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Is This Really A Game? - Chapter 207

Published at 27th of June 2023 06:56:53 AM


Chapter 207

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"Hmph... ummm..."

The gate of Highway Town.

Holding the tail of the rifle, leaning against the rusty road sign, leisurely humming a little tune that Sisi has never heard.

It's also strange to hear.

"What are you whimpering about Tail?"

Seeing Sisi looking over, the corner of the mouth of Tail turned up, and said proudly.

"Song heard on the radio!"

"Radio?" Sisi froze for a moment.

What an ancient setting.

Tail looked brightly and said: "There is a radio in the reception room on the first floor of the nursing home. It will play some incomprehensible things at night, and it will play a few repeated singles in a loop in the afternoon. It seems to be the original soundtrack built into the game! I observed before It's been a whole day! Hey, Sisi didn't find this easter egg!"

Why should I pay attention to such boring things?

Sisi looked helplessly at the slowly moving clouds in the sky, and said with a light sigh.

"By the way, is it really good for us to fish in trouble water like this every time?"

Tail gave Sisi a dissatisfied look.

"What is fishing! Isn't Tail working hard?"

Sisi reminded.

"I heard that deserting while on guard is a death flag."

Tail didn't care.

"Don't be afraid, Tail is an agility system, as long as Tail is fast enough, death will always be one step slower than me!"

Sisi: "..."

The team they were in at the moment was on an inter-provincial highway leading to the east.

The terrain of the highway is relatively high, with gentle slopes on both sides. Because it is an inter-provincial highway, there are few buildings nearby. Outside the guardrail, there are patches of pine and cypress trees, as well as litter and shrubs dotted in the forest.

The name of this survivor stronghold is Highway Town, as the name suggests, it is a small town built on the highway. The only landmark here is probably the three-story road sign behind the tail, which is why this survivor settlement got its name.

The survivors here built a long and narrow settlement along the road using materials from scrapped cars and wood obtained from felling trees.

The advantage of doing this is that you don’t have to worry about the house being soaked in water in rainy weather, and when wolves and hyenas wander over, you don’t dare to attack people living on the slope from both sides rashly.

The architectural style here is quite wild, just like the temper of the local residents.

They don't usually grow crops, and mainly raise goats that are as tall as horses. If you have to find out the only difference between them and nomads, it is probably that they will not move their nests easily. Occasionally, they will plant some cash crops such as cam trees, and sell the produced rubber and oil-extracting from cam trees.

To be honest, Sisi admires the operator of "Wasteland OL" for being able to make each survivor settlement have a different style. And this very different style is not only reflected in the modeling and texture of the game, but goes deep into the deeper core.

These survivors have their own unique culture and customs, and have different moral principles, world views, and beliefs from others.

This kind of detail is not only reflected on the collective level, but also accurate to everyone in the collective.

While they were standing guard, a child in a fur coat was standing under a small tree, as if saying goodbye to something. The men and women with their bags on their backs stood at the door of their homes, looking sad at the new home that had just been repaired.

Not far away, because they want to take away the cam trees wrapped in hemp rope and plastic in the field, the old man over fifty is arguing fiercely with the scar-faced man.

They are like real people.

Not only does he have his own life, but the trajectory of his life is also affected by countless variables, and thus evolves a tree diagram that breeds countless possibilities, rather than a one-way line that can be seen at a glance.

This is much better than those sandbox games she has played.

Even more "Powerful" than reality!

She even wanted to set off immediately, packed her bags, and went on a trip.

But then again... Does this count as a desertion?

Sisi glanced sideways unconsciously, and found that no one was paying attention to them.

Maybe it's because the other team members didn't expect too much from them from the beginning, and I'm the Darkest, and another friend from the perception department consciously went out to scout.

The man in the field carrying a rifle kept wandering around in the distance, trying to find someone to fight with, but the weather was so cold that he couldn't even find a mutant hyena.

Captain Wrench, who is currently wearing the only "Orange" exoskeleton in the full suit, always stands in the most stable place to command, and has carefully arranged specific tasks for each team member - including those who are used as bait outside like Keeping People Under The Knife and I'm the Darkest.

In general, this team is relatively reliable, at least much more reliable than the death team of Killing Chicken At Midnight, and others.

So much so that Sisi often thinks about the meaning of being here with Tail.

