Chapter 370 The complexity of people is also here

   The way to leave the virtual world is very simple.

  Just reach out and touch the position of the temple to take off the glasses.

   During the chat with Dr. Method, Chu Guang learned that the residents of Vault 101 had given up their physical bodies, uploaded their consciousness to the virtual world, and embraced a higher evolution.

   And thus gained a new life.

  He seems to know the first-generation manager of Vault 404, but he doesn't want to talk about that person, and just calls him Professor.

  However, from his attitude, Chu Guang could feel that needless respect.

  A strange idea appeared in Chu Guang's mind.

   Could it be that his mentor is actually the same person as the original manager of Vault 404?

  But when he asked this question, the man didn't admit it, but just smiled lightly, and changed the subject without a trace.

"...Our world originally had only 6,000 people, and now it has 3 billion people, most of whom were born from complex self-evolutionary calculations. We only need to consume a little bit of negligible resources to meet all material and spiritual needs. "

   Sitting on a park bench, the man looked over the bustling crowd.

  The outline of the city can be seen in the distance.

   "I have spent all my life savings here, and I have stored enough resources in the shelter to keep the entire world running smoothly for a thousand years, or even longer. I decided a long time ago,"

   "But one day it will go away."

  Hearing what Chu Guang said, Dr. Method smiled and asked a question in a very soft voice.

   "Yes, but what is eternal?"

   "The indestructible alliance has only survived for more than a century, and the time we have been prosperous is not even as long as the time we have been sinking."

   “And here, we can anticipate the day when the world will end, and calmly meet our final destiny before the end comes, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing.”

   As he said, he got up from the bench, smiled and looked at Chu Guang who was sitting beside 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 so big that you will never be bored. Of course, if you like this place, you can stay here."

  The last sentence doesn't seem 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 admits that it is beautiful here.

  Clean sunlight, air and water, endless resources support 3 billion people.

   This is the real "game world".

   is also a perfect utopia.

   There are no xenos, no predators, no mutants, not even the concept of exploitation.

  However, it was precisely because of this that Chu Guang worried that he would be indulging in this beautiful and false dream.

  Getting up from the bench, he raised his index finger and pressed it on his temple, feeling for a transparent bump.

  According to the method doctor, as long as you take it off, you can leave here.

  However, just when Chu Guang was planning to do this, he suddenly thought of something and blurted out.

   "If I choose to stay, wouldn't the professor's experiment you mentioned fail?"

   If I remember correctly.

  After he dies, shelter 404 will execute the closing procedure, and the morphoforming field device will also stop operating, waiting for the time to reopen.

   It may be ten years later, or it may be a century, or even farther in the future.

   "It doesn't matter, since you've come here, you will definitely refuse." A sly smile suddenly appeared on the man's face, "You can treat that sentence as a formality."

  That smile made Chu Guang roll his eyes.

  He really wanted to play a card that didn't follow the routine, but if he really did this, he might fall into this guy's hands.

   "Just stay here and daydream for the rest of your life."

  Looking at the gradually disappearing figure, the doctor smiled and waved his hand.

   "I would like to borrow your good words."

  …

  The colorful colors were withdrawn from the consciousness, and the black lenses came into view.

  Chu Guang took off his glasses, put them on the table beside him, got up and walked to the door.

  The door is pushed open.

  Seeing Chu Guang appearing at the door, the soldiers waiting at the door finally breathed a sigh of relief.

  The same goes for Horn who is standing aside.

  He reached into his sleeve, took off the VM worn on his arm, and handed it to Chu Guang who was standing at the door.

   "Master Pioneer asked me to give it to you."

"Thanks."

   With a simple polite sentence, Chu Guang reached out and took the wrist-mounted computer.

  Almost at the moment when his index finger touched it, a light blue pop-up window appeared in front of his eyes.

  【Task: Recover the VM of the manager of Vault 101 (Completed)】

  【Reward: 3500 gene sequences】

  Looking at the pop-up window in front of him, Chu Guang couldn't help but feel joy in his eyes, and raised his index finger to tap on the earphone.

   "Xiao Qi."

  The voice fell, and Xiao Qi's voice came from beside my ear.

   "Here you are, master."

   Chu Guang immediately ordered.

   "Restart player recruitment!"

