Man Always Creates God in His Own Image

Though tragedies abounded across the wasteland, wherever players were active, the atmosphere was a completely different picture. The "PVP" Arena of Camp 101. Two "Xiaguang Mark II Experimental" powered armors were locked in a grapple, dazzling sparks spraying wildly as steel clashed against steel! As the only arena within the Alliance where combatants "competed for victory as well as life and death," this was a battleground only players could tread. Generally speaking, unless they wanted to spar with close buddies, true hardcore players rarely wasted their time here. However, because the arena occasionally rolled out experimental equipment—and signing up to test it earned a bounty and contribution points regardless of winning or losing—the facility was quite popular among rookie players below the Tier 3 bracket. The two fellows grappling here at this moment were standouts among the newcomers! Sporting the red identification stripe was [Born in Summer] from the Abstract Corps, while bearing the blue identification stripe was [Tiger of Litang] from the Climber Corps! Because the experimental Mark II Xiaguang had its frontal armor replaced with ceramite, bolstering frontal protection at the cost of mobility, neither side's bolter rounds could do a thing against the other. After emptying every bullet from their magazines, red and blue drew their combat knife and handaxe in near-perfect tacit unison, plunging into the crowd-pleasing melee phase amid roaring cheers from the audience. And the atmosphere of the entire match surged to a climax alongside the adrenaline-pumping clash! "Way to go, Summer!!!" "Smash him! Bash his head in!" "Abstract Corps is badass!!!" "Awoooo!" "Holy shit! Brother Tiger, can you do this or what?!" "Fuuuck you—" The spectator stands were an incessant din, and inside the arena was just as chaotic. As red and blue grappled furiously, they shouted non-stop over the comm channel. At first, Born in Summer had the upper hand, one-sidedly pinning Tiger of Litang down. However, because his offensive pace was overly aggressive, the unwieldy Xiaguang Mark II momentarily lost balance. Born in Summer stumbled directly into Tiger of Litang's chest, and the latter seized the opening, swinging his handaxe in a flurry of clattering blows. If that axe had been a thermal cutting axe, Summer—hunched over against Brother Tiger's chest—would likely have been roasted to a crisp, and the combat knife in his hand could never have pierced frontal armor forged of ceramite. Unfortunately, there were no 'ifs' on the battlefield. Although the combat power of the Abstract Corps was completely incomparable to that of the Climber Corps, who had distinguished themselves in the War in Heaven, a one-on-one deathmatch was an entirely different concept from corps-level warfare. Precisely because not a single one of their teammates was remotely reliable, all four top dogs of the Abstract Corps possessed rich battlefield survival experience and quick adaptability. The window for a counter-kill flashed in an instant! Just as the axe slammed heavily against his lower back for the second time, taking advantage of the split second when his opponent's center of gravity shifted behind him, he wrenched both arms upward, planted his feet, and pushed off the ground, bodily uprooting Tiger of Litang from atop him and flipping him clean over his back! "Holy shi—!" Amid gasps from the spectators, Brother Tiger let out an unwilling roar, flipping head-first over Summer's back and slamming heavily onto the ground on his back. *Boom!!* Billowing clouds of dust surged upward. Dazed and battered from the impact, he was just about to roll over and scramble up when a combat knife wedged into the gap between his helmet and shoulder armor, accompanied by an armored palm clamping firmly down onto his head. Panting heavily, Summer grinned wickedly, holding the guy's helmet fast as he gloated triumphantly. "Don't move! Be good!" "@#$%!" Grinding his teeth in frustration, Tiger of Litang struggled a few times without budging, leaving him no choice but to concede. According to the duel rules, if either party lost the ability to resist, the match was considered over. The victor received a reward bonus. Once the determination was made, if either side continued fighting, it would be treated as a violation and penalized. This rule design was primarily meant to reduce wear and tear on the equipment. Although the powered armors in the arena were stripped-down, nerfed versions—for instance, replacing ultra-long-lasting nuclear batteries with hydrogen batteries that lasted only a single fight—the other components were still undeniably expensive. The moment the outcome was decided, a line of text scrolled across the large display screen: [Match Concluded. Red Victorious] [Winner ID: Born in Summer] A roar of excited cheers erupted from the spectator stands outside the arena, especially from the players who had bet and won money, who jumped to their feet shouting in celebration. Standing in the center of the crowd, Fawai Kuangtu applauded, wearing the serene smile of an otherworldly master as he offered his commentary: "Not bad, not bad. He has about a third of my swagger back when I dominated the arena." Standing beside him, [Sleepy Upon Waking] rolled his eyes upon hearing that. "Stop bragging! Besides, what level are you already? Is it fun comparing yourself to rookies?!" Fawai Kuangtu chuckled. "Aren't I comparing him to me back then? When I ruled the arena, wasn't I a rookie too!" Sleepy Upon Waking: "You fucking won like