This Game Is Too Real-Chapter 798: Did They Really Dig It Out?!

"Fuckin’ hell, is it crowded enough here?"

City of Dawn, the train station in "North Suburb."

A string of loud curses got drowned out in the bustling crowd, as people surged from the platform toward the security checkpoint exit.

Now it was December, and the coldest time of year in the City of Dawn.

However, maybe because there were more people, or maybe because the heating was cranked up high, the crowded station didn’t feel chilly at all. Instead, it felt rather irritatingly warm.

"Dammit... finally squeezed my way through."

Having reached a more open space, "No Family" took a deep breath and stretched his almost dislocated limbs.

In the distance, streets and a square bathed in golden sunlight caught his gaze, and in the center of the square stood the Giant Hammer Statue, a symbol of order.

"Squinting at this familiar yet strange scene, Family Meeting couldn’t help but crack a pleased smile; not only did his mood greatly improve, but the ill temper also vanished.

Three days ago, during a beach landing on Death Coast, he was taken out unexpectedly by a suicide mutant hiding in a trench.

His teammates described it like he was shot up to heaven on a rocket, and when he fell back down, not even a complete corpse could be found.

No wonder no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t reconnect.

So, there he was offline, anxiously scratching his head and fidgeting for three days, and now he had finally made it back online.

Inhaling deeply from the intoxicating air of the City of Dawn, "No Family" felt much better and contentedly headed toward North Street.

Before catching the airship to Potato Harbor, he planned to grab some food on North Street and casually check out the scenery.

Ever since the battle for heaven began, he’d been operating mainly in the Southern sea area, and it had been more than half a year since his last visit.

Now, walking along this familiar yet strange street, listening to the hawkers on either side, he felt almost like a man returning to his hometown after many years.

"Fresh tropical fruits! Durian bigger than a washbasin! Cold chain air transport from Baiyue Corporation! Don’t miss out as you pass by~"

"Baked cold noodles! Freshly grilled cold noodles!"

"Intelligent wearable devices from Ideal City! Featuring cutting-edge holographic projection, switch moods anytime, one piece of clothing is better than a whole closet!"

"The most practical android companions in the Free State from our Company! Our products satisfy all your needs and can even learn autonomously from the visual data you input, come take a look!"

The hawkers’ cries were incessant.

"No Family" wandered leisurely down the streets, curiously checking out anything novel that he hadn’t seen before.

"...The good stuff in City of Dawn is really getting more and more plentiful."

Just as he wandered back near the square, he suddenly spotted a group of odd individuals.

They were dressed in long white robes, holding a stack of leaflets, handing them out to anyone they met.

Perhaps because they looked too suspicious, passersby they targeted quickly dodged to the side, resulting in the group still clutching a large stack after trying hard for a while.

However, undeterred by the few pamphlets they managed to hand out, they persisted in trying to shove their leaflets into the hands of the passersby.

Noticing "No Family"’s gaze, the young men in white robes exchanged a few brief words before one of them approached, leaflets in hand.

"Friend, care to learn about the Equality Conference?"

"Let me have a look."

Curious about what these guys were up to, "No Family" took the flyer with interest and started reading properly.

Initially, he thought this so-called "Equality Conference" was some grassroots "Manager fan club," given that the City of Dawn wasn’t short of irrational fans of the Manager, and similar incidents had happened before.

But halfway through reading, he realized that this "Equality Conference" had nothing to do with the City of Dawn at all. It was an "overseas savior organization" spontaneously formed by survivors from Poluo Province.

The pamphlet not only laid out the political philosophy of the Equality Conference but also detailed their action plan for their grand goal of "establishing an egalitarian society in Poluo Province."

The guy who wrote this thing was a genius!

As "No Family" read on, surprise grew within him, and his eyes lit up with excitement.

Who would have thought such progressive voices could emerge from that cannibalistic land!

Meanwhile, as he was reading the leaflet, the young fellow who had handed it to him wasn’t idle and kept fervently promoting his organization.

"...Wasteland is undergoing an unprecedented transformation, we can’t continue to sleep, we must unite! Only when we all act together towards the same goal can we overthrow the decaying feudal Empire and with the rest of our friends on the Wasteland, step into a new era!"

The young man’s eyes sparkled as he spoke, his passionate voice stirring Family Meeting’s blood to a boil.

At that moment, he suddenly noticed the triangular badge at the end of the flyer and couldn’t help but ask curiously,

"What is this?"

The young man saw his gaze fall on the triangular badge and hurriedly introduced it with enthusiasm,

"This is the badge of the Equality Conference!"

Wasteland exclaimed in surprise,

"You’ve even made badges?"

"Of course!" the young man said with a proud expression, continuing, "We want to establish a society just like an equilateral triangle! In this new society, there will be no difference between high and low, noble and humble. Each side and each angle are equally important to the other sides and angles!"

Wasteland stroked his chin, pondered for a moment, and said,

"That sounds interesting... but even with an equilateral triangle, doesn’t one side need to face downward for it to be stable?"