  Xiao Qi: "Got it!"

   After the clean and tidy answer, the long-suspended release of test qualifications was finally restarted.

   It is still based on the standard of 20 accounts per day.

  This time he will focus more on recruiting some thoughtful and creative players, and enrich the diversity of the player community while ensuring that the neutral position remains unchanged.

  3500 gene sequences, enough to use until the end of the year. Considering the bumper grain harvest after autumn and the gradually increasing grain import quota, this speed of issuing test qualifications is the most appropriate.

   Soon another batch of fresh chives entered the market.

very nice!

  Chu Guang looked at the VM in his hand.

   This is probably the easiest one of all the tasks he received from the Manager's Work Log.

  When Chu Guang first saw the task reward, he thought how difficult the task would be.

   Unexpectedly, the manager of Vault 101 really just wanted to see him, and had no other plans or attempts at all.

  For Chu Guang, it was like going through a CG cutscene.

  Suddenly thought of something, Chu Guang looked at Horn who was standing aside, and asked curiously.

   "Do you usually communicate in this way?"

   Horn nodded slightly.

   "Yes, after all, it takes a lot of energy to open the door once, and the virtual reality system will save more energy."

   Chu Guang asked.

   "You didn't think about staying there?"

   "Stay in...there?"

  Horn's eyes were blank, "You mean the pure white room? But there's nothing there, right?"

  Chu Guang couldn't help but see a trace of strangeness in his eyes.

   Good guy.

  The residents of Ganqing Camp No. 101 have never really been to that world.

   But think about it too.

  If you are not a person with a firm mind, after seeing the prosperity of that world, I am afraid it will be difficult to maintain your heart.

  After all, a person’s life is only a hundred years. If one can obtain a thousand years of peace, there is really nothing worth nostalgic about the physical body.

  Seeing that Chu Guang had a strange expression, Horn couldn't help asking.

"Any questions?"

   "It's nothing, it's good." Chu Guang said casually, and quickly ended the topic.

   Horn looked at him blankly. Although he was confused, he didn't continue to ask.

   After all, this is not a big deal.

   "Looks like you had a great conversation with our pioneer... Is there anything else you need?"

   "No more, thank you for your hospitality."

   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 101, Chu Guang returned to the surface.

  He first stopped by to visit Xiayan, Xiaoyu and other students, then went around the construction site in Liming City, and finally returned to the second corps station.

  When he stepped through the gate of the barracks, a group of young players were carrying a wild deer with three horns, returning from the direction of the forest.

  They brought the prey to the fire in the camp, preparing to cook it into game.

   Noticing the manager, the eyes of the players lit up, as if they had discovered a rare animal, and they immediately looked towards Chu Guang.

   One of the players with a strong sense of substitution clapped his hands and got up, trotted to Chu Guang, and said respectfully.

   "Dear Master Manager, we just hunted a wild deer and are planning to roast it!"

   "If you don't mind, we have a lot of places here!"

  Chu Guang happened to be a little hungry, so he said with a smile.

   "Then I will not be polite!"

  The player had a surprised expression on his face, obviously he didn't expect Chu Guang to agree so simply.

  But soon, that surprised expression turned into a face full of joy, followed by an excited nod.

"okay!"

  Seeing that his companion brought the manager back, the players immediately pulled him aside.

   "Gan, why did you bring the NPC here?"

  The player smiled shyly and scratched the back of his head.

   "Hey, I didn't want to increase my favorability. If I unlock the hidden mission, it will be developed!"

   "Hiss...you make sense when you say that."

   "Then I have to do it seriously!"

  Hearing the players' goo-goo about his favorability, Chu Guang couldn't help but laugh.

   But seeing how busy they were with their prey, they still didn't laugh out loud.

   It took more than an hour to process the prey.

   Includes skinning and trimming of excess fat, and a sprinkling of the sanctuary's special spices.

   In order to put the prey on the charcoal fire, a group of young players are very busy.

  When the sun went down, Chu Guang finally ate the game roasted by the players.

  The strong aroma diffuses between the lips and teeth, but it is 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 feeling a little emotional.

   Rather than saying that he is reluctant to part with this world, it is better to say that he is reluctant to part with those hardworking and brave friends.

