Chapter 372 Rights and Obligations (1/2)

Gracie Clinic.

On the long white table, there was an open silver suitcase.

In the suitcase lay a jar half the length of a forearm, and a transparent kidney was soaked in a dark green solution.

It was made of an unknown flexible material, and its exquisite structure made people sigh, what kind of advanced civilization could accomplish such a meticulous miracle.

And this "miracle" that combines thousands of research results is just a piece of dust that fell on that great era.

With an obsessed expression on her face, Gracie stretched out her index finger like a dead branch and slid across the jar, muttering to herself.

"BIO-166..."

"What?"

"The number of this thing..."

Gracie sighed softly with a look of intoxication, "The bionic prosthesis from Ideal City, the crystallization of mechanical engineering and biology. It is the most ideal substitute for biological organs, as perfect as a work of art... even if it is just a fake."

All the miracles of Ideal City are just copies of the Human Union era.

But even so, for many survivors in the wasteland era, those imitation miracles are still an insurmountable gap.

Just as Gracie was immersed in the artwork in front of him, Fang Chang, who was standing next to the white long table, fell into deep thought.

After staring at the bald middle-aged man for a while, he suddenly spoke.

"Aren't you going to ask about Edmund?"

He had heard that the "butcher" named Edmund was once Gracie's apprentice. He was favored by Jeff, the boss of the Dagger Gang, because of an operation, and later worked for the Dagger Gang.

This guy introduced the business to him, and he turned around and sent Edmund to the prisoner-of-war camp of the New Alliance in exchange for a reward of 100 silver coins and 200 contribution points.

Fang Chang didn't believe that this guy knew nothing about what happened to his apprentice.

However, when he heard the name Edmund from Fang Chang, Gracie curled his lips and said indifferently.

"Why are you asking that guy? Does he have anything to do with our deal today?"

Fang Chang's expression was a little strange.

But when he saw Gracie's mouth stretched open, a hint of realization suddenly appeared in his eyes.

"...Did you do it on purpose?"

The New Alliance and the Predators are at loggerheads with each other, and this is well known in Qingquan City.

It is no exaggeration to say that this alliance itself was born from the war between Shelter No. 404 and the Predators.

Under such circumstances, the probability of this deal being done is less than one in ten.

If anyone would benefit from the closure of Edmond's clinic, it would undoubtedly be Gracie's clinic.

Without those cheap "original" parts, the mercenaries who accidentally had their balls blown up would have to choose more expensive bionic prostheses.

Can't afford it?

There is always someone who can afford it.

Even if he can steal one-tenth of the customers from Edmond's clinic and squeeze 500% of the profit from them, this guy can make a lot of money.

High value-added bionic prostheses are the real profiteering!

Human cloning?

That's just a crooked way to save money.

"I don't understand what you are saying... But I believe in one thing, that is, if you often walk by the river, you will get your feet wet. If you do business with predators, you will either be killed by the predators or become a predator yourself."

"So, I only do safe business with safe customers in safe places."

Gracie chuckled, reached out to close the silver suitcase, and stuffed it into the drawer under the table.

Then, he took out a gold-plated storage box from somewhere and gently placed it in front of Fang Chang.

"This is 500,000 chips, click on it."

The storage box was neatly stuffed with 50 black and white plastic pieces, and the sides of the round pieces were printed with crown-shaped patterns.

The black and shiny luster was like new, and there was not even a trace of fingerprints or dandruff.

Fang Chang took the storage box, counted it briefly, and suddenly spoke.

"I'm suddenly a little curious, how much can you make from this resale?"

Gracie smiled faintly.

"This is a business secret. Besides, why ask me, you have made a lot yourself... right?"

Fang Chang smiled and did not refute.

Indeed.

500,000 chips, converted into silver coins, must be 1 million, and the cost is only 600,000 silver.

Even if these 600,000 silver coins are collected by him and a few good brothers, each person can get a lot.

This is already far more than the wealth that ordinary players can get through tasks...

Weighing the less than half a catty in his hand, Fang Chang couldn't help but have a strange idea in his mind.

If the silver coin trading platform is understood as a stock exchange, can his own deposit be regarded as a shareholder of "Wasteland OL"?

Even if it is a spiritual shareholder.

"If you still need bionic prosthesis, you can contact me."

Gracie said with a smile.

"I will, but I don't think I'll need it recently. These past few days, a batch of bionic prostheses from Ideal City suddenly appeared in the inner city. I found out that the price was about 500,000 chips... I'm wondering if that mysterious seller is you."

"I'll just sell it to you for now."

NPCs also trade with each other, so Fang Chang didn't find it strange, but was a little curious about who could afford such a big deal.

Liszt?

Or that Dietwei who sells nutritional creams?

or……

Manager?

