The subway station near the old residential resettlement site.
Two hunched mutants stood at the entrance of the subway station surrounded by five young mutant warriors. They held white flags in their hands and looked at the armored vehicles and machine guns not far away.
, his face was filled with uneasy fear.
Those two old men were priests of the Qi tribe. One of them was Gomo, and the other's name was Henk, a representative of the Founder Sect.
Different from the secular sect, the founder sect is the earliest mutants in Singularity City. Their views are undoubtedly extremely radical compared to the Singularity City a century and a half ago, but compared to the current strange tribe, their views are undoubtedly extremely radical.
Being conservative to the point of reversing history.
Rather than hunting humans as prey, they prefer to keep those born in the pasture as animals, and the remaining free people as slaves.
This is what most farmers in this land do anyway, and there are very few villages like Hope Town with more than half of them freedmen.
They are even opposed to cannibalism. After all, there are foods that are more productive and more nutritious, and they have promised those who are unwilling to become mutants that at least they will not turn them into pies... although this promise actually has no meaning.
After all, the moment they win, those residents who don't want to become mutants have actually lost all power.
Without external interference, conservatives in any society will eventually age, and the Qi Tribe is certainly no exception.
Although the Founder Sect has mastered a series of "advanced technologies" including midwifery, it still cannot change the fact that there are more and more new generations in the tribe, and the secular sect that is "more focused on the rights of mutants" has entered the center of power.
fact.
However, now, all the warriors in the entire Qi tribe who had been given names have died in battle, and the rest are the old, weak, sick, and young men who have just learned to snore.
The "Ancestor Sect", which advocates living in harmony with mankind, has regained power as a result.
Although in a sarcastic way.
"...It's useless, they won't let us go." Looking at Henk who was still looking forward to the peace talks, Gomo sighed.
There is still a chance to survive by escaping from the city while the fog is still there, but it would be too naive to think that the humans would let them go.
However, as soon as he opened his mouth to speak, he was stared back fiercely by the former.
"Shut up! If it wasn't for that foolhardy Garn and you madmen who brought us into the ditch, how could we be in this situation now!"
Gomo closed his mouth as he wished, and also closed his turbid vagina, because it was meaningless to say anything at this time.
Maybe too much time has passed and that guy has forgotten how they forced the remaining people to make a choice——
Either become a mutant voluntarily, or become a farm animal.
Once they set foot on this road, there is only one way to go. At least they have absolutely no chance to turn back.
The league seems to have made a decision.
An officer with a high military rank walked to the front line and gave the officer in the exoskeleton a few words of instruction.
The officer in the exoskeleton nodded, watched the officer go away, then took out a cigarette, put it in his mouth, and lit it with a lighter.
Seeing that scene, a trace of panic appeared in Henke's eyes.
What exactly determines the need to smoke a cigarette in the first place?
He hurriedly took half a step forward, looking at the rifles raised in warning one after another and shouting.
"Wait, wait! You may not understand that we were actually humans before! We all worked hard for the same goal! It's just that we... have a little problem here, but it's not all our responsibility. Look,
We have all served for the post-war reconstruction committee and at least our lives have been spared. Please, we are willing to accept all your arrangements-"
In order to survive, he almost lost all his dignity. The mutant boys next to him gasped softly, their faces full of struggle and hatred.
But the officer in the exoskeleton didn't care. He just calmly finished his cigarette, threw it on the ground and crushed it while waving his hand impatiently.
"Fire."
He had given them a cigarette to pick up weapons and continue fighting. If he didn't pick them up, he would just die.
negotiation?
What is there to talk about with beasts?
The muzzle of the Chimera armored vehicle spurted out tongues of flame, and long, thick traces of light instantly pierced Gomo's eyes, which were closed.
The old guy turned into a puddle of minced meat on the spot and fell to the ground without saying a word, followed by Henk who was kneeling on the ground and the group of unconvinced guys behind him.
The battle at the subway station entrance ended quickly.
Finally, when the CG animation of the cutscene was over, the already eager players rushed into the subway station and began the final cleanup work.