   "Thank you, it's delicious. It feels like it's dispelling the fatigue of the whole day... If you open a barbecue restaurant, it will definitely become popular." Chu Guang said jokingly.

  The little player who had pulled him here before stood up again and said loyally.

"You're welcome!"

   "It is our honor to serve you!"

  The little players around the fire also looked at Chu Guang expectantly, with a bright future shining in their eyes.

   That expression seemed to be calling.

Up!

Favorability!

   It must have risen!

  …

   Nothing to say all night.

  At dawn the next day, Chu Guang boarded the train back to Dawn City, ending his visit to Dawn City and Camp No. 101.

  In addition to the 3,500 test qualifications, another gain from this trip is that Chu Guang finally got the answer to his confusion about the origin of the wasteland.

   The doomsday battle 200 years ago took place between the home planet of the People's Federation and the colony.

  The motive for the outbreak of war does not seem to be for any independence or pure economic interests.

   After all, if it is for these two goals, it will be difficult to achieve this.

   This style of fighting to completely destroy the opponent is simply like a fight between two different species.

   And there may be some hidden secret behind this that I don't understand...

   “History is a cycle, but it usually doesn’t simply repeat itself.”

  Sitting on the train, Chu Guang wrote this sentence at the end of this chapter when he was arranging his notes—

  A chapter on Camp 101.

  …

  Vault 404.

  In the warehouse on the B2 floor, Yin Fangzheng was standing in front of a powered 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 to look brand new, and the outer shell has also been painted with a new urban camouflage paint.

Unlike the "battle-damaged" exoskeleton that Brother Quanshui picked up, Yin Fang obviously put more effort into repairing this "Dragon Cavalry", trying to restore it to the most perfect state. It's not about just doing it casually with the mentality of "just use it".

   It is precisely because of this that when Chu Guang saw this power armor, he almost didn't recognize it for a while.

   "You're back? I'm about to report good news to you!"

   Seeing Chu Guang coming from the door, Yin Fang stopped what he was doing and greeted him, and said happily.

   "The condition of this power armor is simply perfect! Not only the reactor and battery are good, but even the holographic image of the tactical helmet is complete! How much did you pay for it?"

   "You wouldn't believe me if I said it didn't cost money." Chu Guang said jokingly.

  Yin Fang laughed and said, "How come? The most I can say is that you deserve it."

  What the hell?

  Grandfather is the kind of person who will prostitute for nothing?

  Chu Guang rolled his eyes, didn't bother to explain to him, and ended the topic directly.

   "I met your patriarch."

"What?"

  The sudden words made Yin Fang stunned.

  Chu Guang did not pause and continued.

   "That Dr. Method."

"method?"

  Yin Fang came back to his senses, looked at Chu Guang in surprise, and didn't know what expression to make for a moment.

   "Wait...did you see Dr. Fang? Where? Is it a hologram 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 to calm himself down.

   Squeezing his chaotic thoughts, he stretched out his hand to pinch the space between his brows, and asked after a while.

   "What kind of person is he?"

   Chu Guang thought for a while and said.

   "Honestly speaking, he is not very likable guy, but this is just from my point of view. Maybe people from your academy have different evaluations."

  Yin Fang's expression was a little subtle.

   "There are records about him in the college's collection, and the evaluation of him is a pessimistic realist. It's unbelievable... He's actually in Vault 101. I always thought he was buried in the Wandering Swamp."

   Speaking of this, his subject suddenly changed.

"Why don't you invite him out? Although his presence in the academy is not as good as the other two founders, there are not a few scholars who follow him. If he raises his arms, he might be able to fool a lot of people in the academy." Researchers join you."

  Looking at Yin Fang who looked at him strangely, Chu Guang made a helpless expression.

  He did think so.

   I even thought about tricking a few engineers from there to help out.

  After all, the students they teach are so awesome, and their own skills are not weak.

However…

   "He and the residents of Vault 101... chose to live in another form, and uploaded their consciousness to the computer. In short, it is unlikely to come out from that door."

  Yin Fang was stunned for a moment, bowed his head in thought for a while, and muttered something after a while.

   "Well... it's quite like his style, but it's not exactly like the one in the book."

  Chu Guang asked curiously.

"which aspect?"

  Yin Fang's eyes fell into memories.

