I Said Drawn, Not Random

Morning sunlight crept through the slit between the curtains, spilling over a pair of slender brows and a straight, handsome nose bridge. Fluttering his closed eyelashes, Fang Chang had not yet opened his eyes fully when he sensed a pair of bright eyes gazing at him. Upon being discovered, those eyes did not dart away. Instead, they blinked in playful amusement. "You sleep so quietly. Not a single sound." And what's more... He didn't react even when someone played tricks on him. A gentle smile broke across his relaxed, sleepy face as Fang Chang reached out to ruffle her fluffy short green hair. "...When did you wake up?" "An hour before you." With both hands propping up her fair chin, Dolly lay on her stomach atop the soft bedding, gently swaying her feet. Soaking in the warmth atop her head, she squinted her lashes in lazy contentment. She cherished this feeling of intimacy. He was the only one who didn't mind the scent of machine oil wafting from her left arm or her slightly distorted left eye. "By the way, food here is so cheap... Five big meat buns for just six silver coins! I bought some milk, too. Oh right, do you prefer your milk hot or cold?" "Hmm... Warmed in hot water would be best." "Understood!" That shock of emerald-green hair stirred a gust of breeze as she slipped lightly out of the bedroom. Watching her sprightly departing figure, the corners of Fang Chang's lips curled into a smile. This was his house in Dawn City—a two-story cottage. The floor area was a little over two hundred square meters, fronted by a courtyard of over a hundred square meters, located near Ling Lake Wetland Park and not far from the respawn point. As their contribution tier climbed, the land area players could purchase increased accordingly. Most players who joined early in the game bought land by the park, while post-beta players preferred settling to the north, where there was more hustle and bustle, closer to NPCs and the downtown save point. Even though they rarely stayed there in person, mostly using the properties as warehouses... Fang Chang had been the same before. That was why the house had barely any furniture at first, and Dolly had helped clean it up. That included the potted succulent on the windowsill and the bouquet in the planter, which they had bought together at the market on the night of the festival. Fang Chang dressed and got up. He checked himself in the mirror, dawdled a bit, and then made his way to the dining room, where he saw petite, lovely Dolly already seated by the dining table. Both of her hands cupped a meat bun so huge it barely fit her palms, and she took a bite with an expression of pure bliss. Players had hearty appetites, so Alliance meat buns were typically made enormous; an ordinary person could usually be filled to seventy or eighty percent by just one. The other four on the table were clearly left for him. "You haven't eaten yet?" Pulling out a chair, Fang Chang sat down across from her. "Waiting for you, of course." Dolly answered matter-of-factly, swallowed her food, and continued in a cheerful voice. "Speaking of which, are you going out again today?" "Today... there are no missions. I plan to take a day off." Fang Chang smiled, gazing at her as he added, "Is there anywhere you want to go? I can walk around with you." He intended to spend the entire day by her side. "Really?!" Dolly's eyes lit up with sudden delight. Soon, however, she read an unusual hint in his expression, and she lowered her head dejectedly. Fang Chang paused slightly, about to ask if she felt unwell. Staring at the bun with a bite taken out of it, Dolly suddenly whispered, "Are you... going away on a long trip again?" Startled by her sharp intuition, Fang Chang's Adam's apple bobbed, and he gave a slight nod. "Yeah." He had ultimately made up his mind to go see the East Coast. You only live once. That was the rule in Wasteland OL. Yet this was a game world after all, and a game world was destined never to be completely identical to reality. His ability to respawn was the best proof of that. He didn't count on convincing Ah Guang to risk his job just to modify the game's mechanics for him or open up a backdoor cheat in the backend. As a professional gamer, since this was a problem encountered within the game, he would solve it with the game's own methods! Before logging on, he had combed through the lore database multiple times. All signs pointed to Ideal City on the East Coast having mastered mature AI technology. Drawing from Shelter 101's precedent, writing consciousness onto a circuit board should theoretically work! He had never