Muda hesitated a long time. At last, his conscience won out.

“Fine. But only 10 or 20 can disembark, no more. If you don’t want trouble, keep the rest on board.”

Sisi smiled in relief and extended her hand. “Thank you. I promise.”

He shook her hand firmly, then turned and climbed back up the ladder, casting one last look at the refugees before leaving.

...

Wasteland Online, on the forum.

After logging out, Sisi showered quickly, towel-dried her hair, and sat before her computer, updating her long-running travel thread with the day’s events.

Sisi: Big news! Major update suspected in the Southern Seas! New factions: the Southern Archipelago Federation and the undersea Shelter 70. They’re currently at war for unknown reasons. Ships entering the region will be stopped and searched by Federation patrols.

- We’ve secured docking rights at Seagull Port and plan to stay for a while to locate Shelter 70’s exact coordinates and entrance.Port inventory includes unsold goods affected by the conflict, pearls, shells, deep-sea salvage, etc. The port urgently needs rubber, polymer fibers, nitroglycerin, sugar, and grain. Prices are 20 to 50% above last month’s market average. Traders are advised to sell salvage at Silvermoon Bay. Order of the White Bear Bank offers favorable exchange rates for Camel Coins, silver coins, and Dinars!”

- Also, anyone near Silvermoon Bay or Oasis 4? We need dry rations and 155mm and 20mm ammo. If you can ship them to the Baiyue Strait, we’ll pay handsomely!

Since the dev’s private message hadn’t mentioned whether the activation code was public info, she decided not to post about it.

Within minutes, replies flooded in.

- Me! Me! Me!

- Rich lady! Look at me!

- How big a ship do you need?

- Need mercs? We’ve got a hundred strength builds!

- Can we go by land? No ship.

- Idiot! Rent one!

The Expedition Thread had started last year, when the Order of the White Bear were still based at Petra Fortress and had just begun working with Dove and his Reddy.

Sisi had noticed that her posts were automatically added to the official lore compendium, labeled as creator content. Since then, she’d been updating it with travel notes, local culture, and world lore. In fact, most of the canon data on Poro Province, its ports and settlements, came from her thread.

Thanks to that, the New Alliance had even opened a new trade route there, allowing lifestyle players to profit massively by trading cheap industrial goods for cattle, leather, and spices.

Her thread had become a hub for traders and explorers alike, with others adding discoveries of ruins, side quests, NPCs, and monster nests.

She had never imagined her casual travelogue would grow into such a sprawling, collaborative network.

Though the Order of the White Bear were technically just a merchant convoy registered with the Merchant Guild, the group, born from a joke about riding Roro, had become unexpectedly influential.

They weren’t quite at the level of leaders like Ample Time, Escaping Mole, or Sping Water Commander, but as a solid T2 team, they were impressive.

Eye Owe Money: Weird that Light Bro suddenly expands the map by a thousand kilometers without saying a word.

Irena: +1. Not like him at all. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Elf Wang: Maybe the next DLC is over there. (˵ ¬ᴗ¬˵)

Rest In Peace: WTF! Sneaky dev!

Pincher: Your account’s gone.

Rest In Peace: (awkward emoji)

Reading the lively comments, Sisi smiled warmly. If more players joined, exploring would be far easier, and more fun.

Then a familiar username appeared.

Tail: Oh! Since everyone’s so curious about the world across the sea, why don’t we build our own port there? (evil grin)

Sisi froze. Within seconds, the thread exploded.

Quit Bullshit: Wait, what?!

Makka Pakka: You’re kidding!

Tail: Oh, I’m serious! The Order of the White Bear will start with a 5,000,000 silver coin investment!

Roshan: ✧｡٩(ˊᗜˋ)و✧*｡

Quit Smoking: Hell yea!

Night Ten: Sounds fun. Our Bull and Horse Club will match your investment! (˵ ¬ᴗ¬˵)

Ample Time: Interesting. Baiyue Strait’s right in the middle of the east west route. Perfect spot for a port. Night Ten, you’re on board as well? Alright, we’ll put in 5 mil to test the waters.

Night Ten: Wait, you’re serious?!

Escaping Mole: Our Skeleton Group will join! Another 5 mil!

Elf Wang: When did we get this rich?!

Escaping Mole: Made a killing on Endpoint Cloud. Profit sharing soon.

Tail: !!! Are you all serious?! Speaking of which, can I invest in CR from you guys? I need foreign currency QAQ

Ample Time: Sure you can. Anyway, good luck, I’m rooting for you guys in the south. ٩(^ᗜ^ )و

Yaya: Can I chip in 500,000?

Tail: Sure thing! The more, the merrier! I’ll draft Roro Port’s investment contracts soon! (///ω///)

Teng Teng: I want in too, but uh, maybe we could change the name? It sounds... weird. (blush)

Tail: Weird? Really? ∑(°Д°)

From that point, the thread completely derailed.

No one was discussing the new map anymore, only the future port, its name, and where it should be built. The enthusiasm for the New Alliance’s first overseas venture was overwhelming.

Seeing the momentum, Ample Time even proposed buying a civilian blimp from Dawn City to airlift materials and personnel to the Southern Seas. He clearly saw real potential there. Civil engineers among the players volunteered to go along, planning to scout the site and take survey photos.

Just like that, in the chatter of excited gamers, a overseas infrastructure project with hundreds of millions of silver coins began to take shape.

Watching the investment total soar past 30,000,000 and counting, Sisi sat frozen before her screen. She had only planned to fake a minor ship repair, beach the Roro Boat near Ring Island, and stall for a few weeks to finish her quest.

She hadn’t expected Tail to think so big. She’d gone and claimed the entire bay!

But... maybe that wasn’t a bad idea.

The Camel Kingdom’s colonization had failed, but that didn’t mean they would fail too! At least in biotechnology, the New Alliance’s expertise was leagues above the Camel Kingdom. And with the New Alliance’s massive industrial power, building an overseas port colony was entirely possible.

The more Sisi thought about it, the more excited she became, her eyes practically sparkled. “Good job, Tail!”

She didn’t know that, in the other world, in a certain room, a certain doggy developer had muttered the exact same words upon seeing this player brainstorm.

These players weren’t just gaslighting themselves anymore, they were serving themselves up on a platter for him.

Is this... a free settlement built off a 14 day access code?

Hot damn!