Chapter 619: Unofficial Update

Chapter 619: Informal Update

The official website of Wasteland Online.

[Informal Update: To solve the problem of everyone having no decent clothes to wear even by the Beta stage, Boss Xia, after nearly a year of secluded cultivation, has finally unleashed a masterstroke, designing a brand-new, production-friendly power armor for everyone!

This power armor is no longer limited in quantity or purchase, and can be acquired once your contribution level reaches "Apprentice Knight"!

We are currently collecting codenames for the armor, and everyone is welcome to vote enthusiastically!

]

[Attachment 1: Voting Link]

[Attachment 2: (Image) (Image) (Image)]

Tail: "Giao! Power armor!!"

Canyon Escaped Mole: "That heavy steel shell, those streamlined armored contours, it's like a steel giant! Especially that limb design where power and agility coexist, it looks more like a boxing champion than the 'Champion' itself! *Gasp*—my DNA is stirring!!!"

Quit Smoking: "Holy crap, awesome!"

Ye Shi: "You summarized Brother Mole's flattery in a single sentence, how is he supposed to keep showing off now? (Funny Face)"

Gale: "(Side-eye Laugh)"

Illyasviel: "I cast a vote for 'Raven' (Funny Face)."

Elven King Fugui: "Mk. VI type, is it? Fast forward to the Horus Heresy, where the manager goes on a massive killing spree. (Funny Face)"

Fountain Commander: "Why not just call it 'Storm'? It's a pretty good name, yeah."

Fringe Slacker: "Screw off! Why not call it 'Death'?"

Canyon Escaped Mole: "Cough, that bird name of yours is too ominous, let's just call it 'Skull'."

Fringe Slacker: "??? And your bird name is auspicious?"

Silver Daddy: "Quiet down, everyone! Quiet down first! Listen to me! How about we compromise and call it 'Silver'?"

Silver Sword: "Get lost! That name is too lame."

Silver Hand: "+1, trash name, even a dog wouldn't take it."

Silver Daddy: "Dammit!"

Makabazi: "Hahahahaha!"

I Want Quiet: "? Did someone just call me?"

Sisi: "Hmm, seriously speaking, how about 'Magma'?"

Tail: "!!! That sounds weird, how about we call it Big Bear instead? (///ω///)"

Tengteng: "……?"

Sisi: "Geez, as expected of Ah Wei, before I could even snap out of it, the car wheels had already rolled right over my face. (╯▽╰)"

Meat Mountain Steamed Bun: "What are you guys talking about, why don't I understand at all. QAQ"

OwOw Sesame Paste: "Ahahaha... haha..."

Jiujiu Loves Pineapples: "How about we just call it Can, it looks quite a bit like an iron tin can!"

Yaya: "Now that you mention it, I suddenly think it looks quite like a mushroom. 0.0"

WC Really Mosquitoes: "MMP! Shaking and crying! This thing only has one more nuclear fusion core than my design, why does nobody look at me!! (Angry)"

Luoyu: "Are you sure the thing you designed is only short of a fusion core???"

Stop Crap Talking: "I can bear witness, it's not short of that thing at all, what it lacks is a brute strength beast. (Funny Face)"

Makabazi: "Hahahahaha!"

……

Xizhou City, on the outskirts of Camp 101, sat a heavily guarded factory building.

Unlike the other nearby facilities steeped in a thick academic atmosphere, this factory not only had its perimeter walls draped in coils of barbed wire, but surveillance cameras also seamlessly covered every single inch of soil leading to the central building.

Yet, forming a sharp contrast with the tight security on the outside, the layout inside the factory was quite casual, even sloppy.

A dozen discarded shipping containers were scattered haphazardly across an open space the size of half a football field, while rusted brackets and hooks hung from the three-story-high ceiling.

From time to time, banging noises echoed out alongside flashes of dazzling sparks.

This was not because the factory was assembling something, but rather because two power armors, armed to the teeth with shoulder plates painted blue and red respectively, were engaged in a fierce firefight.

