Chapter 93

Henghu Wetland Park.

Beside an unnamed river, the surroundings were scorched earth and burnt tree trunks.

The fire that had raged earlier had been extinguished. Torches were set up in a circle on the open ground, surrounding twenty-nine dejected captives.

It was now the middle of the night, and it would be dawn in a few hours.

Yeshi, who was standing guard, yawned and looked at Lao Bai.

"How long will the Administrator be back?"

"I don't know."

"What about Kuangfeng?"

Fang Chang pointed to the half-dug kiln by the river with his chin.

"He had classes in the afternoon and fell asleep there."

In this game, logging out was quite convenient. Besides logging out safely at a respawn point, losing consciousness in any scene would also disconnect you.

This included, but was not limited to, being knocked out or falling asleep normally.

The only downside was that it wouldn't save your genetic sequence progress.

Hearing that Kuangfeng had gone to class, Yeshi asked in confusion.

"Didn't he get a PPT assistant?"

"I don't know. Maybe he can't let go of his students. Anyway, the team has finished, and he seemed distracted, so I let him log out and take care of things. When he wakes up, he can take over our shift."

As one of the earliest members of the group, Lao Bai had known Kuangfeng the longest and understood him the best.

"… Don't think that Kuangfeng is just boasting in the group. In real life, he's actually a very honest and quiet person, extremely dedicated to his work, and has no other hobbies besides the game."

Yeshi chuckled.

"Honest, I can't see that, but he's definitely a bit闷骚 (secretly perverted)."

Lao Bai laughed.

"Haha, you're just taking advantage of his absence to tease him!"

Yeshi: "Speaking of which… when a character logs out, they don't react no matter what happens to them, right?"

"Probably. That's why logging out in non-safe areas is quite dangerous. If no one is watching, what do you want to do?"

Yeshi's eyes darted around.

"I don't want to do anything. I was just thinking… if we all log out, wouldn't the NPCs be able to do whatever they want to our pods?"

Hearing this, Lao Bai and Fang Chang were both choked by their saliva.

"Spit."

"Cough! Alright, don't use your dirty mind to speculate. Besides, such baseless conjectures are meaningless. You have no evidence to prove or disprove them. Similar questions include whether aliens are always around us, whether our world is actually a game, or whether the science we know is still valid beyond our 'horizon.' Endless suspicion is just self-inflicted trouble unless you find reliable evidence."

"What do you mean by 'dirty'! Can't I be curious? What else would I do while on guard, daydream? And why does your lecturing tone sound more and more like Kuangfeng's?" Yeshi rolled his eyes.

Fang Chang shrugged.

"No, just that anyone who thinks about such questions has a problem."

Lao Bai nodded in deep agreement and added a jab.

"Right, and I don't think anyone would do whatever they want to your body."

Yeshi: "I said it's a hypothetical! A hypothetical! Ah, I have no common language with you old folks."

Fang Chang: "…"

Lao Bai: "…"

At this moment, Tomato and Egg and three other players walked over from a distance.

Seizing the opportunity, Yeshi immediately changed the topic.

"Hey, Egg, why are you here?"

"I'm here to take over. The Administrator said I would be on duty after two, right?" Egg noticed someone was missing and asked curiously, "Where's Kuangfeng?"

"He logged out. He had something in real life. We'll carry him back later."

Egg nodded in understanding.

"Ah."

With someone to take over, it was much more comfortable.

He could log out, have a meal, and rest for a while before coming back to play.

Lao Bai carried Kuangfeng on his shoulder, then handed over the responsibility of guarding the captives to Egg and the others, and left with Yeshi and Fang Chang.

Now it was Egg and the others' turn to be bored.

The four young players initially stood guard with serious faces, but seeing that the captives were all asleep, they started chatting to pass the time.

"Rash, I should have bought some meat and charcoal from the warehouse to grill."

"Right, by the way, Egg, is rhinoceros meat tasty?"

"I've never had it…"

"Aren't you a chef?"

"Which restaurant would dare to serve that???"

"I heard rhinoceroses are listed in CITES Appendix I. It's at least five years, with no upper limit. But there are no wild rhinoceroses in China, so you'd have to go to South Africa."

"… Cough, should be fine in the game, right?"

The players were chatting.

At this moment, there was a rustling sound from the nearby forest.

Everyone immediately tensed up and gripped their guns, but they soon relaxed.

It was one of their own.

"How are the captives?"

"They're all here, respected Administrator."

