Chapter 372 Powers and Obligations

   Gracie Clinic.

  On the long white table, there was an open silver suitcase.

  In the suitcase lay a jar that was half the length of a forearm, and a transparent kidney was soaked in the dark green solution.

  It is made of unknown flexible materials, and the exquisite structure makes people wonder how advanced civilization can accomplish this meticulous miracle.

   And this "miracle" that combines thousands of research results is just a piece of dust that fell from that great era.

   With an obsessed expression on Gracie's face, she stretched out her index finger like a dead tree branch and slid across the tank, muttering to herself in a low voice.

   "BIO-166..."

"What?"

   "The number of this thing..."

Gracie sighed softly with fascination, "The bionic prosthetic body from Ideal City is the crystallization of mechanical engineering and biology. It is the most ideal substitute for biological organs, perfect like a work of art...even if It's just a fake."

  All the miracles of Ideal City are just a copy of the Renlian era.

   But even so, for many survivor settlements in the Wasteland Era, those imitation miracles are still an insurmountable gap.

   While Gracie was intoxicated by the artwork in front of him, Fang Chang, who was standing beside the long white table, fell into deep thought.

   After staring at the bald middle-aged man for a while, he suddenly spoke.

   "Aren't you going to ask about Edmund?"

  He heard that the "butcher" named Edmund was once Gracie's apprentice, because of an operation, he was favored by the boss of the Dagger Gang, and then he helped the Dagger Gang.

   This guy introduced the business to himself, and he turned around and sent Edmund to the new alliance's prisoner-of-war camp, in exchange for rewards of 100 silver coins and 200 contribution points.

  Fang Chang didn't believe it, this guy knew nothing about what happened to his apprentice.

  However, when she heard the name Edmund from Fang Chang's mouth, Gracie curled her lips and said indifferently.

   "Ask what that guy is doing, does he have anything to do with our deal today?"

  The expression on Fang Chang's face couldn't help being a little weird.

  However, when he saw the corner of Gracie's mouth parted, a hint of bewilderment suddenly appeared in his eyes.

"…you do this delibrately?"

  The rivalry between the New Alliance and the Marauders is well known in Clear Springs.

   It is not even an exaggeration to say that this alliance itself was born out of the war between Vault 404 and the Marauders.

  Under such a background, the probability of this transaction being completed is less than one tenth.

   If anyone benefits from Edmund's closing, it's Gracie's.

  Without those cheap "original ecological" parts, the mercenaries who accidentally got blown up can only choose more expensive bionic prosthetic bodies.

   Can't afford to change?

  There is always someone who can replace it.

   Even if he could steal a tenth of the clients from Edmund's Clinic and extract 500% of the profits from them, this guy would make a lot of money.

  Bionic prosthesis with high added value is the real huge profit!

  Clone extraction?

   That's just an evil way to save money.

"I don't understand what you're talking about... But I believe in one thing, that is, if you often walk by the river, there is no one who doesn't get your shoes wet. If you do business with predators, you will either be killed by the predators, or you will be killed by the predators yourself. become predators."

   "So, I only do safe business with safe customers and in safe places."

  Gracey smiled, reached out and closed the silver suitcase, and stuffed it into the drawer under the table.

  After that, he took out a gold-plated storage box from nowhere, and gently placed it in front of Fang Chang.

   "This is 500,000 chips, click on it."

   There are 50 black and white plastic sheets neatly stuffed in the storage box, and the side of the round sheet is printed with the pattern of the crown.

  The jet-black shiny luster is like new, and even a little bit of fingerprints and dandruff cannot be seen.

  Fang Chang took the storage box, counted briefly, and suddenly said.

   "I'm suddenly a little curious, how much can you make by changing hands?"

   Gracie smiled faintly.

   "This is a commercial secret. Besides, why ask me, you have made a lot of money yourself...don't you?"

  Fang Chang smiled and did not refute.

really.

