Marching South

"Is this the place?" Pedestrians streamed back and forth along the street outside the Pirate Bay Tavern. Luo Yu glanced at the map and photo on his VM screen, then looked back at the storefront before him, his eyes sparkling with excitement. No mistake! This was it! "Yu, let's go!" "Eewoo!" Having confirmed his destination, Luo Yu immediately pushed open the door and stepped inside. Close on his heels, the ten figures wrapped tightly in exoskeletons followed him through the open doorway. They were all Yu's fruiting bodies. Lacking independent consciousness, they shared a collective consciousness with the broodmother, effectively serving as Yu's hands and eyes. Strictly speaking, fruiting bodies couldn't venture too far from the parent organism. This was especially true for Yu, who was different from other broodmothers: her medium for transmitting information wasn't spores, but sound, which had a relatively short range. However, the Administrator had brilliantly equipped them with headsets, instantly turning what had been a weakness into an advantage. Although Yu's main body could not leave the shelter, as long as they remained within the Alliance's signal coverage, Yu-1, Yu-2, Yu-3... through Yu-10 could communicate seamlessly with the broodmother that served as their brain. To avoid terrifying pedestrian NPCs, Luo Yu had taken advantage of a recent arms sale in Boulder City to equip every one of them with K-10 Iron Wall exoskeletons, which normally retailed for thirty thousand chips apiece. When their helmet visors were closed, outsiders had no way of telling what was inside the exoskeletons. All anyone could see was ten burly hulks clad in iron clunking along behind him. Thanks to that, wherever he went, he drew the stares of a sizable crowd. "Welcome! What can I get—" Hearing the chime of the door, the bartender behind the counter started his greeting, only to freeze mid-sentence as his eyes met that line of gleaming black exoskeletons. Collecting himself, he switched his tone. "Here for a commission?" "Yep!" Walking straight up to the counter, Luo Yu nodded eagerly and raised the VM on his wrist. "The B-rank commission!" The moment the group had stepped into the tavern, they had drawn countless eyes. Now, hearing that this young fellow had taken a B-rank commission, the patrons broke into hushed whispers. "B-rank? The Mercenary Guild barely opened a few days ago. How has anyone reached B-rank already?" "Mercenary corps seem to follow different rules. I heard they have special evaluation standards." "I think Awakened can apply for rank assessments without having to start from G-rank..." "I see..." "Still, that gear... isn't that regular army equipment?" Strictly speaking, greenhorns who had just entered the trade weren't allowed to take B-rank mercenary missions. But the Mercenary Guild had only just opened—unlike the Scientific Expedition, which had been around since Alpha testing—and high-tier commissions couldn't just sit around waiting forever. Hence the inclusion of a "placement match" system. Any player newly registered with the Mercenary Guild who was above Level 10—meaning they met the requirement of their first Awakening—would have a combat power score calculated based on their combat classes, such as Soldier or Hunter. The system would then assign three missions matching their combat power tier. For example, if the three missions were C, C+, and B, and the player completed C and C+ but failed B, their starting rank would be C+. If they cleared all three missions, their initial rank would be B. If they failed all three, however, they would have to claw their way up from G-rank. Because clients usually possessed limited intelligence, rank assessments were never absolute; a mission labeled C-rank might actually turn out to be S-rank in difficulty. Of course, for players, opening mystery boxes was part of the fun of Wasteland OL. "A B-rank commission, huh... Yeah, this won't be an easy job." Leaning in to take a look at the VM, the bartender rubbed his chin with an index finger, then looked back at Luo Yu. "Hold on a moment. I'll go get my boss." With that, he turned and headed into the kitchen behind the bar. Luo Yu waited at the counter for a short while before someone slid onto the stool next to him and extended a right hand. "White Shark. I'm the owner here." Looking at the NPC, Luo Yu introduced himself. "Luo Yu!" Glancing at the row of exoskeleton-clad bodyguards behind him, White Shark formed a rough estimate of this mercenary group's capabilities and turned back to the young man before him. "Luo Yu, is it... An interesting name. A shelter resident?" Luo Yu answered crisply, "That's right. Any problem with that?" "No problem at all, just making conversation. I doubt anyone besides your lot would be interested in venturing out on a long trek in the dead of winter," White Shark said with a faint smile, then continued, "Let's get straight to the point, then." As he spoke, he drew out a tablet, tapped it a couple of times, and synced the mission information to the young man's VM. Luo Yu opened his VM and scanned it immediately. The moment he saw the mission reward, his breath caught in his