A Viper transport touched down on the barren field, and two exoskeleton-clad soldiers leaped out from the side of the fuselage.
The two were soldiers of the Guards Corps.
Whenever missions involved active players, they were usually the ones providing support and assistance.
These warriors were elites selected from other corps. Every single one had been injected with induced expression serum, and without exception, all were Awakened.
A popular rumor on the forum held that they were the Administrator's eyes.
Yet some players begged to differ—after all, who could serve as the Administrator's eyes better than the hardworking "quest fiends" themselves?
Watching the aircraft with its arcing exhaust trails, Kong Lingkai's eyes brimmed with greed. He mused how wonderful it would be if he could buy one. Riding in that thing would definitely be far more comfortable than his jalopy of scrap wood.
The two soldiers ignored him entirely. One strode straight toward the cybernetically modified mutant corpse lying on the ground, while the other walked up to Lao Bai and gave a crisp military salute.
"By order of the Administrator, we have come to recover the corpse of the mutant 'Oge.'"
Tapping his right fist against his chestplate, Lao Bai replied concisely, "I already saw it on the mission briefing. I'll leave the rest to you."
"Understood!"
The soldier nodded. Just as he turned to leave, Lao Bai thought of something and spoke up.
"By the way, are you heading straight back to Dawn City?"
"Yes."
Seeing the soldier nod, Lao Bai quickly followed up, "Would it be convenient to hitch a ride? A few people here need to head back."
The soldier blinked, hesitating for a moment before answering, "I must ask the Administrator for permission..."
With that, he returned to the aircraft and linked up with the outpost relay station at the provincial border via the onboard radio, establishing contact with the shelter.
A short while later, he walked back.
"The Administrator approved it."
"Awesome." Lao Bai smiled, nodding, and turned to Starry River beside him. "Buddy, what about that quest of yours?"
Starry River froze in astonishment. "Huh?! Is... is that really okay?"
"Why wouldn't it be? There's plenty of room anyway; five or six people can easily squeeze in." Seeing Starry River still hesitating, Lao Bai clapped his shoulder with a chuckle. "The Administrator already gave the green light, so don't be shy."
Saying this, he glanced at the farm owner slumped beside the Mosquito ground-attack aircraft, who had already come to his senses. "By the way, you don't have any objections to letting them go, do you?"
Kong Lingkai hadn't expected the man wrapped in metal armor to speak to him. Coming to his senses, he jumped in fright and shook his head vigorously, terrified that a second's hesitation might cost him dearly. "N-no, none at all!"
"He's fine with it," Lao Bai said with a smile, looking back at the bewildered Starry River and Luo Yu. "Hurry up and bring them over. Don't waste time."
Starry River escorted the farm owner back to Hope Farm. Kong Lingkai dared not dawdle in the slightest, sending out the entire family as if seeing off plague gods. It was clear Kong Lingkai was reluctant to part with these cash cows, but his terror was genuine. He had zero doubt that wiping out his entire household wouldn't take these people even half an hour...
"Won't you reconsider? I'll give you... five hundred thousand silver coins, so long as you bring that fellow over." Watching Starry River prepare to leave, Kong Lingkai's face was full of reluctance.
Apart from the infant that had just been weaned, Zhou Nan's family all showed terrified expressions upon hearing this. They knew that if this young man nodded, they were as good as dead.
Their worry, however, was clearly unfounded.
Looking at the hopeful Master Kong, Starry River laughed and said, "You're dreaming. Forget five hundred thousand silver coins—even if you gave me a million, I wouldn't do something impossible."
Kong Lingkai grew frantic. "Is it not enough money? I can pay—"
"It has nothing to do with money," Starry River sighed. "Where we come from, there are things far more valuable than silver coins."
Like a gaming helmet, for instance.
Naturally, the NPC didn't understand, staring blankly. "Something... more valuable than silver coins?"
Starry River casually remarked, "That's right. In the Alliance, honor and dignity are not for sale. We are here to build an equal society... or so the Administrator says."
Hearing this, Kong Lingkai knew nothing he said would make a difference.
