Chapter 678: Ghost Under the Deep Sea
Chapter 678: Ghosts Under the Deep Sea
The moment they heard this, the eyes of the players around them suddenly lit up.
Oh my goodness!
This is the triggering of the mission!
”I’ve been waiting for you to say this, brother,” Lao Bai smiled and patted him on the shoulder, “Tell me, what’s wrong with you?”
”Those people… have gone crazy… There’s no way to communicate at all… It must be that mind interference device! Yes… And those blue-skinned monsters!”
The man spoke incoherently, and it seemed that he had a lot of information, but the players around him were all confused, and even Lao Bai couldn’t help but wonder if his people’s communication had regressed.
”Don’t be in a hurry… Speak slowly, what’s going on?”
Huang Guangwei swallowed his saliva and looked at the barbecue on the fire with eagerness.
”Can… give me something to eat? I haven’t eaten for… three days.”
”Let him eat first.” Seeing this pitiful look, Lao Bai didn’t have the heart to continue asking, and looked at the old man who was standing beside him, “Give him something to eat.”
People who are extremely hungry cannot eat meat, because they need to consume energy first to break down protein and fat. However, this guy has already eaten a steamed bun, so he should be fine.
”Okay.”
The man nodded, went to the folding table in front of the bar, brought the unfinished fries and fried fish together, and cut a piece of freshly grilled meat for him.
Seeing the food coming, the man was not picky, grabbed a handful of fries and stuffed them into his mouth. The rude way he ate made even the tavern owner Yiren scratch his head and mutter in confusion.
”Is this NPC’s taste buds broken?”
How could he not know whether the fries were delicious?
After wolfing down the food for a while, the man burped, leaned against the palm tree with his bulging belly and panted. He half-closed his eyes as if he was full of wine and food, and he snored in front of everyone. The
players around him were stunned.
They had been waiting for a long time, waiting for this guy to speak, but he fell asleep after eating so much? !
This is unbearable!
Several people picked up branches on the ground and poked him twice.
”Damn!”
”Are you kidding us!”
”You asked us to help you, but you should talk!”
Huang Guangwei, who was poked randomly, suddenly woke up after hearing the noisy shouting around him. Realizing that he had dozed off in public, he was embarrassed and scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
”Sorry… I feel sleepy after eating, and I almost forgot.”
Lao Bai: “…”
Murder Dagger: “…”
Midnight Killing Chicken: “…”
Can you be more unreliable? !
At this time, Fang Chang finally rushed over and saw the man lying under the palm tree at a glance, and then looked at the submersible on the coast.
He didn’t rush to find the man to ask questions. He first called a few strength players he knew, patted them on the shoulders, and pointed in the direction of the coastline.
”Go drag that thing back and build a shed to hide it.”
The player looked at him curiously and asked.
”Drag it to the shore?”
”Yes.”
Fang Chang nodded, looked further away on the sea, and then walked towards the man leaning against the palm tree.
”Are you from Shelter No. 70?”
”Yes… yes.” Looking at the man squatting in front of him, Huang Guangwei nodded nervously.
Putting his hand on his shoulder, Fang Chang stared into his eyes and continued.
”Take a deep breath, don’t be nervous… Tell us, what did you encounter just now?”
Listening to the words of the man in front of him, Huang Guangwei took a deep breath, calmed down his nervous emotions, and slowly spoke.
”A group of blue-skinned guys, they… look like humans, with gills on their chins. They kept chasing me, firing harpoons and torpedoes at me… and some weird stuff.”
”They destroyed the power system of my submersible, so I could only drift around with the ocean currents, leaving everything to fate… and then I drifted here.”
”It seems you’re lucky,” joked Lao Bai, who was squatting next to him, “They just happened to drift to our place.”
Huang Guangwei smiled weakly and whispered “thank you”.
”But then again… blue-skinned guys? With gills? What the hell is that?” Midnight Killer looked at the man in confusion, and was confused by the monster he mentioned that fired harpoons and torpedoes.
At this time, Fang Chang, who was sitting next to him, gradually became serious.
