Chapter 1052: Vermin

Chapter 1052: Vermin

“These guys really have too much free time.”

In the Alliance Building, the administrator’s office.

Seated at his desk, Chu Guang stole a moment of leisure to scroll through the forum, and happened upon the thread where players were pulling their antics. A look of an old man seeing a phone on the subway gradually crept onto his face.

X-16 was one thing.

But Niko? What the hell?!

Have some decency!

“Indeed,” said Xiao Qi, perched on the pen holder, nodding with mock seriousness and an air of certainty. “It must be because the mission rewards are too high—we need to lower the mission yield rate!”

“When I say ‘these guys,’ I’m including you. You’re just as idle, joining in their nonsense.”

Chu Guang grumbled without any real anger, poking the little one’s head with his index finger.

“Wuka?!”

Struck by that “blow to the head,” Xiao Qi let out a short, pitiful cry and tumbled backward into the pen holder in an awkward pose. It took a long while before she poked her little head out again, looking utterly pathetic.

There was no doubt that pathetic expression was faked.

Having spent so much time with this artificial idiot, Chu Guang had long grown familiar with its nature.

Even back when it was just a wastepaper basket, it had already mastered the art of playing pitiful and acting dumb.

The discussion on the forum continued.

Soon, another player opened a voting thread, and the topic had shifted from “Bro Guang’s CP” to “The Dog Planner’s Preferences.” The options were more absurd than the last, as if inspired by the Lagrange Point space station.

Chu Guang scanned the voting options, musing that he should probably stock some blood pressure medication in his drawer.

But then he reconsidered: they were talking about the Dog Planner—what did that have to do with him, the Administrator?

With sudden enlightenment, Chu Guang felt instantly relieved. He even used the Dog Planner’s alt account to give a like to the only kind-hearted player who had spoken up for him in the thread—Yaya.

Yaya: “Aren’t you guys going too far joking about A-Guang like that? I think A-Guang is actually a pretty nice guy, even if he’s a bit dark sometimes. 0.0”

Soon, a group of busybodies spotted that like, and the entire thread’s tone flipped in an instant.

Tail: “!!!”

WC Really Has Mosquitoes: “Tail says, ‘Holy crap!’”

Night Ten: “Case solved!! Bro Guang likes big ones! (Evil grin)”

Maca Bazi: “Inside info!!! It’s insider trading!!! (Cracking voice)”

Yaya: “???”

The target of the collective fire quickly shifted from the Dog Planner to Yaya.

And the “mastermind” lurking behind the scenes, satisfied, closed the holographic screen and casually tossed the holographic pen back into the holder.

Xiao Qi was still lying pitifully by the edge of the pen holder, whispering in a wronged voice.

“Master… so you do prefer bigger ones, right?”

Chu Guang smiled faintly.

“Who knows? Maybe. I recall saying something like that once, but I’ve never really thought about it seriously.”

There were too many things demanding his attention; inevitably, some things slipped through the cracks.

Like his own life, for instance.

But now that the Wasteland Era was over, he had plenty of time to spare for himself.

No need to rush it all at once.

By the way, just a little while ago, when Xiao Qi took over the Lagrange Point space station, the long-absent Shelter System suddenly appeared before him once more, handing him the key to Shelter B5.

It seemed the first-generation Administrator had long foreseen where the real threat lay.

Of course.

Maybe that guy didn’t actually know about the Celestials. He might have just thought that since even the Lagrange Point space station had been reclaimed, the Wasteland Era should be over, and thus set the Lagrange station’s authority as the condition for unlocking the final key.

According to the Shelter System, that place was the true Administrator’s office of Shelter No. 404.

Chu Guang had always worked in the reading room on B4 and the office in the Alliance Building. Now, at last, he could move into his real office.

Of course, where he worked was a trivial matter. What really intrigued him was another piece of information the Shelter System had revealed—

It was said that the first-generation Administrator had last visited that place before his disappearance.

There might even be a copy of the first-generation Administrator’s *Administrator’s Log* there!

Still, Chu Guang didn’t rush off to the shelter to open the door right away.

Since he already had the key, and B5 wasn’t going anywhere, there was no hurry.

