Chapter 511.3: The Same Choice

Su Ming ignored him and continued, speaking to Night Ten, who was stifling laughter for some reason. "In my view, the ones who should be punished are the Enlightenment Society’s leadership."

"Even if she killed someone from the Army, just thinking about what those Wislanders do to their prisoners makes me sick. And it's not just working in the mines... Do you want to know more? I’ve heard things from traveling merchants."

Night Ten coughed. "No, thanks."

Wasteland Online was supposed to be a fun game. There was no need for heavy trauma. He wasn’t into that dark stuff. And really, who needed to guess?

When they captured the Heart of Steel, they had saved quite a few poor souls who had been brutalized by those big-nosed freaks.

In a feudal system where even a single airship or manor could become its own kingdom, the only check on Wislanders’ behavior was the personal morality of their direct superiors.

Which, frankly, was unreliable.

Even if the Army took half the Central Continent, the most civilized place they had was Triumphant City under the Marshal’s rule, and even that was only relatively civilized.

It was clear that Zhuang Lan would never stand trial. She’d likely be tortured to death by Cohen.

"So, she’s yours to deal with. We won’t hand her to the Army. Do whatever you want." Su Ming shrugged and sealed her fate.

Night Ten figured the dude had just dumped the problem onto the New Alliance. But hey, that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Even if she was just a disciple, her third tier awakened strength and speed, plus the fact she had been sent on this mission, made her at least an elite mob.

If they put some effort into it, they might be able to extract valuable intelligence from her.

After occupying so many shelters, especially the prime land in the Great Desert, the Enlightenment Society had to have hoarded plenty of good stuff.

Thinking of that strange memory extraction device they’d seen earlier, a sly smile crept across Night Ten’s face.

Why not use that on her?

Do unto others as they did unto you. Very reasonable. I should suggest it to the administrator!

"Hey," a voice interrupted Night Ten’s nasty schemes.

He turned toward the sound and saw the D-class Researcher from the Academy standing there, looking like she wanted to say something.

The girl had never been nice to him. He had no interest in her, so he asked impatiently, "What do you want?!"

Jiang Xuezhou said nothing for a long time.

Just as he was about to lose his patience, she finally squeaked in a small voice. "... Did you see?"

"Huh?" He didn’t catch what she meant and simply grunted whatever he thought of.

Seeing him playing dumb, Jiang Xuezhou’s face flushed. She bit her lip and swallowed the words she had been about to say. "... Nothing."

"... Huh?!"

You little weirdo! What’s wrong with you?!

Changing the subject quickly, Jiang Xuezhou continued, "By the way..."

Night Ten rolled his eyes. "What now?"

Jiang Xuezhou asked quietly, "That person... She disguised as me, right?"

"Yeah."

Jiang Xuezhou asked immediately, "How did you tell it wasn’t me?"

It was a question she had wanted to ask ever since they left the shelter, but hadn’t figured out how.

Seeing her expectant gaze, Night Ten smiled sheepishly.

Oh...

Embarrassing as it was, he was actually a veteran player, just overshadowed by others in the group. His instincts were second to none.

No one on the server had sharper perception, not even that 200-year-old grandma from the Enterprise managed to detect the difference. However, he did.

"Well... That’s easy. You guys weren’t the same."

Jiang Xuezhou was taken aback. "Not the same?"

"Yeah," Night Ten said plainly. "Maybe it’s just my sharp instincts. The moment she stood at the door, I knew she wasn’t you."

"... You talk like you know me that well."

Night Ten waved her off. "Don’t need to. You’re you. She’s her. You guys are two different people. How can you be the same?"

A blush crept up her pale cheeks. Jiang Xuezhou stared at him, bit her lip, then huffed coldly and walked away.

Night Ten stared after her in bewilderment.

What the hell is this?!

He thought maybe he had triggered a hidden quest, or she would drop some gold coins out of gratitude, but nope, she just walked off.

This little shit... When the hell did I offend you?!

...

Not long after Night Ten, Su Ming, and the others left the industrial building, a deafening explosion engulfed Shelter 0.

The 10-kiloton blast completely destroyed the unfinished shelter and, at the very least, physically annihilated part of the server.

The project manual and video left behind by Captain Lu explained everything that had happened.

Although it was unfortunate they hadn’t found any treasure, the outcome was still acceptable to most parties involved.

But what no one expected was the chain reaction caused by the explosion, which triggered a collapse on the surface. Unfortunately, the power core happened to lie directly beneath where the Adjudicator had crash-landed.

The Wislanders who had survived by hiding in the shock-absorbing chambers were just catching their breath, when fire lit up beneath them again.

The shelter itself had absorbed most of the blast. Had the yield been any higher, few would’ve survived...

...

In the camp.

Adelia stormed up to Chu Guang, furious. "What the hell was that explosion?!"

Chu Guang looked at him with a puzzled face.

Fuck bro? What has that got to do with your grandaddy here?

Still, sensing the man’s urgency, he coughed lightly and offered a vague comfort. "I heard that place was an unfinished shelter. Maybe the reactor exploded from old age..."

Adelia scoffed. "A Gen-3 controlled fusion reactor exploding?! The critical temperature is in the billions of degrees!"

Maybe tens of billions. Bah whatever... He couldn’t remember. But he did know it wasn’t a damn gasoline barrel anyone could ignite with a lighter.

Chu Guang shrugged. "I have no idea either. I’m just as confused... I just hope my people made it back. They might know something."

Unlike the clueless representatives of the Army, Enterprise, and Academy, Chu Guang actually had some idea of what happened below. Battlefield Cheerleader had rushed to log out and report everything to him.

Though surprised by the players’ choices, Chu Guang still respected them. The New Alliance didn’t need that kind of thing.

He had said it before and he would say it again. He would stay with his people till the end.

Looking at the furious Adelia, Chu Guang smiled and added, "By the way, if your airship can’t be fixed..."

"No thanks!" Before Adelia could respond, McClennan yanked him back and answered for them, glaring at Chu Guang with suspicion. "We’ll fix it ourselves. We don’t need your help!"

Chu Guang paused, then chuckled, "I didn’t even say anything yet."

McClennan’s face darkened. "Don’t bother. I don’t want to know what you’re going to say."

A few Wislanders rushed off toward the industrial building.

Chu Guang guessed they were going to ask Wally what had happened, but unfortunately, that guy had already been killed by the Enlightenment Society.

At that moment, Lu Bei approached. With his right fist to his chest, he spoke in a grave tone, "Sir, the Death Corps’ Wolf Cavalry has located the phase cannon that attacked us, but couldn’t find the enemy command post."

Chu Guang frowned. "No command post?"

Lu Bei nodded in embarrassment. "Yes... According to one wolf rider’s report, the enemy command center isn’t nearby. He found a signal tower near the source. It appears to be connected to other terminals by wire, possibly over a very long distance."