"The evaluation of that person in the book "The Origin of the Academy" is that he always makes frustrating sarcastic remarks on inappropriate occasions, and he will unceremoniously persuade him to change his career to unqualified students. He is like a cold stone. It makes people feel happy, and he is not interested in taking the initiative to do things for others...but he still does a lot of unnecessary things, doesn't he?"

   "For example, Camp 101. If he decides to spend the rest of his life in another form, there is actually no need to go to that effort to teach those wastelanders to count and read, and there is no need to shelter them."

  This is indeed an interesting angle.

  Before giving up his flesh and blood, that man must have made various attempts.

   And when he made up his mind to bring his journey to an end, he must have lost any nostalgia for the real world.

  From such a standpoint, the birth of Camp 101 is indeed a superfluous event.

  Looking at Yin Fang who was lost in thought, Chu Guang thought for a while, and then said slowly.

   "Maybe the complexity of people is also here."

  …

  The edge of the West Fifth Ring Road in Qingquan City.

  Walking on the dilapidated street with a large box of murder dagger on his back, his mood was also complicated.

   When Fang Chang first heard about this bug that could "swipe money", his first reaction was excitement, wishing to sacrifice his heart for the alliance's foreign exchange reserves on the spot.

  However, when the cold box was carried on his back, his mood suddenly became heavy.

   "I always feel that doing this business...is a bit weird."

   If you want to blame, you can only blame this game for being too real.

  If it was just a sticker or a string of numbers in his backpack, he bet he wouldn't be thinking about it.

   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 there is no us, the unarmed survivors, the poor in the slums, and the scavengers lost in the wasteland will be the ones whose parts are removed."

  “Not everyone can afford bionic organs that cost thousands or even tens of thousands of chips. They will do whatever it takes to survive. So we are actually sacrificing ourselves for the benefit of others.”

   Sha Dagger was stunned.

  Of course he knew it was fallacious, but he really couldn't think of how to refute it for a while.

   Yes.

   Parts were taken from clones, they didn't abduct NPCs that couldn't be revived.

   Who is the loser?

   seems to be a refuge.

  After all, in the setting, the synthesis of clones in the training cabin requires a lot of electricity, and the shelter only charges them for "active substances".

   Lao Bai who was walking beside made a joke.

   "Your nonsense is really a set of one set."

   Fang Chang replied indifferently.

   "No, I'm just playing the game normally, but it's a strange person who brings the rules of reality into the game. Would you feel guilty about killing civilians in gta5, or pressing the nuclear button in civilization 6?"

  Old Bai thought for a moment.

   "That's not true, but it's true that you feel empty after pressing the nuclear button."

  After all, when you start growing mushrooms on the whole map, the game should almost be over.

  The location of the transaction was set at the edge of the West Fifth Ring Road in Qingquan City.

   The straight-line distance from Dawn City to here is farther than Boulder City, but the actual distance is actually shorter.

  The suburbs are covered with medium-density houses. Alliance players have explored this area, but because the rate of return is not high, the exploration rate is not as good as the jungle in the East District.

   It was not Dr. Gracie's clinic that purchased these Awakened parts, but one of Gracie's clients—a man named Edmund.

  He used to be Gracie's assistant, and later he was favored by Jeff, the boss of the Dagger Gang, and became Jeff's queen doctor for a while.

  Maybe it was too little money, or it might be other reasons. Later, Edmund broke away from 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 used to call it Edmund Clinic, or Edmund's Ranch.

  As for why there is this nickname, it is not known.

  In short, the nobles in the inner city can't look down on weak flesh and blood, and they can't even catch the machine substitutes that smell like engine oil. Only clean and hygienic bionic prosthetic bodies are their pursuit.

   Therefore, the users of these parts are mostly mercenaries, bounty hunters and even predators who lick their blood.

  People who often get shot will not think about replacing themselves with expensive parts, cheap and durable is king.

  After all, it is impossible to say that one day you will be hit by an EMP grenade, and electronic products will become a burden instead.

  Although the parts of the Awakened are not enough to make them Awakened, they definitely meet the requirement of durability.

  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.

   "Golden Dunes Cinema... is just ahead."

  Ye Shi checked the map and locked his eyes on a relatively tall ruin nearby, "I'll go over there to help you set up guns."

