I've Got to Give Credit Where It's Due, Ah Guang Pays Insane Attention to Detail!

Finding a latrine pit to squat over, he logged out. Battlefield Guy compiled this rather pungent intelligence into a document. However, he didn't post it immediately. Instead, he returned to the game first, following Korwei on the road toward the Legion's frontline command post. If he kept that guy waiting too long and Korwei found him sitting in a pit staring blankly into space, it would be awfully hard to explain... By the time night fell, the peak login and logout rush for players had arrived. Battlefield Guy spent a solid half-hour putting the finishing touches on the intelligence before delightfully dropping it into a thread on the forum. Just as he had expected, the moment the fresh intel went live, it instantly drew the attention of the players. Within a single minute, dozens of comments popped up beneath the post. Tail: "Whoa whoa whoa! Black orcs!" Sisi: "Ooh! Impressive, but it sounds like they just slapped a new coat of paint on the model, doesn't it? (Squint)" Big Eyes in Debt: "So... it's just the outpost of a single thousand-man cohort? That intel's a little weak, Brother Pangolin. (Doge)" Commander Spring: "Still, the equipment specs are quite interesting. Too bad the captives we took before were all Air Force and knew nothing about army gear." Construction Site Youth and Bricks: "Speaking of which, how did Korwei know all that? Isn't he an officer from the Heart of Iron?" Commander Spring: "His direct superior is Rachel, who belongs to the Air Marines and is responsible for training the Retinue Army. Maybe he's more knowledgeable about ground combat equipment? Or perhaps he served in the ground forces before?" Brother Edge: "Plausible! No wonder we couldn't squeeze anything out of the prisoners before." Elaina: "Not bad, bro, you racked up some merits! (Doge)" "..." Everyone pitched in to help analyze the intelligence—some breaking down the gear's characteristics to identify weaknesses, while others took the chance to brag and goof off amid the commotion. "Damn it! You bastards have ridiculous standards!" "Yours truly risked his neck bringing this intel back, be grateful!" Sitting before his computer screen, Battlefield Guy rolled his eyes and rapidly clattered away on his keyboard to reply. Right after, he excitedly hammered F5, glancing at the clock in the bottom-right corner while watching the reply count surge upward. The trending list! This time, it was definitely in the bag! In truth, making the trending list carried no actual reward. Ah Guang had already marked his thread as a featured post, and the quest reward for gathering intelligence had already arrived in his account. Yet vanity was human nature. To put it more formally, it was self-actualization, right at the peak of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Having never received this much attention before, Battlefield Guy wanted to see what it felt like to top the trending board and experience being viewed by the crowd with "adoring eyes." Yet once the replies reached 522, the view count hit a bottleneck. The discussion was still limited to the same few people, all familiar usernames. His surging excitement turned into anxiety. Battlefield Guy backed out of the thread to glance at the forum index, but that one look nearly made him cough up a mouthful of blood. Good grief. His spot on the trending list had been snatched away again! This time, however, it hadn't been stolen by Fang Chang; Brother Mole had snuck in and backdoored the objective. Indeed. Even the hype surrounding the 100-million-Cr investment had been instantly eclipsed by Brother Mole's post. "Playing a Virtual Reality Game Inside a Completely Realistic Virtual Reality Game—" "Brothers! The easter egg in the new map is absolutely mind-blowing! You can actually play other VR games inside a VR game! But real talk, an easter egg is just an easter egg. Compared to 'Wasteland Online,' those games aren't realistic enough. Not only can the sensory feedback not fully measure up, the NPCs are pretty stiff, and the genres are far too homogeneous!" "The bestseller list is entirely open-world, and the genre is purely role-playing. While there's an insane amount of content and the maps are ridiculously massive, they have zero distinctive character. Rather than calling them games, they feel more like virtual communities packaged as games!" "Strictly speaking, it's a relatively advanced concept. If you spend ages immersing yourself in those worlds, you probably could experience a wide variety of fun—like playing a wizard or an astronaut exploring the cosmos... but you rarely see those raw, straightforward, creative gameplay mechanics here." "Later, I analyzed it closely, and considering the background of Ideal City, it's actually not hard to understand why it turned out this way." "On the surface, this prosperous