Chapter 115 - - 115 wants to be the biggest thorn in the side_1

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Everyone in the apocalyptic world was following the external developments through broadcast.

Duge forcefully intercepted various channels’ broadcasts, and the information he propagated was received by all the surviving locations at the first moment.

Most people held an attitude of disbelief, even disgust.

If it were some large biological corporation, a scientific academy, or an advanced research institute within the industry that had issued such a notice, that would have been one thing. But the Chaoyang Biomedical Research Institute? They’d never even heard of it—it sounded like some fly-by-night operation using an untenable excuse to lure people into Yongan City.

After all.

Everyone knew that in times of chaos, people were everything.

…

The stronghold of West Forest City was a military camp.

At this time.

The camp had expanded vastly outward.

The ground was covered with a dense array of tents.

At the outermost edge of the camp, a thick layer of quicklime, sulfur powder, and the like was strewn about. Further in was a three-meter-wide trench; the water flowing inside it emitted a strange odor and was also used to repel wild animals. Even further inside, soldiers armed to the teeth stood guard.

People were continually entering and leaving the camp, driving armored vehicles or trucks to transport supplies. Soldiers at every crossing welcomed those who had fled from hardships and arranged for their accommodations and distributed living supplies to them.

Meanwhile, inside the camp, some people were reclaiming wasteland, others were undergoing physical training—everything was bustling and orderly…

The communications post.

The signal operator, though suspecting that the all-channel announcement from Yongan City might be fake, didn’t dare neglect it and reported to the leadership at the first opportunity.

“Ridiculous, using false information to deceive the public. Such behavior is too vile, this is tantamount to trifling with human lives.”

The military officer in charge of the camp was a colonel who looked to be in his forties, with a straight figure and bright eyes. He looked at the notice in his hand and angrily said, “Xiao Miao, immediately use all channels to warn them. With our nation in peril, tell them to stop spreading false information and misleading the public right away. Otherwise, I won’t bother saving people first; I’ll go there myself and take care of them. Also, warn the public not to be fooled. If possible, they should aim to come to a regulated refuge. We’ll arrange to meet them at major intersections…”

“Yes, sir.” The signalman, Xiao Miao, snapped to attention, saluted, and left.

In the office.

Another person in military uniform took the notice from the colonel’s hand, glanced at it, and said, “Commander, I suspect the people in Yongan City are the Heavenly Demon. Common folks are struggling just to survive at this time; they likely don’t have the mind or the strength to seize a radio station, let alone concoct such an outlandish excuse.”

“Staff Officer Shi, even if it is the Heavenly Demon, they cannot act so recklessly!” the colonel frowned. “What does Yongan City have to offer? If they lure people there, how will they protect them?”

“They don’t need to take responsibility for the public.” Staff Officer Shi snorted. “Previously, there was a Heavenly Demon whose keyword was ‘manipulation.’ By spreading false information, he caused chaos everywhere, gaining ample nourishment and eventually growing into a Giant Demon. If the other party’s keyword is similar to ‘manipulation,’ your warning won’t be effective, and it might even provoke them to intensify their actions.”

“Then what should we do? Just let them cause trouble?” asked the colonel.

“I plan to lead a team to carry out a decapitation operation,” Staff Officer Shi stated. “No amount of warnings can compare to eliminating the problem at its root. Yongan is just over eight hundred li from West Forest City. We have already cleared over a hundred kilometers of the road. In one day’s time, it should be possible for us to make a round trip.”

“Are you confident?” asked the colonel. “Staff Officer Shi, you are now the hope of our camp; you cannot afford to have anything go wrong.”

“If I’m not confident, then no one in the world can take them down.” Staff Officer Shi glanced at his shining number one ranking, smiled confidently, and continued, “Just as you said, there is nothing in Yongan City, but we have powerful firepower. No matter how formidable a Heavenly Demon is, it cannot grow much in two days, but we must snuff out its growth in the cradle…”

“I’ll give you two hundred people. Will that be enough?” asked the colonel.

“That’s enough,” Staff Officer Shi chuckled. “If possible, I’ll also bring back the refugees from Yongan City.”

At that moment.

A sound of reporting.

Signalman Xiao Miao entered again: “Commander, we’ve received a response from the other side. They say that we are the ones misleading the public. They claim that within two days, they will clear Yongan City of mutant beasts, restore electricity to the city, and within half a month, allow the public to live a normal life again. They also said that within three days, they will send super soldiers to negotiate with us.”

