CHAPTER 815: CHAPTER 815: PEOPLE ALWAYS CREATE GODS IN THEIR OWN IMAGE

Although tragic things are commonplace in the wasteland, where players are active, it’s a completely different scene.

The "PvP" arena at Camp 101.

Two "Aurora II Experimental Model" power armors are wrestling with each other, dazzling sparks flying between steel and steel!

As the only arena in the Alliance territory where both rank and life are contested, it’s a battlefield that only players can set foot on.

Generally speaking, unless wanting to spar with a good buddy, truly skilled players rarely come here to waste time.

However, since the arena occasionally offers experimental equipment, signing up to participate in testing provides a bounty and contribution points regardless of winning or losing, making this facility quite popular among new players below the T3 team.

The two fellows wrestling here right now are the best among the newcomers!

The one with the red identification strip is "Born in Summer" from the Abstract Army, while the one with the blue identification strip is "Tiger of Litang" from the Climber Army!

Due to the Aurora II Experimental Model’s replacement of the front armor with ceramic steel, sacrificing mobility to strengthen front armor, neither side’s explosive arrows can do anything to it.

After exhausting all the bullets in the magazine, the red and blue sides almost simultaneously, in a tacit agreement, drew their battle knives and short axes, entering the eagerly anticipated close combat amidst the audience’s boiling cheers.

And the atmosphere of the entire battle was pushed to a climax with adrenaline-pumping combat!

"Well done, Summer!!"

"Hit him! Smash it on his head!"

"Abstract Army rocks!!"

"Awoooaahgh!"

"Damn! Tiger bro, can you handle it or not!"

"I measure you——"

The noise from the spectators was incessant, and the arena was equally restless.

Both sides, red and blue, while grappling passionately, kept shouting in the communication channel.

Initially, Born in Summer took the upper hand, unilaterally pressing down Tiger of Litang.

However, due to the overly aggressive pace of the attack, the clumsy Aurora II lost its balance for a moment, with Born in Summer staggering and bumping into Tiger of Litang’s chest, giving the latter the chance to swing the short axe and smash wildly.

If that axe were a thermal cutting axe, Born in Summer, hunched and ramming into Tiger bro’s chest, would have been a crispy, tender roasted chicken, and his battle knife wouldn’t pierce the ceramic steel-crafted front armor.

Unfortunately, there’s no "if" on the battlefield.

Although the combat power of the Abstract Army is not comparable to the Climber Army, which stands out in the Paradise Battle, solo battles and army combat are entirely two different concepts as well.

Precisely because none of the teammates are reliable, the four high-ranking members of the Abstract Army each have rich battlefield survival experience and adaptability.

The window for a counter-kill flashed by!

Just when the axe was about to heavily hit his lower back for the second time, he seized the moment when his opponent’s center of gravity was leaning towards his back, threw his arms upward, and kicked off the ground. He managed to uproot Tiger of Litang from atop him completely, flipping him over behind!

"I measure——!"

Amidst the audience’s exclamations, Tiger bro let out an unwilling roar, flipped head over from Summer’s back, and fell heavily to the ground, face up.

"Boom!!"

As dust rolled violently, having been thrown off, he was planning to flip over and get up. The battle knife was already wedged into the gap between his helmet and shoulder armor, while a palm was firmly pressed on his head.

Out of breath, Born in Summer grinned fiercely, pressing the guy’s helmet hard, raising his eyebrows and exhaling proudly.

"Don’t move, be honest!"

"@#%!"

Tiger of Litang was so angry his teeth itched, struggling a few times unable to move, could only give up reluctantly.

According to PK rules, if any side loses the ability to resist, the PK is considered ended.

The winner receives a reward bonus.

And once the judgment is completed, if any side continues battling, it is considered a violation and subjected to punishment.

This rule design is primarily to reduce equipment wear.

Although the power armors in the arena are simplified versions, like replacing the long-endurance nuclear battery with a hydrogen battery only sufficient for one battle, other components are still quite valuable.

Just at the moment when the victory judgment was completed, a line of text floated across the big screen.

[Match ended, Red side wins]

[Winner ID: Born in Summer]

The spectator area outside the arena erupted in excited cheers, especially those players who won money by betting, stood up and shouted excitedly.

Standing in the center of the crowd spectating, the Outlaw Maniac applauded, with an aloof smile, commenting leisurely.

"Not bad, not bad, showing a third of my flair when I dominated the arena back in the day."

Standing next to "Wake Up and Sleep" heard and rolled his eyes.

"Stop bragging! And what level are you now, is it really fun to compare with newbies!"

