotic were bound to have something bad clinging to them. "They have ramen here too?" Xia Yan looked at the roadside ramen shop with excitement, as if she had discovered a new continent. Business was quite brisk. She hadn't been very hungry at first, but seeing such a long queue instantly made her feel an appetite. "That's probably a branch opened by Zhang Hai. Weren't you going to buy clothes?" Chu Guang said with a smile. Xia Yan looked over pitifully. "I'm hungry." Xiao Yu swallowed hard as well, but was too shy to speak up. Seeing how self-aware she was, Chu Guang made a light joke. "If you're hungry, go eat. Are you waiting for me to treat you?" That pitiful expression instantly broke into a wide grin. "You said it!" "If I remember correctly, I used an interrogative tone." "Come on, come on, it's not expensive anyway," Xia Yan said, pulling Chu Guang's arm forward with a cheeky smile, cajoling him, "Dinner's on me!" The three of them joined the line. It was half an hour later by the time they stepped into the ramen shop. Finding a corner table to sit down, Xiao Yu was about to secretly pay the bill, but Chu Guang beat her to it. "I've got this." "I said this meal was on me." After paying with his VM, Chu Guang returned to the table and sat down, just in time to overhear the people at the neighboring table boasting. "...For authentic ramen, you still have to go to North Street in the south of the city. The beef here is cut too thick; the knife work is still lacking." "There's a North Street over there too?" "Haha, you wouldn't know, would you? Back in the day, there was no Dawn City. North Street referred to the market in Wetland Park. A lot of the branches here expanded over from there!" The speaking man wore a proud expression; evidently, he had visited many times. The diners beside him looked on with envy; they had only recently learned about this place. "The survivor settlements around here only have around three or four thousand people... to think it could be this lively." "The permanent population is under five thousand, but there are plenty of transients. I've seen quite a few Boulder City mercenaries coming here to pick up work, sitting all day in the inn next to the trading post, nursing a single bottle of beer from morning to night." A man nearby worried, "Then public security here must be a huge issue." "Not at all," the frequent visitor said leisurely. "Just go look at the gate of the farm and you'll see. The bullet holes on that wall are packed tight, and even the roads were built over filled-in trenches. Don't let their polite faces fool you; the folks here are tough as nails. Last time someone got drunk and made trouble, before the patrolling guards could even step in, several blue jackets pinned him to the ground." Someone chimed in, "I heard a lot of those blue jackets are Awakened." The man nodded and continued expounding, "That's true. Their awakening is a bit different from ours; rumor has it it's related to what they eat. Since the boys and I are here these few days, let's eat more—who knows, maybe we'll awaken too!" "Big brother makes sense." "Give us another bowl!" Listening halfway through, Chu Guang nearly choked noodles right into his nose. Xia Yan gave him an odd look. "What are you laughing at?" "Nothing... Just thought of something amusing, but we'll talk about that after dealing with the trouble up north." Chu Guang gave a dry cough and looked around for a napkin, only to realize that such a "luxury" wasn't provided here at all. Fortunately, Xiao Yu noticed his predicament in time and generously handed him a handkerchief. "Use mine!" "Thanks, that's a huge help... I'll buy you a new one to replace it when we get back." Seeing that she had been of help, Xiao Yu broke into a happy smile. "No need! Xiao Yu has plenty more, all bought with the pocket money you gave me!" Chu Guang corrected her, "That's called a wage—compensation earned through labor... By the way, who taught you that?" Xiao Yu blinked her large eyes and answered honestly, "My second brother said so. He told me not to send that little bit of money home, since his and big brother's income is enough to support the family. He told me to just keep it as pocket money." Chu Guang: "..." Forget it. He would have a good chat with her brother later. After finishing their meal, the group continued strolling down the street. The eateries here didn't stop at ramen shops; there were also steamed bun shops, dumpling restaurants, and Chu Guang even spotted a Sichuan restaurant. Recently, most of the vegetable fields at the farm had begun yielding harvests, and the resettlement plots assigned to the natives had started producing goods one after another, introducing many vegetables to the market that hadn't been seen before. Varieties like green peppers and garlic sprouts were gradually appearing on