How Did a Big-Eyed, Thick-Browed Guy Like You Sneak In?

Inside a spindle-shaped aircraft. Relaxing in a soft, comfortable seat, Li Ke sipped his coffee while looking down at the joint mopping-up operation conducted by Enterprise and the Alliance against the mutants, observed through four reconnaissance drones deployed in the near airspace over the battlefield. The gunfire did not last long. Just as he finished his cup of coffee, the last standing mutant collapsed onto the steps before the grotesque altar. Next came the battlefield cleanup. He set his cup onto a tray, which was automatically whisked away by an assistant robot beside him, and offered a lukewarm evaluation toward his holographically expanded memo. "Mediocre." "The Alliance's soldiers are somewhat peculiar, possessing physical attributes far exceeding ordinary humans. Then again, they are shelter residents, so that's only natural. Backward equipment, a primitive fighting style... I really can't fathom how the Beacon squad lost to a bunch like this. The caliber of talent in the Investigation Division gets worse year after year." "As for Enterprise..." Li Ke chuckled, the mockery in his eyes becoming even more pronounced. "AI cores in the hands of those fellows are a sheer waste... Their bionic soldiers have less presence on the field than a few suits of old-era power armor. They really are devolving by the day." There was no need to even mention the Legion. With that antiquated gear, they merely relied on a few scraps of their legacy to keep up appearances. Assessing the performances of all sides, the Academy—having built upon and refined the foundations of the Prosperity Era—was naturally superior. Of course, it was undeniable that the Alliance's showing had indeed exceeded his initial expectations. If a full-scale war truly broke out, their fighting spirit might allow them to hold out a few months longer. Li Ke tapped the holographic screen with satisfaction, closing the memo while recalling the reconnaissance drones he had deployed earlier. Just then, a gentle electronic voice drifted from behind his seat. "Sir, you have an incoming call." "A call? Here?" "Yes. Wandering Marsh launched a loitering communications relay." The moment he heard "loitering communications relay," Li Ke's expression instantly turned solemn, and he sat up straight in his chair. "Patch it through." "Understood." The communications signal was promptly routed from the research vessel's server to his personal terminal. Li Ke reached out and tapped the holographic window, and pale blue light and shadow quickly sketched a rough bust before him. This was the Great Desert. The signal reception here was even worse than in Sunset Province. Under such conditions, the only people who would insist on video communication were the stubborn old fogeys from the Research Division who refused to adapt. "...I am Yang Kai from the Research Division, Grade B researcher. My identification band is included in the transmission code; please verify it yourself later." As soon as the link was established, the other party skipped all pleasantries and got straight to the point. Li Ke cleared his throat. "Li Ke of the Foreign Affairs Division, Grade B. What is the matter?" The holographic image flickered for a moment. "Transfer the Shelter 0 project to me." Hearing this, Li Ke leapt up like a squirrel whose tail had been stepped on. "On what grounds?!" The voice on the other end of the channel remained utterly unperturbed. "These are instructions from Doctor Conclusion. You people in the Foreign Affairs Division should stick to your own duties." Upon hearing that it was Doctor Conclusion's order, Li Ke instantly deflated like a punctured balloon, muttering indignantly, "Doctor Conclusion... That esteemed personage certainly has plenty of free time." The voice on the other end offered no comment on the remark, merely replying in a flat, monotone voice, "Thank you for your cooperation." With that, the flickering projection vanished from above the holographic console. *** The mop-up operation conducted by Enterprise and the Alliance ground forces had concluded, and what they discovered in the Blackstone mutant tribe was unexpected. The remark made by the drone operator under Yun Song had turned out to be prophetic. These gray-skinned mutants had indeed dug deep burrows, utilizing underground rock caverns to shelter immature younglings, cultivate edible fungi, and pen mutated worms that produced fat and protein. Most astonishing of all was a fluorescent mushroom that grew on radioactive waste. Through some specialized biochemical