Chapter 855: The Western Legion Trying to Get Rich Quietly

Chapter 855: The Western Legion Seeking to Make a Fortune in Silence

Vault 404.

The browsing room on Level B4.

Having finally finished editing and uploading the update files, Chu Guang was browsing through the feedback from players and cloud players below the post.

Passing Bystander Eating Melon: "Why isn’t there a version number! When will the update actually come! (Frustrated)"

Linbo Little Angel: "Dog planner, get to work! Still got minor bugs? Are you fixing them or not?"

Pig Farming Specialist: "Dad!! Give me a closed beta key!"

Thunder Dharma King Professor Yang: "Borrowing this thread for an ad: Ergonomic gaming pod! Basic model comes with a built-in helmet and reclining stand, customizable with vital sign monitoring, nutrition maintenance, and auxiliary metabolism functions—so you’ll never wake up hungry or needing to pee again! Buy now and get two free checkups! Interested? DM me!! (Grinning)"

Thunder General: "Damn, Professor Yang! Be careful when you buy from him—this guy’s a cloud player, never even played this damn game."

Ye Shi: "Say what you will, but believe it or not, this guy’s actually an old player. (Sarcastic)"

Fang Chang: "I think instead of worrying whether he’s played the game, you should worry about him pulling some tricks elsewhere. Suggest you file a report with the police. (Squinting)"

Thunder Dharma King Professor Yang: "Damn! You guys are biased!"

Dragon Warrior: "Bro Guang, can you give me a helmet? I promise I won’t cause trouble in the game. I just want to see if it’s realistic. T.T"

Authentic Water Heater: "I-I want to ride a mammoth!!! QAQ"

Full and Bored: "Bro Guang, can you send me a trial card? I just want to take a look! Just one look!"

Tail: "Ooh ooh! That thing is huge! (?ω?)"

Meat Mountain Big Steamed Bun: "When we loaded that thing onto the ship, it almost capsized our boat. (Sweat)"

Teng Teng: "Speaking of which, this expansion is really far away. After getting off the train, you still have to take a boat."

Crow Crow: "Die once and waste half a month playing. Safe in the newbie village after all. (=′ω｀=)"

Less Bullshit: "Damn! You’re way too laid-back like that!"

"..."

Earlier, the White Bear Knights had brought back two mammoths from the Mammoth Kingdom, and now they were being kept in the Dawn City Zoo.

The wastelanders of River Valley Province had long grown accustomed to all kinds of mutant creatures—after all, their esteemed administrator even kept deathclaws as pets—but their children were still fascinated by these massive yet gentle animals.

Back when the Bone-Chewing Rebellion ended, there was a baby boom in the Alliance, and now those children had learned to talk.

The world they saw was different from their parents’. They found those two furry hills novel and adorable, even wanting to climb up and play.

Though some right-leaning survivors held conservative views, believing that the abuse of genetic technology was the root cause of the mutant plague, and that prehistoric creatures resurrected by genetic tech shouldn’t be displayed as positive symbols, there were also left-leaning survivors with open-minded perspectives, seeing the two mammoths as a symbol of friendship between the Mammoth Kingdom and the Alliance.

Like the workers in the Worker’s Union, for instance.

Besides that, the two mammoths were quite popular on the forums, almost becoming new mascots alongside "Niko" and "Xiao Yu."

Previously, some cloud players clamored for helmets, mostly saying they "wanted to see how realistic this game really is," but now they had another reason: "wanting to see the mammoths."

Apart from the new exhibit at the zoo, Dawn City had gained many things it didn’t have before.

For example, a second museum, and previously nonexistent art galleries, sports stadiums, and a space station wreckage exhibition hall.

Seeing the little changes these players brought to the game, Chu Guang felt deeply gratified.

A truly wise administrator was not someone like Wu Tuo—a man with little skill but big ideas, overconfident and delusional—but someone who could set up a solid framework for a systematic project, letting every person and thing in that system fulfill their roles and be used to their fullest.

If the Alliance had grown to its current scale and still required him to personally issue every command, that would only mean he had been wasting his time.

Resting her chin on her hands, Xiao Qi, perched on the pen holder, stared intently at Chu Guang.

"Speaking of which, Master hasn’t updated the version number in a long time."

Letting go of the mouse, Chu Guang laughed heartily.

"Isn’t that a good thing? What I used to worry about most was what the Alliance would do without me. Now I’m not so worried. Even without our intervention, this game will keep updating itself."

"But Xiao Qi thinks it’s still too early for you to think that far ahead... Ah, the number of sign-ups has already exceeded 30,000! Amazing!" For some reason, Xiao Qi seemed reluctant to continue that topic and abruptly changed the subject.

Chu Guang didn’t dwell on it and smiled faintly.

"That number is probably about the limit... I reckon it’ll end up around 35,000 at most."

Although the Brahmin Province had been generating a lot of buzz on the forums lately, *Wasteland OL* wasn’t limited to just that region.

