144: Chapter 144 The New Caravan

That gossipy candid photo on the forum spread through the player community like wildfire.

After Lin Li finished viewing that perfectly composed picture of the Stigmata repair in the control room, he felt instant social death and nearly couldn't stop himself from crawling through the internet cable to strangle the old mage named [Nikon Birding] to death.

This wave of hype lasted for several whole days.

It made Lin Li too embarrassed to even step out of the control room for the past few days.

However.

The players' imaginations always managed to veer off into an absurd direction.

Having not seen the faction leader for a few days, all sorts of strange rumors began to circulate among the players in the camp.

"Got it, got it! The boss has been drained dry by the Battle Sisters, and is now hiding in the basement recovering from exhaustion!"

"Sigh, there are no worn-out fields, only exhausted oxen. The Battle Sisters are terrifyingly powerful!"

Hearing these rumors, Lin Li was so angry his teeth itched.

In order to dispel the rumors, he had no choice but to bite the bullet, strap on several tons of weighted steel plates, and run to the surface plaza to perform high-intensity squat exercises.

He was attempting to show the players that his physical stamina was still fierce.

The result.

He had barely finished two sets of squats when the passing The Fourth Calamity members cast him that same ambiguous look of 'I totally understand.'

"Look everyone! Our leader knows he's weak, so he's started training his waist strength!"

"Go boss! Wishing you a speedy recovery of your virility!"

"My family has a secret recipe for kidney-strengthening pills, boss, why not give it a try!"

"Ahem, this brother, I have a friend..."

"..."

Lin Li stood there in the wind, feeling disheveled and unable to help but grit his teeth.

"Fine! You bunch of unruly people! Trying to make a fool out of me, are you?"

That very evening, Lin Li sat in front of his computer with a gloomy face and skillfully performed some behind-the-scenes manipulation.

He directly hiked the redemption prices of the first batch of [Ranger Power Armor] and [Gladiator Mecha] that had just been listed in the system mall by a whopping thirty percent!

Using the sickle of capital, he severely sanctioned this group of The Fourth Calamity members who couldn't keep their mouths shut.

...

East of the Shelter, outside the Scourge Legion mine.

This was the base of the top guild on the entire server, the [Scourge Legion].

Today, this once desolate mining area had completely changed.

Under the operation of the players, it had been built into a massive heavy industrial factory zone covering hundreds of acres.

Besides that, large areas of neat residential buildings for the indigenous people had been established on the outskirts of the factories.

Since Outpost Planet 586 was now completely unified under the supreme constitution of the Kindling Alliance, the movement of the population was no longer hindered by any noble decrees.

Therefore, the excellent treatment here attracted a large number of bottom-tier residents from Coastal City to come and seek refuge.

There was no other reason.

The employment conditions offered by the Scourge Legion were practically heaven for these laborers who were treated like livestock in the Hive City!

They only needed to work eight hours a day, and there were even two luxurious rest days every week!

Furthermore, not only was food and housing provided, but after working for ten years, the assigned house would permanently belong to the worker!

Under such welfare policies that felt like dimensionality reduction attacks.

The current mining base had already absorbed over two hundred thousand indigenous residents, in addition to the more than eight thousand players!

And.

In this short period of just over a month, a baby boom had even broken out among the indigenous people within the base!

Because the Scourge Legion had just released an even more heaven-defying new policy:

The children of all full-time employees could attend school and receive an education for free at the schools established in the base.

At this moment.

Inside a spacious conference room in the core area of the base.

The commanders of the two major legions—Ming Shen and ikun—were sitting at a long table, conducting closed-door consultations while facing the star map on the wall.

ikun held a laser pointer in his hand, pointing at the newly launched star map of the Yuanwang Star System on the screen.

"Old Ming, take a close look. Have you noticed that the planetary configuration of this galaxy is just fucking perfect?"

ikun circled a few points,

"Look. In the middle, there is a Forge World with high industrial capacity, next to it is a Hive City capital with a population of thirty billion, and even agricultural worlds that produce food are all available."

"This kind of perfect internal circulation configuration. That means, as long as we completely control this galaxy, even if we close the doors and become warlords occupying a region, we won't have any logistical pressure at all!"

ikun rubbed his chin,

"But precisely because of this, according to the Warhammer background setting, the Imperial military must have heavy troops stationed in such a strategic location."