throat. A commission fee of a hundred thousand silver coins! Th-this was absurdly generous! Seeing the young man's money-struck expression, White Shark waved to the bartender behind the counter and asked for two glasses of honey water. Picking up one glass and taking a sip to moisten his throat, he continued, "The employer is a merchant doing business from the south, hailing from a settlement called Pinecone Wood Farm. It's located around Jinhe City in Jinchuan Province. Your map should already be updated with the coordinates of that settlement." Pulling his eyes away from the commission, Luo Yu gave White Shark a puzzled look. "A farm?" "It's just called a farm in name," White Shark said with a faint smile, speaking softly. "It's a fairly well-known settlement in those parts with a sizable population—around fifty to sixty thousand people, by what I hear. Of the traveling merchants I know, at least four call it home." Jinhe City. Scavenger and Qiangren Suonan were over there too, weren't they? Though they were in a little village to the north called Dust Town; he hadn't heard them mention any other settlements. Luo Yu said with understanding, "I see." White Shark continued, "You have two objectives. First, escort a shipment of arms valued at five hundred thousand silver coins to that location. It mainly consists of rifles, ammunition, anti-materiel weapons, and the like. You don't need to worry about the transport itself; your only responsibility is escort duty. Once you obtain the delivery receipt, you'll earn one-third of the reward." A single LD-47 rifle ran around 300 silver coins, and a 7mm round had dropped to 0.5 to 0.6 silver coins; these were currently the Alliance's most price-stable industrial products. Five hundred thousand silver coins' worth of arms was a massive quantity, probably requiring four or five trucks to haul. Luo Yu nodded in understanding. "And the remaining two-thirds of the reward?" "The local lord is named Zhao Tiangan. In his household is a six-year-old maidservant named Yang Xiaoyang. By whatever means necessary, bring her back safe and sound." Luo Yu frowned. "Kidnapping?" "Rescuing," White Shark corrected with a faint smile, his tone tinged with wry amusement. "Not just anyone gets to do business on behalf of an overlord. You either have to be family, or they hold a hostage... Put that way, you should get the picture, right?" Luo Yu nodded. "Yeah, got it." Whatever contract or entanglements of interest existed between that merchant and the local lord, at the end of the day, what he was doing wasn't anything wicked or heinous. That was enough for him. Seeing the blue jacket nod, White Shark continued at an unhurried pace, "In short, the client and the mission target are immediate family. Your guild will verify this anyway, so don't press me for details, and don't go prying into the client's private affairs... Either way, once you find the girl and bring her to the guild in Boulder City, you'll receive the full reward. "The client will be staying here for the duration. If you want to have a chat with him after the job is done, that's not impossible, provided he's willing." Luo Yu flashed an OK sign and hopped down from his stool. "Deal. Wait for my good news." A distance of seven to eight hundred kilometers—a round trip would probably take a whole month. Still, for a hundred thousand silver coins, it was well worth it! Besides this main mission, he could also pick up some side quests along the way, or even take on some private commissions from the forum. At that thought, Luo Yu was brimming with drive, itching to set off this very moment. Watching the blue jacket turn to leave, White Shark suddenly recalled something and called out to stop him. "Wait a moment." Luo Yu halted and looked back at him. "Something else?" In a conversational tone, White Shark said, "Nothing else from me, but there's been a little situation developing recently in the place you're headed... Consider this a bonus piece of advice from an intelligence broker. Although the client gave you two months, if you want to collect the full commission, I advise you to make haste." Recalling yesterday's discussions on the forum, Luo Yu caught a subtle hint from the NPC's expression and frowned slightly. Did this have to do with the Church of the Torch? "Understood." Seeing the serious expression on the young man's face, White Shark smiled and nodded. "Better hope you truly do." ... On the open ground in front of the Boulder Military Products Building. Twelve light trucks stood lined up in a row. Workers in KV-1 exoskeletons were loading crates of cargo into the truck beds. Among the cargo were military supplies like weapons and ammunition, electronic equipment including radios and hibernation pods, and some personal belongings of the players. Not far from the convoy, one hundred and twenty players had already assembled. Aside from the Type 5 and Type 6 exoskeletons worn by the majority of players, five sets of "Dragoon" power armor stood prominently in the ranks! Elven King Fugui, who happened to be around to buy cybernetic implants, bugged his eyes when he spotted Jieyan wearing power armor. "Holy shit, Jieyan, did you sell