That heavy steel shell, those streamlined armored contours, and the compact design combining a sense of power and speed!

It was precisely the brand-new equipment of this "Informal Update"—

Codename "DLZJ-1"!

Outlaw: "Oooooh! Die!"

I'm Responsible for Dying First: "Da-da-da!!! Damn, if you want to kill me, you're still a bit too green, kid!"

The tracers from the rifle fire darted wildly between covers, leaving thumb-thick bullet holes on the containers, yet they left only scratch marks the size of fingernails when they slammed into the breastplate of the power armor.

It would be difficult for ordinary 7mm rifle rounds to break through the power armor's defense even if an entire magazine was emptied.

At the very least, it would require continuous firing from 7mm full-power rounds or 12mm heavy machine guns to potentially cause it to accumulate enough metal fatigue.

However, the two sides engaged in the firefight could completely be described as evenly matched.

Optimistically speaking, each had their own tactics; pessimistically speaking, it was a clash of noobs.

Both sides poured over a thousand rounds of ammunition into each other with a rapid rat-ta-tat, but unfortunately, the turtle shell was just too thick, and neither could do anything to the other.

In a sense, although their performance in battle lacked proficiency, it also indirectly reflected the superior defensive capabilities of the new equipment.

Even a soldier wearing this power armor for the first time could rely on the all-around protection provided by it to take a bath in a hail of bullets for an hour.

However, with the experiment running for so long, the consumed ammunition was already slightly over budget, and the person in charge of testing the equipment quickly ordered a transition to the final stage.

A pop-up window reading [Supply Refresh] jumped out simultaneously on the holographic visors of the red and blue helmets, while marking points refreshed on the tactical map at the same time.

Concurrently, boxes labeled with weapon tags detached from the hooks and dropped down from the ceiling brackets.

Without a shred of hesitation, I'm Responsible for Dying First instantly lunged toward the nearest supply box, smashing open the latch with a single punch.

Looking at the large-caliber bolter lying inside the box, a look of wild ecstasy instantly surfaced on his face, and he reached out to snatch it into his hands.

"Hahaha! Little Law, don't blame your daddy for being impolite, open your mouth and taste this!"

Catching sight of the weapon in his hands, Outlaw, who was still holding an assault rifle, was instantly shocked.

"Holy crap!? You're playing for real?!"

I'm Responsible for Dying First pulled the trigger with a sinister grin.

"Go to hell!"

Thick tongues of flame spewed from the muzzle, and streaks of flashing tracers resembled rampaging pythons, scaring Outlaw into fleeing frantically to the side.

The 19mm armor-piercing rounds left more than just a single hole when they blasted into the target, and the bursting sparks boiled and splashed like molten iron on a forge.

I'm Responsible for Dying First pulled the trigger with all his might to empty the entire magazine, though most unfortunately, only one shot from this burst actually hit.

The outlaw with a bullet in his chest let out a pained cry, but soon realized he was still alive.

The metal jet from the armor-piercing shell tore through the first layer of armor without a doubt, leaving a shattered hole in the breastplate.

Yet as the metal jet surged through the gap in the first layer and hit the second, nearly all its energy was dissipated.

Though the bolter round worked on the same principle as the armor-piercing shell, it still couldn't match the caliber of an RPG or recoilless rifle's armor-piercing warhead. The metal jet could only punch through the thin skin of an armored vehicle or a mutant's chest; against power armor, it all depended on where it struck.

The chest armor was undoubtedly the strongest!

The outlaw was instantly stunned by the gear he was wearing and the black tech that *Wasteland OL* had made up.

Holy crap.

This personal armor's breastplate was actually made into spaced armor!

If this level of protection existed in reality, it would be a straight-up humanoid Gundam!

Recovering from the impact of the armor-piercing shell, the outlaw cursed as he scrambled to his feet, grabbing the rocket launcher he'd picked up from a supply crate in the chaos.

