Chapter 380.1: Heart of Steel's Weakness

At the top of a hill, beside a raised mound of earth, Roshan planted a crooked wooden sign into the ground.

It bore a line of text, written in the language of the wasteland.

"He stood up for his comrades, writing a legend of courage with his life - Teddy."

Below the name, signatures of all members of the Order of the White Bear followed.

She had many memories of him, but she couldn't pen much fancy prose, nor could she summarize them in just a few words.

"Hope in your next life, you can visit our world..."

"And if you can choose, try to pick the one with dark circles around their eyes. They have the most comfortable lives."

She gently touched the raised mound with her bear paw, muttering softly, before slowly standing up from the grave with her bulky body.

A gentle breeze blew, stirring her white fur and the grass beside her.

The distant morning sun had risen, casting a glimmering golden hue across the forest.

She wanted to sing a song before leaving but couldn't remember which one.

Staring at the wooden sign and its epitaph, she stroked her chin with her tail, lost in thought, then suddenly spotted a flaw.

"Wait. If we add our names too, won't others think we're buried here as well?" Tail wondered out loud.

"Hey, don't start telling ghost stories now!" Roshan, who had just been sorrowful, couldn't help but laugh and cry.

"Um... It does feel a bit odd." Sesame Paste's expression was also subtly complex, her index finger pressed to her lips, "It's like... We've erected something quite significant."

Suddenly, Tail wore a ghostly expression, lowering her voice eerily. "Speaking of ghost stories, did you ever hear about that girl who attended a friend's funeral, only to find her own name on the tombstone..."

"Enough, enough, please stop!" Roshan covered Tail's mouth, who started squealing and makin strange noises.

Their liveliness slightly eased the sadness.

Looking back at the hastily made tombstone, Sesame Paste gently squatted down and planted a small flower next to it. She brought it from the foot of the mountain.

Since it's a fully realistic virtual reality game... In a few years, colorful flowers should cover the whole hillside.

Well, that was as long as the server didn't roll back...

Standing up from the ground, she looked at her companions with a smile. "Time to go."

As if always full of energy, Tail broke free from Roshan's embrace, energetically waving her fist in the air.

"Let's go! Wheeee!”

...

Due to a newspaper, Boulder Town was thrown into a state of panic!

And stirring all this commotion was Hal, who was currently triumphantly or rather, proudly commanding the rest. "Print more! Add another 20,000 copies of yesterday's issue! Now our readers aren't just idlers in pubs or the unemployed roaming the streets. Even the well-dressed citizens and nobles living in the inner city are reading the paper!"

He sat by the newspaper office window, holding a bottle of champagne, tipsily giving orders to the editors early in the morning.

Yes, he was drinking a big bottle, but it was all worth it.

Just the day before, the circulation of the Survivor's Daily was still around 6,000. As soon as the headline the day before was released, the newspapers sold out instantly.

Moreover, the subscription rate had doubled, and now everyone in the city was listening to him.

As for House... That guy was just a loser who could only be sarcastic on the radio. He wasn’t worth Hal’s attention!

Turning his gaze away from the employees, Hal looked at Ample Time, his face beaming with a bright smile.

"My dear friend, those photos you brought are simply perfect! Why don't you just join our newspaper as a journalist?! From my years of experience, you are truly a genius!"

Years of experience, right...

Ample Time remembered that just a month ago, that guy was still a polite member of the royal family.

In just a few weeks, he had been corrupted into a careless, blathering figure.

For a moment, he didn't know whether to criticize the newspaper or the city reeking of copper.

He coughed lightly, "You might as well thank our administrator... I'm just a worker."

"Ha ha, of course, I must also thank him. Please allow me to offer my highest respects to the manager, second only to the Spirit of the Desert!" As he spoke, Hal blew into the bottle again.

𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Ample Time felt that his respect was not heartfelt. It was just an excuse to drink.

But... He probably didn't have the standing to joke about it either.

He was the person who cried out the loudest, calling Chu Guang ‘respected administrator’, but now everyone was doing it to increase their sense of immersion.

As for respect?