Not to mention he still had work to handle, and soon he would be meeting an old acquaintance he hadn’t seen in a long time.

As for the secrets of B5, he could uncover them after work.

…

In the Alliance Building, in the reception room near Conference Room No. 1, a pair of unfamiliar guests entered, surrounded by a group of guards.

One of the guests was named Zhuang Lan. She had once been an ace agent of the Enlightenment Society, but now she was the founder and leader of the Watchmen organization—and the gravedigger of the Enlightenment Society.

She had shed her Marik disguise and restored her original appearance.

Chu Guang still remembered the first time he saw her: she was brought before him as a prisoner by Night Ten, trembling so much she dared not meet his eyes.

Now, she seemed like a different person—far more confident, her spine straighter.

Not only that, but the fear that once dwelled in her eyes had turned into genuine respect.

Interestingly, the guy standing beside her was the exact opposite.

Once, wearing Yi Hai’s skin, he had spoken with eloquence. Now, he was like a worm completely hollowed out, his hollow eyes filled with terror, his shoulders trembling as if he might wet himself at any moment.

The Celestial was dead.

The Enlightenment Society was gone.

He no longer had an organization to rely on, nor a clone shell to use as a scapegoat.

Thrust onto center stage, he didn’t look like a leader at all. Without a script to read, he couldn’t even speak clearly—he was worse than an ordinary person.

Not wanting to look at him any longer, Chu Guang merely glanced at his face, then turned to the woman beside him, speaking in a gentle tone.

“You’re here.”

Zhuang Lan nodded slightly, her respectful tone carrying a hint of piety and sincerity.

“I’ve come to fulfill the bet we made years ago… If the No. 68 Shelter disaster had no connection to the Enlightenment Society, then I would be free. If the clues in the Administrator’s Log match your suspicions, then you win.”

Chu Guang smiled faintly and said in a teasing tone, “Then it seems I’ve won.”

"It seems I have won."

To be honest,

he was quite surprised.

At the time, that move was just a casual piece he had placed, yet he never expected that it would be this very piece that checkmated the Enlightenment Society.

Not only had she found Vault 68 and uncovered the truth behind that accident years ago, but she had also learned from the Alliance’s methods, uniting other brainwashed victims and forming the Watchers.

Unity.

That was the weapon all oppressors feared most.

Neither the demons on earth nor the specters in the sky dared to face the radiance emanating from this weapon.

"Yes," Zhuang Lan said respectfully, "as per the wager, I have returned with the freedom you lent me… From now on, my freedom is yours. I am willing to become your blade in the darkness, at your command."

Chu Guang saw a shadow of Lü Bei in her and believed that her words were not born of flattery or sycophancy, nor were they aimed at seeking some political status.

She spoke from the heart.

Yet he did not wish for her to do this.

That dim and endless night had already ended; he no longer needed others to follow his torch.

Including Lü Bei, who had always followed him.

He hoped they would become lights themselves, advancing along the paths they believed in.

From now on, they would all be torches.

"You misunderstand. My prize was the Vault 68 administrator’s log, not your freedom. You have already fulfilled the wager, though you may not remember it."

Watching Zhuang Lan lift her head in confusion, Chu Guang continued in a casual tone.

"As for your freedom, it has belonged to you since the moment you broke free from the Enlightenment Society’s brainwashing. You don’t need to give it to anyone, least of all to me."

"But… I don’t know what to do with it."

Zhuang Lan’s expression suddenly grew uneasy, and a rare hint of hesitation flickered in her once resolute eyes as she murmured softly.

"I founded the Watchers specifically to fight the Enlightenment Society, but now that the Enlightenment Society is finished…"

"Then give it a new goal, like… continuing the unfinished tasks of Vault 68 and other vaults? Since you’ve already defeated the Enlightenment Society, why not try walking the path opposite to theirs and see if it truly is as impassable as they claimed?"

"After all, the Enlightenment Society didn’t fall from the sky; it was born from specific soil. Simply eliminating it isn’t enough. If you don’t change the soil that breeds malice, we will have to face it again, sooner or later—once or many times."

Gazing into her gradually brightening eyes, Chu Guang continued in a gentle voice.