  500,000 chips, converted to 1 million silver coins, and the cost is only 600,000 silver.

   Even if the 600,000 silver coins were pooled together by him and a few good brothers, one person can get quite a lot.

   This is already far beyond the wealth that ordinary players can obtain through missions...

  Weighing the weight in his hand, which was less than half a catty, Fang Chang couldn't help but have a strange thought in his heart.

  If you understand the silver coin trading platform as a stock exchange, can you count your own savings as a shareholder of "Wasteland OL"?

  Even spiritual shareholders.

   "If you still need bionic prosthesis, you can contact me."

   Gracie said with a smile.

"I will, but I probably won't need it recently. In the past few days, a batch of bionic prosthetic bodies from Ideal City suddenly appeared in the inner city, and the price I heard was about half a million chips... I wonder if that mysterious seller is you."

   "I only sold it to you for the time being."

  NPCs also trade among themselves, Fang Chang didn't find it strange, but was a little curious, who has such a big deal.

  Lister?

   Or that Ditwi who sells nutrition cream?

or…

  Master Manager?

   But managers should be unlikely.

  Fang Chang thought about it, but he couldn't associate that respectable man with a philistine businessman.

   This is not to say that the NPC has no business acumen, it's just that the pure personality setting is a bit wrong. What's more, there are so many talents in the alliance, there is absolutely no need for that "adult" to do this by himself.

   "Really? It doesn't really matter."

Gracie chuckled, "I didn't sign any exclusive agreement with you, whoever you sell to is your freedom, and anyway, my clients will eventually contact me for transplant surgery... Do you still have anything? It's okay, I suggest you Go to the bank first, it's not a good idea to hold so many chips, there are a lot of pickpockets in Boulder City."

  Fang Chang smiled faintly.

   Pickpockets are okay.

  As an agile player with a third-stage genetic sequence, a pickpocket who can steal things from him probably hasn't been born yet.

   It's not how confident he is.

   But if you really have this ability, there is no need to be a thief at all, just find a caravan or mercenary group to go in, what do you want?

   Put away the storage box, Fang Chang was about to leave.

  But at this moment, he suddenly thought of something, stopped and said.

   "...by the way, let's make a deal."

   "What deal." Gracie raised her eyebrows.

   "Next time you have a business competitor, you don't have to beat around the bush, you can just tell me...you know what kind of competitor I'm talking about."

  The new alliance prohibits players from "privately" invading survivor colonies above neutral, but this does not include pillager's lairs.

  Although the judgment criteria of "Predator" are very flexible, as long as "sufficient evidence" is submitted to the assistant of the great manager, there is a chance to obtain the permission of "Legal Suppression of Bandits" and unlock the option of "Unlimited War".

  The types of evidence include but are not limited to videos, photos, audio recordings, etc., and the judgment of evidence will refer to both the level of regional civilization and the strength of the evidence.

  If the conditions are insufficient, follow-up investigation tasks are usually triggered to further verify the situation...Because there are too many issues involved, this is usually a rather complicated process.

   But if someone can help them lock the target, it will be much easier.

  Especially in the stronghold of "Edmond Clinic", the value of the loot is far more than that of ordinary predator lairs. Being able to do justice and make money is equivalent to winning twice.

   Wouldn't it be perfect?

   Staring at Fang Chang with interest, Gracie suddenly showed a meaningful smile on his face.

   "Have you finally found a deal with fast money?"

   "But I still have to give you a piece of advice. When you try to take something away from the night, don't forget that the night is also staring at you."

   Fang Chang had an indifferent expression on his face.

   Joke.

  He can't die again.

   "You just have to tell me if you're interested or not."

   "Of course I'm interested. I wish you could get rid of all the competitors who have gone astray for me."

   Gracie stretched out her right hand and said with a smile.

   "I wish us a happy cooperation."

  …

"and after?"

   "Later, my friends took those homeless people to the Union, where the homeless people took them..."

