When Chu Guang and his entourage arrived at the No. 3 Ecological Reserve in Qingquan City, the fire caused by the previous air raid had gradually been extinguished.

However, the smell of barbecue in the air lingered for a long time.

Ten KV-1 exoskeletons of the Jungle Corps are standing at the entrance to the building.

Seeing the azure power armor coming from a distance, Midnight Killer immediately greeted him, and put his right fist on his chest and gave a military salute.

"Dear Administrator! The area has been cleared of marauders, and the Third Ecological Reserve is under your control! ”

The expression of the chicken killer brother was loyal.

Players with a strong sense of substitution occasionally do this, of course, there are also players who do it for favorability and hidden missions.

"You're doing a great job." Chu Guang fulfilled his persona, looked at them and nodded approvingly.

At the same time, a pop-up reminder of the completion of the mission is displayed on the VM of Midnight Killer and his teammates behind him.

[Mission: Raid on Qingquan City No. 3 Ecological Conservation Park]

[Rewards: See Campaign Settlement List for details]

Seeing the task rewards displayed in the VM, everyone's faces showed a look of surprise.

500+ credits per capita!

Such a high return can be said to be earned in blood.

Sure enough, you have to brush the level of the scientific expedition team in the future.

The task has been completed, and the midnight chicken killer and the team members left happily. The hostile units here have been cleared, and there is no need to leave both corps standing guard here.

Chu Guang took Yin Fang and Heya to continue forward, through the wooded streets, and into the vine-entangled ecological protection park in front of him.

"What do zoos look like this in the era of the People's Union?" Chu Guang glanced at the fully enclosed giant egg in front of him, and always felt that this place was more like a gymnasium than a zoo.

Hea looked around curiously, too, but she was more interested in the wasteland vegetation in the area.

It was completely different from what she had seen in the VR equipment, and even the steep pine and cypress trees in the northern suburbs of Qingquan City.

As if from another world.

"It is said that the city is full of tourists who look like this, but the large ecological reserve outside the city is a different story. After the outbreak of the war, all the animals fled here, and it is estimated that the monkeys that live in this area have escaped from here. ”

Chu Guang glanced at her in surprise.

"Monkeys had scales on their backs before the war?"

Hea said: "Genetic mutation + natural selection, maybe the monkeys with scales on their backs are more likely to survive here, and only they know how the scales come from." ”

At this time, Yin Fang, who had been staring at the tablet without speaking, suddenly raised his head and popped out a sentence.

"Found it."

Chu Guang looked at Yin Fang.

"What did you find?"

Yin Fang continued with an interested expression on his face.

"I've just recovered the information about this ecological reserve from a damaged court record...... In 2113, that is, twelve years before the outbreak of the war, a major event or scandal occurred in the No. 3 Ecological Reserve of Qingquan City, which caused a sensation in the entire People's Federation at that time. ”

Chu Guang's expression was strange.

"What scandal can there be at the zoo?"

"An unauthorized experiment involved the lives of 23,000 tourists, the 20 researchers and professors involved were all expelled from their academic institutions, the relevant persons in charge were prosecuted, and the entire ecological reserve was almost closed......" Yin Fang said excitedly as he slid his index finger over the tablet, browsing the materials that had just been restored.

Chu Guang was not interested in the trivial matters of two hundred years ago.

But when he heard about the experiment, he raised his eyebrows in interest.

"What's the experiment?"

"It has something to do with the colony of the People's Federation and the resonance field theory," Yin Fang turned off the tablet and looked ahead excitedly, "It's been more than two hundred years, not to mention that it's still a pre-war thing, and there are only so many clues that can be restored from public information, but we will be able to figure it out soon." ”

The entrance to Vault 401 is in the basement of the Ecosphere, and players have marked the location of the entrance with VMs.

As for the control room of the Mind Interference Field, it is on the third floor of the Ecological Reserve.

After entering the dome-shaped building, the group split up.

Yin Fang went to the entrance of Vault 401, and Chu Guang issued a mission for Tempest to follow him and take care of his safety. In addition, Chu Guang also equipped Yin Fang with a hummingbird drone, and asked Xiao Qi to support him within his ability.

As for Chu Guang himself, he took Heya straight to the third floor.

As soon as the two of them arrived at the door, before they could enter, they heard the sound of arguing and scolding from inside.

"You brute! This punch is for my compatriots who died! ”

"That's enough, you calm down...... I'm a victim too, you can't count all those marauders killed on me, can you?! ”

"Huh, victim? I'm tui! ”

Control room.