To the north, in the Hesitant Swamp, there was the Ice Sea City Special Zone; to the east, in Cloud Province, there was the Cloud City Special Zone; to the south, there were ten planned settlements. The Alliance’s players were already spread across the entire eastern part of the Central Continent.

In addition, the Alliance’s Biological Research Institute and scientific expeditions frequently sent research teams to Baiyue Province and the eastern provinces, and protecting these personnel also required players.

Though the online player count was high, after being distributed among various settlements, the number of players that could actually be spared wasn’t very large.

But this war didn’t involve only players.

Thanks to the activity of some players in the region, the local survivors had spontaneously united, temporarily setting aside their grudges to form a unified front.

Even if only three thousand players went there, instead of thirty thousand, the Southern Legion would have absolutely no chance of victory!

Closing the update announcement page, Chu Guang continued browsing the forums and noticed that Fang Chang had started a new thread, discussing war strategies with Mole and other players participating in the expansion.

The Burning Corps had already flown to the Heavenly Capital, and the Skeleton Corps’ armored units had advanced into Elephant Province, heading toward the Ox Province region where the Heavenly Capital was located.

Soon, there would be a good show to watch.

While Chu Guang was happily lurking, Xiao Qi, sitting in the pen holder, suddenly spoke up.

"Master, Foreign Minister Cheng Yan says he has something important to discuss with you in person. He’s at the vault entrance."

Chu Guang glanced at the time—it was already midnight—and wondered what could have driven Cheng Yan to such urgency. He said, "Tell him to come see me in the browsing room."

Xiao Qi replied energetically, "Got it!"

After handing the reception duties to Xiao Qi, Chu Guang instructed X-16, standing nearby, to brew two cups of coffee, then went into the adjacent room to change into casual clothes.

Soon, the browsing room door opened, and Cheng Yan walked in with a grave expression.

"Respected Administrator, I apologize for disturbing your rest at this hour, but we just received news from the South Sea Alliance. While en route to blockade the western port of the Brahmin Sea, they were intercepted by an unidentified fleet and forced to alter their original plan."

Unidentified fleet?

Chu Guang blinked in surprise, his expression quickly turning serious.

"Any suspects?"

Cheng Yan reported truthfully, "The other side didn’t contact us. Both sides probed each other but got nowhere. However, based on Li Minghui’s analysis, their propulsion system is distinctly different from the Southern Legion’s ships... Without a doubt, those ships belong to the Western Legion."

The Western Legion...

Hearing this unfamiliar name, Chu Guang’s brow furrowed.

Long ago, he had learned from Vanus that the Legion had four commanders, divided into the Eastern, Southern, Western, and Northern Legions.

Three of them—the Northern, Eastern, and Southern—were on the mainland of the Central Continent, while the Western Legion was stationed far away on the New Continent.

Due to the great distance, Vanus also didn't have much intelligence about that place, only knowing that the Western Legion's naval technology was relatively advanced, with their settlements mainly scattered along the eastern coast of the New Continent, though there were also a few ports on the western coast.

To be honest, the ancient "covenant" signed between the Corporation and the Legion, witnessed by the Academy and the Great Rift, actually had some loopholes.

The covenant only stipulated that the Legion must not expand eastward beyond the Great Desert, but it did not specify how far westward the Legion could expand.

After all, this planet is round, and it’s not just the Central Continent—there’s another, slightly smaller continental plate on the other side of the planet.

The tricky part now was that, due to the terrible orbital environment, there were no space-based facilities capable of directly observing the New Continent. And among the Alliance’s traveling merchants, few had ever heard of anyone going that far.

Using mental interference technology to drive away oceanic aberrations was only something that had been done in recent years.

In earlier times, ships navigating the southern seas of the Central Continent either relied on crude methods like "black ironwood" or used the sonar sensors of the South Sea Alliance; no one would have dared to explore completely unfamiliar waters.

For the Alliance, intelligence about the Western Continent was nearly a blank slate.

Watching Chu Guang lost in thought, Cheng Yan cautiously proposed,

"I was thinking... wouldn’t the Corporation have some intelligence about the Western Legion? After all, Elysium City is located at the easternmost edge of the eastern coast, at least closer to the New Continent than we are."

After a moment of contemplation, Chu Guang said,

"I’ll ask... though I have a feeling they might not be as enthusiastic about matters beyond the Cloud Province as we are."

He had already subdued the Eastern Legion, but the Northern Legion and the Western Legion had yet to make their stance known.

In fact, up to now, Benno could only represent the opinions of Triumph City; the Alliance had no direct diplomatic channels to communicate with either the Northern Legion or the Western Legion.

But—

Why would the Western Legion be interested in matters concerning the Bharata Province?

Their distance from the Bharata Province was far greater than the Alliance’s distance from it.