The task panel of the VM clearly says——
Not a single remnant of the strange tribe was left alive.
And that was their original plan, especially after seeing the great achievements of those beasts...
"Who the hell has worked hard for the same goal as you?"
After kicking the body of the Flesh Mold Lake, the player who walked nearby spat on it with cold eyes, then continued walking forward with the rifle in his arms...
…
Just as the corps were advancing towards Jinhe City's underground transportation network from the entrances of various subway stations, the 1,000-man team of the Alliance's First Corps had arrived at the eastern suburbs of Jinhe City.
In order to accommodate the survivors rescued from the Qi tribe and to accommodate those liberated from the rule of the church, the Alliance needs to expand the Pine Cone Wood Farm and rename the expanded Pine Cone Wood Farm to Singularity City.
There is a ready-made psychic interference device available there, which will help those poor people in captivity integrate into human society as soon as possible.
According to the agreement reached between Chu Guang and Han Shuang, it will be responsible for the management of Singularity City, and the alliance will only be responsible for defense and security work.
Until the local survivors completely quit eating fruit and become individuals with complete behavioral capabilities, Chu Guang does not plan to incorporate Singularity City into the alliance as the sixth settlement. The cooperation model between the two parties will be based on Luoxia Province.
The current model of cooperation between countries and the alliance.
Although both the company and the college eagerly hope that he can take over this mess immediately, Chu Guang certainly cannot agree to them.
He didn't know what the academy was thinking. Those people liked to play secret room politics, and it was hard to figure out what they were planning. But Chu Guangke knew the board's thoughts very clearly.
Once the Alliance completely takes over this settlement, everything that happens here will be the internal affairs of the Alliance, and the Council will be able to completely wipe out the responsibilities of more than a hundred years ago, and even Frost will become a
If he works part-time, they will have room to retreat if he makes any trouble.
At least until the Council wipes its own butt clean, Chu Guang cannot use the fruits of labor of Alliance citizens to pay for their past mistakes.
Only by uniting one's own people can one unite others. Any union achieved at the expense of one's own people's interests will always be short-lived.
After all, both the recipient and the donor know in their hearts that such unprovoked good will not last long.
And something that is destined not to last long has no maintenance value.
The north entrance of Pinecone Wood Farm.
Not long after the Singularity City sign was put up, a dark group of people appeared in the north, and the long line looked like a long snake.
Some people were carrying a bulging backpack, while others were driving several two-headed ox carts. They were coming from the direction of Hope Town, as if they were fleeing.
The centurion on duty here was named Zheng Liushu. After seeing the group of refugees, he immediately led his people to greet them.
Before he could ask, the leader, Mayor Ma Hechang, took the initiative to confess his identity, then grabbed his arm and cried with snot and tears about how the Torch Church united with those mutants to persecute them.
"...The land in Hope Town can no longer grow food. I heard that you are willing to take in the people oppressed by the torch. Please take us in too!"
In fact, Ma Hechang did not tell the truth completely. The reason why he took the townspeople to flee here was certainly not because the land contaminated by Naguo could not grow food.
Although this is indeed true.
In fact, only Master Kong's farm and a few homesteaders are actually farming in Hope Town. His choice is actually a kind of speculation to a large extent.
The fog outside has dispersed, and the morning cannon fire has stopped.
Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the Alliance has won the conflict with the Torch Church and has become the new owner of this land.
Unlike the Torch Church, which left the plantation alone, the Alliance plans to rebuild Singularity City, with Singularity City as the center to focus on restoring the soil corroded by Nago.
Hope Town is still a bit far away from Singularity City. It will be a long time until the alliance comes to help the poor, and what if he is tried as an accomplice?
It is undoubtedly the best choice to come and surrender now.
But to be honest, Ma Hechang has no choice. He himself is a nacho addict. If the alliance does not allow them to grow nacho on this land in the future, even if he can endure it, other residents may not be able to quit.
Since Hope Town is already in a mess, it would be best for both yourself and the villagers to sell it to the new lord of this land for a good price before it rots.