process, it appeared capable of accelerating the decay of iodine and cesium isotopes, converting a portion of the energy into light. At present, there was no way to prove whether this species utilized fusion or fission energy to power its vital activities. Yet the single property of accelerating the radioactive decay of hazardous materials was astonishing enough. Yun Song and Lao Bai separately reported their findings in the mutant tribe to their respective superiors. Following discussions between high-level leadership of Enterprise and the Alliance, both sides agreed to share these fascinating research materials. The *Heart of Steel* slowly moved above the Blackstone tribe and lowered its anchor chains over a vacant patch of ground about one kilometer away. The cargo pods were lowered immediately after. Five elongated engineering vehicles drove onto the clearing in sequence, aligning into three columns. Their wheels retracted upward, and stabilizer jacks descended from the chassis to complete deployment. Nearly a hundred aircrew personnel clad in miner exoskeletons moved back and forth between the scrap piles and the camp site, feeding metal scrap salvaged by the players from the mutant settlement into the hoppers of the engineering vehicles. The machines rapidly processed the material into construction panels for the base camp. Measuring roughly an inch thick, these standardized panels made predominantly from aluminum-iron alloys were porous, lightweight, yet exceptionally strong. They could serve as insulating walls for barracks or be slotted together into hollow frames filled with sand to create firing emplacements and perimeter walls. With the fighting finished, the players also joined in building the camp. In less than three hours, an encampment spanning twenty mu—nearly the size of two soccer fields—began to take shape. A cargo pod lowered once more. The logistics officer of the *Heart of Steel* marched forward quickly, coming to a halt before Chu Guang. Flushed with excitement, he snapped to attention and saluted. "Reporting! Respected Administrator, per your orders, we have completed construction of the camp's outer perimeter. Next is the construction of the barracks, scheduled for full completion within twenty-four hours!" "Well done," Chu Guang nodded approvingly and smiled at the young man. "Carry on with your work; don't worry about me." "Yes, sir!" The logistics officer pressed his right fist to his chest, then strode off toward the construction site with brisk, purposeful steps. Watching the young man walk away, Wu Changnian looked around at the bustling work site and said with squinting, smiling eyes, "Well? How is Ideal City's technology? Decent, isn't it?" Chu Guang remarked with heartfelt sentiment, "It's quite impressive indeed. Just a bit pricey. It would be nice if you could give us another discount." Wu Changnian gave a dry cough. "Well... you'll have to take that up with Silverwing Group's representatives. The Council cannot interfere in the commercial operations of the manufacturing sector. I have no say regarding procurement orders." Though disappointed, Chu Guang nodded. "Understood." This modular infrastructure system, dubbed the "Camp Workshop," consisted of five high-performance engineering vehicles. It shared similar concepts with the modular production bays aboard the *Pioneer*, both being manufacturing tools engineered specifically for the harsh environments of the wasteland. It was like a black box in another sense, capable of indiscriminately devouring scrap metal, breaking down whatever components it could digest, and shaping them into whatever form the user needed. Paired with the *Heart of Steel*'s cruising capability, Chu Guang could theoretically plant an operational forward base anywhere the airship could fly. It was precisely this feature that had convinced him to decisively purchase the system from Silverwing Group. Even though the setup had carried a staggering price tag of sixteen million Cr, Chu Guang had gritted his teeth and paid the bill. As a modular production tool, its capabilities extended far beyond churning out construction panels for encampments. Based on inputted blueprints, the five engineering vehicles could also turn raw materials into basic weapons, including rifles, as well as protective gear such as bulletproof armor. Although its production efficiency was not particularly high and the consumption of power, materials, and implicit wear-and-tear costs were far from trivial, it remained exceptionally practical as a piece of "expedition camping equipment." Previously, the *Heart of Steel* had relied on keeping slaves and hauling a vast array of tooling and machine equipment to resolve logistics and supply issues during long expeditions. Now, five engineering vehicles could easily replace a production battalion of over five hundred people, freeing up vast amounts of precious space aboard the airship. It was a pity the Alliance possessed only one "airborne carrier." Otherwise, Chu Guang would have gladly procured several more sets from Ideal City. Right at that moment, the Wilante officers who had disembarked from the *Adjudicator* also walked in their direction. Chu Guang suddenly noticed the way MacLaren was staring at the engineering vehicles. Both he and Captain Adria beside him wore unmistakable expressions of envy on their faces. The Legion's industrial capacity was formidable, and their manufacturing of heavy equipment was quite impressive, but precision fabrication was far more strained. Even if they possessed equipment of this caliber, it would never be assigned to an airship. "Has the entrance to Shelter 0 been located?" Adria asked with a smile as he approached the assembled representatives of the Alliance and Enterprise. Wu Changnian replied succinctly, "We must find the crew of the *Pioneer* first. Only they know the shelter's entrance. If you're in a hurry, you may head back." Naturally, Adria had no intention of leaving. He continued with a smile, "Didn't one of your employees escape back to you? Does he not know the entrance to Shelter 0?" "Unfortunately, you guessed right. Before he could find the entrance, he was driven off by a gang of shameless bandits." Noticing the hostile edge in Wu Changnian's tone, Adria remained unfazed, while MacLaren's face showed no expression either. The orders had come from Griffin. MacLaren was thoroughly infuriated that Griffin had sent him away on that errand in the first place. Had he not gone off to chase that Enterprise employee, he would never have fallen into the hands of a mob of wastelanders, let alone lost his airship. "I am very sorry about what happened to the *Pioneer*. That was Griffin acting on his own authority. We will strictly rein in our personnel so that nothing similar occurs again," Adria said, before offering a veneer of hypocritical concern. "Ah, right, I almost forgot to ask: has the *Pioneer* been found? Are the crew members aboard safe and sound?" Wu Changnian stared at him. "Our people have already moved out toward the coordinates you provided. They had better all be alive." Adria shrugged. "I sincerely hope they are safe as well." The *Pioneer* had previously been seized by the Legion. However, its crew members, including Lu Yang, had not been captured; they had evacuated outside before the Legion took control of the vessel. Aside from Luo Hua, who had been dispatched to seek help from the Alliance, the rest of the employees had gone into hiding under Lu Yang's leadership and were never discovered by the Wilante. With the Day of War drawing near, Griffin had no time to waste in the Great Desert, so the task of hunting down those personnel had been subcontracted through various channels to the Blackstone tribe. According to mutant captives, the big-nosed humans had offered a bounty of "ten human females for every Enterprise employee." Judging by current circumstances, however, the mutants had evidently failed to locate the missing Enterprise personnel, or they would have long since handed them over to the Wilante to claim their reward. As for the matter of the *Pioneer*, the Legion dumped all the blame squarely on Griffin. MacLaren knew very little; during his time in captivity, he had already confessed everything he knew. The Legion cared nothing for the lives of the *Pioneer*'s crew; they were interested solely in Shelter 0 discovered by the vehicle. The same held true for the Academy. Paying no heed to Captain Adria's hollow pleasantries, Wu Changnian turned and walked toward Enterprise's designated quarters. MacLaren glared fiercely at Chu Guang, but did nothing more than glare before turning away to follow Adria. Just then, a spindle-shaped aircraft throttled back the arc light jetting from its underside and slowly touched down in the very center of the encampment. Named the *Comet 300*, it was a research vessel manufactured by the Academy based on blueprints preserved from the Prosperity Era. Equipped with ecological recycling systems and antigravity arrays, it could theoretically fly not only to any corner of the planet, but even into outer space. However, conditions in outer space were far worse than on the ground. Unless