98: Chapter 98 Prototype

Northwest of Shelter, Nomads' outpost.

This was the largest tent in the camp.

Thick mutant beast hides blocked out the wind and sand, while the crackling firewood in the central brazier dispelled the early morning chill of the wasteland.

Lin Li sat in the main seat, with Talos and a group of Nomad leaders lined up on either side.

"Everyone, let's speak plainly."

Lin Li skipped the pleasantries and cut straight to the point.

"I don't intend to be your new leader, and you don't need to kowtow to me. I don't have the time to care about who has the biggest fist or who calls the shots within your tribes."

The leaders looked at each other and pricked up their ears.

"But we all know."

Lin Li tapped the wooden table with his finger, making a dull thud.

"Once the armies of Coastal City or the Greenskins attack, you won't be able to stop anyone with those broken guns and horses you have. The final result will be you being slaughtered like mutant dogs."

"We must form an alliance."

Lin Li looked around, his tone brook no argument:

"Your camp gates can still fly your Nomad flags."

"But at the very top, you must add the battle flag of our Kindling Alliance!"

"Once an enemy attacks you, heavy artillery support and armored units from Shelter can arrive at your doorstep by tomorrow! If you lack food or water, the alliance will provide them to you at the lowest internal prices."

"In exchange, when there's a war, you must contribute men and guns according to your share. We'll lay out the spoils and territory on the table and divide them equally based on the effort put in!"

After he finished speaking, the tent fell silent for a few seconds.

Then, the tribal leaders nodded one after another.

Talos looked at the surrounding leaders and found that they didn't just lack resistance to the proposal; there was even a hint of relieved surprise in their eyes.

"If that's the case, we are completely willing to accept this proposal."

Talos stood up, pressed his right hand to the left side of his chest, and made a solemn declaration.

After spending time interacting with the players from Shelter, Talos's view of these outsiders had become much more objective.

They were indeed like a bunch of lunatics on the battlefield, unafraid of death.

But away from combat, they were actually quite easy to get along with.

They were generous in trades and never used their power to bully others.

Not only would they distribute the prey they caught to the children and pregnant women in the camp for free, but Talos had even seen with his own eyes several soldiers in heavy armor taking the initiative to carry elderly people with mobility issues across muddy trenches.

In the wasteland where the weak were prey to the strong, this was a scene that was simply unimaginable.

Talos even felt that these people were too good.

They were almost like the angels sent by The Emperor to save mortals in myths and legends.

The two sides had a pleasant conversation and quickly finalized the specific details of the alliance.

Lin Li picked up the bowl of steaming mutant beast milk on the table, drained it in one gulp, wiped his mouth, and stood up to leave without any hesitation.

Leaving the camp, Lin Li straddled his custom black electric motorcycle and raced back toward Shelter.

The wasteland wind whistled past his ears.

Actually, this model of political cooperation was similar to the federal system on Earth.

Lin Li calculated silently in the wind.

Shelter was equivalent to the central government, responsible only for fighting major wars, setting major rules, mediating disputes, and holding diplomatic and supreme military power.

It was essentially equivalent to controlling diplomacy, the constitution, and the supreme court.

And these affiliated forces were like local states; they could do whatever they wanted internally.

This model could minimize cultural conflicts and management costs.

Of course, Lin Li also wanted to achieve a grand unification, concentrating all resources and population to accomplish great things.

But he simply didn't have enough administrative officials in his hands right now.

Currently, the natives around Shelter were still in a very loose state because there was no one to manage them.

It was impossible to let that group of The Fourth Calamity, who only thought about messing around, killing monsters, and looting gear every day, serve as administrators, right?

That place would definitely fall into chaos in three days, and they might even end up creating a new gang for you.

"Of course, the federal system also has its drawbacks. For example, once local military strength grows, it's easy for the tail to wag the dog."

"But what the hell am I afraid of! I have an army of players who can resurrect infinitely, and I have Iron Man 73! As long as the technology tree is always far ahead, how can these natives who can't even figure out how to fire a cannon rebel?"

