Chapter 235.1: Zookeeping

While Chu Guang was busy counting his loot, Wasteland Online's official website forum was bustling with excitement.

Throughout the entire winter, chaos from the north had been plaguing the southern border of the River Valley Province.

And on that day itself, a hearty epic victory dispelled all the dark clouds in an instant!

[Server Announcement:

Operation "Spring Thunder" Completed Successfully

]

[

The battle report has been published and sent to players’ personal mailbox and the in-game VM.

]

[

Thanks to the large number of materials seized during the battle, the food supply has returned to normal, the Wartime Regulations ended ahead of schedule, and the purchase of restricted resource items is reopened. All players participating in the battle, in addition to contribution points and regional prestige, will get Guo Bull, Guo Horse, Luca, Wrench and other NPC's favorability +5.

]

[Additional facilities in Longevity Town:

Two 100mm howitzers

]

[Light:

Thank you all for your active participation, this battle has provided us with valuable data. The production of the Alpha 1.0 version has entered the final stage and will be launched together with the new expansion, so stay tuned!

]

Tail: Oh!!

Quit Smoking: Mosquito is awesome! Of course, the developers are awesome too!

Ample Time: This is incredible, no, it should be said that this group of developers are too incredible!

Night Ten: Mosquito said with tears in his eyes that after 8 versions, from Bloodhand to Bonechewer, he finally became an MVP. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Mosquito: Goblin Technology has now launched a new product! 88mm mortar! There is also a Hell's Breath wood-powered motorcycle! It consumes 15 kilograms of wood for every 100 kilometers traveled, and is very easy to use!

Irene: There is an advertisement here, would the moderators please block him? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Bathroom Goer: Damn it, am I not good? I blew up 7 vehicles and scared 1 to death!

Sideline Slacking: Our team blew up a tank. (Smug face)

Escaping Mole: Our team killed the Brigade Commander!

Midnight Pubg: I have 20 kills.

Spring Water Commander: So what? Are your scores higher than our team's?

Teng Teng: Everyone is amazing, please don't quarrel. QAQ

Night Ten: You don't understand, this is their way of bragging. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Yaya: When I have enough money to buy an exoframe, I will accompany you to the front line!

Darkest: You're even more cowardly than Spring Water Commander. (Surprised)

Spring Water Commander: How am I cowardly?! (Angry)

Not only the players were happy, but also the tens of thousands of cloud gamers who were still waiting for the invitations.

A 2 minute footage, 20 concept art posts, and a promotional video...

And they were actually all made during actual combat!

Isn't this more promising than the games made by

EA

?!

Market Donkeyrider: Alas, if the actual gameplay can be half as good as the promotional video, I can die without regrets.

Irene: The alpha test players can all tell you confidently that the promotional video is only half of the actual gameplay. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Can't Touch: Please stop testing it, it's already complete. I just want to play the semi-finished product. Please give me a chance!

Silver Hand: Is the production team short of money? Have they considered crowdfunding?

Silver Sword: Do they need venture capital?

Lightning Professor: With such awesome technology, I'd advise the game company to go public directly.

Feel The Pain: Speaking of which, is it really okay for the actual gameplay to be so exciting?

Siberian Potatoes: Yes, what if I have a heart attack?

Gale: I heard that this helmet uses a dream visualization technology, which is completely out of the traditional visual visualization technology. Simply put, the pictures you see in the game are probably the same as what you dreamed about when you were dreaming. There won't be too much sensory stimulation beyond what you can handle. This kind of stimulation includes pain and various physiological aspects... Although I have searched for a long time and have not found the relevant literature, they actually did it.

Night Ten: The shelter's technology is so scary. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Lightning Professor: I have a question, can you do bad things in the game?

Old White: At present, only the lawful faction is open to players. It can be regarded as an orthodox MMORPG, but the playability and freedom are still much stronger than the mainstream MMOs. You can feel that the NPCs in this game are alive, they have their own unique morals and things they like and dislike. You can do whatever you want, as long as it doesn't affect other people's gaming experience.

This_lord_is_arrogant_what_can_you_do: Lmao, what's the point of that? The lord likes PK, and uses aimbot. Even a dog wouldn't want to play this garbage game!

Gale: FYI, there is no game in this world that can be enjoyed by seven billion people. (Side glance)

Night Ten: Petting Brother Lord's dog's head, please come back to our group, the group is less fun without you. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

This time, Arrogant Lord didn't do a good job in taunting. Everyone said that his replies were just too weak and soon, they were drowned in the replies of others.

Well, things like that was perfectly normal.

Even if he was a troll, it was impossible for him to be in a peak troll state every day.

After counting the spoils, Chu Guang took a look at the forum and found that 90% of the posts in the general chat subforum were discussing the promotional video.

From the launch of the rockets to the charge under the whistle, the camera switched between the perspective of the drone and the players, showing the shocking light and shadow effects, and presenting a scene like a real battlefield.

For the more exciting scenes, the drone controlled by Little Seven specially gave a few close-ups.

For example, the awakened strength type player carried a machine gun like Rambo, and shot out from the billowing smoke.

Or, on the charging tracked vehicle, the cannons kept shooting, harvesting the marauder's armored pickup trucks.

It was also worth mentioning that the video was cut by Little Seven following the style of Chu Guang's last promotional video.

As for the BGM, it was also copied from the radio.

