Although the sugar-coated explosive sent by "Director Lu" this time had some issues—and even lacked an excuse—it was certainly more down-to-earth than the previous attempt with thermal power generators and other production lines.
It included:
Six sets of 100kW low-noise diesel generators retired from a state-owned mine—new generators like this cost at most 30,000 yuan, while second-hand ones could be gotten for around 20,000 RMB.
A Dongfeng heavy truck (new truck: 220,000 yuan) loaded with diesel barrels (each barrel held 210 liters, costing about 7 yuan per liter).
Crawler hydraulic all-terrain excavators, loaders, cranes, road rollers, and more, with an average price ranging from 40,000 to 100,000 yuan.
…and more.
In short, their multi-million sugar-coated explosive had been compressed into a million yuan one.
And this sugar-coated explosive had been purposefully repackaged with one particular intention—road construction.
What road, one might ask?
A road from the remote Exile Town deep in the Taranthan Wasteland to Weisshem.
Ji Tang had personally participated in the expedition team that had made some 300-kilometer journey that took a whole three OtherWorld time days. Evidently, after that fellow had reported back, "Director Lu" believed that the mastermind behind the scenes would greatly need to undertake a road construction project.
Moreover, given Ji Tang's habit of exploring Exile Town and its surroundings whenever he had free time, Yang Qiu strongly suspected that the former had also discovered the open coal mine located about ten kilometers to the east—while regular players still weren't a match for the big rat obstructing the town's exit, they could finesse their way out of town by using each other as a bait. Thus, it wasn't as difficult for Ji Tang to sneak out of town as before.
In any case, Yang Qiu was tempted.
Teleportation arrays that living beings could use had already been set up, albeit hidden beneath the town halls of the two towns. However, activating the teleportation array was rather expensive. Every single teleportation required the consumption of magical materials, making it impractical for regular travel and only suitable for dealing with emergencies.
"Director Lu's" well-targeted package struck his sore spot indeed…
———
A certain research facility adorned with a red signboard, deep within the mountains of G Province.
After sending out the email, Professor Yin Zhengliang, head of the expert task force, proceeded to watch the "game footage" recorded by Ji Tang while patiently waiting for the "target's" response.
The small town with the electric poles at the town gate confirmed the expert task force's speculations. This planet, which had been disguised as a game, did indeed possess a certain level of civilization, unlike the primitive image they had seen confined to Exile Town.
Aside from the presence of electricity, during the period when the interiors of buildings in the red-light district were torn down, Ji Tang also covertly examined the materials used by this extraterrestrial civilization in their walls. He also browsed through some left-behind newspapers and magazines, and even dismantled some wall and mantel clocks…
From the printing used in newspapers and magazines, it was evident that this aspect of the foreign world's technology was relatively mature, though color printing appeared to still be cost-intensive. Newspapers were in black and white, while magazines only had the cover and a few internal pages in color.
Newspapers featured photographs, indicating that this civilization had progressed to the point of using photosensitive materials in materials science.
Magazines contained full-page advertisements for four-wheel-drive vehicles, airships, and ocean liners, suggesting that this civilization had already reached a level of steam power technology and likely possessed expertise in internal combustion engines.
The parts in the wall and mantel clocks were rather intricate but still showed traces of high craftsmanship. This indicated that the industrial scale of this world wasn't sufficiently developed, and some clock components still required manual polishing by craftsmen.
Metal products were relatively scarce, which meant steel production levels weren't high. Glass products were common but had rather basic craftsmanship. An estimation of this world's technological level would be similar to America's in the early 20th century.
Ji Tang had taken quite a number of "screenshots" when he had explored the residential areas along with his fellow player companions. The tools used in everyday life by the townsfolk primarily consisted of wooden items supplemented by glassware and earthenware. Rubber products were exceedingly rare, and he didn't come across any porcelain…
Considering the poor living conditions of Weisshem's people, the expert task force believed that the pinnacle of this world's societal structure was probably similar to a developed Western country in the early 20th century. However, the general population still lived in an environment similar to 18th- to 19th-century Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa.
