This Game Is Too Real-Chapter 741: Daily Life of the Allied Forces’ Chief "Mascot

Chapter 741: Chapter 741: Daily Life of the Allied Forces’ Chief "Mascot

"F-Five million? Silver coins?!"

Archaeology Team, Prosperity Era Relic Recovery Registration Office.

A sudden shrill scream pierced the air from the reception room with its doors tightly shut, startling the crowd lined up with their numbers.

People craned their necks towards the direction of the reception room, their faces unanimously revealing expressions of envy and even greed.

Without asking, they all could guess what had happened in that little room, after all, they were the "Hunters" who specialized in this line of work.

Long ago, the Alliance’s Archaeology Team had opened the paid channel for recovering Prosperity Era relics.

And now, "archaeology" in the Alliance had developed into a mature industrial chain.

There were those in charge of registration, appraisal, evaluation and purchase, and even those responsible for smooth-talking and picking up bargains.

For scavengers who stumbled upon treasures, opting for the Archaeology Team’s recovery channel was simple: bring in the item, fill out a form, then patiently wait a maximum of 7 work days for the appraisal result, and finally, it was just a nod or a shake of the head.

For customers who didn’t want to sell, the Archaeology Team didn’t press; they could take their items back with them.

However, since the researchers’ offers were always quite attractive, most would readily sign on the dotted line.

Many scavengers even specifically travelled from the Eastern Provinces, even from the territory of the Science Committee, because the reputation of the Alliance was witnessed by all Waste Land Wanderers.

With a bit of luck, a well-preserved Prosperity Era relic could fetch a staggering price of several hundred thousand silver coins, setting one up for life.

Even if the Archaeology Team wasn’t interested, museums or people from Camp 101 might take it, and some residents of Shelter No. 404 in blue jackets might also buy.

For instance, the big boss dealing in Goblin Technology would often overspend on things that seemed useless and were indeed practically useless to tinker with.

Many scavengers even made a living from it.

And once the Mercenary Groups of Giant Stone City saw the Inner City collapse, they too switched careers to this line of work.

Sometimes they would even collaborate with the folks in blue jackets from Shelter No. 404 to pioneer some of the more distant relics and the like.

But a seven-figure recovery price...

Even for the big shots who made a living picking through trash, it had been some time since they heard such figures.

The crowd began whispering among themselves, speculating about what kind of treasure the lucky guy had found.

"Could it be that he found a spaceship or something?"

"I bet it’s a Titan!"

"Unlikely... if it was that thing, the Academy folks would have picked it clean eight generations ago."

"I think it must be a treasure from some deserted nook."

"Right... apart from places like that, if there were any good items, they’d likely have been hauled away by folks from the War Construction Committee."

In theory, the War Construction Committee had the most comprehensive information, and those who knew the best spots for treasures on the Wasteland were all in that organization.

In the era of the Three Big Bosses, the Academy "inherited" the archaeology leads of the War Construction Committee, scraping clean what the Committee hadn’t managed to in half a century, and did so for another century and a half.

One could only imagine how many true treasures were left on this Wasteland.

While people chatted, inside the reception room with its tightly closed door, a man with sunburnt, dark-red-hued skin stared wide-eyed in surprise.

Five million silver coins!

When he heard this number, Ma Jinwei first thought his ears had failed him.

But the researcher didn’t seem to be joking, handing him a stamped inventory list.

"Of course it’s in silver coins, but if you desire other currency, I can apply to the higher-ups."

"No, no need, silver coins are fine!"

Ma Jinwei grinned sheepishly and honestly.

The reason for such a grin wasn’t due to his genuineness, but because he had never seen so much money in his life, and didn’t quite know how else to express himself.

Just half a month ago, he was still farming in Mafu Town, little did he expect that the hunk of metal in the old warehouse would bring him such wealth.

