An Unexpected Harvest!

Beside the warehouse. Clutching their tote bags, the survivors looked at one another, exchanging glances filled with shock and bewilderment. "Join the New Alliance?" "... Are they serious?" "The mayor didn't sound drunk, though." "Shh... Don't talk nonsense out loud. Watch out, or those guys with guns will hear you." Nobody disliked the decision. They just found it hard to believe. The New Alliance was actually willing to take in scavengers like them, who survived on picking through trash? It sounded downright fantastical! No matter how they thought about it, Xizhou City held nothing that outsiders would covet. Aside from a sea of grave-like concrete ruins, all that was here was Xizhou Lake, which flooded year-round. The lake waters not only turned the entire eastern bank into a marsh, but also backflowed into the low-lying parts of the city. Finding a patch of land suitable for farming was an ordeal in itself. As for trade value, it was virtually non-existent. Ordinary traveling merchants never ventured here. River Valley Province only had northern and southern plain corridors; in between lay either mountains or rivers. Even without marauders, barely anyone ever came. Until last year, they had lived almost completely isolated from the outside world. "Do you think the mayor is just drawing a pie in the sky for us?" a scrawny middle-aged man muttered under his breath. "... Highly likely," a shorter old man said, swallowing hard. "If I were the leader of the New Alliance, I sure wouldn't invite a pack of beggars into my home." Even though Wu Chengyi had sounded entirely earnest over the broadcast, almost none of the survivors believed what he said. Unlike the ordinary survivors, however, the guerrilla fighters knew full well that their commander never joked around. Especially on a matter this serious. "So... from now on, we're New Alliance soldiers?" At the settlement entrance, an on-duty guerrilla fighter who had listened to the broadcast from start to finish wore an intensely odd expression. His name was Liao Feng. Before joining the guerrillas, he had belonged to a survivor settlement called the Fine Weather Cooperative. When the Bone Chewer Tribe invaded Xizhou City, their village was the first to fall. Out of more than a thousand villagers, fewer than fifty had escaped alive. Toward anyone from the outside world, he felt an instinctive distrust—whether they were the Bone Chewer Tribe marauders or this New Alliance. "... Probably?" answered a man carrying a hunting bow on his back, who had also just finished listening to the broadcast, his tone hesitant. His name was Lie Gong. Like Liao Feng, he was a member of the Xizhou City resistance, though he came from a different settlement rather than the Fine Weather Cooperative. In the broadcast just minutes ago, Wu Chengyi had indeed mentioned the guerrillas. Going forward, the New Alliance would dispatch officers to train them and provide them with new equipment. Their status would formally transition from an irregular militia into the New Alliance's Third Corps, destined to take part in the final decisive battle against the Bone Chewer Tribe... "Do you really think joining this alliance is a good thing?" Liao Feng asked, glancing at him. Lie Gong fell silent for a moment before shaking his head. "I don't know, but I figure... it can't be a bad thing." How much worse could things get? Never mind weapons and gear—they were already so impoverished that they could barely maintain their supply of nutrient paste. Previously, guerrilla fighters could still receive rations of ram horn potatoes and green wheat porridge, with a bite of meat every now and then. Now, everyone was uniformly restricted to nutrient paste. The state of their logistics spoke for itself. Right then, a bearded man wearing hyena-hide boots walked over. Seeing their immediate superior, both men instantly stopped talking. "I need someone to take our allies around for a tour of the area," Wang Sijie said, halting at the settlement entrance. He swept his gaze across the sentries. "Any volunteers? Step forward." The men looked at each other. No one moved. They knew practically nothing about these allies who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. They had no idea of their temperaments, nor did they know what might offend them. To be able to fight the marauders across the city to a standstill, those people were undeniably ruthless figures. What if someone crossed them by mistake? Nobody wanted to be the nail that stuck out. Seeing that no one stepped forward, Wang Sijie was about to call names. Just then, Lie Gong stepped forward. "I'll go." Standing nearby, Liao Feng stole a surprised glance at him, never expecting the guy to have the nerve to volunteer for such a thankless chore. Wang Sijie nodded in satisfaction and made a gesture. "Follow me." *** Inside a reasonably clean private room. Lying flat on a cot, Lao Bai opened his eyes without warning, rolled over, and sat up. It was six o'clock in the evening. Checking the current time on his VM, Lao Bai was about to meet up with his teammates when he suddenly noticed a long string of pop-up windows on his screen. [Quest 1: Inspect Hope Town. Carry your