Chapter 544.1: 5th City?

After returning from the brink of death, Spielberg felt like a changed man, as if he had suddenly gained a new understanding of life and death.

In the past, there was no question about it. He was a coward and a loser. He didn’t even dare to look outside the great wall.

But now... More than death itself, he feared dying with regrets.

If there was something he wanted to do, he ought to do it sooner rather than later.

If there was someone he wanted to see, he need not wait for next Spring...

In the library on level B4 of Shelter 404.

Sitting across from the New Alliance’s Administrator, Spielberg looked uneasy. Though he had mentally prepared himself, he still felt nervous.

He had just trudged through a long stretch of snow, and his boots were soaked like they had been dipped in water. He couldn’t help but notice he had dirtied the floor.

Seeing Spielberg constantly shifting his sitting posture, Chu Guang couldn’t help but chuckle. "Don’t be nervous. Do I look that scary?"

"Not really... I’m just afraid of dirtying your sofa, sir," Spielberg scratched his head and said quietly, "I haven’t washed these clothes in days. I was wearing them back in prison."

Chu Guang suggested, "There’s a shower in the gym next door. You can go clean up if you like?"

"Thank you... That’s a great suggestion, but I’ll wait a bit," Spielberg took a letter from inside his coat, carefully placed it on the coffee table, and gently slid it toward Chu Guang. "Miss Elisa asked me to bring this to you after learning where I was going."

Elisa?

Chu Guang had a good impression of the clever young girl. He remembered she was Malvern’s daughter, and they had met briefly during the celebration.

Picking up the envelope, he opened it and unfolded the letter inside.

The handwriting was elegant, and there was a faint, pleasant scent to the paper.

The letter described the dramatic upheaval currently unfolding in Boulder Town, outlined the new Crisis Committee’s comitments and aspirations, and sincerely expressed a hope for support from the New Alliance.

[We agree with the New Alliance’s ideals of fairness. Authoritarian thinking will be rooted out of our society, and we will draft a new legal code that everyone must follow from now on. We are willing to make changes and do something for the people of the wasteland. We are willing to fight for the dream of ending the Wasteland Era. In this new age, we hope to join you, or at least stand beside you as comrades.]

[We sincerely beg you to extend a helping hand.]

Additionally, Elisa had written in the letter that since the chips were worthless, the loans the administrator had taken on would all be wiped clean...

After reading it, Chu Guang couldn’t help but smile.

Partly because of Elisa’s clever wording when referring to the debt, and partly because he was surprised by how much she had grown.

It seemed a lot had indeed happened to their neighbour over the past two months.

If it had been Malvern, he would likely have turned the chip-denominated debt into a new economic card to play bluff with Chu Guang. In fact, that old man had already done just that, and as a result, the New Alliance had prepared payments for the next five to ten years.

You want chips? Fine, we’ll give you chips.

But Elisa had taken a different approach from her father. Since the card was already practically void, why not proactively discard it and play it as a diplomatic move instead of an economic one?

It wasn’t a self-destructive plea for pity. It was a clear statement of their new stance, that they intended to sever ties with the past and truly embrace fairness.

Anyone other than those obsessed with harming others would want to help them through the hardship, let alone those who believed in the New Alliance’s founding declarations.

"That’s bold... Waiving over 3.5 billion in debt just like that. If we don’t respond, we’ll look stingy." Chu Guang smiled, refrained from pointing out Elisa’s little schemes, folded the letter, and looked back at Spielberg. "Pass along a message when you return. The New Alliance will send aid."

Spielberg replied with an embarrassed smile. "Much appreciated, sir."

Chu Guang shook his head. "Think nothing of it. We’re all descendants of the Federation. Besides, we’re practically neighbors."

In fact, he was already taking action.

The 200 or so... Fools... Or rather, players who had stayed behind in Boulder Town weren’t just there to observe or stream footage to the official site.

Residents of the shelter had their own discipline and moral compass. They wouldn’t stand idly by when faced with troublemaking mercenaries or looters.

But to be fair, most of the chaos had indeed been resolved by the people of Boulder Town themselves. This time, the players didn’t play a central role.

The revolution had essentially been an uprising by the survivors of Boulder Town who could no longer tolerate aristocratic exploitation. If the New Alliance had played any role at all, it had been to economically undermine the nobles’ control through the use of chips. They basically took the bullets out of their guns.

The chips issued by the old lords had become worthless. Soldiers no longer wanted to fight for them. Workers no longer wanted to serve them. People would rather believe in the abstract symbol of Bore than trust a single word out of House’s mouth.

And the lords weren’t nearly as clever as their lackeys had imagined. Not only did they make blunder after blunder, but they kept lighting powder kegs, turning even middle-class citizens against them and aligning with those in the outer city.

This revolution had already been won before it even began. What the people lacked was merely the courage to make the final choice.

Even so, Chu Guang had to admit, it was nothing short of a miracle.

Though blood had been shed, the streets hadn’t run red.

From player broadcasts on the forum, there had indeed been acts of brutal violence that night.

Some had been discovered and stopped by players, but many tragedies, buried in dark corners, would only ever be known by the snow that covered it.

But over the past century, the people of Boulder Town had paid the price in blood time and time again. It was about time they succeeded.

After suffering long in darkness, they had finally lit a flame to drive it away. Their revolution was both a 1% miracle and a near-inevitable result.

There was also a small note in the envelope.

Chu Guang shook it out and unfolded it slowly.

The same graceful handwriting remained, but this time with a joyful, lively tone.

[Thank you for your encouragement! If it weren’t for your words, I never would’ve had the courage to step forward in that moment!]

[Elisa won’t let you down. I will become someone even better! ^-^]

Looking at those words again that were full of hope for the future, Chu Guang raised his eyebrows and stared at it in shock for a moment.

Turning to Spielberg, he asked seriously, "Can you tell me your story?"

This time, it was Spielberg’s turn to be shocked. However, he quickly nodded. "Of course..."

The members of the Worker's Union had asked him to do just that. He wasn’t there just to fulfill a promise, nor merely to deliver Elisa’s letter. He was there to bring the story of the Worker's Union to the New Alliance.

As a hostage of the inner city, he had only been released by the ‘surrender faction’ late into the night, amid the deafening roar of the people.

He hadn’t witnessed those miraculous hours before nightfall with his own eyes, but the Worker’s Union had told him everything.

It included how they had nearly abandoned their principles in silence and become accomplices to violence, and how that girl named Elisa, with her heartfelt apology, reminded them of their founding principles and Bore’s teachings.

The militia had proven unexpectedly capable against mercenaries. When facing their fellow citizens, they had raised their guns to protect them instead... all contrary to what he had seen in the projection room’s simulations.

Clearly, Fang Ming’s calculations had accounted for the ugly side of human nature. But the models seemed to reflect only the ugliness.

One couldn’t really blame him.

For the past century and a half, humans had shown it little but their worst selves, and the trends ahead only seemed to worsen, distancing themselves further from the first-generation creators who built it.

But humanity’s complexity lay in the fact that it could not be defined by a few simple labels.

The members of the militia who had never fought on a battlefield weren’t all cowards. The ones who ran were the likes of Welon, hiding behind their exoframe.

The 10 and 100-man teams sent into the city to follow orders, when they believed they were executing justice, they had risked life and limb with courage. But when the orders veered into territory that was shady, they hesitated.

Especially that centurion named Joey.

His family were hostages in the inner city.

But when he saw Elisa standing with arms wide open, he ultimately chose to stand with humanity, deciding he wanted to bring victory and honor to his children.

It wasn’t to leave behind a shameful tale that would fill his children with silence.