Chapter 280: Sister Rui?

“I hope nothing goes wrong!” Yang Bo thought as he kept watching.

Then Yang Bo carefully went through the forum content once more and found something strange.

There were roughly a hundred places mentioned on the game forum, but without exception, they were all small cities with only a few hundred thousand people mostly in mountainous areas.

“Could it be that the larger cities are more dangerous?”

“Is the plains area also dangerous?”

“Still no coastal location found. Could the animals in the sea have turned into zombies too?” Based on this, Yang Bo made his own guess.

What’s the basis for this guess? It’s the varying skill points he received when hunting zombie leaders, ranging from four to eight points.

“So these zombies can evolve? Hasn’t the military developed stronger bionic humans?”

“Or maybe it’s just to get game players used to remote control? Then they’ll select the strongest players to control more powerful bionic humans?”

“That should be it. Bionic humans can definitely be made stronger, but the cost must also increase. The military can’t afford to let all the players use stronger bionic humans right now.”

“The military’s investment would be too high.” Yang Bo knew that even in the Galactic society, rare materials were valuable, while ordinary metals were worthless. But rare materials like energy metals were still incredibly valuable.

“Does the in-game character level correspond to different strengths in bionic humans?”

In the game, characters level up by completing tasks or killing monsters. However, leveling up in this game is difficult since common zombies offer little experience, and only tasks offer significant experience points.

“It seems no one has realized this yet. The other players clearly haven’t thought about it, because they don’t know it’s controlled remotely.”

“For me, isn’t this the perfect opportunity? If in-game promotion means controlling stronger bionic humans?”

“In any case, I should keep farming these small monsters. Even if only half of the farms have zombie leaders with Mind Control, I won’t lose out.” Yang Bo pondered carefully, realizing this was just like a mecha game. There was no need to farm stronger monsters.

Since there was still some time left, Yang Bo re-entered the Mecha Game.

Upon entering the game, he looked at the familiar interface and controlled a Generation VI mecha to look for Iron Bull and the others.

“Still so many bombs, I need to find a chance to deal with them.” Yang Bo exited the outpost and found there were still quite a few players in the Mecha Game. The hall housed over a dozen mechas.

“Who knows how many mechas are on this Green Demon Planet?” Yang Bo didn’t care about what others were doing and headed towards Iron Bull’s location.

Yang Bo traveled through the Underground World once again, then checked the forum with his remaining time. He noticed that players were treating the Mutants as neutral NPCs, obviously manipulated by the Game Officials behind the scenes. Since neither side could communicate upon meeting, players had no reason to think otherwise.

It was also possible that the NPCs some players saw were actual NPCs, and not the Mutants from Green Demon Planet.

After all, the military controlled things behind the scenes. What they wanted you to see, you’d see. At any moment, they could switch the remote control to the real game.

Last time, Yang Bo had been played by the Military when he tried to explore the deeper levels of the Underground World during the game. However, each time he reached a certain level, some unfathomable monsters would appear and kill him.

Yang Bo realized too late that he had been tricked by the Military. Whenever he reached a certain depth in the underground, the military automatically switched the remote control to the real game.

“I can’t afford to go against these GMs,” thought Yang Bo. He was there to grind skills, not to cause trouble.

Yang Bo wasn’t wrong. The military activated remote control to gather more materials. Due to certain reasons, this planet had ended up like this.

It’s not that they couldn’t send people up there, but the risk of doing so was too high.

If someone were infected by this unknown virus or energy, it would bring disaster to all of humanity.

All materials collected were sent to a space laboratory. The higher-level bionic humans were also in the space lab.

The space lab was located on a star’s orbit. If something were to go wrong, the lab would fall into the star, and the heat surrounding the star would eliminate all viruses while providing enough energy to power the lab.

Scientists were controlling these bionic humans to conduct research and had discovered a unique substance in the brains of zombies that could inhibit the virus or possibly disrupt the energy.

Additionally, feathers and similar materials, after undergoing special treatment, exhibited extremely unique properties.

But right now, players were clearly more interested in scheming and attacking each other.