He instantly deflated like a punctured ball. Seething inside yet not daring to lash out, he could only grumble under his breath, making passive-aggressive jabs. "All this equality you keep preaching about... is it fair to me? If I hadn't given that ungrateful wolf his freedom and lent him the capital to strike it rich, how could he have ever achieved what he has today!"
Looking at the man who was burning with rage yet dared not vent it, Starry River shrugged. "I don't know the details of your business, nor do I care to. Maybe in his eyes, serving you all those years was more than enough to repay whatever debt of gratitude he owed you. The planes, cement, machine guns around here... a lot of those things were produced where we come from, weren't they? Maybe in your eyes, that's far from enough, but that's another matter entirely.
"If you ask me, you two should have signed an agreement defining ownership and profit-sharing, binding each other with black-and-white terms. Our Alliance protects the legitimate rights and interests of all business partners. But relying on something as vague as 'gratitude'—you knew deep down it would spark disputes down the road, didn't you? Otherwise, you wouldn't have taken his entire family hostage.
"Either way, at least under our laws, kidnapping is illegal, regardless of the reason. You should count your blessings that this isn't Alliance territory yet; otherwise, the ones knocking on your door wouldn't be mercenaries."
*Not yet Alliance territory... what does that mean?*
Watching the group turn and walk away, a glimmer of panic surfaced in Kong Lingkai's eyes, while his surrounding private soldiers and servants exchanged bewildered glances...
...
Out on the barren field.
Sitting inside the Viper transport, Starry River looked down at Luo Yu seeing him off and said with an apologetic expression, "Good brother! I'll come back to help you!"
They had agreed to help each other out, yet he was leaving first, which made him feel somewhat sheepish.
Luo Yu didn't mind at all. Watching the transport slowly ascend, he waved with a smile. "Got it, I'll hold you to it! Safe travels!"
Carrying the remains of the cybernetic mutant along with Starry River and Zhou Nan's family, the Viper transport trailed twin arcs of light as it flew toward Dawn City, more than eight hundred kilometers away.
Withdrawing his gaze from the aircraft, Lao Bai turned to Luo Yu. "Let's head back to town to talk things over."
"Yeah!" Luo Yu nodded and smiled. "It's a good chance to introduce you guys to the NPC caravan leader. He's a local and knows way more about the situation around here than I do."
Fang Chang suddenly thought of something and spoke up: "Is he one of your employer's men, or that farm owner's?"
Luo Yu scratched his head. "Well... I'm not really sure about that, but my employer said he's trustworthy and aware of the commission."
"I see. Then it should be fine." Fang Chang nodded, an expression of contemplation on his face, but said nothing more.
As the group walked toward Hope Town, the town mayor and a cadre of local dignitaries had already come out to meet them.
Their expressions were varied: relief from surviving the disaster, overflowing gratitude, or wary unease.
The man leading them bowed and spoke politely, "I am the town mayor, Ma Hechang. Please allow me, on behalf of the more than one thousand households of Hope Town, to thank you for coming to our aid! Had it not been for you, hardly anyone would have survived tonight."
Looking at the mayor before him, Lao Bai smiled and said, "You're welcome. If it's convenient, could you arrange an inn for us? We need to stay here for the night. Ah, of course, we'll pay."
Seeing him reach for his coin pouch, Ma Hechang hastily insisted, "Oh, please, we couldn't possibly accept! We will arrange your lodging properly. You brave warriors may stay as long as you like!"
Lao Bai smiled. "We won't bother you for long. We'll be leaving first thing tomorrow morning..."
Hearing that they would leave first thing in the morning, Ma Hechang breathed a sigh of relief.
Though he didn't know why the mutants had suddenly gone mad and assaulted the place, his intuition told him it was definitely linked to these outsiders.
After all, they had already joined the extended family of the Church of the Torch, and strictly speaking, Tribe Qi was considered their ally. It was obviously these outsiders who had provoked the mutants; otherwise, he couldn't imagine any reason why the mutants would attack their own people.
First it had been the Iron Tower, and now came this Alliance. These people acted as if they were possessed... Why did they insist on picking fights with the mutants?
Mutants could reach agreements just like civilized people.