dining tables. By mid-to-late May, whole garlic would hit the shelves as well, which would make the stir-fries in the restaurants smell even better. Chu Guang hadn't forgotten his promise and led Boss Xia to the clothing shops. Only then did he discover with surprise that Tengteng's Cabin had actually opened a branch here as well. Tengteng herself wasn't here, however. Standing behind the shop counter was a young girl from the Iron Axe tribe. As for why Chu Guang could tell her background at a glance, it was mainly because her wheat-toned skin looked so strikingly similar to the sisters Qiu Cao and Qiu Ye. She wore a leather coat that highlighted her figure while maintaining flexibility, paired with a diagonal crossbody belt designed to carry magazines and a sidearm. No doubt about it, this was definitely Tengteng's handiwork. The adjacent racks displayed both women's and men's models. There were quite a few female mercenaries on the wasteland; cannon fodder in this era knew no distinction between genders. Still, Chu Guang remained somewhat doubtful: would any mercenaries besides players actually factor aesthetics into their gear alongside practicality? Yet the moment Chu Guang saw Boss Xia's sparkling eyes, the thought vanished from his mind. It seemed his doubts were entirely superfluous. The wastelanders understood what they needed far better than he, the Administrator, did. He should just manage what he needed to manage and leave the rest for them to decide. Xia Yan seemed to know the salesgirl; she greeted her with a cheery smile the moment they met and pulled Xiao Yu inside to try on clothes. Chu Guang didn't join in the fuss—mainly because it wasn't appropriate—so he decided to take a stroll around the vicinity on his own. Before he had taken more than two steps, he ran into an acquaintance nearby. "Huh? Lord Administrator?" Yaya, who was tending a street stall, looked at Chu Guang in surprise and recognized him instantly. Chu Guang looked at her with equal surprise. "Why are you here?" Yaya blinked. "I've been here these past few days... All the mushrooms near the park have been picked clean. Now I have to go to Yumu District to forage." Chu Guang asked curiously, "Why don't you hire someone to help you?" Yaya offered an embarrassed smile. "Mainly because others can't tell which ones are poisonous. And I can't force someone to take a bite, so I can only demonstrate it myself." In truth, it wasn't that people couldn't tell at all; rather, with unfamiliar mushrooms, ordinary people weren't sure whether they were edible, so to play it safe, they simply avoided them. For example, a green, pointed mushroom grew in Yumu District. Both players and natives assumed it was poisonous, but in reality, it wasn't. It wasn't until Yaya performed her signature stunt on the spot—eating a large mushroom raw—that everyone, seeing a Perception-type player consume it without incident, finally realized that the thing was truly edible. Though whether it tasted good was another matter entirely. Speaking of which, there had been a minor episode. Because the mushroom looked unmistakably poisonous yet surprisingly didn't kill anyone, Heya had investigated it out of curiosity. In the end, she discovered that the mushroom secreted a structural analog of PBP substrates, which bound to PBPs receptors and interfered with bacterial cell wall synthesis. Stating it that way might sound a bit complex, but put simply, it was roughly the same kind of substance as penicillin. Because of this, Chu Guang had awarded Yaya a special achievement and assigned Heya some homework: to find time to research how to artificially cultivate and extract this penicillin analog on a large scale. Although players generally didn't consume many pharmaceuticals, the demand for antibiotics remained quite high in fields like surgical modification and disease prevention. Now that their numbers were growing, he couldn't rely entirely on his own score subsidies. Compared to ten-point score blind boxes, Chu Guang preferred to redeem more high-tech equipment to maintain a strong presence. Glancing across the stall, Chu Guang noticed an intriguing item. A round red cap with a flat, short white stalk, the cap dotted with round white spots—it looked deadly poisonous at a glance. "Is this non-poisonous too?" Chu Guang looked at Yaya suspiciously. "That one? That one can't be eaten! And you couldn't eat it even if you tried!" Yaya shook her head vigorously like a rattle drum. Chu Guang thought that made sense. Just moments ago, he had noticed a clasp beneath the white stalk; it appeared to be a button or hair clip fashioned from a mushroom. Still... Why was this mushroom so tough? Chu Guang picked up an egg-sized one and squeezed it. The texture felt somewhat like rubber, yet it was very light. It appeared dehydrated, but didn't feel shriveled