Even though these players spent their own money, with each resurrection costing hundreds of thousands in credits.

But when people get emotional, they don’t care about those hundreds of thousands of credits.

A meeting was convened by the military’s department overseeing the game, and some of the department’s senior officials were also in attendance.

“I suggest increasing the difficulty of resurrection. The game currency required for resurrection should double within a certain time frame!” one individual from the game department suggested.

“I don’t think that’s appropriate. People play our broken game for profit, not to spend money. If we make it too costly, many won’t come to play,” another department member objected.

“Why not make the explosive effects of the bombs virtual?” someone else suggested.

“That would be too much work, because bombs also alert nearby zombies, and it’s easy for players to spot any flaws.”

“I have an idea. I was looking into other games today.”

“We could create a leaderboard and reward those who complete the most tasks each month.”

“We could also reward those who kill the most monsters, and we could introduce support professions.”

“In the support professions section, we could use virtual materials. Players would collect materials, send them to us for research, but any items crafted from them would remain virtual. Later, when we introduce national wars or guild wars, they could burn through these virtual goods.”

“We could create a virtual map for players to conduct siege wars, and the equipment they create would be consumed in the process. This way, we wouldn’t have to worry about being exposed.”

“The winning side of the siege could earn big rewards, and we could use in-game game currency to allow betting during the siege, recovering a massive amount of game currency.”

“Our goal is to make certain players rich, to attract even more players to join.”

“Here’s the latest game data. Some players are already raking in big bucks. There are about 50,000 players in total, spread across roughly a hundred County Towns. Each town has about 500 players.”

“About 1% of players earn over a thousand a day, and 0.1% earn over ten thousand a day.”

“We need to reverse this culture of players attacking each other. When they fight, it affects other players too.”

“We could also add a reporting system and a confinement feature,” said a young man from the game department.

The department’s supervisor nodded slightly after hearing these suggestions. “We need to make the players happy while also encouraging them to earn and spend in the game, ideally by paying to get stronger.”

After all, the military wasn’t running this game to lose money. With a few adjustments, it could even generate revenue to fund research projects.

“You will be in charge. Make a proposal,” said the Military’s senior officers, pleased with the suggestions.

Ultimately, the final battle would take place on a different map, fully virtual, and through guild wars, all gear would be reset. Why? Because equipment creation required game currency.

“The Mecha Game can operate in the same way. Should we add team or guild features?” one of the Military’s senior officers suddenly came up with an idea for the Mecha Game.

“Straightforward task completion won’t satisfy players forever. Adding other elements, allowing players to gather materials and craft their own mecha, then having it destroyed in guild fights.”

After that, they’d have to collect materials again to craft better equipment.

“General, your idea is fantastic!” The department’s supervisor quickly flattered him.

Others began applauding as well, acting as if the idea was the General’s own.

The General waved his hand modestly, slightly embarrassed. “The credit goes to all of you. Hurry up and finalize the proposal. The leaderboard idea might be old-fashioned, but as long as it boosts player enthusiasm, it’s worth it.”

“We’ll complete the task!” The game department staff stood, saluting.

Meanwhile, Yang Bo, playing the Mecha Game, had no idea what was happening behind the scenes.

He arrived not far from his territory as Iron Bull suddenly appeared. Yang Bo quickly called out to Iron Bull.

Iron Bull hadn’t changed much in appearance, and soon Iron Bull’s brother also appeared.

“Looks like we have to figure out a way to deal with the Justice Gang.”

“Let’s give Iron Bull and his brothers some snacks first!”

“After today’s meeting with Zhou Rui, I’ll log in to the Mecha Game tomorrow or the day after to mess with the Justice Gang.” After playing with Iron Bull for a while and finding no issues, Yang Bo piloted his mecha back to the outpost before logging out.

Yang Bo was quite happy that Zhou Rui’s family could offer him custom Energy Suit services.

“Mutual benefit is essential. As long as Zhou Rui’s family treats me sincerely, I won’t consider myself an outsider.”

