Ever since the release of the "Barbarian Invasion" expansion pack, the Alliance's population had been approaching the six-million mark.
Meanwhile, Dawn City and Boulder City, the two most populous and densely inhabited cities, had both surpassed one million permanent residents, with the former rapidly closing in on the two-million mark.
Furthermore, Daybreak City, which boasted the highest concentration of industrial and research facilities, and Luoye City, which served as a major transportation hub, were both heading toward the one-million milestone.
Among these numbers were not only migrants from other regions, but also many newborns brought into the world on Alliance soil.
Back when the Bone Chewer Turmoil ended, the Alliance had experienced a baby boom.
And now, the children born back then were already attending kindergarten, while the adolescents who had joined the Alliance during that period had grown into young adults.
It wasn't just the Alliance's population that was growing—the player count was rising as well.
As more and more shelters were unlocked, the number of closed-beta accounts had gradually increased from 100,000 to 200,000, with over 170,000 already distributed.
Back in the distant alpha closed beta, the ratio of players to NPCs could still barely be maintained between 1:5 and 1:10; now, the player count had been left far behind by the explosive growth of NPCs.
However, this was an inevitable progression.
The capacity of shelters alone could not sustain a civilization. Having weathered the harsh, bitter winter, the shelter residents from the old era ultimately had to sow their carefully nurtured seeds and hope across the land...
Wasteland Online Official Website.
During the peak log-in and log-off hours every day, the forum was as lively as ever.
New and old keyboard-warrior observers exchanged game guides and insights, while the veteran internet drivers made their usual dirty jokes and memes.
Compared to the emergency brakes slammed on Train No. 97 or the ideological and cultural upheavals transpiring in a distant world, the vast majority of thrill-seekers and trolls were far more interested in what new shenanigans Brother Mosquito and Tail had cooked up lately.
For a while, Tail had stolen the spotlight.
The White Bear Knights had somehow wandered off to the continent's northernmost fringe, where they stumbled across a nearly bankrupt private research institute stranded in the middle of nowhere on a desolate marshland.
Supposedly, the institute's director claimed he was once an "external affiliate" of the Academy who had learned some gene-editing techniques under a researcher.
Later on, whether his mentor had died or simply forgotten about him and his project, he waited for ten whole years without ever seeing his mentor return.
By now, the institute's resources were completely exhausted. Just as this unlucky middle-aged man was preparing to shut down the institute and wander the wasteland, he happened upon the warm-hearted Ah Wei.
In short, after completing a whole series of resource gathering and specimen recovery quests, the fellow promised to help her reconstruct certain extinct species using gene synthesis technology.
Yet to accomplish this, a single research institute and a few strands of DNA were nowhere near enough.
What they needed was an entire gene bank, and pre-war gene banks were mostly scattered across the planet's polar regions.
And so, the White Bear Knights were heading toward the Arctic, venturing even further north than Binghai City.
Rumor had it that parts of that region fell under the territory of the Northern Legion.
No player had ever set foot there before.
Some busybodies on the forum had already opened betting pools on how long it would take before she appeared at the respawn point in Dawn City.
Of course, the forum was never short of backseat gamers who loved telling others what to do, crying out things like "You might as well give me the helmet," "Going to the Arctic is worse than going to the Antarctic," "What's the damn point of playing like this," or "How did these clowns even get beta helmets?"
Their patronizing, know-it-all attitudes bore an uncanny resemblance to the members of the Society of Family.
Yet that, too, was simply part of the forum ecosystem.
Just like the tales of the mammoth, or the baffling, clownish antics of Garbage Jun and Qiangren Suonan who spent their days jungling in the wild, it was merely another minor episode among the forum's endless trivia.
Just as posts on the forum homepage refreshed by the second, Brother Mosquito suddenly popped up, plastering a clickbait title filled with sensational punctuation across the public board:
"Holy crap! Guess what just happened?!"
Tail: "!?"
Jieyan: "What the hell? Not even a recap or context—how the hell are we supposed to guess?"
Ye Shi: "I suspect this guy's about to talk out of his ass again. Let me play Seer and call it first. (Funny)"
Mosquito: "Brothers, don't panic, hear me out. I was playing cards in Kun Town, and an NPC was sitting opposite me. In the middle of the game, he suddenly became a sore loser... and guess what happened next?"
Tail: "???"
Rourou: "Damn, my claws are itching to scratch!"
The thread shot up to over a hundred replies.
Having piqued everyone's curiosity to the brim, Mosquito saw that people were starting to lose their patience. Not daring to drag it out any longer, he typed what he had encountered yesterday at the bottom of the post:
"That guy dug in his ear, and just when I wondered what he was doing, out of nowhere he turned into the Administrator himself!"