Glancing at the time on the VM screen, Tail yawned and said, "Sisi, it seems that there is no fight today, and we can only wait for tomorrow to show our skills."

"Ao, please quickly recall that you are actually a girl—"

Suddenly there was a loud bang in the distance, interrupting Sisi's complaints.

The two looked in the direction of the explosion sound in unison, and they both grabbed the weapons in their hands.

"An enemy is coming?!" Tail was full of energy, her eyes were shining brightly.

Sisi glanced at the map, pondered for a moment, and said.

"No... I feel that the sound is quite far away. It's probably from other teams."

At this time, the old man in the field was cursing from a distance, which confirmed her conjecture.

"Hey! Why didn't we trigger the plot? Bad review!"

Unlike the regrets of the players, the survivors in Highway Town were obviously frightened by the explosion, they all stopped what they were doing, and looked towards the northeast with a look of surprise.

"What happened?"

"That voice..."

"Did something explode?"

"Could it be a Bone Chew Tribe!"

"Those bloody marauders! Let me catch 'em, and I'll wring their heads off!"

The crowd chattered.

Nolan, who was standing in the Cam Tree Garden, frowned, and the burn scars on his face were crowded together. He put his hand on his waist unconsciously, but quickly drew it back.

The sound is at least 4 kilometers away from here, separated by a large area of ​​ruins and wasteland, it still takes some time to come here.

The old man who was still arguing with him just a second ago also looked at the northeast direction sharply and muttered to himself.

"It's the direction of the Green Battery Factory."

His name is Hooker, and he is 56 years old this year. He was a vigorous hunter when he was young, until he was shot in the knee and became the old Hooker who planted cam trees.

Although he is not an awakened person, but to live to his age, rich experience is not inferior to being powerful at the genetic level.

Nolan looked at him solemnly and asked.

"The group of blacksmiths?"

Hooker closed his eyes and nodded slightly.

"It should be... Listen carefully, there are gunshots, and there are quite a few."

Nolan held his breath and listened carefully for a while, frowning into a ball.

"At least there are 40 people."

"At least double that."

Glancing at the trees on the two acres of land, the old man sighed as if he finally gave up, and shook his head regretfully.

"Go to your father. We have to move faster!"

...

Outside the west gate of the outpost, not far from the shooting range of the guards, there is a house made of red bricks, with only one iron window facing the outpost.

This is the prison of the outpost, and at the moment, several prisoners who have just been sent from Starwood Farm are being held.

In addition, there is a special "Prisoner" held there.

In the wooden shed, the four-meter-long Deathclaw curled up in a corner.

Its body was wrapped with iron chains and ropes made of devil's silk, and its amber pupils reflected a dangerous light, scanning the people at the door.

After being glanced at by the beast, Sumeria took a step back unconsciously, nervously holding the sickle assault rifle in his hand.

This stuff. Much more dangerous than a Crawler!

"You, why did you bring this thing near the door of your house?"

Lucius, who was standing next to her, said without thinking.

"For research, of course."

He is wearing power armor, and he also wears a carbon nano body armor that he got at the beginning of the game, and he carries a nitrogen powered hammer on his back, which can be said to be armed to the teeth.

Not to mention a mere Deathclaw, even if the Split Claw Queen stood in front of him, he was confident that he would be able to retreat completely.

"By the way, in fact, you don't need to come here."

"What stupid things are you talking about, such a dangerous thing, how could I let you come alone."

Lucius looked at Boss Sumeria with a tense face with great interest, and couldn't help thinking, when did this guy become so brave.

Is it because of that leg? Looks like it's worth the money.

"Unbelievable... this is unbelievable!"

Muttering to herself, Hena walked forward with a frenzied face, so frightened that Lucius quickly pulled her back.

"Are you crazy?"

Laozi's SSSR card!

No, it should be said to be the players' SSSR cards!

"Crazy? No, the world is crazy. I have never seen such an amazing creature!"

Looking at the lizard intoxicated, Hena continued.

"I checked the DNA of this guy, and it undoubtedly belongs to the chordate phylum Reptiles lizards! But its body has evolved its own body temperature regulation mechanism, which can maintain a high metabolism in winter like mammals, as long as It is willing, not to hibernate even in winter!"

"Even taiga lizards can only maintain a constant body temperature for a period of time during reproduction... Is this really radiation mutation?"