The streamlined tube was fitted with a sci-fi holographic sight. After quickly locking on, he soon heard a beeping alert in his earpiece.

"MMP! You're using a bolter now? Don't blame me for being ruthless!"

Seeing that long, thick rocket launcher, I, Responsible for Dying First, who was reloading, was instantly stunned.

"Damn! A pigeon missile?! Wait—"

"Wait for what? Go to hell—!" The outlaw snarled as he pulled the trigger.

A white tail flame shot out, carving a meteor-like trail through the cramped factory. This thing wasn't slow like missiles in movies; in an instant, it flew right in front of me, Responsible for Dying First.

If he were an agility build, he might have had a chance to dodge, but unfortunately, he was a constitution build—good for nothing but taking hits.

The explosion's glare instantly blinded him, and the scorching shockwave blew him away effortlessly, slamming him hard into a container several meters behind.

Alerts flashed in his ears and before his eyes at the same time.

[Warning! Armor severely damaged! Power, life support, and health monitoring systems offline. Combat capability completely lost.]

Seeing that red text, me, Responsible for Dying First, with blood at my mouth, panicked and cursed, fumbling for the [Emergency Eject] switch.

"Shut up! I can still fight!"

But the switch was locked.

He couldn't crawl out of the power armor.

The battlefield analysis program seemed to have determined the outcome, deeming him incapable of action. Then, a holographic pop-up appeared on his tactical visor.

[Match over. Red team wins.]

[Winner ID: Lawless Outlaw]

The same text appeared before the outlaw's eyes.

Though there wasn't a single spectator around, he still raised his rocket launcher in ecstasy, letting out a victory roar.

"Oooh!!"

At the same time, a series of pop-ups appeared on his VM.

[Mission Complete!]

[Reward: 50 Silver Coins, 50 Contribution Points.]

[Winner Bonus: 50 Silver Coins.]

Seeing the rewards already credited, the outlaw's face lit up with a satisfied smile, his heart swelling with joy.

This mission was way too awesome!

Not only did he get to test-drive new gear worth a million silver coins early, have a "thrilling" showdown with his buddy on the training ground, but he also got silver coins and contribution points!

Indeed.

Sucking up to the admin now and then and boosting his favor rating had its perks!

At the same time, in the observation area next to the factory, a group of engineers and technicians were busy compiling test data.

Several engineers from Boulder Military Industries stood together, talking quietly.

"This armor's protection is still excellent... All performance metrics meet the baseline standards for power armor."

"It's just a bit lacking in mobility."

"Might be the lack of a battlefield guidance system... This places higher demands on the soldier's individual skills than wartime models like the 'Dragoon' or 'Champion.'"

"The user showed emotional reactions during combat... This equipment seems to cause excessive mental excitement in the user."

"That can be noted in the report, but it needs further observation... After all, those guys act the same way when testing other weapons."

"Unbelievable... The Alliance actually has engineers capable of designing power armor?"

"I heard the designer is a resident of Boulder City."

"Impossible! I've never heard of such a person! Boulder Military Industries doesn't even have a power armor production line! There's only one repair line left!"

"Regardless... this is indeed astonishing."

Strictly speaking, Camp 101 didn't have any experts in the field of "power armor." What it had was a series of technologies ranging from "holographic imaging" to "carbon-based chips" to "high-sensitivity motors" and "composite armor" materials.

They were like pieces of a puzzle—when stored separately on hard drives, they were just static data; combined, they formed a brand-new piece of equipment.

The designer of this armor, Xia Yan, hadn't actually created any new technology. Instead, based on her understanding of weapons and the battlefield environment of the wasteland, as well as her learning of new knowledge, she pieced together these scattered bits of data like a jigsaw puzzle.

She used both data preserved in Vault 101 and technologies recovered by the scientific expedition team from the remains of evolved beings salvaged by players.

The weapon engineers from Boulder Military Industries marveled at the Alliance engineer's skill, but in truth, this wasn't a miracle accomplished by a single person. It was the product of a "scavenging system" that covered everything from "technology recovery" to "technology classification" to "technology reuse."