The young man laughed and said,

"Why must one side face down? We can lay it flat, just like drawing on paper, then there won’t be any distinction between top and bottom, right?"

Wasteland was so amazed that he was speechless for a while before he could open his mouth,

"A talent! Did you come up with this?"

But no sooner had he spoken than he quickly thought that this argument seemed somewhat sophistical.

After all, it didn’t matter if one drew a circle or a square; if placed flat on the ground, they would also show no distinction between top and bottom.

However, saying this would seem like he was nitpicking, so he kept his mouth shut and didn’t point it out.

The young man, however, only heard his compliment and did not notice the subtle expression on his face, and said with pride in his chest, 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"I didn’t come up with it, it was our revered Father who thought of it!"

"The Father?"

Wasteland was taken aback, about to ask who this Father was when an unfamiliar voice came from not far behind him.

"Those are just some honorary titles my friends bestowed upon me without authorization, please don’t take them seriously."

Upon hearing the voice, Wasteland turned around and saw a man clad in a white robe approaching with a smile and politely extending his right hand.

"My name is Zayed, from Jin Galun Harbor."

"Oh, Mr. Zayed... It’s a pleasure to meet you." Wasteland shook his hand but did not reveal his own ID.

The man called Zayed did not pursue his name but simply smiled warmly and explained,

"My compatriots’ understanding of equality is still very abstract, so I thought of using some vivid methods to make it easier for them to understand. In fact, the so-called equality boils down to a few phrases—let the tiller have his land, the worker his home, businessmen the freedom to develop, intellectuals dignity... We plan to share what people need equally among everyone, instead of letting these things that should belong to everyone be controlled by a small group of nobles."

After hearing his words, Wasteland expressed his admiration sincerely.

"I didn’t expect Poluo Province to have such a thinker as you."

Zayed laughed heartily and said,

"You are mistaken, I’m not a thinker... I think I should be considered more of a man of action. The Equality Conference I founded adheres to the idea that actions speak louder than dreams. Rather than writing about our ideals in newspapers, we prefer to practice the equality we preach through action! Of course, we are still too weak at the moment, and we need the support of knowledgeable people like you."

Hearing this, Wasteland gave a shy smile and coughed lightly, saying,

"You are too kind. Compared to someone like me, who has no lofty ideals and just seeks pleasure, you are the true knowledgeable person."

Saying this, he pulled out a hundred-dollar bill from his pocket and, under the excited gazes of the young men, inserted it into the donation box.

"It’s a modest contribution, not intended as a sign of respect, but I hope it can help you... Also, my name is Family Member, you can just call me that."

"Family Member..." Zayed pondered this term, his eyes suddenly lighting up, "That’s a nice title..."

Terms like friend or comrade still seemed somewhat estranged.

But Family Member was different.

The term seemed to contain some magical power that could instantly draw two strangers close, as if they were intimate members of a family.

The more Zayed thought about it, the more brilliant he found the person who coined the term.

Without hesitation, he looked at the young men standing by and said,

"We need to change our rules. From now on, members of the Equality Conference will address each other as Family Member. We should be united like a real family!"

The group of young men looked at the "Father" with invigorated spirits, unanimously exclaiming.

"Yes! Family!"

Standing to the side, Light, who had no family, felt scorched by the frequent use of "family" by these people and hurriedly explained.

"What I mean is, my name is Family, not the meaning you guys are thinking of... Hey! At least listen to me for a moment."

He tried to correct them, but it seemed to be too late.

These people learned very quickly and had fully adopted this new idea, so he eventually gave up on trying to convince them.

After all, what was important was not what one was called but what one did. As long as they were united in their hearts, what was the difference between calling themselves the Equality Conference and the Family Meeting?

Light convinced himself of this in his heart.

Moreover, this fellow named Zayed seemed to be a bit more reliable than Laxi.

Although the latter was capable, his methods were admittedly rough.

For the sake of the survivors who suffered in the Wasteland, he sincerely hoped that his name, like that hundred-dollar bill, would bring them just a little bit of luck...

If only they could really succeed.

...

Elsewhere, in the abandoned district of Haibei City.

Since the dominance of Torch in this area was crushed, the place had visibly become busier.

Near the crooked remnants of concrete buildings was heard a clamor of ding and bang.

Weilante People soldiers, carrying shovels and facing down toward the rubble as they worked, almost wished they could turn this blasted land upside down.

Favri just didn’t believe his luck was that bad—that there was nothing beneath the rubble other than a bunch of concrete debris.

When digging beneath the mutants’ fortress yielded nothing, he ordered an expansion of the excavation area.

Short on hands, he requested another 1000 laborers from Coleway.

The entire site was dusty, and from a distance, it looked as though they were in a brawl with the Alliance.

Old Soldier felt this guy was a bit mad and couldn’t help but lament that his good brothers had gone too far.

Indeed, Favri was just like that.

At this moment, he was like a gambler with red eyes, dead set on the rubble beneath his feet, making his subordinates miserable.