Two old men over half a hundred years old scuffled together, swearing and swearing in a joint language that they didn't understand.

The old man, who was still quite strong and wore a blue jacket, was probably in charge, and had been passively defending, and from time to time he glanced nervously at the players standing next to him, as if he was worried about their move.

And the other old man who was dressed in tatters and attacked with heavy punches was violent, but he was sick, and his fists and feet had no strength.

As for the players?

Of course, it's to stand on the sidelines and watch the play.

I don't even understand what they're saying.

Tempest went out before, and the best language here is long, but the so-called good is only relative to other players, and the parallel analogy is the level of "junior high school English" versus "bulk English".

The scrambled eggs with tomatoes looked at his teammates with a subtle expression.

"Shall we pull them away?"

Lao Bai looked at Fang Chang.

The latter thought for a moment and shook his head.

"Don't act rashly, what if it triggers the plot?"

Quit smoking and nodded abruptly.

"Makes sense!"

Then let them keep fighting.

Anyway, the two old men have no combat effectiveness, and they are not afraid of causing trouble.

At this moment, the door of the control room opened, and the eyes of several players in the room suddenly lit up as they looked at the power armor that appeared at the door.

Here it comes!

It's really the plot!

"Stop!"

A loud voice came from the door, and the two old men who were fighting each other involuntarily stopped their hands and looked at the azure power armor.

Among them, the old man with thinning hair and tattered clothes obviously recognized the set of equipment on Chu Guang's body, and a trace of excitement floated in his cloudy pupils, and even tears flowed.

"Mr. Severn...... Is that you? ”

Severn?

This old man is from Vault 117?

Chu Guang's expression was subtle, and his index finger tapped twice on the side of the helmet to release the locked mask.

When he saw the young face under the helmet, the old man was stunned on the spot.

“…… I am the administrator of Vault 404 and the administrator of the New Alliance, you can call me Chu Guang. As for Severn Villard you mentioned, he died many years ago. ”

The old man's expression darkened, and he lowered his eyebrows slightly.

"Passed away...... Also, it's been so many years. ”

The old man in the blue coat next to him muttered something as he gasped.

"A new alliance? That post-war reconstruction committee? Wasn't it yellow more than a century ago? ”

At this time, Heya suddenly came in from behind Chu Guang, stared at the ragged old man twice, and suddenly exclaimed.

"Zhao Yuan?!"

The old man looked at Hea and was stunned for a moment.

"Are you...... Hea? ”

Twenty years later, she didn't expect to see her fellow from the same shelter, and Hea nodded excitedly.

"It's me! How did you...... It's become like this? ”

"Natural Aging...... Twenty years ago, I wasn't young, let alone now," the old man's eyes were a little evasive, as if he felt a little guilty.

Chu Guang glanced at Heya, who rarely showed excitement.

He had expected her to hate these traitors who had ruined her home, but he didn't expect her to be unexpectedly open-minded after meeting her compatriots.

"Do you know anyone?"

"Hmm!"

The long white hair shook slightly, Heya nodded vigorously, and said excitedly, "He and my master are both experts in the study of biomimetic organs, but I didn't expect everyone to be alive...... That's right. ”

Hea looked at the old man and asked expectantly.

"What about Kalian? Isn't my master with you? ”

"She went to the south...... Many people followed the guy named Wang Yi away," the old man named Zhao Yuan had anger and remorse in his eyes, and whispered to himself, "Those wasteland guests don't have a good thing, so they should be left to fend for themselves!" I should have realized this a long time ago! ”

Chu Guang stared at the old man for a while.

"You're from the Torch Church?"

"The Torch Church? Do you mean torches? The old man was stunned, lowered his head and whispered, "I did join the torch more than twenty years ago...... This is also the thing I regret the most in my life. ”

It seems that the torch had not yet developed into a religion, and the old man did not know where his companions had gone or what they had done.

Chu Guang nodded thoughtfully.

The one standing in front of him was probably one of the "rebels" at the beginning of the Torch's creation, and it was their actions that led to the destruction of Vault 117.

Judging from the old man's tattered clothes and weather-beaten face, he has suffered a lot in the past 20 years.

Chu Guang looked at the other old man and looked at the blue coat on his body.

"What about you? Also a survivor of Vault 117? ”

Before the old man could speak, Zhao Yuan on the side stared at him and glared angrily.

"He's not from Vault 117, he's just a dog, the robbers' dog!"

