We promised to develop a game called Candy Crush, what the hell is the Third Reich?

Chapter 188 [Autumn Harvest Uprising] The Road to the Rise of the Republic (6.2k words, two chapters combined)

In the misty rain, we were separated by a distance of 100 meters.

Two cruise ships passed each other.

Ding Ming, who was looking down at the newspaper, did not notice the tour boat turning around in the distance and was unaware of what he had missed.

As Ding Ming looked at the news articles in the newspaper, he was still wondering where to trigger the [Story Card].

But there was no useful information in the newspaper, so he could only shake his head.

After putting down the newspaper, Ding Ming took out a map and displayed it in the live broadcast room:

“The Republic of China is still in chaos even now.”

As he spoke, he zoomed in on the map in his hand, and the viewers in the live stream looked at the map that Ding Ming had marked himself.

"This is the map of the Republic of China in 1921 that I'm starting with. Look at these forces."

"Then look at this."

As he spoke, Ding Ming posted a screenshot of the map from the beginning of the game up to 1930 on the live stream screen.

"This is a map from 1930."

"My friend and I drew a map of our spheres of influence based on the news we collected within our respective storylines."

"As you can see, the fighting lasted for almost 10 years, from 1921 to 1930."

"The internal strife in the Republic of China is not over yet."

"When will this ever end? If we keep playing like this, won't we have even less time left for development?"

Based on previous CGs and the timeline of the Republic, we know that the Republic will break through in 1950 and confront the two superpowers head-on.

As a result, by 1930, China was still in such a state of chaos.

Moreover, this chaos doesn't seem likely to end anytime soon.

In other words, the rise of the Republic didn't even take 20 years, maybe just 10 years or less, but if you think about it that way...

This makes it seem like the "Republic" has suddenly become a thing of the past, and its rise at such an absurd speed is simply outrageous.

talking.

Ding Ming remembered something, switched to the "Awakening Era" section of the Tiansha live streaming platform, and then selected the 1931 timeline category.

Because the "Age of Awakening" DLC allows players to freely choose a time period up to 1931.

Therefore, apart from players and streamers who experience the earlier timeline storylines, most streamers who choose the 1931 timeline are constantly skipping through the story, attempting to trigger later major events such as the "Four Crossings of the Chishui River".

Ding Ming casually browsed through a few live streams and quickly found one, then clicked on it:
"Look."

"The Republic of China was not only plagued by internal strife; after the Japanese invasion began in 1931, the land of China also faced the threat of foreign enemies."

"From the time Japan was driven out in 1945, it was a full 14 years. It can be said that there was no stable period of development at all."

"That's it?"

"its not right."

"According to this, the Republic only had a period of development after the nationwide liberation in 1949."

"That means they developed a nuclear bomb in just over 10 years, from the 50s to the 60s."

"Holy crap, isn't this even more outrageous than before?!"

As Ding Ming spoke, he sensed something was wrong, as did the netizens in the live stream.

Previously, I thought that the Republic of China began to rise gradually from the establishment of the Republic of China in 1912, but now I can see from the map that it is a different story.

When will it ever rise to prominence?

The warlord era lasted for so many years. Just as the warlord era ended, foreign invasions began, continuing until the liberation of the whole country.

So things only started to stabilize a bit in 1949.

But under the repeated threats from the two superpowers, in just over 10 years, by the 60s, they had already developed nuclear weapons.

No, something's definitely wrong!

Ding Ming looked at the colors of the various factions on the map, and none of them were the red faction from the third level of the Federation military exercise.

Has the red side not appeared yet?
Not a clue.

What changes will the cruise ship that just passed by bring to the future of China?

the other side.

Polaris Corporation, CEO's office.

The new contract that Shen Qinghan brought was a letter of intent for cooperation from the Free Star Cluster Federation:
"They've increased their agency fees tenfold and are asking if we can open up more slots. What's your take on that?"

Zhao Ming took the document from Shen Qinghan, somewhat surprised:

"A rich dog, huh?"

"Even more reckless than the Crown Prince of the Golden Moon Federation?"

A 10-fold agency fee would amount to 50 billion Federal Credits.

There are enough to give to a regular game company to prevent dozens of games from being released. Even the Liberty Star Cluster military has technical personnel who can easily copy and imitate it.

Perhaps guessing Zhao Ming's thoughts, Shen Qinghan pulled out a stool and sat down, saying:

"normal."

"If you don't earn money, and I don't earn money, how will the federal officials of the Freedom Cluster earn money?"

“The Free Star Cluster’s annual military spending alone is four or five times that of the Great Xia Federation. 50 billion US dollars might not even be enough to cover their food expenses.”

"But it can improve the combat effectiveness of the troops. Where else can you find such a good thing?"

"If they really started making counterfeit products, what would they gain?"

Zhao Ming listened with a strange expression, thinking, "It's the same everywhere, really."

After glancing at the contract and finding no problems, Zhao Ming signed it directly.

It's basically just a matter of opening up more single-player story modes.

After signing the contract, Zhao Ming handed it to Shen Qinghan.

Shen Qinghan glanced at it, nodded, then put away the contract and looked at Zhao Ming, asking:

"correct."

"I don't think there are many people playing World War I: Twilight of the Empire right now; most of them have gone to play the Age of Awakening DLC."

"Do we need to make some adjustments, or perhaps open up some activities or something?"

