This Game Is Too Real-Chapter 760: The Study Club in the Swamp and the Drastic Changes in the Southern Sea Area

Area 721 had neither a café nor a restaurant, but it did boast a library.

Not only that, the collection of books was quite substantial and the building itself was majestic, essentially the biggest "concrete house" in town.

Typically, in the morning, school-age students would be in class while the workers toiled away at the mines. Hence, the three "Academy people" who had returned home for a visit chose to meet here.

And there was Night Ten from the Alliance.

Jiang Xuezhou had planned to brew a round of coffee for everyone, but no sooner had he taken out the coffee pot than Wu Xiaoxiao took it from him.

"I’ll do it," the girl said with a shy smile, light dimples gracing her cheeks.

Jiang Xuezhou didn’t refuse, thanked her politely, and then pulled out a chair to sit at the table.

Soon, there were four cups of coffee on the table.

Seeing pairs of expectant eyes turning to him, Night Ten, who had just taken a sip of coffee, immediately understood the look and gave a light cough.

"Where did I leave off last time?"

Li Xiang asked with bright, eager eyes.

"The battle on Bet Street!"

"Oh..." Night Ten suddenly remembered, with old memories surfacing along with it.

But did that really count as a battle?

Still, since he was the one telling the story, Night Ten cleared his throat, entered the emotion of the moment, and continued.

Wu Xiaoxiao, still a Prospector, and the others listened with rapt attention.

However, just as he got to the beginning of the Alliance’s industrial development, Li Xiang suddenly raised his hand, interrupting the tale.

"Hold on, there’s something I don’t understand... You just mentioned that the initial Residents of the Alliance were mostly Waste Land Wanderers and liberated Slaves who had no education at all, not even able to recognize letters. How did they develop industry?"

Wu Xiaoxiao also nodded in agreement.

"I heard that people on the Wasteland don’t even know how to count..."

Night Ten nodded thoughtfully.

"That was indeed a challenge. Even our wise and mighty Manager found it difficult, but he didn’t give up. On one hand, he called on the knowledgeable Residents of the refuge to devote themselves to construction on the front lines; on the other hand, he set up night schools in the industrial district to teach the liberated people the methods and skills of production. He even took on the role of a tutor himself."

Li Xiang furrowed his brow and asked.

"Night school... Is that a kind of school?"

Night Ten replied succinctly.

"You could say that, but unlike the schools on Bet Street, night school mainly helps adults learn to read and write. After all, workers have jobs during the day and can only study at night."

He was a combat professional player and, although he took part in construction at the beginning, eventually he spent more time fighting.

By contrast, the Alliance’s life-skill players probably knew more about the situation at that time, as much of what he heard also came from the Forum.

"Work during the day, learn at night... They hardly have any time left in a day," Wu Xiaoxiao remarked while holding her warm cup of coffee.

"The learning is also for their own good. If a person wants to take it easy, they have to use more advanced production tools. If a group wants to take it easy, most need to use advanced tools. The Alliance as it is today couldn’t emerge from simple pottery and machinery, though this was indispensable at the time."

After pausing, Night Ten continued.

"Besides, their hardships were only temporary. Later on, we returned the time that belonged to them, along with other things we borrowed."

Li Xiang asked with interest, "Like what?"

Night Ten thought for a moment and said, "Like power and responsibility. We’re not going to hand-hold them on how to make products better. They have their own industry representatives and institutions. They need to set their own rules and define for themselves what ’good’ is—not just for products, but also for lifestyles and more. After all, the version—ahem, I mean the world—is constantly updating. We’re at the forefront of the world, such as liberating more people."

The eyes of the three shone brightly, captivated by the story he depicted.

Strictly speaking, this wasn’t a story. After all, this had happened on the Wasteland and was still unfolding.

Although the flame’s light itself wasn’t surprising, what was surprising was that it arose from the ruins that once had nothing.

There, without the near-magical technology of the technical committee, the iron-fisted control of the Army, or the abundant resources of the Company, there were only the survivors themselves.

"If a miracle like this could also happen in the Wandering Swamp, that would be great. Although it’s a harsh, cold place, it has so much more potential than the River Valley Province."

As the three looked on with aspiration, Night Ten cleared his throat gently.