”If I’m not mistaken, it’s probably a mutant…”
Hearing his words, the players squatting around were shocked, and their faces showed surprised expressions.
”What the hell?!”
”Mutants?!”
”Aren’t those beasts green?”
”When did they learn to swim?!”
Looking at the players who were talking to each other in surprise, Fang Chang shook his head and continued with a serious look.
”Mutants refer to humanoid life forms formed by improving the original 23 pairs of chromosomes of the human body through the incomplete research results of the ‘perfect life form’ project. They are not limited to green skin and strong flesh. There are gray-black mutants in the Great Desert.”
After a pause, he continued.
”There are many survivor settlements located on the seaside in the Yunjian Province. Do you remember the information in the official website setting collection? The corporate commandos mainly target those amphibious mutants that move along the coastline… They are different from ordinary mutants. Their skin is blue, and a few have scales and fins attached.”
Hearing this, the model worker took a breath of cold air and muttered to himself.
”Good guy… It turns out that the Torch Church is in cahoots with those guys?!”
The Piltover paratrooper who had been squatting next to him and had not spoken suddenly spoke.
”Is there a possibility that the blue-skinned mutants were created by the Torch Church?”
Old White shook his head and said.
”This possibility is not high. The Torch Church has only emerged in the past 20 years, and those blue-skinned mutants seem to have existed for a while.”
”I tend to think so,” Fang Chang nodded and continued, “After all, there is the example of Jinhe City. The Torch Church and mutants have natural interests. I guess the two sides may have reached some kind of cooperation agreement, such as… the church regularly provides a batch of slaves for the mutants to reproduce.”
Although his expression was as tactful and euphemistic as possible, everyone couldn’t help but clench their fists when they thought of the ranch they had seen in the mall in Jinhe City.
”These beasts…” Midnight Killer muttered in a low voice, and couldn’t help but clench his fists under the barrel, with murderous intent flashing in his eyes.
The Piltover paratrooper squatting on the side also whispered.
”What’s the use of distinguishing that thing? Anyway, those beasts are our enemies, and we don’t plan to negotiate with them.”
Fang Chang continued calmly.
”The relationship lies in whether they will attack us immediately… Now it seems that the church and the aquatic mutant tribes in the nearby sea should be in a cooperative relationship. They haven’t realized the situation on our side, or if they realize it, they don’t take us seriously, so we will have some time to prepare.”
Lao Bai nodded solemnly and said in a deep voice.
”It seems that we need to prepare not only the fishing nets made of devil silk, but also the beachhead on the shore.”
Fang Chang nodded.
”Not only the beachhead, underwater weapons are also necessary… Our assault rifles and bolters can only work on land. If we can’t attack underwater targets, they can maneuver along the coastline and attack us from any direction, which will be more difficult than aquatic aliens.”
Lao Bai looked at him seriously and said.
”When I get offline, I’ll ask Mosquito and the others if they can think of a way to make something useful.”
After a brief conversation in Mandarin, Fang Chang looked back at the man who was looking at their conversation blankly and continued.
”Why are those mutants chasing you?”
”I…” Huang Guangwei showed a hesitant expression on his face, as if he was struggling whether to speak out.
Fang Chang stared into his eyes and continued.
”If you don’t tell us, we can’t help you.”
”…Okay, I’ll tell you.”
Huang Guangwei seemed to realize that he had no better way than to confess. He struggled for a moment, and finally spoke up, telling the whole story of why he was stranded here…
”You should know that we had some conflicts with those people on the island because of some things…”
Fang Chang nodded.
”I heard that the survivors in the southern sea area hope to introduce the Naguo strain modified by the Torch Church into the southern sea area to solve the problem of the dangerous aquatic alien species that are rampant in this sea area… This is the version I heard, is that right?”
Huang Guangwei swallowed his saliva and continued.
”That’s basically it… but not completely. First of all, we told the survivors that the modified Naguo strain of the Torch Church was extremely risky and was an unfinished dangerous technology…”
”But they were too confident and completely lost their respect for nature. It’s our fault, because we used the technology of the pre-war era to make their lives so smooth in the past century, so that they thought they were the chosen ones, and thought that as long as they only selectively used the good part like using the mind interference device, they would not be affected by the bad part at all.” Fang Chang
stared at him thoughtfully and asked.