   Tavern in Boulder.

  Fang Chang sprinkled the cumin entrusted by Lao Bai on the grilled lizard tail skewer, while chatting with Dolly about what happened the other day.

  Maybe because he has been eating these things recently, he found himself unexpectedly able to accept this kind of rough and dark cuisine.

  Perhaps, when we return to Aurora City, we can share with Lao Na about tasting delicious food from another world.

   Dolly, who was sitting across the wooden table, listened carefully.

  Her face was full of interest, her calf was dangling gently under the table, she was holding a brand new pen in her right hand, and was writing on the palm-sized shorthand pad.

  Although he has only been on the job for a short time and has not even passed the probationary period, this guy is becoming more and more like a reporter in terms of demeanor and actions.

   “Would it make a difference if you went there?”

"Well, it's hard to say," Fang Chang thought for a while, and said, "There are also poor people in the alliance, but we will give them a bite to eat so that they will not starve to death. We will teach them the skills to make a living and give them a choice. How to live a chance."

  “As for whether or not to integrate into our society and how to integrate into our society, they can make their own decisions. They can leave if they feel uncomfortable, and they can come back whenever they want.”

   Talking dry, Fang Chang took a sip of cold beer.

  Looking at Dolly who was hastily taking notes, he couldn't help but tease.

   "It seems that you have adjusted to your new life."

  The corners of her thin lips curled up slightly, Dolly threw away the pen in her hand, leaned on the chair and stretched comfortably, and said happily.

   "It's okay, although it was a bit tiring at first, but after getting familiar with it, I found that it is actually quite interesting."

   "The daily working hours are flexible, you don't have to stay up late, and you can hear a lot of interesting gossip... Of course, the most important thing is that the salary is good."

  Looking at that cheerful expression, Fang Chang was also sincerely happy for her.

   Flipping through the notes in her hand, Dolly, who was leaning on the chair with her head up, suddenly sat up straight and looked curiously at Fang Chang who was sitting opposite.

   "Actually... I still have a little doubt about what you just said."

   "Which one?"

   "I seem to have heard of that Edmund clinic somewhere. It is said that some mercenaries and bounty hunters who can't afford bionic prosthetics or want to save money will go there for surgery."

   "It's about the same as what I know." Fang Chang nodded.

   "Well... what about those mercenaries who need to replace their prosthetic bodies?" Dolly tilted her head, "There will always be accidental injuries. Even if you wiped out the Edmund Clinic, someone will open another one in another place, right?"

  Equality is a beautiful idea, but most of the time, the price of life is different.

  If someone is willing to pay a bargaining chip, someone will do this business.

  The cheapest mechanical prosthetic body produced in Boulder City costs two to three thousand chips, and some precision bionic organs, etc., are more normal in five figures.

  In comparison, the lives of clones and slaves are much cheaper. If they are captured scavengers or other civilians, they can even be cost-free.

   As long as people in the wasteland are still struggling to survive, this market will not disappear.

   Putting down the wine glass in his hand, Fang Chang thought for a long time before speaking slowly.

   “Of course we thought about it, so we decided to address that part of the need.”

   "It's just that it needs to be done in a different way."

  After leaving the Gracie clinic that day, he went to the closed beta player communication section of the forum and made a post. While disclosing this bug that could allow money to be spent, he communicated with other players who had qualified for the closed beta test.

  After listening to what they saw in the "Golden Dunes Cinema", most of the players had similar thoughts to him.

  Although this is indeed a "win-win" business, after all, players will not really die, but using this bug to make money will make them feel uneasy.

   Especially many players have become good friends with NPCs in the game.

  Forget about cloud players who haven’t entered the game yet.

  At least for beta test players, many people have no way to treat NPC as pure data.

   is another form of life.

   Based on the opinions of other players, Lao Bai intends to communicate with the First Hospital of the Alliance to save the parts replaced by the players with bionic prosthetic bodies, and replace them for survivors who really need them.