Lucius didn't know how to answer this question. After all, he had been in this world for less than a year, and it was the first time he had seen such a terrifying monster.

Tom, who was standing aside, also had a look of disbelief in his eyes.

It's just that what he paid attention to was different from Hena's, and his eyes were fixed on the jet-black device on the neck of the Deathclaw.

It looks like a big ring!

"It's really outrageous...the device installed on the back of its head can really make it connect with people's thinking?"

"The result of the interrogation is indeed so, do you want to try?"

As he spoke, Lucius took out a prop with the same shape as the "Earphone with microphone" and threw it in Tom's hand.

After Tom took it, he held it in his hand and pondered for a while, and quickly put it on his head without a teacher.

The power is turned on. Turn the knob all the way up!

A slight electrical sound sounded, as if the brain had been electrified.

But other than that, there seems to be no other feeling.

"What's wrong with this thing—hiss!"

The stabbing pain in the depths of his mind made Tom let out a soft cry of pain, and subconsciously stretched out his hand to press his temple.

But the pain came and went quickly, and soon he got used to the tingling feeling and put his hand down.

Seeing Tom slowing down, Lucius, who had already tried it once, continued.

"You can try to order that monster...for example, order it to stand up."

Holding the wheat at the corner of his mouth, Tom took a deep breath, stared at the Deathclaw and said.

"Stand up!"

The body trembled, and the Deathclaw lying on the ground, although resisting the order, still dragged its scarred body and slowly stood up from the ground.

F*ck?

Really working?!

Tom was so shocked that he even forgot about his headache, and continued to give orders.

"Get down!"

Deathclaw lay obediently on the ground.

The expression on his face became more and more shocking, and Tom continued to order it excitedly, as if he had discovered a new continent.

"Stand up!"

"Hop on one leg!"

"Use your tail to draw circles on the ground! Tsk, can't this work? Then bark like a dog!"

"..."

Deathclaw, who was tossed repeatedly, gradually showed a painful expression on his face, the neurons in his body were highly active, and his brain waves began to become disordered.

Lucius could clearly feel that if it wasn't for the iron chains, the beast would probably have to tear the guy in front of him with his paws!

But Tom didn't care about these.

He just wanted to figure out where the limits of the apparatus were.

He tried almost all the commands that could be tried, and just when Tom was thinking about what other commands he could try, he suddenly felt dizzy in his brain, and he fell back with a shake of his shoulders.

Lucius gently pushed forward with his left hand, dragged Dr. Tom who was falling backwards, and took off the headset on his head with the other hand.

"It's best not to use this thing continuously...it will not only cause a mental load on the subject being manipulated, but also on the person who uses this device."

Lucius tried this thing once before.

Rather than mind control, the function of this device is more similar to a kind of "Hypnosis".

It does not allow the user to directly manipulate the actions of the controlled person, but through pressure on the spiritual level, in a way of spiritual suggestion, the alien species that have been ringed can execute a few simple commands.

Such as predation.

Another example is forward, backward or running in a certain direction.

Hopping on one foot can barely be performed, but there is no way to do things like draw circles on the ground with the tail or learn how to bark like a dog.

This device does not allow the subject to complete commands beyond his cognition, unless he has voluntarily done similar things at a certain moment in his life before.

Even so, the device was impressive, but it was far from the "Morphing field" in his shelter.

Players from "Different worlds" can directly "Soul wear" clones, isn't this much more awesome than some indirect PUA and master's orders?

The clones don't die, and the player can keep fighting.

Not like this guy.

Break the ring around its neck, and it's probably out of control.

"Sorry, I'm having a bit of fun, I've never seen this kind of technique..." Tom shook his head and regained his footing.

Lucius said thoughtfully.

"A technology that even the academy doesn't know?"

Tom said helplessly.

"Academy is not omniscient, and there are things we don't know much or don't understand at all."

After a pause, he continued.

"I should have told you before, in order to facilitate the remodeling work, we divide the technology into seven levels of FEDCBAS for management according to the difficulty of remodeling, and allocate personnel and budget reasonably."

Lucius nodded.

"You did say it once."

Tom continued.

"In fact, in addition to the well-known seven levels, there is an eighth level outside the system -- what we call the singularity."

"Singularity?" Lucius frowned and asked, "What do you mean?"