a few times total, how the hell is that dominating!" Fawai Kuangtu: "Irrelevant! My win rate was high!" Sleepy Upon Waking: "@#$%!" Stopping his clapping, [I'm Responsible for Dying First] sighed and looked helplessly at the two. "...If you have time to argue, why not go down and have a match yourselves?" Because some players' antics were far too scandalous, the player spectator section and the NPC spectator section had been separated ever since Beta 0.6. The former was open mainly to bored players dropping by for entertainment, while the audience in the latter consisted predominantly of researchers, engineers, and trainees from Camp 101. For that very reason, the NPC section was vastly quieter than the player section. Not only did one need to put on headphones to hear the sounds of combat, but the conversational atmosphere leaned heavily toward the academic. "The hardness of the ceramite armor exceeded expectations..." "Mm... Ten consecutive hits from bolter rounds without a scratch, and it even deflected a portable shaped-charge warhead with three hundred and fifty millimeters of penetration." "This thing is practically a walking tank..." "The shaped-charge warhead failing to penetrate was likely due to the spaced armor, not entirely the ceramite's doing." "Not necessarily. We'll have to disassemble the armor lining around the impact point to confirm." "I'm wondering what kind of individual man-portable equipment could destroy this thing from the front..." "Isn't it a bit early to worry about that?" "Not early at all. Tech proliferation is only a matter of time, and I'm certain the Legion is already considering this problem. Before they find a solution, we need to anticipate their solutions and devise countermeasures." Sitting in a corner of the spectator area, headphones on, Xia Yan stared thoughtfully at the notebook in her hands. As the designer of the entire armor suit, her focus was not on any single module, but on the big picture of the whole system. Having crafted equipment for the players since before the Alliance was even born, she understood how they fought better than anyone here, and knew best how to maximize their advantages in specific battlefield environments. And this was precisely what Chu Guang had once told her: "a unique and irreplaceable talent possessed by her alone." Ever since realizing this, she had never again felt lost over "having no Awakened talents" or "failing to find her own value." From observing the battle just now, new inspiration had already sparked in her mind. It was just that the vague idea remained rather abstract for the moment. She needed a bit of time to organize it into something concrete and integrate it into the original design plan. "...Sorry, I still need a little time. Could you wait for me just a bit longer? Ten minutes... er, maybe half an hour, definitely no more than an hour!" Ruffling her messy fiery-red hair, Xia Yan lifted her head from the screen and looked apologetically at Alisa sitting across from her, wearing an imploring expression. Because their fields of study were related, Alisa was very close to Xiao Yu, and thus had become good friends with Xia Yan as well. Lately, however, Xiao Yu and Pai had been busy over in Dawn City with projects related to the Exchange, so these past few days it had been just the two of them heading to the cafeteria together. Noticing the furrowed brow that betrayed Xia Yan's struggle, Alisa smiled gently and said in a soft voice, "It's fine. I'm not that hungry anyway." "Thanks!" Tossing out that quick word of thanks, Xia Yan dove right back into her conceptual work. And sitting opposite her, Alisa did not disturb her train of thought. Just as before, she quietly savored the rich coffee while flipping through the unfinished book in her hands. Her reason for choosing to read here was not out of any great interest in powered armor combat, but purely because the coffee here was free and unlimited, occasionally accompanied by leftover biscuits and pastries from the cafeteria that hadn't sold the day before. Ever since resigning from her post on the Boulder City Crisis Committee, she had lived the life of an ordinary person, with monthly living expenses of only around 1,000 silver coins. Thanks to scholarships established by the Alliance's Department of Education and the Boulder City local authorities, she was able to study the knowledge she yearned for here without worry after everything had ended. Though her life was by no means tight, since she was spending money she hadn't earned herself after all, she still maintained a frugal mindset where possible, particularly regarding nonessential expenses. She trusted that the esteemed Mr. Administrator surely wouldn't mind a little girl without independent financial means taking a tiny advantage of him. And she wouldn't freeload forever. Once she completed her studies, she would repay his helping hand to her and to Boulder City with her vast knowledge. In the past, she had been frail and weak, knowing that things happened without knowing why they happened. Now, however, it was different. Through a full year of study, she was no longer the person she had been back then... "...Excuse me, are you Ms. Alisa?" Hearing a voice from the side, Alisa realized her fingertip had rested on the corner of the next page for ten full minutes without turning it, while the hundreds of thousands of words flashing through her mind could have filled an entire book. Realizing she had spaced out, a blush touched her cheeks. She cleared her throat to compose herself before looking up at the staff member