Chapter 649: Let the Storm Come More Fiercely!

Chapter 649: Let the Storm Rage Ever Fiercer!

"Pfft—!"

On the research vessel docked near the Union airport, Yang Kai, slumped in his seat, had just finished reading the contents on the holographic screen before him when he nearly spat his coffee all over the cockpit console.

Just a few minutes ago, he had returned to his research vessel, intending to study the revision suggestions proposed by the Union administrator. But the moment he opened his personal terminal, this thing popped up.

Now, displayed on the screen was a three-page newspaper, its headline reading *Qingshui City Daily*.

What was even more jaw-dropping was the front-page headline—

*"Qingshui City Hive Nest Has Not Fallen! Secretly Enclosed by the Administrator!"*

Was that thing even something you could enclose?!

"What the hell is this?"

Seeming quite pleased with Yang Kai’s flustered expression, Li Ke, hovering in the holographic image beside him, spoke in a tone laced with mockery.

"Our intelligence agents found this newspaper in Dawn City. You could just stroll to any newsstand and pick up this junk... So, what exactly is your Research Department doing?"

He was a researcher from the External Affairs Department, also B-rank like Yang Kai. Ever since this guy had overstepped and snatched the External Affairs Department’s work, Li Ke had been thoroughly annoyed with him.

And this wasn’t the first time!

After hearing Li Ke’s words, Yang Kai’s expression indeed stiffened.

He had indeed tasked his research vessel’s assistant with monitoring the Union’s broadcasts and television programs, filtering important information from the news, but newspapers—he hadn’t studied those at all.

Mainly because he didn’t have a fixed residence; even if he subscribed, they wouldn’t know where to deliver it.

But then again.

What era was this? Who still read that stuff?!

"...This doesn’t prove anything. It’s just a newspaper," Yang Kai said, his face rigid, unable to stand the gloating expression.

"Yes, just a newspaper—and the first issue, published only today," Li Ke continued in a sarcastic tone. "After our intelligence agents saw the newspaper, they immediately went to the eastern outskirts of Qingshui City to confirm the situation. Guess what we saw? Slime mold repairing the ruins there! And what did you do? You dawdled your way to the Union building for a meeting, and ended up with no agreement at all—"

"I didn’t achieve nothing. At least the Union’s administrator has shown willingness to jointly study the Qingshui City ruins and the hive nest samples," Yang Kai interrupted Li Ke, his face darkening with displeasure. "And listen, my negotiations with the Union are at a critical stage. I don’t want your rash actions to affect the outcome."

Li Ke laughed heartily and spread his hands.

"What does it matter? We’re not the only ones doing this; others are too. Besides, we’re just gathering publicly available information... Yet disappointingly, you haven’t even done the most basic work. Don’t tell me you think intelligence is something that just shows up at your doorstep while you sit in your research vessel?"

Yang Kai was momentarily speechless, choked by his rebuttal, and simply shut his mouth.

Li Ke didn’t press him further and continued.

"Don’t take on tasks you can’t handle in the future. Anyway, back to the point—I think this newspaper was deliberately released by the Union."

Yang Kai frowned slightly.

"Spreading panic in their own settlement?"

Li Ke chuckled.

"Panic? Is this your first day in Dawn City? The survivors there are famously unafraid of death. You haven’t seen them fight the Legion. I’ve never seen Valyans back down in their own domain before. That kind of scare tactic is just a joke to them."

Yang Kai nodded, reluctantly agreeing.

Though he hadn’t participated in the Falcon City peace talks, he had witnessed the decisive battle between the Union and the Torch Church in Jinchuan Province.

The sky-darkening mutant creatures were like storm clouds. Even he thought the administrator would stumble, but unexpectedly, the man had personally taken the field and one-shot the leading node creature with a hammer.

Those guys completely shattered his stereotype of Bluecoats as pushovers.

"What’s your opinion?"

Li Ke said bluntly.

"The Chief Technology Officer’s opinion is the External Affairs Department’s opinion. Mr. Technologist hopes that before the Union reaches an exclusive agreement with a third party, you at least secure the opportunity to jointly study the hive nest in the city center."

Yang Kai: "And the ruins?"

Li Ke: "Secondary priority."

The Academy had excavated plenty of ruins.

The ruins of Qingshui City were important, but not so critical that they were indispensable. In comparison, the Academy’s higher-ups valued the biological specimen in the city center more.

