Chapter 369: This is also where the complexity of human beings lies
The method to leave the virtual world is very simple.
Just reach out and touch the temple to take off the glasses.
During the casual conversation with Dr. Method, Chu Guang learned that the residents of Shelter No. 101 had given up their bodies, uploaded their consciousness to the virtual world, and embraced a higher level of evolution.
And thus gained a new life.
He seemed to know the first-generation manager of Shelter No. 404, but he was reluctant to talk about that person, just calling him professor.
However, from his attitude, Chu Guang could feel the respect that did not need to be said.
A strange thought came to Chu Guang's mind.
Could it be that his mentor and the first-generation manager of Shelter No. 404 were actually the same person?
However, when he asked this question, the man did not admit it, but just smiled lightly and changed the subject without a trace.
"…Our world started with only 6,000 people, and now has 3 billion people, most of whom were born from complex self-evolutionary operations. And we only need to consume a tiny amount of insignificant resources to meet all our material and spiritual needs."
Sitting on a bench in the park, the man looked over the bustling crowd.
The outline of the city can be seen in the distance.
"I spent all my life savings here, and stored enough resources in the shelter to keep the whole world running smoothly for a thousand years, or even longer. I decided a long time ago,"
"But one day it will disappear."
Hearing Chu Guang's words, Dr. Method smiled and asked back in a very light voice.
"Yes, but what is eternal?"
"The Indestructible Alliance has only existed for more than a century, and our prosperity has not lasted even longer than our decline."
"Here, we can anticipate the day when the world will be destroyed, and calmly welcome our final fate before the end of the world. I don't think this is a bad thing."
As he said, he stood up from the bench and smiled at Chu Guang who was sitting next to him.
"Thank you for staying with me for so long, but now I have to find my wife and daughter. If you are interested in our world, you can walk around."
"This world is big and will never make you bored. Of course, if you like it here, you can stay."
The last sentence didn't sound like a joke.
Chu Guang hesitated for half a second, but it was only half a second.
"No need, there are many people waiting for me over there."
He admitted that it was beautiful here.
Clean sunshine, air and water, endless resources to support 3 billion people.
This is the real "game world".
It is also a perfect utopia.
There are no alien species, no predators or mutants, and even the concept of exploitation does not exist.
However, it is precisely because of this that Chu Guang is worried that he will indulge in this beautiful and false dream.
Standing up from the bench, he raised his index finger and pressed it on his temple, and felt a transparent bulge.
According to the method doctor, as long as he took it off, he could leave here.
However, just when Chu Guang was about to do this, he suddenly thought of something and blurted it out.
"If I choose to stay, wouldn't the professor's experiment fail?"
If I remember correctly.
After his death, Shelter No. 404 will execute the shutdown procedure, and the morphogenetic field device will stop running, waiting for the right time to reopen.
Maybe it will be ten years later, or it may be a century, or even a more distant future.
"It doesn't matter. Since you've come here, you'll definitely refuse." A sly smile suddenly appeared on the man's face. "Just treat that as a polite remark."
The smile made Chu Guang roll his eyes.
He wanted to play a card out of the ordinary, but if he really did that, it might be exactly what this guy wanted.
"Just dream here for the rest of your life."
Looking at the gradually disappearing figure, the doctor smiled and waved his hand.
"Good luck to you."
...
The colorful colors were pulled out of consciousness, and the dark lenses came into view.
Chu Guang took off his glasses, put them on the table beside him, and stood up and walked to the door.
The door opened.
Seeing Chu Guang appear at the door, the soldiers waiting at the door finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The same was true for Horn standing aside.
He reached into his sleeve, took off the VM on his arm, and handed it to Chu Guang standing at the door.
"The pioneer asked me to give it to you."
"Thank you."
After a simple polite remark, Chu Guang reached out and took the wrist computer.
Almost at the moment when his index finger touched it, a light blue pop-up window appeared in front of him.
[Task: Recover the VM of the manager of Shelter No. 101 (completed)]
[Reward: 3,500 gene sequences]
Looking at the pop-up window in front of him, Chu Guang couldn't help but have a glimmer of joy in his eyes, and raised his index finger and clicked on the headset.
"Xiao Qi."
After the voice fell, Xiao Qi's voice came to his ears.
"Master."
Chu Guang immediately ordered.
"Restart player recruitment!"
Xiao Qi: "Received!"