Of course, it was not easy to persuade the residents of the town to leave their homes, and it took him a long time to finish their ideological work.
Zheng Liushu felt dizzy when he heard how bitter he was, and finally waved his hand to let them go.
Although the original intention of this settlement was not for them, the administrator’s order was there after all——
Anyone who feels they need to be contained is a target of its containment, and anyone who voluntarily leaves here will no longer be contained.
Maybe when they get fed up with living here, they will leave on their own.
"You should think clearly before entering. This settlement is actually a shelter managed by AI. Its function is to help the rescued survivors gain the ability to feed themselves, and to help those who cannot quit smoking on their own.
Get rid of that thing... It would be best if you have the ability to quit that thing yourself, you don’t have to come here.”
Looking at the survivors walking towards the gate, Zheng Liushu reminded him out of duty.
After hearing these words, many people hesitated. After a while, the crowd raised a hand hesitantly.
"Is the food in charge here?"
Zheng Liushu nodded.
"No problem, but you have to work every day."
Then immediately there was someone else.
"Want money?"
Zheng Liushu shook his head.
"Need not."
When the survivors heard that there was such a good thing, they all smiled with relief and walked towards their future new home.
On the contrary, Mayor Ma, who had been pleading with his nose and tears for a long time, was still here, holding a round package wrapped in linen in his hand, with a flattering smile on his face.
To be honest, Zheng Liushu doesn't like this guy.
When he first came here, he didn't know much about the situation in Hope Town, but he heard that most of the settlements here had cooperated with the Torch Church.
However, he didn't want to make things difficult for a poor refugee, so he spoke in a businesslike tone.
"Is there anything else?"
Ma Hechang nodded quickly and said with a smile.
"Yes, yes, sir, I have something to offer you!"
Zheng Liushu immediately became serious when he heard this. He thought this guy wanted to bribe him, so he immediately took a step back.
"I don't want your things, put them away!"
"No, no, no, this must be given to you." Ma Hechang stepped forward reluctantly and untied the package in his arms.
The moment he saw the contents of the package, Zheng Liushu subconsciously held his breath, as did several soldiers next to him.
What he saw wrapped in linen was a bloody head.
His brows furrowed slightly, he looked at Ma Hechang and asked in a serious tone.
"……What do you mean?"
Seeing that the adult didn't notice, Ma Hechang quickly wiped the blood from the head with his sleeve and explained.
"Sir, this, this is a mutant child."
Zheng Liushu was stunned for a moment, his brows furrowed even more tightly.
"How could you have a mutant child?"
Ma Hechang continued speaking tremblingly.
"It, it is different from other mutants, it is a hybrid... Occasionally, there will be mutant offspring with more blood, like a mule born from a horse and a donkey. We used to allow it to do business with us.
Yes, but the situation is different now, we have completely drawn a clear line with them."
The key point he wanted to say was actually only the last sentence.
But it seems that this head is too impactful, and he seems to have exerted a little too much force...
"...Okay, we know."
Zheng Liushu glanced at the bloody head, and finally said nothing, twisting his chin towards the soldier on the side.
"Bury it."
He had no right to comment on the hatred between the locals and the Qi tribe, but they did have the qualifications to do it.
What's more, it's a mutant. He is not interested in distinguishing the specific differences between mixed-race and non-mixed-race.
This already stinks.
He must have been dead for several days.
The soldier nodded, stepped forward and took the head.
Ma Hechang was stunned when he saw this and said quickly.
"My lord...won't you hang it up?"
Zheng Liushu replied impatiently.
"We usually only hang the mastermind and hang it for public display. After the body becomes smelly, we take it down and burn it. Is there any point in hanging it?"
Ma Hechang nodded and felt that it made sense, but he was still a little worried and couldn't help but warn the officer in front of him.
"Don't be merciful and let those people go. They have done us terrible harm."
"Don't worry, our managers have their own arrangements."
"You can get a shelf, hang them up, drill a small hole in the top of your head, insert a cotton wick and light it, so that it can slowly burn for a few days."