Ming Shen leaned back in his chair and took a sip of water:

"Didn't the intel say that the Astra Militarum in this place had long been transferred to the northern theater to fight? Now there is only a bunch of security police Defense Force."

Ming Shen smiled, "Only by moving the NPC garrison away like this and giving enough of a vacuum period for development can us players have room to grow, right?"

Speaking of this, Ming Shen suddenly paused, a flash of complexity in his eyes.

"Honestly. Even now, I still doubt whether this is really a parallel world that actually exists."

Ming Shen sighed,

"If it is real, then these so-called background settings, the Swarm blocking the Warp, the Astra Militarum just happening to be transferred away... are these conditions a bit too coincidental?"

Hearing Ming Shen's question, ikun waved his hand dismissively.

"Why worry about so much!"

ikun said nonchalantly,

"We are players now! Players should just play the game well, farm points, and grind for gear! Thinking about all those useless things is for those people up top to worry about."

Ming Shen raised an eyebrow, looking at ikun with a half-smile:

"What? Don't tell me those old guys at the Academy behind you didn't assign you, the legion commander, some secret exploration mission?"

ikun spread his hands and answered very frankly:

"They did! They send emails every day asking me to collect some soil samples, genetic sequences. But I just pretended I didn't see them and ran off!"

"I finally managed to come play a game, and they want me to spend all day writing research reports? I don't have the spare time to cater to that!"

After listening, Ming Shen gave ikun a thumbs up and praised him sincerely:

"Awesome, you really know how to enjoy a game."

The small talk finished, Ming Shen sat up straight and cut back to the main topic.

"Alright, let's talk business. The new map is open, and there are quite a few ownerless resource points around. What is your plan on your side?"

ikun used the laser pointer to point at an icy blue planet on the periphery of the star map.

"We have decided to take down this frozen methane planet first!"

A flash of a merchant's shrewdness flickered in ikun's eyes,

"I intend to build a fully automated methane extraction and canning factory on the negative two-hundred-degree water ice layer over there. Then, bring it back to the refinery here to make it into cesium fuel."

"I asked Old Kane about it. This purified Promethium has an energy density five times higher than those low-quality fuels currently used in Shahe Town!"

ikun tapped the table,

"Although the Shelter has unlocked nuclear energy now. But the price of this nuclear fusion core has been hiked up by Immortal Lin so fucking high! Ordinary players can't afford it at all. The market for cheap interstellar fuel has great potential!"

Ming Shen nodded, expressing his agreement.

"Since you plan to go mine gas, then we, the Scourge Legion, will go and occupy that adamantine meteorite belt outside the orbit."

Ming Shen pointed to another spot on the star map,

"By the way, we will also go and thoroughly explore the second satellite of that purple gas giant."

No sooner said than done.

A large legion like the Scourge Legion with massive amounts of points had a foundation that ordinary casual players simply couldn't compare to.

They immediately began investing massive resources in the factories at the Shelter and Coastal City to manufacture, purchase, and modify spaceships capable of interstellar travel.

Of course, those small legions without large capital and scattered players also had their own ways of having fun while being poor.

For example, the two purely combat-focused legions, [Hand of God] and [Hellfire].

To save money, the two legions chose to pool their funds directly.

They scraped together all their assets and bought an armed cargo ship of the Mobius Defense Force that had been captured just two days ago from the system mall.

Currently, the players from both legions were queuing up, learning how to operate this antique spaceship.

...

Coastal City, West District Talent Market.

This was originally the most notorious slave trading market in the Hive City.

But because Lin Li established a constitution and abolished slavery.

It had been forcibly renamed the Talent Market by that group of The Fourth Calamity members with bad taste.

At this moment.

Beside a trash can on the side of the market road, three broke, wandering players with pockets emptier than their faces were squatting.

These three were none other than [Mudslide of the Merchant World], [Heisi], and [Legend of Lu Shi].

They watched helplessly as the large legions began to build spaceships, their hearts itching with anxiety; they clearly didn't want to miss this chance to get rich during the Age of Discovery expansion, but they just didn't have the points to buy a ship.

"Sigh."