But managers are probably unlikely.

Fang thought about it for a long time, but couldn't associate that highly respected man with a philistine businessman.

This is not to say that the NPC has no business acumen, but the pure personality is a bit wrong. Besides, there are so many talents in the alliance, so there is no need for that "adult" to do this by himself.

"Really? It doesn't really matter."

Gracie chuckled, "I didn't sign an exclusive agreement with you. You are free to sell to whomever you want. Besides, my clients will eventually contact me for transplant surgery... Are you okay? I'll suggest you if you're okay. You go to the bank first, it’s not a good idea to carry so many chips, there are a lot of pickpockets in Boulder City.”

Fang Chang smiled faintly.

Pickpockets are okay.

As an agility player with the third stage of genetic sequence, pickpockets who can steal things from him are probably not born yet.

Not that he was very confident.

But if you really have this ability, there is no need to be a thief. You can just find a caravan or mercenary group to go in. What do you want?

Fang Chang put away the storage box and was about to leave.

But at this moment, he suddenly thought of something, stopped and said.

"...Right, let's make a deal."

"What deal." Gracie raised her eyebrows.

"Next time you have a business competitor, you don't have to beat around the bush, you can tell me directly... you know what kind of competitor I'm talking about."

The new alliance prohibits players from "privately" invading survivor settlements above neutral, but this does not include raider lairs.

Although the criteria for determining a "predator" are very flexible, as long as you submit "sufficient evidence" to the great manager's assistant, you will have a chance to obtain permission to "legally suppress bandits" and unlock the option of "unrestricted war".

The types of evidence include but are not limited to videos, photos, audio recordings, etc., and the judgment of evidence will refer to both the level of regional civilization and the strength of the evidence.

If the conditions are insufficient, a follow-up investigation task will usually be triggered to further verify the situation... Because there are too many issues involved, this is usually a quite complicated process.

But it would be much easier if someone could help them target it.

Especially in the stronghold of "Edmund Clinic", the value of the loot is far beyond that of ordinary predator lairs. Being able to both uphold justice and make money is equivalent to winning twice.

Isn’t it perfect?

Staring at Fang Chang with interest, a meaningful smile suddenly appeared on Gracie's face.

"Have you finally discovered a business that makes you money quickly?"

"But I still have to give you a piece of advice. When you try to take something away from the night, don't forget that the night is also staring at you."

Fang Chang had an indifferent expression on his face.

joke.

He can't die.

"You just have to tell me if you're interested."

"Of course I'm interested. I hope you can help me get rid of all my competitors who have gone astray."

Gracie stretched out her right hand and said with a smile.

"Wish us happy cooperation."

…

"and after?"

"Later, my friends took those homeless people to the Alliance, and the homeless home there accepted them..."

The Bistro in Boulder City.

While Fang Chang sprinkled the roasted lizard tail skewers with the cumin that Lao Bai brought along, he chatted with Dolly about what happened the past few days.

Perhaps because he has been eating these things recently, he found that he was surprisingly able to tolerate this rough and dark cuisine.

Perhaps, when we return to Shuguang City, we can exchange experiences with Lao Na about tasting delicacies from other worlds.

Dolly, sitting across from the wooden table, listened carefully.

There was an expression of interest on her face, her calves were dangling slightly under the table, and she was holding a brand new pen in her right hand, writing in a palm-sized shorthand notebook.

Although he has only been on the job for a short time and has not even passed his probation period, this guy is becoming more and more like a reporter in both his demeanor and actions.

"Will it make any difference if I go there?"

"Well, it's hard to say," Fang Chang thought for a while and said, "There are also poor people in the alliance, but we will give them a bite of food so that they will not starve to death. We will teach them the skills to make a living and give them a choice. How to live a chance.”

"As for whether or not to integrate into our society, and how to integrate into our society, they can make their own decisions. If they feel uncomfortable, they can leave, and they can come back at any time if they want to."

His mouth was dry as he spoke, so he took a long sip of cold beer.

Looking at Dolly taking notes hurriedly, he couldn't help but joke.

"It seems you have adapted to your new life."

The corners of her thin lips curled up slightly, Dolly dropped the pen in her hand, leaned on the chair, stretched out comfortably, and said happily.

"It's not bad. Although I was a little tired at first, once I got familiar with it, I found that it was actually quite interesting."

"The working hours are flexible every day, you don't have to stay up late, and you can hear a lot of interesting gossip... Of course, the most important thing is that the pay is good."

Seeing that cheerful expression, Fang Chang was also sincerely happy for her.

Flipping through the notes in her hand, Dolly, who was leaning back on the chair, suddenly sat up straight and looked curiously at Fang Chang, who was sitting opposite.

"Actually... I still have some questions about what you just said."

"Which one?"