The Outlaw Maniac chuckled and said.

"Isn’t this comparing with me at the same time? I wasn’t a newbie when I dominated the arena!"

Wake Up and Sleep: "You dang cat, you only won a few times, how did you dominate!"

Outlaw Maniac: "It’s not important! I’ve got a high win rate!"

Wake Up and Sleep: "@#%!"

"I’ll Die First" stopped clapping his hands, sighed, and looked at the two, saying helplessly.

"... Instead of arguing here, why don’t you go down and practice a match."

Due to some players’ shocking and absurd operations, the player viewing area and the NPC viewing area have been separated since Beta0.6.

The former is mainly open to players with nothing to do, who come to watch the excitement, while the audience for the latter is mainly researchers, engineers, and trainees from Camp 101.

This also makes the NPC viewing area much quieter than the plTonight again cartwo ng one . You need to put on headphones to hear the sounds of battle, and the atmosphere is more academic.

"The hardness of the ceramic steel armor is somewhat beyond expectation..."

"Hmm... Hit by ten consecutive explosion arrows and remained intact, it even blocked a 350mm penetration depth portable armor-piercing bullet."

"This guy is like a walking chariot..."

"The inability to penetrate the armor-piercing bullet is likely due to gap armor, not just the ceramic steel’s credit."

"Not necessarily, we need to dismantle the armor insert near the impact point to confirm."

"I’m thinking about what kind of individual equipment can destroy this thing head-on..."

"Isn’t it a bit early to consider this now?"

"It’s not early, the diffusion of technology is only a matter of time, I’m sure the Army is already considering this problem. We need to anticipate their solutions and consider countermeasures before they find a solution."

Sitting in the corner of the viewing area, wearing headphones, Xia Yan stared at the notebook in her hands, deep in thought.

As the designer of the whole armor set, her focus was not on a particular module of the armor, but on the overall framework of the entire set.

Having been crafting equipment for players even before the Alliance was formed, she understands the players’ combat styles better than anyone here, and knows how to make them leverage their maximum advantage in specific battlefield environments.

And this was exactly what Chu Guang had once told her, "the unique and irreplaceable talent that only she possesses."

Once she understood this point, she was never lost again because of her "lack of awakened talent" or "unable to find her own value."

Through observing the earlier battle, new inspiration had already formed in her mind.

However, that fuzzy inspiration was still quite abstract in her mind for the time being.

She needed some time to organize it into something concrete and integrate it into the original design plan.

"... Sorry, I still need a little more time, could you please wait a bit longer for me? Ten minutes... uh, maybe half an hour, it won’t be more than an hour at most!"

Grabbing her messy fiery red hair, Xia Yan lifted her head from the screen, looking apologetically at Alyssa sitting opposite her, with a pleading expression.

Due to their similar professional fields, Alyssa and Little Fish were very close, and thus became good friends with her too.

However, recently Little Fish and Pai were busy with projects related to the exchange in Dawn City, so it was just the two of them eating in the cafeteria these days.

Seeing Xia Yan’s concern from her tightly knit brows, Alyssa smiled gently, her voice soft as she said.

"It’s okay, luckily I’m not very hungry."

"Thank you!"

After hastily throwing out those words, Xia Yan returned to her work of conceptualizing.

And Alyssa sitting across from her didn’t disturb her thoughts, quietly savoring the rich coffee as before, while flipping through the book in her hands she hadn’t finished reading.

The reason she chose to read here wasn’t so much an interest in power armor combat, but purely because the coffee here was free and unlimited, occasionally accompanied by leftover cookies and pastries from the cafeteria the day before.

Since resigning from her position on the Giant Stone City Crisis Committee, she has started living the life of an ordinary person, with a monthly living expense of about 1000 Silver Coins.

Thanks to the scholarships set up by the Alliance’s education department and the local authorities of Giant Stone City, she could pursue the knowledge she yearned for with peace of mind after it all ended here.

Although her life was not exactly tight, since it had been spent with money she hadn’t earned, she maintained a frugal lifestyle as much as possible, especially on non-essential expenses.

Believing the esteemed Manager would surely not mind a little girl without independent financial means taking small advantages of him here and there.

Besides, she would not just take advantage of him without giving back.

Once she learned what she needed to know, she would repay him for extending a helping hand to her and Giant Stone City with her vast knowledge.

The old her was still very weak, knowing the what but not the why of many things.

But now, it’s different.

After a whole year of studying, she was no longer the person she used to be...

"...Excuse me, are you Miss Alyssa?"