The thread went silent for a moment; several seconds passed without anyone posting.
Tail: "Giao! Is that something a human would do?! (///～皿～)"
Sisi: "..."
Teng Teng: "What on earth."
Yaya: "Sigh, and here I thought you actually had something crazy to say. (Speechless)"
Mosquito: "Wait, don't you guys think that's terrifying?! Not gonna lie, I almost pissed my pants right then and there. (Panic)"
Gale: "A quiet conscience sleeps in thunder. Think carefully about what dirty deeds you've pulled recently. (Side-eye)"
Mosquito: "?? Holy crap, I'm an upstanding citizen, don't frame me, alright?!"
Ye Shi: "My blind guess: you pulled out that Golden Legendary card again. (Funny)"
Feng Qing: "Speaking of which, Boss, how did you end up in Jinchuan Province?"
Gui Gui: "Hey, the front lines need people! If you've respawned, hurry up and get back here! (╯°Д°)╯︵┻━┻"
Mosquito: "Ahem, let me rest a bit. I'm a human being, not a machine. Flying planes for nearly half a year is exhausting... Besides, the pilots over there have improved their skills now. I can't do everything for them. If their victory ends up falling into their laps from the sky, that might not even be a good thing."
Brother Edge: "You sure know how to make slacking off sound so utterly refined and noble. (Sweat)"
Fang Chang: "Mm, come to think of it, the Administrator does seem to be in Weifu City recently. But that guy is so busy and elusive that having time to play cards with you is indeed rather unusual... Think back carefully. Did he do anything else besides playing cards?"
Mosquito: "...Uh, is that important?"
Fang Chang: "Whether it's important or not, aren't I trying to analyze it for you? If you don't need it, forget it. (Side-eye)"
Mosquito hesitated for a bit, but in the end honestly recounted the whole sequence of events.
This included how he had used a fusion card to summon 【The Administrator Riding Niko】, and how that "Golden Legendary Card" worth hundreds of millions was forcibly bought off him by the Administrator tossing down a few bills.
After hearing his account, the thread erupted in gloating jeers; evidently, quite a few people had seen that card before.
Of course, besides those fellow card players who had suffered at its hands, there were also good brothers earnestly helping Mosquito analyze the situation.
Like Brother Spring.
"Maybe the Administrator was warning you not to ride roughshod over others in his name. (Funny)"
Mosquito: "Ah?! But I never did that! (Awkward)"
Commander Spring: "Then look at it from another angle: he wants you to be more prudent in using the abilities and status granted to you by the shelter. Remember, with great power comes great responsibility, or else one day he'll confiscate your tools of the trade. (Funny)"
Mosquito: "Holy crap... Is it really that serious?! (Panic)"
Fang Chang: "Ahem, stop messing with Mosquito. While the Administrator can be a bit sly and scheming at times, judging by past events, he isn't petty to that extent."
"However... I'm actually thinking of another possibility. Since you said he understood all your memes, including real-world ones, could there be another explanation? What if what you saw wasn't the Administrator, but the game designer Ah Guang playing the Administrator?"
Mosquito: "What the hell?! You mean the designer logged into his main account?!"
"Mm... Based on existing intel, the developer should be able to log into NPC accounts. Technically speaking, that shouldn't be too hard to pull off. What baffles me is why he would do that. Could there be some deeper meaning behind it... or just as Brother Spring said, was he trying to convey a message to you through this method?"
Ye Shi: "Maybe Ah Guang just saw that Mosquito was getting too full of himself and wanted to use an NPC's mouth to tell him, 'The Administrator is watching you.' (Funny)"
Mosquito: "Holy shit... He actually said those exact words! (Shock)"
Yaya: "Uh, I think you guys are overthinking it... Maybe Ah Guang just felt like playing cards."
Tail: "Wuwuwu, damn it, Boss Yaya is too pure and innocent, I wanna bully her so bad! (☆▽☆)"
Yaya: "???"
Watching the group of goofballs on the forum spiral into increasingly absurd theories, Chu Guang, who was lurking and monitoring the screen via his holographic computer, shook his head with a chuckle.
"These guys have way too wild an imagination."
In just a few exchanges, he had gone from "being able to possess the Administrator at will" to "being able to possess any NPC anywhere at any given time."
The former guess was completely superfluous—the designer and the Administrator were the exact same person to begin with. Ah Guang and Dawn were both his alternate identities; he didn't need to possess anyone at all, having been dual-boxing this whole time.