After a clean and neat answer, the closed beta qualification issuance that had been suspended for a long time was finally restarted.
It is still based on the standard of 20 accounts per day.
This time he will focus more on recruiting some players with ideas and creativity, and enrich the diversity of the player community while ensuring that the neutral position remains unchanged.
3,500 gene sequences are enough to last until the end of the year. Considering the bumper harvest after autumn and the gradually increasing grain import quota, the speed of issuing closed beta qualifications is the most appropriate.
Soon another batch of fresh leeks entered the market.
Great!
Chu Guang looked at the VM in his hand.
This is probably the easiest task he has received from the "Manager's Work Log".
When he first saw the task reward, Chu Guang thought how difficult this task would be.
Unexpectedly, the manager of Shelter No. 101 really just wanted to see him, and had no other plans or intentions.
For Chu Guang, it was like a CG scene.
Suddenly thinking of something, Chu Guang looked at Horn standing beside him and asked curiously.
"Do you usually communicate in this way?"
Horn nodded slightly.
"Yes, after all, it takes a lot of energy to open a door once, and it will be more energy-efficient through the virtual reality system."
Chu Guang asked.
"Have you ever thought about staying there?"
"Stay... there?"
Horn's eyes were blank, "Are you talking about that pure white room? But there's nothing there."
Chu Guang couldn't help but feel a little weird.
Good guy.
It turns out that the residents of Camp 101 have never really been to that world.
But think about it.
If you are not a person with a firm mind, it would be difficult to keep your original heart after seeing the prosperity of that world.
After all, a person's life is only a hundred years. If you can get a thousand years of peace, there is really nothing worth lingering about in the flesh.
Seeing Chu Guang's expression was a little strange, Horn couldn't help asking.
"Any questions?"
"Nothing, it's fine." Chu Guang said casually and quickly ended the topic.
Horn looked at him blankly. Although confused, he didn't continue to ask.
After all, this is not a big deal.
"It seems that you had a good chat with our pioneers... Is there anything else you need?"
"No, thank you for your hospitality."
After taking a last look at the gear-shaped gate that seemed to be fixed in space, Chu Guang then looked at Lu Bei and other soldiers of the Guards Corps.
"Let's go."
...
After leaving Shelter No. 101, Chu Guang returned to the surface.
He first visited Xia Yan, Xiao Yu and other students on the way, then went to the construction site of Dawn City, and finally returned to the Second Corps' base.
When he crossed the gate of the military camp, a group of young players were carrying a wild deer with three horns and coming back from the direction of the forest.
They brought the prey to the campfire and prepared to cook it into game.
Noticing the manager, the players' eyes lit up, and their expressions were like they had discovered a rare animal, and they immediately looked towards Chu Guang.
One of the players who had a stronger sense of immersion clapped his hands, stood up, trotted to Chu Guang, and said respectfully.
"Dear administrator, we just shot a wild deer and are planning to roast it!"
"If you don't mind, we have extra space here!"
Chu Guang was a little hungry, so he said with a smile.
"Then I won't be polite!"
The player showed a surprised expression on his face, obviously he didn't expect Chu Guang to agree so straightforwardly.
But soon, the surprised expression turned into a face full of joy, followed by an excited nod.
"Okay!"
Seeing that his companion brought the administrator back, a group of players immediately pulled him aside.
"Gah, why did you bring the NPC here?"
The player smiled embarrassedly and scratched the back of his head.
"Hey, I'm just thinking about increasing my favorability. If I unlock the hidden mission, I'll be rich!"
"Hiss... what you said makes sense."
"Then I have to do it seriously!"
Listening to the players mumbling about their favorability, Chu Guang couldn't help laughing.
But seeing them busy dealing with the prey, he didn't laugh out loud.
It took more than an hour to deal with the prey.
Including skinning and removing excess fat, and sprinkling the special spices made by the shelter.
In order to put the prey on the charcoal fire, a group of young players were busy and happy.
When the sun set, Chu Guang finally ate the game grilled by the players.
The strong aroma spread between his lips and teeth. It's a pity that there is no beer here, otherwise it would be even more refreshing.
Holding the deer leg in his hand, Chu Guang couldn't help but sigh.
Rather than saying that he was reluctant to leave this world, it's better to say that he was reluctant to leave those hardworking and brave friends.
"Thank you, it's delicious, and it feels like I've dispelled the fatigue of the whole day... If you open a barbecue restaurant, it will definitely be popular." Chu Guang said in a joking tone.
