This Game Is Too Real-Chapter 783: Landing Exercise

Li Minghui still remembered that just a few days ago, he had complained with his secretary that the Alliance was too merciful, and now, in only a few days, his "good friend" had brought him a big surprise.

People in Ring Island, probably having eaten too much, burst out from some valley not marked on the map to hold up signs and protest against the economic cooperation between the South Sea Union and the Empire.

Alright, that was indeed going too far.

But this protest really baffled him.

If anyone thought about it for a moment, they could clearly see who was giving away money and who was bleeding out. Yet this bunch stubbornly misinterpreted it as him being the Empire’s lapdog.

Upon hearing this, Li Minghui flew into a rage, wishing he could go to Ring Island right away and set the record straight with those fishermen.

Twenty billion!

The South Sea Union didn’t have to do anything and would get twenty billion just like that!

They didn’t even try to think where the welfare that kept them from starvation without lifting a finger came from!

Look how spoilt by the Alliance they were!

In the end, it was the Alliance’s Managers who had the foresight, immediately seeing West Winds as a cesspit, and drawing a circle to play on their own, not involving them in their games at all.

And then there’s the Army...

But the Army was a different story altogether, pure disregard for the people of the zoo, and that was to be discussed separately.

The depths to which different people will stoop are not the same.

While Li Minghui was stewing in his anger, Si Wen, as he had anticipated, came looking for him, pressuring him fiercely.

"Mr. Li Minghui, I advise you to carefully consider who you collaborate with. We’ve suffered enough at the hands of the Torch Church... To speak frankly, a significant portion of South Sea Union residents do not wish to cooperate with the Empire."

Watching this guy flip-flop like flipping through a book, Li Minghui nearly had his nose bent out of shape with frustration.

"Then do you still want to sell them warships or not!"

"We do..." Si Wen began subconsciously, but then hesitated, taking a detour, "but we can’t not sell either."

"... You might as well be president."

Li Minghui pushed back his chair to leave, startling Si Wen, who hurried over to grab his shoulder, pressing him firmly back down.

"That can’t be allowed; you have to stay until after the war ends! We agreed on this before... Don’t make jokes like that!"

"Then you explain to me, how the hell do I both sell and not sell?" Li Minghui’s laughter was tinged with anger, "Just take the money and not deliver the goods?"

He’d meant it as a retort, but to his surprise, this man before him readily agreed.

"It’s not impossible."

Li Minghui was stunned for a moment.

He thought that thinking of dismantling warships into toys was shameless enough, but he hadn’t expected someone could be even more shameless than he was.

Filthy.

Too damn filthy!

Li Minghui stared at him.

"... You want to take all the benefits."

"Why not?" Si Wen said, eyes drifting, "The bill authorizing the purchase was signed by you, but the authorization for the engagement will be signed by your successor... You signed the agreement to secure a window of recovery time for the survivors of the Southern sea area after the war; no one can criticize you for it, and your successor, for righteous reasons, refuses to sign the delivery contract, no one can fault him either."

Li Minghui sighed.

"Your tactics are too bullying."

"So what then, should we sacrifice ourselves for others? Give them your ships and let them have their fun on our territory? Wake up, even you think the Alliance is too merciful, so why are you going soft now when it’s about you?"

Si Wen harshly rebuked him, continuing,

"The Representative Assembly will fight for time for you, wait until you’ve signed the contract, then we’ll respond to those doves and enact an amendment... You’ll still be our hero, and even leave a glorious opportunity for your successor."

With that, Si Wen exited, leaving only Li Minghui and his secretary alone in the office.

The office fell quiet for quite some time.

Li Minghui sighed and turned to his secretary.

"It seems my intuition was right; we indeed need these people who constantly argue in the meetings... Ahem! Arrange a meeting with Duke Nihak for me at the Presidential Mansion. Also, prepare the latest issue of ’Survivor Daily’ from Potato Harbor for me; I might need it."

What a tough nut to crack.