in the slightest. Could it be a mushroom capable of producing resin or rubber? Chu Guang was somewhat mystified. The creatures of this world truly defied conventional logic. "You can't bite through this mushroom, but it isn't poisonous either. I found it by accident and turned it into an ornament. Hehe, a little piece like this is pretty cute... Look, you can wear it on your head like this." As she spoke, Yaya demonstrated for Chu Guang, clipping the small mushroom into her hair. The mushroom was tiny, looking as though it were sprouting right out of the top of her head. Truth be told, it looked quite charming. However, this scene happened to be caught by the surrounding players. "Holy crap! Boss Yaya sprouted a mushroom on her head!" "That thing looks like an accessory... Will anyone really pay 5 silver coins for that?" "Damn! 250 bucks! Is it a luxury item?!" "Your understanding of the silver coin exchange rate and luxury goods leaves me at a total loss for where to begin roasting you." "Wait... Is that customer the Administrator?!" "Shit! I didn't even recognize him with his power armor off! Truth be told, he really is damn handsome!" "Spread the word! Yaya is acting cute for the Administrator!" "What?! Boss Yaya is seducing the Administrator?!" "Is this game even rated PG?!" Yaya, who had been promoting her wares, hadn't intended to pay them any mind—she was used to it, mostly. But as these damned customers' remarks grew increasingly outrageous, her face began to flush bright red. Unable to hold back any longer, she grabbed a clump of mushrooms in sheer exasperation and hurled them across. "Get lost! Get the hell out of here! Which of your eyes saw me... me doing that!" She couldn't bring herself to say those words aloud. The player who got hit was ecstatic as if he had won the lottery, letting out a bizarre cackle of "Mine!" before grabbing the mushroom and sprinting off. Catching her breath and inhaling deeply, Yaya suddenly realized a customer was still standing there, so she hurriedly put on an "amiable and approachable" smile. Truly unable to bring himself to let such effort go unrewarded, Chu Guang silently left five silver coins on the stall, picked up the mushroom whose use remained a mystery, and walked away... *** Night gradually descended, and the horizon took on a dusky yellow hue. After a full day of wild fun, Xiao Yu was sitting on a bench outside a barbecue stall. Before the owner could even bring out the skewers, she had grown so exhausted that she fell asleep draped over Xia Yan's lap. Looking at that serene sleeping face, Xia Yan instinctively reached out and gently stroked the soft, black hair, finally understanding why everyone was so fond of her. Suddenly remembering something, Xia Yan looked toward Chu Guang, who sat across from her. "So what was the treasure after all?" Chu Guang said casually, "Haven't I already shown you?" Xia Yan froze for a moment, then understood his meaning and rolled her eyes at him. "That's such a slippery answer." "Your reaction was just too slow." Chu Guang laughed nonchalantly. To him, everything here was his treasure. Whether it was the boundless farmland stretching west of Changjiu Farm, or the increasingly bustling streets north of Dawn City. This place certainly couldn't compare to how it looked over two centuries ago, but for the survivors on the wasteland, it was a paradise that no number of black boxes could buy. That hard-won tranquility. At least here, one could switch the safety on their rifle back to safe. The grilled meat, wafting the aroma of cumin, was served to the table. Xiao Yu, asleep on Boss Xia's lap, probably caught the scent, as her little nose twitched slightly. Yet perhaps out of sheer exhaustion, she didn't wake immediately. Taking advantage of the fact that the little girl was still asleep, Xia Yan had the owner bring a glass of her favorite beer. Chu Guang drank sparkling water; Nuka-Cola had practically become the most popular beverage in Dawn City. "Speaking of which, coming out all on your own like this—aren't you worried about running into danger?" Taking a skewer of grilled meat from the plate, Xia Yan remarked casually as she ate. "The drones in the sky identify every unfamiliar face that enters the patrol sector and plan the patrol routes for the security teams." Chu Guang smiled faintly. "As for the people living here, I trust them just as they trust me. If the day comes when they wish I were dead, it'll mean I truly need to reflect on my own shortcomings." Of course, Chu Guang's greatest reliance was still his 21 points of Constitution, 19 points of Perception, 18 points of Agility, and the carbon nanotube protective suit on his body. That worked better than any bodyguard. He had been able to solo a Crawler before awakening; there was no reason he would become weaker after doing so. Wiping