The little player who pulled him here before stood up again and said loyally.
"You're welcome!"
"It's our honor to serve you!"
The little players around the fire also looked at Chu Guang expectantly, with a promising future in their eyes.
That look seemed to be calling.
It's up!
Favorability!
It's definitely up!
...
No words all night.
At dawn the next day, Chu Guang took the train back to Dawn City, ending his visit to Dawn City and Camp 101.
In addition to 3,500 closed beta qualifications, another gain from this trip was that Chu Guang finally got an answer to his confusion about the origin of the wasteland.
The doomsday battle 200 years ago took place between the home planet of the Human Alliance and the colony.
The motive for the outbreak of war does not seem to be for independence or pure economic interests.
After all, if it is for these two goals, it is difficult to fight to this extent.
This way of fighting to completely destroy the opponent is just like a fight between two different species.
And there may be some hidden secrets behind this that I don't know yet...
"History is a cycle, but it usually doesn't repeat itself simply."
Sitting on the train, Chu Guang wrote this sentence at the end of this chapter while sorting out his notes -
A chapter about Camp 101.
...
Shelter 404.
In the warehouse on the B2 floor, Yin Fangzheng stood in front of a power armor. With the assistance of two engineers, he fixed the armor made of A3 aerospace aluminum on the damaged cut.
The surface of the entire armor has been polished to a certain extent, and it looks brand new. The outer shell is also painted with a brand new urban camouflage paint.
Unlike the "battle-damaged style" exoskeleton that Brother Quanshui got, Yin Fang obviously put more effort into repairing this "Dragoon", striving to restore it to the most perfect state, rather than just making do with it with the mentality of "it's OK as long as it works".
That's why when Chu Guang saw this power armor, he almost didn't recognize it for a while.
"You're back? I was just about to report good news to you!"
Seeing Chu Guang coming from the door, Yin Fang stopped his work and greeted him, saying with a beaming face.
"The condition of this power armor is simply perfect! Not only are the reactor and battery good, but even the holographic image of the tactical helmet is complete! How much did you spend to buy it back?"
"You definitely won't believe me if I say I didn't spend any money." Chu Guang joked.
Yin Fang laughed and said, "How could that be? The most I can say is that you are worthy of it."
What the hell?
Am I the kind of person who would get something for free?
Chu Guang rolled his eyes, too lazy to explain to him, and ended the topic directly.
"I met your ancestor."
"What?"
The sudden words made Yin Fang stunned.
Chu Guang did not pause and continued.
"That Doctor Method."
"F... Method?"
Yin Fang came back to his senses and looked at Chu Guang in surprise, not knowing what expression to make for a moment.
"Wait... did you meet Doctor Fang? Where? Is it a holographic image like before? Or-"
"In Shelter 101," Chu Guang interrupted his incoherent speech and said, "He is the manager there."
The air was subtly quiet for a while.
Yin Fang took a deep breath and calmed himself down.
After sorting out his disordered thoughts, he stretched out his hand to pinch his eyebrows and asked after a moment.
"What kind of person is he?"
Chu Guang thought for a while and said.
"To be honest, he is not a very likable guy, but this is just from my perspective. Maybe people from your college have different opinions."
Yin Fang's expression was a little subtle.
"The college's collection of books has records about him, and he is evaluated as a pessimistic realist. Incredible... He is actually in Shelter 101. I always thought he was buried in the Wandering Swamp."
At this point, he suddenly changed the subject.
"Why don't you invite him out? Although his presence in the college is not as strong as the other two founders, there are also many scholars following him. If he raises his arms, he may be able to trick many researchers from the college to join you."
Looking at Yin Fang who was looking at him strangely, Chu Guang made a helpless expression.
He did think so.
He even thought about tricking a few engineers from there to help with the work.
After all, the students they taught are so awesome, so I think they themselves are not weak.
However...
"He and the residents of Shelter 101... chose to live in another form and uploaded their consciousness to the computer. In short, it is unlikely that they will come out of that door."
Yin Fang was stunned for a moment, lowered his head and thought for a moment, and muttered after a while.
"Hmm... it is quite like his style, but it is not exactly like the book."
Chu Guang asked curiously.
"In what aspect?"
Yin Fang's eyes were filled with memories.
