Chapter 177.1: Battle Tactics

When Yin Fang said that he wanted to apologize, the atmosphere in the office became a little awkward.

Chu Guang thought about it for a while, but still couldn't figure out what wrong the guy did for him to apologize.

After a moment of silence, Chu Guang looked at him and asked, "You forgot the password?"

"No," as if he didn't expect Chu Guang to ask this, Yin Fang, who was choked by his words, coughed dryly, "My memory is still quite good."

"You dismantled Little Seven?"

"...?"

It doesn't seem to be this either.

Chu Guang sighed, "So why do you want to apologize to me?"

Yin Fang hesitated for a while and finally said, "It's about what I said on the way back... The matter of giving Dr. Principle's relic to the academy. I have to apologize to you, I didn't think about it thoroughly."

Oh, so it's about that.

Chu Guang breathed a sigh of relief, but was then speechless for a while.

Yin Fang's serious expression made him think that something serious had happened, but he didn't expect it to be such a trivial matter.

"Oh, that... Don't worry about it. If you hadn't mentioned it, I would've almost forgotten about it." Chu Guang was not such a petty person, the matter wasn’t serious enough for him to start holding grudges against Yin Fang.

Seeing that Chu Guang didn't take it to heart, Yin Fang was relieved, but continued to speak earnestly. "No matter what, I indeed didn't think it through... I've thought about it again. If I handed the relic to the academy, they would definitely come here to track down the whereabouts of the suitcase after watching the full video."

"Congratulations, you can finally think like a normal person," Chu Guang continued looking at him, "Also, even if you hand over this videotape to the Academy, they still won't spare you. At most, you will just give them another reason for killing you."

Yin Fang was stunned. "Why..."

"As you said, there is a discrepancy between what you discovered here and what you have learned at the Academy. As one of the three founders, Dr. Principle has never been to River Valley Province, nor has he been to Clearspring City, the southernmost part of River Valley Province. Have you considered the reason why the Academy concealed this information?"

Yin Fang fell into deep thoughts.

It could be seen that although the young man was a little naive, he was not that stupid.

𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

After taking a sip of the warm water, Chu Guang continued, "It is reasonable to speculate that there are two scenarios. The first scenario is that Dr. Principle met an accident at the Great Rift Valley or on his way there. However, that is not realistic. You said that Dr. Principle had made an outstanding contribution to the Academy."

Yin Fang nodded earnestly. "Yes... The head of the three branches is named after him, including our Laser Rifle. Without him, the academy would not have been born."

Chu Guang continued, "Then there is another possibility. After Dr. Principle established the Academy, he believed that the worst case scenario could happen, so he concealed the existence of the holographic video tape."

Yin Fang argued, "This doesn't make sense! If the worse case scenario happened, shouldn’t he guide his successors to a better future?!"

Chu Guang sighed, "Maybe he felt he couldn't count on you."

Yin Fang was stunned. "... What do you mean?"

Chu Guang said with a faint smile, "Nothing. You also said it yourself that the academy has two hundred years of history, and a lot of things must have happened during the last two hundred years. Maybe, it is no longer the Academy it used to be."

When Yin Fang heard what he said, he almost instinctively came to a conclusion that what Chu Guang just said was an unfounded conjecture, but he couldn't think of a way to refute it.

In fact, the influence of the Academy has indeed diminished too much in these two centuries. From their original state where they spread their influence all over the wasteland to retreating to the depths of the Wandering Swamp... Even hunting down traitors required issuing bounties.

Looking at Yin Fang who was silent, Chu Guang comforted, "Actually you don't have to feel too upset. Whether it's out of distrust or just not wanting to give them a reason to mess with us, it’s all the same. We have the hologram now and if you're confused by Dr. Principle's decision, shouldn’t we start by finding out what happened 2 centuries ago?”

Yin Fang's bewildered eyes suddenly showed a hint of enlightenment, as if he had figured out what he should do. "Thank you... I seem to understand a little better now."