"...But I must say, our way isn’t the only way. What you’re doing is pretty good too. The people here are already living better than most survivors on the Wasteland. You don’t need to start from scratch like us—it’d be putting the cart before the horse."

Li Xiang looked at him sincerely and asked.

"So, what do you think we should do?"

"What do I know? I’m not one of you..." Night Ten said with a mix of laughter and helpless expression, scratching his head and offering an ambiguous answer, "Maybe... still aim to find a new homeland as a long-term goal, but at the same time, be a little nicer to those who can’t make it to the new world?"

As Wu Xiaoxiao heard this, her gaze suddenly became fearful and she spoke in a lowered voice.

"That’s a decision for the higher-ups like the doctors to make..."

"Then don’t set such ambitious goals. Start with the small things around you. Be a bit nicer to the ordinary people nearby and use your knowledge to improve their living conditions. G points should be exchangeable for more than just food."

"Right," Jiang Xuezhou said with his expression clearing somewhat, nodding thoughtfully, "I could bring back some tools that the mine teams could use."

Night Ten spoke patiently.

"It’s not just about tools, but also about key methods... Although it sounds a bit abstract, you have a much broader vision than the Residents of Area 721, and there should be many areas where you can help them."

Li Xiang rubbed his chin, pondering and muttering to himself.

"Are you talking about knowledge? But the Academy has a school, and the people here have been learning since birth, so they probably don’t need us to do anything."

Jiang Xue Zhou shook his head.

"The Academy’s school only teaches them what the Academy needs, but they seldom learn what they really need. We must teach them the latter as well, just like the Alliance’s schools teaching them scientific methods and the logic of exploring the laws of objective reality... At least we can’t let them become self-centered people like Su Qiming."

Night Ten: "Su Qiming?"

Li Xiang said with a smile.

"Ah, that’s the one who had a verbal dispute with you on the train, an E-level Researcher, a refined egoist."

When he said the latter half of the sentence, his tone was mocking.

Night Ten suddenly snapped back to reality.

"Oh, oh... I had forgotten about that."

But can such mild wording really be considered a quarrel?

It seems that the folks at the Academy are indeed exceptionally petty...

Wu Xiaoxiao said with some hesitation.

"But we can’t take up the children’s time, they need to take exams."

Jiang Xue Zhou stroked his chin and nodded.

"I think so, too... So how about extra tutoring as extracurricular? We’ll only teach children aged 12 to 14 and young adults from 18 to 20. The former are just old enough to be eligible for the exams, so the pressure isn’t that great, and the latter’s chances are pretty much slim to none. If we can influence more people, it might just spur the Science Committee to initiate a self-driven reform."

Li Xiang’s eyes lit up.

"That’s a great idea! I’m in favor!"

Seeing the two agree, Wu Xiaoxiao still hesitated, but did not argue any further.

With his proposal supported, the brightness in Jiang Xue Zhou’s eyes increased. Clenching his fist on the table, he continued talking excitedly.

"We need to name this organization... How about calling it the Student Union?"

At first, Night Ten watched them discuss with amusement, but upon hearing this lousy name, he almost spat out his coffee and coughed twice.

"Let’s call it the Study Club... sounds a bit nicer."

Because of playing this damn game, he had been deducted points for room inspection, although he didn’t know what that was all about.

Jiang Xue Zhou and Li Xiang looked at each other, with no objections, and nodded.

"I think it’s okay."

"I don’t mind... Then we’ll go with that name."

"I... agree too." Wu Xiaoxiao’s eyes carried some worry, but ultimately, she didn’t say more.

The Science Committee indeed had no restriction on Researchers organizing survivors’ learning, but such a thing had never happened before.

Her story of the United Human sounded very attractive, she even felt a vague temptation to go and see it for herself.

However, while some stories sound good, when it comes to making changes, she doesn’t know if it’s the right thing to do.

After all.

Xue Zhou’s elder sister was just a Class D Researcher.

Even though she was a prospective Research Department member, and her mentor was a great power close to becoming a Level A, compared to the entire Academy, this power was still too insignificant.

What’s more, this kind of thing might not even get the support of her mentor.

The latter half of the meeting essentially turned into a discussion of the details of the Study Club, as well as how to attract more researchers to participate.

For this, they also discussed how to help age-appropriate students enter the Academy and use it to expand the Study Club’s influence among the Academy’s grassroots power.