In the words of Chinese people who loved discussing revolutions and politics, this was a turbulent society characterized by a severe division between the upper and lower classes, where major upheavals could occur at any time.
Thus, after brainstorming, the expert task force, with an average age between 30 and 40 and having eighty percent born during the 1980s, believed this was a great opportunity to test whether the "target" and Lord Yang in the "game" were Chinese.
As long as it was a native-born Chinese in this sort of "troubled times" and with objective conditions (relying on Earth, labor force of players, ability to transport items across dimensions, not minding official involvement, transferring authority of Weisshem to the upright Ji Tang), there could only be one thought in his mind: build high walls and store up provisions!
While the Taranthan Wasteland, at least half the size of G Province, was full of hills, swamps, and forest, there were also lots of plains. With little effort, it could be turned into fertile fields, and establishing small granaries would be easy and cost-effective.
Lord Yang sending the players to attack Weisshem (a massive misunderstanding), a place with no substantial industries, was undoubtedly for the sake of obtaining a workforce!
With land and men, were Lord Yang a proper Chinese, he would surely have to build roads and cultivate the land!
Therefore, the expert task force had carefully presented this rural-level road construction package. It wasn't that they couldn't provide something better, but in consideration of the previously unequivocal rejection by the "target," most expert task force members thought it would be better to be conservative.
It was just building a 300-kilometer-long dirt road, and other high-end and sophisticated technologies weren't needed.
Professor Yin Zhengliang stroked his chin as he perused the images of the Weisshem life when a notification sounded on the computer.
"There's a reply!" Professor Yin Zhenliang excitedly clicked on the email…
And his smiling face stiffened.
"How is it? What did the other party say?" A fellow task force member leaned over curiously.
Then, the lips of this '80s-born expert also started twitching…
The "target" hadn't declined this time and had accepted their large goody bag.
However, he didn't wish to take it for free and expressed sending over four kilograms of gold to the expert task force as thanks…
Four kilograms of gold at current international gold prices, even if this other world's gold wasn't as high purity, was more than sufficient to compensate the expert task force's effort in coming up with this rural road construction project.
"Hey, this guy!" The '80s-born expert crossed his arms in annoyance. "Is he welcoming our involvement or refusing it? Why is his stance so ambiguous?!"
"Scumbag!" A female task force member seated opposite slammed her hands on the table and came over to Professor Yin Zhengliang's screen. "This fellow wants benefits but isn't willing to acknowledge it. Never rejecting nor taking responsibility; he's a scumbag!"
"…Indeed," muttered the male colleague.
"That's true." Professor Yin Zhengliang had scrolled to the bottom of the email and couldn't help himself from agreeing.
At the end of the email was the first-ever trade request from the "target."
What the "target" proposed was that he wished to trade a batch of high-quality timber (source unknown) in exchange for 300 kilometers of railway tracks and green trains—the "target" wasn't just content with road construction but also wanted steel tracks as well as their side contributing to the training of conductors and construction of stations, ideally packaged together comprehensively.
While others might not know the source of the "target's" timber, these experts couldn't be any clearer. It was the hard toil of their fellow Chinese for the sake of game currency and digital values!
Deceiving fellow countrymen in labor exploitation and using the timber gained from their blood and sweat to exchange for a railway? How inhumane was the "target"?!
Not to mention the gold, which was also acquired by fellow countrymen through confis—no, collecting!
"At least we can be certain that one of Lord Yang or the 'target' is Chinese," Professor Yin Zhengliang said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
The younger man nodded, then his eyes lit up. "Wait a moment. That Lord Yang has come in contact with the gold, right? Then, wouldn't we be able to obtain his biological samples?"