He truly wished they would show some courtesy and not drag their personal feuds into other people's homes.
Yet even as these thoughts crossed his mind, an expression of hospitality and regret appeared on his face as he offered hypocritically, "If you need anything at all, please be sure to let us know."
"We will..." Lao Bai nodded. Suddenly struck by a thought, he added, "By the way, could you take me to visit the town's priest?"
Ma Hechang paused. "You mean..."
Lao Bai cut straight to the chase: "I heard there's a church of the Church of the Torch here."
A look of understanding dawned on Ma Hechang's face, and he nodded eagerly. "Of course. I'll take you there."
...
The town was quiet.
Once the mutants had been dealt with, many merchant caravans dismantled their barricades and fled north without another word, terrified that staying another night would see the mutants return with a vengeance.
The town militia didn't dare forcibly detain them, watching helplessly as they departed.
After an incident like this, those people might never return. Yet rather than worrying about the future, people were far more anxious about the present.
Why had those mutants come here?
Having suffered such a heavy loss, would they return to slaughter them all...?
It wasn't just the outsiders.
Even some locals born and raised here were wavering, wondering if they should pack up their valuables and flee, abandoning this hotbed of trouble for good.
After entering the town, the players split into two groups.
Fang Chang, Luo Yu, and their group headed to the inn to contact the caravan leader from Pinecone Wood Farm and see if they could find an opportunity to sneak into the farm.
Meanwhile, Lao Bai, Ye Shi, Kuang Feng, and the others followed the mayor to the Church of the Torch's chapel.
The church stood right in the center of town. It was a steepled building roofed with tiles—not particularly grand, but by no means shabby.
Carved above the main entrance was the emblem of the Church of the Torch: a torch formed by two inverted triangles.
Seeing the man in power armor scrutinizing the emblem with a thoughtful look, Ma Hechang cleared his throat softly and said, "This is the church we built for the Holy Son... It was completed just a short while ago."
Lao Bai remarked offhandedly, "Looks like you all hold that Holy Son in high esteem."
Ma Hechang smiled. "Naturally. He truly brought us the gospel."
"In what way?"
"In what way? Where do I even begin..." Ma Hechang paused, then began listing them off proudly: "Take the Na fruit, for example. In the past, brawls broke out every few days. The cattle herders, farmers, loggers, and hunters all acted as if they'd swallowed gunpowder. But ever since the emerald trees were planted in town, none of those troubles exist anymore. The manual laborers are as docile as sheep now—finally acting the way they ought to."
Out of curiosity, Lao Bai asked, "Do you eat that stuff too?"
"Of course," Ma Hechang smiled and continued. "I had a terrible cold before, but after eating the Na fruit, I recovered completely."
Lao Bai was puzzled. "Then why didn't you end up like them?"
He knew that holy water could grant immunity to the negative effects of the "trance," but they couldn't possibly be getting injections every single day, could they?
Besides, holy water only exempted negative side effects; it couldn't stop the trance itself. Being lost in blissful illusions was hardly a good thing.
Feeling pleasure from pain, obeying others blindly... those effects couldn't be eliminated by holy water.
Ma Hechang smiled sheepishly. "That is naturally thanks to the Holy Son's gospel... As long as we donate a modest tax, we can retain our true minds through his gospel. In simple terms, it keeps us from entering the trance."
Seeing Lao Bai's puzzled expression, Ma Hechang pulled out a small medicine vial.
"It's this. Its name is 'Gospel.' Taking one pill every morning is enough. It's like a mild form of holy water, not quite so potent, just enough to keep a person healthy and lucid."
Staring intently at the vial, Lao Bai asked with keen interest, "How much does this sell for?"
Ma Hechang hurriedly replied, "This isn't for sale! It is a blessing bestowed upon the devout. As long as one heeds the Holy Son's decrees, one can receive the grace of the Gospel..."
"And what are his decrees?"
"To build a church to spread the faith for the Holy Son, and to make regular, modest donations to support the clergy."
The so-called "modest" sum was likely modest only to those with wealth and influence. Clearly, this "Gospel" had production costs and wasn't cheap enough for just anyone to afford.
Yet where was this stuff manufactured?