Not long after, Lin Li returned to Shelter.

Just as he sat down in the chair of the main control room on Level B1, he received an emergency report from the Scourge Legion commander, [Praise Ming Shen].

Ming Shen briefly described the current situation in Shahe Town in the report.

Because the merchant nobles were artificially inflating prices and cutting off water sources, survival conflicts in the slums were intensifying.

The Sand Snake Gang was taking advantage of the chaos, and there was already a trend toward large-scale bloody conflict.

At the end of the report, Ming Shen made a solemn request:

"To preserve the sparks of humanity and achieve human revival, my legion requests Shelter to conduct military intervention immediately!"

Immediately afterward, ikun True Fan from the [Galactic Empire Stormtroopers] also sent a similar request for action.

However, ikun's focus seemed to be on leading people to investigate the mysterious distress signal players had received a few days ago.

After a moment of thought, Lin Li approved the action applications of these two legions directly in the system backend.

"Shelter just brought the Northwest Nomads under its wing. The permanent resident population of natives, excluding players, has reached over 23,000."

Lin Li glanced at the progress of the main mission.

"But there's still a large gap from the target of 50,000 people. If I can use this conflict to bring the over 100,000 people of Shahe Town into the fold, the mission can be successfully completed, and the permissions for the fifth underground level of Shelter will be fully unlocked!"

The fourth underground level had a full five thousand player slots. According to the system's usual pattern, the number for the fifth underground level would definitely be even higher.

Furthermore, the power of the five thousand members of The Fourth Calamity was already beginning to show its first signs on the wasteland.

In the northwest, the [Brotherhood of Steel] now saw Greenskins like they were walking steaks, each of them transforming into model workers, going out to hunt crazily every day.

To the east, the [Scourge Legion] was making great strides in heavy industry.

They had even begun reverse-engineering the Defense Force's laser rifles, and the technology tree of their camp was visibly rising.

In the Sewer Depression where the [Galactic Empire] was stationed to the southwest, they had not only established several stable sand potato plantations.

According to reliable information, that guy ikun seemed to be secretly engaging in shady dealings with that mutant muscle brute underground, trying to learn the other's insane genetic enhancement technology.

Thinking about the terrifying learning ability these players showed in the game, Lin Li suddenly had a wild idea.

"Will the mechanical, chemical, or even genetic technologies these guys learned in the Warhammer wasteland be brought back to Earth and replicated in reality?"

"Not to mention the long term, take that mass-produced Solid-state Hydrogen Battery. If this thing were created on Earth by some science student, it would definitely be a disruptive new energy industrial revolution!"

Lin Li shook his head and cleared these thoughts from his mind.

"Forget it, I can't control what happens to Earth. I only care about this place."

...

At the same time.

Shahe Town, Southwest District.

Due to the upper-class nobles' strict control over food and water, the air was filled with a suffocating sense of despair.

And as the nobles' number one loyal dogs—the Sand Snake Gang.

They were not only taking advantage of the situation to issue lifelong labor loans but had even begun blatantly snatching the meager relief supplies from the hands of other small gangs and civilians on the streets.

This dilapidated district was an extension of the red-light district.

Because there were no contraceptive measures on the wasteland, and with the concentration of prostitutes, the proportion of pregnant women here was unusually high.

At this time, in an abandoned factory clearing, dozens of sallow and emaciated women were lining up in a long queue.

Up ahead, several members of the People's Armed Forces wearing armbands were distributing mush and clear water.

The portion wasn't much—only a shallow bowl of mush and half a can of water—but it was barely enough for one person to maintain vital signs for a day.

At the front of the line, a pregnant woman with a protruding belly received her food.

Without any hesitation, she buried her face in the bowl and swallowed the sour starch mush in large gulps.

She even licked the bottom of the bowl clean with her tongue.

But she didn't drink a single drop of that half-can of water.