metropolis seems to birth new things every single day, yet its capacity for innovation is actually suppressed." "Most industries are either controlled by the Five Megacorporations or indirectly held through majority stakes. A whopping 99.9% of game studios are subsidiaries under the 'internet giant' Endpoint Group. The titles they produce all run on the same platform, use the same development tools, and pull from the exact same asset libraries. Naturally, they turn into reskinned assembly-line products." "I've got to give credit where it's due, Ah Guang pays insane attention to detail!!" Less than half an hour after the thread went up, thousands of replies had already accumulated below it. It wasn't just active players joining the spectacle. Even backseat spectators flooded in to join the fun. Tail: "Whoa! Spread the word, Ah Guang's too thin! Mole said so!" Meat Mountain Big Momo: "Stop right there, Tail, do you want your account banned?!" Tail: "!!! That was Sisi posting from my phone just now!" Sisi: "?!" Cheerful Netizen: "I'm crying. I haven't even seen a helmet yet, and these lucky bastards are already playing VR games inside a VR game! QAQ" Tyrannosaurus Warrior: "Can some kind soul send me a helmet? Please cover the shipping fee; I'm still a student, can you send it with free shipping? T.T" I'm the Darkest: "Hahahahaha, isn't this map made for me?! Quick, give me a flight ticket! I'm going to Ideal City! I want to make games and drop albums, I'm going to be the King of Entertainment!!! (Flailing)" Lightning King Professor Yang: "Wake up. Can you start a company in Ideal City? Even if you do, can you secure investment? Even if you secure investment and make a game, can you get it listed on Endpoint Group's Endpoint Cloud? (Doge)" Fang Chang: "That is indeed a problem. Setting aside visa issues, public intel from the official website shows that aside from Kangmao Group, whose attitude remains ambiguous, Endpoint Group has the lowest favorability toward us among the five megacorporations." Yaya: "But our videos are still spreading on Endpoint Cloud, so why is that? (Curious)" Fang Chang: "Completely normal. The five megacorporations engage in continuous games of leverage against one another, so they inevitably hold stakes in certain links of each other's industrial chains. For example, Silverwing Group invests in video platforms, just as Changge Group uses operating systems developed by software firms under Endpoint Group in its smart weapons." Brother Edge: "Oh man... I feel like my brain's melting. Just tell me where to charge. (Headache)" Battlefield Atmosphere Group: "Fuck!!! (Flailing)" Ye Shi: "...?" *** Inside the shelter, Chu Guang, who was lurking on the forums in front of his monitor, nodded with satisfaction. Not bad. Militarily, he had Battlefield Guy helping scout intelligence; economically, he had Fang Chang pulling in foreign investment. Working both sides at the same time, he was shearing wool from both the Legion and the Enterprise. With these two masterminds in hand, why worry about failing to take a mere Sunset Province? Just then, Xiao Qi, sitting atop the desk, whispered softly, "Master, look at Fang Chang's thread. So many people are crying shady behind-the-scenes dealings." Chu Guang casually clicked open Fang Chang's post. Seeing the guy patiently explaining things to the rowdy goofball netizens, he chuckled softly and remarked dismissively, "Let them talk. It's not like this is the first time." The complaint boiled down to a single point: *You went to the new map as a tester, so why are you the first one reaping the benefits from it?* If this were an open-beta game, drama would inevitably erupt. But in name, the game helmets were distributed free by the gaming company for a closed beta, so the justification for the drama couldn't hold water. This was precisely why Chu Guang never gave an inch regarding closed-beta access, preferring to auction off a couple of blueprints rather than ever selling helmets. Besides, this couldn't be considered personal enrichment. Like No. 81 Steel Mill, Niuma Group was a collectively held enterprise funded by Shelter 404. The four player-shareholders each held single-digit percentages, and Shelter 404 took the lion's share of every dividend payout. Furthermore, the money distributed to the shelter was practically all spent back on the Alliance—either subsidizing the NPC shop where most players bought equipment, or being invested into infrastructure. A single set of Miner Type I Exoskeleton sold for 4,000 Cr in the Enterprise, fetched 8,000 chips in Boulder City, yet sold for only 2,000 silver coins in the NPC shop with quantity limits. The subsidy involved was no small sum. And the money spent paving roads didn't materialize out of thin air either. Of course, the art of harvesting leeks lay in sustainable reaping; Chu Guang would never let the players' efforts go unrewarded. While