her wooden skewer clean, Xia Yan joked, "That's true enough. The way they look at you, it's practically like looking at their god. I noticed the meat on our skewers was piled higher than on anyone else's." Chu Guang made a helpless expression. "That's why I'd actually rather patronize the players' businesses." Though the titles players gave him were sometimes even more exaggerated and always came with baffling monikers, they did so mostly because they found it amusing or wanted to farm favorability, not out of genuine veneration. It was precisely because of this that he felt no heavy burden when dealing with players. Occasionally fleecing them or cracking a harmless joke didn't matter at all. Instead, they would get excited like children, shouting, *"The NPC is learning to harvest leeks!"* and *"Awesome! One step closer to open beta!"* Gazing at the dusky glow in the distance, Xia Yan seemed lost in thought. Suddenly, as if she had made up her mind, she spoke up. "That serum... can you give me a dose?" Chu Guang glanced at her. "What do you want that for?" Xia Yan looked down at Xiao Yu lying across her knees, gently stroking the girl's hair. "I feel like... I'm becoming more and more useless." Chu Guang, who was drinking his soda, nearly choked on the liquid, coughing twice to cover his lapse in composure. "You finally realized... I mean, you finally realized you're too lazy?" Xia Yan uncharacteristically refrained from snapping back at him. Lowering her head, she muttered under her breath, "I can still fight... You've seen it, my marksmanship is actually decent, and I can modify weapons myself. It's not my fault I can't awaken—what can I do? I was born this way. When those militiamen threw us guns, I nearly dropped mine. And my hair is such an eye-catching red. Several times I wanted to just shave it all off, but every time I looked at it, I remembered my mother, and I couldn't bring myself to do it." Sniffling, she looked stubbornly to the side. "Sorry. That was unnecessary nonsense." Chu Guang fell silent for a moment. After some thought, he said, "In truth, it isn't only the powerful who can find meaning in existence, nor is awakening the sole criterion for judging whether someone is strong. Fists can solve a portion of problems, but not every problem can be solved with fists." Xia Yan looked at him in confusion. To be honest, she didn't quite understand the sentiment. She just suddenly felt that the person before her was a bit like her... father? No. Putting it that way was probably strange and disrespectful. She had never met her father, nor did she want to know which alley gutter that bastard who abandoned her mother had died in. But she had once fantasized that it would be nice if there were someone who could tell her how to walk the path ahead. Though she also admitted that if such a person had actually stood beside her nagging grand life lessons, she definitely wouldn't have listened. Every time Xiao Yu said to her, "My dad told me this and that," she couldn't help rolling her eyes on the outside, but inside, she felt a hint of envy. Family. She didn't know which Tide it had started with, but from that point on, all she had left was her gun. Taking a sip of beer, Xia Yan mumbled, "...Does the vault teach you all this stuff too?" That was an intriguing question. Chu Guang thought about it seriously for a moment before offering an uncertain reply. "I don't know." Xia Yan looked at him in surprise. "You don't know?" "Yeah." Chu Guang nodded and said calmly, "Just as you have many questions you'd like to ask me, I have just as many questions I'd like to ask the person who handed everything over to me. "For example, why did he choose to trust someone who didn't even belong here? Why didn't he do these things himself? And why did a man who died over a century ago know me so well?... I believe he hid the answers in some corner of the labyrinth. As long as I prove that I'm the one he was waiting for, he will gradually reveal all the answers to me." Taking a sip of beer, Xia Yan let out an "Oh." She didn't really understand, and it wasn't the answer she was looking for. Chu Guang suddenly recalled something, fished a mushroom from his pocket, and gently placed it on the table. "Right, this is for you." He truly couldn't figure out what use it had, and he didn't want those five silver coins to go to waste. Looking at the mushroom on the table, Xia Yan's expression turned odd. "What is this... used for?" Eating was ruled out first. Nobody would eat a red mushroom covered in white spots. "Lean your head over." "?" Before Xia Yan could react, the mushroom was already fastened to the top of her head. Chu Guang looked her over twice and couldn't hold back a laugh. "Haha, it actually suits you pretty well." A big mushroom topped with a little mushroom. It was just that the matching color made it less obvious. Xia Yan touched the top of her head, discovered that a mushroom seemed to have sprouted there—and a crooked one at that—and promptly glared at Chu Guang. "Did you plant a mushroom on my head?" "Don't like it? Give it back then." Before Chu Guang could reach out, Xia Yan quickly leaned backward. "All bets are final! You already gave it to me, so it's mine!" This time, Chu Guang couldn't hold back his laughter. *All bets are final, really?