  As for the fee, a reasonable handling fee will be charged.

   In addition, some seriously injured players can also donate their own parts before repairing themselves.

   Of course, this will follow the principle of voluntary.

   Players can choose whether to sign the body donation agreement.

  As for the player who signed the agreement, when he or his friends need to replace parts, they can arrange surgery first.

   It is of course unprofitable to do so, but as Guang Ge said, they are not only developing a game, but also building a virtual community.

  Silver coins are not everything in this game. Apart from pure benefits, there are many other things worth exploring in this world.

  Fang Chang felt that the layout could actually be bigger.

  They are not just building a community, they are building a society.

  Including himself, players who have qualified for the beta test cannot do without the extra 12 hours a day.

  This is their second world, and in fact it has become their second hometown.

  Especially as the first batch of players who entered the game, they followed the game process and obtained a lot of resources and wealth—whether in the game or outside the game.

  Because of emotion and reason, they all have obligations and responsibilities to make this place better.

   Instead of turning this place into a jungle, extract profits from it like cancer cells, and then run elsewhere to continue rambling.

   “Our alliance will normalize raiding raider nests, making it harder for raider nests that ‘slaughter survivors’ to survive.”

  “…At the same time, we will also supply cheaper replaceable parts through ‘Sanctuary Technology’, making this business unprofitable.”

  Fang Chang briefly described his and other shelter residents' decisions in a way that NPCs could understand.

  Dolly looked at him in surprise, surprise written all over her bright right eye.

   "I didn't expect you to be a very responsible person."

  Fang Chang smiled faintly.

   "Did you just find out?"

  Although he wasn't like this from the beginning.

   Rubbing her chin with her index finger, Dolly thought for a long time.

  Suddenly, she snapped her fingers.

   "Yes!"

   "Have you got it?"

   "Tomorrow there will be a headline on Survivor Daily! I plan to write your deeds in the newspaper!" Dolly said with sparkling eyes.

  The headline of the NPC newspaper?

  Although it sounds less attractive than the Hall of Fame on the official website of "Wasteland OL", it is still a fresh experience.

   It happens that I am also learning Renlianyu, so I will buy a copy and have a look.

   "For the sake of the headlines, how about this meal?" Fang Chang joked.

"no problem-"

  Dolly was about to pat her chest and agree, but at this moment, out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of the pile of wooden sticks on the plate.

  The corners of the raised mouth froze suddenly, and the voice also weakened unexpectedly. Dolly continued to speak with a blushing face.

   "First, I owe you first... I will pay you your salary."

   "Then I will remember!"

  Looking at Dolly with an embarrassed expression, Fang Chang smiled in a good mood, took out a few chips and threw them on the tray in the waiter's hand.

   "Pay the bill, no need to look for it."

  Looking at the chips falling on the tray, the waiter saw that he was an acquaintance, and couldn't help but secretly rolled his eyes.

   It's this guy again.

   But then again, this guy has enough to eat...

  Glancing at the pile of wooden sticks on the plate, and then at the young man who looked gentle on the surface, the waiter couldn't help but smashed his tongue in his heart.

  It's really hard to judge by appearance...

  …

  Vault No. 404, browsing room on the B4 floor.

  Chu Guang, who was sitting on the sofa, was holding a newly printed "Survivor Daily" in his hand.

   And the page before his eyes was the headline of the latest issue of "Survivor's Daily"—a report on the Edmond Clinic.

  The newspaper selectively displayed several photos taken by the players in the Edmund Clinic.

  Including the casually abandoned corpses, and those survivors locked in iron cages like lambs waiting to be slaughtered, the shocking pictures shocked people's eyes and also shocked people's hearts.

  The residents of the outer city certainly know the cruelty of the wasteland. After all, the distance between them and the outside world is just a door.

  However, it is precisely because of the existence of that huge wall that they do not have to touch things that do not belong to their own world in their daily lives.