your ass?!" Jieyan rolled his eyes. "Get lost! You're the one who sold your ass!" Staring enviously at the mechanical marvel of power armor, Elven King Fugui couldn't resist reaching out to touch the angular breastplate. "A million silver coins! Goddammit, I wouldn't fetch that much even if I sold myself!" Embarrassed by the unblinking gaze, Jieyan gave a dry cough and explained, "Ahem... This power armor actually isn't mine. It belongs to the corps." Hearing this, Elven King Fugui was taken aback. "I thought you couldn't exchange logistics points for power armor?" If he remembered correctly, the corps system's logistics points could only be redeemed for assembly-line products produced by Alliance munitions factories. It didn't even support custom cybernetics, let alone something like this. Looking at the bewildered elf, Jieyan smiled sheepishly. "...Didn't my contribution level reach Knight? Lao Bai and the guys pooled together a million silver coins and bought it using my quota. Even though the power armor is bound to my account, it actually belongs to the corps. If needed, others can wear it too." Lao Bai's reasoning had been straightforward: the stock of power armor in the shop was limited, and the Dragoon was a rare pre-war model. Once sold out, who knew when new stock would arrive? By the time they saved up enough money individually, this model might have been long gone. It was better to pool funds and buy it under his name first, treating it as corps equipment. At first, Jieyan had felt rather self-conscious—after all, that was one million silver coins. But after trying it on once, he stopped being modest. Besides him, two other main tanks in the corps—Constitution-type players who had also reached Knight contribution level—had gotten to benefit from the same arrangement. As for why they only bought five, it was because the shop had only listed fifteen in total. If they bought them all, people would curse them out. Having gotten into the game in the early versions was already a massive advantage; they had to leave some game experience for others. Besides, for equipment this expensive, nobody would put it under someone else's name unless they were sworn brothers who had lived and died together. The game did not recognize ownership transfers of bound equipment; it merely didn't prohibit players from lending equipment to one another. If someone actually embezzled gear bound to their account, the people who put up the money would be left with nothing to say. For precisely that reason, after hearing Jieyan's explanation, Elven King Fugui was floored. "Holy shit! That works too?!" Nearby, several rookies from the Skeleton Corps chimed in with deep envy: "I'm crying tears of jealousy!" "Man, that damn Mole is so stingy!" "Exactly! Forget handing out perks—he actually borrows money from us!" Even though Mole hadn't borrowed from these rookies, that didn't stop them from empathizing with the good brothers who had been hit up for cash. Watching the whining rookies, Fang Chang, who stood nearby, chuckled. "Stay calm. Your Brother Mole is still in the early stages of his startup. Once his Skeleton Studio in Ideal City gets on track, everything will be fine." Listening to Fang Chang draw pie in the sky, one of the rookies couldn't help gulping. "Will be fine...?" Fang Chang grinned. "Then he can make even more money." Rookie: "%￥#@!" All joking aside, to be fair, Brother Mole was actually quite loyal and generous, and his popularity and reputation on the server were stellar. Otherwise, so many players wouldn't follow his lead, let alone pool together that many silver coins to fund his business venture. Fang Chang was confident that once Skeleton Studio truly grew big and strong, Brother Mole would never shortchange the brothers in his corps. "Speaking of which, why didn't you get yourself a set of power armor?" Ye Shi glanced at the exoskeleton Fang Chang was wearing and asked out of curiosity. Lightly patting the "Daybreak" compound bow on his back, Fang Chang replied calmly, "Having this is enough for me." Power armor wasn't always the optimal solution. Even the lightweight OD-10 "Dragoon" imposed a certain drag on mobility. For him, the performance of the Type 5 "Light Cavalry" exoskeleton was more than sufficient. Combined with the bulletproof inserts and optical camouflage plugin he had customized, it could adapt to virtually any combat scenario. Even cybernetics were unnecessary. Kuang Feng cast a glance at Ye Shi and teased, "Look at his perspective. You're a backline sniper—what use is power armor to you? You'd be better off saving up for an exoskeleton with an optical camouflage plugin." He hadn't equipped power armor either. Modified cybernetics and drones were the true future of the Intelligence-type. Ye Shi rolled his eyes. "Pfft! Lord Ye doesn't care about perspective!" "Hahaha! Don't worry, who says a sniper can't wear heavy armor?" Fang Chang chuckled, patting Ye Shi on the shoulder. "Brother, I believe in you!" Almost everyone had arrived. Walking to the front of the formation, Lao Bai tapped a finger against his helmet to turn on the loudspeaker and boomed in a resounding voice: "The mission briefing has