"We will make recommendations to managers."
"It would be nice if you could hang that shelf here... Of course, I'm just suggesting." Sensing that the officer was a little impatient, Ma Hechang was too embarrassed to ask if anyone could help here, so he quickly shut up.
gone.
Watching the guy go away, the soldier on duty couldn't help but clicked his tongue.
"Why does this guy have so many problems? Let's just build him a theater and put two chairs in it, and let him sit on it and enjoy it."
His name is Yang Gaoshan, and he is also a refugee who survived the Bone Chewing Rebellion.
However, unlike Lao Zheng, who was already a centurion, he had been making bullets on the assembly line of the military factory before, and it was only a few months ago that he joined the First Corps.
"Perhaps his relatives died in this disaster?" the taller soldier next to him said casually.
His name is Wu Pangfei. His original home was near Luoye Ridge. He was later captured by the army as a young man. After being rescued by the alliance, he joined the army.
Yang Gaoshan looked at him incomprehensibly.
"But what did he do? Wait there? Beg us to take him in after everything is over? Then tell us what to do? I'm not saying he's not pathetic, I just want to ask what qualifications does he have to make demands? He is with us
Did he fight, or provide us with food or ammunition? Or is he a citizen of the Alliance?"
He agreed to help these poor people out of morality, but he hated that guy's natural expression.
This is not a conflict.
Zheng Liushu glanced at his two subordinates and said casually.
"Everyone is like this. If you treat him well, he hopes you will be better. If you don't meet the standards of the saint in his mind, he will think that your previous good intentions are just a prostitute's memorial. Don't worry, we are originally
We don’t come here because we want to help, although we ended up helping some poor people.”
Whether it's for ending the wasteland or for the safety of the Alliance, this is far from being helpful.
Yang Gaoshan was still a little angry.
"Poor people... I really don't feel sorry for them at all, let alone innocent. It seems like they have no choice, but what is the one thing they didn't choose themselves since a hundred and fifty years ago? Find out.
Such a big mess, the stink can be smelled 800 kilometers away, if it were me, I would let them fend for themselves here, while we still have mountains of problems waiting to be solved at home!"
Zheng Liushu sighed.
"You are too extreme. If our managers really do this, their troubles will become our troubles sooner or later."
Yang Gaoshan said immediately.
"I didn't say that the manager did a bad job. I will always be loyal to his decision. I just think these people are not worth saving."
"There are guerrillas fighting alongside us in Xizhou City, and there are rebels in the desert who refuse to surrender. The workers in Boulder City have stood up, but what about them? They regularly provide slaves to mutants! Please give us back the little princess.
Give it to them! As if this is all our fault!"
"The only iron tower that is still resisting is from the neighboring province in the south! How can that mayor of that town have the nerve to make demands on behalf of his townspeople to us?"
Zheng Liushu didn't speak. To be honest, he didn't like Mayor Ma very much. The veteran beside him coughed lightly and said.
"So we just do what we should do. The managers did not ask us to pamper them, nor did they take them back to raise them, but let them rebuild their homes here. Well, this topic ends here. Well...it's just that I still have some doubts about bionic people, are they really that reliable?"
He was a mercenary in Boulder City in his early years. He initially fought for the Alliance because the Alliance gave him chips. He actually joined the Alliance and transferred to the regular army because of a funeral.
He has lived in Boulder City for a long time and is more worried about the potential risks of android technology than the survivors of Dawn City.
Yin Bosi is an android, and that guy did a lot of harm to people when he was an accomplice of the nobles.
Dragon Blood Potion is that guy's masterpiece.
In order to get more awakened people and greater economic benefits, he did not hesitate to explore the awakening potential of the users at the expense of the users' disability rate. And until the Bank of Boulder City and the chips it issued went bankrupt, many people were carrying Huge loans, struggling to survive in a bad environment.
Zheng Liushu thought for a while and said.
"That guy is far from reliable, but he's just right for them."
The veteran said doubtfully.
"Just right?"