"The book "The Origin of the Academy" commented on that person, saying that he always said some depressing and sarcastic words at inappropriate occasions, and would bluntly persuade unqualified students to change their careers. He was like a cold stone, not making people happy, and not interested in taking the initiative to do anything for others... But he actually did a lot of unnecessary things, didn't he?"
"For example, Camp 101. If he decided to spend the rest of his life in another form, there was actually no need to spend that effort to teach those wastelanders arithmetic and literacy, let alone protect them."
This is indeed an interesting angle.
Before giving up his flesh and blood, the man must have tried all kinds of things.
And when he made up his mind to put an end to his journey, he must have no attachment to the real world.
From this perspective, the birth of Camp 101 was indeed a superfluous thing.
Looking at Yin Fang who was lost in thought, Chu Guang thought for a while and said slowly.
"Maybe this is where the complexity of people lies."
...
On the edge of the West Fifth Ring Road in Qingquan City.
Walking on the dilapidated streets, carrying a large box of murderous daggers behind him, his mood was also a bit complicated.
At first, when he heard Fang Chang talk about this bug that can "brush money", his first reaction was excitement, and he wanted to offer his heart on the spot for the alliance's foreign exchange reserves.
However, when he carried the cold box on his back, his mood suddenly became heavy.
"I always feel that doing this business... is a bit weird."
If you want to blame someone, you can only blame this game for being too real.
If it was just a picture or a string of numbers in his backpack, he bet that he would never have such wild thoughts.
Fang Chang, who was walking beside him, glanced at him and could guess what he was thinking.
"You can think about it from another angle. If it weren't for us, the ones who would have their parts removed would be the unarmed survivors, the poor in the slums, and the scavengers lost in the wasteland."
"Not everyone can afford the bionic organs worth thousands or even tens of thousands of chips. In order to survive, they will definitely do whatever it takes, so we actually sacrifice ourselves and benefit others."
Sha Bi was stunned.
Of course he knew that this was a perverse theory, but he really couldn't think of how to refute it for a while.
That's right.
The parts were removed from the clones, and they didn't kidnap those NPCs who couldn't be resurrected.
Who lost money?
It seems to be the shelter.
After all, the setting requires a lot of electricity to synthesize clones in the culture cabin, and the shelter only charged them for the "active substances".
Old White, who was walking beside him, made a joke.
"You have a lot of twisted ideas."
Fang Chang replied indifferently.
"No, I'm just playing the game normally. It's the people who bring real rules into the game that are weird. Do you feel guilty for killing civilians in GTA5 or pressing the nuclear button in Civilization 6?"
Old White thought for a moment.
"That's not the case, but it's true that you feel empty after pressing the nuclear button."
After all, when you start growing mushrooms all over the map, the game is almost over.
The transaction location was set at the edge of the fifth ring road west of Qingquan City.
The straight-line distance from Dawn City to here is farther than that of Boulder City, but the actual distance is shorter.
The suburbs are full of medium-density residential buildings. Alliance players have explored this area, but due to the low rate of return, the exploration is not as good as the jungle in the east.
The person who bought these awakener parts was not Dr. Gracie's clinic, but one of Gracie's clients - a man named Edmund.
He used to be Gracie's assistant, and later he was noticed by Jeff, the boss of the Dagger Gang, and served as Jeff's personal doctor for a while.
Perhaps because he thought the money was too little, or perhaps for other reasons, Edmund later left the Dagger Gang, went to the wasteland to start his own business, and opened a hospital.
Although he never named his hospital, the mercenaries who knew it well still used to call it Edmund's Clinic or Edmund's Ranch.
As for why there was this nickname, it is unknown.
In short, the nobles in the inner city look down on weak flesh and blood, and even the machine substitutes full of oil smell are not in their eyes. Only clean and hygienic bionic prostheses are their pursuit.
Therefore, most of the users of these parts are mercenaries, bounty hunters, and even predators who lick blood on the blade.
People who are often shot will not think of replacing their precious parts. Cheap and durable are the kingly way.
After all, you never know when you might get hit by an EMP grenade, and electronic products will become a burden.
Although the parts of the awakened are not enough to make them awakened, they are definitely durable.
Two thousand chips are a huge sum of money for ordinary people in Boulder City, but for some powerful mercenaries, it is not an unaffordable price.
"The Golden Dunes Cinema... is just ahead."
Ye Shi compared the map and locked his eyes on a relatively high ruin nearby, "I'll go over there to help you set up your guns."
"I'll go with him." Kuangfeng glanced at Ye Shi and followed him.