Just a few days ago, he and Si Wen were bitterly arguing; now, in less than a month, they had "made peace" twice.

The secretary nodded bewilderedly.

"Alright... Sir."

Maybe his own abilities were insufficient; he was increasingly unable to understand these individuals...

...

Sword, shield, armor... even the chopping board was ready, yet the invited Duke Nihak had no idea that he had become the fattened bull in the Colosseum, while his new good friend was backstage idly twirling his sword to warm up.

Thinking he was being recalled by that exalted war hero of the South Sea Union, that rich and mysterious old friend of his, he happily donned his luxurious Devil Silk suit and headed for the venue.

It was his favorite suit.

The sunlight outside the window was somewhat blinding.

Li Minghui stood up and went to the window to gently adjust the blinds, collected his emotions for a moment, then turned to face the Duke Nihak, who was calmly sipping his tea, and said earnestly,

"Mr. Nihak, what you’ve done is a bit over the top."

Duke Nihak frowned.

"What do you mean?"

Li Minghui cleared his throat lightly.

"What I mean is... the newspaper you’ve placed under your teapot."

Considering the two billion at stake, he softened his tone somewhat, and Duke Nihak, surely enough, relaxed his brow and cast his gaze to the headline of the newspaper.

Before, he hadn’t paid much attention to the words on the paper; it was only after Li Minghui mentioned it that he realized it was a "newspaper."

"The Executioner of Mammoth State, Arai Yang, Annihilates ’Enemies’ by the Tens of Thousands!"

[Photo: Tragedy in Stone Village.]

Seeing this title and photo, Duke Nihak’s brow twitched fiercely, and he explained, his face darkening without reading a single line of the text,

"We can’t intervene in the decisions of the front-line generals... It’s indeed a mess; we will hold them accountable afterward!"

This damn Arai Yang!

Can’t even wipe his own ass after taking a dump!

With one look, he guessed the progression of events; someone had rendered a kindness unfit for a woman, letting survivors live, and it had come to light.

"If everyone were killed, would we still have these troubles?"

"That wouldn’t be called the Stone Village Massacre, that would be called burning a hundred thousand troops!"

Of course, pursuing responsibility is just something he said verbally; Arai Yang was personally appointed by him. Pursuing responsibility would be like slapping his own face, wouldn’t it?

And what business is it of the South Sea Union?

Li Minghui sat opposite him, poured himself a cup of tea, and sighed before speaking.

"... It’s difficult now. I don’t really want to deal with this, but some residents from the Ring Island have jumped out in opposition to my selling warships to you."

The warships are no longer for sale?!

Had he just wasted ten billion?!

Hearing this, Duke Nihak’s face suddenly changed.

"What do you mean! How can you go back on your word!"

Seeing this man seem to overreact, Li Minghui quickly softened his tone to appease him.

"Duke Sir, you have misunderstood. I’m not thinking of reneging. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have urgently invited you here to discuss strategies."

Seeing that there was still room for discussion, Duke Nihak finally calmed down, and his tone also became more conciliatory.

"Then tell me, how are we going to negotiate?"

"I have to explain the situation to the residents as the representatives requested. But to be frank, they don’t understand anything. They have no idea how important the Empire is to the South Sea Union. However, regrettably, I’m just a nanny. Even if I don’t want to deal with it, I have to appease them," Li Minghui sighed and put on a weary expression, shaking his head as he continued, "If I can’t get past them and they elect someone opposed to the Empire, then I have no idea who would buy the warships."

Duke Nihak became very tense and hurriedly said,

"Can’t... those people be taken care of?"

As he spoke, he glanced around and made a subtle neck-slashing gesture with his right hand, the implication clear without words.

Li Minghui’s eyebrows twitched violently, and he coughed before saying,

"You, be reasonable... We’re discussing a very serious matter."

Let’s not mention his inability; even Charles couldn’t pull off such a thing; that arrogant and incompetent madman could at most impose martial law.

If he really turned on his own people, he might not even have a chance to be the bunker boy; there wouldn’t be any need to fight for the airport.