thought about turning Dolly into an AI. Virtual life was still life. She might not have a physical body in reality—at least not yet—but she was undeniably a living person living in this virtual world. She had the right to decide how she lived her life. And yet— This was a tragic world after all. If... he meant only if, by some misfortune, she met with an accident and he failed to protect her in time, he hoped to at least preserve a backup for her on this server, ensuring her data wouldn't be purged by the system. When Wasteland OL officially entered open beta someday in the future, truly opening to the entire globe... He would track down that company. Even if it cost him every penny he had, he would buy out her data. He had promised to show her his world... And that didn't just mean the Alliance. However, Fang Chang hadn't told Dolly any of this—firstly because he didn't know where to start, and secondly because of the explicit rules written in black and white in the Player Manual. By sheer coincidence, after he made up his mind to sign up, he actually drew that flight ticket to Ideal City. Such a stroke of luck almost made him wonder if it had been arranged by fate. Perhaps his plan truly stood a chance of succeeding... Dolly asked in a small voice, "When?" "Tomorrow." "Are you going to the front lines?" Noticing the mist gathering over her bright eyes, Fang Chang hurriedly explained, "Not the front lines. The destination this time is very safe. It's Ideal City." "Ideal City..." Dolly was taken aback, then murmured, "The one on the East Coast?" She had indeed heard of it. It was an overwhelmingly prosperous place of neon lights and unrestrained indulgence... a city that even the nobles of the inner city spoke of with immense longing and an aching desire to visit at least once. Fang Chang nodded gently. "Yes, an official diplomatic mission." "That's so far..." Dolly's expression dimmed slightly, and she mumbled, "I heard it's over three thousand kilometers away..." "It's not like I'm walking there. Three thousand kilometers by plane won't take long at all, faster than flying from here to Boulder City," Fang Chang said with a smile. Dolly asked quietly, "Then when will you be back?" "Not sure... Maybe a few days, maybe a week, or even a month, but at most two months," Fang Chang sighed, a touch of worry surfacing in his eyes. "And when I get back, I probably won't be able to stay long before... war breaks out again." Dolly said nothing, silently nibbling on her bun. Silence hung between the two for a while. Just as Fang Chang hesitated over how to explain further, Dolly suddenly spoke up. "Go ahead. Even though I don't want to part with you, I don't want to hold you back... You must have agonized over this for a long time before telling me, right?" Fang Chang blinked, looking in surprise at the bright-eyed girl before him. Seeing his reaction at having his thoughts read, Dolly curved her lips, her mood lifting slightly, and continued in a pleasant voice, "Looks like you don't know me well enough yet. I'm not the kind of girl who clings to you all day long. I'm a reporter, you know! I have a job too." Didn't you quit? Fang Chang chose to keep his mouth shut, opting not to poke holes in such an inconsequential detail. With tilted lips, Dolly went on in an easygoing tone, "Go on. It'd be such a waste to pass up an opportunity like this. You should travel more. I heard Ideal City is far more prosperous than Boulder City. If you see anything novel, you have to tell me when you get back, okay? Oh, right, right! Remember to take plenty of photos. I can use them for my articles." At that point... Her melodious voice suddenly dropped several decibels. "And... while I permit you to leave me behind for a little while, I... I forbid you from falling for anyone else out there." Looking at Dolly, who had been acting carefree just a second ago only to turn guarded and fretful the next, Fang Chang didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Am I that kind of person?" He admitted he had watched some unusual performances at the Queen of the Night bar before, but that had purely been out of curiosity and gathering intelligence. He could swear to that damn game dev Ah Guang that, apart from some idle vanity talk, he had never done anything inappropriate. Dolly let out a soft huff, adopted an indifferent expression, and took another bite of her bun. "Who knows? Just like your buddies—do they know that beneath your refined, gentle exterior lurks the heart of a beast?" "Pfft—" Hearing that, Fang Chang nearly spat out a mouthful of milk. What kind of damn metaphor was