As for the latter conjecture, it was somewhat ridiculous, and had even spawned some eye-scorching deductions that made Xiao Qi clench her little fists in indignation. Unable to bear reading any further, Chu Guang simply closed the thread.
In truth, he indeed didn't want anyone using his name to coerce or oppress others.
However, confiscating Mosquito's "Golden Legendary" truly didn't carry that much profound meaning—it was purely because the bastard had drawn him holding a hammer in such an utterly cringeworthy fashion.
If that dog had drawn him a little more realistically or slightly more handsome, Chu Guang wouldn't have had to spend 500 silver coins buying a piece of paper.
He would have considered that piece of junk overpriced even at five silver coins.
Once he bought it, he had tossed it to Xiao Qi to store away.
In the end, it was still broad-minded Yaya who understood him best.
...
Meanwhile, in the south of Brahma Province, on the border between Wolf State and Snake State, soldiers bearing rifles were transporting bags and crates of supplies back from the direction of Wolf State.
They were plainly dressed and slight of frame, yet their eyes gleamed fiercely, like hungry wolves in the jungle.
A few days earlier, under the command of General Grove, they had launched an offensive dubbed "Operation North Wind."
Nine myriads, including the 101st and 102nd Myriads, had dispersed into smaller units and advanced from Snake State's northern border into Wolf State. Through small-unit infiltration raids, division, and encirclement tactics, they had launched surprise strikes against various strategic facilities belonging to the Southern Legion across southern Wolf State.
Tactically speaking, this operation was practically a textbook victory. The Southern Legion never expected Shahrukh to attack, and the spies planted in Snake State had received zero intelligence regarding Operation North Wind. The garrison units and baggage train forces guarding the southern counties had been battered into retreating tens of kilometers.
Strategically speaking, this force from Snake State not only dealt a heavy blow to the Southern Legion's logistical deployment in southern Wolf State, but also greatly relieved military pressure to the south of Tiandu.
Ever since the Southern Legion occupied Wolf State, they had aggressively trained auxiliary troops in the region, seeking opportunities to infiltrate from south of Tiandu toward the eastern states of Brahma Province.
Those eastern states contained quite a few industrial facilities and railways constructed with Alliance assistance.
Their security was not only tied to the economy of the State of Brahma, but also critical to the supply flow on the front lines.
Shahrukh, who normally ran faster than a rabbit, seemed to have finally remembered this time that he was a wolf rather than a dog, taking a ferocious bite out of the Southern Legion's heel.
Although Shahrukh's personal attitude toward Operation North Wind remained uncertain, those myriads were his men after all.
This exhilarating victory not only served as a resounding slap in the face to those who mocked his claim of "resting and building up strength," but also greatly bolstered the morale of the radicals in Port Golden Gallon.
The same was true for the front-line soldiers, especially the 101st Myriad under General Grove's direct command; from officers to grunts, every face beamed with vindication and pride.
When departing Snake State, they were so impoverished that two men shared a single rifle; upon returning, not only did every man carry two or three rifles, but they had also amassed a trove of heavy and light weaponry, along with heavy machine guns.
Not only that, they had gladly pocketed the Southern Legion's military trucks as well, which, alongside cargo tricycles and ox carts, hauled crates and bundles of ammunition back into the mountains of Snake State.
Beyond the front-line combat troops, General Grove, who had directed the battle, was thoroughly thrilled as well.
Watching the guns and ammunition being hauled back from the front, he warmly clapped Brother Dog on the shoulder, his grin practically stretching from ear to ear.
"Mr. Gou Xiong, that was truly a brilliant stratagem! After this battle, we must have wiped out at least twenty to thirty thousand enemies!"
Hearing this, Brother Dog gave an embarrassed smile, replying modestly, "You flatter me, it's merely a few little life hacks."
Twenty to thirty thousand was an exaggeration, but he figured it shouldn't be too far off.
After all, he had seen with his own eyes the petrified look on those Wilante and their auxiliary troops, as if they had seen a ghost.
This time, those big noses had been beaten into quite a pathetic state!
Incidentally, "Gou Xiong" was an alias he had chosen for himself; his player ID, unlike those of other players, sounded rather unrefined no matter how one broke down the characters.
He couldn't very well tell everyone he met that he was named "Old Dog" or "Catheter," could he?
At least the name "Gou Xiong" carried a bit more bravado.
Hearing that peculiar phrase, Grove froze for a moment, scratching the back of his head in confusion.
"Li... life hacks?"
