Chapter 673.1: Brother Ample Time's Massive Plan
It turned out that hanging a person under an airship like cargo and letting them swing through the air was, indeed, a terrible idea.
At first, with over ten tons of cargo slung beneath the hull, the towing ropes stayed relatively stable.
But once the cargo had been unloaded onto the freighter’s deck, the rope holding Old Wine Lamp began to sway wildly. The airship had barely lifted him before he experienced what it truly meant to fly like the wind.
Fortunately, the pilot was skilled. After a few attempts, and no small number of curses, he managed to bring the airship back without killing anyone, safely lowering the briefcase-clutching Old Wine Lamp back into the camp.
The instant his boots touched solid ground, Old Wine Lamp dropped to his knees and vomited violently.
Walking over, Ample Time laughed and asked, “How’s the ride?”
“Not bad...”
Still pale, Old Wine Lamp sat right where he was and muttered between breaths, “This game’s... physics system... is way too realistic.”
“Haha, glad you enjoyed it,” Ample Time said cheerfully. “Now, about the transport fee.”
“Oh, right! Almost forgot.” Old Wine Lamp slapped his forehead, opened the briefcase, and counted out 10 100 silver bills before handing them over apologetically. “Thanks, brother.”
“No problem.” Ample Time pocketed the cash and squinted toward the departing freighter with a satisfied smile. “Pleasure doing business with you.”
Business was business.
Even a short airship lift consumed fuel, and as a senior shareholder he had to think about the Bull and Horse Group’s balance sheets, and, by extension, the interests of Shelter 404, the corporation’s largest stakeholder.
Currently, the Bull and Horse Group was the most valuable company on the entire server, its net assets exceeded even the second and third combined. With that came the strictest financial audits anywhere.
Non-commercial gameplay was fine, but once profit entered the equation, everything became a regulated business activity. It wasn’t worth risking a gray-zone violation over a mere 1,000 silver.
So he took the payment, and would duly record it in his VM ledger.
Turning from the horizon, Ample Time glanced at Sword Execution. “By the way... this air-freight method of loading and unloading is really not sustainable. One mistake and we lose both cargo and lives. We need a proper dock soon.”
Sword Execution sighed, “I’ve been thinking about that. But building a pier’s a lot tougher than land construction. The shallow-sea mutants are the biggest issue. You can’t wall them off like land creatures. Once we start construction, they’ll be a nightmare.”
In the River Valley Province, mutant species were limited, mostly pushed into the mountains. The usual trio of roaches, rats, and hyenas could be handled easily with neural interference devices.
But the Baiyue Province was different.
The sea teemed with mutants. The Baiyue Strait’s shallow seabed made it a haven for amphibious species.
The interference devices had limited frequency ranges and there was no way to drive off everything. Even the Southern Archipelago Federation’s naval fleets used them only to deter large creatures that could capsize ships.
As for Silvermoon Bay’s trick of soaking black ironwood in seawater to repel monsters, it worked, but the material loss was enormous.
Black ironwood grew only in temperate climates, impossible to cultivate where they were. Importing from Oasis No.4 would be disgustingly expensive.
“Economically, that’s not viable,” Ample Time muttered, frowning. “What about nets?”
Sword Execution gave a wry laugh. “You think these are sardines? What kind of net can stop mutants?”
Before he could finish, Old Wine Lamp, now wiping his mouth and brushing sand from his pants, interjected, “How about devil silk? I saw it used in West Continent Municipality for farming Crackleclaw Crabs and Gunship Shrimp. They are tougher than steel wire and doesn’t rust. Fishermen use it too, their rods snap before the line does. Even if a boat capsizes, the nets are still fine.”
Sword Execution froze, then his eyes lit up. “Right! Devil silk is a Dawn City specialty!”
He rubbed his chin, ideas forming fast. “You might be onto something. Those nets can at least block mutant turtles and crabs, maybe more!”
“No need to overthink it,” Ample Time said with a grin. “When I log off later, I’ll ask Night Ten to place an order in Dawn City for one batch of them. When the next trip comes, we’ll test it out. Even if we can’t build a dock yet, securing the shoreline would be huge progress.”
He clapped Old Wine Lamp on the arm. “Good idea, brother! Post suggestions like that on the forum next time, if it’s good, we’ll use it!”
Flustered but delighted, Old Wine Lamp grinned. “Really? Then I won’t hold back.”
“Don’t be polite, we’re all on the same team.”