Understanding this, Yang Kai took a deep breath and said, "I’ll try... On your end, please cooperate with me. I need your intelligence support."

Seeing the guy finally lower his head, a hint of smugness curled at the corner of Li Ke’s mouth.

But he knew well enough not to overdo it. So, before Yang Kai could get angry, he cleared his throat and said,

"No problem. Mr. Technologist already guessed you’d mess things up. Oh, by the way, I read your report. Regarding the special zone proposal the Union mentioned, Mr. Technologist thinks it’s negotiable. His suggestion is that Ice Sea City is a good choice—good conditions all around, and there’s a frozen hive nest in the nearby abandoned district. Of course, if the Union has other opinions, we can discuss it further."

"Alright..." Yang Kai nodded after carefully listening to the advice.

Li Ke nodded too, about to end the communication.

But just then, he remembered something and spoke up.

"Oh, and you’d better hurry. Not long after you left, people from the Enterprise made contact with the Union."

Hearing this, Yang Kai was momentarily stunned.

"Not long after I left... Wait, not long after I left?"

Li Ke looked at him strangely as Yang Kai suddenly sat up straight, agitated.

"What’s wrong?"

"Nothing..." Swallowing the words on the tip of his tongue, Yang Kai’s nose was practically twisted with anger. He clenched his fists, cursing inwardly.

Earlier at the Union building, that guy’s subordinate had told him their administrator was in a meeting with Enterprise representatives.

Turns out it was all a lie to stall him!?

Seeing Yang Kai’s reddened face, Li Ke wore a puzzled expression.

"Are you okay?"

Yang Kai said stiffly, "I’m fine."

Li Ke coughed.

"If something’s wrong, it’s better to say it—"

"My terminal’s dead."

Before the guy could finish, Yang Kai swiped his index finger through the air and angrily ended the communication.

...

Meanwhile, in the B4-level reading room of Vault 404.

As Chu Guang asked about where to establish the special zone, Yin Fang only took two seconds to think before giving his opinion.

"If you ask me, Ice Sea City is a good choice."

Chu Guang was slightly taken aback as he looked at the spot Yin Fang had circled on the pre-war map of the Human Federation.

"So far away?"

The moment he heard the words "Ice Sea," he sensed something was off, and a glance at the map only confirmed his suspicions.

This wasn't just north—it was clear up to the northernmost edge of the Wandering Swamp, and a few steps further would land you right in the Arctic Circle.

As if expecting Chu Guang's reaction, Yin Fang rubbed the bridge of his nose and chuckled.

"Don't let its remote location fool you. This is the most well-equipped settlement under the Science Committee's jurisdiction, with the most comprehensive resources."

Pausing for a moment, he went on to describe the settlement to Chu Guang.

Because the Science Committee adhered to a principle of high output and low consumption, most settlements—even if their production techniques and methods weren't backward—still forced their survivors to live relatively frugal, even meager lives.

The only way to escape that harsh standard of living was to become a prospector.

But there were exceptions.

Though the Academy despised corporate-style waste, under the Science Committee's rule, a few settlements still enjoyed a decent quality of life.

Ice Sea City was one of them.

This settlement had once been a doomsday seed bank, equipped with nuclear, biological, and chemical defense systems rivaling those of a shelter, and its various zones could have their temperatures freely adjusted.

After the Academy took over the seed bank, they converted most of the space into living quarters and farming areas, with temperatures set year-round between twenty and twenty-five degrees Celsius.

Thus, despite being located in the far north, the settlement wasn't cold at all—it was springlike all year round.

With the support of technology, the cold didn't become an obstacle to survival; instead, it became a barrier isolating the settlement from the wasteland.

Most of the mutants roaming the Wandering Swamp couldn't reach this far north, and in the perpetual chill of minus twenty or even fifty degrees, even the Mother Nests could only hibernate.

Because of the comfortable living conditions here, some mid- to high-level Academy researchers would arrange for their relatives—those who couldn't get into the Academy—to settle here.

Over time, the settlement's various living facilities gradually improved.

Especially in healthcare and education—though they fell slightly short of the Academy's main campus, they were worlds apart from any other settlement under the Science Committee.

Even the Corporation's Ideal City paled in comparison.

That was why most Academy researchers didn't envy life in Ideal City and even sneered at its hollow prosperity.