VM and recording equipment to complete a full map survey.] [Quest 2 (Side Quest): Write a 200-word report describing the local survivors' situation across multiple facets, including economy, culture, politics, and education.] [Quest 3 (Side Quest): Locate NPCs with special talents or unique identities.] [Quest 4 (Side Quest): ...] The rewards were exceptionally generous—not just silver coins and contribution points, but also regional reputation in the new map. Staring at the long list of tasks on his VM, Lao Bai felt bewildered, and a rather strange expression crept onto his face. Especially regarding the second task. Good grief, the devs were dumping even the map lore write-ups onto the players now. Wasn't that supposed to be the game planners' job?! Talk about cutting corners! Still, that particular task was easy enough to handle. Fang Chang loved doing that sort of thing and would probably jump at the chance to take it all on. As for the third one... Lao Bai stared at the quest interface for a long time without discerning any clues, ultimately shaking his head in defeat. "Forget it... Whatever." There were only five thousand or so people in this survivor settlement. In any case, triggering more dialogue would probably turn up some leads. After tidying his gear, Lao Bai pushed open the door and walked down the narrow corridor to rendezvous with his teammates in the lounge hall. The environment was crude and the air quality wretched, yet even so, this was already the finest room Hope Town had to offer. The vast majority of survivors were crammed into the underground commercial complex's shopfronts and even along the hallways, separated only by fabric curtains, or huddled together outright. Forget private rooms—they didn't even have a decent cot. Ever since yesterday morning, when they tracked the little boy and discovered this hidden refuge of Xizhou City survivors, the Ox and Horse Squad had taken up lodging here. Compared to sleeping in the ruins, logging off here was far safer. At the very least, they didn't have to assign shifts to log on and guard their offline bodies. Awed by the New Alliance's might, the resistance survivors treated them with deep respect, bordering on cautious deference. Unless the marauders stumbled upon this place, logging off here posed no security concerns whatsoever. When Lao Bai arrived at the lounge hall, Fang Chang, Ye Shi, and Kuang Feng had already been waiting for a while. Looking around, Lao Bai noticed that beside his brothers, two unfamiliar NPCs were also standing there. "... I am Wang Sijie, captain of the Xizhou City Resistance guerrillas. Beside me is Lie Gong, a soldier under my command. During your stay in Hope Town, he will serve as your guide." Seeing that all four were present, Wang Sijie offered a brief introduction, presenting the guerrilla fighter beside him to the group. Seeing his officer introduce him, the man carrying a bow on his back promptly spoke up. "Welcome, friends from Dawn City... If you encounter any problems while you're here, you can come to me. I will do everything I can to help you." Fang Chang smiled. "No need to be so formal. Just take us around for a tour." "I have duties shortly, so I won't disturb you gentlemen any longer." Wang Sijie patted Lie Gong on the shoulder, tossed out an "It's on you," and turned to leave the hall. Watching the guerrilla captain walk away, Ye Shi whispered, "I thought they'd arrange a cute girl to be our guide." Kuang Feng shot him a sideways glance. "Objectively speaking, in a survivor settlement with living standards this backward, even if they did arrange a girl for you, the probability of her matching your aesthetic preferences is approximately—" Ye Shi clamped a hand over his mouth at once. "All right, I don't want to hear your nonsense." Kuang Feng: "..." Lie Gong watched the two whispering with an utterly baffled look, unable to comprehend a word they said. Fortunately, his superior had briefed him on the language barrier beforehand, so his reaction remained fairly calm. He said in a serious tone, "I'll show you around the area... Please, follow me." With that, Lie Gong prepared to lead the way. Just then, however, the man also carrying a bow on his back called out to stop him. "Wait a moment," Fang Chang said, pulling a package of wheat cakes from his pocket and placing it into Lie Gong's hands. "This is your payment." The package of wheat cakes weighed a full half jin. Receiving the paper package, Lie Gong froze for a second. But as soon as he realized what it was, a look of ecstatic delight flooded his face. "We don't need payment..." Though he said the words, he had no intention whatsoever of returning the bundle. Fang Chang looked at him with a smile. "Don't mention it. We never let people work for us for nothing." In Dawn City, one silver coin could buy two such wheat cakes, to say nothing of the fact that the airdropped supplies hadn't cost them a copper. For a trivial bit of compensation, they could earn the loyalty of a guide while firmly implanting in local minds the notion that "working for the New Alliance brings rewards." It was a bargain in every sense of the word! Tucking the paper package away with immense gratitude, Lie