Night Ten was originally planning to continue with the story he had just concocted, but seeing that both Jiang Xue Zhou and Li Xiang had lost interest in the latter part of the story, only Wu Xiaoxiao looked at him eagerly, waiting for the continuation.

Unnoticed, evening had arrived.

It wasn’t until he returned home with Jiang Xue Zhou and stood in the entryway that Night Ten suddenly realized.

He had intended to undermine the Academy’s foundation but ended up telling stories all day. As for the proper job, he completely forgot about it without making any progress.

"Damn it, what a trap!"

"wocao?" Jiang Yuehan, who was sneaking a peek from the side of the entryway, cocked her head.

"Children shouldn’t learn that." Night Ten quickly went to cover her mouth but was caught by Jiang Xue Zhou.

"What are you trying to do to my sister?"

"It’s not—what I—" Faced with that murderous gaze, Night Ten made a constipated facial expression, and after hemming and hawing for a long time, couldn’t explain himself.

The little figure hiding behind the shoe cabinet laughed stealthily, even making a cheeky face.

"Giggle, wocao!"

Night Ten: "...@#%!"

...

While Night Ten was getting his head knocked around by Jiang Xuezhou and seeking refuge in the kitchen, a similar scene of merriment and liveliness was unfolding aboard the Meat Meat docked at West Sail Port.

West Sail Port’s dock.

In the treasury of Meat Meat, a human and a bear were rolling around in a pile of gold coins.

Lying spread-eagled on the gold coin-covered floor, tail sat in a backstroke swimming position, eyes closed, talking in his sleep.

"Ohhh, Meat Meat, did you know! When I was little, I always dreamed of swimming in a coin pool in a treasury like Uncle Scrooge!"

"What’s Uncle Scrooge?"

"Yikes, yikes, yikes, haven’t you watched Donald Duck?"

"... Pff, our treasury still has some catching up to do compared to that guy’s, doesn’t it?"

"It’s not important! It’s the feeling that counts!"

Completely unable to keep up with their conversation, Sesame Paste stood to the side with an aunt-like smile adorning his face, while Si Si painstakingly tallied the accounts at a desk.

A total of six hundred fifty tons of goods had been completely sold out, bringing in a sales revenue of 4.9 million silver coins.

After deducting the cost of goods, labor expenses, and other shipping costs and taxes, the profit from this trading run had reached an astonishing 2 million silver coins!

Some of the payment was made through the Sticky Community’s electronic money settlement system, while some were paid directly using dinars at an exchange rate of 1:5.

Considering the exchange rate difference, the actual profit from this deal was probably even higher.

After all, the general exchange rate between dinars and silver coins within the Army’s main trading zones is around 1:3.

At this moment, the earned gold coins had been laid out on the floor by Ah Wei and Meat Meat, to experience the coin bath that was hard to come by in real life.

"... When I grow old someday, I’ll convert all my money into gold coins and hide them on a small island!" Tail, tired from playing, suddenly let out a long sigh and reached up towards the ceiling.

"Could you sneakily tell me where you plan to hide them?" Meat Meat’s ears perked up as she asked.

Tail chuckled and climbed up from the mound of gold coins, sitting cross-legged on the floor.

"Wow! Meat Meat also wants Black Tail’s treasure? Go search for it then, it’s at the end of Star Sea! Go for it, all the wealth of the world is there!"

This joke was too old; Meat Meat rolled her eyes, not joining in the silliness.

Actually, she was a person easily satisfied with little; she wasn’t particularly desirous of money but enjoyed the process of adventuring with her companions more than that of making money.

In contrast, Si Si might enjoy the fun of making money since she was always so serious.

However, what Meat Meat was curious about was why Si Si would share such a lucrative deal on the forum.

The furry bear paw picked up a gold coin, and she looked toward Si Si, who stretched and leaned back in her chair, and asked curiously.

"So why post such a money making route on the official website? Isn’t quiet wealth better?"

At that, Si Si couldn’t help but smile, casually saying,

"Making a small fortune through information asymmetry is fine, but it’s somewhat difficult to make a big fortune that way."

"Huh?" Meat Meat tilted her head, puzzled.