All he remembered was his grandfather had dragged it from over 100 kilometers away in the city area, intending to fix it up to use as a tractor, but after puzzling over it for ages, they couldn’t figure out how to start the tractor, so it was left to gather dust in the warehouse.

It wasn’t until recently, when the Sticky Community declared war on the Torch and seeing the letter sent back by the town mayor, that he thought to drag out that thing to exchange for money. After hesitating repeatedly, he finally made up his mind to rent a train car and haul it to the City of Dawn to try his luck.

He vaguely remembered the strange expressions of the workers from the City of Dawn as they used the loading crane to load the thing onto the train at the Mafu Town station.

They looked at him as if he was a monster.

After confirming the amount on the card, Ma Jinwei immediately pressed his thumbprint on the inventory list, even wanting to share some with the two researchers who helped him with the paperwork, only to frighten them into a startled refusal, as they waved their hands and declined.

The funding and treatment of the Archaeology Team were said to be the highest in the entire Alliance.

Although their pay wasn’t as exaggerated as seven figures, it was essentially worry-free for food and clothing, and there was no need to risk attracting the attention of the Guards Corps for a bit of "gift" money that "wouldn’t change their lives" much.

Moreover, most of them didn’t join the Archaeology Team for money, but to fulfill the ideal of ending the Wasteland Era painted by the Manager.

On the Wasteland, practically everyone with knowledge or skills from the Prosperity Era harbored some nostalgia and longing for that great era.

"...My friend, please don’t use such things to test us. Besides, we are just on duty here for registration; appraisal and valuation are handled by different systems, so even if you give us gifts, it wouldn’t be of any use."

Ma Jinwei didn’t quite understand the researcher’s rueful refusal.

After all, in Mafu Town, there weren’t so many complex practices nor such bizarre operations.

Seeing them refuse even a little "gratitude," he could only scratch the back of his head, somewhat embarrassedly smiling as he tried to lighten the mood.

"Ah, I see... Ha ha, you really do work hard," the researcher said with a laugh.

"It’s not hard; we have our own performance evaluations. In two months, we’ll be transferred to other departments to do research-related work. If you make any more discoveries, you can still come to this office."

"Alright! If I find anything else, I’ll definitely come over! Thanks, ha, I’m heading out now." Ma Jinwei beamed with a broad smile, his hands finding no place to rest as he nodded and made his way to the door.

Once back in town, he could probably use this money to open an inn.

But, it seems there’s no need to open one in Mafu Town—the place called "Kun Town" is obviously more bustling.

Lately, many guests getting off at Mafu Town were heading there, and he heard that the Alliance was planning to build a Weifu City there, just like Falling Leaves City to the northwest.

Maybe he could take this money and try his luck there.

After all, getting rich by farming is still too difficult.

Of course, before that, he has to go find some fun with the good brothers in town.

He promised them, if he really got the money, he’d treat them to a drink...

"Take care, and... go this way."

Seeing him heading for the main entrance, the researcher seemed to recall something and pulled him aside to the back door leading directly to the security corridor.

This guy had just shouted, so people outside probably knew he was carrying 5 million.

Although there’s no need to worry within the territory of the Alliance, it’s a different story out in the Wasteland.

Ma Jinwei paused, then quickly understood, nodding and thanking him with a grateful smile. He cautiously looked back in three steps and walked out the back door.

The office fell quiet.

The researcher who had been silent in front of the computer glanced at the one standing.

"Is 5 million too much?"

He always had a feeling that even if they gave that guy 50 million, it would probably be squandered, and it might be better to let that money disappear in a slightly more meaningful way.

Perhaps they should set up a fund for managing money and market it to those who get rich "purely by luck".

He had even suggested this to the higher-ups, but it’s a pity that such a meaningful proposal was rejected.

The researcher in charge of client reception, however, was thinking of something else and replied with a smile.

"It’s not too much. Meissner effect armor... if we can get our hands on that, even adding two zeros would be cheap."