In this clearly divided system, individual ability only required a minimum baseline, and anyone's work was trivial.

Though it was also indispensable...

Seeing Xia Yan standing with her arms crossed, looking anxious, her right fist pressed to her lips, unconsciously biting her nails, Chu Guang couldn't help but smile faintly and gently encouraged her.

"Have some confidence. This is the result of your hard work."

Noticing the gaze beside her, Xia Yan's cheeks flushed involuntarily.

"I feel the explosion resistance still needs improvement... During the earlier tests too, even though we used spaced armor, the effect against armor-piercing shells wasn't ideal."

Chu Guang teased with a smile.

"That was a pigeon missile after all. It's enough to take out a tank. If you could block it that easily, Boulder Military Industries might as well go bankrupt."

"I know..." Xia Yan muttered, her eyes fixed on the screen, talking to herself. "Maybe I'm being greedy... I just feel a bit unsatisfied."

Seeing her stubborn expression, Chu Guang said nothing, but felt a pang of sympathy for her.

It seemed this piece of equipment had truly cost her a lot of effort, so much so that the usually carefree Boss Xia rarely showed such anxious uncertainty.

But he wasn't a professional, so he couldn't help with the technical issues.

Just then, a sudden inspiration struck Chu Guang. He thought of Wenzi's recent "explosive design" for the "Type II Unpowered Armor."

Seizing that fleeting spark of insight, he blurted out without thinking.

"...How about adding an active defense mechanism? Like reactive armor."

Upon hearing these words, Xia Yan was taken aback.

"Reactive armor?"

"Mm!"

Chu Guang nodded on a whim, gesturing with his index finger as he briefly explained the concept of reactive armor to her.

"Simply put, it actively detonates the warhead when an enemy projectile approaches. For instance... using infrared or electromagnetic waves to sense the approach of a weapon like a rocket, it triggers the reactive modules attached to the armor shell, releasing fragments in a directed burst to destroy it."

This defensive model is common on modern tanks, second only to the low-cost slat armor, but it's quite rare in the equipment of the People's Union Army.

The reason is simple: after the People's Union entered the Era of Prosperity, all military conflicts on Earth had essentially ended, and there wasn't even a hint of conflict beyond Earth.

In that unparalleled golden age, human civilization focused nearly all its creativity and productivity on exploring new eras and new lives. Weapons, however, require mutual improvement through offensive and defensive confrontations; they can't emerge from nowhere without demand, so related research naturally stagnated.

From the powered armor running on the ground to the starships flying in the sky, in fact, everything was completed in the brief period before the outbreak of the Three-Year War.

As the hypothetical enemy and actual combat target, the colonial rebels relied mainly on biotechnology, so there was no need for the People's Union to equip its tanks and individual armor with superfluous "anti-Monroe effect" armor.

Thus, whether it was the "Champion" or the "Dragoon," their full-coverage armor was primarily designed against conventional ammunition from light weapons, the venom, gas, stingers, dense formations, and fangs of alien species, as well as their own nuclear weapons.

The protective power of this individual armor was indeed beyond reproach, but it wasn't fully suited to the extreme chaos of the wasteland, where "even a raider might pull out a tactical nuke."

The Corporation probably had the most to say on this matter.

Although the power of the Iron Fist rocket launchers widely deployed by the Legion wasn't particularly outstanding, they still posed a considerable threat to the Corporation's powered armor. Paired with low-cost clone troops, they nearly caused the well-equipped Pioneer defense forces to stumble.

This was largely because powered armor was never designed to counter "obsolete weapons" like armor-piercing shells.

To adapt to the battle scenarios of the wasteland, the Alliance needed to inject some new military concepts into the old powered armor.

Of course, installing reactive armor on powered armor was just a whimsical idea from Chu Guang, mainly as a substitute for the portable deflector shields that were completely unfeasible to produce. Whether it would work still required rigorous experimental validation.