She carefully held the coarse ceramic jar with both hands, shielding it against her chest.

Her cracked and bleeding lips trembled slightly as she slowly walked toward home.

After turning several dark street corners and avoiding several waves of thugs, she walked for a long time.

Finally, she saw her own door, nailed together with rotten wooden boards.

However, the hint of relief from surviving a disaster that had just appeared on her grime-covered face instantly froze.

Leaning against the doorway was a man with a fleshy, brutish face.

The man wore the signature black leather jacket of the Sand Snake Gang, with a rusty machete tucked into his waist.

He was idly picking his teeth, and when he saw the pregnant woman approaching, a cruel sneer curled at the corners of his mouth.

"You damn bitch. Why did you go to that district to get food just now?"

The man stood up straight, blocking the way.

"Don't you know that's those people's territory? Daring to take their things, are you tired of living?"

The pregnant woman shuddered violently, her left hand instinctively supporting her high-bulging belly, her right hand clutching the water jar tightly.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry, sir..."

Her legs went weak, and her voice carried a thick sob.

"I was too hungry. The baby... the baby hasn't moved for days. I just wanted to live..."

"Slap!"

A loud slap rang out in the alley.

The man mercilessly slapped the pregnant woman's face.

The immense force sent her sprawling to the ground.

"Hungry? If you're hungry, why didn't you come to us to sign a loan?!"

The man cursed loudly, stepping on the pregnant woman's shoulder.

"Did we not give you a way to live? You just had to go and take charity from those mud-legs! You lowly thing!"

After cursing, the man bent down and snatched the ceramic jar the woman was holding in her arms.

"No! Please! Don't!"

The pregnant woman erupted with a startling will to survive; she held onto the ceramic jar with all her might, her nails leaving several bloody scratches on the man's arm.

"This is for the baby! I beg you, I'll give you anything you want!"

"I want your life!"

The man yanked impatiently.

The ceramic jar was pulled away.

The pregnant woman reached out in despair.

The man looked at the half-can of clear water in his hand, then at the woman groveling on the ground and pleading bitterly.

He didn't drink it; instead, he turned the jar upside down and poured it out directly.

"Splash—"

The precious water poured down, drenching the dry saline-alkali soil.

The parched wasteland was like a greedy beast, instantly sucking the moisture dry, leaving only a puddle of dark brown muddy water.

"Thirsty, are you? Drink! Go on, drink!" The man mocked with a loud laugh.

The pregnant woman stared blankly at the muddy water on the ground.

The next second, she scrambled over on all fours.

She desperately pressed her face into the filthy mud, her hands frantically scooping up the wet soil, sand and grime included, stuffing it into her mouth in an attempt to suck out even a tiny bit of moisture.

Looking at this posture that was worse than a dog's, the man found it incredibly boring.

He raised his foot, which was clad in a hard-soled military boot.

With a piercing sound of wind and without any warning, he kicked hard at the woman's high-bulging abdomen!

"Thud!"

A dull, strange sound.

It was the sound of something extremely fragile rupturing inside the abdominal cavity.

The pregnant woman's movements instantly froze.

She didn't scream, because the extreme pain had already stripped her of the ability to make a sound.

She curled up violently like a shrimp, her hands clutching her stomach tightly, the veins on her forehead bulging, her mouth wide open, twitching silently.

Blood.

Blood, mixed with clear amniotic fluid, seeped out from between her thighs, quickly staining the muddy water on the ground red.

"So noisy."

The man frowned as he watched the woman rolling in pain on the ground.

He casually picked up a piece of scrap metal with sharp edges from the nearby trash heap.

Stepping forward, he aimed at the pregnant woman's mud-stained neck and stabbed down forcefully.

The twitching stopped.

The man disdainfully wiped the blood off his boot on the woman's clothes, whistled, and turned to walk out of the alley.

Leaving behind only a corpse with eyes that wouldn't close and a pool of blood that was slowly growing cold.