Whether it’s economic value or military value, this thing is definitely worth the money.

Currently, the Alliance has mastered two shield technologies, but both the deflection shield and the nitrogen shield have their weaknesses.

For example, the former is not good at handling low-speed, guided weapons and uses gravitons which is an energy-consuming technology that was also new in the Era of Prosperity.

As for the latter, it’s not good at handling high-speed and high-energy particle radiation, and can only be used in standard atmospheric environments.

The Meissner effect armor, on the other hand, is specifically designed to counter metal weapons. Since most kinetic penetrators are made of alloy materials, especially the railguns widely used during the Prosperity Epoch, it’s not too much to say it is the bane of "kinetic penetrators".

To put it simply, suppose the deflection shield and the Meissner effect armor use the same capacitors and energy supplies, the former can block 1 or 2 railgun shots, while the latter can block 3 to 4.

It’s said that during the three-year war, some captains from United Human, under special circumstances, even considered shutting down the deflection shield and activating the more efficient Meissner effect armor to counter the dense barrage of metal bullets created by the Rebel Fleet’s mass drivers, to improve the fleet’s overall resistance to metal warheads.

If applied correctly, this could become a technology influential enough to affect the course of wars.

From the limited intelligence, not even the corporations may possess this technology.

The researcher sitting at the computer twirled the pen in his hand and made a helpless expression.

"That makes sense... but I feel that this money has no significance to him. You saw it too, he’s simply not deserving of such wealth. In other words, while the thing is worth so much, the person who found it doesn’t deserve it."

If it were the residents of Shelter No. 404, he probably wouldn’t have any objections.

After all, those guys are truly risking their lives for their rewards, going to the most dangerous places in the Wasteland, unlike that befuddled farmer who got lucky and struck it rich.

After hearing his words, the researcher in charge of client reception smiled and said.

"Significance, my friend, you mustn’t say that. ’Significance’ is the most unsubstantial thing. If you consider whether everything you do is meaningful, in the end, you will find that everything is meaningless."

The researcher sitting in front of the computer looked toward him.

"What do you mean?"

As he walked over to the coffee machine and poured himself a cup, the client reception researcher said leisurely.

"What I mean is, the close relative of a pragmatist is a nihilist. After all, human emotions change constantly. You think he’s not deserving today, tomorrow you’ll think none of them are. So we need to set a rule that is clear and ensure it is carried out impartially. Even if that rule becomes outdated one day, it should be changed only after thorough discussion... not based on personal judgments."

This was from Mr. Yin Fang’s speech at the third internal meeting of the research and archaeology team.

The big shot from the Academy is indeed a high-level talent; whether it’s academics or management, he’s quite capable, and he reportedly built the entire Alliance’s research/archaeology system from scratch.

To be honest, he admired Mr. Yin Fang, especially after learning about the man’s legendary experiences.

The researcher at the computer shrugged his shoulders and casually clicked on the screen, selecting the next lucky individual from the list.

"I’m not interested in that stuff. I just want to finish the work here and do something meaningful in the lab."

The researcher holding the coffee replied with a smile.

"You must complete the required scores for administrative positions, which is also to make you familiar with the research team’s workflow. I have one month left; you have three. Hang in there a little longer."

Weifu Military Base.

In the office of the Allied forces’ highest commander, Chu Guang redialed Yin Fang through the communication line especially constructed for the refuges by the Southern Construction Corps, listening to the latter’s report on the entire incident.

After understanding the situation, his mood was probably like when playing "Civilization 6" and seeing a Primitive Tribe share the "Doomsday Mech" technology Eureka moment, bemused yet feeling a slight sense of reasonableness.

He collected himself and then asked,

"Where was this thing found?"

Knowing what Chu Guang was concerned about, Yin Fang understood and replied with a knowing smile,

"Don’t worry, I’ve already arranged for your ’residents’ to investigate around those coordinates."