"Um."
Recalling what he heard at the work meeting before departure, Zheng Liushu continued.
"The Kangmao Group's special-made bionics provide them with a step-by-step life. They will get up on time at six o'clock every morning, start working at seven o'clock, take an hour's lunch break at twelve o'clock and continue working until five o'clock in the afternoon. There will be a two-hour reading class, and they will turn off the lights and go to bed on time at 10 p.m. They will do fixed things at a fixed time, and there will be corresponding punishments if they violate it."
Although the punishment is not serious, it is just a small dark room.
Yang Gaoshan counted on his fingers, paused and said.
“…why do I think this worksheet sounds good?”
Wu Pangfei was also stunned.
"Then what should we do if they use foreign workers to make money? Are our workers supporting them in vain?"
"Waiting for nothing? How is that possible? We are not a wishing machine," Zheng Liushu said with a smile. "We will build a railway to here, supply them with the materials needed for production, and help them clean up those green things. , but they also have to plant some cash crops for us, otherwise what do you think I mean by working?"
Yang Gaoshan couldn't help but ask.
"But what if they are lazy?"
Zheng Liushu said with a faint smile.
"Don't think that the android can't see this little cleverness. That guy is actually very smart."
Although they do not need to participate in management work, his superiors mentioned it in the previous work meeting about Singularity City.
In order to ensure the enthusiasm for production, the AI named Hanshuang has defined three levels of living standards. The lowest level is basic subsistence, which is for players who continuously fail to meet the KPI assessment standards. The middle level is nutrition, and the highest level is a prosperous life.
If there is a surplus in the trade between Singularity City and the Alliance, Frost will deduct the portion used to improve productivity and purchase a portion of the consumer goods that improve life and provide them to residents with middle-end and highest-end living standards in proportion to encourage production.
Yang Gaoshan thought for a long time and couldn't help but say.
"Why do I feel that it still sounds a bit too good..."
Zheng Liushu shrugged.
"We'll see after some time. It's too early to say this now."
At first glance, this guy seems to be oversimplifying the problem.
The survivors in this settlement are not ordinary people, but drug addicts who will enter a "fugue" state from time to time.
Among them were 10,000 "primitive humans" who had just been rescued from their cages.
In order to prevent everyone from collectively entering a withdrawal reaction and causing a complete stagnation of production work, Singularity City will lift the restrictions on the use of mind interference devices to a certain extent, and plant a small amount of Nago to supply some addicts in a gradually decreasing manner.
Until the alliance's biological research institute finds a medical treatment.
Due to many special circumstances, the laws of the Union are not fully applicable here, and they have not obtained the status of Union citizens.
Wu Pangfei: "Is there no specific deadline?"
Zheng Liushu thought for a while and said.
"I don't know, at least until the trouble in Haiya Province is solved, I guess we will all need such a buffer zone... But the manager said that if someone wants to leave from here, register his biological information and let him leave, but after leaving
Just don’t come back.”
In essence, Singularity City is a large-scale containment facility managed by AI. It can prevent the influx of large numbers of Nago-infected people from impacting the existing order of the alliance, and at the same time reduce the demand for resources by local survivors to the lowest acceptable level.
.
The one-time entry restriction is necessary to prevent people from treating this place as a sanatorium and coming here to eat fast for a few days if they are unhappy. How can that be done?
But to be honest, even if he believed in the manager's decision and believed that such an arrangement was the best choice for those huge babies, he actually had some doubts in his heart.
Having lived in Dawn City, he really didn't know what kind of character Yin Bosi was, but Hanshuang knew it...
…
The old site of Hope Town.
The entire street was deserted, with not a trace of human beings in sight, and no signs of any living creatures at all.
However, judging from the situation on the street, people here were not in a hurry when leaving. They carefully searched for everything they could take away before leaving.
Apparently they have no intention of coming back here.
The town has been completely abandoned.
However, at this moment, there were two uninvited guests standing at the gate of the town.
"Is this village deserted?"
"should be."