Duke Nihak was puzzled for a long time, not feeling that anything was abnormal about himself, after all, he was just making a suggestion, not insisting on following through.

Seeing Li Minghui did not agree, he could only change the angle and pondered for a while, and gradually seemed to catch some key points.

"So, as long as those representatives are appeased, that would be sufficient, right?"

"Yes," Li Minghui nodded quickly, with a sincere—or rather, eager—expression, "We’re friends, and you have to help me with this!"

His idea was to have Duke Nihak propose an expedited order, settling the contract and design plans, and paying the down payment and advance.

However, he still overestimated the duke’s intelligence. Perhaps being used to acting the big spender and treating the South Sea Union as his own, he grandly offered,

"That’s easy! I’ll loan you another ten billion West Winds coins!"

Li Minghui, who was drinking tea, nearly sprayed out his drink and coughed several times before setting down his cup.

"It’s not a problem with the West Winds coins... cough, of course, we support that you are willing to support our reconstruction efforts, but... we’re currently discussing the sale of warships. Can you understand? These are two different matters."

Why can’t this guy wrap his head around it?

Looking at this fat-faced man, Li Minghui couldn’t help feeling a mixture of amusement and frustration but had to patiently explain to him.

Duke Nihak furrowed his brows, pondering for a moment.

"Mr. Li Minghui, since there’s no one here, you might as well make yourself clear... What exactly do you want me to do?"

Li Minghui didn’t beat around the bush and fixed his intense gaze on him as he spoke.

"I hope to finalize the order as soon as possible, before those blabbermouths at the conference take action against our close friendship!"

Upon hearing this, Duke Nihak was overjoyed and rubbed his hands together, saying,

"That’s great! That’s what I’m thinking too! What’s the best ship you’ve got?"

Seeing the fish was hooked, Li Minghui immediately responded.

"The Sea Edge Battleship! It can take down one of the Army’s airships in a minute!"

Duke Nihak felt a huge shock, almost standing up from the sofa as he stared at Li Minghui and exclaimed in disbelief,

"Is it really that powerful?!"

Li Minghui cleared his throat and said,

"...you could try it out after buying it."

To tell the truth, war isn’t about comparing sizes by tossing dice; such a claim was plainly stupid. But there was no helping it—if the customer liked to hear this, he had to use such a layman’s analogy.

Sure enough, Duke Nihak’s eyes lit up with fervor. He nearly sparked fire by rubbing his thumb and index finger together, salivating with eagerness.

"How much?"

Li Minghui watched an eager Duke Nihak, feeling his heart pound yet maintaining a calm demeanor as he spun his tale.

"Perhaps... 1 billion silver coins? We’d have to wait for the blueprints to come out before giving an estimate—Of course! We support installment payments. You make an initial deposit of fifty million, and our shipyard can start work. After that, you just pay ten million a month until it’s paid off."

The latter part was mainly to avoid frightening away the big fish that had taken the bait.

Unexpectedly, the opposite party wasn’t daunted by this astronomical figure at all; instead, he stood up, overjoyed.

"Fantastic! One billion silver coins... How about this, we’ll take a bit of loss and just count it as ten billion West Winds currency for you!"

Hearing this "we’ll take a bit of loss", Li Minghui nearly choked on his own spittle. He quickly interrupted the duke’s daydream.

"Duke Nihak, respectable Grand Duke of the Empire... you can’t calculate it like that. You must pay in silver coins."

Duke Nihak was taken aback, his brows furrowing deep.

"What do you mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like—"

"We’ve lent you so much money, you’ve bought so much from us with West Winds currency—tons of steel, cement, cotton, soybeans, and sugar! And now when we want to buy your products, we need to use silver coins?! What are you getting at?"

Duke Nihak’s gaze turned slightly unpleasant, a hint of suspicion surfacing in his murky pupils.

The debts in West Winds currency were to be repaid in West Winds currency, clearly stated in black and white on paper.

Were these guys planning on repaying their debts at all?

Li Minghui was also stunned.