that?! Watching her boyfriend cough and wipe his mouth, Dolly, holding her big meat bun, smiled cheerfully. "Anyway, if you do anything behind my back, I'll..." Tossing aside his napkin, Fang Chang shot the mischievous girl a "fierce" glare. "You'll what?" Showing off her pearly white teeth, Dolly took an exaggerated bite of her bun. "I'll bite you to death!" ... Far to the west. Endless dunes. Billowing sands obscured the sky, buffeting two men and a camel as they trudged across the boundless desert. After an unknown duration of howling winds, the clamorous sandstorm finally died down. Yet the torment for the two travelers was far from over. Without the dust to block it, the blazing sun baked the earth like a furnace, as if determined to scorch every trace of moisture out of the sand. Finally unable to walk another step, Korwei collapsed face-first onto the scalding sand. Hearing the noise behind him, Battlefield Guy turned around with great effort, stumbled back step by step, and reached down to pull him up. "Hey, wake up..." He called out for a long while with no response; it looked like heatstroke. Staring at the half-dead man lying on the ground, Battlefield Guy felt a wave of distress. If this guy died, his entire past week of hard work would be down the drain. What now? CPR? Mouth-to-mouth? Glancing at those dry, withered lips, his throat bobbed. He hesitated endlessly, completely unable to bring himself to do it. A surge of sorrow welled up inside him. Damn it all! That bastard Fang Chang gets to flirt with his NPC babe every single day, so why do I have to drag dead weight across the desert?! I'm the one who actually needed that scarf, alright?! Curse this... Suddenly, those two "withered twigs" parted slightly, wheezing out a faint syllable. "Wa... ter..." Hearing that weak whisper, Battlefield Guy let out a sigh of relief, cutting off his internal cursing. As long as he was alive! Dragging Korwei over to the camel, he unhooked the canteen from the camel's back and shook it. Hearing a tiny splash left inside, he unscrewed the cap and brought it to the half-dead man's lips. "Here." Feeling fresh water against his lips, Korwei's eyes bulged. Driven by pure survival instinct, he clamped both hands around the canteen, veins bulging on his wrists. Only a single mouthful remained in the canteen, but his throat swallowed for a long time. Once not a single drop was left, he gave it a disappointed shake and tossed it onto the sand. Looking at Pangolin, his savior, Korwei's eyes were filled with gratitude. "Thank you..." Battlefield Guy shook his head to signal it wasn't necessary, picking up the canteen along the way. "Can you keep walking?" Korwei forced himself to nod. "I can..." Battlefield Guy nodded in response, turned back to the camel, and took up the reins once more. Their fresh water was gone. If they couldn't reach an oasis soon, their only option would be to butcher the camel... Half a month ago, the Legion had suffered a crushing defeat around Ruigu City in southern River Valley Province. Their various units were scattered, the routed troops unable to coordinate between vanguard and rearguard, resulting in countless dead, wounded, and deserters. Compounded by the defection of Fallen Leaves Camp, Korwei had nearly died amidst the chaotic rout. It was only thanks to Pangolin's help that he managed to escape the wastelanders' gun barrels. Their journey since then had been fraught with hardship. At first, they had plenty of supplies, and besides this ruthless fighter Pangolin, Korwei was accompanied by several personal guards. However, those cunning wastelanders didn't play by the rules. Dissatisfied with merely taking Fallen Leaves Camp, they pursued in trucks. The antiaircraft machine guns mounted on the truck beds roared, and his guards were shredded into sieves by the quad-mount antiaircraft fire while shielding him. Fortunately, Pangolin had acted swiftly, snatching up a discarded rifle to spray fire in return, blowing up the truck's engine block and narrowly escorting him out alive. In this manner, the two evaded the Alliance's pursuit and finally crossed the border of River Valley Province, entering this desert bathed in sunset glow. Yet before Korwei could rejoice in surviving the catastrophe, he discovered that the true nightmare had only just begun. Sandstorms. Day-night temperature swings of nearly forty degrees Celsius. Arthropod mutants roaming the sands, merciless sand bandits, slave-hunting parties... Word was that the Bear clan, an offshoot of the Bone Chewer tribe, was active in the area as well. Fortunately, they had crossed paths with