there was a specialized mission to carry out, they rarely flew up there. Having just returned from cleaning up the battlefield, Lao Bai glanced at the sleek, futuristic research ship and noticed it differed slightly from the one that had landed in Falcon City before. At that moment, a man and a woman walked out of the open hatch. To Lao Bai's surprise, he actually recognized one of them. The man clearly noticed him as well and took the initiative to walk over. "We meet again." Approaching Lao Bai, Zheng Hao looked over the power armor he wore, a hint of surprise crossing his face. "A Dragoon?" "Good eye." Zheng Hao curled his lip. "I've seen plenty of their wrecks. The nuclear bomb craters next to the Great Rift Valley are littered with them." "Really? I'll have to check it out sometime," Lao Bai said with a faint smile, then continued, "What about you? How did you end up here?" "Thanks to you. Relying on that sample, my squad and I were transferred from the Investigation Division to the Research Division. Now we work for Professor Yang Kai, a Grade B researcher. He's currently in charge of the Shelter 0 investigation... He's inside that research vessel." As he said this, Zheng Hao's expression turned somewhat complicated. The Beacon squad had suffered catastrophic casualties in that battle, losing many brothers. Furthermore, because it was an unacknowledged engagement, the families of his fallen comrades had not even received their full pensions. He had personally contributed a portion of his G-points to purchase provisions for their families. Reading the expression on his face, Lao Bai said nothing, simply skipping the unpleasant part of the topic. "That shelter... are you going down when the time comes? Or that Grade B researcher?" To Lao Bai's surprise, the man shook his head. "Neither." With that, Zheng Hao glanced at the reserved young woman with long black hair standing beside him. "Let me introduce you. Jiang Xuezhou, Grade D researcher... She used to be a member of my squad, and now we hold the same rank. Yang Kai is her mentor. It was thanks to her connections that we were able to successfully offload that sample back then." Jiang Xuezhou stared warily at Lao Bai and nodded stiffly. "Hello." She had seen this man through drone feeds. Many of their comrades had died at the hands of him and his squad... including her close friend Chen Yutong. Even though she understood that both sides were merely fighting for their respective causes and there was no simple right or wrong, she still could not bring herself to trust the man before her. Zheng Hao looked at Lao Bai. "The representative sent from the Alliance should be you, right? Watch out for her after you head down." Lao Bai showed a helpless look. "I'd like to help, but I'm not part of this operation." "Not you?" Zheng Hao looked at him in surprise. Before disembarking from the research ship, he had heard that the Alliance would dispatch a powerful Awakened to accompany them into the shelter. At the time, he had assumed it would be Lao Bai, whom he had met before. Yet Lao Bai was telling him it wasn't him. Did the Alliance have even stronger Awakened? "Yeah, it's someone else..." Seeing Zheng Hao's astonished expression, Lao Bai chuckled and added, "Don't worry, though. I'll put in a word with my buddy—" "No need," Jiang Xuezhou interrupted him, looking at him with guard up. "I can take care of myself. There's... no need to trouble yourself, sir." With that, she gave a polite nod, turned on her heel, and walked away. Watching his colleague's departing back, Zheng Hao looked slightly awkward and coughed lightly. "Sorry about that. That day... she lost a teammate she was very close to." Lao Bai shrugged. "It's fine. I understand. But don't expect an apology from us. We exercised the utmost restraint. You guys were the ones who fired first." Zheng Hao nodded silently. "I know... I'm not saying it was your fault. It's just that I... sigh." Halfway through, he didn't know how to continue. After deliberating over his words for a long time, it all resolved into a sigh. These damned secrecy protocols... There were things he could only keep bottled up inside. Understanding his predicament, Lao Bai said nothing, merely giving him an encouraging pat on the shoulder before turning and walking away. *** Lao Bai wasn't the only one who bumped into an acquaintance. The brothers of the Storm Corps did as well. Watching Battlefield Guy slinking over in secret, I'm the Darkest pointed right at his nose and cried out in excitement, "Holy shit! Pangolin?!" The shout startled Battlefield Guy so badly