He had sharpened his knife ready for the slaughter, but he hadn’t anticipated that the pig would suddenly wake up. He scrambled to patch things up.

"It’s not that I don’t want to accept it... Of course, we’re willing to take it, but it’s just that..." His mind raced, and in a moment of inspiration, he said, "It’s the shipyard that won’t accept it!"

Duke Nihak paused, somewhat confused.

"The shipyard?"

How did we get to talking about shipyards again?!

"Yes..." Li Minghui sighed and made a helpless expression, "The Alliance’s companies hold shares in North Island Heavy Industries, and they want to audit the accounts. Besides, North Island Heavy Industries needs to pay its employees in silver coins... We have no choice; we can’t force them to take West Winds Dinars, can we? Not to mention whether the Alliance’s shareholders would agree, the shipyard workers certainly wouldn’t."

He didn’t even mention that the railguns on the battleships were from Shelter No. 70, which was currently managed by Shelter No. 404, and Shelter No. 404 is an Alliance affair.

However, Duke Nihak did not ask about it but seriously considered Li Minghui’s words and wondered if they made some sense?

Although he always felt there was a big problem, he couldn’t quite pinpoint where the problem was.

Actually, using silver coins was not a big issue.

Since the lifting of the Jin Galun Port blockade, Poluo Province and all the inland and near-sea ports of Jin Galun Port had resumed trade, with monthly throughput even breaking through one million tons!

That amounted to an average of each resident of Jin Galun Port having a "mutual trade of one ton" with the residents within the Empire every month!

Due to the Jin Galun Port Authority contracting an institution to collect tariffs on behalf of the Empire, the tax revenue also rose with the trade volume, accumulating a surprising surplus of seventy to eighty million silver coins over a few months, which was much more satisfying than when they were involved in human trafficking.

But as satisfying as it was, the Royal Family didn’t need silver coins as much as it needed Dinars.

This foreign exchange mainly came from the merchants and nobles of Tiger State and Leopard State, and it was mostly they who spent it, such as converting it into silver coins to buy machinery, seeds, fertilizers, and consumer goods from the Alliance.

However, these double-dealers were not good people; they always acted spoiled after gaining an advantage, expanding their operations while crying poverty to the Court who couldn’t collect taxes no matter what.

Rather than letting them squander the silver coins, it was better to have them put it toward something truly meaningful for the Empire.

"Okay, how will the fifty million silver coins as a down payment be made?"

Suppressing the excitement and ecstasy in his heart, Li Minghui’s voice trembled.

"Same as before... You transfer the money to the bank in Jin Galun Port, and our contracted institution can collect the payment!"

...

The North Island in the Southern sea area, with its beaches to the north, was as bustling as ever.

Since the capture of North Island in early October, the Alliance designated this beach as a military training area and conducted more than a dozen large and small amphibious landing exercises.

Now, in mid-November, the situation on the northern front gradually became a stalemate, and the Sticky Community Allied forces urgently needed to open a new breakthrough in the south.

Naturally, this glorious and arduous task fell upon the Alliance’s shoulders.

To ensure the operation was foolproof and to minimize the loss of expensive equipment in combat, players of the Burning Corps were also fully dedicated during the exercises.

One could see a line of "Short Snout Crocodile" amphibious armored vehicles painted with blue digital camouflage rapidly charging up from shallow waters to the beach. Not far from the heaving sea, six large landing crafts floated like mighty beasts, gazing toward the shore.

As soon as the armored vehicles reached the beachhead, they began to deploy smoke and launched smoke grenades forward, instantly covering the entire beach with smog!

Following their entry into the middle of the beach, the rear doors of the vehicle sprang open to both sides, and infantry clad in exoskeletons filed out, swiftly moving in groups of three, guided by the "Visual Battlefield Guidance System" on their helmet visors.

Following them ashore were the "King Crab" amphibious all-terrain infantry armors, their long, thick barrels radiating a menacing cold light in the sun.

From the time the landing crafts were stabilized to all combat units onshore, it only took 4 minutes and 31 seconds!