Gong carefully placed it inside an inner pocket of his coat, intending to take it home after his shift to share with his family. Taking a deep breath, he looked at Fang Chang. "Thank you for your generosity!" Fang Chang nodded. "Take us around. Our Administrator wants to understand the conditions here." Lie Gong answered immediately, "No problem! Follow me!" Thanks to the green wheat cakes, the guide called Lie Gong became noticeably more enthusiastic. Upon learning that Fang Chang and his companions wanted to see the truest conditions of daily life in Hope Town, he led them through several hallways straight toward the residential area located on Floor B1 of the commercial complex. The moment they stepped into the area, a foul stench slammed into Lao Bai's face. The narrow passageways and stairwells were clogged with haphazard piles of trash. Crammed into a space under five hundred square meters were six to seven hundred people sprawled in every direction. The ceiling of the corridor crawled with twisted, centipede-like ventilation ducts, where cockroaches and rats had long since built nests. And this was merely a single corner of this "town." The sanitation was appalling, though the problems here went far beyond hygiene. Due to the lack of nutrition, fuel, and warm clothing, people fainted from hunger or starved to death every single day. As for the corpses... They were most likely dragged to the nutrient paste synthesizer, processed alongside other plant fibers and the carcasses of animals and insects into that green, pasty substance. Emaciated, sallow faces lurked in the darkness. People curled atop garbage heaps far cruder than makeshift hovels, like rats in a sewer. With cautious, curious eyes, they scrutinized these strangers who looked entirely out of place, whispering among themselves about who they were. "Are they... from the New Alliance?" "Could it be the mayor wasn't joking?" "Thank the heavens... We're saved at last." The murmurings spread like ripples across water. While the local residents took in the group following Lie Gong, the Ox and Horse Squad took them in as well. Walking behind Kuang Feng, Ye Shi involuntarily held his breath. Not only because of the suffocating stench, but also because of the heart-wrenching sights before his eyes. This place was sheer hell... The last time he had witnessed such misery was in the dungeons of Qingshi County. "... Those damned bandits," Ye Shi cursed under his breath. "May they burn in hell." Fang Chang and Kuang Feng said nothing. One treated this merely as a game, while the other was a man of few words by nature. Walking in the lead, Lao Bai bore a heavy heart, seemingly lost in thought. Noticing the expressions on their faces, Lie Gong explained, "This is where the regular residents live. Our supplies are scarce, and barely keeping things going is already our limit... My superior didn't want me to bring you here. He told me to avoid Floor B1 as much as possible and show you our brighter side. But if you want to see the truest reality of this place, nothing is more real than this." Fang Chang looked at him. "Won't bringing us here get you into trouble?" Lie Gong smiled sheepishly. "How could it? Please don't worry about me. Our superior told me to obey your orders. If he asks about it, I'll just say you insisted on coming." Lao Bai glanced around and said in halting Human Alliance language, "Gathering so many people here... won't the marauders find you?" Lie Gong answered, "No need to worry about that. The surface entrance collapsed completely. We permanently sealed the direct entrance from the subway station. The only path here from the outside is a hidden doorway concealed within the subway tunnel." At that moment, a thought struck Lao Bai, and he whispered a few words into Fang Chang's ear regarding the tasks on their VMs. Fang Chang blinked, then turned to Lie Gong. "By the way, do you have people with special talents here?" "Special talents?" Lie Gong paused. "What kind of talents do you mean?" Fang Chang probed, "Technical skills. Blacksmithing, handicraft—anyone with a distinct trade!" Lie Gong gave a slight pause before answering, "If it's just a trade... the bar for that is pretty low. Most survivors from the Lagrange Building are craftsmen. Quite a few of the people who used to live over by the Television Station know how to sing or do metalwork. And many in the settlement from the Sixin District are skilled at fishing and stealing split-claw crab eggs..." Fang Chang committed this information to memory, then asked, "What about others? For instance, vault residents?" "Vault residents? There is a vault in Xizhou City, but as soon as the Fang clan arrived, they sealed their doors..." Delighted, Fang Chang pressed immediately, "What's the vault's number? Do you know its specific location?" "I think it's 101? I don't know the exact location, but I do remember the camp they built on the surface. It was around..." Lie Gong scratched the back of his head and gave Fang Chang an address. Just then, a disheveled man suddenly rushed out from the side, tumbling and crawling until he threw himself at their feet. Everyone was startled, caught off guard. The man looked up with desperate, pleading