shouldering certain social responsibilities, these collectively owned enterprises also enjoyed exclusive quests issued by the shelter as well as appropriate resource favoritism. For instance, the used hydrogen plasma electric arc furnace worth over 10 million Cr, newly imported from the Enterprise, had been preferentially allocated to No. 81 Steel Mill at an asset valuation of 30 million silver coins. From a gameplay perspective, this balanced player incomes and prevented inflation from spiraling out of control. From a realistic perspective, before the market had a large enough cake to divide, pooling means of production to expand capacity was the fastest way to bake a bigger cake. Chu Guang had already formulated detailed plans for this as early as the Alpha version. After several version adjustments, the dividend ratios and corresponding tax laws were now fairly well developed. Once cooperation with the Enterprise grew tighter and mutual trust deepened, Chu Guang planned to consider selling flight tickets to the East Coast for players holding Upper Citizen status or Knight rank and above, encouraging more lifestyle-class players to travel to Ideal City to tap into that market. The Alliance needed the production technology over there. And by then, the residents of Ideal City would also be far more receptive to the players' eccentric ideas. Closing Fang Chang's thread, Chu Guang redirected his focus to Pangolin's post. There was plenty of solid material in it. In particular, the range and kill radius of the Conqueror 10 Type II Self-Propelled Howitzer, along with the rate of fire and effective range of the Conqueror III Anti-Aircraft Vehicle. Based on the former, the Alliance could roughly calculate the payload and explosive yield of its 150mm shells, allowing them to design targeted bunkers that maximized protection against fragmentation and blast shockwaves. The latter would help the Alliance Air Force devise more effective tactics against ground-based anti-aircraft fire. Not to mention the mutant mercenaries that had appeared within the Legion's ranks... Against those hulking brutes, ordinary 7mm rifles didn't do much good. They would need 20mm or 37mm Lance cannons, or even RPGs and other rocket launchers to bring them down. He had already forwarded these figures to the Army Command, as well as military plants like No. 81 Steel Mill and Goblin Tech. The Alliance needed to open a bidding process for an anti-armor weapon that was easier to use and had far greater destructive power than the Switchblade. The metallic hydrogen provided by the Enterprise, combined with the azide compound technology the Alliance had recovered from the wasteland, could provide a wider array of technical options for this newly tendered equipment. Whether formulating targeted operational plans or engineering purpose-built weapons, both were integral parts of war preparations. Furthermore, certain high-tech guided munitions could be imported using the military procurement funds from the 300-million aid package. "Frontline units need to be equipped with more infantry anti-armor weapons—at least twice the standard ammunition loadout. That's going to put a considerable strain on logistics..." "Still, come to think of it, a thousand-man cohort... roughly a regiment's worth of personnel, yet outfitted with over fifty tanks, plus a camp housing a hundred mutants." For such an elite force composed entirely of Weilantes to be positioned not inside the oasis, but out in the desert adjacent to Oasis No. 9, was extraordinarily suspicious. The surrounding terrain wasn't defensible ground either; instead, it was an open plain. Thinking back to the merchant ferrying supplies, Chu Guang stroked his chin in thought, a sudden realization striking him. *Could it be a frontline ammunition depot?* *Or at least one of the transit hubs supplying the front lines!* If they could crack that nut, not only would they have a chance to collect crucial physical evidence and witnesses proving that the Bugra Free State was funneling weapons to the Legion, but they could also deliver those munitions to their allies to support the front! And most crucially, this presented a prime opportunity to test the high-tech weapons the Alliance had imported from their old friends! At this thought, Chu Guang immediately looked at Xiao Qi. "Xiao Qi, based on the travel time and speed of the player Battlefield Atmosphere Group, can you calculate the exact location of that camp?" Xiao Qi said, "Mm... that's a bit tough. Your player wasn't traveling in a straight line, and his speed wasn't consistent. We can't pinpoint the small town he set out from, so we can only deduce a rough heading." Chu Guang knitted his brows slightly. Just as he was about to speak, Xiao Qi piped up again. "...Though it's not entirely impossible! Didn't your player run into a sandstorm around noon?" Hearing that, Chu Guang felt