Chu Guang didn't expect this guy to be so gullible. He just comforted him slightly, but the fellow had such a shocked expression like he just received enlightenment or something.

Whatever it was, it saved him a lot of trouble.

"It's good that you understand. So what are your..."

"As you said, there must be a reason why Dr. Principle kept the holographic image there and did not let the Academy recover it. Maybe that image was left for us," Yin Fang's gaze gradually became firm. Looking at Chu Guang, he said seriously, "I have decided, I must find out what happened two hundred years ago!"

Chu Guang was stunned for a moment, then looked at him and nodded. "This idea is not bad, but... I'm unlikely to let you go, at least not for the foreseeable future."

Yin Fang shook his head and said, "I won't go, on the contrary, I will stay. This is not an exchange, but a request, I need your help."

Chu Guang raised an eyebrow and looked at him in confusion. "... What do you need me to help you with?"

"I want to form a scientific expedition team!" Yin Fang looked at him firmly and continued, "When I worked for the academy before, I have been engaged in data recovery work on the front line. I am very familiar with the entire workflow of research data recovery, and I can also do data analysis! As long as you are willing to lend me some manpower, I can completely imitate the model of the academy and rebuild a research data recovery system in your shelter!"

"I understand what you mean, it's equivalent to setting up an independent branch of the Academy, right?" Getting up from the computer chair with a look of joy, Chu Guang arrived in front of Yin Fang, patted him on the shoulder and gave him an encouraging look. "I'm glad you can think this way. Just do it and don't worry about anything else! When mistakes happen, someone has to correct them. Shelter 404 will be your backer. We have sufficient manpower, and we can go wherever the Academy can't go. We can do anything they can't do."

"I'll give you a sufficient amount of budget, we'll start with Clearspring City. We will dig out all the treasures here and then go to the next city. You'll be the fourth founder of the Academy!"

Yin Fang was both surprised and moved by Chu Guang's enthusiasm.

Although his goal was not to dig for any treasure, but to find the truth, both tasks didn’t seem to be in conflict.

Looking at Chu Guang gratefully, Yin Fang responded to this trust and support with firm eyes. "Thank you, thank you for your support."

"You're welcome!" Chu Guang had a big smile on his face.

Yin Fang would get the truth he wanted. Shelter 404's scientific research ability would no longer be a big fat 0. Players would also be able to unlock more missions or richer gameplay.

This is a triple win!

Is there anything more pleasing than this?

Probably not.

...

Clearspring City, the edge of the fifth-ring.

Near the subway entrance on Flower Garden Street. After two gunshots from the subway entrance broke the silence on the street, a nimble player ran out of the subway entrance, followed by dozens or even hundreds of Crunchers swarming out.

They were not fast, and they were not agile, but they were persistent enough to chase the prey all day. Once they formed a big enough swarm, individuals with abnormal speed and physical strength would begin to appear in the group. When that happens, even veterans who have been traveling in the wasteland all year round will find it difficult to deal with.

However, that was only if they ran into ordinary wanders.

What they were facing was not a group of poor wastelanders, but a group of players who were organized, fearless, and tireless.

The agility type player began to accelerate, dashing over the line drawn on the snow, and the player next to the street lit the fuse immediately.

Almost as Crunchers rushed out about ten meters from the entrance of the subway station, the powder keg that was clearly placed on the street exploded in an instant.

Boom!

Thick smoke engulfed half of the street in an instant, and the flames of the explosion swallowed up the street with shrapnel. Crunchers who were rushing at the very front were turned into pieces that flew all around.

"Damn you! You almost killed me!" The exhausted newbie glared fiercely at Mosquito and cursed.

In order to attract more monsters, he had been running for a long time in the subway and was almost unable to get back.

"I was just worried that you would be caught by them," Mosquito laughed, then raised his voice and shouted towards the front, "Brothers, it's time to finish them off, hurry up!"

"Die!"

"Yee-haw!"

"Fuck them!"