that he reflexively darted his eyes left and right. Only when he realized I'm the Darkest had spoken in Mandarin did he breathe a sigh of relief. "Goddammit, could you not shout my handle out in the open like that?!" Glaring at the guy who had nearly ruined his mission, Battlefield Guy cursed under his breath. I'm the Darkest wore a careless grin, speaking cheekily, "Relax, your brother wouldn't sell you out... By the way, how did a big-eyed, thick-browed guy like you manage to sneak over here?" Battlefield Guy sighed. "Sigh, it's a long story. I ended up getting sent here completely bewildered." Commander Spring looked at him with an odd expression. Having vaguely guessed something yet unsure of it, he asked tentatively, "Among the two representatives the Legion sent to investigate Shelter 0... you're not one of them, are you?" Battlefield Guy gave a sheepish grin. "You guessed it." Hearing that, the group was instantly floored. I'm the Darkest: "Holy shit!" Catching Ghosts at Graves: "6666!" Kakarot couldn't help but exclaim, "Mother of god... To pull off an undercover job like this, I have no words." Originally, Enterprise, the Legion, and the Alliance were each supposed to send two representatives, while the Academy sent one. Who could have expected the Legion to pick this fellow, suddenly bumping the Alliance's actual representation up to three? Battlefield Guy chuckled bashfully. "Life is full of surprises. I never expected those big-noses to pick me either... By the way, did you guys bring that thing for saving progress? Hurry up and let me save. I'm afraid I might die down there when we run the dungeon." Commander Spring coughed. "It's on the airship." Battlefield Guy blinked. "What the hell?! I have to go up to the airship?" Commander Spring looked at him strangely. "Where else? Lowering the hibernation pods every time we stop somewhere would be a huge hassle... Besides, I suggest you come late in the night. The spots are probably hard to contest during the first half." Saving progress was not a matter of lying down and immediately logging a checkpoint; it required several hours of data scanning. Usually, people saved in batches. Once the person ahead finished, the next person would haul them out of the incubation pod to take their turn. Consequently, if one chose to log off at a public save point, one might wake up upon logging back in to find themselves lying on the floor. I'm the Darkest grinned playfully. "How about you sneak out tonight? We'll cover you." Looking at the unreliable fellow, Battlefield Guy hesitated for quite a while before finally gritting his teeth and nodding in agreement. "Deal!" *** Later that night. Battlefield Guy cautiously headed to the latrine. After locking the door from inside, he pulled off a classic cicada-shedding-its-skin maneuver, climbing out through the bathroom window. Leaving the Legion representatives' quarters allocated by the Alliance within the camp, he slipped stealthily toward the Alliance airship. I'm the Darkest and Catching Ghosts at Graves, who had been waiting there ahead of time, promptly slipped a burlap sack over his head, hoisted him into a cargo pod, and smuggled him up onto the airship without anyone noticing. Although Battlefield Guy felt the sack was entirely superfluous, as the one asking for a favor he was in no position to protest, so he let that bastard I'm the Darkest have his way. Collecting data in the hibernation pod required lying inside for several hours. Fortunately, he normally spent an hour or two squatting on the toilet anyway, so an extra hour or two wouldn't raise any suspicions. At the same time, inside the captain's quarters aboard the *Heart of Steel*. Having returned to the airship, Chu Guang was staring at a torn strip of cloth spread out across his desk, his brows furrowing unbidden. "The emblem of the Church of the Torch?" Standing across the desk, Lao Bai nodded with a serious expression. "I found this emblem on that mutant shaman's body... and there were similar symbols on that altar." Leaning back in his chair, Chu Guang closed his eyes in contemplation for a moment. "The Death Coast lies south of Jinchuan Province, at least five to six thousand kilometers from here... No matter how you look at it, that's far too distant." In a straight line, it would cross formidable natural barriers like the Zhuobar Mountains. It was hard to imagine the Church of the Torch could reach its hands all the way here. A thought suddenly struck Lao Bai. "Is there a possibility... that the mutants aren't followers of the Church of the Torch, but rather both the