a surge of delight, instantly grasping her meaning. "Understood... As long as we determine the sandstorm's path and cross-reference it with Pangolin's general direction of travel, the overlapping area will give us the approximate location of that depot!" Xiao Qi gave a thumbs-up, wearing a beaming smile. "As expected of Master, brilliant!" "...A pity we don't have weather satellites to track the sandstorm's trajectory," Chu Guang murmured, rubbing his chin as he continued to muse aloud. "However, the locals living in Oasis No. 9 ought to know." With that in mind, he immediately gave an order: "Notify Kaliman for me. Tell him to bring his carrier pigeons and wait for me at Alliance Army Command first thing tomorrow morning!" Xiao Qi responded with boundless energy, "Okey-dokey!" *** South of Dawn City, in the Frost Spear Clan's village. Having heard that the Administrator was coming to inspect the sorting of books at the Merchant Guild, Shuangxue, who happened to be on duty today, specially put on her favorite skirt. She had even borrowed cosmetics from her elder sister, who worked at the trading post. However, being rather inexperienced with makeup, she felt too bashful to apply much, settling for a light, delicate touch with her sister's help. Carefully helping touch up her sister's eyebrows, Shuanghe chatted casually, "...Relying on this alone won't be enough. There are far too many handsome men and pretty women in the shelter, and those residents love swarming around him all day." Shuangxue blushed and murmured softly, "Well, he is their Administrator..." Shuanghe said patiently, "What I mean is, if you want to leave a deep impression on that lord and at least let him remember your name, you need to find an opportunity to engineer a coincidence or an accident." "An—an accident?!" "Don't squirm. When I say accident, I don't mean you should harbor ill intentions toward him... Ugh, forget it, explaining is too much trouble. Just don't overthink it." After fussing about for quite a while, Shuangxue finally arrived at the Merchant Guild before her shift began. While handing over duties, she learned from the HR clerk that besides the Administrator, a distinguished guest from Sunset Province would also be arriving today. "A distinguished guest?" "A member of the royal family from the Honey Badger Kingdom. The Administrator intends to have her help us organize the books in the warehouse. Your main task today is to walk her through the job." The young woman in charge of HR looked her up and down, a sudden smile breaking across her face as she teased, "That's a pretty outfit, suits you well. Where did you buy it?" "T-Tengteng's Cottage." The HR clerk curled her lips. "Looks like they've got new designs again. I'll have to stop by after work." After understanding her assignments, Shuangxue blushed and hurried out of the HR office, making her way to the warehouse beside the Merchant Guild, where she waited nervously for half an hour. Finally, a figure appeared in the distance, walking toward the building. Yet she did not see that azure suit of power armor; instead, only a young girl in a long dress came into view. The girl had slightly curled brown hair and a fair, delicate face that resembled a porcelain doll. She carried an air of distinction that made Shuangxue feel an involuntary twinge of nervousness. Though it was only a slight twinge. Stopping in front of Shuangxue, the young girl blinked and asked politely, "Hello, is this the book warehouse of the Merchant Guild?" Snapping back to reality, Shuangxue hurriedly offered a smile. "Yes... I'm the staff member on duty today. You can call me Shuangxue. And you are?" Lightly lifting her skirt to perform a courtly curtsy, the young girl blinked at her. "Avni is my name, or you may call me Nini." Her well-mannered, dignified, and adorable demeanor made Shuangxue want to pat her on the head. Still, she could only keep that thought to herself; it would be far too rude to do to a guest. "Avni... Are you the guest the Administrator mentioned?" "Yes, that's me," Avni nodded, her voice crisp and melodious. "The Administrator had work matters to attend to, so I came alone. We'll be colleagues from now on. If there's anything I do poorly, please bear with me." "You're far too polite. Please, follow me." Leading Avni into the warehouse, Shuangxue gave a brief overview of the workflow. Put simply, it involved taking the books out of the cardboard boxes, skimming through them briefly, scanning and cataloging them into the database using a VM, and sorting them into major categories like natural sciences, humanities, historical texts, and the like based on their content. At first, both were somewhat reserved. But being of similar age, they gradually warmed up to each other as they chatted. Having only ever heard of princesses in fairy tales, Shuangxue looked curiously at the foreign-faced girl. After asking for permission, she reached out and gently stroked that soft, wavy brown hair. "So, Lady Avni... you're a princess of the Honey Badger Kingdom?" "Mm." Avni nodded gently. Even though the Falcon Kingdom and the Legion had occupied her homeland, neither she nor her brother had surrendered, nor had the kingdom's people. "No wonder you're so pretty. In your country, you must have had plenty of suitors," Shuangxue said enviously. "Hardly," Avni sighed softly, joking in a teasing tone. "If I were truly that pretty, your Administrator wouldn't have rejected my marriage proposal so flatly." *Thud.