Chapter 336.2: The Damn Devs Are Exploiting Players Again!

Meanwhile, somewhere else on earth.

Listening to the discussions of colleagues, a man with a stern face sighed and closed the laptop in his hands. "Is there a possibility... That this person is just messing around?"

The people in the meeting room were momentarily stunned.

The man wearing a police uniform was the first to regain his composure, tapping his index finger on the table. "We can't rule out that possibility!"

Without sufficient evidence, any possibility existed.

Various signs indicated that the man, whose existence had been erased, seemed unaware of being abducted by extraterrestrial civilizations, or if he was aware, he didn't care, having completely accepted this new job.

At this moment, the old man sitting at the table suddenly spoke. "What could that film be?"

The man with the stern face was slightly taken aback. “That film...?"

The old man nodded. "They mentioned solving some interesting problems, right?"

He looked at the others in the room and continued asking, "Do we have any experts here in battery making?"

The people glanced at each other and shook their heads.

The man wearing a green shirt frowned and said, "The batteries in our unit are all purchased from our collaborating partners; I'm not too familiar with this aspect."

The consultant from the chemical industry suddenly spoke up. "Could he be referring to the SEI film?"

The man with the stern face immediately asked, "What's that?"

The consultant explained, "It's not a rare thing... In simple terms, it's the solid electrolyte interphase, essentially a layer covering the surface of the electrode material, about 100 nanometers thick. Taking lithium batteries as an example, a good SEI film can prevent solvent molecules from embedding, allowing lithium ions to pass through smoothly, preventing the formation of lithium dendrites."

The old man sitting nearby looked somewhat puzzled. "Lithium... Huh?!"

He didn't quite catch that.

Seeming to anticipate this reaction, the consultant sighed and continued, "Simply put, it's a technical challenge faced by lithium batteries. When lithium ions are reduced, they form tree-like metal lithium structures. During charge and discharge, they continuously consume electrolytes, leading to irreversible deposition of metal lithium, causing 'dead lithium' and reducing Coulombic efficiency... it might even pose safety hazards at the positive and negative electrode interface."

Moli Corporation in the 1980s went bankrupt due to this, eventually being acquired by the electrical giant, NEC, yet they still hadn't overcome the technical challenges of lithium metal negative electrode batteries.

The current mainstream method in the industry was to use carbon-based materials for electrodes, sacrificing battery capacity to ensure safety.

Although lithium metal negative electrode materials offered tempting energy density, nobody wanted to carry around a bomb or sit on a rocket.

The old man pondered while the man with the stern face seemed to understand. He nodded thoughtfully. "I roughly understand what you mean... Resolving the issue with that film could increase the energy density of the battery?"

The consultant wore a wry smile. "That's one way to understand it, but I must emphasize, lithium dendrites are just one of the technical challenges in researching lithium batteries, and artificial SEI films are just one of the proposed solutions by academia for the lithium dendrite issue."

"As for whether it works and how it works... These are contentious issues. The current mainstream research direction is like building houses or walls; perhaps they're both right or both wrong."

A curious colleague sitting nearby frowned. "Both wrong? What do you mean?"

The consultant answered succinctly, "It means not all problems necessarily have definitive answers."

The old man suddenly spoke up. "About this film... Roughly how much can it increase the energy density of the battery?"

Taking a sip of tea to moisten his throat, the consultant continued, "...It depends on what battery you compare it to. According to our published white paper on the development plan for power batteries, the target for 2025 is to reach 400 Wh/kg, and for 2030, the target is 500 Wh/kg. I'm not an expert in batteries, but these numbers should be based on opinions from experts in academia and industry."

"If we can replace the graphite negative electrode of a lithium battery with pure lithium, theoretically, the energy density should increase by an order of magnitude."

"An order of magnitude?!" The man in the police uniform showed a surprised expression.

Not only him, but everyone in the meeting room displayed astonished looks.

While numbers might not mean much on their own, once compared, they immediately understood the value of this technology.

The consultant continued, "It's about 1,000 to 2,000, which is considered a higher order of magnitude, but as for specifics... it would be more reliable to consult an expert in the industry."

The man in the green shirt leaped to his feet. "I'll make a call to our unit."

The old man sitting at the table nodded, his expression serious. "Go ahead."

At the same time, similar scenes were unfolding in various locations around Earth.

This Development Log of less than a thousand words had been studied over a thousand times by intelligence agencies of major organizations, leaving no punctuation unexamined.

In the end, most intelligence agencies arrived at the same speculation. Perhaps it was an enlightenment signal released by extraterrestrial civilizations.

It was well-known that one of the three pillars of modern technology was energy.

If this mysterious website indeed presented technology far beyond the current era, it undoubtedly provided favorable evidence for the speculation of a ‘third kind encounter’.

After all, no technology could exist without the support of a research system. It couldn't just appear out of thin air.

While players were busy scratching lottery tickets, the silver coins consignment platform had quietly become bustling.

𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Although they didn't know what the official website of Wasteland Online intended to auction in 3 days, it was never wrong to prepare in advance.

Foreign currency was not something that would be readily available at any time.