Chu Guang nodded upon hearing this, his face breaking into a smile.

It seemed Yin Fang had already mastered the knack of using players; he no longer needed Chu Guang’s personal guidance.

But soon, Chu Guang became curious about what that "near complete" Hover Tank actually looked like.

If he hadn’t just arrived at the front lines a few days ago, he really wanted to immediately board an airship and go back to have a look at that war machine from the Era of Prosperity.

Noticing Chu Guang’s impatient expression, Yin Fang took a sip of coffee and continued with a smile,

"...To be honest, I didn’t expect that Sticky Community thing you set up to get hold of such an interesting item... A Hover Tank equipped with Meissner effect armor, that’s much rarer than power armor. The United Human only made a few, and those with production numbers were reclaimed by the War Construction Committee more than a century ago; I suppose only the Army and the Grand Canyon might still have them."

Chu Guang asked curiously,

"Doesn’t the Academy have it?"

Yin Fang shook his head.

"In my memory, they didn’t get a complete Hover Tank. But with their technical reserves, it wouldn’t be difficult to replicate the Meissner effect armor. However, you’re also aware how scarce helium-3 resources are, so in my memory, it’s only equipped on some of the senior researchers’ research ships with similar defense capabilities."

Yin Fang’s voice had a meaningful tone to it, with a hint of advice in his words.

Chu Guang thoughtfully nodded.

Indeed.

Helium-3 was a significant issue.

Even in the Era of Prosperity, Earth still had a large amount of undeveloped mineral resources stored, including the unique "garbage mines" of the Wasteland Era, as well as "undersea mineral deposits," which had been designated as ecological reserves before the War and were forbidden from being mined.

However, helium-3 is brought by the solar wind, and the amount stored on Earth, protected by the magnetic field and atmosphere, is nearly negligible. To acquire it, one would have to go to the Moon, or places like Mercury, or else dig up the graves of the Era of Prosperity.

It was precisely because of the uniqueness of helium-3 that the "Managers" of the Wasteland had to face a particular dilemma—

whether or not to use the advanced technology of the Era of Prosperity.

The Alliance once used wood-burning generators for a period of, which were clearly not on par with nuclear fusion reactors, but were still more convenient than solar power generation, which required energy storage systems. Moreover, what Qingquan City had in abundance at that time was wood, making fuel acquisition quite convenient, so much so that they even installed the same type of generators on trucks.

However, there was a fatal problem.

Limited by factors such as the level of energy and the efficiency of its acquisition, generators burning wood could only support technology from the middle to late Atomic Energy Era, let alone the high-tech from the Era of Prosperity, they couldn’t even get propeller-driven airplanes into the sky.

If the Alliance had always used traditional energy sources, they would probably still be competing with Giant Stone City for survival resources, and wouldn’t have seen such great development later on.

But utilizing more advanced energy sources poses another risk: the unsustainability of helium-3 resources.

And as for how to manage the limited helium-3 resources on hand, businesses, academies, and armies all adopted radically different approaches.

It was the same for the Alliance.

Every time Chu Guang made a decision, he had to consider not only the pros and cons in individual fields such as politics, economy, military, technology, production, culture, and so on, but also take a global perspective to carefully consider whether the strategic reserves of the Alliance could support it.

Take power armors as an example—being individual equipment, they consumed relatively little helium-3, and one battery could even last until the armor was scrapped. Therefore, with the Alliance’s reserves of nuclear energy, maintaining a few hundred power armors was more than feasible.

But if you fitted those few hundred "Xiaguang" power armors with a deflection shield or Meissner effect armor, a thousand cubic meters of helium-3 resources would instantly become tight.

Investing too many strategic resources in the military could even affect the supply to the West State City fusion reactor, which in turn was critical to all production and living facilities within the entire Alliance.