* A book dropped to the floor. "Ah, I'm sorry!" Watching Shuangxue frantically crouch down to pick up the volume, Avni seemed to read something from her expression. A faint, intrigued smile curved across her serene face. "It seems that lord is deeply beloved by all of you." "Of course!" Dusting off the cover, Shuangxue's cheeks flushed slightly as she spoke with shy earnestness. "A long time ago, we lived displaced, wandering lives. Thanks to that lord, we can live and work in peace here... That's why I hold him in such deep esteem too." That bashful smile radiated unmistakable happiness, sparking a flicker of envy in Avni's heart. She wasn't envious of Shuangxue. Rather, she envied that Administrator for commanding the genuine love and devotion of so many people. She had been in the Alliance for two days now. During these two days, she had seen that enviable smile more than once. On men, on women, on children, and on the elderly... As the sovereign of a territory, her royal father had undoubtedly been a wise and just monarch. The subjects of the Honey Badger Kingdom respected him from the bottom of their hearts, and their loyalty matched their piety toward the Spirit of the Sand Ocean. Yet whenever her father's name was mentioned, aside from loyalty and reverence, one could rarely see that sort of spontaneous affection and heartfelt gratitude on the people's faces. An invisible force bound these people together. From the shelter residents to the commoners outside, every single soul firmly believed in the Alliance and in their own future, even as the flames of war were visibly spreading toward them. Just how had that man accomplished this? She yearned for that knowledge. Perhaps... Just as he had said, the answers were hidden inside these books. Her gaze settled upon the cardboard boxes packed with volumes. After a moment of contemplation, Avni spoke up. "Is our task today to finish organizing these books?" "Mm!" Snapping out of her daze, Shuangxue composed her expression and smiled warmly. "I'll teach you how to categorize them. It's actually very interesting work. If you find a book you like, you can even borrow it to read at home, as long as you return it on time. That's why we always scramble for this shift." "Then let's get started right away." Avni squatted onto the floor, paying no mind to the dust soiling the hem of her skirt, and pulled a thick volume from the box. Deep ink stamped a line across the cover: *Studies in Classical Economics: Contradictions and Evolution of Relations of Production and Productive Forces*. Judging from the synopsis on the back, it appeared to be an academic treatise penned by scholars of the early Prosperity Era. Gently patting the dust from the cover, she turned to the title page. Though she didn't understand much of it, she read on regardless. "Could you tell me a bit about that Administrator?" Hearing a topic that interested her, Shuangxue's eyes lit up. "Of course! What would you like to know?" Avni thought for a moment. "For example... what kind of books does he like to read?" *** North of Dawn City, at the Army Command near the airfield. Standing at the entrance holding a pigeon cage, Kaliman felt thoroughly out of place amid the bustling atmosphere, having no choice but to awkwardly glue his eyes to his wristwatch. Fortunately, the personnel here were swamped with work and paid him no particular mind, which eased his embarrassment. Just then, a figure appeared in the doorway. Seeing that azure power armor, Kaliman finally breathed a sigh of relief. He bowed slightly and offered a respectful greeting, "Greetings, esteemed Administrator, sir. May I ask what orders you have for me?" Chu Guang glanced at the carrier pigeon inside the cage. Its sharp beak and talons looked nothing like an ordinary pigeon's, resembling a hawk instead. In particular, the two tufts of brown feathers above its eyes stood up like raised brows, giving it a decidedly aggressive appearance. He had heard that the carrier pigeons bred by the royal family of the Eagle Kingdom could fly 800 kilometers in a single day. Ordinary carrier pigeons typically covered around 500 to 700 kilometers. Regardless of which it was, it would be plenty sufficient for his purposes. "Follow me." Without explaining, Chu Guang led Kaliman straight toward a room