"Boss, help!"

"Damn it, this Cruncher has no honor! Trying to grab MY equipment?!"

"Fuck off! Don’t bite my shield!"

"Clothes! My clothes!"

"Excuse me, is this game serious?"

"Stay close! Fuck! Don’t you fucking run away!"

In the subway tunnel, the noise of the players echoed.

The strength type Old Six was still trying to keep his teammates together, but the agility type Free Sniper had disappeared without a trace, leaving only the perception type Lost Newbie shivering in fear, and the intelligence type Prop Master leader was staging a live cat and mouse game.

Looking at the four little newbies who were chased by Crunchers, Quit Smoking felt a headache.

He felt that even if he smoked cigarettes all night, he probably would never figure out how those people got the qualification to play the game.

God damn it!

That pissed him off!

To think he had expected them to be really amazing players because of their IDs.

Seeing that the expert player who was supposed to lead them wasn’t moving, Prop Master hurriedly asked for help,. "Boss! Shoot quickly!"

Quit Smoking couldn’t help snapping at him, "Why the fuck would I waste my bullets on a few Crunchers?!"

But if I still don’t make a move, these newbies may not see the sun tomorrow.

In the end, Quit Smoking relented and began executing the backup plan. Raising the Sickle assault rifle in his hand, he shot and killed the Crunchers surrounding Prop Master with 2 shots.

Then, he pulled out his hatchet, rushed forward and slashed wildly, leading his useless apprentices as he carved a bloody path through the Crunchers.

Leaning against the wall, Quit Smoking swung his hatchet, now covered in black slime.

He had to admit, these Crunchers really felt stronger than before!

Whether it was speed or strength, there was a clear difference from those he met in the tunnel in the winter.

Even though he had experienced many battles, he still found them tough to deal with.

Of course, they weren’t so tough that they stopped him from showing off in front of the newbies.

Quit Smoking inhaled deeply to steady his breathing, then said calmly, "Crunchers have only a few attacking methods. They can either swipe at you with their claws, pounce at you, or bite. Don’t panic when they come at you, and don’t try to grapple. Just knock them off balance with a shield and smash your weapon on their skull. You’ll get the hang of it once you do it a few times."

Leaning against the tunnel wall and panting heavily, the 4 new players who barely survived listened to Quit Smoking talk about strategies and techniques with sparkling eyes.

"Boss, you are awesome!"

"So strong!"

"Is this the combat power of a tier 0 player?"

"He’s invincible!"

Feeling embarrassed by the blind praise, Quit Smoking coughed dryly, "Ahem... You guys are exaggerating. Didn’t you read the strategy guide?"

"Of course we have! We’ve been doing tons of homework!" Old Six chuckled, and then said, "I’m a strength type! Melee DPS!"

The other 3 also raised their hands in unison.

Lost Newbie mumbled, "I-I-I’m a perception type! I’m a Professional scout!"

Free Sniper also chimed in, "I’m an agility type, all I need is a sniper rifle!"

Prop Master finally spoke, "I’m an intelligence type! After awakening, I plan to specialize in neuro-mechanics! Late-stage dominance!"

"..." Quit Smoking was struck speechless. He had an idea what the problem was.

...

400 players had all left Shelter 117 and followed the old players into the world outside the shelter.

Through the VM device associated with the Passing The Torch mission, Chu Guang could easily grasp where the newcomers had gone, what mission they were on, and who was leading them. ṛ𝖆Ŋő𐌱Ę𐌔

In addition, with the Hummingbird drones patrolling in the air, he could even move the camera above the players’ heads to monitor them.

Of course, there were also a few hard-headed players who decided to venture alone into the wasteland with nothing but the 5 silver coins issued by the novice gift package.

It was an open world game, after all. A high degree of freedom was part of the game content.

As an excellent developer, Chu Guang certainly would not interfere with each player’s specific gameplay style.

He only made macro decisions and adjudicated disputes pertaining to the rules to ensure that most individuals were running on the right track.

A few exceptions were irrelevant.

The meaning of the rules would become clear after they started to own property in the game.

When the newcomers finally collected a complete set of powerful equipment and forged friendships with many people in the game that were stronger than the ones they had in reality, they would naturally understand that obeying the rules was not for the benefit of others, but for themselves...

Back in Shelter 404.

Chu Guang, who had just gone to the neighboring shelter to finish his training with the newbies, took off his exoframe and went straight to the medical laboratory on level B3.

When he arrived, Bucky, the tin can man, happened to be there as well.

Since he lived in the shelter, whenever he had free time, he would wander to the medical laboratory to inquire about the latest research progress on Slime Mold.

Before Hyrja came out of the analysis room, Chu Guang looked at Bucky sitting on the chair and asked curiously, "You don’t have Mutant Slime Mold in the Among Clouds Province?"

Bucky frowned. "Of course we do. Whether it’s in the Above Clouds City or Below Clouds City, it’s almost impossible to completely eradicate them."

Chu Guang added, "I heard that the Army will demolish the city in order to limit the available habitats for Slime Mold."

A giggle emerged from the tin can, "Hehe, don’t you listen to the bragging idiots of the Army. Demolishing those high-rise buildings? The Federation of People had exhausted their nuclear bomb reserves, but they still couldn’t take them down. So I’d like to see them try!"