The trading volume on the platform remained constant every day. It wasn't a matter of whether it was a buyer's or seller's market; the issue was that there simply weren't enough silver coins available for purchase.

Players needed silver coins to upgrade equipment, for daily needs like eating, sleeping, and even bathing.

Yes.

According to the intelligence they gathered by peeking at the official website, even taking a shower in this game required money.

"Damn it... Do these lucky bastards know what they're doing?" Staring at the string of numbers on the computer screen, Fick crossed his arms and couldn't help but envy them. He cursed under his breath.

Half an hour ago, their project team received a batch of funds.

Even though this money was going into their pockets, improving their working environment and lives using this money within reasonable limits shouldn't be a problem.

Some of this money came from government institutions, but most came from giants aligned with the government stance.

After all, the government themselves didn't produce anything; even if they obtained the technology, they would need to hand it over to businesses or individuals to register patents, expand production, establish monopolies, and seize others' market share.

That was the game rule of the real world.

"They better never find out!"

"Indeed, the less people know about the truth, the better. Otherwise, where are we going to get these cheap silver coins?" quipped an intelligence officer standing nearby.

A colleague clenched his fists, eyes fixed on the computer screen, cheering on. "Buy it now! Damn it, why can't they increase the trading volume? Won't anyone sell silver coins for $8 each?!"

The trader sitting at the computer looked serious as he analyzed the situation. "It might not be a price issue... The percentage of players holding US dollars and cryptocurrency accounts is too low! Forex trading has certain barriers; many people may have filtered out less commonly used currencies just to avoid the hassle."

"Moreover, some clusters of small orders don't seem like player behavior... It

S more like speculation by those not directly involved in the game."

"In other words, we've missed out on the big orders of over 1,000 silver coins!"

The silver coins trading platform wasn't solely for players; cloud gamers could also participate in trading. They even indirectly engaged in game investments through the Shareholding Entrustment Agreement.

When the silver coins trading platform first emerged, many people hoarded a bunch of silver coins. Now, with sudden mass buying, clueless individual traders quickly cashed out.

Thanks to these people, the price of the silver coins was still relatively cheap in the beginning.

The real auction would take place in 3 days, and as it progressed, the competition would intensify, likely inflating the silver coins' prices even more.

The intelligence officer standing nearby spoke with a serious expression, "We need to find a way to establish a clean source of funds in RMB!"

Damn it, why is it so troublesome?!

Fick couldn't help but kick the table in frustration. “Fuck!’

There was one thing, Fick's colleagues guessed it right.

Currently, the majority of accounts sold on the silver coins trading platform indeed belonged to cloud gamers.

As for why players weren't joining in, it wasn't entirely because of account issues. Ultimately, everyone was too busy scratching lottery tickets, not paying attention to silver coins.

Many high-score players directly went for 10 consecutive draws. The computer screen flashed continuously with golden lights.

Each prize had its corresponding card.

Even if they skipped the lottery animation and glanced over each prize, it would take a considerable amount of time. Not to mention they would need even more time to post screenshots of the big win on the forum or curse the developers in small groups for getting trash.

Back in the closed Beta subforum.

Many had already posted screenshots, beginning to share the joy of winning with others.

- Wait, what's the Military Gift Pack? Who else drew it?

- The description says it's varying amounts of weapon supplies, usable for trading with other NPC forces or selling to newbies or for personal use... Isn't this basically monster drops?

- I get the logic, but why do we need to draw once and then draw again?

- I got it too... A Ripper Rifle?

- Is this some kind of Russian nesting doll!

- Hahaha, I got 10!

- Amazing!!

The Ripper Rifle was the standard weapon for the Army's cannon fodders, featuring an exceptionally long and hard barrel with an overall length of almost 2 meters when fitted with a bayonet.

This equipment, also known as the Slacker's Spike on the forum, apart from saving bullets and being jam-free, had practically no other advantages.

In a trench fight, the LD 47, a relatively compactly designed assault rifle, was more effective than a long weapon.

But due to its ample quantity, the Ripper Rifle's bullets were far easier to find than Enterprise's Black Swan, making the weapon popular in many survivor camps.

After all, not every survivor camp could mass equip automatic rifles.

Although this weaponry might not fetch a high price in New Alliance, if taken to a distant survivor gathering place for sale and local produce brought back to New Alliance, they could make a decent profit.

Overall, the Military Gift Pack was much better than a consolation prize.

Of course, the new trick introduced by the developers was just an appetizer; players were more concerned about the jackpot in the reward pool.

Though not everyone had the chance to become the lucky one, getting a bit of good fortune was still desirable.

In a closed Beta, testing was the main focus, so it was normal for equipment to be a bit limited. Once the game reached the open Beta phase, they would all be able to get a chance to play all the equipment.

During this moment of attention, the first lucky person of this expansion pack's lottery event finally emerged.

Spring Water Commander: Holy shit! Annihilator Type I Exoskeleton! It carries a 120mm mortar... Damn! This equipment is sick!

Perhaps caught up in excitement, Spring Water Commander forgot to keep it low-key this time.

Not only did he show off, he even posted a screenshot along with his winning remarks, sharing the joy of becoming the lucky one with everyone.