Hearing the voice from the side, Alyssa realized that her fingertip had stayed at the footer of the next page for a full ten minutes without turning, and the hundreds of thousands of words that flashed through her mind could fill a book.

Realizing she was distracted, her cheeks flushed as she lightly coughed to compose her appearance, before looking up at the staff standing beside the desk.

"That’s me... Is there something I can help with?"

The staff member smiled and said.

"There’s a gentleman at the door looking for you, he claims to be your friend and says there’s something he needs to discuss with you."

During the equipment test period, aside from authorized residents of the refuge, those not employed or studying at Camp 101 were unable to apply to enter the arena to watch.

However, Camp 101 itself was quite open, allowing anyone who registered at the gate to enter.

Upon hearing it was a friend, Alyssa first thought of Mr. Joey.

His kids were also studying at Camp 101, and he would sometimes visit them and stop by to see her.

"I see."

Alyssa didn’t think much about it, closed the book she had opened, and looked at Xia Yan sitting opposite her.

"I’ll step out for a moment."

Busy with the screen, Xia Yan quickly nodded, already so engrossed that she didn’t even have time to look away.

"Mmhmm! Safe travels! Oh, remember to come back later!"

"Don’t worry, I wouldn’t leave you all alone for dinner... I’ll be back soon."

Feeling amused by Boss Xia’s hurried appearance, Alyssa couldn’t help but smile.

To avoid making Mr. Joey wait, she didn’t delay any longer, got up from her seat, and walked out of the arena’s spectator area.

Meanwhile, at the arena’s entrance, two men stood, one tall, one short.

Compared to the tall man standing in front, the shorter one was obviously much younger, probably not even an adult.

Due to his lack of experience, his face and confidence were far thinner than those of the man standing in front.

"...Mr. Zayed, is doing this truly okay?" The young fellow glanced nervously towards the entrance, finally unable to hold back, whispered.

Zayed had lied to the staff at the entrance; they weren’t actually friends of Miss Alyssa and hadn’t even seen her before.

Though Mr. Zayed managed to deceive the inexperienced youth with his smooth talk and proper etiquette, enough to make the latter forget to ask their names before going in to help find her, such a lie couldn’t last long.

He was deeply worried that when the lady saw their unfamiliar faces, she would simply call the guards over...

Zayed glanced at his impatient follower and spoke lightly.

"Relax, we’re not bad people. We’ll explain and apologize once we meet her."

Seeing his tense demeanor, Zayed paused for a moment and added.

"Those who aim for great achievements typically don’t fuss over small details. With her abilities and ambitions, I doubt she’d bother with such trivial matters. It’s you I’m concerned about; the way you keep peeking around, I really fear the guards will toss you out."

This young man was named Vassa, like him, a member of the Snake Clan, and also became his underling soon after arriving in the City of Dawn.

Upon hearing Zayed’s words, Vassa quickly stopped glancing around, but his face still held a nervous expression.

"But... can’t we use other means? Like sending a formal letter requesting a meeting for discussion."

"Do you think I haven’t tried?"

He retorted calmly.

"Plus, we have no time to wait. The window of opportunity is closing. Under the combined pull of external and internal forces, the Empire can’t hold on much longer. We must gain the support of the Alliance, and to achieve that, we must establish contact with the Managers of the Alliance."

Since hearing a suggestion from a resident of the refuge, changing the Equality Conference to the Family Meeting, he had indeed attracted quite a few members and funding sponsors.

Especially when people heard family members were addressed as family, promoting equality, love, and mutual assistance without distinction, several residents of Shelter No. 404 eagerly opened their wallets to support their cause without expecting any return.

Still, even with the growth fueled by such "spur-of-the-moment" support, they were far from rivaling the United Federation established by the residents of Jin Galun Harbor.

Both scales weren’t on the same level; the latter not only had support from the residents of Potato Harbor but also had the backing of the colossal Baiyue Corporation.

Zayed wanted to wait patiently, as some matters couldn’t be rushed; he had even poured tea and water humbly for a long time just to meet a bigwig, thus wasn’t bothered to spend months dragging things out in the City of Dawn.

However, recent events had made him restless.

On one hand, Laxi’s performance had exceeded his expectations; the Survivor Daily’s Dawn City edition reported for the first time on Mammoth State’s recovery accomplishments.

On the other hand, the Empire’s palace had been foolish beyond his predictions, managing to commit nearly every impropriety and speeding recklessly down a wrong path.

No intelligent person would possibly make completely counterproductive decisions amid a series of issues, yet the Witch Camel miraculously achieved it.