Vaguely sensing an answer, Lao Bai retrieved ten silver coins from his pocket and placed them in the mayor's palm. "Could you spare me one pill?"
The mayor hesitated, but looking at the weapons these people carried, he nodded and obediently shook out a pill, handing it to Lao Bai. "...Strictly speaking, we aren't supposed to give this to non-believers, but the apostle never specified what would happen if we did."
"Thanks." Lao Bai offered a faint smile and handed the pill to Ye Shi, who stashed it in his tactical backpack.
This was valuable research material.
The white-haired young lady at the Biology Lab would probably be very interested.
Stepping up to the entrance of the church, Mayor Ma didn't knock, simply pushing open the wooden doors.
A priest draped in a gray robe stood behind a wooden pulpit, mumbling some prayer under his breath.
Startled by the creak of the door, he snapped his head up in fright, letting out a breath of relief only when he saw mutants hadn't broken in.
"Er... Mr. Wei, the crisis outside has been resolved! I forgot to tell you earlier, my apologies."
Seeing the middle-aged priest staring blankly at him, Mayor Ma coughed and shot him an emphatic wink before continuing, "...These friends from afar are very interested in our faith. Please be so kind as to answer their questions."
Lao Bai noticed that while Mayor Ma looked pious whenever he mentioned the Holy Son, he showed little genuine respect toward this servant of God in the church. Though the words sounded polite, they carried an underlying tone of barking orders. It was probably because he had only converted recently, and the priest was a local from the town.
Meeting the priest's eyes, Lao Bai smiled and asked, "Pardon the intrusion. Is it alright if we sit?"
The middle-aged priest said nervously, "P-please, make yourselves comfortable."
Lao Bai nodded and sat on a front-row pew, then looked back at Mayor Ma. "We have a few things we'd like to discuss with him in private."
Catching the hint, the mayor immediately chuckled. "Understood! Then I'll go tend to other business."
With that, he turned and left the church, considerately shutting the door behind them.
Silence fell over the interior.
Under the scrutiny of multiple pairs of eyes, the priest swallowed nervously and stammered, "My name is Wei Ming, the priest here. May I ask... what did you wish to inquire about?"
Intuition told him these people didn't like him. Those eyes held unmistakable menace.
"Are you from this town?"
The priest named Wei Ming nodded tensely. "Yes..."
Lao Bai followed up, "How do you know Zhang Zhengyang?"
The interrogative tone made Wei Ming feel a prickle of resentment, but facing this ruthless bunch, he didn't dare utter the slightest complaint. Bits of flesh and gore still clung to their exoskeletons, splattered with sinister crimsons—they were terrifying enough without saying a single word.
Swallowing hard, he answered nervously, "...Two years ago, when that apostle arrived here. That was when I first met him."
Having already heard about this from the Iron Tower, Lao Bai wasn't surprised and pressed on: "The Na fruit was brought here then too?"
Wei Ming nodded. "Yes... but it was different back then. The initial Na fruit wasn't mature and could only grow in hot climates. From what I heard, it was a tropical crop introduced from some islands in the south."
While Jinchuan Province was fairly far south compared to River Valley Province, it was still far from tropical, bordering only on subtropical. In harsh winters, it still snowed.
Frowning, Lao Bai asked, "They modified the crop?"
"Yes..." Wei Ming nodded, glancing toward the backyard. "Back then, there was no church here, just a warehouse. That apostle leased a plot of land in town and hired some people to help him test-cultivate those peculiar crops."
Lao Bai fixed him with a stare. "Why did he seek your help?"
Wei Ming answered truthfully, "I'm the town doctor... and I know a bit of biology. He told me that if his plan succeeded, there would be no need for clinics anymore. If I was willing to help him, he could arrange a much higher payment for me."
"Were there others besides you?"
"Yes."
Lao Bai immediately pressed, "Are they still in town?"
Wei Ming gave a bitter smile and shook his head. "Those people were farm slaves bought from nearby farms. To put it bluntly, they were both manual laborers and test subjects. That apostle would make them eat the Na fruits they grew, while my job, besides proselytizing, was to record their clinical reactions... Once the first phase of experiments ended, I never saw them again, but I can roughly guess where they went."