"Sun Zewen, from Vault 401," the old man in the blue coat cleared his throat and said politely, ignoring the swearful old man, "Honorable Vault 404 administrator, and the master of the new alliance...... Thank you for helping us in times of crisis. ”

Sneering at this person's pretense, Zhao Yuan said with a sneer.

"Mr. Chu Guang, please don't listen to his rhetoric, he is clearly an accomplice of that group of marauders! According to the laws of the Human Federation, he should be sentenced to at least 300 years in prison for crimes against humanity and not be allowed to freeze and sleep. ”

seemed to be stimulated by a certain word in this sentence, Sun Zewen, who was polite a second ago, suddenly glared at the old man next to him angrily.

"I'm just trying to live, what's wrong with me?! Who put those outsiders in? Could it be me? And I refuse to admit your accusations, I did nothing but help them tame a bunch of monkeys. ”

"Didn't do anything?" Zhao Yuan glanced at him with disdain, "Including the girl they rewarded you?" You're a few hundred years old, and it's a shame that you can do it. ”

Sun Zewen's old face turned red, red and purple, and he couldn't live in Bengbu anymore, and he choked for a long time.

"I ...... That's involuntarily! If I don't accept it, have you ever thought about what will happen to her? And what are hundreds of years old...... You can't count the time I've been asleep. ”

Chu Guang listened to the quarrel between the two with great interest, and probably restored the original appearance of the matter, and at this moment, he noticed the miserable corpse in the corner of the wall, looked at the players and asked.

"Who is that person?"

The garbage gentleman who was wagging his tail stepped forward excitedly.

"I killed it!"

"He's Tuth!"

Although he didn't understand what Chu Guang said just now, Zhao Yuan probably guessed that this manager should be asking about the identity of the deceased, so he immediately said.

"He is the leader of the robbers here, and he has countless lives on his hands, and it can be said that he has committed a heinous crime, and he is innocent of death! Please also do not blame your soldiers. ”

Chu Guangguan said.

"I certainly don't blame them, in the territory of the New Alliance, we have always had zero tolerance for marauders."

Hearing this, the old man named Sun Zewen's shoulders trembled.

"My lord, I-"

Chu Guang looked at him.

"I believe that you can't help yourself, the laws of the new alliance will not be retroactive, I don't care what you did before, from the moment I stand here, I hope you can be a useful person to society and civilization again."

It's the Wasteland Era, a time of even more chaos than the troubled times, and humanity has even fallen to the top of the food chain, so there's no point in going back in time.

Besides, there are no good people in this wasteland.

Including Zhao Yuan himself.

Chu Guang didn't think those torches were anything good, but he didn't want to pursue what happened in the other shelters either.

Sun Zewen lowered his head tremblingly and said.

"Thank you for your kindness."

Zhao Yuan still had a trace of indignation on his face, but he didn't say anything more.

These people saved his life.

Having said that, he will not force them to understand and sympathize with the suffering he has endured.

At this moment, footsteps came from the hallway outside the door.

Yin Fang, who had returned from Vault 401, held a tablet in his hand, pushed open the door and walked in like a gust of wind.

"It's amazing! You can't guess what I found! ”

Without waiting for Chu Guang to ask what he had discovered, Yin Yi shouted excitedly.

"Resonance Field!"

"I've been looking for something for half a year, but I didn't expect it to be here!"

Taking a deep breath, he looked at Chu Guang and said excitedly.

"We've found a treasure!"

……

It all started more than 200 years ago.

Two years before the scandal that nearly shut down the zoo, in 2111, a letter from a distant colony and the samples it contained caused a stir in the world of biology and sociology.

The original letter could no longer be found, but as a professional archaeologist, Yin Fang still restored the general meaning of the letter based on limited clues.

In short, the colony is infested with alien creatures, and the frequent activity of the organism poses a serious threat to the safety of the colonists.

At first, the colonists used the "infrasonic fence" prepared for them by their home planet to drive away alien creatures, but in long-term practice, they found that the seemingly harmless infrasonic fence would cause serious damage to the colonists' health.

Due to the limited scientific research conditions in the colonies, the colonists hoped that the academic community of the home planet would lend a helping hand and help them develop a harmless shielding field to prevent alien creatures from harassing the colony.

After obtaining the consent of the relevant departments of the Human Federation, the colonists sent samples of several extraterrestrial creatures, and this was the first time that the home planet of the Human Federation accepted biological specimens from the colonies.