Just then, an excited shout suddenly came from the worksite.

A Weilante soldier, holding a shovel and limping with mud all over him, ran over while shouting.

"Commander! We’ve dug something up!"

Favri, who was gnawing on rations, upon hearing this, joyfully tucked the shoe-leather-tough jerky and cold bread into his pocket and hastily approached the Weilante soldier.

Disregarding the mud on the soldier, he grabbed the soldier’s shoulders with trembling excitement and asked,

"What did you find?"

"An underground space!" The soldier swallowed nervously, his eyes alight with excitement as he gestured, "It’s about this big... big enough to fit a few hundred tanks!"

He didn’t know how else to describe the vast space, so he resorted to this abstract comparison.

Seeing the man gesturing endlessly without making much sense, Favri, itching with anticipation, simply pushed him to lead the way.

"Hurry and take me there!"

The soldier nodded in haste.

"Yes!"

Watching the two hurriedly make their way toward the depths of the ruins, the nearby Battlefield Atmosphere Group, who was chomping on rations, showed a surprised look.

"Damn... they couldn’t really have dug up something, could they?!"

With that thought, they couldn’t stay put anymore. They hastily slapped the dust off their pants, stood up, and subtly followed the two men, intending to see what was going on for themselves.

The group quickly arrived at the destination.

Hundreds of laborers wielding shovels stood beside a half-collapsed concrete building.

And in the middle of the crowd, there was a sloping passage extending downward.

The tunnel was spacious enough to accommodate two chariots side by side without feeling crowded. No wonder the Vellante soldier cited a tank as an example.

Moreover, the concrete walls here were different in age from those of the outer buildings; the latter clearly had a history of over two centuries, while the former were at most a hundred and fifty years old.

Seeing the two Thousands of Leaders approaching, the technology officer standing next to the relic hurriedly stood up and saluted Favri and the Pangolin.

"Sir, you’ve arrived!"

After a simple return salute, Favri’s eyes were fixed on the man-made tunnel, and he couldn’t wait to ask,

"What’s the situation with this tunnel?"

The excitement was evident in the eyes of Favri, a Thousand Leader, as the technology officer quickly explained,

"We’ve just discovered this tunnel, and the specific details are still unclear. We can only confirm that this tunnel was probably constructed around 50 years before the Wasteland Era... and was buried around the 70th year of the Wasteland Era."

"Around the 70th year of the Wasteland Era..."

The Battlefield Atmosphere Group mulled over this statement, then suddenly realized,

Isn’t that the exact time when Shelter No.20 ceased operation?

That is to say...

Was the first time Shelter No.20 stopped operation related to this facility?!

Realizing this, the Battlefield Atmosphere Group was internally reeling.

Goodness!

He had actually hit the nail on the head with his prediction!

Unaware of the change in the Pangolin’s expression, Favri frowned subconsciously after hearing the conclusion drawn by the technology officer.

The Wasteland Era, 70 years ago?

That would be a very long time ago.

The Torch Church is a matter of just the last decade or so... It seems unlikely that this relic has much to do with the Torch...

Nevertheless, since it was his subordinates who had unearthed this relic after much effort, he still asked with great interest,

"What lies beneath this tunnel?"

The technology officer at the entrance and the nearby engineer exchanged glances.

Seeing the former pass the buck to him, the engineer made a helpless gesture towards Favri, the Thousand Leader.

"We are not sure... There must have been a major collapse here, and we’ve only just excavated this tunnel. There’s a lot of construction rubble inside that needs to be cleared. We’ve already sent an exploration team down, but they need some time."

It seemed as if he was concerned about Favri being anxious, so the engineer hastened to add,

"However, based on the debris we just cleared out, we can preliminarily deduce that there might be a survivor settlement below."

Favri was taken aback for a moment.

"A settlement?"

The engineer nodded earnestly.

"Yes... A settlement that’s likely over 100 years old! And it’s highly probable that it’s from the early batches of settlements born in the Wasteland Era! We might even find a shelter nearby because many early Wasteland Era settlements were built near, or even at the entrances to, shelters!"

While the site of a survivor settlement held little interest for Favri, the prospect of finding a shelter was a whole different matter.

Favri’s face immediately lit up with excitement, and he urged,

"Then what are you waiting for here? Get digging! Everyone, go down and dig!"

Hearing this rash declaration, the technology officer on the side hurriedly advised,

"People are already digging. Only so many can go down at a time; sending more might be dangerous!"

"Fine, fine! Then hurry it up! State any requirements you have, and I’ll help you secure whatever is needed!"

Favri was rubbing his hands together in excitement, unable to hide the jubilation on his face.

In contrast, standing quietly behind him, the Pangolin managed a calm, admirable composure.

However, no one knew that although the Pangolin’s face was expressionless, he had internally cursed out the mothers of everyone present without exception.

How the hell should this be handled?

All he could do now was pray silently that what lies beneath this tunnel was indeed just a grave...