a caravan along the way. Pangolin used the dinars awarded to him by General Macklen to buy a camel and some supplies, which had allowed them to make it this far. Still... If they couldn't find an oasis soon, Korwei felt their journey was drawing to a close. Gazing at the hazy vista ahead, he panted faintly and asked, "How much further do we have..." "Almost there... We should reach the southwest of Oasis No. 9 before nightfall." Battlefield Guy unfolded the paper map in his hands, measuring against his compass for a moment. Truth be told, this was his first time in Sunset Province as well. Without an electronic map, he had no idea where he was. Sunset Province was roughly the size of the Western Regions back on Earth. There was nothing but sand all around. Aside from the occasional cactus, shrub patch, or clump of tumbleweed, there were zero landmarks. He could only trudge in a rough direction. Whether they could make it before dark, he had no clue. However, upon hearing "almost there," Korwei, following behind him, felt a rekindled spark of hope for survival, and his limping steps quickened. "Thank you... If not for you, I would have died at the hands of those barbarians long ago. Once we reach the military camp at Oasis No. 9, I will definitely recommend you to General Griffin!" An honest, simple smile appeared on Battlefield Guy's face. "It is my honor to serve you!" Watching this man who stood by his side through thick and thin, Korwei couldn't help but be moved by his loyalty. Perhaps... Not all wastelanders were ugly, insidious, deceitful, wicked, ignorant, and beyond saving. Just like right now, that simple, unvarnished soul was practically shining. Stared at so intensely by those two eyes, Battlefield Guy felt a chill run down his spine, his scalp tingling with dread. Could this guy be into dudes? Right at that moment, a herd of cattle suddenly appeared over a nearby dune. Unlike the two-headed oxen of River Valley Province, these had thick brown coats and only a single head. Their droopy eyelids made them look docile, and horns as thick as tree trunks grew from either side of their skulls. Battlefield Guy instinctively thought of the Ankara longhorn. Looking closer, they indeed bore a resemblance, though their build was noticeably sturdier. In front of the herd stood an old man cloaked in a mantle, wrapped in strips of cloth, draped with bizarre ornaments, and carrying an old-fashioned revolving hunting shotgun on his shoulder. Looking like a local herder, he was gazing in their direction. "There's someone ahead! Looks like a local herder." Hearing Pangolin's voice, Korwei looked up and instinctively pulled his collar higher, burying half his face—especially shielding his prominent bridge. The allied forces of the Falcon Kingdom and the Legion were invading the Lion Kingdom. Without confirming whether this was occupied territory, recklessly exposing his identity was a terrible idea. Battlefield Guy gave him an inconspicuous glance. Seems these "mighty Wellents" possessed some self-awareness regarding how unwelcome they were around here. Seeing Korwei cast a pleading look his way, Battlefield Guy didn't tease him. He stumbled forward, looked at the herder with the shotgun, and asked, "Friend, we're merchants from River Valley Province. We lost our luggage to sand bandits on the road... Could you tell us where this is?" The old man scrutinized him for a moment with a skeptical expression, but ultimately refrained from asking too much, parting his parched lips to say, "Golden Lizard." Battlefield Guy froze, failing to understand the term, and echoed the syllables, "Golden Lizard?" The old man nodded, the suspicion on his face deepening. Traveling merchants who had never heard of the Golden Lizard? How had this guy made it here? "This is Oasis No. 8, in northeastern Sunset Province, ruled by the Golden Lizard Dynasty. If you plan to head toward the northern marshlands, keep walking north until you see a mountain range. Crossing over will take you out of this desert..." "No. 8..." Bewilderment crept into Battlefield Guy's eyes, and he hurriedly pressed, "How far is Oasis No. 9 from here?" "Oasis No. 9? If that was your destination, you went way off course. To get to Oasis No. 9, you have to head southwest for several hundred kilometers... back the way you came, just slanted a bit more to the west." The old man casually pointed with his walking stick. Looking at the bewildered young man, he smiled faintly. "Still, it's not entirely a bad thing. There's a war going on over there; heading there right now is no good idea... That you drifted here by mistake