Therefore, he would rather accept the scrapping of expensive equipment like power armor in battle than to pile on energy-costly shields to these non-strategic weapons—he might at most approve a few experimental models to test the feasibility of the technology pathway.

After all, in most cases, even if these pieces of equipment were completely beyond repair, the fusion batteries inside could still be recovered, and the loss would only be some money.

And this is also the most realistic reason why deflection shields and nitrogen shields are hard to mass equip.

Chu Guang could hear the reminder from Mr. Yin Fang in that sentence— even with the academy’s energy reserves, they would prefer to seal the technology rather than to equip it on a large scale in the army for enhanced combat capabilities.

As for the armies, they were even more straightforward: they simply didn’t reverse-engineer their precious commodities. They used what they had, and once it was depleted, they would turn to "Wild Boar," "Wild Bull," their own self-produced and researched "true antiques," or "hybrid power antiques."

The longer time dragged on, the further this world drifted away from the Era of Prosperity, and the advantages of the Weilante people, who had already adapted to the Wasteland, became increasingly apparent.

After all, with the current condition of outer space, restoring the Earth-moon flights were almost an impossibility, and the legacy of the Era of Prosperity was destined to be exhausted one day.

"...It’s a pity that such interesting technology can’t be put to use," Chu Guang sighed lightly, yet another matter started taking shape in his mind.

While tactical equipment might not be of use, strategic-level equipment might be worth a try.

Listening to Mr. Yin Fang’s earlier words, this thing was practically the nemesis of railguns.

Wasn’t the Southern Alliance on the southern front exactly being suppressed by the "Artillery" of the North Federation Battleships?

If you could provide the shield for the friendly fleet, I wonder if it could turn the tide a little.

However, instead of deciding the outcome at sea, his players seemed to be more hopeful for the "Submersible Aircraft Carrier" that was under construction.

Chu Guang pondered in his heart that perhaps he could throw this card to Fang Chang and his people to play—regardless of whether it could ultimately be put to use in the end.

Misinterpreting Chu Guang’s expression as one of disappointment, Mr. Yin Fang then offered words of comfort.

"Actually, if you think about it from a different angle, the real value of this thing might not all lie on the battlefield. The technologies we can recover from it are far more than just ’Superconducting Shields’; they also include energy, materials, and information processing, amounting to over thirty sub-technologies in total. Especially the superconducting materials under certain conditions and high-performance capacitors—most of which our allies have not shared with us."

The Academy and the Alliance had reached a scientific research cooperation agreement, and businesses had also started multiple cooperative productions with the Alliance, but the technology exchange between them was not seamless.

Especially these key technologies.

They had also paid a heavy price to acquire them, so it was only logical and reasonable they wouldn’t open them up to outsiders.

Hearing the consoling voice on the other end of the phone, Chu Guang leaned back in his chair with a smile and said,

"This is beyond my capabilities; I’m going to have to trouble you with it."

Scientific research was probably the only field where he could not get help from reality.

In fact, very early on, he had tried to bring in some genuinely capable young scholars from his original world and observed their behaviors in the Game.

This included the Professor from the Southern Academy, Wild Wind, who was among the first to enter the Game, followed by End-of-the-world Lone Wolf, and Giggling, who worked under a certain academician, among others.

Unlike half-baked engineers like Mosquito, they were true researchers, not only adept but also possessing a wealth of front-line work experience.

However, due to the great gap in fundamental theories and the differences in professional jargon and terminology, many things in the Game seemed no different from "game settings" or even "magic" to them. Therefore, their progress had always been slow, and their approach was often one of skepticism.

Weighing the immeasurable risks against the extremely limited benefits, Chu Guang had ultimately refrained from interfering with their progress in the Game, simply maintaining limited observation.

However, according to Xiao Qi’s continued observation of multiple samples, at best they would only be able to achieve first-generation Controllable Nuclear Fusion Technology, and any further progress seemed unlikely.

