Chapter 371.2: Authority and Duty

Seeing her cheerful expression, Ample Time sincerely felt happy for her.

Flipping through the notes in her hand, Dori suddenly sat up straight, curious, and looked at Ample Time. "Actually... about what you just mentioned, I still have a question."

"What is it?" Ample Time

"It’s about Edmund and his hospital... I seem to have heard of it somewhere. It's said that mercenaries and bounty hunters who can't afford bionic prosthetics or want to save money go there for surgery."

"Pretty much matches what I know." Ample Time nodded.

"Hmm... What about those mercenaries who need to replace their prosthetics?" Dori tilted her head, "There will always be people who get injured by accident. Even if you take out Edmund, someone else will just set up shop elsewhere, right?"

Equality was a beautiful idea, but most of the time, the price of life varied.

As long as someone was willing to pay, there would be someone willing to provide the service.

The cheapest mechanical prosthetics produced in Boulder Town cost 2,000 to 3,000 chips, while some finely crafted bionic organs can easily reach the five figures.

In comparison, the lives of clones and slaves were much cheaper, and if they were captured scavengers or other civilians, they were basically free.

As long as people on the wasteland continued to struggle to survive, the market would not disappear.

Putting down his beer, Ample Time pondered for a long time before speaking slowly. "Of course, we've considered this issue, so we've decided to address the part about demand."

"But in a different way."

After leaving Gracie's Clinic that day, he went to the forum's discussion section and started a thread for Beta players. While revealing this money-making bug, he discussed the issue with the rest.

After hearing about their experiences at the Golden Dunes Cinema, most players shared similar thoughts. Although it was indeed a win-win business, as players wouldn't actually die, making money from that bug made them feel uneasy.

Especially since many players had become close friends with NPCs in the game.

Without mentioning players who hadn’t entered the game... At least for the Beta testers, many could no longer regard NPCs as mere data.

Instead, they were another form of life.

Taking into account other players' opinions, Old White planned to communicate with the New Alliance's First Hospital to preserve the bionic parts replaced by players and provide them to survivors who truly needed them.

As for the fees... A reasonable processing fee would naturally be charged.

Additionally, some severely injured players could donate their parts before they went to the gulags.

Of course, they wouldn’t force anyone. Only volunteers would be accepted. Players could choose whether to sign a body donation agreement.

For those who signed the agreement, when they or their friends needed part replacements, they would be placed at the front of the line.

It was certainly not a profitable venture. However, like their Brother Light said. They weren't just developing a game; they were building a virtual community.

Silver coins were not everything in the game. Beyond mere profits, there were many other things worth exploring.

Ample Time felt that perhaps they could even widen their scope. They weren’t just building a community, but a society.

If he included himself, the players who received the access to Wasteland Online couldn't do without those extra 12 hours each day.

It was their second world, which had in fact become their second homeland.

Especially as some of the earliest players to enter the game, they had followed the game's progress and accumulated a wealth of resources and wealth, both in the game and beyond. Both emotionally and logically, they had the duty and responsibility to make the place better.

They couldn’t turn it into a farm, extracting profits like a cancer cell and then moving on to exploit other things.

"Our alliance will normalize the actions against marauders dens, making it harder for those 'slaughterhouses' to survive."

"...At the same time, we'll also provide cheaper replaceable parts through 'Shelter Technology,' making this business unprofitable."

Ample Time, in a way NPCs could understand, simply recounted his and other shelter residents' decision.

Dori looked at him in surprise, her bright eyes filled with astonishment. "I didn't expect you to be such a responsible person."

Ample Time smiled faintly. "Did you just notice?"

Of course... It wasn’t as though he was like that from the start.

Rubbing her chin with his index finger, Dori pondered for a long time. Suddenly, she snapped her fingers. "I've got it!"

"Got what?"

"Tomorrow's headline for the Survivor's Daily. I plan to write about your deeds in the newspaper!" Dori said with sparkling eyes.

The headline in an NPC newspaper?

Although it didn't sound as appealing as the Hall of Fame on the official website, it was still a novel experience.

It was just right since he was also learning the Federation’s language, so he would simply buy a copy.

"How about you treat me to this meal in honor of the headline?" Ample Time joked.

"No problem..." Dori was about to slap her chest in agreement, but just then, her eyes caught a glimpse of the pile of skewers on the plate.

Her smiling lips suddenly stiffened, and her voice weakened, "Let's... Let’s put it on hold until I get paid."

"I'll remember that!" Watching Dori's embarrassed expression, Ample Time smiled cheerfully and casually threw a few chips into the tray held by the waitress.