Chu Guang gave him a strange look. "Why did the Federation of People try to demolish their own houses?"

"Who knows what happened 200 years ago?" Bucky shrugged. "I heard there were many enterprises in the Prosperity Era."

While talking, the alloy door of the sample analysis room opened

Hyrja, clad in her usual white coat, came out from behind the door and handed a wrist-mounted tablet computer to Chu Guang.

Chu Guang glanced at the densely packed data on the screen. Although he knew every letter and number, he couldn’t read them together.

But that wasn’t a problem. If he could understand, what else did he need her for?

"This is?"

"A detailed analysis report on the juvenile Hive!" said Hyrja happily, with unconcealed excitement in her eyebrows. "Thanks to the samples your residents obtained, we now have a more comprehensive understanding of the formation of the Hive, and this further confirms my guess. These Slime Molds were affected by the dominance of a unified consciousness, and the transmission of this information was likely achieved through spores!"

Meaning... Those spores are not only reproductive cells, but also a medium for information exchange between Mutant Slime Mold?

Could it be similar to insect pheromones?

Chu Guang, who was staring at the tablet, fell silent.

What a multi-functional creature.

At this time, Bucky, who was off to the side, suddenly became nervous. "Wait, that means... Hives give orders through spores? Will the Slime Mold in my body be controlled by the spores released by the Hive?"

Hyrja looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "You were infected outside Clearspring City, right?"

Bucky nodded nervously. "... After I was infected, I walked west and north for 500 or 600 kilometers before arriving at Clearspring City."

Chu Guang said, "500 to 600 kilometers… It should be outside the River Valley Province then.”

Hyrja snorted in a relaxed tone, "Then don’t worry, these Slime Mold variants have strong regional attributes. They rely on RNA-transcribed proteins to identify the same kind. Only the same kind could have a unified consciousness coordination between the same kind. The Slime Mold ’identification code’ is different in different regions."

Hearing her confirmation, Bucky finally heaved a sigh of relief.

Chu Guang looked at Hyrja and asked her the question he was most concerned about. "Does the Hive have any sort of weakness?"

Hyrja answered bluntly, "Its weakness is the weakness that all creatures have. If it’s killed, it will die."

"..."

She might as well not have said anything.

Hyrja replied curtly, "If you want to eradicate them, the best way is with fire. You can use explosives next, but strong acid is also a good way. The only problem with those methods is that they are too expensive. If you’re looking for shortcuts, there won’t be any. Unless…”

Chu Guang immediately followed up, "Unless?"

"Unless we could find a way to get samples from the Hives in the city center," Hyrja said with confidence, "According to the model I built, more than 80% of the spores were produced by the Hives in the city center, while everything else is considered to be fruiting bodies, including Crunchers, incubation rooms, and even new Hives, they ultimately originate from the oldest Hive located in the city center.”

"..."

Captain Obvious strikes again!

The honest and straightforward Bucky took the words right out of his mouth. "... I think that even without your model analysis, you could draw this conclusion…”

Hyrja glanced at him and sneered. "Oh yeah? Your eyes may deceive you, but data won’t."

Chu Guang coughed lightly. "You’re right, data won’t lie, but what we need most now is a way to crack the Tide, and we don’t have much time left."

However, what surprised Chu Guang was that the Slime Molds had formed a highly organized society, as Hyrja guessed.

They imitated not only the forms and hunting methods of other creatures in nature, but went even deeper, developing complex social strata.

Some fruiting bodies were responsible for reproduction, some were responsible for development, and some were responsible for hunting. When necessary, the Cruncher as a worker bee would even sacrifice itself to become the nourishment for the expansion of the incubation room.

The spore cloud covering the whole city could even act like a local area network, providing information services for the Slime Mold Mutants in the city, and these mutants acted as routers, releasing spores.

There was no shortcut to destroying them.

After a pause, Chu Guang continued, "As for the Hive sample... Your request is difficult to fulfill, but I will try my best to help you find a way."

Boulder Town, on the edge of the third ring, might be the solution to her problem.

Chu Guang had heard from Xia Yan that some powerful mercenary groups could go deep into the city center to search for relics of the pre-war civilization.

As long as he had enough chips to spare, his problem would be solved with money.

While Chu Guang was deep in thought, Bucky, who was sitting beside him, hugged the tin can on his head in pain. "Damn it… Why on earth did I make this long trip?"

He was already starting to regret it.

Perhaps, like other alumni who chose to travel for graduation, I should have just toured the Among Clouds Province. There was no need to go so far, and there was no need to set the goal so high from the get-go!

When he thought of his handsome face turning into whatever the hell he looked like at the moment, he felt so sick that he wanted to die.

No matter how I think about it, the reason I became like this is all Luo Hua’s fault!

Chu Guang glanced at this friend who came from afar with a strange expression, and said a kind reminder, "Actually, it doesn’t matter if you take the helmet off, I think… The guys at the shelter don’t mind how you look."

Rather...

It could be said that strange-looking NPCs were more popular.

However, after hearing Chu Guang’s words, Bucky shook his head violently, showing strong resistance. "Over my dead body!"

...