”What do you mean?”
Huang Guangwei: “What do you mean… do you need to say it? Haven’t you seen it? Since that group of charlatans came, Haiya Province has become what it is now. When the Iron Tower Organization was still there, everything was going well. Although there were some predators and some alien species, at least they were not like now, half-human and half-ghost.”
Lao Bai couldn’t help asking.
”Can’t they see it?”
Huang Guangwei shook his head.
”Can’t see? No, of course they can see it. They don’t even need to see it. They haven’t done business with the ports in Haiya Province for how many years. But they don’t care about the risks we mentioned. Not only do they have absolute confidence in themselves, they also have excessive confidence in us… Guess what they said when we told them that the group of crazy people in the north were seeking their own death and were going to drag others to death with them?”
Lao Bai: “How did they answer us?”
”They said, how do we know it won’t work if we don’t try? What if we can perfect that imperfect technology? This will not only change the current situation in the southern waters, but maybe also save those fools in Haiya Province who have lost their self-awareness, and even change Baiyue Province… They are no longer just desperate seekers, they are simply a group of arrogant fools.”
When he said this, Huang Guangwei sneered and raised his arm to wipe the sea water off his face.
”It’s easy for them to say… Have we not tried it? I have cooperated with Shelter 117 for decades until they made a fool of themselves. How could I not know whether the technical route they proposed has a future?”
”Besides, this is no longer a technical issue. The ultimate goal of those lunatics is to make humans ascend to a new species they imagined – ‘celestial beings’, and then turn the earth into a paradise for celestial beings to live. Do you understand what I mean? The Nago designed for this absurd idea was not designed to solve any existing specific problems in the wasteland from the beginning.”
Lao Bai asked with a frown.
”Doesn’t the Southern Islands Federation know? Why do they stand on the side of the Torch Church for such an obvious thing?”
Huang Guangwei shook his head.
”Didn’t I say they knew everything? But they were overconfident. It’s undeniable that they did achieve some success. For example, when most of the wastelanders were starving, they were able to feed more than 100,000 survivors with only a dozen square kilometers of land. For another example, when the provinces of Polo and Luoxia were still practicing feudal monarchy, they established a relatively civilized system.”
”In time, they might really be able to build a utopia on the sea that is no less than the ideal city, using the method they have explored and is most suitable for them… However, the fatal problem lies here. They have been so successful along the way that for most people on those islands, success is almost a matter of course.”
”There is no doubt that the Torch Church is a jackal. They also know that those guys have bad intentions, but they think it’s nothing. They can tame those restless Naguo mycelium like taming mutant sea sharks, eating the sugar coating on the arsenic and throwing the arsenic away intact… just like they use the mind interference device provided by the Torch Church to turn it into a tool to drive away alien species.”
”The president of the Southern Islands Federation has negotiated with us about this. He hopes that the residents of Shelter No. 70 and the thousands of experts we have trained in Coral City can work together to open up the research facilities in Coral City to make it easier for the Torch Church to investigate the mother nest of the Celestial Space Station. At the same time, they can cooperate with the Torch’s apostles – the researchers – to improve the Nago.”
”Of course we can’t agree to this. This is not the first time that group of lunatics have come to our door. What’s more, we knew what kind of people they were twenty years ago. If we open up the underwater research facilities to them, they can corrupt a group of our people in a matter of minutes and then turn it into their own lair… just like what they did in the Seaside Province.”
After hearing his words, the players squatting around looked at him dumbly.
One of them couldn’t help asking.
”And then you started fighting?”
Hearing this, Huang Guangwei’s expression became a little embarrassed, and he scratched his stubbled cheek with his index finger.
”At the beginning, there was no fighting… After all, the fleet is mainly controlled by those settlements, and those settlements were built by us, why should we attack our own people?”
Fang Chang nodded thoughtfully.