"...Ice Sea City lies in a bitter, cold land, so it's only reasonable that it consumes more resources. That's why most survivors in Science Committee settlements, upon hearing where it's located, are just as surprised as you—no one envies life there... But they don't know that even when the people there dig potatoes, they do it in a heated greenhouse, watching automated machines do the work."

After listening to Yin Fang's sardonic remarks, Chu Guang let out a long sigh.

"So it seems that wherever there are people, there are factions."

Yin Fang chuckled dryly.

"I'm not trying to badmouth them—I just don't want you to underestimate those folks. They might seem honest, but they're full of tricks. And never talk about feelings or trust with anyone there. Anyone ranked C-level or above basically doesn't have those things... I won't say it's absolute, but that's the general rule."

It seemed this guy had no small amount of resentment toward his old employer.

When he talked about the Corporation, he was mostly dismissive and contemptuous, but when it came to his old boss, he couldn't help turning into a bitter complainer.

"I'll keep that in mind..."

Chu Guang cleared his throat softly and turned his attention back to the red circle on the map.

There were two ways to play the card of establishing a special zone.

Besides simply exchanging technology and poaching talent, he could also use this window to export the Alliance's good stuff back into Academy territory.

His exchanges with Ideal City had already proven that many things from the Alliance, though not yet mature, held considerable appeal as exotic imports they'd never seen before.

Especially in the cultural field.

The Cr foreign exchange income generated by just one company, Changyue Group, had already reached a third of the output value of the Xizhou City industrial zone!

And a certain game company, through several novel—or rather, retro—blockbuster VR games, had garnered millions of fans on the Endpoint Cloud!

Behind this lay not only immense economic value but also countless invisible benefits.

For instance, the volunteers who paid their own way to come teach at the Alliance's refugee homes and orphanages were largely drawn by the Alliance's thriving culture.

He would have to carefully study how to balance the ratio of NPCs going to the Academy to learn new knowledge and players causing trouble.

Just as Chu Guang was pondering how to maximize the benefits, Xiao Qi's voice drifted softly into his ears.

"Master, Yi Chuan, the Corporation's ambassador to the Alliance, wants to meet with you. It's getting late now—how about tomorrow morning?"

After hearing Xiao Qi's report, Chu Guang replied casually.

"No problem. By the way, did he say what it's about?"

Xiao Qi: "It seems to be about that newspaper."

Newspaper?

Chu Guang was taken aback.

As if sensing his confusion, Xiao Qi considerately expanded a holographic screen.

What appeared on the screen was precisely the front page of the *Qingshui City Daily* that Old Charlie had handed him earlier.

Looking at the three pages of the newspaper in the hologram, Yin Fang raised an eyebrow and asked curiously.

"What's this? *Qingshui City Daily*...?"

His lab did subscribe to some newspapers.

But did Dawn City even publish one like this?

Chu Guang wore a wry expression.

"Nothing... just a joke that isn't very funny."

Good grief.

People actually believed this stuff?

...

Meanwhile, at the Highway Town Inn.

Sun Yuechi, dressed in traveler's garb, sat in a corner of the lobby, having ordered a glass of honey butter beer recommended by the innkeeper, and was quietly flipping through a newspaper he'd just bought from a nearby newsstand.

"...The Qingshui City Mother Nest secretly kept by the Administrator?"

His eyebrows lifted slightly as he continued reading down the lines, clicking his tongue in amazement.

"Using the child entities to serve the reconstruction of civilization—that's not a bad way to break the deadlock... The Administrator of that shelter is truly a talent!"

Shelter 404.

Come to think of it, what mission was this shelter supposed to carry out?

He racked his brain but couldn't recall a thing, so he shook his head and stopped dwelling on it, continuing to read the newspaper in his hands.

But just then, a loud roar interrupted his thoughts, making him look up involuntarily.

"Enough! This is utter nonsense!"

A burly man slammed the table and stood up, his face red with anger as he glared at a few foreign mercenaries sitting nearby.

"Our Administrator values the Alliance more than himself. If I hear you slandering him with baseless accusations again, I'll shove this table down your throat!"

He was a veteran of the First Corps, having followed the Administrator on campaigns long ago. His feelings for Shelter 404 ran deeper than those of other survivors, because those people always charged ahead, always putting themselves in the most dangerous places.