   "I'll be with him." Kuang Feng glanced at Ye Shi and followed.

   After all, you are doing business in a "dark zone" with no rules, so you have to be careful when trading.

   "Well, be safe."

  Watching the two of them disappear into the alley, Fang Chang standing in front of the team waved forward.

"keep going."

  More than twenty players continued to move forward.

   The abandoned movie theater is just down the street, a half-collapsed ruin converted into a fortress.

   All the horror-themed interactive holographic movies shown here 200 years ago are not as real as they are today 200 years later.

  Because people really died here.

   And a lot died.

  Kidney Warrior stared at the building for a while, then suddenly muttered.

   "Why do I feel like this is a predator's lair."

  Fang Chang didn't speak, but frowned slightly.

  It really feels like this when I say it this way.

  The blood-smeared wooden post, as well as the minced meat and stumps hanging on the wooden post, instinctively reminded him of the Bloody Hand clan he encountered several versions ago.

  However, this is the most troublesome part of this game.

   Predators will not write these three words on their faces, and there is no standard for defining them.

   While the players were looking at the building in front of them, pairs of eyes hidden in the building were also looking at them.

  At this time, the door opened.

  A bare-chested strong man came out with four younger brothers.

  His body exudes a strong smell of blood, and the kind that can be seen with the eyes.

  Stopping at a distance of about 20 meters from Fang Chang, he raised his chin.

   "Where's the stuff?"

   "Here," Fang Chang glanced at the boxes carried by several players next to him, and then at him, "Are you that Edmund?"

   "Dr. Edmund is doing surgery, I am his apprentice, you can call me Iron Spike."

  The strong man grinned, and looked at the little 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 inside.

   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 Iron Spike said with a smile.

   "Don't mind, we are very trustworthy, after all, a trustworthy business will last forever, right?"

   "The chips are here, do you want to click?"

  Fang Chang nodded and walked forward.

  However, at this moment, he looked over the strong man's shoulders, and saw clearly the oval iron cages displayed inside the gate.

   There are men and women in the cage, most of them are under thirty, and even less than twenty.

  They were unkempt, their faces could not be seen clearly, and most of them were only covered with rags, or even nothing at all.

   A similar scene was exactly the same as what he had seen in the stronghold of the Bloody Hand clan.

  The only difference is that these people were not locked in a dark and damp crypt, because what they needed were healthy parts.

  Facing those desperate eyes, Fang Chang felt his heart shrink slightly.

  What kind of people are you doing business with?

  He stopped his legs that seemed to be filled with lead, and moved his gaze back to the face of the man in front of him.

   "Who are those people?"

"Those ones?"

  Tie Spur was taken aback for a moment, looked back and saw the iron cage behind the courtyard gate, then turned around and smiled heartily, as if nothing had happened.

   "That... just some scavengers, and some owed gambling debts were sent, or the defective products eliminated by the cloning factory."

   "Lucky for them though, our customers are more interested in Awakened parts, and they can live a little longer before they find a buyer."

  The tone and expression that treated people like goods made many players feel physically uncomfortable.

  Old Bai subtly moved his eyes away.

  His feeling for "Wasteland OL" is probably somewhere between "less bullshit" and "longer future".

   To put it simply, he didn't completely treat the game as a complete world, but he didn't fully bring the mentality of the game either.

   Therefore, he will not use his own moral standards to evaluate the game behavior of other players in the game, nor will he affect his feelings in reality because of things in the game.

  But the 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 guilty about canning an entire planet of living people.”

   "But in some games, I will have a complicated mood for a long time if I take a can from the old man's house."

  The strong man froze for a moment, staring at the man in front of him and frowning.

   "What the **** are you talking about?"

  He couldn't understand what this guy said at all, it didn't seem to be a language he knew well.

  He only felt that the atmosphere on the person in front of him was vaguely wrong.

  Fang Chang didn't pay attention to him, and he didn't care about his small movements to move his feet. He was still talking to himself in words he couldn't understand.

"nothing."

   "I just suddenly felt that...doing business with people like you will make me unable to eat tonight."

  Standing behind Fang Chang, he had a complicated old white face before, and finally showed a cheerful smile on his face.

   "Haha, I knew you would say that!"

  (end of this chapter)