Such Is the Complexity of Human Nature

Leaving the virtual world was very simple. All one had to do was reach up, touch their temple, and take off the glasses. During his casual chat with Dr. Method, Chu Guang learned that the residents of Shelter 101 had long abandoned their mortal flesh, uploading their consciousness into a virtual world to embrace a higher stage of evolution. Through this, they had gained new life. He seemed to know Shelter 404's first-generation manager, but was reluctant to say much about him, merely referring to him as "the Professor." Yet from his demeanor, Chu Guang could sense an unspoken reverence. A strange thought surfaced in Chu Guang's mind. Could his mentor and Shelter 404's first-generation manager actually be the same person? However, when he voiced the question, the man did not admit it, offering only a faint smile and subtly changing the subject. "...Our world had only six thousand people at the start. Now there are three billion, the vast majority born from complex self-evolving algorithms. And we need to consume only a negligible amount of resources to satisfy all our material and spiritual needs." Sitting on the park bench, the man looked out past the bustling crowd. In the distance, the skyline of a city was visible. "I spent my life savings here, stocking enough resources in the shelter to keep this entire world running smoothly for a thousand years, or even longer. I decided on this a long time ago." "Yet one day, it will still disappear." Hearing Chu Guang's words, Dr. Method smiled and asked softly in return, "Yes, but what is eternal?" "Even the invincible Alliance lasted little more than a century. We flourished for less time than we spent sinking into ruin." "Here, however, we can anticipate the day the world ends, calmly welcoming our final fate before doom arrives. I don't believe that's a bad thing." With that, he rose from the bench and smiled at Chu Guang beside him. "Thank you for keeping me company for so long, but now I must go find my wife and daughter. If you're interested in our world, feel free to look around." "This world is vast; it will never bore you. Of course, if you like it here, you're welcome to stay." That last sentence did not sound like a joke. Chu Guang hesitated for half a second, but only half a second. "No need. There are many people waiting for me on the other side." He had to admit it was beautiful here. Clean sunlight, air, and water, with endless resources sustaining three billion people. This was a true "game world." A perfect utopia. There were no mutants, no marauders, no abominations, and not even the concept of exploitation existed. Yet precisely because of that, Chu Guang worried he might lose himself in this beautiful, false dream. Rising from the bench, he raised his index finger to his temple and felt a transparent bump. According to Dr. Method, taking it off would allow him to leave. Just as Chu Guang was about to do so, a thought struck him, and he blurted out, "If I choose to stay, wouldn't that Professor's experiment fail?" If he remembered correctly, Shelter 404 would execute a shutdown sequence once he died, and the morphogenetic field device would cease operation, waiting for the right moment to restart. Perhaps ten years later, perhaps a century, or an even more distant future. "Doesn't matter. Since you made it this far, you were bound to refuse." A sly smile suddenly crossed the man's face. "Just take it as polite chatter." That smile made Chu Guang roll his eyes. He had half a mind to go off script, but doing so might just play right into the guy's hands. "Enjoy daydreaming here for the rest of your life." Watching his fading figure, the doctor smiled and waved. "From your lips to God's ears." ... Vibrant colors drained from his consciousness, replaced by dark lenses before his eyes. Chu Guang took off the glasses, set them on the table nearby, got up, and walked toward the door. The door swung open. Seeing Chu Guang emerge, the soldiers waiting outside finally let out a sigh of relief. Horne, standing to the side, did the same. Reaching into his sleeve, he took off the VM strapped to his arm and handed it to Chu Guang. "The Pioneer instructed me to give this to you." "Thank you." After a brief polite nod, Chu Guang took the wrist-mounted computer. Almost the instant his finger made contact, a pale blue pop-up window appeared before his eyes. [Quest: Retrieve the VM of Shelter 101's Administrator (Completed)] [Reward: 3,500 Gene Sequences] A flicker of delight rose in Chu Guang's eyes as he tapped his earpiece. "Xiao Qi." The little robot's voice came through immediately: "Here, Master!" Chu Guang gave the order at once: "Restart player recruitment!" Xiao Qi: "Understood!" With that crisp acknowledgment, the long-paused distribution of closed-beta slots officially resumed. Still at the rate of twenty accounts per day. This time, he would focus more on recruiting players with ideas and creativity, enriching the diversity of the player base while