Chapter 478.2: Hehehe You're Dispicable

Above the campfire, small flames flickered softly. Sitting cross-legged by the fire, Old White suddenly opened his eyes.

Across from him, Gale was poking at the fire with a stick. Hearing the rustle, he asked casually, "You’re awake?"

"Yeah."

"Perfect, I’ll log off and grab a bite."

Tossing the stick into the fire, Gale dusted off his hands, then added, "Oh right, someone’s following us. They’re about five kilometers away."

Old White's expression turned serious. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. It’s the same tracked vehicle. They haven’t left."

"I got it. You go get some rest. And check the group chat later, I posted tomorrow’s plan there."

Gale gave an OK gesture, leaned back on a rock, crossed his arms, and closed his eyes to log off.

For players of Wasteland Online, standing night watch in shifts had long become second nature. These veteran players had already mastered the art of logging on and off with clockwork precision. But to the people from the Academy, the sight was quite novel.

In Zhao Xiao’s eyes, he saw a member return to the campfire. Just as one soldier's butt hit the ground, another stood up, patted the dust off his pants, and headed off in the direction the first had come from. The handoff was so smooth, it was like a choreographed dance.

There wasn’t even half a minute of overlap! There were no visible flaws in the transition.

Watching those highly disciplined soldiers, Zhao Xiao couldn’t help but gulp. "Are these guys even human?"

Chen Yutong, sitting nearby, didn’t speak, but her eyes were filled with just as much astonishment. After observing for so long, what impressed her most about those so-called New Alliance soldiers was their discipline.

Still... The way they could fall asleep in seconds and wake up perfectly in sync... Was it something that could be trained? She actually kind of envied it.

At the same time, roughly five kilometers away from the Burning Corps' camp, a tracked vehicle sat quietly on the reverse slope of a hill. In the back of the vehicle, Jiang Xuezhou had her eyes half closed, brow furrowed slightly.

Noticing the shift in her expression, the teammate beside her asked urgently, "Is there a chance?"

"No." Jiang Xuezhou replied with a slight shake of her head. Her tone was grim. "Their path of patrol is very tricky... Their field of vision covers nearly 800 meters in all directions with barely any blind spots. And they’ve got drones."

Those people probably thought they were well-hidden, but she had seen everything from above. Those quad-rotor drones crouched atop the surrounding rocks like stationary cameras.

Combined with the external patrols, there was almost no chance of approaching the enemy camp without alerting them.

From the driver’s seat, Song Changfeng couldn’t help but ask, "They have to switch shifts at some point, right?"

Jiang Xuezhou nodded. "Yeah... They just did. The entire process took less than 30 seconds."

Silence filled the cabin. Both Song Changfeng and Zheng Hao wore grim expressions.

Originally, they had planned to find a chance to rescue their captured teammates, but now... That seemed increasingly unlikely.

Jiang Xuezhou lifted her head and looked at Zheng Hao in the passenger seat who was smoking in silence. "Captain, what now?"

Zheng Hao stayed quiet for a while before speaking again. "Keep following them."

The others exchanged glances but said nothing. Song Changfeng nodded and didn’t say more.

Aside from waiting for an opportunity... They really had no better options. But, would that chance ever come?

After finishing the night watch handover with Gale, Old White sought out another player who had just logged in and gave him instructions. "Take two guys and head to the crater in the northwest of River Valley Province. Find a scavenger camp there and see if they’re interested in taking on a big job."

Having read Night Ten’s post with Ample Time’s reply before logging in, the player immediately understood and nodded with a grin. "Got it."

The three players split off and took a fork leading southeast.

Feeling a little hungry, Old White returned to the fire and sat down, preparing a late-night meal.

They had brought quite a lot of supplies from the transport aircraft. Not a bit was wasted. Food and water were plentiful, so there was no need to ration.

Setting up a metal griddle and standing over the fire, Old White skillfully tore open plastic packs, poured rice, bottled water, and braised pork into an iron mess tin before covering it and placing it on the fire.

It didn’t take long for bubbles to start forming around the edge of the tin. Reaching over, he pulled it off the griddle and lifted the lid for a look, nodding in satisfaction. A simple meal of braised pork rice was ready.

The rich aroma quickly spread. Their nearby prisoners who were still awake swallowed unconsciously, their eyes drawn toward the smell.

Noticing their reaction, Old White revealed a knowing smile. He whipped up two more servings, then carried the mess tins over to them.

"Hungry?"

Zhao Xiao stared at him, but he didn’t say anything.

Chen Yutong also hesitated. But seeing that his expression wasn’t hostile, she couldn’t help but nod.