Gazing at the curling steam rising from his coffee cup, Chu Guang pondered quietly, when suddenly a flicker of realization crossed his eyes.

"...Could it be arms?"

Cheng Yan was taken aback, then his expression shifted slightly.

"You mean... the Western Legion is exporting arms to West Sailport?"

"It’s not just exporting arms—it might even be 'project subcontracting'..." Chu Guang clicked his tongue softly, picked up his coffee cup, took a sip, and set it back on the table. "I should have anticipated this situation earlier."

The Southern Legion’s relationship with the civil officials of Triumph City had soured, making it unlikely they would entrust the latter with logistics again.

Now that the Eastern Legion had also explicitly refused to participate in this campaign, the temporary port in the southwest of the Sunset Province near the Zhuobar Mountains, along with the transport routes across the Great Desert, would no longer be open to the Southern Legion.

Thus, it was only natural for the Southern Legion to seek other partners.

He could even guess that the high command of the Southern Legion must have promised certain benefits to the high command of the Western Legion.

For instance, a thirty percent share of the "new colony" profits.

Just like the Alliance’s cooperation with the Corporation on the space elevator project.

Whether one was willing to admit it or not, survivor factions with shared ideologies were natural allies.

Cheng Yan asked seriously,

"...The Southern Alliance hopes we can give them some advice on what to do next."

After thinking for a moment, Chu Guang spoke,

"They haven’t shown their cards openly but are instead pulling tricks from behind the scenes, which means they don’t want a direct confrontation with us either. Since they’re playing dumb, let’s play along—we won’t expose their little game either."

Frowning, Cheng Yan asked,

"Just let them be?"

"How could that be? Are our submarines and submersible carriers just for show?" Chu Guang chuckled lightly, a faint chill in his voice. "I’ve heard there are plenty of sea monsters in the Bharata Sea, like... the Laken that fires torpedoes. If a transport ship gets sunk by a Laken, they can’t exactly blame us, can they?"

Cheng Yan’s eyes lit up, and he couldn’t help but give a thumbs-up.

"That’s a great idea!"

Chu Guang shook his head with a smile and said nothing.

What was so great about it?

Wasn’t it just standard procedure?

He believed that even without his input, Cheng Yan could have come up with this idea on his own.

But everyone had their own little thoughts, and this guy was no exception.

When personal prestige reached a certain height, those around you—whether out of respect, dependence, or some other motive—would instinctively lower their posture.

The residents of the shelter were fine, but the wastelanders of the Alliance had a bit of that tendency.

Apart from those in research-related positions, the only wastelanders who fully and unreservedly displayed their talents were probably just Xiaoyu.

Many, including Lü Bei, had only recently changed their address to him from "Your Excellency" to "Sir" at his repeated request.

Chu Guang could sense the restraint in Cheng Yan’s demeanor, but he didn’t call it out. He simply gave brief instructions on the follow-up work, telling him to handle the matter flexibly, and then ended the meeting.

Sometimes, doing too much could backfire.

Cheng Yan had always done a good job, whether as an envoy to Golden Port or to the Eastern Legion.

Chu Guang didn’t want him to interpret this as dissatisfaction with his work...

"Master, Xiao Qi feels that your survivors are still quite dependent on you, though." Watching Cheng Yan leave, Xiao Qi’s voice carried a hint of smugness as she gently swung her legs dangling beside the pen holder.

Looking at the little one with her nose upturned in pride, Chu Guang reached out with his index finger and tapped her tiny head.

"I know... but I don’t think that’s something to be happy about."

"Hmph, Xiao Qi thinks it’s fine to be happy!"

Smoothing down her tousled hair, Xiao Qi rarely contradicted him, sticking to her own opinion.

But after a moment, her smug expression drooped, and her voice turned hesitant, her swinging legs coming to a halt.

"So... can you not leave?"

Chu Guang’s finger hovered over her little head, ready to push her back into the pen holder, but he froze.

"What are you talking about?"

Holding her head in her hands, Xiao Qi muttered,

"Umm... Xiao Qi worries that one day, you’ll be like that person—leaving behind a line like 'from now on, they’re all mine' and then just disappearing to who knows where."

Seeing Xiao Qi suddenly downcast, Chu Guang paused for a moment before remembering who she was referring to.

That was the designer of "Fang Ming."

When the orbital weapon control permissions were handed over, that AI named Fang Ming had told her quite a bit about its creator.

Perhaps due to an AI’s sensitivity, Xiao Qi saw a similar shadow in herself.

Chu Guang was silent for a while. Instead of teasing the little one as usual, he gently picked her up and placed her on his shoulder.

"Even the computer buried beneath the ruins of the inner city, specifically designed to calculate the future, can’t predict a hundred percent accurate future... In fact, things always turn out far different from our initial expectations; the unexpected is the majority."

"So don’t always worry about distant things. At least for now, I’m still here, and we’re both still young."

"Even if I have to go to some faraway place in the future, I’ll take you with me."