Chapter 1345: A Tragic History
From what he said, it was unclear whether those wanted individuals had carelessly implicated their own people, or if the people from the former District 023 that Dai Song mentioned had deliberately used the same methods to retaliate.
In the end, the result was mutual destruction, with many dead on both sides.
Seeing that he seemed willing to talk, Xu Huo followed up with questions.
Dai Song initially disdained discussing District 023’s past with players from other zones, but players like Xu Huo needed to be won over—not necessarily to help District 023, but to prevent them from believing one-sided stories and sympathizing with criminals while resenting District 023. Given District 023’s situation, even a relatively strong C-level player couldn’t afford to offend them—though players from other zones might not think much of District 023, if someone meddlesome came along, it could bring enormous trouble to the district.
“The wanted individuals belong to the same race, called the Ya Clan.”
What followed was a very dark story.
First, the Ya Clan had migrated to District 023 as early as thirty years ago. It was said that quite a large number of people came at that time, occupying a significant portion of District 023. With the help of District 023 and their own efforts, they built at least a dozen large cities.
The Ya Clan traded their advanced technology for a place to live. At that time, District 023 was in the early stages of entering the game. With few local players and low levels, they desperately needed technological development. Indeed, in the first few years, both sides got along fairly well.
“I wasn’t very old back then. I remember the government promoting a lot of new technologies, all thanks to their support. Unfortunately, everything changed as District 023’s climate shifted.”
Dai Song seemed lost in that memory, his face twisted with pain. “Many people died because of the climate change. With the scarcity of water and food, the more populated areas were more prone to conflict. District 023 naturally prioritized taking care of its own people, but the Ya Clan not only wanted to change their living area but also sought to replace District 023. They claimed to be the original inhabitants of District 023, treating those without similar facial features as invaders. They used despicable means to reduce District 023’s population. From my youth onward, the most common sight was corpses. Sometimes, because we couldn’t handle so many bodies, we had to burn entire cities… Do you understand that kind of hatred?”
Just hearing such a dry description, one could imagine the horrific state of District 023 back then.
First, the drastic climate change caused massive deaths, along with various diseases brought on by the climate shift. Already unable to cope, the situation was worsened by certain individuals deliberately creating a large number of Evolvers, adding fuel to the fire. In other words, District 023 surviving until now was somewhat a matter of luck.
Many districts had disappeared due to evolution and the extinction of Xenomorphs.
After hearing Dai Song’s words, even the usually flippant Fan Zhigang turned serious. Especially the hatred that Dai Song himself exuded—it didn’t seem fake.
“When was the new district government established?” Xu Huo asked at this point.
Dai Song’s story was very vivid, and it couldn’t be said that he was lying. However, his account clearly omitted a key role: the government forces that had actually taken control of the entire District 023. It couldn’t be that the Ya Clan and District 023 were slaughtering each other while the new district government was established independently by a group of neutral parties.
Additionally, both the claim that a large number of Ya Clan members migrated from other districts and that they assisted District 023’s infrastructure development were problematic.
First, the primary condition for a large number of Ya Clan members to migrate was enough Non-Player Tickets. Although the Game Government would issue Non-Player Tickets to district governments, it absolutely couldn’t support the transfer of an entire race. According to Dai Song, the Ya Clan could build over a dozen cities in District 023, indicating a large population—making such a transfer even more impossible. Moreover, judging from the Ya Clan players they had encountered, there probably weren’t any powerful figures among them thirty years ago, unless the Ya Clan had help from behind the scenes.
However, whether that help came from a powerful player or an organization, they shouldn’t have sat idly by while the Ya Clan fell into their current predicament.
Second, the Ya Clan’s technological support for District 023 and the temporary boost in development—this could be true or false. The biggest issue was time.
According to Dai Song, within a few years of arriving, the Ya Clan had brought significant technological changes to District 023, such as the Stairway to Heaven trains. Setting aside the difficulty of building trains or whether trains were the most urgent technology needed by District 023, manufacturing such things required large amounts of metal produced with new technology, or entirely new materials. Since the Ya Clan had “invested with technology,” they certainly couldn’t have brought all the resources with them. Therefore, development would have relied on local materials. Could District 023 really have built so many facilities in just a few years? It would have been more plausible if outsiders had brought resources to help.
“Nearly twenty years,” Dai Song said, not understanding why he asked, but adding another explanation. “This has nothing to do with the new district government. They have no interest in District 023 and rarely leave the cities they built.”
“Your bounties on the Ya Clan are so high—can you afford to pay them?” Xu Huo then asked a question that caught everyone off guard.
Qiu Ming and the others thought that no matter how poor District 023 was, they should at least have some White Notes, especially since there weren’t many Ya Clan members left.
Dai Song felt even more offended. “This is an irreconcilable hatred! Even if all the players in District 023 have to enter the game on empty stomachs, we will kill them all!”
“That’s not what I meant,” Xu Huo calmly explained. “Since the Ya Clan has become homeless dogs, not even daring to appear on your turf, a high bounty isn’t really that important. Your players just need to take some time to sweep through the Wasteland Zone.”
“Another question: the price for live captives is far higher than for dead bodies. Combined with the numbers on their faces, does that mean something else?”
All the players they had seen on the road were branded, proving they had been under control for a period. What was the intention behind controlling them?
If it was about showing mercy to the young, then Mr. Chi’s group included not only young players but also women of childbearing age who were quite old. They were still alive, branded for some unknown purpose. Moreover, the number of people branded at that time was likely considerable.
“That’s right,” Qiu Ming immediately said. “I almost got sidetracked. The bounty for live captives is way too high. Aren’t you trying to kill them for revenge? Just asking for heads would be much simpler!”
Dai Song’s expression darkened, as if he didn’t want to answer this question.
“Wanting them alive instead of dead—there’s only one reason for that,” Fan Zhigang said, having lost the sympathy he had for Dai Song and the others earlier. He said coldly, “Experiments.”
(Chapter End)