might be the will of the Desert Spirit." Battlefield Guy swallowed hard. Turning back now was utterly unrealistic. Several hundred kilometers... With their meager supplies, they wouldn't even make it halfway before dying on the road. "We need to replenish fresh water... Could you tell us where to find a water source?" Seeing that the young man didn't look like a villain, the elder glanced back at the dune behind him. "Over that sand dune and another kilometer ahead, there's a village with plenty of passing merchants... It just so happens I'm heading back, so I'll lead you there." ... Around log-off time that evening. Returning to the real world, the moment Battlefield Guy took off his helmet, the very first thing he did was bolt to the refrigerator in the kitchen, grab an ice-cold Coke, and chug it down in one glorious go. Only when he felt close to drowning did he return to his room, sit in his chair, and burp as he booted up his computer, logging into the official forum to start a thread. "FUCK MY LIFE!" Commander Spring: "What's up, bro?" Battlefield Atmosphere Group: "Didn't I pick up an undercover mission? I'm so pissed off!" Indebted Big Eye: "Holy crap, you're still on that mission?" Battlefield Atmosphere Group: "What else? I've come this far. If I drop it now, wouldn't all that damn walking be for nothing?" Fang Chang: "Is this the sunk cost fallacy? (Side-eye)" Ye Shi: "Still, it's almost mid-July. You haven't done anything else along the way, just walking for so long without arriving... Isn't that ridiculously far?" Kuang Feng: "At thirty kilometers a day, that's at least over four hundred kilometers." Battlefield Atmosphere Group: "It's not that I haven't arrived, I overshot it!" Jieyan: "What the hell do you mean 'overshot'?!" Battlefield Atmosphere Group: "I don't know what kind of ghost town this is either. Locals say it's Oasis No. 8, territory of the Golden Lizard Kingdom... Any further north and you're out of Sunset Province." Heading east for another month would reach the Great Rift Valley, while north led to marshlands—supposedly where the Wandering Marsh was located. Battlefield Guy had wanted to check it out, but Korwei, that dead weight, insisted on reporting back to the Legion. While the allure of a new map was significant, a unique hidden mission was undeniably more important. Right now, he was working at a quarry near the small town to scrounge up travel expenses. Although he had plenty of silver coins in his account, they were unusable without a VM. Besides, the locals didn't accept them. The circulating currency was the local Golden Lizard coin—a large gold coin stamped with a golden lizard—followed by currency from the Great Rift Valley, and then the Legion's dinars. After recounting his miserable ordeal, everyone felt a mix of sympathy and sheer admiration. Walking continuously through the desert for nearly half a month... That level of perseverance was seriously impressive! Commander Spring: "Awesome! You set a new record for map exploration!" Construction Boy and Bricks: "True... I don't think anyone has traveled that far out yet, right?" Canyon Fugitive Mole: "Doesn't count. In a couple of days, your bro is flying to Yunjian Province—three thousand kilometers straight to shatter the record! There in a single day! (Smug)" Commander Spring: "Holy crap?! The winners were announced already?!" Brother Edge: "You drew it, you bastard?!" Canyon Fugitive Mole: "Let your bro scout the road first and see what this Ideal City actually looks like. Don't worry, I'll bring back photos. (Smug)" Reading the words on screen, Battlefield Guy nearly belched up the Coke he had just chugged. Flying three thousand kilometers in a single day. Fuck my life! It was fine until he brought it up, but now he was seething. Indebted Big Eye: "Wait, weren't there two tickets? Who drew the other one?" Ye Shi: "Besides Brother Guang's number one bootlicker, who else could it be? (Smug)" The moment that reply dropped... The thread instantly erupted. Elaina: "Damn it! Why didn't my fried dried mantis get picked! Am I not worthy?!" Elven King Fugui: "I'll toss it in for you. (Smug)" Teng Teng: "I'm crying, wasn't maid outfits the meta answer? QAQ" Tail: "Eh, eh, eh? Sisi's black stockings aren't allowed?!!! ∑(°Д°ノ)ノ" Sisi: "...?" Commander Spring: "Holy crap, rigged!! This is definitely rigged!" I'm the Darkest: "You have the nerve to talk about things being rigged!" Commander Spring: "... (Sweating)" Battlefield Atmosphere Group: "@#%***!" The same official site, the same bottle of Coke... A different world. Sitting before his computer, Chu Guang chuckled as he