* Where had this girl picked up that phrase, and in Chinese no less? "That's not how you use that phrase." Xia Yan made a face, turned her attention to the beer and barbecue on the table, and ignored him. Perhaps awakened by Boss Xia's sudden movement, Xiao Yu rubbed her eyes and sat up groggily. "Huh? Is it grilled already?" Xia Yan pushed a skewer over. "It's been ready for a while. Eat up." "Nom." Dazedly wiping away the drool hanging at the corner of her mouth, the half-asleep Xiao Yu caught the scent of food right beside her lips, opened her mouth, and took a bite. Xia Yan had been watching her feed with a gentle smile, but seeing the girl wipe the corner of her mouth, her face suddenly changed, and she quickly lowered her head. In a flash, her face flushed red as a pig's liver. Chu Guang vaguely guessed what had happened, his expression tinged with subtle awkwardness. Out of consideration to console her, he gave a light cough and said, "It's fine... Nobody can see in the dark anyway." "Y-You..." "Me?" "Please, stop talking..." "..." Watching Boss Xia's voice dwindle until it buzzed like a mosquito, Chu Guang ultimately chose to shut his mouth and drop the subject. *** That night, the official forums were lively once again. Chu Guang found that these players were bored enough to actually snap photos of him eating barbecue. Had these people never seen a handsome guy before? I'm the Darkest: "Shocking! Boss Xia has sprouted a mushroom on her head!" Elaina: "The Administrator bought that mushroom from Yaya! (smug)" Tengteng: "Wuwuwu, suddenly I feel so gratified, though personally I prefer the Administrator x Hunter Boy ship more. o(＊///▽///＊)o" Makka Pakka: "Wait! The relationships are getting messy. Why did Yaya suddenly get squeezed in between Boss Xia and the Administrator? Let me sort this out!" Yaya: "Sort out your head! What does this have to do with me?! I'm just a mushroom-selling extra, okay?! (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻" Midnight Chicken Slaughter: "┬─┬ノ('－'ノ)" "..." Chu Guang: "Xiao Qi..." Seeming to have anticipated that Chu Guang would look for her, Xiao Qi's voice drifted out timidly. "Master?" Chu Guang: "Didn't I tell you to filter out photos of me?" All photos of him on the official forums were taken by himself or by Xiao Qi on his orders—in short, they were always shots that highlighted his positive image best. After all, if players were allowed to snap candids at will, God only knew what bizarre expressions they would capture. Boss Xia stood as a cautionary tale on that front. Xiao Qi: "B-But that photo didn't show your face! You only appeared from the back... Should I go delete it? QAQ" Chu Guang sighed. "...Forget it. It's already posted." He suspected Xiao Qi had done it on purpose eighty percent of the time. Still, now was not the time for this. Just moments ago, Chu Guang had received a report from the logistics department: all war materials were prepared. Thanks to falling resource prices and abundant supplies, the New Alliance's industrial zone had not only completed its production quotas, but had even exceeded expectations. Seven million rounds of ammunition and tens of thousands of artillery shells of various calibers stood ready for deployment, and the production lines continued to run without pause. The pilots trained by Mosquito had also successfully mastered takeoff, firing, and bombing. All they awaited was his order to seize the skies of Xizhou City on his behalf. Yesterday, he had reviewed the fruits of the farming faction's labor. Tomorrow, it would be time to inspect the results of this military reform. Whether high-morale, low-organization players could adapt to regiment-scale combat under the coordination of the corps system was one of the core elements of this Beta test. At the same time, this bore directly on whether the New Alliance could truly secure a firm foothold on the wasteland. Only by opening up the situation to the north could they gain the resources and room for development, as well as the strategic depth required to face powerful neighbors. Chu Guang dragged the compiled expansion pack document from the newly created folder, then copied and pasted it into the backend of the official website. Pressing the confirm button, a faint smile curved at the corners of his lips. "It's time to resolve the trouble to the north." "I hope you are ready."