eyes. "You're from the New Alliance, right? Please, I beg you, help me!" "What are you doing?! Get your hands off—" Lie Gong was about to shove him away, but Lao Bai stopped him. Reaching down, Lao Bai helped the ragged man up and looked at him. "Stand up first. What's your name?" "I'm... Wang Zhong," the man stammered incoherently. "All right, Wang Zhong... What kind of trouble are you in?" The man, who had only just caught his breath, grew agitated once more. "My wife is gravely ill. Without antibiotics, she won't last much longer... Please, I beg you, can you spare me a little medicine and food?" Seeing the man's pathetic state, Lao Bai felt a pang of pity and moved to help. Beside him, Fang Chang instantly guessed his intention and gripped his arm before it could reach into his backpack. "Every single person here needs medicine and food. If you help him, a second person will step forward, then a third." Lao Bai looked at Fang Chang. "So we just leave him be?" Fang Chang said calmly, "Of course not. We will report the situation here faithfully to the Administrator and let him decide on aid for the local survivors." Pausing, he looked at Lao Bai and continued, "There are over five thousand people here. With the meager supplies on our backs, we can't save them." Lao Bai fell silent. Reason told him Fang Chang was right, but emotionally, it was hard to stomach. He could only blame the game for being too realistic. Right then, the man named Wang Zhong spoke up. "I won't take your things for nothing... I heard over the broadcast just now that you plan to build a survivor settlement here, right?" Lao Bai was still checking the translation on his VM. Understanding the words, Fang Chang immediately turned to the man. "That's right. Do you have any ideas?" Seeing a glimmer of hope, Wang Zhong swallowed hard and went on, "No, but I know... there is a backup controllable fusion reactor hidden beneath Xizhou City." The instant those words fell, the expression on Fang Chang's face turned dead serious. He locked eyes with the man. "Are you serious?" Wang Zhong nodded vigorously, swearing an oath: "I swear on my life! The blue jackets... the residents of Vault 101, said it themselves. That reactor was a civil defense installation built during the Human Alliance era, designated specifically for the underground transit network. Supposedly, its power output can reach the GM-level. They were trying to repair it, and they'd already managed to restore half of it!" Barely understanding the statement through his translation tool, Fang Chang immediately asked, "How do you know this?" Wang Zhong said without hesitation, "Because I was a resident of Camp 101! They hired locals in the camp to help them scavenge, build shelters, haul freight, and take care of their daily chores... basically all the grunt work they didn't want to do. I was a cook in the cafeteria. They talked about it while eating, even joking that once the reactor was fixed, not a single survivor in all of Xizhou City would ever have to worry about electricity again!" If that reactor truly existed, that statement was no joke. A GM-level power output, compared against reality, would allow a single reactor to outstrip the entire electrical grid of many small nations! Covering the power needs of a mere few tens of thousands of survivors would be more than child's play. Excited, Fang Chang turned toward Lie Gong. Though Lie Gong looked bewildered by Wang Zhong's words, after a moment's hesitation, he nodded. "He's telling the truth... Camp 101 really did hire some nearby wastelanders and let them live in the camp. But as for that reactor thing, I don't know much about it..." A controllable fusion reactor! The players exchanged glances, uncontainable excitement surfacing on their faces. Although the New Alliance currently commanded high-end energy storage technology like solid hydrogen, their power generation methods remained backward, almost primitive. If they could secure this controllable fusion reactor, the impact on the New Alliance's industrial base would be colossal! Suppressing the excitement in his voice, Fang Chang looked at the man. "Do you know where the reactor is located?" Wang Zhong nodded nervously. "I can take you there... but you have to cure my wife. And... I need food, enough for my family to survive." Fang Chang smiled. "Rest assured on that! A shipment of supplies will arrive here tonight. Whether it's food or medicine, your reasonable requests will be met!" Leaving those words, Fang Chang turned to Lie Gong right in front of Wang Zhong. "The intelligence he holds is critical. I need you to guarantee his and his family's safety." Hope Town had already merged into the New Alliance. He was confident that so long as the resistance members weren't fools, they would weigh the gravity of his words very carefully. Sure enough, the moment he spoke, Lie Gong's expression grew solemn, and he replied earnestly, "No problem. Leave it to me!" Fang Chang nodded and added, "Also, please spread the word throughout town on our behalf. If anyone possesses similar intelligence, no matter how minor, make sure they bring it to us!" "Once the intelligence is verified, the Alliance will reward them handsomely!"