Mudslide blew out a smoke ring and sighed,

"We are at least considered veteran players, yet we are still squatting on the street like beggars and bums, it's a bit embarrassing."

Heisi rolled his eyes and mercilessly retorted:

"That's your pathetic self-esteem acting up, you know? The one hundred percent realism of this crappy game is just like living a hard life in reality. As long as we have no desires, no family, and don't compare ourselves to others or pay-to-win, then we are the happiest people in the wasteland!"

"Alright, enough nonsense."

Legend of Lu Shi, who had been silent, stood up and patted the dust off his butt,

"Stop squatting, our main contact is here."

The three of them immediately stubbed out the low-quality cigarette butts in their hands and stood up straight.

Across the street.

A young man wearing a well-tailored but clearly old and faded suit was walking over with hasty steps.

Judging by his attire, he was clearly a down-and-out noble descendant.

"Mr. Lu Shi! It's so good to see you again!"

The young man walked up to the three, lowered his voice, and his tone revealed a hint of excitement,

"I have already taken care of everything on my end. I can secretly divert a medium-sized interstellar cargo ship from the family business. Are you sure... you can get that batch of goods without cash upfront?"

Legend of Lu Shi patted his chest, confidently guaranteeing:

"Of course! It's all refined Promethium produced in our Shahe Town, with the best energy density! I am very familiar with the Archon Governor Jia Mei over there, getting the goods is absolutely no problem!"

Lu Shi changed the subject,

"It's just... Master Paul. Is your information reliable? Are you sure the Gorgon Forge World next door is currently at war and in urgent need of industrial fuel?"

The young man Paul nodded vigorously:

"I can be absolutely certain! Please trust my private internal information channels. As long as we can transport this batch of Promethium over there, we can definitely sell it for more than ten times the price!"

"Alright then!"

Legend of Lu Shi waved his hand,

"Happy cooperation! Get on board! Let's go to Shahe Town to load the goods first!"

The three followed Paul and walked quickly towards the spaceport.

This young man named Paul was originally the heir to a small noble family in Coastal City.

During the major power reshuffle in Coastal City a few days ago, because his family was weak, they not only didn't get a share of the spoils, but their industries were also taken over by other major families who seized the opportunity.

Now, his family only had a few old cargo ships left.

A few days ago, the down-and-out Paul was wandering around this plaza, wanting to find some private hauling work to subsidize his family expenses.

As it happened, he met these three outsiders, Lu Shi and his companions, who were looking for opportunities everywhere.

Although these outsiders had very unserious names and their words and actions revealed a touch of madness.

But Paul had inquired, and their reputation in the indigenous business circle was surprisingly good; they said they wouldn't backstab, and they absolutely wouldn't.

After some conversation, the desperate, down-and-out noble and the penniless The Fourth Calamity members hit it off and quickly reached this cooperation agreement.

The group boarded Paul's family's slightly old interstellar cargo ship and soon flew to Shahe Town in the south.

Legend of Lu Shi was true to his word; relying on his good local reputation, he directly borrowed one hundred tons of high-purity refined Promethium from the newly built refinery warehouse.

Loading complete.

Accompanied by the heavy roar of the plasma engines, the entire cargo ship emitted violent mechanical tremors, slowly pushed away from the gravity well, and shot straight into the clouds.

Inside the cargo ship's slightly cramped lounge.

"Holy shit!"

Mudslide gripped the handrail on the cabin wall tightly, feeling the intense turbulence as the ship broke through the atmosphere,

"The physics feedback engine of this game is too awesome! This sense of weightlessness and vibration is exactly the same as the real thing!"

"Duh, we're actually going to space."

Heisi was clinging to the porthole, eyes wide open,

"In the real world, those who can go to space are one-in-ten-thousand aerospace elites among all of humanity. We bunch of poor bros who squat on the side of the road smoking, can finally experience the treatment of an astronaut today!"

Compared to the two people shouting and yelling, Legend of Lu Shi appeared very calm.

He sat in a fixed seat, crossing his legs:

"That's reality, but in the game, our clone's data panels have long surpassed ordinary humans. With our physical fitness, isn't going to space just a simple matter?"

Mudslide ignored Lu Shi's showing off.

He was almost pressed against the explosion-proof glass of the porthole, watching the grey-brown planet beneath his feet rapidly shrinking in his view.