1,000 silver was pocket change. Even 140,000 was a rounding error for the Bull and Horse Group. However, a harbor capable of handling 10,000,000 silver in daily throughput, that was real economic power.
The Baiyue Strait Development Company thrived on a platform economy. They would keep the clients happy first and harvest the profits later.
Port fees, handling charges, storage, demurrage, lightening... There were plenty of ways to make effortless income.
And considering that most wasteland merchants were half-bandits, it wouldn’t hurt to build a couple of coastal gun batteries for security purposes.
Watching Ample Time’s polite, scholarly smile, Old Wine Lamp couldn’t help a chill down his spine.
It was probably just his imagination...
He coughed to change the subject. “By the way, Ideal City’s on the coast too, right? What about Heavenly Water Tributary? Maybe they’ve got construction barges we can hire. Outsourcing to them might be cheaper than airlifting equipment from Dawn City.”
Ample Time rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Good point. I’ll look into it.”
Funny, he was one of the first players to reach Ideal City and had nearly forgotten it was a coastal place.
Not everything needed to come from Dawn City. The New Alliance’s currency-swap agreement with the Enterprise gave Bull and Horse Group usable foreign reserves. He could easily tender a contract through Ideal City for French Fry Harbor’s port project.
Come to think of it, wasn’t the Moonlike Group, run by Li Shuyue, a subsidiary of Ideal Corporation, the city’s largest property conglomerate?
He had heard long ago she had deep connections to their board of directors. Maybe... she could help pull a few strings.
...
As Ample Time pondered whether to fly to Ideal City personally, at French Fry Harbor’s northern gate two tracked bulldozers, each fitted with reinforced plows, were advancing toward the jungle under escort of 100 heavily armed players.
Half belonged to the Burning Corps, half to the Jungle Corps, the server’s top fighters.
Most wore K-10 Iron Wall exoskeletons, and those leading the formation donned Ethereal and Dragon Cavalry exoframes.
The bulldozers themselves were remarkable, copies of the Academy’s elite Reindeer Tracked Vehicles, repurposed as mobile research platforms.
The Burning Corps had seized the original from an Academy squad, then reverse-engineered it within the New Alliance’s limited capabilities. It was simplified, yes, but functional.
Shrunk to 3.5 m tall and 6 m long, stripped of modular weapon platforms, the copy retained a remote weapon station with a 20 mm autocannon, a short-barrel grenade launcher, and tank-grade smoke emitters.
At the suggestion of Yin Fang, head of the Scientific Expedition Corps, the vehicle was christened the Husky.
The name alone, that called the vehicle a dog, showed how little faith the scientists had in its reliability.
Even so, the budget Reindeer carried serious gear, a near-absolute-zero sample vault, cryostasis pods rated for twenty years, a quantum workstation, and arrays of precision sensors, each worth millions of silver.
The procurement of those were thanks to the New Alliance and Academy research agreement, which allowed purchases of scientific instruments at institutional rates, items that money alone couldn’t normally buy.
The New Alliance might pinch pennies on weapons, but never on science. If there was good equipment available, Chu Guang would ensure his researchers had it, no matter the cost.
Motivated by his trust, the New Alliance’s scientists worked with fervent enthusiasm.
As soon as the airship carrying the cargo touched down, the Biological Research Institution and the Expedition Corps finalized their plans.
Two Husky crawlers rolled out north of camp, teams deploying like a race into the dense rainforest.
The Institution’s field leader was Chen Yutong, whose stellar work on the Brocade River Province’s research projects had earned Hyrja’s personal endorsement.
The Expedition Corps’ team’s leader, Meng Liang, was a former resident of Shelter 401. He had once served as a field surveyor aboard the Heart of Steel and taken part in the investigation of Shelter 0.
Both were cross-disciplinary talents, Chen Yutong an AI specialist turned bioengineer, Meng Liang a psychic-tech researcher turned archaeologist after the New Alliance rescued him from marauders.
Now, inside the Husky that rode at the rear, Chen Yutong sat beside the bio-analyzer, studying a leaf between her fingers.
She had plucked it casually upon landing, yet something about it felt off.
Moments earlier, the construction crews had reported strange phenomena. The forest healed itself, regrowing visible vegetation overnight. And not in one species either, but across multiple. Cut down a palm, and the next morning its place was taken by bamboo and vines.
A spark of fascination glimmered in her eyes.
She had come partly to escape the Academy’s growing presence in Clearspring City, but the deeper she learned, the more intrigued she became.
“... Analysis complete,” came a voice from the bio-lab console, snapping her from thought.