been updated on everyone's VM. Our destination is a settlement called Dust Town, north of Jinhe City in Jinchuan Province. "Brother Scavenger went ahead to scout the place for us. We're going to establish an operating base there, then recover 127 tons of nuclear fuel from research facilities in the urban area. "The total journey is nearly eight hundred kilometers, more than half of which is mountainous terrain. It's estimated to take a week to arrive, with an overall mission duration of about half a month. "The convoy departs from the East Gate at 12:00 sharp! The advance team will board the aircraft with me shortly. We're flying ahead in a Viper alongside engineers from the Logistics Department!" This mission was not just about recovering nuclear fuel; it also involved reconnaissance of local survivor factions and mutant tribes in Jinhe City. The first advance team would arrive ahead of the rest at the Jinhe City settlement area to set up infrastructure, including communication base stations, establish save points, and scout conditions inside the urban ruins. The remaining players would move with the convoy, transporting supplies and building materials to Dust Town and assisting the Logistics Department in constructing the operating base. All preparations were in order. Wearing his power armor, Lao Bai walked over to the elevator, preparing to take it up to the helipad on the building's roof, when he suddenly caught sight of an unexpected figure. Dressed in the uniform of the Scientific Expedition, Chen Yutong was wheeling a suitcase as she walked in their direction. Catching Lao Bai's eye, she took the initiative to greet him with a smile. "Hey." That single, story-laden "Hey" drew at least a dozen pairs of eyes glued to Lao Bai's back. "'Hey, what a coincidence.'" Mischievously mimicking her over the comms channel, Ye Shi gave Lao Bai a nudge and a wink, then followed Fang Chang and Kuang Feng into the elevator. Standing inside the elevator, Fang Chang joined in on the teasing with a grin: "Elevator's full. Group Leader, wait for the next one." Before he could even finish, Kuang Feng had already silently pressed the door-close button, sealing the elevator doors shut. These bunch of bastards... Turning his gaze from the ascending elevator with wry amusement, Lao Bai looked at Ms. Chen, whose bright eyes were fixed on him as she walked over. He gave a soft cough and said: "What are you doing here?" Stopping beside the elevator, Chen Yutong smiled and said, "Can't I come see you off?" Lao Bai glanced at the suitcase in her hand. "Does seeing me off require luggage?" "You caught me." Smiling sweetly, Chen Yutong reached out an index finger to press the elevator call button, continuing in a matter-of-fact tone, "For reasons that can't be disclosed, the Alliance has raised the threat level of 'Na fruit.' The Biology Institute wants to acquire more research specimens to accelerate study on it, while the Scientific Expedition also has some investigative fieldwork to conduct in the area. I'm currently in charge of that assignment, so I'll have to trouble you to give me a lift." Lao Bai checked the holographic display inside his helmet. Sure enough, a new side quest had appeared in his VM's quest log; evidently, she wouldn't joke about such a thing. Looking back at Chen Yutong, he instinctively looked her and her equipment up and down, unable to keep from frowning. "It's too dangerous there. Are you sure you want to come along?" Qingquan City had already been extensively explored and cleared by the players; so long as one didn't venture deep inside the Fifth Ring Road, there was virtually no serious danger. Jinchuan Province, however, was a different story entirely. Before their deployment, there were only three players in the entire province, and they had only operated within a tiny pocket of the northern outskirts. Beyond the players' activity zone, there were not only mutant tribes numbering in the tens of thousands, but the Church of the Torch to the south was eyeing the land greedily. One could easily imagine just how hazardous it was. "Leaving those things alone is even more dangerous," she replied, lightly tossing aside the fringe that had fallen over the bridge of her nose. She added in a teasing tone, "Besides, don't I have you?" Lao Bai stared into her eyes for a moment, confirming that she was mentally prepared to return to the front line. "Once we land—no, from the moment we board the plane, you follow my orders on everything. You must report to me whenever you go into the field! Also, give me the luggage." "Thank you." Chen Yutong handed over the suitcase. Looking at Lao Bai as he took it, she said in a playful voice, "Even though I want to say I'm someone who's already died once, it still feels pretty nice having someone worry about me." "Died once," huh... Does that even count as having died? Watching her walk into the elevator, Lao Bai shook his head in amusement, at a loss for words at how carefree she was. Even a guy like him, who had died multiple times, couldn't guarantee with one hundred percent certainty that he'd return alive from every mission. In any case... They would just have to be extra careful.