"Of course, rather than asking for my opinion, you should really talk to your companions. Go back to them. The people there need you more than I do."

That was all he had to say.

He believed that Zhuang Lan, standing before him, would surely understand the intent behind his words.

After all, she had come this far on her own.

And just as Chu Guang had anticipated, those resolute eyes finally held no more confusion.

What she had never needed was an omnipotent administrator; her freedom had always belonged to her.

From now on, she no longer had to wait for anyone’s arrival.

She herself was the one she had been waiting for.

"Thank you…"

Zhuang Lan clasped her fists, cast one last grateful glance at the esteemed administrator, then turned and left.

Gui Xu, head lowered, tried to slip away in her shadow, but the guards at the door stopped him, pressing a hand on his shoulder.

That hand on his shoulder was like an iron clamp; no matter how hard he struggled with all his might, he couldn’t budge an inch.

His ashen face was instantly etched with despair, like a freshly painted white wall.

"You’ve won… why make things hard for me? I have nothing left now, no threat to you at all…"

Turning to look at Chu Guang, Gui Xu’s eyes were filled with pleading, on the verge of dropping to his knees on the spot.

His utterly undignified demeanor was even worse than President Charlas’s, let alone Tyr’s.

In both means and cunning, this man was far inferior to the ambitious figures of the wasteland.

Chu Guang disliked such ambitious men and scorned scheming.

Yet he couldn’t help but wonder: where did this man get the confidence that his bloodline was more legitimate than anyone else’s in the wasteland, more deserving of equality?

Simply because he was born in a vault?

And the survivors of the wasteland—did they spring from stones?

Looking down at the face that seemed eager to bury itself in the ground, Chu Guang said in a calm tone.

"Back then, you hid inside Yi Hai’s corpse and chatted with me about many things, even telling me… I could call you Gui Xu, or the Zeroer."

"Now we’re face to face, and I’m sitting right in front of you. Why can’t you speak anymore?"

His voice wasn’t loud, but to Gui Xu’s ears, it struck like a thunderclap.

His knees went weak, and unable to withstand the fear, he fell to the ground with a thud.

"I… I deserve to die. I didn’t know you knew those people…"

"The blood on your hands isn’t limited to the crew of the Pioneer."

Chu Guang took a thumb-sized hard drive from his pocket.

It was the one Zhuang Lan had given him some time ago.

"Do you know what this is?"

Pinching the tiny hard drive, Chu Guang waved it in front of Gui Xu’s despairing gaze, then placed it on the table beside him.

"This is the Vault 68 administrator’s log, which also contains testimonies from some survivors."

"Based on these clues, we can roughly reconstruct the conspiracy behind Vault 68’s fall… You bribed raiders, had them pose as refugees to win the sympathy of Vault 68’s residents, and then, when their guard was down, plundered the entire vault. You yourself descended as a savior, turning the surviving victims into your followers and spreading your apocalyptic doctrine."

"Not just the Pioneer—the crimes you’ve committed can only be described as too numerous to record. The Wasteland Era was never the fault of wastelanders; it was the price of the Age of Prosperity. But when it comes to prolonging this long night, you have indeed made an ‘indelible contribution.’"

Gui Xu had no time to listen to the litany of crimes Chu Guang recited.

Flexible as he was, he only trembled and knocked his head on the ground, trying to win Chu Guang’s sympathy as a fellow vault dweller, hoping to be spared.

But he didn’t know that the more he did so, the more contemptuous that gaze became.

Even at death’s door, he still didn’t know what his real crime was.

Unwilling to look at this pitiful, spineless creature any longer, Chu Guang waved to the guards at the door.

"Take him away."

The guard in exoskeleton armor strode in with murderous intent, hoisted the kneeling man up like a chick, and dragged him out despite his wails and pleas.

"No! I beg you, give me one more chance!"

"Black boxes!!! I know the locations of some black boxes!! If you spare me, I’ll tell you everything!"

"I beg you—"

Chu Guang did not spare him another glance.

He would stand trial before the United Court of the Adhesive Commonwealth, and be hanged on the eve of the New Era.

That was beyond all doubt.

No one would forgive him.

Even the Ideal City, brimming with sanctimony, would never hesitate over whether to spare the life of this chief culprit...