standing by the table. "That's me... Is something the matter?" The staff member smiled and said, "There's a gentleman at the entrance looking for you. He claims to be your friend and says he needs to speak with you." During equipment testing, aside from authorized shelter residents, non-staff or non-students of Camp 101 could not apply to enter the arena as spectators. However, Camp 101 itself was quite open; anyone who registered at the gatehouse could enter. Hearing that it was her friend, the first person Alisa thought of was Mr. Joy. His child was also pursuing advanced studies at Camp 101, and occasionally, when visiting his child, he would drop by to see her as well. "I understand." Not thinking much of it, Alisa closed the open book and looked across at Xia Yan. "I'll step outside for a moment, then." Busy in front of her screen, Xia Yan nodded hastily, so deep in the zone that she didn't even have time to look away. "Mm-hmm! Safe travels! Ah no, remember to come back soon!" "Don't worry, how could I leave you to eat dinner all by yourself? ...I'll be right back." Amused by Boss Xia's flustered state, Alisa smiled faintly. Not wanting to keep Mr. Joy waiting, she delayed no longer, standing up from her seat and walking out the door of the arena spectator area. Meanwhile, at the arena entrance, two men stood one behind the other—one tall, one short. Compared to the tall man in front, the shorter one was visibly much younger, possibly not even of age yet. Precisely because of this, lacking life experience, both his skin and his confidence were far thinner than those of the man standing before him. "...Mr. Zayed, is it really okay for us to do this?" The young lad glanced nervously toward the entrance and finally couldn't resist asking in a low whisper. Earlier, Zayed had lied to the staff at the door. They were not Ms. Alisa's friends at all; in fact, they had never even met the lady. Although Mr. Zayed had fooled the inexperienced young worker with his fluent speech and proper etiquette to the point that the young man hadn't even asked for their names before heading inside to find her, such a lie could not hold up for long. He was deeply worried that upon seeing their unfamiliar faces, the young lady would immediately call the guards over... Zayed glanced at his fidgety follower and murmured very softly, "Relax. It's not like we're bad people. We'll just explain things clearly and apologize to her in a moment." Seeing how nervous the guy was, he paused for a second and added, "People who achieve great things usually don't get hung up on minor details. With that lady's capability and ambition, she won't stoop to making a fuss with us over such trifles. As for you, looking around like a sneak thief, I'm genuinely worried the guards will toss you out." This lad was named Vassa, a member of the Snake tribe just like him, and also an underling he had recruited shortly after arriving in Dawn City. Hearing Zayed say this, Vassa quickly stopped glancing around, though the nervous look remained plastered across his face. "But... couldn't we use another approach? Like sending a formal letter to arrange a meeting or something?" "Do you think I haven't tried?" Countering with the question, Zayed continued in a calm tone, "Besides, we don't have time to wait any longer. The window of opportunity is narrowing. Torn apart by internal and external forces alike, the Empire won't hold out much longer. We must secure the support of the Alliance, and to achieve that, we must establish contact with the Alliance's Administrator." Ever since he took the advice of a certain shelter resident and changed the Equality Association into the Family Association, he had indeed recruited quite a few members and gathered considerable sponsorship funds. Especially upon hearing that members of the Family Association addressed one another as family, embodying equality, fraternity, mutual aid, and unity without distinction, quite a few residents of Shelter 404 had gladly opened their coin pouches, supporting their cause without asking for anything in return. Yet even so, having grown on such "spur-of-the-moment" support, they were still leagues behind the Union established by the residents of Golden Gallon Port. The two were on completely different scales. The latter not only had the backing of the residents of Port French Fries, but also enjoyed the sponsorship of the colossal Baiyue Company. Zayed had actually wanted to wait patiently; after all, some things couldn't be rushed. To meet an important figure, he hadn't even hesitated to pour tea and serve water at a breakfast stall for ages, so naturally he wouldn't mind pulling noodles in Dawn City for several months. However, a recent series of events had made him increasingly restless. On one hand, Laxi's performance had exceeded his expectations; the Dawn City edition of *Survivor Daily* had reported on the recovery achievements of Mammoth State for the first time. On the other hand, the imperial court had proven foolish beyond his wildest imagination, ticking off nearly every blunder imaginable and hurtling full throttle down the wrong path. Anyone of sound mind would find it practically impossible to make decisions completely contrary to logic on a whole string of issues, yet that Wutuo had miraculously achieved that very feat. Generally speaking, scoring a hundred percent on an exam was hard, but getting every single question wrong was quite an accomplishment in its own right. "...Can that Ms. Alisa really contact the Alliance's Administrator?" Vassa looked at Zayed in confusion, a flicker