“Heh,” Staff Officer Shi laughed disdainfully. “Alright, there’s no doubt that the other side is the Heavenly Demon. Commander, we can’t allow them to continue growing. I’m departing now. Remember, after I leave, if anyone comes knowing our passphrase, don’t show them any courtesy, just kill them instantly…”

Suddenly.

His voice came to an abrupt halt.

Looking at the personal panel, he froze on the spot.

Just now, his glittering number one flickered and changed to number two.

“What’s wrong, Staff Officer Shi?” the colonel asked with concern.

“It’s nothing; I’m leaving now. I need to hurry.” Staff Officer Shi’s face looked somewhat unsightly. He shook his head and strode out.

…

Fuck!

What the hell is this?

At the Yongan City broadcast station, Duge also stared at his personal panel in astonishment. When he left in the morning, he was ranked 15th; how did he become first in just half a day?

And his spiritual power even awarded him an extra 30.

What the fuck?

Can people even play anymore?

He even changed his company’s name, stopped boosting his ‘kindness’, he has already toned it down enough, yet they still made him number one?

What are those people outside doing? They’re really letting the side down! Are we even playing the same game?

“Brother Hu, what happened?” Yao Tong, seeing Duge’s face turn ugly, asked, “Worried you won’t be able to attract them?”

Exactly.

After Duge’s announcement went out, it was met with a barrage of curses and doubts.

Everyone was saying that they had evil intentions, no one believed he had developed super soldiers, and some even pointed out that the so-called Chaoyang Biomedical was actually something cooked up by Heavenly Demon, warning people not to be fooled…

“Brother Hu, there are five or six hundred residential areas in Yongan City, and even if only three hundred people survive in each, that still leaves us with tens of thousands of survivors. With one agent per three hundred people, we can at least create five hundred super strong agents,” Bao Benwei said. “That’s even more than the number of examinees. With five hundred agents spreading out, in a few days, the surrounding cities will be covered, and then, without us having to explain, outsiders will believe it too. We won’t have trouble attracting examinees!”

Damn, that’s exactly what I’m afraid of!

He’s already number one and we haven’t even fully dealt with Yongan City yet.

If this keeps splitting and expanding like a rolling snowball, the number of agents will only increase. How powerful would the person in second place have to be to catch up to him?

But it’s not possible for Duge to revoke the agent rights.

After all.

Trading is his bread and butter, and agents are the cornerstone that ensures he controls everything.

Without agents, in a world with guns and tanks, he’d have no security at all, and he wouldn’t even be able to hold onto his territory.

This is way too damn vexing.

…

“Old Bao, what’s your rank?” Duge, with a dark expression, turned to Bao Benwei.

“The very last,” Bao Benwei said.

“And you?” Duge then asked Yao Tong.

“287,” Yao Tong replied.

“I’ll give you five points of strength,” Duge said to Yao Tong directly, “Sell me your rank.”

“You can sell that?” Yao Tong was stunned for a moment.

“Just try it, you won’t lose out,” Duge said, his face devoid of any smile.

“Hmm, deal,” Yao Tong nodded.

No sooner had the words left his mouth.

Yao Tong exclaimed, “Holy shit, my rank really disappeared.”

“Can it really be bought?” Bao Benwei’s eyes widened in disbelief, “Has the simulation got a bug? You can trade ranks? How could there be such an absurd ability?”

“It’s really gone, it’s just a question mark now, doesn’t show any rank at all,” Yao Tong swallowed repeatedly, a look of excitement on his face, “Doesn’t this mean, Brother Hu could just get a top ten rank and sell it to me?”

“There’s got to be someone willing to sell it too, right!” Bao Benwei said, “If I were in the top ten, I wouldn’t sell my rank for anything.”

…

Duge stared at the special item in the trade section where a rank of 287 had appeared, and he thought to himself, worthy of the claim that anything can be traded, even ranks can be bought and sold.

So it goes.

His number one rank really could be sold off.

But outsiders can watch replays; if he blatantly sells ranks, it’s practically admitting guilt, it’s not much different from claiming the number one spot himself!

It might even draw more attention than just taking the number one rank outright!

This is so messed up!

To sell or not to sell?

Such a dilemma!

If only there were no replays.

But after a brief moment of thought, Duge made his decision.

Sell it.

He was already number one, what else could he do?

Buying and selling ranks in the simulation, openly challenging the order of the simulation, should be considered even more outrageous than flipping a table, and even less controllable, right?

Moreover, it should seem very foolish…

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