Great managers are even more so.

He has worn himself out for the Alliance, so busy that he doesn’t even have his own children, yet these wretches dare to speak ill of him right in front of him!

He wished he could shoot the fellow dead with one bullet!

The mercenary was utterly bewildered by the roar; he had just been discussing with his companion the newspaper they’d seen at the kiosk, chatting about one of the conspiracy theories it proposed—that the Alliance manager, who had claimed the central hive for himself and kept it penned in the eastern district of Clearspring City, was brewing a terrible plot.

When the time was ripe, that great lord would suddenly unleash a wave, turning everyone here into puppets like the sub-entities.

The mercenary himself didn’t actually believe such talk; he was just gossiping for fun, but perhaps his voice was a bit too loud, and others overheard.

What he hadn’t expected was such a strong reaction from those around him.

If this were Brugra, you could even curse Sigma to his face and it wouldn’t matter—after all, that kind of big shot didn’t care about cockroaches like them, and they rarely ever saw him anyway.

But the Alliance seemed to be a different matter…

The hotel lobby fell silent for a moment.

At first, it was just one angry fellow, which wouldn’t have scared him so much, but he soon realized that more than one pair of eyes were fixed on him.

Among them were no shortage of powerful Awakened.

“I…” Cold sweat slid down his forehead; never had he felt such immense pressure, and for a moment he stammered, unable to speak.

Fortunately, his companion reacted quickly, hastily apologizing on his behalf to the burly man who had risen with a grim expression.

“Sorry, buddy, we meant no harm… It’s our first time here with the caravan, and we don’t know much about you, so we bought a newspaper to have a look. We didn’t make this up—if anyone’s to blame, it’s this newspaper, right?”

With that, he handed over the paper.

The still-fuming burly man took the newspaper with a dark face, crumpled it into a ball, and tossed it aside.

The mercenary cursed inwardly but dared not cause trouble on someone else’s turf; he spread his hands awkwardly.

“Can I take this as a truce? It was just a drunken slip of the tongue—we really meant no harm…”

Just as the atmosphere grew tense, Old Hook, noticing the commotion, coughed and interjected to smooth things over.

“He’s right; there’s no point in making trouble for him. If you want to blame someone, blame that ‘Clearspring City Daily’ that popped up out of nowhere… Speaking of which, I got a stack of them this morning too—the printing plant mixed them in with other papers. I glanced at it and threw it in the trash.”

“Someone actually prints such garbage!”

The burly man realized he had overreacted; taking his anger out on a passerby was truly unbecoming, so he grumbled irritably and took the opportunity to back down.

Old Hook shrugged helplessly.

“That great lord has far too many things to worry about; he can’t personally oversee everything, can he?”

Of course, that was also his strength.

He only cared whether people could afford the things on the shelves; he didn’t much mind what they wanted to buy.

Just as he’d said at the last celebration, as long as the transactions didn’t involve honor or dignity.

People began to chatter and argue, indignantly discussing that mysterious Clearspring City Daily.

Seeing the crumpled newspaper roll over to the bar, Debt-Eye curiously picked it up and took a glance.

He wouldn’t have looked if he’d known.

But once he did, he was furious.

“Damn! Is Xiaoyu that kind of person?”

He hadn’t read the conspiracy theory closely and didn’t care much, but the key thing was how the paper made it sound—like Xiaoyu was the manager’s slave or something?

They’ve got the CP all wrong!

Old Bai, holding his wine glass, chuckled and teased.

“Xiaoyu isn’t human, is she?”

Chen Yutong, tipsy and resting her chin on her hand, also quipped.

“True, but I think she’s much cuter than a human.”

She’d recently picked up some of the players’ lingo, though she wasn’t fluent yet; still, daily conversation was mostly fine.

Old Bai laughed heartily.

“Your taste is really unique.”

Debt-Eye belched, stood up drunkenly from the bar, angrily crumpled the newspaper, and tossed it into the trash.

“Whether she’s human or not, she’s a comrade we’ve fought side by side with! And most importantly, she’s my good brother Luoyu’s wife!”

Irena looked at him with a comical expression.

“You’re just talking nonsense while Luoyu’s not around.”

Was this guy trying to raise his approval rating or something?

Didn’t he have one of Xiaoyu’s sub-entities on him?