“But still, one should be cautious when dealing with others.” Yang Bo glanced at his outfit—a casual outfit with a pair of running shoes.

The shoes were branded, mainly for convenience should he need to make a quick escape. A good pair of shoes could help a lot when running away.

“Sure enough, satellites are keeping an eye on us.” As soon as he opened the door and stood at the entrance, Yang Bo sensed that two satellites were focusing energy waves on his building.

“The Fat Boss, now how should I describe him?” Yang Bo found it hard to evaluate the Fat Boss.

On one hand, when trouble strikes, no one could run faster than him. On the other hand, his collaboration with Yang Bo had been satisfactory.

“The Fat Boss has his limits, but don’t set your expectations too high.” Confidently, Yang Bo boarded an Flying Car and headed to the restaurant where they’d agreed to meet.

Yang Bo remembered the Fat Boss’s advice—never meet in a private place. He entered the private dining room at the restaurant and found Zhou Rui already there.

Seeing Zhou Rui’s attire today, Yang Bo couldn’t help but find it very familiar.

“Yang Bo, let’s order first.” Zhou Rui spotted Yang Bo and smiled while handing him the menu.

After sitting down, Yang Bo realized why Zhou Rui’s style seemed familiar. It was precisely the type that Li Aidu liked.

“Seems like they’ve definitely dug up my info,” he thought. He had guessed this would happen, but having it confirmed still made him feel a little uncomfortable.

It’s like knowing that a software was eavesdropping on your conversations. Even though you knew it was happening, it still feels unsettling when caught red-handed.

Their styles were completely different. Li Aidu liked the sweet and pure look, whereas Zhou Rui’s fiery figure pulled off the same style with surprising allure.

“Assistant Zhou…” Yang Bo said after looking at the menu.

“Just call me Sister Zhou from now on,” Zhou Rui interrupted with a smile.

“Why not call you Sister Rui?” Yang Bo felt a little weird calling her Sister Zhou, so he offered his suggestion instead.

“Of course, not a problem at all.” Zhou Rui was overjoyed upon hearing Yang-Bo’s words. The meaning behind the two different titles was very distinct.

“Sister Rui, will you be customizing the Energy Suit for me?” asked Yang Bo while glancing at the menu.

“Yes, but we need to sign a service contract first. Depending on how many years of service you provide us, you can earn a free Energy Suit. This is common industry practice,” Zhou Rui explained as she stood up to pour Yang Bo some water.

“Thanks.” Yang Bo gratefully accepted the water handed to him while thanking her.

“You’re welcome. You can take some time to learn more about it. Depending on the quality of the Energy Suit, the years of service required for the contract will differ. There are tons of similar contracts online,” Zhou Rui said as she sat down next to Yang Bo after pouring the water.

Yang Bo felt a bit awkward, but there wasn’t much he could do now. Zhou Rui then pulled out a thick book.

“Here are all the different designs for Energy Suits, along with their pros and cons. The same goes for weapons.”

“You can buy some models of cold weapon replicas online first. See which cold weapon type appeals to you most. Everyone has their own preferences,” Zhou Rui said as she opened the book and explained to Yang Bo.

Yang Bo handed the menu over to Zhou Rui casually. “Sister Rui, you order for me. I’m not picky.”

Looking through the book carefully, Yang Bo realized it came at just the right time. It contained various models of Energy Suits, each with their specific advantages and disadvantages.

What intrigued Yang Bo the most were the weapons. There were all kinds of cold weapons with detailed analysis of their strengths and weaknesses, as well as methods for their use.

“With my Metal Superpower ability, I can change the form of my weapon depending on the opponent during battle.”

“It looks like the Blade Mastery skill from the game can be applied to cold weapon combat too.”

“I should grind more of these cold weapon skills. Sure, I don’t have natural talent, but I can farm skills.” Yang Bo was absorbed in the book, which seemed quite old.

Zhou Rui, watching Yang Bo becoming so engrossed, smiled slightly to herself and thought, “There isn’t a man alive who doesn’t love Energy Suits and weapons. It was a good move after all to eliminate that Fatty, though it cost quite a bit.”