at the end of the corridor. This was an operations room. Papers and pens were scattered across the long table, and several cigarette butts remained unemptied in the ashtray. A meeting had been held here last night. The map hanging on the wall nearby—covered in arrows, circles, and dashed lines—was the product of that very operational conference. Noticing the map right away, Prince Kaliman stared at it for a moment, a look of astonishment gradually dawning on his face. "...This is?" Refusing to waste time on pleasantries, Chu Guang skipped the opening remarks and got straight to the point. "Our intelligence personnel have pinpointed a military base in the desert suspected to be a logistics hub. We aren't certain of its exact coordinates, but we know its general bearing, and we know a sandstorm swept through it yesterday at noon." "Military supplies funneled through the Bugra Free State are stored there—the very equipment originating from the Golden Lizard Kingdom that I mentioned to you previously." Hearing the words *Golden Lizard*, Kaliman involuntarily clenched his fists, grinding out through clenched teeth, "Those shameless traitors..." Chu Guang gave him no time to nurse his resentment, continuing at a brisk pace, "Cursing them won't change anything. Let's discuss our plan. We intend to take this military base, photograph and document the stockpiles as evidence, detain relevant personnel... in short, gather as many useful leads as possible, then deliver them to the Great Rift Valley." "I cannot say for certain what the Great Rift Valley's stance will be, but it's hard to imagine they would stand on the same battle lines as the Legion right after fighting a war against them. We need them to rein in their vassal, and ideally use this to purge the intelligence network the Legion has cultivated within the Bugra Free State." "We have detailed intelligence on the target base's equipment, personnel, and defensive deployments... gathered through over a month of effort. I need your forces to coordinate with us and take that base!" "Once the investigation and evidence collection are finished, you may take all the equipment stored there." Looking over the operational plan Chu Guang handed him, Prince Kaliman felt an immediate headache. He was merely a diplomat; while he couldn't be called completely illiterate in military matters, he certainly didn't know much. In particular, when he reached the section detailing the enemy's force deployments, his breath hitched for several seconds. Setting the document down, Kaliman turned to Chu Guang with a bitter expression, his voice laced with distress. "A full-strength thousand-man cohort, and an elite unit of the Legion at that... Relying solely on our forces, it will be hard... no, practically impossible to take this place down." The Legion's combat prowess was formidable, far outmatching their vassals. Under normal circumstances, they had to pay five or even ten times the casualties just to hold off an assault by an equivalent force. And that was in defensive engagements fought from fortified positions. As for launching a proactive offensive... He wasn't even sure if the kingdom's army, starved of heavy equipment, had ever mounted a proactive assault up to this point. "Isn't the Enterprise's expeditionary force helping you?" Chu Guang frowned slightly. Kaliman shook his head. "That may be true, but their operational sector is primarily in the south alongside our main force, tasked mainly with harassing the Legion's artillery positions and air bases. As for this base... from what you described, it should be north of Oasis No. 9, correct?" Chu Guang nodded. Kaliman continued, "...From what I understand, the western and northern sectors of Oasis No. 9 have fallen entirely. Currently, the only friendly forces operating there are a few guerrilla units—totaling perhaps two to three thousand men at most. It would be very difficult to muster any effective combat strength." Chu Guang stared at the map in silence for a long while before speaking. "We will dispatch an airborne unit to fight alongside you, including providing necessary close air support." From the temporary airstrip at Fallen Leaves City to that military base was nearly 700 kilometers, a distance exceeding the combat radius of the W-series fighters. Yet for the Enterprise's Orca transport, that was no obstacle at all! As for air support... Handing that to the fixed-wing drones imported from the Enterprise shouldn't pose much of a problem. Though still skeptical about the plan's feasibility, hearing Chu Guang promise to deploy paratroopers to fight side by side with the kingdom's forces gave Kaliman a measure of confidence. He nodded seriously. "I will inform the kingdom. Could you tell me the exact time of the operation?" Chu Guang answered without hesitation, "Before dawn the day after tomorrow!" "We will take that base before first light!"