ensuring they remained at a neutral alignment or above. Thirty-five hundred gene sequences would easily last until the end of the year. Considering the autumn harvest and the gradually expanding food imports, this recruitment pace was ideal. Soon, a fresh batch of little leeks would enter the field. Wonderful! Chu Guang glanced down at the VM in his hand. This was probably the easiest task he had ever received from the Administrator's Log. When he first saw the quest reward, he had assumed it would be an uphill battle. Who would have guessed Shelter 101's Administrator merely wanted to see him, with no ulterior motives whatsoever? To Chu Guang, it felt just like sitting through a cutscene. Remembering something, Chu Guang looked at Horne and asked curiously, "Do you normally communicate with him like this as well?" Horne nodded gently. "Yes. After all, opening the door consumes a great deal of power, whereas the virtual reality system is far more energy-efficient." Chu Guang asked, "Have you ever thought about staying in there?" "Staying... in there?" Horne's eyes went blank with bewilderment. "Do you mean that stark white room? But there's nothing in there, is there?" A strange look crossed Chu Guang's face. Well, damn. It turned out the residents of Camp 101 had never actually visited that world. Then again, it made sense. Unless one possessed an extraordinarily steadfast mind, it would be almost impossible to maintain one's focus after witnessing the prosperity of that world. A human life was only a century at best; if one could gain a millennium of peace, the physical body truly held little worth clinging to. Noticing Chu Guang's odd expression, Horne couldn't help asking, "Is something the matter?" "Nothing, it's quite good," Chu Guang replied casually, bringing the topic to an end. Horne looked at him blankly, puzzled but polite enough not to press further. After all, it wasn't an urgent matter. "It seems you had a pleasant conversation with our Pioneer... Is there anything else you require?" "No, thank you for your hospitality." Taking one last look at the gear-shaped distance gate that seemed anchored directly into space, Chu Guang turned to Lü Bei and the other Guards Corps soldiers. "Let's go." ... After leaving Shelter 101, Chu Guang returned to the surface. Along the way, he checked in on Xia Yan, Xiao Yu, and the other students, stopped by the construction site at Daybreak City, and finally headed back to the Second Corps base. As he crossed through the barracks gate, a group of players was returning from the woods, carrying a three-horned wild deer on their shoulders. They hauled their prize to the camp fire pit, preparing to roast it. Catching sight of the Administrator, the players' eyes lit up as if they had spotted a legendary creature, and their gazes locked onto Chu Guang. One particularly immersed player brushed his hands, jogged over to Chu Guang, and said respectfully, "Honorable Administrator, we just bagged a wild deer and are getting ready to roast it! If you don't mind, we've got plenty of room around the fire!" Chu Guang happened to be feeling hungry, so he smiled and said, "Then I won't stand on ceremony!" Surprise flickered across the player's face, clearly not expecting Chu Guang to agree so readily. Soon, however, that surprise turned into pure delight, and he nodded excitedly. "Awesome!" Seeing their companion return with the Administrator in tow, the other players immediately pulled him aside. "Damn it, why did you drag the NPC over here?" The player gave an embarrassed grin and scratched the back of his head. "Heh, I was just hoping to boost my favorability! What if it unlocks a hidden quest? We'd strike it rich!" "Hiss... put that way, it actually makes sense." "Then I'd better cook this thing properly!" Listening to the players whispering amongst themselves about his favorability, Chu Guang could barely keep a straight face. Still, watching them bustle about prepping the carcass, he managed to hold back his laughter. Preparing the game took over an hour. They skinned it, trimmed the excess fat, and rubbed it with spices specially produced by the shelter. To rig the carcass over the charcoal fire, the players threw themselves into the task with boundless enthusiasm. By the time the sun dipped below the horizon, Chu Guang finally got a taste of their roast venison. The rich aroma spread across his palate. The only shame was the lack of beer, which would have made it truly sublime. Holding the roasted deer leg, Chu Guang felt a sudden pang of sentiment. It wasn't so much that he couldn't bear to leave this world, but rather that he couldn't bear to leave behind these hardworking, brave little companions. "Thank you, everyone. It's delicious—it feels like it washed away all the fatigue of the day... If you opened a barbecue shop, it would definitely be a hit," Chu Guang joked. The player who had invited him stepped forward once more, declaring with solemn loyalty, "You're very welcome! It is our honor to serve you!" The players gathered around the campfire all looked up at Chu Guang with eager anticipation, their eyes gleaming with hope. Their expressions practically screamed: *It went up!