of incredulous hesitation lingering on his face. The latter couldn't be bothered to explain, merely staring impassively toward the doorway as he said evenly, "Whether it works or not, we have to try." Though he said this, he harbored immense confidence that this endeavor would succeed. Like a certain Mr. Rat who had penned *Red Soil*, he had also studied the records of Boulder City's Great Transformation—and far more deeply than the former... at least, in his own view, there was no doubt about it. After all, while the former was still fixating on cultural dimensions, he had already conducted an in-depth analysis of the core dynamics of the new and old regimes and the transfer of power throughout Boulder City's Great Transformation! The ultimate victors were never starry-eyed idealists; those fellows who overthrew the Inner City nobles were shrewd operators who had mastered human nature to perfection. That woman named Alisa, in particular, was by no means simple! She was not only the daughter of Melvin, the former president of the Boulder City Bank, but also a member of the Crisis Response Committee established jointly by the Workers' Union and the Militia! That committee was no trivial matter. The present top brass of the Boulder City local authorities were almost entirely carried over from that very committee— whether in City Hall or the Militia! To emerge unscathed through the transition between old and new regimes while preserving both herself and the family behind her spoke volumes of this woman's political finesse! Not only that— he had also learned that during the Crisis Committee period, this Ms. Alisa had overseen the liquidation of the Inner City nobles' assets as well as the bankruptcy reorganization of the Boulder City Bank! This was a brilliant move, and precisely the feat that earned his highest admiration. Having accomplished this, she had effectively made a clean break with her past! In the future, her political rivals would never be able to attack her based on her background! Even what was once a stain upon her would become a shining badge of honor! Whether carrying out that task flawlessly or successfully earning the trust of the other Crisis Committee members to secure the assignment in the first place, both proved how masterful her methods were, how profound her calculating depth! On the surface, she had lost all her wealth, but in reality, she had gained something far more essential— power! Even though she had ultimately chosen to fade from Boulder City's inner circle of power once everything concluded, in Zayed's eyes, this looked much more like a strategic retreat to advance further later on. Heading to the Alliance's highest seat of learning for advanced studies branded her with the Alliance's mark while granting her an additional halo that eclipsed her former colleagues on the Crisis Committee. In the future, if she took a step forward, it would be from the core of power in the small pond of Boulder City straight into the power core of the entire Alliance. And even if she stepped back, she could effortlessly stand above all her former colleagues by virtue of her Alliance branding and her achievements during Boulder City's Great Transformation! Not to mention, she held that powerful connection to the Alliance's Administrator in her hands! That was gossip Zayed had overheard by chance—rumor had it that Alisa exchanged frequent correspondence with the Alliance's Administrator. Although the rumor was hardly reliable, being nothing more than the drunken boast of a drunkard in a Boulder City tavern, judging by how others chuckled along, there might very well be truth to it. And if that were truly the case... then this Ms. Alisa's future was even less to be underestimated! Zayed didn't understand the Alliance's power structure very well, so he could only interpret it by analogy to the imperial court of the Empire. He tried imagining it: if he were the Emperor of the Empire, he certainly wouldn't reject an empress who possessed formidable personal capability and could bring substantial resources to the royal house. So long as the lady wasn't too elderly, perhaps past childbearing age. Thinking up to this point, a confident, winning smile gradually crept onto Zayed's face. Now the only thing he needed to figure out was how to prove his worth to this Ms. Alisa, to show he was an investment worth making. If he could latch onto the coattails of the Alliance's future empress, it would bring immense benefits not just to his Family Association, but to the new kingdom the Family Association would establish in Bolo Province in the future! Just as Zayed was lost in these thoughts, the person he had been yearning to meet finally appeared at the arena entrance. Yet the moment he confirmed that figure was Alisa, he froze completely dumbfounded on the spot, his mouth hanging open, unable to utter a single word. She looked barely fifteen or sixteen years old, utterly shattering the image of a cunning, unfathomable queen he had envisioned in his mind. This girl... was *that* Alisa? Could there have been some mistake?! All his calculations thrown into disarray, Zayed stared blankly at her until she followed the arena staff member up close. Looking at the unfamiliar man before her and the timid follower cowering behind him, a faint look of displeasure crossed Alisa's face, her delicate brows knitting slightly. An approach that opened with deception had already knocked her first impression of this fellow straight down to zero. "I do not know you, nor do I recall anyone here sharing my name." "I need an explanation."