"Good."

Chu Guang nodded and looked at the players beside him, giving instructions.

"Take these people with us."

An excited player said,

"Take them back to hang them?"

They had always done that!

However, this time, the Administrator seemed to have a new idea.

"Take them to the abandoned tire factory four kilometers away. There's a dungeon they built themselves," Chu Guang glanced at the thugs and said calmly, "Death is too easy for them. They will spend the rest of their lives in the Red River Town mines."

The Red River Town mines were not real mines, mostly old landfill sites.

Only heaven knew what would be dug up, and it wouldn't be surprising to find illegally buried nuclear waste.

Slaves working there were expendable, and few survived more than ten years, with some lasting only two or three.

But who cared?

People died every day in the wasteland.

The drowsy captives were all woken up, and over twenty people were tied together with a rope, forming a long line.

There were about ten players with guns watching them, so they didn't fear them escaping.

They walked four kilometers along the elevated road, turned into a street, and soon arrived at the abandoned tire factory.

Seeing the walls of their former stronghold now manned by others, the raiders' faces turned ashen, and they all looked desperate.

In the camp, the liberated captives stood blankly on the open ground, instinctively afraid and wanting to run.

However, when they saw the ropes tying the raiders and the warriors guarding them, they all quieted down.

Even if they weren't very smart, they could tell.

The place had a new owner.

Chu Guang announced a high-reward "guard duty" task and selected ten players who raised their hands first to stay here. He then arranged for the others to collect the loot, pack it, and load it onto the carts and hand trucks brought from the base.

According to his "contract" with Hain, all the loot belonged to him.

After making these arrangements, Chu Guang walked to Hain and looked at the merchant who had made a great contribution.

"When do you plan to set out?"

Hain replied respectfully.

"I've already sent Wen back. He's very quick and should return with what you need within four days."

Chu Guang asked,

"By himself?"

"Of course, one person is the fastest. He carries my token, and it doesn't matter whether I'm with him or not," the cunning merchant suddenly thought of something and added, "I know what you're worried about. Please rest assured, I am willing to stay here as a hostage. Even if you don't trust my character, you should believe I won't risk my own life."

Chu Guang looked at him with interest.

Knowing what I'm worried about is good.

I don't even know myself.

"As you wish. I haven't trusted your character, nor have I cared about your tricks. I plan to return to the outpost base. Do you want to stay here or come with me?"

He left ten players at the base, five in each group, taking turns. Two would stand in the dungeon, and three would stand on the walls and at the gate, more than enough to watch the captives.

The loot couldn't be moved in one trip, and more trips would be needed during the day.

The players would be busy all day tomorrow.

"I'll go with you," Hain decided in a second, "I don't want to stay here for a second."

Raiders usually didn't care about hygiene, and the camp was filled with a rotten, fishy smell that no one could stand, except for rats and cockroaches.

Chu Guang nodded, said nothing, and gestured to the players who were ready with the carts and hand trucks.

"Let's go."

"Take our loot."

"Home!"

...

It was already four in the morning when they returned to the outpost base.

Through the gaps in the forest, the first faint white light of dawn was visible.

Apart from the guards on the walls and a few life-skilled players busy in the industrial area, there were hardly any people in the base.

However, more people would arrive soon.

Chu Guang found two empty rooms in the main building of the sanatorium and lent them to Hain and his female bodyguard.

He then instructed Luca, who had just woken up, to keep an eye on them, and returned to the shelter with Xiao Qi.

He placed Xiao Qi in the corner to charge, told it to wake Xia Yan up for work on time the next day but not to disturb him, and then went back to his room.

The door closed.

Chu Guang sat on the soft bed and took out a yellowed notebook from his pocket.

This was an item he had found in "Bear's" room.

Since the cover had a blood handprint, Chu Guang thought it might be a token of the Blood Hand Clan and curiously put it in his pocket.

However, what he didn't expect was that when he opened the notebook, he found that it was not filled with the bizarre customs or traditions he had imagined, but was simply a diary.

[January 2, 2129]

"The war ended at the end of 2128, so 2129… This diary was written in the first year of the Wasteland Era?"

Chu Guang was sensitive to numbers and rarely forgot them.

Come to think of it, none of the information he had gathered so far mentioned anything about the war.

Perhaps this diary could provide some clues.

With a bit of curiosity, Chu Guang looked at the first line under the date in the soft light of the room.

It was a very thought-provoking sentence.

[... That day, I survived.]