watched the little players crying foul and flaming his game dev persona in the thread. He admitted it. The candidates sent to Ideal City were indeed handpicked by him. Yet calling it rigged? He wouldn't accept that. "Your Lordship said 'drawn,' not 'random.'" Diplomacy was no trivial matter. Rolling for gear casually didn't matter; winning made people happy, and an extra item or two wouldn't shift the tide of a war. However, for a mission as crucial as visiting a "fallen empire," could he just pick any random player and toss them over? Give me a break. Still, what surprised Chu Guang was that he had expected Fang Chang to take a break for a while—at least spending a honeymoon with his little girlfriend. He hadn't expected the guy to resolutely shoulder his pack and embark on a journey for the future of the Alliance. Chu Guang gave a slight shake of his head, unwrapped a lollipop, popped it into his mouth, and murmured indistinctly to himself. "Men... tsk tsk, truly heartless." In this world, everything came with a price. Choosing to tell a cruel story in the style of a fairy tale meant accepting the protagonist's naivety and innocence behind their bravery. Always being able to see the sun three days later... Meant never truly being "alive" in the fullest sense. One counterintuitive truth was that only spectator players imagined this to be a real world based on snippets from the forums. The players who had genuinely obtained closed-beta access—those who had set foot in this world with their own two feet—would only ever view it as a virtual reality infinitely close to real. No matter how close an unprovable hypothesis came to the truth, it could only remain a hypothesis. And the complexity of human nature lay in its endless doubt—doubting the world while doubting oneself, wandering lost within a labyrinth of countless possibilities. He had no need to clarify anything, nor would he address any of those rumors. Great causes were always achieved through open strategy, with no need for underhanded schemes to cover them up. Not only would he refuse to deny it, he would even use his developer persona to openly joke with players that Wasteland OL was a real world and that he was the deity who created it. After all, nobody would believe him anyway. Those entirely ignorant of the truth would indulge in conspiracy theories, speculating that this was a classified national experiment conducted by some mega-corporation, aimed at testing unreleased technology or pursuing some secretive Human Instrumentality Project. Those grasping a tiny fraction of the "truth" would view things from a slightly broader perspective, regarding Wasteland OL as an enlightenment bestowed upon Earth's civilization by a higher civilization using cultural forms humans could comprehend—and a benevolent enlightenment at that, since there was no direct evidence proving malicious intent. To see the full picture of the grand design, one had to view it from a god's perspective—or at least stand in his shoes. Therefore... His dear friend would probably never realize that this was not a game at all, and that the person he loved was not some strings of code stored on a server. She was a flesh-and-blood human being. Yet before the future of civilization, personal happiness was insignificant. Over the past two centuries, far too many people had sacrificed everything for it. Chu Guang would wish that couple could go on forever, but he could never allow the predetermined plan to bear undue risks for the sake of two individuals. In truth, knowing a little less wasn't necessarily a bad thing. So many married couples in reality knew every mole on each other's bodies, yet didn't necessarily grow old together. He could remain the hero in that girl's heart who "saved her from the darkness," while he could always view her as a 2D waifu living in the cloud. He wasn't the first player to develop feelings beyond friendship for an NPC, nor would he be the last. And contemplation over whether virtual life counted as life would accompany this game into eternity. Actually, if Wasteland OL were understood as an enlightenment of Earth's civilization by an advanced one—sparking reflection across the entire player base and even society at large—that wouldn't be a bad thing. Sooner or later, technologies that once existed in this world would be reborn on the other Earth. Politics concerned the affairs of the masses, and governance was the art of administration; selectively withholding and granting the truth was itself part of politics. That secretive, magnificent darkness— He would shoulder it alone. "Hehe... hehehe..." Watching Chu