Brother Dog coughed lightly and explained, "Ahem... What I mean is, this was how we fought the Bone Chewer tribe back then. Those marauders were equipped and commanded by the Legion, and their combat strength far exceeded ours, but against our relentless skirmishing tactics, they were defeated in the end."
After months of practice, his Human Alliance language was no longer as shoddy as it had been at the start of the year, though his choice of words was still somewhat "unconventional" at times, making them hard for survivors outside the Alliance to grasp.
Fortunately, this minor flaw didn't hinder their communication. Grove didn't press further, nodding with sudden realization.
"I see... To you, guerrilla warfare is just a life skill."
As he said this, the admiration in Grove's eyes deepened even further.
People were always telling him that the Wilante were some warrior race, but in his eyes, these River Valley folks were the real deal!
After all, they had a bunch of allies to help them, while these folks had relied entirely on their own strength to beat down the marauders backed by the Legion.
Brother Dog: "Uh, it wasn't quite that dramatic... Whatever, interpret it however you want."
Let him misunderstand.
It wasn't a bad thing anyway.
As for why an Alliance player was embedded in Grove's army, that was a long story.
Over the past few months, in order to figure out what the Society of Family was really about, Brother Dog had remained undercover in Snake State, gathering intelligence on the organization.
Intriguingly, however, what he witnessed turned his preconceived notions about the Society of Family upside down.
Setting aside their controversial proselytizing methods, compared to the other monsters and scoundrels active across Brahma Province, these "family members" were genuinely practicing the ideals of equality and fraternity they preached.
While the warlords of Tiger State and Leopard State seized the land and water sources of freeholder farmers, these folks not only planted beans and ground bean porridge with their own hands, but also wove cloth and dyed garments themselves.
If they were considered evil, then General Jeha of Tiger State was rotten to the core.
After all, Jeha's deeds were plain for all to see; the man was a textbook example of lawlessness. If he took a fancy to a factory's profits, he didn't even bother pretending to pay, simply dispatching a chiliarch to raid the owner's home.
Compared to the outrages committed by those degenerates, he truly couldn't find fault with these impoverished folks.
What was even more commendable was their willingness to reform.
Upon meeting Zayed, that cultured and amiable man not only listened carefully to his advice and drafted an improvement plan overnight, but also assembled everyone to vote on the revised plan, outlawing multi-level marketing by law and conducting a profound self-criticism.
Such a thing was exceedingly rare, not just in Tiandu, but even in Port Golden Gallon.
Later, Brother Dog learned that Snake State also had its own commissioners, only they were called "Family Heads."
And unlike the commissioners appointed by Absaik, their Family Heads were truly elected freely, one person, one vote.
Moreover, toward this friend from the Alliance, these family members treated him like one of their own, welcoming and caring for him with warmth.
Though far from wealthy, they would rather go hungry themselves than fail to scrape together what little supplies they had to treat him to fish and meat. Every time, it left him utterly embarrassed, and he had no choice but to distribute whatever food he couldn't finish to the local children watching with longing eyes.
Aside from food, several young and pretty girls had fallen for him, seizing every opportunity to pull him aside and chat about life and ideals.
Looking into those pairs of watery, bright eyes, claiming he hadn't felt the slightest flutter would mean feeding his conscience to the dogs.
Yet so as not to disrupt the lives of the locals, after an agonizing inner struggle, he ultimately chose to be a decent man. He took the initiative to leave the relatively comfortable rear and head to the harsher front line.
Zayed urged him to stay again and again, and the young man who always accompanied Zayed even grabbed his hand in tears, saying he still wanted to learn more from him.
Perhaps seeing his mind was firmly set, they finally granted his departure.
And so, on the northern front of Snake State, he met General Grove—the legendary second-in-command of the Gray Wolf Army.
Unlike the Gray Wolf Army's top commander, Gopal, who always wore a cold scowl and exuded a sinister aura, Grove struck him as an innocent, optimistic "old lad."
Age-wise, the man was in his early thirties, yet his daring, fighting spirit resembled that of a teenager.
What Brother Dog found most admirable was that this straightforward fellow didn't have a devious bone in his body; he always spoke his mind plainly and owned up to whatever he did.
Not only that, his tactical cunning matched his martial valor.
Brother Dog could sense that while Shahrukh was surrounded by ambitious figures like Zayed—much like the Commander's Office in Tiandu—at least the man standing before him was a true idealist.
By analogy, he was cut from the exact same cloth as "Jungle Rat Isher," who had a bounty on his head printed on the Wilante's playing cards up north, differing only in having slightly less political acumen.
Coincidentally, Brother Dog later discovered that Grove was actually a "fan" of Isher.