After all, you have to be careful when doing business in the "dark zone" without rules.
"Well, be careful."
Watching the two disappear at the alley, Fang Chang, who was standing in front of the team, waved forward.
"Keep going."
More than 20 players continued to move forward.
The abandoned cinema was at the other end of the street, and the half-collapsed ruins were transformed into a fortress.
All the interactive holographic horror movies that were shown here 200 years ago are not as real as today 200 years later.
Because people really died here.
And a lot of them died.
The Kidney Fighter stared at the building for a while, and suddenly muttered.
"Why do I feel like this is a predator's nest?"
Fang Chang didn't say anything, but frowned slightly.
It really feels that way.
The blood-stained wooden stakes, and the pieces of meat and limbs hanging on the wooden stakes, instinctively reminded him of the Blood Hand Clan he encountered several versions ago.
However, this is also the most troublesome part of this game.
Predators don't write these three words on their faces, and there is no standard for defining them at all.
Just as the players were looking at the building in front of them, the pairs of eyes hidden in the building were also looking at them.
At this time, the door opened.
A strong man with a bare upper body came out with four younger brothers.
He exuded a strong smell of blood, and it was visible with the eyes.
He stopped about 20 meters away from Fang Chang and raised his chin.
"Where are the things?"
"Here," Fang Chang looked at the boxes carried by several players next to him, and then looked at him, "Are you that Edmund?"
"Dr. Edmund is doing surgery. I am his apprentice. You can call me Tie Ci."
The strong man grinned and looked at the younger brother beside him.
The skinny man understood and immediately took two boxes, opened the locks, and showed Fang Chang the strings of green chips with a face value of 25.
Fang Chang did not move, but glanced at the building not far away, and saw a machine gun emitting a cold light under the shadow of the window.
Noticing his eyes, the strong man named Tie Ci said with a smile.
"Don't mind, we are very trustworthy. After all, a business that keeps its word will last long, right?"
"The chips are all here. Do you want to order them?"
Fang Chang nodded and walked forward.
However, at this moment, his eyes passed over the sturdy man's shoulder and saw the oval iron cages displayed in the gate.
There were men and women in the cages, most of them were under 30 years old, and some were less than 20 years old.
They were unkempt and their faces were unclear. Most of them were only wearing rags, or even nothing at all.
A similar scene was exactly the same as what he had seen in the Blood Hand Clan's stronghold.
The only difference was that these people were not locked up in the dark and damp dungeons, because they needed healthy parts.
When he met the desperate eyes, Fang Chang felt his heart shrink slightly.
What kind of people was he doing business with?
He stopped his legs that seemed to be filled with lead and moved his eyes back to the face of the man in front of him.
"Who are those people?"
"Those?"
Tie Ci was slightly startled, looked back and saw the iron cage behind the courtyard gate, then turned back and smiled heartily, saying nonchalantly.
"That... just some scavengers, some of whom were sent here because of gambling debts, or defective products eliminated by the cloning factory."
"But they are lucky. Our customers are more interested in the parts of awakened ones. They can live for a while before finding buyers."
The tone and expression that treated people as goods made many players feel physically uncomfortable.
Lao Bai looked away subtly.
His feeling about "Wasteland OL" is probably between [Stop talking nonsense] and [There is a long way to go].
In short, he did not completely regard this game as a complete world, but he did not completely bring the mentality of the game.
Therefore, he would not use his own moral standards to evaluate the game behavior of other players in the game, nor would he let the things in the game affect his feelings in reality.
But next time he is called, he thinks he will probably refuse.
Looking at the man in front of him and the chips in his box, Fang Chang was silent for a while, and suddenly sighed as if he had figured something out.
"If it was Stellaris, I wouldn't feel any guilt even if I put a whole planet of living people into cans."
"But in some games, if I take a can from an old man's house, I will feel complicated for a long time."
The strong man was stunned for a moment, staring at the man in front of him and frowning.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
He couldn't understand what this guy said at all, it didn't seem to be a language he was familiar with.
He just felt that the atmosphere of the man in front of him was vaguely wrong.
Fang Chang ignored him, and didn't care about his small move to move his feet, still talking to himself in words he couldn't understand.
"Nothing."
"I just suddenly felt that... doing business with people like you would make me unable to eat tonight."
Standing behind Fang Chang, Lao Bai, who had a complicated expression before, finally showed a happy smile on his face.
"Haha, I knew you would say that!"