Seeing her confused expression, Si Si pondered for a moment and continued,

"It’s like Baiyue Corporation going public. It’s feasible to keep all the shares to oneself, and with Baiyue Corporation’s current scale, there’s indeed no need to share profits with others. It’s sufficient to guard the existing cake. However, if we want to go further beyond this, we need the support of more people. Not just our customers’ support, but also the support of most of the Alliance residents... and the fastest way to gain their support is to make them our shareholders."

NPCs in the Alliance may not have GM powers like the Managers to ban accounts, but they do hold some authority.

For example, they can truly participate in legislative work through representative meetings, or participate in the selection of local and Alliance institutional staff, in other words, they are worth courting.

It’s not about bribing or anything.

But if a part of Baiyue Corporation’s profits went to those NPCs, and not just shared among players, it would be safer for Baiyue Corporation.

Even those NPCs would consider Baiyue Corporation’s interests a bit more when it wouldn’t touch upon their principles, rather than contradicting on some issues.

It’s always a dangerous thing when an institution amasses great wealth but is stingy about sharing it with the majority who created that wealth, no matter when it is.

Moreover, the capital raised by going public can accelerate Baiyue Corporation’s overseas business expansion.

The Baiyue Strait houses a vast virgin forest, and just relying on the savings and current limited profits of the players is far from sufficient.

They need to utilize the savings of Alliance residents that aren’t immediately needed and might even need to leverage the power of Ideal City to employ the huge inheritance left by the Prosperity Epoch.

The Managers have already paved the way for them, including the earliest currency exchange agreements, as well as the current Sticky Community electronic payment and settlement systems, and so on.

"So... opening new shipping routes is also a way to make the pie bigger?" Trying to understand the intricate mystery, Sesame Paste asked thoughtfully.

"That’s right."

Si Si nodded in approval, continuing,

"It’s hard to make this pie bigger just by ourselves, even if we buy a few more ships and make more trips. It’s better to get other players interested in navigation to join in, leveraging their power to grow the entire market... Moreover, even if it wasn’t for us, they would eventually discover it themselves; we’re just accelerating the process."

Despite West Sail Port’s large population, it’s still within the territory of the Weilante People, making it much more special than Jinjaron Harbor.

Under the iron-fisted rule of the Weilante People, the locals lack not only political power but even freedom to eat, being nothing more than slaves to the Weilante colonizers. Even if they wanted to earn the locals’ money, they needed to let the locals get rich first.

Selling goods to livestock is meaningless.

Currently, there’s only one route from the Eastern World to the Western World, but things will change once other Alliance players arrive here.

Once players become active locally, they could even expand the White Bear Knights’ bank branch here to help those aspiring entrepreneurs with financial issues and provide shovels to those who want to try their luck.

This trade would be far more profitable than just merchandising.

Tail nodded seriously and said with an air of assurance, "That’s right, Meat Meat, we have to think long-term! That’s how we can afford to buy a ship that’s five light-years away!"

Meat Meat couldn’t help but retort, "That’s just a pipe dream drawn up by the planners, isn’t it?"

Tail lifted the corners of her mouth smugly, "Naïve Meat Meat, how do you know it’s not real? After all, nobody has ever been there to see it."

"Is it called Gaia Planet... I really want to know what it’s like there," Sesame Paste said yearningly as she gazed out the window at the vast ocean.

Tail: "Oh! It’s Xiaoyu’s hometown! There must be lots of weird tentacles!"

"Ahaha..." Sesame Paste laughed somewhat forcefully.

Perhaps not.

While Xiaoyu is quite cute, if it’s anything like the center of Qingquan City, it might be somewhat mentally polluting...

...

The Meat Meat, bound for West Sail Port, was just a cargo ship as ordinary as they come.

At this moment, neither the few individuals horsing around in the treasury nor the drunken sailors realized that, without their knowledge, they had planted a seed on this land that hadn’t been seen for two hundred years.

The dockworkers looked on with envy at the sailors, or rather, at the bottles of alcohol in their hands.

It came from the continent’s eastern imports, costing hundreds or thousands of West Winds dollars each, perhaps more expensive than what those working at the port earned themselves.

Clearly, some of those sailors were from Poluo Province as well. They couldn’t understand why they, who could endure just as well, or even less than them, had such vastly different treatments.

So, it really was those detestable Moon people who had stolen from their pockets...

At the port area’s Silver Moon Church, Melgio locked himself in the attic, contemplating the name for a new newspaper. His gaze landed on the crescent moon outside the window, sparking an idea. He wrote ’Silver Moon Gospel News’ on the paper, a name quite filled with religious undertones.