Crafting an entirely correct test paper is hard enough, but creating one that’s entirely wrong is also quite the feat.

"...Can that lady Alyssa reach the Alliance Managers?" Vassa looked at Zayed with confusion, still carrying a hint of disbelief on his face.

The latter couldn’t be bothered to explain to him, just watched the doorway indifferently and said in a flat tone.

"Regardless of whether it works or not, it must be tried."

Even though he said this, he was quite confident about the success of this matter in his heart.

Like that Mr. Mouse who authored "Red Soil," he also studied the materials from the period of major change in Giant Stone City, and his research was far deeper than the former... At least in his own view, this was undoubtedly the case.

After all, when the former was still focusing on the cultural aspect, he had already delved into the core of the giant Stone City’s transformation period concerning new and old regimes and the transition of power!

The final victory was never achieving from idealists; those who overthrew the Inner City Nobles were actually masters at understanding human nature.

Especially the woman named Alyssa, who was by no means simple!

She was not only the daughter of Melvin, the former head of the Original Boulder City Bank, but also a member of the Crisis Committee formed by the Workers’ Association and Militia Group!

This committee was truly remarkable.

Most of today’s local high-level authorities in Giant Stone City were inherited from that committee.

Whether it was the city hall or the militia group!

Being able to remain unscathed amidst the transition of new and old powers, and preserve her family, was testament to this woman’s skill!

Not just that—

He had also found out that during the Crisis Committee period, this lady Alyssa hosted the asset liquidation of the Inner City Nobles and reorganized the bankruptcy of Giant Stone City Bank!

This was indeed a brilliant move, and it was the part he admired most.

After accomplishing these tasks, she effectively and completely severed ties with the past! Her political foes would no longer be able to attack her based on her background!

Originally stains on her reputation would now become a shining medal!

Whether it was beautifully completing the task or successfully gaining the trust of other members of the Crisis Committee, securing the work for herself, it all proved the brilliance of her tactics and the deepness of her scheming!

On the surface, she lost all her assets, but in reality, she gained things closer to the essence—

That was power!

Even if she eventually chose to withdraw from the core power layer of Giant Stone City after everything ended, to Zayed, this seemed more like advancing by retreating.

Heading to the Alliance’s highest academy for advanced studies, she added an Alliance mark to herself, along with an extra halo compared to her committee colleagues.

If she steps forward in future, it would be moving from the power core of this small pond called Giant Stone City to the power core of the entire Alliance.

Even if she steps back, she could effortlessly stand above her former colleagues, relying on the Alliance’s mark and her achievements during the major transformation of Giant Stone City!

Not to mention, she held a strong link with Alliance Managers!

Zayed heard this little gossip accidentally, it was said Alyssa and the Alliance managers frequently corresponded by letters.

Though this piece of information wasn’t reliable, just some drunkard’s boast in a Giant Stone City tavern, judging from others’ reactions of joining the laughter, it might actually be true.

If it is indeed true... then the future of this lady Alyssa would be even harder to underestimate!

Zayed didn’t understand the Alliance’s power structure well, so he could only correlate it with the Empire’s palace.

He tried to imagine, if he were the Emperor of the Empire, he certainly wouldn’t refuse such a strong and capable woman, who could also bring plenty of resources to the royal family as an Empress.

As long as this lady wasn’t too old, even having missed childbearing age.

Thinking of this, a smile of assured victory gradually appeared on Zayed’s face.

Now the only thing he needed to ponder was how to prove his value to this lady Alyssa, making him worthy of her investment.

If he could tightly grip the future empress’s thigh from the Alliance, it wouldn’t just be beneficial to the future of his Family Meeting, but also advantageous for establishing a new nation in Poluo Province!

Just as Zayed was thinking about this, the person he had been eagerly thinking of finally appeared at the entrance of the arena.

However, the moment he confirmed that figure was Alyssa, he became utterly dumbfounded, standing there stupefied, unable to speak a word.

The figure seemed about fifteen or sixteen years old, completely subverting the shrewd, mysterious queen image he had in his mind.

This person...

Is this the Alyssa?

Could it be a mistake?!

All the predictions had been disrupted, and Zayed looked at her in disbelief until she walked closer, along with the arena staff.

Seeing the unfamiliar man before her and the timid follower behind him, Alyssa showed a hint of displeasure, her two beautiful brows lightly furrowing.

This kind of deceptive opening conversation already scored zero in her mind for the first impression of this guy.

"I don’t know you, nor do I recall anyone here sharing my name."

"I need an explanation."