Lao Bai: "Where?"
This time, Wei Ming remained silent for quite a while.
After a moment, he spoke: "I have no proof... but my guess is they were sent to the mutants."
Lao Bai paused. "Sent to the mutants?"
A bitter look surfaced on Wei Ming's face as he shook his head. "There was no other choice. They were already ruined. At the time, the Na fruit couldn't survive winter at all. After a full winter of withdrawal symptoms and lacking sufficient antibiotics to help them through it... the apostle said he disposed of them, but I don't think it was a simple disposal. Those people had business dealings with the mutants long ago, and I even heard—"
Seeing Wei Ming abruptly cut himself off, Lao Bai immediately asked, "Heard what?"
Wei Ming stayed silent for a few moments before speaking slowly. "I heard that they would use dinars or Cr to buy slaves from nearby farms and deliver them to the mutant tribe in the urban ruins... They seemed to have made some sort of pact: the mutants would do work for the Church and ensure the parish's safety, and in exchange, the Church would provide them with people on a regular basis."
Ye Shi couldn't help cursing under his breath, "Fucking scumbags."
Wei Ming didn't understand what he was muttering, but he could sense the anger in his tone and involuntarily pulled his neck in.
Lao Bai stared into his eyes. "Since you're a doctor... you should be able to tell that this thing called Na fruit will destroy you all."
Wei Ming's Adam's apple bobbed, and he gave a wry smile. "Sir... for those of us living on this wasteland, destruction is only a matter of time. The only difference is whether it comes today or tomorrow."
Lao Bai fell silent.
He suddenly felt a twinge of pity for this man.
At this point, Kuang Feng suddenly spoke up. "That doesn't add up... From what you're saying, the mutants in the urban ruins spared you because they made a pact with the Church of the Torch. But why does the version I heard say that over a century ago, they rarely harassed the nearby villages?"
Wei Ming sighed. "That doesn't contradict what I said. Over a century ago... in fact, even up until twenty years ago when I was a boy, Tribe Qi was still fairly restrained toward us. Becoming violent all of a sudden is something that only happened in recent years."
Ye Shi: "Why?"
"I only heard this from my grandfather," seeing the rapt attention of the people sitting before him, Wei Ming began slowly. "Supposedly, a long, long time ago, a settlement not much smaller than Boulder City sat in the urban area of Jinhe City—maybe even larger than Boulder City back then, with several hundred thousand people..."
His gaze grew distant, as if lost in old memories, and after pondering for a moment, he continued:
"At that time, the Post-War Reconstruction Committee governed the place. The settlement was called Singularity City or something like that... if I recall correctly.
"Later, around year 50 of the Wasteland Era—about a century and a half ago—internal conflicts broke out within the committee... They were said to be splitting up."
Lao Bai nodded. "I've heard about that too. Around year 50 of the Wasteland Era, the Post-War Reconstruction Committee officially announced its dissolution."
Wei Ming blinked. "Did that happen? Well, it doesn't really matter. I heard that committee had existed in name only long before that. But none of that is the point... The point is, back then, a group of green-skinned guys fled over from the east.
"Those people claimed to be researchers from some facility on the East Coast, persecuted by the Production Department. To protect their research results and escape the Production Department's manhunt, they were forced to turn themselves into those hideous monstrosities, neither human nor ghost."
Hearing this, Ye Shi was utterly stunned. "Holy crap... the ancestors of the mutants?!"
Wei Ming nodded. "Pretty much. Rumor has it that's how the earliest mutants came to be... transformed from humans. Deep down, they were still human, so naturally, they wouldn't eat people. They were even more courteous than regular folk and got along quite harmoniously with the residents of Singularity City."
Ye Shi forced out half a sentence from his throat: "Then why..."
"Why have they started eating people now, right?" Wei Ming's face was a tapestry of complex emotions. "Honestly, I don't know either. Everything I've told you is just what I heard from my grandfather...
"But if you ask me to guess."
He swallowed hard and answered in an uncertain voice:
"Maybe... the earliest mutants still considered themselves human, but their children didn't think so."
Chapter 572