"It's a pity that there are still so many cultivated fields." Seeing that the place where he fought before was abandoned, Xinghe Bulumeng's face was somewhat sad.
The same goes for Luo Yu standing next to him, but he can understand the choices of people here.
"It's nothing to regret. Before the treatment, normal crops can't be grown in this field... everything that grows will be eroded by the fruit-bearing mycelium."
Xinghe looked at him in confusion.
"Hasn't the brood nest been destroyed?"
Luo Yu nodded.
"That's true, but those hyphae will not disappear out of thin air, they just degenerate from the third stage to the second stage."
Xinghe sighed.
"If you step on a cockroach to death, the eggs will be scattered everywhere."
Luo Yu said.
"But think on the bright side, at least its scale will not continue to expand. As long as enough Camu trees are planted and the land is burned with synthetic oil, the remaining ash may be used as fertilizer... Just like those
Like the ground rolled over by a flaming weeder."
"Really..." Xinghe nodded thoughtfully, then looked at him curiously and continued, "By the way, brother, what are you looking for here?"
We happened to meet each other on the airship, and he followed me without asking.
Luo Yu scratched his head.
"A person...well, actually can't be considered a person."
Xinghe was stunned for a moment.
"...What is that?"
Not knowing where to start, Luo Yu sighed after thinking for a moment and said simply.
"When I first came here, I thought that brother was a mutant, but after thinking about it, he was actually a poor person who was harmed... I wanted to at least apologize to him or something."
Maybe there are some side quests?
Like mutant treasures or something.
If possible, it wouldn't be a bad idea to take him in as a follower.
He didn't really like to form a team with other players, preferring to explore the wasteland alone. If Galaxy hadn't insisted on thanking him for his previous help, he would have planned to come quietly alone.
Not knowing that this guy disliked him for being in the way, Xinghe was still racking his brains to help him seriously.
"Do you remember its name?"
Luo Yu: "I didn't ask at the time."
Xinghe sighed.
"Then there's nothing we can do. Hope Town has been refreshed and it's hard to even find an NPC to ask. I'm sorry... Why don't you go to the Aite Planning forum and ask?"
Luo Yu thought for a while, shook his head and said.
"Forget it, don't bother him with such personal matters."
Maybe this was just an episode on the way to the one hundred thousand silver coin mission, or maybe he missed a branch line that might be fruitful.
This is what an RPG cannot save.
If you miss it, you miss it.
But no matter what, he was quite satisfied with this adventure, and miraculously survived in the end.
Although he was only a little bit close to death.
Although there is no extra medal for clearing the level in one life, he still feels quite accomplished.
After all, death is the norm in this land, but living is unusual.
"give me sometime."
Looking at Luo Yu who pulled out his dagger and walked towards the town gate, Xinghe was stunned for a moment and asked.
"What are you doing? Convenience?"
"Tsk, don't worry about it, just wait for me here."
Luo Yu walked to the gate of the town alone and stopped. After thinking for a while, Luo Yu used a dagger to carve a line of words in a conspicuous place.
Because it is left to NPCs.
He used Renlianyu.
"You should have warned the people here that day, right? Thank you my friend, otherwise even if we caught up, I'm afraid not many people would have survived."
"My name is Luo Yu. If you see this line of text, can you leave your name next to it? Next time I pass by here, I will come and take a look."
As soon as he carved these words, Luo Yu suddenly felt a little regretful.
He dared to say that if other players saw this, the next time they came back, they would be assigned some weird human-linked transliteration names.
For example, Mr. Xiaochuan came here for a visit or something.
Luo Yu crossed out that line with a wry smile, thought about it, and wrote at the back.
"If I didn't say it, if we meet again in the future, I'd better ask in person."
Putting away the engraved dagger, Luo Yu nodded with satisfaction, which finally brought this adventure to an end.
When this year's wave ends, he plans to go to that tavern to take on a new mission and visit more distant places.
Picking up the rifle that was lying aside, he stepped on the ruts left by the wheels at the intersection in front of the door, and joined the Milky Way waiting not far away.