* *Favorability!* *It definitely went up!* ... The night passed without incident. At daybreak the next morning, Chu Guang boarded the train back to Dawn City, concluding his visit to Daybreak City and Camp 101. Aside from the thirty-five hundred closed-beta slots, the other harvest of this trip was an answer to his questions regarding the origins of the wasteland. The apocalyptic war two centuries ago had taken place between the Human Alliance's home planet and its colonies. And the motive behind the war did not seem to be about independence or mere economic interests. After all, if fought for those reasons, it would hardly have escalated to such an extent. That complete dedication to mutual annihilation felt more like two distinct species slaughtering each other. There had to be some deeper, unknown story behind it all... "History is a cycle, but it rarely repeats itself in simple ways." Sitting on the train as he organized his notes, Chu Guang wrote this sentence at the very end of the chapter— The chapter on Camp 101. ... Shelter 404. In the B2 storage depot, Yin Fang stood before a suit of power armor. With the assistance of two engineers, he was securing armor plates crafted from A3 aerospace aluminum over the damaged cuts. The armor's surface had been polished until it gleamed like new, and the exterior had been repainted in a fresh urban camouflage pattern. Unlike the "battle-damaged" exoskeleton Brother Spring had drawn, Yin Fang had clearly poured far more effort into repairing this "Dragoon," striving to restore it to peak condition rather than settling for "good enough to run." Consequently, when Chu Guang walked in and saw the suit, he nearly failed to recognize it. "You're back? I was just about to report some good news to you!" Seeing Chu Guang enter, Yin Fang halted his work and hurried over, beaming with excitement. "This power armor's condition is practically flawless! Not only are the reactor and battery intact, but even the tactical helmet's holographic display is completely functional! How much did you pay for this thing?" "If I told you I didn't spend a cent, you wouldn't believe me," Chu Guang teased. Yin Fang chuckled. "Why wouldn't I? At most, I'd just say, 'As expected of you.'" *What the hell?* *Do I look like the kind of guy who just leeches free stuff?* Chu Guang rolled his eyes, too lazy to explain, and changed the subject. "I met your grandmaster." "What?" The sudden remark left Yin Fang frozen. Chu Guang continued without pausing, "That Dr. Method." "Meth... od?" Yin Fang snapped back to reality, staring at Chu Guang in astonishment, at a loss for how to react. "Wait... you met Dr. Method? Where? Was it a hologram like before? Or—" "In Shelter 101," Chu Guang cut through his rambling. "He's the Administrator there." A delicate silence fell over the room. Yin Fang took a deep breath to calm himself. Sorting through his jumbled thoughts, he pinched the bridge of his nose and asked after a moment, "What kind of person is he?" Chu Guang thought for a second. "To be honest, not a very likable guy. But that's just my perspective; maybe someone from the Academy would see him differently." Yin Fang's expression turned nuanced. "The Academy's archives contain records about him, describing him as a pessimistic realist. Unbelievable... He was actually in Shelter 101 all along. I always thought he was buried in the Wandering Marsh." At that point, his tone shifted. "Why didn't you invite him out? His presence in the Academy wasn't as prominent as the other two founders, but he still had a considerable following of scholars. If he rallied them, he might have been able to convince quite a few Academy researchers to join you." Seeing Yin Fang looking at him with an odd gaze, Chu Guang offered a helpless shrug. He had indeed entertained that thought. He had even thought about coaxing a few engineers out of there to help with work. After all, if the students they trained were this formidable, their own skills couldn't be lacking. However... "He and the residents of Shelter 101... chose to exist in another form. They uploaded their consciousness into computers. In short, it's virtually impossible for him to step through that door." Yin Fang froze, then looked down in contemplation, murmuring after a long pause, "Hmm... that does sound like his style, though it doesn't entirely match what's written in the books either." Curious, Chu Guang asked, "In what way?" A reminiscent look appeared in Yin Fang's eyes. "The book *Origins of the Academy* describes him as someone who always made discouraging remarks at inappropriate times and brutally told students without talent to switch careers. He was like a cold stone, never making people happy and having no interest in doing anything for others... But he actually did quite a few unnecessary things, didn't he?" "Take