"Check, please. Keep the change."

Seeing the chips spinning in the tray, the waitress, recognizing him, couldn't help but roll her eyes secretly.

This guy again.

But speaking of which, this guy can really eat...

Glancing at the pile of skewers on the plate, then at the young man who had a strangely sophisticated look, the waitress couldn't help but click her tongue.

Appearances can be deceiving...

...

In the library of Shelter 404 on level B4...

Sitting on the sofa, Chu Guang held a freshly printed copy of Survivor's Daily.

The page open before him was the latest headline, a report about Edmund's hospital. The newspaper selectively displayed a few photos taken by the players at the Golden Dunes Cinema.

Including the casually discarded bodies and the survivors locked in cages like lambs to the slaughter, the shocking images not only jolted the viewers' eyes but also their hearts.

The residents of the outer city certainly knew the brutality of the wasteland, as after all, they were merely a stone throw away from the wilderness.

Yet, it was precisely because of that colossal wall that they didn't have to deal with those things that didn't make it into their world.

Even though The Voice of Boulder Town often took the hardships beyond the wall as a subject of jest, the narrative style was usually sarcastic and he would flatter the Mayor most of the time. Rather than to please a lord who couldn't care less about them, it was more about pandering to its audience.

It had been over a decade since there was something like the Survivor's Daily that brought the stark truth to everyone.

That was also why the incident caused a huge stir in the outer city of Boulder Town and quickly became a hot topic of discussion.

More interestingly, there was a clear divergence in the opinions of Boulder Town's residents on the same issue.

For the general residents, they were more concerned about the survivors locked in cages. After all, not only were there people from the slums, but also a few from the outer city.

No matter why those poor people were sent to the slaughterhouse, it caused those in the same position to see a slight crack in their fantasy of the impregnable wall.

The impregnable wall was not as impregnable as they imagined, and eternal isolation couldn't really keep them away from the wasteland.

However, the outcome was still pretty gratifying.

The evil marauders's den was destroyed, and the survivors returned home to reunite with their families.

Although the impregnable wall was not absolutely reliable, the mighty New Alliance seemed to have played a role.

However, for the mercenaries, that was not good news. It meant they had to take greater risks to fulfill their commissions, and after getting injured, they had to pay more chips for expensive and not necessarily effective mechanical replacements.

Of course, the newspaper also mentioned at the end that the New Alliance First Hospital was exploring alternative solutions with the help of Shelter 404. It suggested that injured mercenaries try their luck in Dawn City.

Stretching his legs out on the coffee table in front of the sofa, the doll that was controlled by Little Seven looked at Chu Guang with an adoring gaze.

"You really deserve to be my master!"

"You knew your players would do this, didn't you?"

Used to the ex-bin’s flattery, Chu Guang just smiled faintly and turned the page of the newspaper. "I'm not as prescient as you think, human behavior can't be predicted so easily."

"But I admit, they indeed made a good choice."

No matter how stringent the rules, there would always be loopholes, especially as the number of players on the server increased. Chu Guang was well aware that he couldn't manage every player's gaming trajectory hands-on like before.

Of course, there was no need to.

Players were also a part of the wasteland and they could certainly participate in setting the rules of the game, exploring the path forward together.

Chu Guang preferred to see players take the initiative to refine their game content and maintain server order.

It was their right, and their duty.

Turning to the last page, Chu Guang closed the read newspaper and set it aside next to Little Seven on the coffee table. He got ready to check the forums on his laptop.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

Yin Fang entered as the alloy door slid open.

Seeing his exuberant expression, Chu Guang guessed it was probably good news. Thinking about how that maniac had been busy repairing the exoframe recently, he raised an eyebrow and guessed, “Did you fix Dragon Cavalry?”

"Not yet, just a bit more to go, but it'll be ready in a few days," Yin Fang said, sitting on the sofa across from Chu Guang, continued cheerfully, "The good news I want to tell you about is something else."

Chu Guang asked with interest, "What is it?"

"Based on clues collected by the scientific expedition team, we've locked down an abandoned shelter... Although the shelter is old, the intelligence we obtained on it is new. Based on the historical access records, we are likely the first to discover its coordinates. You should know what that means..." Pulling out a VM-modified tablet, Yin Fang tapped it a few times, then handed the tablet to Chu Guang.

"It's Shelter 79, located about 150 kilometers from here in a place called Lucky Valley Municipality, at the border between River Valley Province and Sunset Province." Yin Fang's face was filled with excitement as he continued, “That’s a two-digit shelter! You know what that means!”