"I seem to have heard about the Edmund Clinic somewhere. It is said that some mercenaries and bounty hunters who cannot afford bionic prosthetics or want to save money will go there for surgery."

"It's similar to what I learned." Fang Chang nodded.

"Hmm... what about the mercenaries who need to replace their prosthetics?" Dolly tilted her head, "There will always be people accidentally injured. Even if you wipe out the Edmund Clinic, there will still be people who will open another one in a different place, right?"

Although equality is a beautiful concept, most of the time, the price of life is different.

If someone is willing to pay the chips, someone will do the deal.

The cheapest mechanical prosthesis produced in Boulder City costs two to three thousand chips, and for some precision-made bionic organs, five figures are the norm.

In comparison, the lives of clones and slaves are much cheaper. If they are captured scavengers or other civilians, it can even be done at no cost.

As long as people in the wasteland are still struggling to survive, this market will not disappear.

Fang Chang put down the wine glass in his hand, and after thinking for a long time, he slowly spoke.

"We certainly thought about it, so we decided to address that portion of the need."

"It's just that we need to change the way."

After leaving the Gracie Clinic that day, he went to the closed beta player communication section of the forum and opened a post. While disclosing the bug that allowed him to earn money, he also discussed this issue with other players who had qualified for the closed beta test.

After listening to what they saw at the "Golden Dunes Cinema", the vast majority of players had similar thoughts to him.

Although this is indeed a "win-win" business, after all, players will not really die, but using this bug to make money will make them feel uneasy.

In particular, many players have become close friends with NPCs in the game.

Ignore the cloud players who have not played the game yet.

At least for closed beta players, many people can no longer treat NPCs as mere data.

But another form of life.

Based on the opinions of other players, Lao Bai plans to communicate with the Alliance's First Hospital to save the parts that players have replaced with bionic prosthetics and replace them with survivors who really need them.

As for the fee, a reasonable handling fee will be charged.

In addition, some seriously injured players can also donate their parts before repairing themselves.

Of course, this will be on a voluntary basis.

Players can choose whether to sign a body donation agreement.

For players who have signed the agreement, when they or their friends need to replace parts, they can prioritize surgery.

This is of course unprofitable, but as Brother Guang said, they are not just developing a game, but also building a virtual community.

Silver coins are not everything in this game. In addition to pure profit, there are many other things in this world worth exploring.

Fang Chang felt that the pattern could actually be bigger.

They are not just building a community, they are building a society.

Including himself, players who have qualified for the closed beta test have long been unable to do without the extra 12 hours a day.

This is their second world, and in fact it has become their second home.

Especially as the first group of players to enter the game, they followed the progress of the game and gained a large amount of resources and wealth - both in the game and outside the game.

Both emotionally and logically, they all have obligations and responsibilities to make this place a better place.

Instead of turning this place into a jungle, squeezing profits from it like a cancer cell, and then spreading it to other places to continue.

“Our alliance will normalize the targeting of predator nests, making it harder for predator nests that ‘slaughter survivors’ to survive.”

"...At the same time, we will also provide cheaper replacement parts through 'shelter technology', making this business unprofitable."

Fang Chang briefly described his and other shelter residents' decisions in a way that NPCs could understand.

Dolly looked at him in surprise, her bright right eye filled with surprise.

"I didn't expect you to be quite a responsible person."

Fang Chang smiled faintly.

"Did you just find out?"

Although he wasn't like this from the beginning.

Rubbing her chin with her index finger, Dolly thought for a long time.

Suddenly, she snapped her fingers.

"Yes!"

"Yes?"

"Tomorrow there will be a headline in the Survivor Daily! I plan to write your deeds in the newspaper!" Dolly said with shining eyes.

The headline of the NPC newspaper?

Although it doesn’t sound as attractive as the Hall of Fame on the official website of “Wasteland OL”, it is still a fresh experience.

I happen to be learning Renlianyu myself, so I’ll buy a copy and have a look.

"For the sake of headlines, how about you treat me to this meal?" Fang Chang joked.

"no problem--"

Dolly was about to pat her chest and agree, but at this moment, the corner of her eye suddenly caught a glimpse of the pile of wooden skewers on the plate.

The raised corners of her mouth suddenly froze, and her voice weakened unsatisfactorily. Dolly continued with a blushing face.

"First of all, I owe you... until I pay you your salary."

"Then I will remember it!"

Looking at Dolly's embarrassed expression, Fang Chang smiled in a good mood, took out a few chips and threw them on the tray in the waiter's hand.

"Pay the bill, no need to change."

Looking at the chips spinning in the tray, the waiter saw that it was an acquaintance, and he couldn't help but roll his eyes secretly.

This guy again.

But then again, this guy is really a big eater...