“Burp—Anyway! I, Big Eye, will never allow anyone to slander our Xiaoyu!”

Stepping on a nearby table, Debt-Eye’s eyes darted around as he shouted in Union language to the indignant drunks.

“Someone dares to smear our supreme manager!”

“I’m Edge-Skimmer, leader of the Death Corps—whoever that bastard is, I’ll teach him a lesson!”

Hearing him announce the name Edge-Skimmer, Irena nearly spat out her drink.

And just then, the drunken Debt-Eye suddenly pulled a pistol from his pocket and fired a shot at the ceiling with a bang.

The gunshot ignited the whole lobby’s atmosphere in an instant, and the crowd of men began to roar with fervor.

“That’s right!”

“We’ve got to teach that bastard a lesson!”

“But where do we find him?”

“The printing plant that delivers the papers!”

“Ooh-rah!”

Watching the scene spiral out of control, Old Bai was stunned for a moment, while Irena snatched the pistol from Debt-Eye’s hand.

“Are you crazy? Don’t you want your account?!”

“Heh, no worries, it’s a blank.”

Debt-Eye, having climbed down from the table, grinned and bent to pick up the spent casing, waving it in front of Irena.

But what he didn’t expect was that he’d still get a five-minute yellow card; after barely two seconds of gloating, he rolled his eyes and logged off.

Lisa, pale-faced, looked at him worriedly and asked softly.

“Is he okay?”

Old Bai, used to this by now, smiled to reassure the girl.

“It’s fine, he just drank too much. We’ll carry him back to rest.”

In truth, Xiao Qi had still held back.

Firing a gun in public, even with blanks, even for a first offense, earns at least a twenty-four-hour yellow card—let alone in a beer hall.

The drunken mob paid no heed to the coward passed out on the floor; they only vaguely heard the call from the Death Brigade commander, and in an instant their blood was set ablaze, rising one by one amid a torrent of curses.

Seeing the atmosphere grow ever more menacing, the few mercenaries who had first stirred the pot were so frightened they threw down money to pay, fled without finishing their drinks.

Old Hook sighed helplessly, but made no move to stop the crowd surging out the door; he simply tossed the rag aside and turned to Lisa, who stood frozen, clutching a tray.

“You can clock out early today.”

Lisa whispered anxiously.

“Is it really okay to just let them go?”

“It’s fine—there are shelter residents among them; they’ll keep things in check, shouldn’t let it get too out of hand…” Old Hook wasn’t sure either, and muttered a quiet “probably” under his breath.

Truth be told, he didn’t like seeing anyone smear their administrator, even if that lord himself might not care about such trifles.

If not for taking them in that winter, his old bones would probably have been lost in some forgotten corner of the wasteland.

Life today felt like a dream to this wastelander; he would never forget that debt of gratitude.

Too bad he didn’t know who wrote that article—otherwise he’d surely plant a kick right in that fellow’s backside.

Watching the drunks rise one after another and surge toward the door, Sun Yuechi, sitting in the corner, hastily folded his newspaper, afraid someone might see he had a copy too.

But no one noticed him; even if they had, they wouldn’t have cared.

Someone had already pointed them in the right direction—they were heading for the printing house, the place where they would vent their fury.

As he watched the frenzied crowd pour into the street like a dark tide, Sun Yuechi’s forehead beaded with sweat.

Was this settlement really normal?

He couldn’t help but begin to doubt the rumors he’d heard along the way…

At the same time, sitting by the window of the same inn’s guest room, Cinderson wore a face full of schadenfreude.

Especially when he saw the growing crowd on the street and the guards rushing to keep order, his grin grew even wider.

“Tsk, tsk—things are about to get chaotic.”

Just as he had expected.

The newspaper he had cooked up with other traders had indeed ignited the survivors’ wrath.

As long as public sentiment continued to ferment, the fruiting bodies in the eastern district of Clearspring City would soon become a hot potato.

Then they could appear before the Alliance authorities as saviors and buy up those fruiting bodies at a bargain price.

But such clever fruiting bodies—it would be a shame to turn them into nutrient paste.

Maybe he could hire a few researchers to figure out if those fruiting bodies could be made to work for him; wouldn’t a labor dispatch business be far more promising than “junk collecting”?

Cinderson clenched his fists in excitement, cheering on the gathered survivors.

Let the storm rage ever fiercer!