mutants and the Church of the Torch belong to some even vaster organization?" Chu Guang offered a succinct evaluation: "That sounds even more preposterous." Lao Bai gave a wry smile. "True..." If an organization were truly that vast, capable of simultaneously influencing the Death Coast in the south of the Central Continent and the mutants in the central Great Desert, there was no way not a whisper of them would have leaked out. Looking at the symbol on the scrap of cloth, Chu Guang could not help falling into deep thought. He was inclined toward another possibility... Namely, that these mutants and the followers of the Church of the Torch, operating in mutual isolation, had been separately and simultaneously influenced by a singular presence. It could be a vast organization, just as Lao Bai had suggested, or it could be a technological creation possessing miraculous might. Or perhaps it was merely an abstract concept. Yet whatever it was, anything possessing the power to bewitch the human heart was fraught with danger. Reflecting on the past of Shelter 117 and the various rumors surrounding the self-proclaimed Holy Son, Wang Yi, Chu Guang closed his eyes in thought for a long time. The last time such a faint sense of unease had stirred in his chest was when he learned the Wilante had deployed a nuclear warhead in Sunset Province. "The origin of this symbol... must be thoroughly investigated." Lao Bai agreed, "I believe so as well... I suggest maintaining an outpost in the Great Desert. Even setting aside these noteworthy clues, there are many valuable materials here worth salvaging." Chu Guang nodded, swiping his index finger lightly through the air to expand a holographic map. "Not only the Great Desert, but an investigation into the south will be launched simultaneously... Once this incident concludes, I have an assignment for you." Delighted at triggering a hidden quest, Lao Bai immediately replied, "Awaiting your command, sir!" Chu Guang continued, "There are coordinates to the south where the nuclear fuel we need is located. I need you to lead a team there to recover it." "Some shelter residents are currently pioneering that area. You may enlist their assistance." Lao Bai cupped his fists, his eyes shining brightly. "Yes, sir!" *** The night was deep. Among the ruins not far from the camp, inside a roofless industrial workshop spanning thousands of mu, an enormous land fortress sat stranded. Its steel hull bore inward buckles and twists everywhere, the caterpillar treads beneath its chassis were sheared to pieces, and its mechanical arms and production bays were wrecked beyond recognition. Its condition could only be described as pathetic. Judging by the collapsed sections of the adjacent walls and the bullet holes riddling them, it appeared to have breached the factory walls in a desperate charge before becoming embroiled in a ferocious firefight with pursuers. Several beams of light illuminated the dust-caked wreckage. Stepping forward, bionic soldiers inspected the land fortress's various damages and breaches in detail. Watching from nearby, Su Ming could not help cursing under his breath, "Damn those big-noses...!" Evidently, the Wilante had battered it into this wretched state. Recalling the indifferent demeanors of those Wilante officers, he wished he could march back to the camp, haul those big-noses to their feet, and punch each one of them right in the face. Standing beside him, Gu Wei remarked with deep emotion, "Still remember what it looked like when it first set out from Ideal City?" Another strike team member sighed, "...I wouldn't recognize it at all." "I hope the people inside are all right." Yun Song glanced at his Geiger counter and noticed the fallout levels exceeded safe thresholds. He gestured for everyone to seal their helmets and activate their internal filtration systems. The *Pioneer* had carried a substantial supply of nuclear fuel, as well as tactical nuclear warheads brought out from Ideal City. The crater nearby had likely been detonated by the crew themselves. After inspecting the *Pioneer*'s condition, a bionic soldier walked back over to Yun Song. Before the bionic could speak, Yun Song asked immediately, "Are there any survivors inside?" Though the odds were slim, he had to ask. To his astonishment, the bionic soldier actually nodded. "Life signs detected in the escape pod, though very faint... Estimated to be only one or two individuals." Hearing this, Yun Song felt a sudden rush of wild ecstasy, as if a weight of ten thousand jin had been lifted from his shoulders. "Quick! Get them out of there!"