”Indeed.”
Putting yourself in their shoes, the sudden war between Shelter No. 404 and Dawn City sounds outrageous enough.
That was the settlement they built with countless blood and sweat. They would rather die a few more times for it than say they want to do anything to destroy it.
The biggest difference between this game and other games is probably that every settlement where players are active is built by the players themselves, brick by brick.
Not to mention that they are reluctant to destroy, in order to prevent those new players from doing anything wrong, they will not only actively participate in the establishment of laws and regulations, but also spontaneously accept the “passing on the torch” master-apprentice tasks, give those new players enough care, and help them integrate into the society of the alliance.
”Is that so?” Seeing the man in front of him showing a thoughtful expression, Huang Guangwei paused and continued, “We originally planned to teach them a lesson, so we issued a notice of power facility maintenance, and then turned off the ocean current generator set…”
At this time, Lao Bai next to him suddenly spoke.
”I heard… you cut off the power supply and oxygen supply system of Coral City, and almost buried the 30,000 survivors in the sea-”
”Nonsense! How could we do such a thing! And many residents of Coral City are our students, colleagues, and even family members!”
Huang Guangwei widened his eyes, as if he was poked in a sore spot, and refuted fiercely.
”It was them! The so-called federal authorities! They took advantage of our experts’ withdrawal from the ocean current power station and savagely blew it up! Then they cut off the power supply system of Coral City in retaliation! We sent out rescue submarines, but they threw mines at us. In the end, we only rescued a few hundred people!”
Looking at the man with clenched fists, Lao Bai calmed him down .
”Don’t get excited. The residents of Coral City are all fine. I heard that the federal authorities have relocated them to various islands.”
Huang Guangwei looked at him in astonishment, and then slowly calmed his breath.
”Really? It seems that they still have some humanity… Have you contacted them?”
Lao Bai nodded.
”Yes, because of the contact, I feel that there may be some misunderstandings between you… Why don’t you sit down and talk?”
Huang Guangwei curled his lips.
”There is nothing to discuss. The federal authorities hope that Shelter 70 can be used as a scientific research institution that obeys the leadership of the federation. I actually have no objection. We don’t want any special status, but we can’t agree at this juncture. If we give in, they will immediately hand over our achievements of more than a century to the group of lunatics in the north.”
The model worker looked at him in confusion and asked.
”You sneaked out of that shelter, didn’t you want to talk to them?”
Huang Guangwei denied it as a matter of course.
”Of course not, I was planning to go to the Great Rift Valley.”
”Great Rift Valley?” Lao Bai looked at him blankly, “What are you going there for?”
”Of course to find our manager! That bastard named Sun Yuechi! Without that guy, we can’t even play the full function of the shelter. We are completely unilaterally suppressed by the group of idiots in the federation. If he was there, things wouldn’t be like this. At least we can use the equipment in the security inventory!”
When he said this, Huang Guangwei gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.
He looked like he wanted to punch that guy…if that guy was right in front of him.
Several players looked at each other, but they were confused by what he said.
They heard the unfamiliar name Sun Yuechi for the first time, but the point was not this, but –
”Why is your manager…in the Great Rift Valley?”
”I also want to know what he thinks,” Huang Guangwei said with a curse, “It’s come to this point, and that guy is still talking in his sleep…saying that it is the last flame left by the Post-War Reconstruction Committee, and we should have united under its banner, and it’s not too late to go there now…They will take care of it. If those guys really have such a kind heart, Haiya Province should not be in such a mess now!” Fang Chang touched his
chin, thought for a moment and asked.
”It’s more than 3,000 kilometers from here to the Great Rift Valley…and this is the straight-line distance, how are you going to get there?”
Huang Guangwei continued.
”I originally planned to land in the eastern part of Haiya Province. It’s a deserted place, so I should be able to avoid the eyes and ears of the Torch Church. As long as I go around to the Leaping Horse Province east of the Valley Province, there should be a way to get there… I bet that bastard took this road.”
Midnight Killing Chicken looked at him in confusion and asked.
”Then why did you run here?”