Prior to this, biologists from the Human Union had to take a migration flight that only departed once a month to study the creatures of an extraterrestrial galaxy.

Since the front foot of the People's Union has just stepped towards the sea of stars, the mastery of the gravitational channel is not yet proficient, and the development level of the colonies outside the department is low, so the flights to the colonies are basically one-way tickets, and it is difficult to go back after one trip.

One can imagine how valuable these samples are.

The samples and requests for help from the colonies soon attracted wide attention from all walks of life, and the research on the substitute for the "infrasonic fence" became a hot topic nowadays, attracting the participation of countless scholars.

"Wait...... Extracolony? ”

Listening to Yin Fang's narration, Chu Guang rubbed his eyebrows with his index finger, and said with a slight headache, "I always thought that the territory of the People's Federation was only as far as the Kuiper belt. ”

Heya was also at a loss.

She grew up in a shelter, not to mention any foreign colonies, and it was only a few months ago that she saw the sky.

Yin Fang said patiently.

This is really fine, after all, going to an exocolony and going to Mars and the moon are two completely different concepts...... But it doesn't matter to us, it's too far away from us, and I don't know much more than you do. ”

Yin Fang coughed lightly and corrected Chu Guang's crooked topic.

"Continuing with the topic just now...... The dissection of alien life forms has been an eye-opener for the academic community. Reliable evidence shows that these alien life forms have evolved into a unique hive society in tens of thousands or even tens of millions of years of evolution. They will work together like ants, perform their own duties, selectively express their genes according to the needs of the population, and even modify their genes. ”

"Isn't it surprising? A group of xenos who didn't even invent the internal combustion engine, but they have mastered the mysteries of evolution, if only I had been born in that era......"

Yin Fang's eyes had a hint of envy, and he looked at the tablet in his hand and continued.

"In short, based on these research results, the research team of the Institute of Biology of Nantianmen University has come up with the 'resonance theory' and boldly made a conjecture that those alien life forms are governed by a unified consciousness."

"In order to prove this conclusion, the person in charge of the research group found a medical company called Silver Hope, and with the help of their resources, they connected with the Qingquan Third Ecological Conservation Park, hoping to use the site here to resonate with animal research."

Chu Guang: "...... Did they succeed? ”

"It's not just a success, it's just too successful," Yin Fang admired, "They took inspiration from the alien bio-markers themselves, came up with a resonance theory based on the resonance theory, and designed a set of telepathic interference devices that can output specific messages and multiply them on the individual." ”

This message can be as specific as a sentence, even a complex picture, a vague dream, or just a pure emotion. The higher the mind, the more specific the information it can receive, but the less it will be affected. The lower the mind, the less information it can receive, but the greater the relative impact. ”

Chu Guang touched his chin.

"I see."

The mind of a monkey is probably somewhere between that of a human and a hyena?

Possess a certain mind, able to understand simple commands, but not have a high mind, so it will be affected by telepathic interference devices.

The psychic interference device designed by Vault 401 is quite similar to the one used by the Torch Church.

It's just that the latter has probably improved it to a certain extent, turning the "AOE skill" into a point-to-point single skill.

“…… This device is much more reliable than the infrasonic fence, not only has lower energy consumption, more application scenarios, and fewer side effects, but also only has an effect on specific life forms, and the frequency is adjustable. ”

"As long as they continue to export fear to the alien creatures around them, they will consciously stay away from the colony. Used in the field of agriculture and animal husbandry, it can also allow animals to reproduce faster. ”

However, the company that sponsored them was clearly not satisfied with the results in front of them, and they quickly got the idea to the customers, so the experiment continued, but the subjects changed from zoo animals to tourists.

"There are all kinds of indications that they are still successful, although it is difficult for people of higher minds to be directly affected by this kind of device, but under the constant stimulation of 'buy it', the sales of souvenirs in the ecological reserve have hit a record high, and many tourists have even paid for a set of smart wearable devices for a product worth less than a bottle of mineral water...... This has almost turned the advertising industry upside down. ”

Chu Guang looked at Yin Fang dumbfounded.

"Is that okay?"

"The people of the Age of Prosperity are monsters...... Whether it's a researcher or a businessman," Yin Fang sighed sincerely, "Of course, it's true that the company was finally fined to bankruptcy, and people who treat others as fools usually don't end well." The people involved have all been prosecuted, and it is said that the heaviest sentence has not yet been completed. ”

Listening all the time, Sun Zewen's red face was flushed.

