This Game Is Too Realistic-Chapter 503.1: Why The Fuck Are You Here?!

Inside the long-dart-shaped aircraft...

Sitting in a soft, comfortable seat, Li Ke sipped his coffee while observing the joint purge of Mutant Humans by the Enterprise and the New Alliance through four scouting drones hovering above the battlefield.

The gunfire didn’t last long.

By the time he finished his coffee, the last standing Mutant Human had collapsed on the steps before that hideous altar.

Next came the battlefield cleanup phase.

He placed the cup on a tray, which was promptly retrieved by an assistant robot. Glancing at the holographic interface, he gave a lukewarm evaluation. “Average.” 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

“The New Alliance soldiers are a bit odd. Their physical abilities are far above normal, though that’s understandable, they’re shelter residents after all. Backward equipment, primitive combat style... I really don’t get how the Signal Squad lost to this group. The quality of the Investigation Division’s recruits gets worse every year.”

“As for the Enterprise...” Li Ke chuckled coldly, the sarcasm in his eyes deepening.

“Putting an AI core in their hands is a waste... Those androids are less effective than a few suits of pre-war exoframes. What a joke.”

There was no need to even mention the Army.

Their outdated gear was propped up by little more than legacy tech.

Evaluating everyone's performance, the Academy, built upon the foundations of the Prosperity Era, was clearly superior.

Of course, he couldn’t deny the New Alliance had exceeded his initial expectations. If a full-scale war did break out, perhaps with their tenacity, they could hold out for a few extra months.

Satisfied, Li Ke tapped the holographic screen to close his interface and recalled the drones.

At that moment, a gentle synthetic voice came from the back of his seat. “Sir, you have a call.”

“A call? Out here?”

“Yes, a patrol comms relay was launched from the Wandering Swamp.”

At the mention of a relay from a patrol team, Li Ke's expression turned serious, and he sat upright. “Put it through.”

“Understood.”

The signal quickly routed from the research ship’s server to his personal terminal.

Li Ke tapped the holographic window. A flickering, low-res image formed a rough upper-body portrait in the air before him.

They were in the Great Desert.

Signal conditions here were even worse than in the Sunset Province.

Only those stubborn old-timers from the Research Department insisted on using video communication under such conditions.

“... I’m Yang Kai from the Research Department, Class-B Researcher. My identification band is embedded in the signal, please verify it yourself.” As soon as the line connected, the speaker got straight to the point.

Li Ke cleared his throat and responded, “Li Ke, Foreign Affairs Department, Class-B. What’s the matter?”

The hologram flickered.

“Transfer the Shelter 0 project to me.”

Hearing that, Li Ke shot up from his seat like a squirrel who’d just had its tail stepped on. “On what grounds?!”

The voice on the other end remained calm and emotionless.

“This is an order from Dr. Conclusion. Your division should stick to its responsibilities.”

At the mention of Dr. Conclusion, Li Ke immediately deflated like a popped balloon and muttered resentfully, “Dr. Conclusion... That guy sure is free...”

The other side offered no comment, merely replying flatly, “Thank you for your cooperation.”

With that, the flickering image vanished from the top of the holographic projector.

...

The battlefield cleanup by the Enterprise and New Alliance ground forces had concluded. The findings within the Blackstone Mutant Human Tribe were unexpected.

A comment from Yun Song’s drone operator had turned out to be spot-on.

Those Mutant Humans with gray-black skin had indeed dug deep underground burrows. They used those cave systems to protect their immature offspring and to cultivate edible fungi and rear fat and protein-producing mutant worms.

The most surprising find was a type of glowing mushroom that grew on radioactive waste. It seemed to accelerate the decay of iodine and cesium isotopes via a special biochemical process, converting part of the released energy into light.

There was no evidence yet that the species could use fission or fusion to support its life processes, but even just the ability to accelerate radioactive decay was already astonishing.

Yun Song and Old White each reported their findings to their respective superiors.

After discussions between Enterprise and New Alliance leadership, both sides agreed to share the intriguing research materials.

The Heart of Steel slowly drifted above the camp and dropped anchor at an open area about a kilometer away.

Cargo pods descended next.

Five long, narrow engineering vehicles rolled out and parked in three rows. Their wheels retracted upward, support legs extended from their chassis, and deployment was complete.

Nearly 100 members in Miner-model exoskeletons moved back and forth between the scrap piles and the base site, feeding salvaged metal from the mutant camp into the vehicle intakes. The scrap was quickly processed into modular construction panels.

Those standardized panels, primarily made of aluminum and iron alloys, were about an inch thick. They were porous and lightweight, but surprisingly strong. They could be used for insulated housing walls or packed with sand and assembled into firing positions and walls to secure an area.

With the battle over, players also joined the construction effort.

In under three hours, a base covering roughly two football fields had taken shape.

Another cargo pod descended as The Heart of Steel’s logistics officer strode up and saluted sharply in front of Chu Guang, beaming with pride.

“Reporting in! Honorable administrator, per your instructions, we’ve completed the exterior walls. Barracks construction is next and expected to finish within 24 hours!”

“Well done,” Chu Guang nodded in approval and continued, “Get back to it. Don’t worry about me.”

“Yes, sir!” The officer pounded his right fist to his chest, then turned and marched back toward the construction site.

Watching him go, Wu Changnian glanced at the bustling site and smiled with squinted eyes. “So, what do you think? Our Ideal City technology isn’t bad, right?”

Chu Guang sighed with genuine admiration, “Pretty impressive, just a bit expensive. It would be nice if we got a discount.”

Wu Changnian nearly choked. “Uh... you’ll have to talk to Silver Wing Corporate Group for that. The Highest Council doesn’t interfere with production division pricing. I can’t authorize orders.”

Although disappointed, Chu Guang nodded. “I understand.”

This ‘Camper’ modular construction system consisted of five powerful engineering vehicles. Similar in design to the modular production workshops on the Pioneer, it was built specifically for wasteland operations.

It functioned like a type of black box, capable of consuming all kinds of scrap metal, digesting usable components, and reshaping them into forms needed by the user.

Combined with the Heart of Steel’s mobility, Chu Guang could theoretically deploy a mobile base anywhere the airship could fly.

That was precisely what convinced him to buy the system from the Silver Wing Corporate Group.

Though the setup cost a steep 16 million CR, he gritted his teeth and paid for it in full without fucking them over.

As a modular tool, its capabilities extended far beyond producing housing panels.

Given the right blueprints, the five engineering vehicles could process raw materials into basic weapons like rifles and armor such as bulletproof vests.

Though inefficient, and resource-intensive, as a camping kit, it was extremely effective.

Previously, the Heart of Steel relied on slave labor and a vast inventory of processing tools and lathes for expedition supplies.

These five engineering vehicles could easily replace a production team of over 500 people, freeing up valuable space on the airship.