  Even though "The Voice of Boulder City" often mentions the suffering beyond the giant wall as a joke, the narrative style is mostly cynical and flattering to the city lord.

   It's not so much to please the city lord who doesn't care about them at all, but to cater to its audience.

   Like "Survivor Daily", it is the first time in the past ten years that the truth of Chiguo has been brought under people's noses.

   It is precisely because of this that this incident caused a huge sensation in the outer city of Boulder City, and quickly became a hot topic among people.

   What's more interesting is that on the same issue, the residents of Boulder City have obvious differences.

  For ordinary residents, they care more about the survivors locked in iron cages.

   After all, there are not only people from the slums, but also a few residents from the outer city.

  No matter what reason those poor people were sent to the **** slaughterhouse, they were in the same position, and there was a slight crack in their fantasy of the giant wall in their hearts.

   The unbreakable wall is not as unbreakable as they imagined, and the eternal isolation cannot keep them away from the wasteland.

  However, the final result can still be called happy.

   Evil raider lairs were destroyed and survivors returned home to their loved ones.

  While Unbreakable Walls aren't dead-on, Unbreakable Alliances seem to be working a little bit.

  However, for the mercenaries, this is not good news.

  This means that they have to take greater risks to complete the commission, and have to pay more chips after the injury to buy expensive and not necessarily easy-to-use mechanical substitutes.

   Of course, the paper also ends up mentioning that New Union First Hospital is exploring alternatives with the help of Vault 404.

  It is recommended that mercenaries who need treatment go to Dawn City to try their luck.

  Sitting with legs stretched out on the coffee table in front of the sofa, the puppet ornaments manipulated by Xiao Qi are looking up at Chu Guang with admiration.

   "As expected of the master!"

   "Actually, you already guessed that your players would do this, right?"

  Being used to the little assistant's flattery for a long time, Chu Guang just smiled faintly, turned a page of the newspaper, and said in a normal tone.

   "I am not as predictable as you think, and human behavior is simply impossible to predict."

   "However, I admit that they did make a choice that I am gratified."

  No matter how strict the rules are, there will always be loopholes, especially with the increase in the number of players in the server, Chu Guang is very clear that he cannot personally plan the game trajectory of each player like before.

   What's more, there is no need to do this.

   Players are also an integral part of "Wasteland OL". Of course, they can also participate in the formulation of game rules and explore the future together.

  What Chu Guang wants to see is that players can give full play to their initiative, spontaneously improve "game content" and maintain "server order".

   This is their power.

   is also an obligation.

  The newspaper turned to the last page. Chu Guang closed the finished newspaper and put it on the coffee table next to Xiao Qi. He was about to turn on his laptop and browse the forum.

   Just then, there was a knock on the door outside the browsing room.

   "Come in."

  The alloy door opens.

   It was Yin Fang who came in from the outside.

  Seeing the beaming expression, Chu Guang probably guessed that something good happened. Thinking that this guy has been busy repairing that power armor recently, he blurted out.

   "'Dragoon' repaired?"

   "No, it's not close, but it's only been a few days." Sitting on the sofa opposite Chu Guang, Yin Fang said happily, "What I want to tell you is another piece of good news."

   Chu Guang asked with great interest.

   "What good news?"

"According to the clues collected by the scientific expedition team, we have locked an abandoned shelter... Although the shelter is old, the information is new. According to the historical reading records, we have a high probability of being the first to discover its coordinates. You should know what that means."

  Taking out the tablet computer converted from VM, Yin Fang skillfully tapped twice on the screen, and then handed the tablet to Chu Guang.

   "Its number is 79. It is located in Ruigu City, 150 kilometers away from here, at the junction of River Valley Province and Luoxia Province."

  Yin Fang continued with an excited expression on his face.

   "A shelter with a two-digit number, you should know what that means!"

  —

   (Thanks to the leader of "Rainy Night Thirteen Lang" for the reward!!)

  (end of this chapter)