"Don't talk about it......"

The information was kept in the deepest part of Vault 401's server, and he had never told anyone about it, and he didn't know how this guy dug it up.

Chu Guang looked at the guy in front of him in surprise.

"You've been sentenced too?"

the groove.

Talent!

It was the first time he had seen an old popsicle from the era of the People's Union.

In response to Chu Guang's surprised eyes, Sun Zewen said with a wry smile.

"I'm just a little researcher...... It is true that the main responsible persons have been sentenced to heavy prison sentences, but not enough to settle on our heads. ”

Yin Fang looked at him with interest and said.

"You've even got a ticket to Vault 401."

Sun Zewen was silent for a moment and nodded.

"Yes, I don't deny that my survival has something to do with the research I'm engaged in, after all, technology itself is innocent, and it can free my fellow colonists from alien creatures. It's just a pity...... This new thing that has just been born has been used in the wrong place by the wrong people. ”

"I agree with your statement, there is no right or wrong in technology, and it is the people who use it that need to be regulated." Chu Guang nodded approvingly, paused for a moment and continued.

"Now it's not just the distant world, the land beneath our feet is infested with alien species. The new alliance needs your skills, and hopefully you can use your skills to do something more meaningful. ”

With this thing, xenomorph prevention does not have to rely on walls, and farmland, pastures, and villages near settlements no longer have to worry about xenomorph harassment.

However, the technology is not without its risks.

Once the frequency is adjusted to the range of the human brain, it is equivalent to opening Pandora's box.

Although the impact of spiritual resonance on higher mental life forms is limited, the continuous emotional input is still tantamount to brainwashing.

And the impact is indiscriminate.

Thinking that the Torch Church also mastered similar techniques, Chu Guang couldn't help but be secretly vigilant in his heart.

He's a guy with a bottom line.

But it's hard to say whether others have it or not.

He had to take over the legacy of Vault 401, not just to deal with xenos and waves, but also to work out the means to counteract.

"Of course, Mr. Administrator...... Sun Zewen lowered his eyebrows and bowed, "It is my honor to play for the great new alliance. ”

To be honest, he doesn't care about any of that at all.

The world has become like this, and the knowledge in his head can be used by anyone. At least the man in front of him looked much better than those marauders.

Zhao Yuan, who was standing on the side, did not speak the whole time.

He looked at Sun Zewen, who had decisively taken refuge in the new master, and then at Chu Guang, who was wearing the equipment of the former manager, and suddenly spoke.

"You said the same thing to that person."

Chu Guang saw that he was talking to himself, and glanced at him curiously.

"Who?"

Wang Yi...... The boy we rescued from the wasteland, we raised him, and because he split twice, maybe we shouldn't have opened the door that day. With a flicker of remorse in his cloudy pupils, the old man lowered his head.

Chu Guang remembered the name.

The name was the beginning of the disintegration of Vault 117 and the leader of the Torch Church more than a decade later, whom his followers called "The Son".

Ever since he came into contact with the Pioneer, Chu Guang had been trying his best to collect information on the major forces in the wasteland and identify useful clues.

"I've been asking since I just now, how long did you come here after you came out of Vault 117?"

"Vault 401 has thrown an olive branch at us, their psychic interference device is capable of driving away xenos within a three-kilometer radius, we originally intended to establish a stronghold here, and then take the old diehards of Vault 117 and slap them in the face with a beautiful new home...... But that Wang Yi, he thinks that we should continue to the south to find the specimen of that alien life form. ”

Zhao Yuan's Adam's apple moved, and he said in a heavy tone.

"We parted ways again...... There were only three people left except me, and the rest followed that Wang Yi to the south. I even suspect that they have been brainwashed by that resonance field, psychic interference device. ”

"Don't spew blood, the resonance field doesn't have this function," Sun Zewen, who had taken refuge in his new employer, was much tougher than just now, looking at the old man and sneering, "Didn't you find the reason in yourself?" For example, it's too easy to deceive? ”

Zhao Yuan was furious again.

"Who do you say is a liar!"

Seeing that the two were about to quarrel again, Chu Guang had a headache and planned to come forward to stop it.

However, at this moment, Hea suddenly whispered a sentence.

"Karen...... My Master is still alive. ”

The anger in his pupils was gradually replaced by shame, and the old man slowly lowered his head and said in silence for a long time.

"I don't know ......"

"But she, like you, can live a long time under normal circumstances."

"If nothing else, she should still be there."