Guang immersed in his own world, Xiao Qi, sitting on the desk, tilted her head slightly. Though she didn't know what had happened, she felt as though Master had won yet again... ... At the airfield south of Dawn City, an "Orca" transport plane rested steadily on the runway. Airfield personnel were busy loading crates of cargo into the hold. Stepping through the morning sun with a backpack slung over his shoulders, Fang Chang met his partners for the trip. Brother Mole, leader of the Skeleton Corps. And— Shu Yu, who had served as director of Shelter 404's Boulder City liaison office and Alliance ambassador to Boulder City. Fang Chang still remembered that when this young man first traveled to Boulder City, it was he and Lao Bai's group who served as escorts. Back then, there was no Alliance. Nor was there a Dawn City. Their party had run into marauders on the road. Though no one was hurt, the young man had been frightened half to death, his face stiff with tension the entire journey. Who would have guessed that in less than a year, he had matured into a seasoned diplomat, perfectly poised even when entrusted with a major mission to Ideal City, casually chatting and laughing with the transport pilot? Fang Chang couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Chaotic times truly produced heroes. He remembered how their Administrator had been green at the start too, repeatedly ripped off by unscrupulous merchants. Nowadays, within a hundred miles, which crooked merchant would dare cross him without losing the shirts off their backs? Still... Wasn't one year a bit too fast? Presumably, to optimize the players' gameplay experience, the growth rate of Alliance NPCs had been accelerated. Fang Chang mused to himself. Just then, Shu Yu concluded his conversation with the pilot and walked toward him. "Those crates being loaded into the hold are the gifts we're bringing to Ideal City." "What's inside?" Fang Chang asked out of curiosity. "Some are products manufactured by the Alliance's industrial zone, while others were prepared by the shelter's residents." Shu Yu politely handed Fang Chang a tablet, continuing with a smile, "I'll handle promoting the former, while the latter is entrusted to you." Fang Chang nodded and took it with ease. Promoting Alliance culture and products was part of the mission, and it had already updated on his VM. The flight ticket hadn't come for free. In exchange, he needed to leverage his eloquence and improvisation to make Alliance products all the rage in Ideal City. The East Coast market was far more important than the petty pickings right on their doorstep! However, Brother Mole, standing nearby, was displeased and immediately jumped up upon hearing this. "Wait, what about me?" Why don't I have a mission?! Looking at the Skeleton Corps commander, Shu Yu paused, then smiled. "Uh, you are primarily responsible for the delegation's security... Of course, Ideal City is very safe, so you can do product promotions together." Mole instinctively raised his VM to check, but no new mission was displayed. What was the point if it didn't trigger a mission?! Seeing Brother Mole glaring at him with bitter resentment, Fang Chang knew the guy was probably green with envy. He chuckled and flashed the tablet in his hands boastfully. "Sorry, brother... Looks like the Administrator also thinks I'm better suited for sales." "Tch, isn't it just because you have the face of a crooked merchant?" Mole remarked sourly. "If you envy my handsome face, just say so." Fang Chang smiled nonchalantly, swiping his index finger across the tablet. Light blue text appeared. Yet the instant his eyes fell upon the very first line of the gift manifest, his entire expression froze solid. Qipaos, maid outfits, gothic lolita dresses, evening gowns, art crafts possibly made in Yiwu... Along with black stockings and white stockings. What the hell was all this?! Of course, the manifest clearly contained more than just clothing, but the very first line had already broken his brain. These were... all women's clothing, weren't they? How the hell was he supposed to promote this? Did the Administrator assign the mission to the wrong person?! Noticing the shift in Fang Chang's expression, Mole seemed to deduce something. He leaned over to take a peek. The moment he saw the first line of the merchandise manifest, a thievish, wicked grin broke across his face, and he patted Fang Chang heavily on the shoulder. "...It's fine, brother! I heard that back in the sixteenth century, only noble, high-society gentlemen had the privilege of wearing white stockings—" "Get the hell out of here!"