The entire operation was executed in one fluid series of movements, without any hesitation!

Aside from officers and staff from the Alliance’s headquarters who were present, there were many bystanders watching beyond a cordon on the shore.

The residents of North Island had long since grown accustomed to the Alliance’s exercises.

After all, it had been just over a month since these people had staged a "real one," liberating them from the tyranny of that lunatic Charles.

Not to mention that those "Short Snout Crocodile" amphibious armored vehicles were designed by their engineers, albeit with a re-designed turret by Goblin Technology for logistical purposes.

Some snack shop owners even pushed out their food carts and ice cream trucks, ready to sell to the "wanjia" after their training.

Although the soldiers from the Alliance sometimes behaved oddly and spoke the United Human language haltingly, their discipline was excellent, and they didn’t put on any airs, so the local residents weren’t too afraid of them. Instead, they were happy to interact with them.

However, even though the island’s residents were unfazed, the workers from Mammoth State were all staring, eyes wide and mouths agape.

So powerful!

What on earth was their emperor thinking to provoke this group of monsters!

They totally deserved to get beaten black and blue!

Amid the crowd, a representative from Mammoth State, Weilu, stood with his mouth agape, staring unblinkingly at those murderous suits of armor.

Is this the full strength of the Alliance?

It’s even more exaggerated than he had imagined...

He was one of the officers who had defected with Laxi from the Jin Galun Port Militia and was also among the Mammoth State authorities who had the deepest understanding of the Alliance’s power.

After all, he had been present when the Alliance landed at Jin Galun Harbor, watching the city defense forces get beaten senseless on their own turf and seeing the Grey Wolf Army get chased into the Everflow River for a butterfly swim...

At that time, he had only marveled at the power of technology and didn’t have a clear concept of the Alliance’s own combat power.

It wasn’t until now that he realized the Alliance might not have used its full strength at all.

No—

More accurately, the Burning Corps might not have used its full strength, and the Alliance was much more than just one Burning Corps...

Weilu couldn’t help but swallow, pushing down the shock in his heart.

If only he could invite this troop to Mammoth State...

Of course, that might not be very realistic.

But it should be no problem to earn some more silver coins to buy some similar equipment to take back.

On the edge of the crowd of onlookers, several engineers from North Island Heavy Industries were also holding binoculars, occasionally laughing and talking.

"Is that giant crab the work of Shelter No. 70?"

"More precisely, it’s a modified version based on the design blueprints from Shelter 100."

"Tsk, those old guys sure have a lot of treasures."

"The landing craft need some more improvements... wouldn’t it be faster to deploy landing boats from the sides rather than releasing them from the middle?"

"It’s probably too late to change the production plan now, the Alliance’s landing troops have already equipped six vessels, and two more are due to be delivered by the end of the month."

"The feeling of having inexhaustible resources is freaking awesome."

"What about making improvements on the existing basis? Like installing a row of elevators on the side of the ship."

"You have to consider the impact of swapping out equipment on the soldiers’ training..."

This exercise saw the most equipment invested to date, with several "Cloud Dragonfly" flapping machines flying low overhead and "Lightning" and "Thunder" cruising above the clouds.

The opposition was just a group of Mutants, at most armed with some weapons gifted by Charles—it felt a bit like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut to deploy so much high-tech equipment.

Watching the fighter planes skim low overhead and explode into white mist, the crowds watching on the shore erupted in cheers and applause from time to time, with hardly anyone doubting the imminent final victory.

Watching the fully landed troops, Old White, who was by the shore watching, glanced at the VM’s time, grinned, and then shouted into the communication channel.

"Exercise is over, thank you for your hard work! Remember to pick up the trash before you leave, rewards will be calculated later."

When training NPCs, he would usually be more strict, but there was no need to do so with players; after all, death just meant three days out of action.

It was already encouraging enough that these guys could take the exercises seriously, not mess around, and not drop the ball.