Tom: "It represents the cutting edge, and it is about the future blank. These technologies are like singularities in calculus, unanalyzed points in complex variable functions, an island independent of the set... They are like our the bottleneck between the future and the present."

"For example, you may have never heard of the neutrino channel, or the mutants flooding the wasteland... They are all singularities. Although they are immature, they usually have extremely attractive prospects behind them. Once it is completed, it will be foreseeable to set off a round of technological revolution. For example, the former corresponds to faster-than-light travel, and we will be able to go to farther galaxies faster and cheaper, and the latter corresponds to super life with the ability to adapt to all environments. "

Saying that, Tom shrugged his shoulders.

"Of course, the technological revolution mentioned here is based on the premise of a complete society. What we need now is obviously not innovation, but revival. So...the college doesn't know much about singularities, and only selectively retains some A topic worth continuing, the focus of recycling work is mainly on the mature technologies within the system.”

The isolated individual outside the system is a "Future technology" that has not been researched even before the war.

To make an inappropriate metaphor, it is probably similar to the forbidden magic in fantasy settings?

That's all Lucius could understand.

"I suddenly became curious, is the clone of the legion a singularity?"

To Lucius's surprise, Tom nodded decisively.

"Forget it, but it can only be counted as half. The full name of the whole project should be 'full life cycle adjustable technology'. If it can be completed, theoretically we can shorten or extend the time of any life cycle of any life, and control it in the true sense. evolution."

"As long as you want, you can be a child or an adult for the rest of your life, and you will live forever on the genetic level. Our race will completely get rid of the backward r strategy and k strategy, no longer accept natural selection, but define itself by self .”

Hena, who was standing beside her, was stunned on the spot.

"Can such a thing be done?"

"Who knows?" Tom shrugged, "Maybe, maybe not. Only the future can know everything about the future."

Regarding whether this kind of thing can be realized, Tom and Hena started an academic discussion. Obviously Hena didn't believe it, saying that such a thing was unheard of.

But Tom glanced at her confident statement.

"You are so young... Hasn't your mentor taught you not to jump to conclusions about unknown things?"

Hearing that Tom actually pointed the topic at his mentor, Hena instantly blew up.

Sumeria, on the other hand, was in a daze the whole time. She couldn't remember exactly when she couldn't understand it.

Lucius fell into deep thought.

He suddenly thought of that recording, the expression about the "Morphological field".

After organizing the language for a while, Lucius interrupted the argument between the two and spoke.

"If there is a technology that can establish a strong connection between two different dimensions of consciousness, and transmit information across the boundaries of space and time."

"What the hell is that? Magic?" Tom, who was arguing with the boss, replied without thinking, and the tone sounded like a mockery.

But maybe because he thought that this person was not easy to bully, he immediately closed his mouth when he opened his mouth just now.

But Lucius didn't take what he said to heart.

Because he felt the same way. Something unheard of sounds almost like a miracle.

However, seeing Tom's reaction, Lucius probably understood.

A certain technology hidden in shelter 404 has obviously surpassed the cognition of the academy, so naturally it cannot be included in the FEDCBAS classification system.

There is no doubt that it has reached the realm of "Singularity"!

And it seems to have matured...

Just when Lucius was about to chat with Hena about the Torch Church, Popo's voice suddenly came from the communication channel.

"Master, something happened to your players!"

Hearing this sentence, Lucius was slightly taken aback, and before he had time to ask, he immediately closed the helmet's visor, tapped his index finger a few times in front of the tactical eyepiece, and switched to the map interface.

Sumeria, who was standing beside him, realized something when he saw Lucius's sudden movement, and quickly asked in a low voice.

"What happens?"

Lucius, who was staring at the map, frowned and said in a deep voice.

"There is a situation."

Almost as soon as the voice fell, a guard trotted over from a distance.

Standing still in front of Lucius, he gave a military salute and said solemnly.

"Master Manager, the team you sent to the Green Battery Factory to cover the evacuation of the local survivors was attacked by predators!"

"Understood, I have arranged for someone to go."

Lucius looked up at the nursing home, and saw a spare hummingbird drone flying into the air, and quickly disappeared in the northeast direction.

Just now, he had mobilized the team that was performing missions nearby to support them, and issued defensive missions to the players on the front line.

Hold out until reinforcements arrive!

"You have to hold on!"

..........

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