Chapter 5

Cattle and Horse Management Discussion Group.

This is a small group of only four people.

The group owner is Bai Juguoxi, and the members are three cattle and horses from the neighboring group—in other words, three moderators: Shao Nv Gongdi Ye Shichi, Bajiji Da Kuangfeng, and Lai Ri Fangzhang.

Ye Shi: [Did you all receive the helmets???]

Lao Bai: [I did... It's quite eerie, it was just thrown at my doorstep.]

Fang Zhang: [I found mine at the garage entrance...]

Kuangfeng: [Mine was on my desk... I thought it was from a colleague.]

Ye Shi: [You guys aren't as eerie as me. The package was delivered directly to my dorm! My three roommates were all there, and none of them saw how it got in! And the most eerie thing is, did you notice, when you put on the helmet, you can see a countdown, but no one else can see anything.]

The group fell into an eerie silence for a moment.

The first to break the silence was the group owner, Bai Juguoxi.

Lao Bai: [Now that you mention it, it is a bit eerie.]

Fang Zhang: [Do you think what game company is so powerful that they not only know our addresses but can also deliver packages without us noticing?]

Kuangfeng: [Yeah, that's what concerns me the most. The address is one thing; theoretically, they could analyze our real-world locations from the IP addresses of the links we clicked. But the logistics... I can't figure it out. I'm in Jinling, and I remember Ye Shi is studying in Jiangcheng, which is 500 kilometers away, but we almost received the helmets at the same time.]

Ye Shi: [Yeah, and it was shortly after clicking the link.]

Lao Bai: [Damn, should we call the police?]

Fang Zhang: [Without any property damage, the police probably won't do much. And what would you tell them? The wrong package was delivered? The helmet is problematic? Only the wearer can see anything when they put it on.]

Kuangfeng: [Yeah, that's the biggest issue. It's hard to explain to others what this thing is. I even tried putting my phone inside the helmet, but it couldn't capture anything I could see.]

Kuangfeng is a teacher, probably in a science field, and speaks in a logical manner. His words were met with agreement from Fang Zhang and Lao Bai.

Ye Shi: [What if... we take the helmets apart and see?]

Kuangfeng: [That's not impossible, but it's risky. I haven't found any way to disassemble them, and if we force it, it might be hard to put the helmet back together.]

Fang Zhang: [True, we can't let Ah Guang down.]

Given how the helmet was delivered to his garage door, he was starting to believe what the guy with the ID "Guang" said.

Maybe this company is a mysterious research institution supported by a government agency?

Whatever it is, so far, they haven't suffered any losses. And he himself is quite interested in a fully immersive VR game.

The countdown successfully piqued his interest.

Kuangfeng: [I messaged Brother Guang on QQ, but he hasn't replied. The official website's domain doesn't seem like a domestic site, and it's not even a normal domain. I can't find any registration information.]

Ye Shi: [Dark web?!]

Kuangfeng: [I'm not sure.]

Lao Bai: [Let's leave it at that for now. There's no point in discussing it further. In three days, we'll know what's going on with these helmets!]

...

While the players were discussing, Chu Guang was still busy making the final preparations in the wasteland.

5 kilograms of green wheat and some iron tools.

Chu Guang had to go to great lengths to move these items from Bet Street to the wetland park three kilometers away without drawing attention.

The entrance to Shelter 404 was hidden underground in this park, with the entrance inside an unassuming sanatorium.

The area was lush with vegetation and bordered a lake, so theoretically, there should be a lot of wildlife activity in this region.

Chu Guang was very cautious as he approached, wary of any potential dangers.

Fortunately, no incidents occurred.

He checked the markings he had made at the sanatorium's entrance to ensure no mutants or raiders had slipped in while he was away. Then, he used the pointed end of a pipe to push open the door and carefully entered.

The entrance to Shelter 404 was the elevator in the innermost part of the sanatorium's lobby, the only one with a B1 floor sign.

Chu Guang went down first and placed the food in the corridor between the elevator base and the outer airlock door of the buffer room.

This area was an open space, about 40 to 50 meters below the surface.

To be honest, it wasn't the best place to store food, but it was better than leaving it in the sanatorium where it might attract rats or mutated cockroaches.

He passed through the two airlock doors of the buffer room.

Entering the lobby, Chu Guang asked Xiao Qi, who was squatting in the corner:

"Has the forum function on the official website been developed?"

"It's done."

"What about the players? Have they received their helmets?"

"They have."

So fast?

Chu Guang was slightly surprised.

He remembered leaving the shelter at 6 AM, and it was only around 1 PM now, a span of about seven hours.

"Is the time in the wasteland really flowing 1:1 with the modern world?"

"Of course, but the time here is equivalent to UTC-4."

In the real world, China is in UTC+8, so there's a 12-hour time difference. It was now around 1 AM in eastern China.

Chu Guang sat at the computer and logged into the official website's backend.

Xiao Qi, following his instructions, had added the forum function, but with no traffic, there were no posts yet.

The database and encyclopedia were also empty.

"How do I upload photos from here?" Chu Guang pointed to the image gallery on the screen.

"Just upload them directly."

"…What I mean is, how do I take photos? Or do you have a camera or something?"

It was ridiculous that there wasn't even a camera in the entire B1 level of such a large shelter.

Even if he didn't leave weapons for himself, he should at least have some basic survival tools.

"Uh, there's probably no camera, but my camera can take photos for you... What kind of photos do you want? Right here?"

Looking at the robot in the corner, which looked like a wastebasket, Chu Guang sighed.

"What's the point of taking photos here... Forget it, I'll figure something out."

He couldn't bring mutants here.

But taking Xiao Qi outside was a possibility.

Most mutants aren't interested in inedible metal objects. With a bit of camouflage, placing Xiao Qi on the roof would be a great security measure!

The more he thought about it, the more it made sense.

He logged into his QQ account through the computer in the residents' hall.

Chu Guang found that all four players had sent him private messages, asking about the company he worked for, what a fully immersive game meant, and what the game helmet was all about.

To be honest, Chu Guang didn't know how to answer these questions and couldn't reveal the true nature of this world to them.

He had to make them believe this was a game world.

Only then could they descend as the "Fourth Disaster," fearless and diligent, becoming his strongest tools.

"Master."

"What is it?"

Chu Guang, who had turned off the computer and stood up from the chair, was asked by Xiao Qi, who was squatting in the corner.

"Do you not need to reply to their messages?"

"There's no need."

The more explanations, the more loopholes. It's better to brush them off with corporate or state secrets.

As for the rest?

Let them guess.

What are brains for if not to imagine?