Camp 101, for instance. If he decided to spend the rest of his existence in another form, there was no need for him to go through the trouble of teaching those wastelanders arithmetic and literacy, let alone sheltering them." That was indeed an intriguing perspective. Before relinquishing his flesh and blood, that man must have tried all kinds of avenues. And when he finally resolved to put a period on his journey, he surely had no lingering attachments to the physical world. From that standpoint, the creation of Camp 101 was indeed an unnecessary act. Watching Yin Fang lost in thought, Chu Guang pondered for a moment before speaking slowly. "Perhaps such is the complexity of human nature." ... The edge of Qingquan City's West Fifth Ring Road. Walking along the ruined street with a large crate on his back, Dagger of Murder was also feeling conflicted. When he first heard Fang Chang describe this "money-farming" exploit, his initial reaction had been pure excitement, practically itching to donate his own heart to the Alliance's foreign exchange reserves on the spot. Yet with the chilled crate strapped to his back, a heavy sensation suddenly settled over him. "I keep feeling like this business is... a little messed up." He could only blame the game for being too realistic. If it were just a flat texture or a string of numbers in his inventory, he bet he wouldn't be overthinking things at all. Walking beside him, Fang Chang glanced his way, guessing what was on his mind. "Look at it from another angle. If not for us, the ones having their parts harvested would be defenseless survivors, the poor in the slums, or scavengers lost in the wasteland." "Not everyone can afford bionic organs that cost thousands or even tens of thousands of chips. To survive, people will do whatever it takes. So in truth, we're sacrificing ourselves for the greater good." Sha Bi stared at him, dumbfounded. He knew this was twisted logic, but for the life of him, he couldn't figure out how to refute it. *Right.* The parts were harvested from cloned bodies; they hadn't abducted any NPCs who couldn't respawn. So who was taking the loss? It seemed to be the shelter. After all, according to the lore, synthesizing clones in incubation pods required massive amounts of electricity, yet the shelter only charged them for "active substances." Lao Bai, walking nearby, chuckled. "You sure have a whole arsenal of excuses." Fang Chang replied nonchalantly, "Not at all. I'm just playing the game normally. The weird ones are the people projecting real-world morals into a game. Do you feel guilty about killing civilians in GTA V, or hitting the nuclear launch button in Civ VI?" Lao Bai thought for a moment. "Well, no, though hitting the nuclear button definitely leaves you feeling empty afterward." After all, once you started blanketing the entire map in mushroom clouds, the match was pretty much over anyway. The rendezvous point was set on the outskirts of Qingquan City's West Fifth Ring Road. The straight-line distance from Dawn City to here was greater than to Boulder City, but the actual travel time was shorter. Medium-density residential districts covered the suburbs. The Alliance players had explored this area before, but due to low returns, its exploration progress lagged behind the eastern forests. The buyer of these Awakened-grade organs was not Dr. Gracie's clinic, but one of Gracie's clients—a man named Edmund. He had once been Gracie's assistant before catching the eye of Jeff, boss of the Dagger Gang, serving for a time as Jeff's personal physician. Perhaps unsatisfied with the pay, or perhaps for other reasons, Edmund later broke away from the Dagger Gang to strike out on his own in the wasteland, opening a hospital. Though he had never officially named his hospital, the mercenaries familiar with it typically called it Edmund's Clinic, or Edmund's Ranch. As for why it had earned that nickname, nobody knew for sure. In any case, the nobles of the inner city looked down on frail flesh and blood, turning their noses up even at machine replacements reeking of engine oil; only clean, pristine bionic prosthetics met their standards. Consequently, the end-users of biological parts were mostly mercenaries living on the edge, bounty hunters, and even marauders. People who caught bullets regularly didn't care about delicate, high-maintenance components; cheap and durable was the way to go. After all, you never knew when an EMP grenade might hit, turning electronics into a liability. While Awakened parts wouldn't grant someone the powers of an Awakened, they certainly met the requirement of durability. Two thousand chips was a fortune to an ordinary citizen of Boulder City, but for capable mercenaries, it was by no means an unaffordable price. "The Golden Dunes Cinema... it's just ahead." Ye Shi checked his map, his eyes locking onto a relatively tall ruin nearby. "I'll head up there to provide overwatch." "I'll go with him," Kuang Feng said, glancing at Ye Shi before following. After