Professor Yin Zhengliang shook his head and sighed, "Since one of these two is Chinese, it's quite unlikely we will get this sort of opportunity… That gold will probably be smelted before coming into our possession."
This bunch was aptly called experts, after all. Professor Yin Zhengliang, who studied criminal psychology throughout his life, was well familiar with the wiles and tricks of scoundrels. Indeed, the gold received two days later was a heap of gold ingots…
Yang Qiu didn't care how the expert task force was criticizing him. After finalizing the business deal with "Director Lu" after three months of email exchanges, he leisurely had his noodles and coke before putting on his mage robes and returning to OtherWorld.
Ji Tang was already online and wandering with his group of companions in the Weisshem town hall.
Yang Qiu's older sister, Yang Ying, who now sort of played semi-professionally, was rather interested in being sheriff and was currently discussing with the dependable genius student Unceasing Entropy if there might be any penalties if one performed poorly as sheriff.
Unceasing Entropy, though, as if sensing something, didn't encourage Yang Ying as she usually did and instead inquired about Ji Tang's plans in a roundabout manner…
Yang Qiu watched Unceasing Entropy via the imprint matrix for quite a while… but wasn't too bothered by the girl's reaction.
Some players might possibly realize the truth of the game, and Yang Qiu had already prepared himself mentally for that happening.
Regardless of whatever evidence players discovered, it would be alright as long as he remained firm and didn't confess—even someone as smart as Unceasing Entropy, without national support and only relying on aimless exploration within the game, would be able to find any concrete evidence.
Taking a step back, it wouldn't matter even if players were to discover that "OtherWorld" was truly an alternate world. If they didn't abide by the game's terms and conditions that were automatically agreed to upon logging in, engaged in activities that violated the rules set by the development team, or failed to properly play their "Undead" roles, Yang Qiu would simply ban their accounts.
As long as Yang Qiu issued an announcement after banning the account along the lines of "Player X has been banned for breaching game T&Cs, the internal beta slot will be redrawn," then all the non-player enthusiasts on the forum would eagerly advocate this account banning policy, and there wouldn't be any complaints about shady manipulation—this strategy couldn't be any more sound!
Yang Qiu did a routine scan of the players currently online, and upon verifying that nothing abnormal was going on, he calmed his mind and started meditating.
Once the machinery for the engineering project was delivered on "Director Lu's" end, Yang Qiu would have to start preparing to build the road from Exile Town to Weisshem.
Labor wasn't an issue with nearly two thousand imprisoned militia, as well as local hiring.
The problem lay in safety during the duration of the road construction.
The reason native nobility and landowners didn't engage in land development much like the ancient Chinese gentry was due to the dangers of the wilderness—besides wild beasts, many monsters and demonized beasts that couldn't be explained by science roamed the wilderness.
When the player expedition team journeyed to Weisshem, they had been farming monsters along the way. This time, Yang Qiu hadn't made advanced preparations.
Were it ordinary merchant caravans instead of players, the expedition would have countless casualties and met with an early failure…
In other words, wherever the road construction team went, the undead army, unafraid of pain and death, that screamed "WAKAKAKAKA" whenever they saw monsters and rushed forward, had to follow. Otherwise, there would be unimaginable consequences.
Yang Qiu needed to break through to the realm of Archmage as soon as possible to increase the player count.
November 1, 5 a.m. Earth time; 9.00 a.m. OtherWorld time.
The eighth month experienced a very early sunrise. The young men and women, who had a completely relaxed few days in Resettlement Zone A (formerly Elegant Dreams Club), got up early too. Gathering in the courtyard, they used the daily necessities provided by the new lord to freshen up, then cleaned their respective living areas and washed their clothes.
It had been four (OtherWorld) days since the territory of Weisshem changed ownership. The people of Weisshem, as well as the young men and women who were gathered and resettled, had gotten accustomed to life under the new lord's rule.