It’s no exaggeration to say that only our Burning Corps and Storm Corps can handle such exercises. The NPC Legion would be the only other possibility.

Hearing the boss’s voice, a wave of cheers for dispersal rolled through the communication channel.

"Wrap it up, wrap it up!"

"Shaved ice! I want some shaved ice!"

"Damn it, I lost my shoe just now. Who’ll come with me to find it..."

"Hahaha! Shit! You’re trying to kill me with laughter."

"Even my balls are laughing!"

"%￥#@!"

As the exercise ended, the distant landing craft headed back to the port on the south side of the island, and the players also walked ashore in groups.

Looking at Old White standing at the edge of the exercise field, By Some Mistake spoke with animated excitement.

"Boss! How did it go this time?"

Old White laughed heartily.

"Not too shabby!"

No Family: "Damn! Just ’not too shabby’?!"

"Don’t want you getting cocky," patting his brother on the shoulder, Old White said with a smile, "But the results are pretty good."

At a beach restaurant not far from the exercise area and the military base, Mosquito lay on a beach chair, idly sipping coconut juice and admiring the beautiful women passing by on the roadside, occasionally glancing at the Survivor’s Daily in his hand, which served more as a prop.

Goblin Technology is also one of the major partners of North Island Heavy Industries. The 37mm gun turret and automatic loading system of the "Short Snout Crocodile" were redesigned by the former.

To not miss the landing day, he purposely came all the way from the northern front to the southern front, leaving the card duel contest in Weifu City, Kun Town in the hands of a member of the Mouse Tribe.

That mouse lad was indeed a genius. Imitating Mosquito’s raspy voice, he made the card duel contest vibrant and successful, pitting the people of Vellante and the layabouts of Ideal City against each other.

Cards that cost less than 0.01 silver coins were not only a hit among the NPC populations, but some uninformed newbie players also started collecting them as if they were game easter eggs.

Of course, all of this was just a small digression during the war.

No matter how expensive the cards sold for, they couldn’t compare to the profits from arms dealing.

Seeing an acquaintance lying on the beach chair, Fang Chang tossed his helmet aside and casually sat down in the chair beside him, teasing with a smile.

"Aren’t you going to fly a couple of laps?"

"Nah, flying skills are already etched into my Gene Sequence. That’s something I designed. Practice or not, it’s all the same."

"Bragging is still your forte." Fang Chang laughed and scolded before nodding at the maid-dressed waitress and then taking the menu she handed over to order a mojito for himself.

Recently, a lot of stuff unique to City of Dawn had appeared on North Island. Although mainly aiming to profit off the residents, it also helped to spread the influence of Teng Teng’s artistic crafts.

The local residents weren’t particularly resistant to these foreign cultural entrants, whether classy or tacky.

After all, compared to the high-pressure life during Charles’s era, every day after the civil war felt blissfully like living in a dream for them.

With an acquaintance sitting beside him, Mosquito felt embarrassed to openly flirt with the NPC waitress and pretended to bury his head in the newspaper, which was almost wrinkled from handling.

He hadn’t realized until he took a closer look at the headline that jumped out at him, startling him.

"Holy shit... that’s some big spending!"

The West Winds Empire spent 1 billion silver coins to order a 100,000-ton class battleship from North Island Heavy Industries!

Wow, not even the Alliance has such badass stuff, and those old timers from Poluo Province managed to get their hands on it?!

Of course, the main reason the Alliance doesn’t have it is simply because they don’t really need it.

On one hand, during their battles with the Army, the Alliance has already come up with numerous more cost-effective tactics, such as the phase gun that can paralyze shields and anti-gravity systems with a single shot, or the slow-moving guided weapons at the end of the engagement, and even jump-ship battles and so on... Even something as technologically simple as balloons can paralyze the propellers of airships under certain conditions.

The South Sea Union creating the "Sea Edge" battleship is purely because they’ve only ever considered the Army as a hypothetical enemy and never actually encountered them.

Objectively speaking, the thing is indeed powerful, but it’s not economically viable.