Perhaps there was a bit of admiration, since it was hard to find someone so upright and selfless in real life other than in the history books.

But to say it was heartfelt respect for a character in a game, well, that was probably not the case.

"To the administrator!" Ample Time briefly said, clinking his glass with Hal's bottle with a smile, then took a sip and set it aside.

"Is it really good to be drinking so early in the morning?" Dori complained with cross arms.

Everyone in the editorial office was hard at work. Ample Time could be excused, he wasn't really part of the newspaper, just occasionally appearing to complete missions...

However, things were different for Hal...

He was supposed to be the boss, right?

"It's okay! Even if I'm drunk, I can still write exquisite sentences.

Burp

." Hal belched, wobbling to a chair. "I've figured it out, this war will be an opportunity! The future Survivor's Daily won't just be Boulder Town’s newspaper, it will become the best-selling paper across the entire River Valley Province, even the entire wasteland!"

Ample Time joked. "To grow bigger and stronger, to create new glory, right?"

Hal's eyes lit up, snapping his fingers with his right hand. "Exactly!"

"It might be difficult. There's no unified currency in this wasteland." Ample Time muttered.

Hal laughed, "Haha, these problems will always be solved by someone, I believe it."

Watching his rambling figure, Ample Time smiled and shook his head, planning to leave with Dori.

Just then, Hal suddenly spoke. "I actually don't understand.

"What don't you understand?"

Watching Ample Time stop, Hal continued. "Shu Yu told me that this was very important for us to defeat the Army."

"He's right, what's the problem?" Ample Time frowned.

"It's not a small problem. Why would the respected administrator think that a newspaper can solve the problem? Here, what ordinary survivors say doesn't really matter, they can barely eat."

Boulder Town was a lot like his hometown. It was like the kingdom of the Sunset Province, where all rights belonged solely to the emperor.

Here, all rights belonged to the mayor who never showed his face.

Even if the Army's airships gave the city a scare, even if everyone trembled before the 400mm main cannon, the mayor didn't say a word, did he?

"Yes." Ample Time didn't deny it.

Hal curiously asked, "Then what's the point of promoting it? Of course, this is just a question I have. They love to watch the excitement, and I'll keep doing the follow-up reports anyway."

"The point is to mobilize some people."

"Mobilize?"

"Yes, we're fighting another life-and-death battle, and it's not just about our own survival. Although we can't influence the mayor's decisions, we can get those who want to survive to do something while it's not too late."

"Whether they are dockworkers at the trading post, assembly line workers, mercenaries who sell their lives for money, or factory owners, bankers, or whatever...Boulder Town certainly has its masters, but ultimately, it's made up of these people."

Watching the drunken newspaper boss, Ample Time paused for a moment, then continued, "This city is like a rusty machine, we need to get it moving. No matter what it is, doing a little is good.”

"That’s the real meaning of the mobilization." Ample Time concluded.

Hal pondered for a moment, a thoughtful expression floating across his drunken face. "I see...

"I think I understand what you guys are planning."

Leaving the newspaper office, Ample Time noticed Dori walking beside him, looking at him with a curious face.

"What's up?"

"How do you know so much?"

As she spoke, her tone was indescribable. She was either surprised or admiring him, or maybe a bit of both.

"Maybe because I'm from a shelter?" Ample Time said half-jokingly.

"A shelter, huh..." Dori clasped her hands behind her head, looking up at the sky, seemingly lost in thought.

Then, as if she had just thought of something, she looked at him and asked, "So, knowing all this stuff, you don't think people like us who live outside a shelter are dumb, do you?"

Ample Time paused, then laughed. "How could that be?"

It wasn’t about mental resilience, but about a clear understanding of one's abilities.

It wasn’t about wars, apocalypses, or wastelands. Just not being able to buy things with money would probably drive him insane.

Dori stared into his eyes for a while, then her lips suddenly perked up. "Ah, that's good then."

Her green hair swayed lightly, leaving a cryptic remark as she briskly walked ahead.

“Huh?” Watching the suddenly cheerful girl, Ample Time fell into thought.

Is being called smart enough to make her this happy?

She’s too easy to please.

...