”I didn’t want to,” Huang Guangwei looked at him with a smile and said, “I obviously avoided several major waterways and planned to sneak to the eastern coast of Haiya Province, but suddenly I was chased by those blue-skinned guys… I don’t know what they were ambushing there, anyway, we ran into them, and then I floated all the way here and was picked up by you.”
When he said this, he looked at Fang Chang, Lao Bai and several other people with an earnest face.
”You are also residents of the shelter, right… Can you take me to your place? I seem to have heard about you. You are in the southern part of the Valley Province?”
As he said this, he glanced at the airship in the sky and continued in an earnest tone.
”Please, I have nowhere to go…”
Old White looked at Fang Chang and said reluctantly.
”Why don’t you take him back?”
Fang Chang pondered for a moment and answered in Mandarin.
”Well, I wonder if it is possible to take the lead and let him sit down and talk with the Southern Islands Federation authorities.”
Hearing this, Old White was stunned for a moment and said with a smile.
”Are you thinking too much… Let’s not talk about whether the forces we have deployed in this area have the ability to promote peace talks. How can you be sure that there are no Torch Church people in the federal authorities?”
Fang Chang sighed and said.
”This is also the most hesitant part.”
At present, both sides have their own opinions, and both believe that the explosion of the Ocean Current Power Station is the fault of the other party.
As for the specific situation, no one has direct evidence to prove it.
Of course, he was more inclined to think that this might be the Torch Church’s obstruction, and then framed Shelter No. 70 to provoke a war between the South Islands Federation and the shelter.
However, there is another possibility. The explosion of the ocean current power station itself is the result expected by the South Islands Federation.
Energy is the rope held by Shelter No. 70, and it is also an invisible deterrent.
Now this deterrent has been used up.
It is like a nuclear weapon thrown from a launch pad, and it has lost its deterrent significance.
The survivors of the islands in the southern sea area found that they did not die because of the loss of the ocean current power station. They can import coal mines from Silver Moon Bay to restart the obsolete thermal generators, and they can also use solar energy and wind energy with storage power stations.
There are still many solutions.
Although the cost of energy has risen, the islands are highly united under the rule of the South Islands Federation.
In comparison, the price they paid for this does not seem to be as expensive as imagined.
Fang Chang pondered for a long time, sighed and said.
”Let the manager decide.”
Lao Bai nodded.
”I thought so too… Professional work should be left to professionals.”
Fang Chang looked at Huang Guangwei and continued.
”We can take you to our place. It will take about two days to reach Qingquan City.”
Hearing this promise, Huang Guangwei’s face showed a relieved expression, and he cried with joy.
”Thank you… Thank you so much!”
Fang Chang said with a smile.
”You’re welcome, but there is one thing we have to trouble you for.”
Huang Guangwei smiled and nodded happily.
”Just ask! As long as I can help, I will do my best!”
Fang Chang continued.
”Regarding the mutant attack you encountered in the eastern coastal area of Haiya Province, I hope you can record a video to give a detailed explanation, and then provide us with the coordinates of your attack.”
After hearing this simple request, Huang Guangwei agreed without hesitation.
”No problem! I’m ready to cooperate. If you need it, I can record the video right now! As for the coordinates, they’re on my submersible. You can take it and use it!”
”Let’s talk about the video later. I also need to report the situation to our manager. Go to our place to change clothes first, so as not to catch a cold.”
Fang Chang smiled friendly, then looked at the submersible that had been dragged ashore not far away, and continued.
”And your submersible, can you lend it to us? We want to try to repair its power system.”
Huang Guangwei waved his hand indifferently and said generously.
”Take it and use it. As long as you can take me to Qingquan City, I can give it to you.”
Originally, he didn’t plan to keep the thing. If he successfully landed in Haiya Province, he might just throw it on the shore.
Now someone promised to take him to Hegu Province, so he naturally wouldn’t be able to use the thing.
Since these people are interested, just take it!
Seeing this guy waving his hand generously, Fang Chang also showed a happy smile on his face.
”Then we won’t be polite!”
(End of this chapter)