Humans were highly adaptable creatures, and the measures introduced by the new lord—other than closing the red-light district, hiring townsfolk to clean the streets, and trading goods at fair prices—hadn't caused much disgruntlement.
Resentment was further diminished after the new lord released over 200 militiamen. Although some families of the unreleased militiamen still felt dissatisfied, rallying for justice at the town hall in front of those frightening skeletons running all around town required a great deal of courage.
Not to mention, just the previous day, the new lord, Charlie Rex, had put up a notice in front of the town hall, announcing that the new mayor would be a skeleton, and a photo of this undead mayor was even included…
The townsfolk found it difficult to differentiate the undead mayor in the photograph and the many skeletons roaming the streets. Each looked like the mayor, so it was better not to dwell on such a perplexing matter.
But for the time being, whatever reactions the townsfolk had were of no concern to the young men and women in the two resettlement spots.
With no need to entertain unruly customers, no forced consumption of fattening drugs, and being treated like actual people, these former red-light district workers didn't mind whether the new mayor was the undead or the living.
Madam Shirley especially liked her current life. She had cut her long nails, previously carefully maintained to please men, as well as her troublesome long hair. Under the morning sun, she squatted by the water pool with the other young girls washing clothes and bed linens. Their fingers were wrinkled from being soaked in water, but they didn't care. And while hanging the sheets to dry, they could tease each other over stains on the sheets that weren't removed fully.
When Ji Tang and Rex entered the Resettlement Zone A's courtyard, they could see several dozen young women gathered around the water pool, laughing and playing. Even without understanding the conversation of these ladies, they could feel the relaxed atmosphere.
"Morning, Mr. Undead!"
"Morning, Mr. Rex!"
Seeing the new lord enter, Madam Shirley stood up and greeted him enthusiastically.
"Morning, Shirley. Morning, ladies," Rex responded with a wave, smiling.
There wasn't anyone living in the resettlement zones who didn't like Mr. Rex. He cared about their well-being and treated everyone gently. In just a few days of interacting with the people here, he had remembered quite a few names.
Learning that this gentle and strong man was the new lord of Weisshem made the young men and women of the resettlement zones no longer doubt the promise he had made when destroying the establishments' signboards.
"Everyone, I would like to introduce the new mayor of Weisshem, Ji Tang," said Rex while pointing to Ji Tang. "Mayor Ji Tang hopes to recruit some administrative staff to work at the town hall. Would any of you ladies be interested?"
The soft chattering among the young ladies curiously examining Ji Tang came to an instant hush.
"M-Mr. Rex, what did you say?" Madam Shirley suspected she had misheard.
"I was saying, our new mayor wishes to recruit administrative clerks to work at the town hall and serve the townsfolk," said Rex cheerily. "On learning that many of you young ladies can read, he thought he'd come here and try his luck to see if any kind and courageous young ladies would be willing to help out at the town hall."
Rex had always held great respect for this particular undead. Ji Tang becoming the undead mayor and working alongside him on this matter brought Rex considerable joy. Ji Tang's suggestion of recruiting administrative staff from the young men and women here was a solution to the issue Rex had been pondering over the past few days.
Ji Tang couldn't understand the language spoken by the others, but he could understand what Rex said. He stood calmly at the side as Rex explained the situation…
Seeking clerical staff from among these people who used to work in the "special industry" was a carefully considered opinion of the expert task force. The reason wasn't from a humanitarian aspect of helping these people gain re-employment—it was purely practical.
Firstly, the illiteracy rate in this world was quite distressing. Even among the "advanced NPCs," less than half of them could read (other than Hal, Tuttle, Finley, and Rex, only Anthony, who had worked as a tailor, and Jerome, who had served as a squire, could read), much less the common folk.
In contrast, the male and female attendants at upscale entertainment establishments had a significantly higher literacy rate than most civilians. This was because they needed to serve middle- and upper-class clientèle, so they needed to at least be able to read newspapers and discuss gossip and news with customers.