While The Voice of Boulder Town would talk 20 hours of bullshit a day, occasionally there would be some useful information and good music interspersed in it.

At present, the BGM was added to the official original soundtrack, which could be listened to online or downloaded and saved. It was widely praised by many netizens, and they all wanted to know who the composer was.

However, it had nothing to do with Light.

Light was just a little game planner! They should go ask the music director...

...

The next day.

Before it was completely dawn, more than 200 prisoners of war formed a long queue at the entrance of Longevity Town.

They wore dirty old furs, shackles around their ankles, and expressions of frustration or panic on their faces.

Some even began to show the expression of numbness and despair.

2 tracked trucks with fixed machine guns welded to the roof drove beside the team.

In addition, 20 guards with Arbiter rifles on their backs and Pu-9 submachine guns hanging around their waists stood around them.

Walking up to the group of captives, an old-fashioned guard with a beard looked at them and said in a loud voice, "You have committed enough crimes in River Valley Province to be hanged 10 times.

"But the merciful administrator believes that it is unjust to slaughter prisoners of war. Your blood will stain this land, so your life will be spared.

"You will go to the labor camp, where you will be reformed by labor, reclaim the wasteland north of Linghu Lake, build irrigation canals, and anything useful to this society... Until you pay for your sins with labor.

"50 years is a long sentence, but it can be commuted by good behavior.

"Now, go."

50 Years.

Most people wouldn't live that long at all.

In the wasteland, living for 40 years could be considered a long life.

Only residents who lived in shelters or some wealthy survivors' settlements were likely to live longer.

But telling them their sentence could be commuted by good behavior had brought some comfort, or the motivation to live to many people who had been feeling desperate. Even if no one told them what the criteria of commutation was and how much it could be reduced...

The group started to set off on the road.

They needed to chop down enough wood to build the captive camp before dark.

Otherwise, they could only sleep in the snow.

Vaders and Kevin stood by the side of the road, staring blankly at the group heading out.

The two of them who were incorporated into the group had already given up hope for their future life.

But they didn't expect that they, who had just been incorporated into the group, were driven out by a guard who pointed a gun at them.

Kevin whispered nervously. "What do they want to do?"

"I don't know..." Just when Vaders said it, he suddenly saw a familiar face walking towards them.

The moment he saw the man, Vaders' expression was stunned for a moment, and then a look of surprise appeared on his face. "Vanus?"

There was a trace of emotion on Vanus' face. "I didn't expect to see you here."

The two graduated from the same military academy and knew each other since they were students.

After graduating, Vanus went directly to the front line as a squad leader because of his excellent grades and outstanding performance in the academy, while Vaders joined the Youth Corps and started his military career as a new recruit.

Due to the Army's eastward strategy, the two joined the expedition force to fight the people of the Great Rift Valley under General Klaas. Later, Vanus’ unit suffered a crushing defeat and his whereabouts became unknown. Vader thought the guy was already dead, he didn't expect him to be alive.

What surprised him even more was that the reunion between the two was in such a dramatic way.

After listening to what happened to Vanus in the past few months, Vaders gave a wry smile. "No wonder... With you here, it's reasonable that the idiot Black Snake would lose."

These people not only successfully predicted their plans strategically, but also tactically and accurately avoided their vanguard, set up ambushes in unexpected places and attacked their rear, creating incredible results.

Even after losing, Vaders couldn't help but be impressed by it.

However, after seeing Vanus, he was relieved.

They two graduated from the same school, and even taught by the same teacher.

He knew all the tactics he knew, and he could basically think of everything he could think of. This battle was indeed difficult to fight.

Vanus frowned. "I didn't command this battle, and it wasn't me who defeated you. At most, I made some suggestions on deployment. But one thing you are right, it's reasonable that you would lose. Using 600 people as scouts? The supply convoy following the armored unit? And the front line was stretched so long... What exactly were you thinking?"

Seeing Vanus looking at him strangely, Vaders said sadly, "Do you think I want this? I risked being thrown in the frying pan and reminded that idiot more than once that the winter march was a bad decision, but no one listened to me."

Kevin, who was standing beside him, also nodded and said with an awkward expression. "This is not the only thing that is outrageous. We learned about the arrangement to enter Clearspring City in the early morning of the 1st, and before we asked what the plan was, the vanguard had already set off. During this period, we did not hold a combat meeting. Black Snake seemed to decide to go all out at the last minute, and even the marching route was decided after the supplies were packed."

The main force left at noon on the 1st, but the battle already ended in the evening on the 2nd; the construction of the captives camp started on the 3rd early morning, and its basic structures should be completed by the evening.

Kevin had never fought such a humiliating battle.

He would rather die on the northern front himself. At least losing to a formidable opponent would make his death look decent.

After listening to what happened to them, Vanus couldn't help but show a trace of sympathy.

He tried to put himself in their shoes, but he found that the battle was indeed impossible to fight.

With such a stupid commander, even if he were their Staff Officer, the final result would probably be the same.

"I roughly understand the situation now... But how did you two end up joining a group of marauders?"

Vaders and Kevin looked at each other and shook their heads. "I don't know, we encountered those marauders when we were retreating south, our commander decided to join them, so we had no choice but to join them as well."

Kevin continued, "I heard that... They seem to be planning to create a marauder kingdom in the River Valley Province, other than that we are not very clear."

A marauder kingdom?

What is that?

A huge tribe?