Few Wolf Clan members would ever revere a Rat Clan person, yet whenever Grove mentioned that name, it was with utter admiration and respect, even publicly treating him as a role model.
In Brahma Province, where the caste hierarchy was rigid, this was exceptionally unusual.
Isher himself probably never imagined that, while waging guerrilla warfare far away in the northern three states, he had become the idol of a senior Gray Wolf Army officer.
In any case, when Grove learned that "Gou Xiong" was a friend of Isher, he seized every chance to pull him into long, late-night conversations. Every time they chatted, he would inquire about Isher, marveling and dubbing him the "Second God of War of Brahma Province."
As for who the First God of War was, Brother Dog never asked, and Grove never told him.
Regarding the Empire's God of War, Alaiyang, most veterans of the Gray Wolf Army held deeply complicated feelings.
He was both their shame and their glory.
"...After this battle, I wonder if I'll get the chance to have my face printed on the Southern Legion's deck of cards."
Lowering the binoculars in his hand, Grove's face flushed with excitement, as if he had downed two liang of vodka.
Brother Dog nodded approvingly. "I'd say you've earned it. We definitely stung them hard this time."
Pausing, he added cautiously, "However, it's also time to withdraw."
Clearly, he wasn't the only one who thought so; standing beside him, General Grove was of the same mind, not at all blinded by the victory before him.
"Mm, that's what I was thinking too. If we push any deeper, our own logistics won't be able to keep up. Scoring such results is already an outstanding triumph... How does that saying go again? That proverb from your Alliance."
Brother Dog smiled and said, "Quit while you're ahead, and contentment brings constant happiness?"
"Right! Hahaha, quit while you're ahead, and contentment brings constant happiness!" Grove laughed heartily, clapping his good brother's shoulder.
It was obvious he loved that saying.
A knowing smile appeared on Brother Dog's face, but soon his expression turned bitter.
Damn it.
That bastard Eagle had duped him into picking this wretched name, blabbering about how a family ought to be neat and matched.
Had he known he'd have a shot at "going down in history," he would have picked a normal nickname when choosing his handle!
While the two were discussing withdrawal, fifty kilometers to the north, beside a wooded area, the clanking tracks of tanks quietly rolled across the open fields.
This was the 1st Chiliad of the Southern Legion's 60th Armored Myriad, composed primarily of light tanks and wheeled armored vehicles.
Upon receiving orders to sortie, Myriarch Gibson had taken decisive action after entering Wolf State. First, he dispatched reconnaissance aircraft to track enemy movements, then personally led a light armored force on a forced march toward the linchpin on the enemy's retreat route toward Snake State—Milyans County.
This place sat right on the border of Snake State; to the south were rolling hills, while to the north lay flat plains ideal for the advance of armored units.
He was certain that the majority of those oil-stealing rats had already fled.
However, with nine myriads advancing simultaneously, given the enemy's radio penetration and level of organization, it was impossible for all of them to make it back; there would always be a tail or two caught behind.
Sitting in the command vehicle, Myriarch Gibson squinted southward, his inscrutable expression concealing whatever thoughts crossed his mind.
Beside him, the adjutant checked the map and said earnestly, "Five kilometers further ahead is Milyans County. According to intelligence from the aviation group, a chiliad is resting there... We should make contact with them very soon."
"Mm."
Gibson nodded with narrowed eyes and raised the binoculars in his hand, but instead of bringing them to the bridge of his nose, he raised them to his lips like a liquor bottle.
Noticing the strange look directed at him from the side, he snapped back to reality, realizing he wasn't sitting at a bar counter, but standing on a battlefield.
With an awkward cough, he hastily grabbed the radio microphone, brought it to his mouth, straightened into a stern expression, and issued the order:
"All units, attention. Target: Milyans County. Clear all enemy units in the area!"
Hearing their commander's resounding voice, the young men across the comm channel let out high-spirited roars. Shells were rammed into breeches, and pedals were stomped to the floor.
"Roger that!"
Having endured enough pent-up frustration back at Evernight Port, they could finally turn their guns on those they were meant to fight.
Inside the jolting hull, Carver sat beneath the turret, holding his breath as his right index finger rubbed against the trigger. The sight fitted with night vision aimed into the distance, locking onto a wooden cabin illuminated with lights.
Last three kilometers!
He could already see the man smoking by the window, and that face shifting from cocky vitality into sheer terror.
They're dead!
Having acquired his target, Carver had already passed a death sentence on the fellow in his mind. Just then, his comrades' shouts rang out from behind him:
"High-explosive shell! Loaded!"
"Fire!"
Chapter 912