After all, this newspaper was also meant to spread the faith of the Silver Moon Sect.

However, out of consideration for the local people’s sentiments, he thought it over and removed the word "moon" to make it ’Silver Gospel Report.’

While it seems somewhat inappropriate to serialize entertainment fiction in a newspaper heavily colored by religion, that book was, after all, handed to him by the incarnation of the Silver Moon Goddess walking in the mortal world, so it was not entirely unrelated.

The Silver Moon Sect, compared to the Spirit of the Sand Sea, was already a secularized reform of the faith. They were not so rigid in doctrine and were open-minded towards new things.

Moreover, after carefully reviewing the old books salvaged from the Meat Meat, he realized that the story of Awakener Bol might resonate most easily with the locals and was more suited for the illiterate to pass on by word of mouth.

While the wind that blew toward the Wasteland grew stronger, the situation in the southern sea area, after a long period of silence, finally saw some new changes.

Shazhou Island, which had leaned towards the North Federation under the pressure of the Sea Edge Battleship, sparked rebellion as the trigger for the newly signed "Foreign Garrison Act" by the new Cabinet.

The island’s security forces promptly mobilized, first suppressing the local garrison, then taking over the Governor’s Mansion, declaring Charles’s new cabinet as an "illegal institution," and announcing the secession of Shazhou Island from the North Federation under the guise of defending the declaration.

Strange as it may sound, there are only 70,000 residents on Shazhou Island.

All the soldiers on the island put together amounted to less than one company, whereas the lads at the security bureau actually formed a battalion.

Furthermore, Charles’s governance stability was solely maintained by that battleship, the legality of which was already questionable. Those soldiers couldn’t muster much will to resist, fired a few shots, then tied up their commanders, leading to this bizarre rebellion concluding without a drop of bloodshed.

The riled-up youngsters were also bewildered; while they were disgruntled with Charles and looked down on his puppets, they truly hadn’t considered what to do after they ousted him.

What’s even more bizarre is, upon their seizing the Governor’s Mansion, the sitting governor simply took off his hat as if relieved, tossed it to them saying, "You’ve won," and resigned on the spot.

They had done something that pleased everyone, but no one knew what to do next...

However, one thing was certain, Charles surely wouldn’t tolerate this betrayal, and the radicals standing behind him wouldn’t either.

They needed the blood of traitors to deter others who were restless.

Not to mention, they had done it once before—

Ordering the Sea Edge Battleship to open fire on Anle Island.

The new authorities of Shazhou Island were acutely aware that Charles would definitely react, so they urgently sent a telegram of allegiance to the South Sea Federation.

Behind the South Sea Federation was the Alliance, and behind the Alliance was the Sticky Community. That big tree offered far more shade than the North Federation and wasn’t laden with unreasonable demands.

Upon receiving the telegram from Shazhou Island, the South Sea Federation Authorities indeed took it seriously. Especially when they found out that one destroyer, escorting another cargo ship modified into a landing craft, had departed from North Island, they became even more alert.

It appeared to be bait; Charles wouldn’t miss calculating their movement. That battleship might already be lying in ambush at some silent spot at sea.

But, it also couldn’t be ruled out as an opportunity.

To be fully assured, Commander Li Minghui immediately ordered the fleet to deploy while also making an urgent call to Potato Harbor, hoping for reinforcements from the Alliance.

The governor appointed by the Manager in Potato Harbor did not hesitate, and immediately got into action after seeking instructions from the higher-ups.

Both sides had already engaged in substantial military friction and had no need to disguise anything anymore. Besides, the North Federation’s collusion with the Torch Party feathers was already an open secret; it was merely a matter of not bursting that bubble.

That fellow crouching in the landing craft might well be a mutant controlled by the Torch!

This wasn’t the first rodeo!

The two H-10 "Overlord" Transport planes stationed at the military base north of Potato Harbor urgently took to the skies, carrying two companies of the Burning Corps towards Shazhou Island.

At the same time, two L-10 "Thunder" swept-wing VTOL fighter jets also deployed.

Beneath their steel wings, fully loaded with ammunition, the pilots of the Goblin Corps were also ready.

Unseen waves surged under the calm sea’s surface, brewing the roaring tides.

The great battle was on the verge of ignition!