all, conducting business in an unregulated dark zone called for caution. "Alright, stay safe." Watching the two disappear around the corner of the alley, Fang Chang waved to the group ahead. "Keep moving." The twenty-odd players continued forward. The abandoned cinema stood at the other end of the street, its half-collapsed ruins fortified into a bastion. None of the interactive holographic horror films screened here two centuries ago could compare to the reality two centuries later. Because people had truly died here. And quite a few of them, at that. Renal Fighter stared at the structure for a moment, then muttered, "Why does this feel like a marauder den to me?" Fang Chang didn't speak, but his brows furrowed slightly. Put that way, it really did have that vibe. The blood-smeared wooden stakes and the bits of flesh and severed limbs hanging from them instinctively reminded him of the Bloodhand Clan from several patches ago. Yet this was also the trickiest part of the game. Marauders didn't wear their titles on their foreheads, nor was there a definitive standard to classify them. While the players examined the building, pairs of hidden eyes within were sizing them up as well. Just then, the door opened. A bare-chested brute stepped out, flanked by four henchmen. A thick stench of blood radiated from him, so heavy it was practically visible. Halting about twenty meters from Fang Chang, he tilted his chin up. "Where's the goods?" "Right here." Fang Chang glanced at the crates carried by the players beside him, then looked back at the man. "Are you Edmund?" "Dr. Edmund is performing surgery. I'm his apprentice; you can call me Iron Thorn." The brute grinned and glanced at one of his lackeys. The gaunt man understood instantly, bringing forward two cases, undoing the latches, and opening them to reveal rows of green chips in denominations of twenty-five. Fang Chang didn't move. Instead, he darted a glance toward a nearby building, where the cold gleam of a machine gun barrel was visible in the shadow of a window. Noticing his gaze, the brute named Iron Thorn smiled. "Don't mind that. We keep our word. After all, only honest business lasts, doesn't it?" "The chips are all here. Want to count them?" Fang Chang nodded and stepped forward. Just then, his gaze drifted past the brute's shoulder, catching sight of the oval iron cages lined up inside the courtyard gate. Inside were men and women, mostly under thirty, some not even twenty. Their hair was matted and their faces obscured by grime, clad in tattered rags or nothing at all. The scene was an exact mirror of what he had witnessed in the Bloodhand Clan's stronghold. The only difference was that these people hadn't been thrown into dark, damp pits—because the butchers here needed healthy organs. Meeting those despairing eyes, Fang Chang felt his chest tighten. *Just what kind of people am I doing business with?* Halting his leaden legs, he brought his gaze back to the man's face. "Who are they?" "Them?" Iron Thorn paused, glancing back at the iron cages behind the gate. Turning back with a hearty, indifferent laugh, he said, "Oh, those... Just scavengers, some folks handed over for gambling debts, or rejects discarded by the cloning facilities." "Though they're in luck. Our clients are far more interested in Awakened parts. Until we find buyers for them, they get to stay alive a bit longer." That tone and expression, treating human beings like cattle, made several players physically uncomfortable. Lao Bai subtly averted his eyes. His feelings toward *Wasteland OL* fell somewhere between Cut the Crap and Fang Chang. Simply put, he didn't treat the game entirely as a real world, but neither did he approach it purely as a detached gamer. He wouldn't use his own moral standards to judge other players' in-game actions, nor would in-game events affect his real-world emotions. Even so, if invited on another run like this, he would probably decline. Looking at the man and the chips in the cases, Fang Chang fell silent for a moment. Then, as if reaching an epiphany, he let out a sigh. "If this were *Stellaris*, I wouldn't feel a shred of guilt turning an entire planet of living people into canned rations." "Yet in some games, taking a single can of food from an old couple's house leaves me conflicted for half a day." The brute blinked, his brow knitting as he stared at the player. "The hell are you babbling about?" He couldn't understand a single word; it didn't sound like any language he knew. All he could sense was that the atmosphere around this man had turned distinctly wrong. Fang Chang paid him no mind, completely ignoring the slight shifting of the man's feet as he continued muttering in that incomprehensible tongue. "Nothing." "I just suddenly realized... doing business with people like you would spoil my appetite for dinner tonight." Standing behind Fang Chang, Lao Bai, whose expression had been conflicted moments before, finally broke into a wide, hearty grin. "Haha, I knew you'd say that!"