It’s like a sword with a diamond embedded in the hilt; it might indeed increase the chances of winning, for instance by distracting the opponent, but the price of a single gem could buy the equipment for an entire knight squadron.

Fang Chang took a glance at the newspaper in Mosquito’s hands and said with a laugh,

"You only found out today? I knew the day before yesterday."

Mosquito coughed and retorted,

"Cough... I’ve been quite busy with work recently and haven’t paid much attention to NPC news. But speaking of which, why isn’t this thing being discussed on the forums?"

Fang Chang casually said,

"Debates about the firepower of battleships were already held before the battle for North Island, and it turned out they can only take a few more torpedoes than a destroyer. The sinking CG is impressive for sure... but what else is there to discuss? Plasma engines with more thrust are our focus for development. They might also prove useful once maps of outer space open up, as you are well aware."

Ignoring Fang Chang’s words, Mosquito continued reading the newspaper, his expression growing more excited.

"1 billion silver coins up front, 50 million each month, and the authority’s reconstruction loan from the aid received from the West Winds Empire increased to 30 billion... Damn, how can the Empire be so wealthy? Speaking of which, you sure you don’t want to give it a nudge forward?"

"Why does it sound so sleazy coming from you..." Seeing Mosquito’s eager look, Fang Chang rolled his eyes disapprovingly and paused before continuing, "Also, guess where the Empire gets all those silver coins?"

Mosquito chuckled and took a sip of coconut juice,

"What’s there to guess? You guys gave it to them, right?"

Fang Chang gave a faint smile,

"Since you already know, why bother asking?"

When they first entered Jin Galun Port, the annual import and export total of that "slave-trading port" was only a few billion dinars.

However, as soon as they turned the cattle there into people, the trade value of Jin Galun exceeded that amount in just one month. Even a blockhead like Witch Gu managed to earn tens of millions in tariffs while sprawled in bed.

Simply occupying a few pieces of land was meaningless. If you want to earn more silver coins from NPCs, you need to turn more NPCs from cattle into people.

In fact, that’s exactly the hidden "reward mechanism" of Wasteland OL. With a little understanding of the game rules designed by Ah Guang, it’s easy to realize this, and Baiyue Corporation, which he runs, has been doing just this for quite some time and not half badly either.

It’s not just Jin Galun; residents of Tiger State and Leopard State are gradually starting to live like humans. Although they can’t be compared to the residents of the City of Dawn, at least they are living somewhat more properly than before.

"...although, I always feel like you guys are being wishful thinking in hoping that making them wealthy will change them. I’ve never been to Poluo Province, but during my time in the Weifu Wasteland, I did interact with a few folks from there."

Gazing at the sun-drenched beach and sipping coconut juice, Mosquito sighed, struggling to describe the Mouse Tribe subordinate he had taken on.

After all, it’s a nurturing game, isn’t it? Most players of this game are quite nice to NPC, like Teng Teng who’s nearly raising Hua Hua as a daughter, despite the latter being much taller. Not to mention the Luoyu Brothers, and Xiaoyu isn’t even human.

He’s not an exception either; he’s always been good to his own minion, never neglecting the economic well-being of that Mouse Tribe lad, but no matter how much the guy saves, how many books he reads, or how much he learns, it always leaves him with an odd impression—

That’s not like a normal person.

"That feeling is like... the programmer maliciously deleted two key lines of code while editing that guy’s program. Both Xiaoyu and Yinyin consider themselves human, but that guy doesn’t regard himself as one at all. So his personality is not special, but he just doesn’t fit in... Of course, I’m talking about outside of work."

Fang Chang laughed,

"It’s not like you’re his dad, why care how he lives?"

"Yeah, indeed I’m not. I’m just a fun seeker; wherever there’s fun, that’s where I’ll be," Mosquito smiled and tossed the exaggeratedly-headlined newspaper to Fang Chang, "What about you? Fancy being their sugar daddy?"

"Or perhaps you’d like to guess whether they bought that broken toy to go after the Weilante People or to have a go at you."