As for second-generation Controllable Nuclear Fusion, for the fundamentals of the "real world," that would be akin to a singularity upon another singularity. Even if they attempted to research it, it would likely be a waste of energy.

And this was assuming he didn’t interfere.

If he really wanted to interfere, even just using his Dog Plan privileges to "secretly change" one parameter or one formula, it could have them busy for years to no avail, eventually leading them to completely lose hope in the technology pathways of Wasteland OL.

After all, in the eyes of a few "informed individuals," Wasteland OL, with too many "illogical" aspects, was already akin to an olive branch thrown by an extraterrestrial civilization.

If a "higher civilization" without any displayed malice deemed a certain technological pathway unviable, then it would be more rational for a "junior" to switch to other technological pathways to attempt.

"...You’re too kind; this is my job after all. If I didn’t show some real skill, how could I live up to those coffee machines you sent me?"

Mr. Yin Fang replied with a teasing tone and then suddenly remembered something and continued,

"By the way, there’s one more thing. The Southern Alliance hopes we can set up a branch of our research group on Ring Island and in Coral City. They’ve made some decent offers, and you are aware of their education rate—it could bring some fresh blood into our research group."

Chu Guang hesitated.

"Have they recaptured Coral City?"

The face of Mr. Yin Fang on the holographic screen made a helpless expression.

"It seems they are still striving for it. My guess is they want to leverage your strength... but to be honest, I’m not very good at these things. It’s better if you decide."

After pondering for a moment, Chu Guang spoke,

"If you think their cooperation proposal is sincere, I think we can accept it. As for Coral City, I will have the players operating in that area try to figure something out."

He had already taken over Shelter No. 70 from Sun Yuechi, and the islands of the Southern Alliance were receptive to the governance methods and ideals of the Alliance. It was highly probable that they would unite with the survivors of the River Valley Province, possibly even more thoroughly than Giant Stone City.

After all, they shared the same origins, and the concept of equality had taken deeper root in their hearts.

With that in mind, there was no reason to hesitate.

Besides, the Coral City located at the bottom of the sea had been eyed by his little players for a while now. They probably wouldn’t even need him to specifically issue a task to egg them on.

With Chu Guang’s approval, Mr. Yin Fang’s face lit up with a pleased smile.

"Alright, then it’s pleasantly decided."

After finishing the last matter, Mr. Yin Fang hung up the phone and returned to his own research.

Chu Guang, who had intended to rest in his chair, hadn’t even waited for X-16, the "daughter" of Yibers, to brew the tea when the Alpha Special Mobile Force from the Academy called again.

"...We plan to launch an attack on Blood Mountain tomorrow; I’d like to request artillery support from the Allied forces."

As he spoke, the commander with a limited range of facial expressions sent the battle plan as well. Chu Guang opened it to find several gigabytes worth of data, causing him a headache even before he opened the content. So with a slight flick of his index finger, he first forwarded it to Vanus.

"...No problem, I’ll have the respective units follow the action plan and provide the necessary support for your offensive." ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom

The commander nodded, thanked him politely, and then promptly ended the call.

Chu Guang found the interaction unexpectedly refreshing and realized he had slightly changed his fixed impression of the Academy.

It seemed not everyone in the Wandering Swamp enjoyed beating around the bush.

The awkward thing, though, was how insignificantly low-key this commander was.

As the nominal supreme commander of the Allied forces, Chu Guang realized he couldn’t even remember the guy’s name.

"...Xiao Qi, what’s the name of the commander the Academy sent over here?"

Xiao Qi, perched on his shoulder, accessed the database and promptly replied, "Um... Alpha Zero? That’s the name in the records."

Alpha Zero?

Chu Guang, who was just receiving the tea from X-16’s tray, couldn’t help but pause for a moment.

It wasn’t the peculiar name that surprised him; it was that he had managed to forget such a distinctive name.

After taking a sip of tea, Chu Guang muttered softly,

"That’s strange..."

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