Glancing at the pile of wooden sticks on the plate, and then glancing at the young man who looked gentle on the surface, the waiter couldn't help but smack his tongue in his heart.

You can't judge a person by appearance...

...

Shelter No. 404, browsing room on the B4 floor.

Chu Guang, sitting on the sofa, was holding a newly printed "Survivor Daily" in his hand.

And the page spread out in front of him was the headline of the latest issue of "Survivor Daily" - a report on Edmund Clinic.

The newspaper selectively displayed several photos taken by players at Edmund Clinic.

Including the corpses that were abandoned at will, and the survivors who were locked in iron cages like lambs to be slaughtered, the shocking scenes shocked people's eyes and also shocked people's hearts.

The residents of the outer city certainly knew the cruelty of the wasteland. After all, the distance between them and the outside world was just a door.

However, it was precisely because of the existence of the giant wall that they did not have to contact things that did not belong to their world in their daily lives.

Even though "The Voice of the Stone City" often mentioned the suffering outside the giant wall as a joke, the narrative style was mostly sarcastic and flattering to the city lord.

Rather than saying that this was to please the city lord who didn't care about them at all, it was better to say that it was catering to its audience.

Like "Survivor Daily", it was the first time in at least a dozen years that the naked truth was brought to people's eyes.

It was precisely because of this that this incident caused a huge sensation in the outer city of the Stone City and quickly became a hot topic among people.

What's more interesting is that the residents of Boulder City have obvious differences on the same issue.

For ordinary residents, they are more concerned about the survivors locked in the iron cages.

After all, there are not only people from the slums, but also several residents from the outer city.

No matter what the reason is for those poor people to be sent to the bloody slaughterhouse, they are in the same position. There is a slight crack in their fantasy of the giant wall.

The unbreakable giant wall is not as unbreakable as they imagined, and eternal isolation cannot really keep them away from the wasteland.

However, the final result can still be regarded as a great relief.

The evil predator's nest was destroyed, and the survivors returned home to reunite with their families.

Although the unbreakable giant wall is not absolutely reliable, the unbreakable alliance seems to have played a little role.

However, for the mercenaries, this is not good news.

This means that they have to take greater risks to complete the commission, and have to pay more chips after being injured to buy expensive and not necessarily easy-to-use mechanical substitutes.

Of course, the newspaper also mentioned at the end that the New Alliance First Hospital is exploring alternatives with the help of Shelter No. 404.

It is recommended that mercenaries who need treatment go to Dawn City to try their luck.

Sitting on the coffee table in front of the sofa with legs stretched out, the puppet ornament controlled by Xiao Qi was looking up at Chu Guang with admiration.

"You are worthy of being the master!"

"In fact, you have already guessed that your players will do this, right?"

Having long been accustomed to the flattery of the assistant, Chu Guang just smiled faintly, turned a page of the newspaper, and said in a casual tone.

"I am not as predictable as you think, and human behavior cannot be simply predicted."

"But I admit that they did make a choice that makes me happy."

No matter how strict the rules are, there will definitely be loopholes, especially with the increase in the number of players in the server. Chu Guang knows very well that he can't plan the game trajectory of each player personally as before.

What's more, there is no need to do so.

Players are also part of "Wasteland OL". Of course, they can also participate in the formulation of game rules and explore the future path together.

What Chu Guang hopes to see more is that players can give full play to their initiative and spontaneously improve the "game content" and maintain the "server order".

This is their right.

It is also their obligation.

After turning to the last page of the newspaper, Chu Guang closed the newspaper he had read and put it on the coffee table next to Xiao Qi. He was about to open his laptop to browse the forum.

Just then, there was a knock on the door outside the browsing room.

"Come in."

The alloy door opened.

It was Yin Fang who came in from outside.

As soon as he saw the expression of joy, Chu Guang guessed that something good had happened. Thinking that this guy had been busy repairing the power armor recently, he blurted out.

"Is the 'Dragoon' repaired?"

"No, it's almost there, but it will only take a few days," Yin Fang said happily, sitting on the sofa opposite Chu Guang, "I want to tell you another good news."

Chu Guang asked with interest.

"What good news?"

"Based on the clues collected by the scientific expedition team, we locked on an abandoned shelter... Although the shelter is old, the data is new. According to historical reading records, we are most likely the first to discover its coordinates. , you should know what this means."

Taking out the tablet computer converted from VM, Yin Fang skillfully clicked twice on the screen, and then handed the tablet to Chu Guang's hand.

"Its number is 79. It is located in Ruigu City, one hundred and fifty kilometers away from here, at the junction of the River Valley Province and the Luoxia Province."

Yin Fang continued with an excited expression on his face.

"Double-digit shelter number, you should know what that means!"

——

(Thanks to the leader of "Yuye Thirteenth Lang" for the reward!!!)