Of course, even if small, Weisshem had middle-class households, such as the small business proprietors that ran shops or workshops. On average, these people would be more educated than the hostesses and attendants who could only read.
However… Given the style of the Chinese, there was no way they would choose the latter group, who might not be on Taranthan's side, over the former special industry workers who would be unquestionably loyal toward Taranthan.
Madam Shirley was flabbergasted, and the other young ladies had similar reactions to hers.
Many of them knew what clerks at the town hall did… Some of them had attended to Weisshem's own administrative clerks, or even ones from Indahl that came to seek pleasure.
Moreover, they had never heard of women being considered for such roles. And now, they were actually considering recruiting among them?!
"Shirley, you aren't interested?" Rex knew exactly why they were astounded and feigned disappointment. "This isn't good… I was just bragging to Mayor Ji Tang that I know where to find highly capable ladies that could surely help him…"
"I-I… This…" Shirley panicked. She couldn't be more eager to nod her head and seize an opportunity that would allow her to live with her head held high, but she lacked confidence in herself.
Rex put on a dejected expression as he turned to a lady with a bit of foam on her face. "Sibyl, what about you?"
Sibyl got a fright. "A-ah? M-me?"
Before Weisshem was liberated by players, Sibyl had been locked up by her former boss for days and was severely injured. She had regained a bit of health over the past few days but remained frail, as if a gust of wind could knock her over anytime. Being asked a question by the lord made her tremble.
"Yes, I heard about you from Ben," said Rex warmly. "You grew up in a monastery, and the nuns taught you to read. You also taught orphans before, so I think this job would be very suitable for you. What do you think?"
Sibyl's face turned crimson. She had indeed been taken in and raised by the monastery, and she had once been a teacher to children.
That had been the happiest time of her life until she turned 18, and her innate beauty blossomed, changing her life drastically and subjecting her to seemingly endless suffering.
"I…" Sibyl gripped her skirt tightly and, with a trembling voice, plucked up her courage. "I-I do want this job, Mr. Rex. P-please give me this opportunity."
Timid Sibyl was actually a courageous lady that would fight to live on even in the most dire of straits.
Shirley shivered. Sibyl's courage was infectious. Afraid of missing the chance, she immediately blurted out, "Mr. Rex, if it's possible, I'd like to give it a try too."
With these two leading the way, several other literate women mustered the courage to raise their hands too…
Half an hour later, Ji Tang happily brought more than twenty literate, acquiescent young men and women from the resettlement zones to the town hall for training.
The option for recruiting NPCs under the player mayor's authority was actually to recruit "NPCs" that were willing to board the Taranthan ship and serve as resolute sailors, and be temporarily integrated into the imprint matrix.
These "temporary NPCs" had very limited permissions. They couldn't issue quests, had no personal reputation, and even lacked a player interface. Their only function was to overcome the language barrier and be peripheral members within the imprint matrix.
In religious terms, they were like nominal believers—neither granting faith nor needing it. They could come and go at will.
Once the nervous young men and women were brought inside the town hall, Ji Tang took out a box and issued them "work badges"—lapel badges to be worn on their chests.
Lord Yang had given two player mayors lapel badges, with mental imprints inscribed within that created a connection to the imprint matrix, albeit not the same as the permanent inscription on the souls of players and "advanced NPCs." These were time-limited imprints, renewed annually.
Shirley, Sibyl, and the others who received their badges watched the undead mayor make a "KABAKABA" noise while gesturing with bone claws as if indicating to attach the badge to his own chest.
"…Can you understand what I'm saying now?"
Madam Shirley, who had just pinned the badge onto her chest, looked up and stared at the undead mayor.
"Can you understand what I'm saying now?" Ji Tang asked again patiently.
Madam Shirley's jaw dropped.
So, the "WAKAKAKA" and "KABAKABA" noises are actually a language?!