But judging by the contemplative look on Xia Yan's face, Chu Guang felt this design approach might have some reference value.

"Hmm... I think it's worth a try, but since there's no precedent for this design, I'm not sure if it'll work well."

Seeing Xia Yan still hesitating, Chu Guang smiled faintly and spoke in a patient tone.

"Go ahead and try boldly. The problems we face now were never imagined by people two centuries ago. You can't rely entirely on reference books for answers."

"We need to recover the wisdom of the old era from the ruins, but it shouldn't be the only option. I suggest you occasionally look for inspiration from 'Goblin Tech.' That guy Mosquito might have a scattered way of thinking, but he actually sees the problems and is thinking about how to solve them."

"Alright, alright, I get it. I'll give it a try later..." Unfolding her arms, Xia Yan stretched lazily, no longer troubled.

Having said that, she seemed to have perked up again.

Yet, for some reason, just as she had regained her spirits, she suddenly looked aside and muttered gloomily under her breath.

"By the way, could you not... always talk to me in that elder-like tone? You're not my dad."

Though she didn't dislike the gentle encouragement—in fact, she kind of liked it—every time he spoke, she felt as if she were being treated like a child.

She couldn't quite explain why.

She just didn't like it.

Seeing Xia Yan suddenly acting sulky, Chu Guang immediately realized his tone had been a bit too earnest.

Perhaps because his workplace and living space overlapped too much, he occasionally unconsciously brought work into his personal life.

It wasn't great to do that with someone he was close to.

Still, seeing Xia Yan's rare adorable side, Chu Guang couldn't help teasing her.

"I didn't expect you to see me that way."

"Wh-what nonsense are you talking? Who sees you that way!"

Her face flushed bright red like a lantern, Xia Yan shot him a fierce glare, baring her teeth as if she wanted to pounce and bite him.

Chu Guang hadn't expected his little retort to provoke such a strong reaction from Xia Yan, and his expression turned a bit odd.

In the group chat, he often called his buddies "dad," and they usually just laughed and cursed back, "I'm your dad." Now they even called him "daddy, daddy" so enthusiastically that he felt awkward showing up.

Generally, jokes about unrealistic things don't bother anyone, unless they hit a little too close to home.

Could it be...

She actually took it seriously?

To change the subject, Chu Guang cleared his throat lightly.

"...By the way, have you thought of a name for this powered armor?"

Apparently realizing her reaction was strange too, Xia Yan also coughed and quickly diverted the topic.

"Doesn't it already have a designation... that DLZJ-1?"

Chu Guang smiled.

"That's the weapon designation. Powered armor from the People's Union era all had catchier codenames. Why not give yours one too?"

Though he had opened a voting thread on the official website, if the designer had a better idea, the designer's opinion would take precedence.

Xia Yan scratched the back of her head in frustration.

Like Chu Guang, she had no talent for naming things. After thinking for a long time with no result, she said impatiently,

"So troublesome. Let's just call it 'Daddy'."

Chu Guang: "..."

"Pfft, I'm joking."

Pursing her lips in thought, Xia Yan pondered seriously for a long while, then suddenly her eyes lit up, and she looked at Chu Guang with a beaming smile.

"Got it!"

Seeing her cheerful expression, Chu Guang felt a bit uneasy and couldn't help warning her.

"Don't tell me it's 'Mommy,' 'Grandpa,' 'Grandma,' or something. Let's keep it normal... If not to scare the enemy, at least don't make us laugh."

If it were such a harmless name, the enemy might die laughing.

"What are you talking about? I'm thinking seriously. How could I come up with a joking name like that?"

Xia Yan rolled her eyes in exasperation, cleared her throat forcefully, and tried to put on a serious expression, but the curve of her lips still betrayed her delight.

It didn't necessarily have to instill fear or terror in the enemy.

Its meaning could also be to bring solid, powerful hope to one's comrades.

That, too, was a path to victory.

And it was also the expectation she, as its "mother," had for it.

"Let's just call it 'Rosy Dawn'!"