Old White smiled and handed each of them a tin. He didn’t leave the stubborn young man out.

Accepting her food, Chen Yutong lowered her head bashfully. "Thank you."

"No problem," Old White replied casually. "Just eat slowly. It’s hot."

Then he sat down across from them.

Unable to resist the hunger gnawing at her belly, Chen Yutong eagerly opened the tin.

The food looked unfamiliar, and it even looked a bit strange. However, she quickly imitated Old White’s movements, scooping a spoonful of rice soaked in sauce before sending it past her lips.

The moment it touched her tongue, her pupils lit up with strange colors.

The taste is... weird.

So she took another bite. And another. Her previously tense expression began to relax with every mouthful. Surprise grew in her eyes.

What kind of incredible technology is this? Did they find it in some ancient ruin?

Seeing the young man still sitting stiffly, Old White chuckled and teased, "Go on, eat. It’s not poisoned. You’re not worth the trouble."

Still staring at his food, Zhao Xiao suddenly asked in a low voice, "I killed one of your men. Don’t you hate me?"

Chen Yutong immediately glanced at him, shocked, her rice-stained face silently screaming.

Are you trying to die?

But Old White, sitting across from them, didn’t seem to care. He bit into his meal and replied flatly, "Hate is too strong a word. He was a soldier. A 17 or 18 year old kid like you can’t kill him. If he wanted, he could beat you black and blue with his bare hands. What had killed him was war. You just happened to pull the trigger.”

Of course, the only reason he could talk like that was because he could respawn. If it were real life, maybe he would feel differently.

With that in mind, Old White chuckled. "Well, that’s just me. If someone else catches you next time, you might not be so lucky."

Zhao Xiao’s expression grew stiff, emotions churning in his mind.

Sensing the heaviness in the air, Chen Yutong quickly changed the subject. "The New Alliance... What kind of place is it, really?"

It was a spur-of-the-moment question, but one she had been wondering about for a while.

"That’s a pretty abstract question," Old White replied after some thought. "To wastelanders, I suppose it’s a place where people can huddle together for warmth."

Zhao Xiao looked at him in surprise. "From the way you talk, you’re not from the wasteland. Are you a shelter resident?"

Seeing their startled faces, Old White stroked his stubbly beard and smiled. "It’s not surprising you can’t tell. My beard just grows fast. When I shave, I still kind of look like one."

Zhao Xiao’s face shifted subtly. In his mind, shelter residents didn’t act like this.

"And to you?" Chen Yutong pressed. "What does the New Alliance mean to someone from a shelter?"

"To me..." Old White paused to think, then said seriously, "To me, it’s a place where I was reborn."

"Reborn?" Zhao Xiao repeated.

Old White answered in a casual tone. "Yeah. I left the military a while back. Civilian life was pretty good, but all the experience and knowledge I built up wasn’t really useful anymore. Sometimes I miss it. But here, I’ve rediscovered a sense of purpose that I didn’t even know I was missing."

Seeking meaning in a virtual world might sound odd, but craving battle in the real world was even stranger.

If push came to shove, he would return to his old unit without hesitation, ready to defend his principles with burning will.

But ideally, he hoped for lasting peace. He was perfectly happy never having to use his skills outside the game.

Those listening didn’t fully understand him, especially with all the terms they had never heard before.

Chen Yutong furrowed her brow. "Purpose?"

"That’s right. The purpose of being alive." Old White said with a smile. "People need something beyond food and water to strive for. The New Alliance’s way of doing things suits me. Watching our New Alliance grow day by day, it’s pretty fun."

A goal beyond basic survival. What a luxury.

Chen Yutong looked at her empty mess tin, clean to the last drop of sauce, before revealing a bitter smile. Out in the wasteland, just staying alive was already hard enough.

Seeing the silence between them, Old White joked, "Don’t just ask me things. Who’s the real prisoner here anyway? Come on, let’s chat."

Zhao Xiao replied warily, "Chat about what?"

Old White chuckled, "Anything. Life, dreams, girls you like..."

Establishing rapport made it easier to dig for useful info, and he was a seasoned professional.

When they caught prisoners, they rarely interrogated them right away. Instead, they would talk about home, swap stories, and remind them they weren’t just soldiers. They were someone’s friend, husband, or family.

And so were their captors.

Appealing to emotion was far more effective than torture. Given time, most prisoners would slip up and spill something, often without realizing it.

Of course, that only worked on regular captives, especially those who weren’t professionally trained. Trained spies were another story entirely.

And that wasn’t their job anyway.