"After all, the main game is World War I: Twilight of the Empire, and Awakening Age is its expansion DLC. It's a bit of a reversal of priorities."

"After all, the main theme of the game is anti-war."

"But if the Republic of China doesn't fight, the Republic will not rise."

Zhao Ming, on the other hand, didn't seem to care, leaning back in his chair and waving his hand.

"unnecessary."

"Judging from the popularity of the Awakening Era, it's clear that players are currently more curious about the rise of the Republic than about anti-war sentiment."

"And although it's supposed to be an anti-war game, we still need to develop some new ways to play it."

"After more than half a year of publicity, many players have already realized the pain of war, so further publicity at this point will not be very effective."

"Why not let them play the Age of Awakening DLC ​​and see how the Republic gradually rises from suffering?"

"It's good to learn from this spirit of perseverance."

In fact, this is indeed the case.

After all, the propaganda had been going on for more than half a year, from the start of World War II to World War I.

According to the survey data, the games and movies selected each year in the past only had a popularity span of one or two months.

Meanwhile, Polaris' games were released one after another.

They managed to keep the players on Earth occupied for more than half a year.

By this time, those who have played the game generally understand its content and core elements, while those who haven't played it for the past six months probably haven't learned about it and likely don't want to either.

Therefore, if most of the players are veterans, deliberately promoting the product would actually have the opposite effect.

It's better to let nature take its course.

Let the players choose for themselves. Anyway, the main theme of the game is "World War I: Twilight of the Empire", and the core is to make players anti-war through various brutal wars.

The fact that more people are playing "Age of Awakening" only shows that the DLC is well-made.

Anyway, the core gameplay remains the same, so even if others want to cause trouble, they can't say anything.

Seeing this, Shen Qinghan could only nod, then asked with some curiosity:
"Speaking of which, when exactly did the Republic truly rise to power?"

"The latest timeline in the game is still a complete mess."

Shen Qinghan would play games in his spare time and browse player forums. At this moment, Shen Qinghan asked the question that players on the forum were most curious about.

This also aroused Shen Qinghan's curiosity.

The latest timeline has been skipped by some players, who have jumped all the way to 1933, skipping from 1931.

However, the conflicts between various forces on the land of China have not yet ended.

It's simply unimaginable how the Republic could have risen to prominence under such circumstances.

Upon hearing Shen Qinghan's question, Zhao Ming pondered for a moment:
"Well, how should I put it?"

"Because I'm not quite sure when I'll be considered to have risen to prominence."

This wasn't Zhao Ming making things up, because until before he transmigrated, the Republic was still a developing country.
Zhao Ming thought for a moment and said:
"You wait."

As he spoke, he began operating the equipment.

The data in the database was retrieved, displayed, and then fed into the photon supercomputing software for rapid rendering. In just three minutes, a short CG was completed.

Zhao Ming projected this short CG into the void in front of him:

"You'll understand once you see this CG."

Shen Qinghan looked up and saw the image slowly appearing in the CG projection in front of him.

on the screen.

What appears is the Forbidden City shrouded in smoke, with Zhengyang Gate burning in flames.

Soldiers of the Eight-Nation Alliance, carrying their respective national flags, rushed through the gates of the Forbidden City. The view suddenly widened, and they could clearly see the artillery fire from various parts of the Forbidden City below.

The Qing soldiers were fleeing in disarray, the yellow dragon flags were scattered, and the streets were filled with soldiers of the Eight-Nation Alliance looting property.

As the camera pans down.

Some Qing soldiers on the city wall were still putting up a fight, and the two sides exchanged artillery fire.

boom! boom! boom--!
A section of the city wall crashed down on him, causing the Qing soldiers on the wall to fall to the ground. A white-haired Qing official struggled to his feet and shouted:

"Quickly! Bomb these foreign devils to death!"

"Fire!!"

Seeing that the defense was hopeless, the guards immediately grabbed the Qing official, knelt down before him, and tearfully pleaded:
"My lord! Run!"

"Our cannons can't reach them!!!"

An enraged Qing Dynasty official grabbed his personal guard by the collar and roared something.

The perspective suddenly shifts upwards.

It then switched to the skies over Northeast China.

The subtitles slowly appeared.

【XNUM X Year X NUM X Month X NUM X Day】

The perspective is downward.

They appeared at the base of a Japanese military unit.

Within the headquarters.

A Japanese officer gripped his pocket watch tightly, watching the hands point to a certain spot.

Boom——!
The railway was suddenly destroyed, and the Japanese, who had been plotting for a long time, launched an attack on their troops in the northeastern region under the pretext of searching for missing soldiers.

The final scene shows the sinister smile on the face of the Japanese officer.

Then the camera zooms out.

The Earth below begins to rotate rapidly, and the four seasons change.

When the view is pulled down again.

The image only shows a bird's-eye view, with a city reduced to ruins below.

The subtitle slowly appeared: "[2022]".

Shen Qinghan looked somewhat surprised. 2022?
Although she knew there was a modern warfare storyline later on, she really didn't know much about the events in the 2022 timeline.

After all, I had only briefly seen CG footage of modern warfare before.

Zhao Ming spoke up, smiling as he said:

"Keep an eye on it and see if you can detect when the attack will come."

Shen Qinghan looked at the projection with a puzzled expression. When will the attack arrive?
Just thinking about it.

Suddenly, a buzzing sound, similar to a death scream, came from the projection. Before Shen Qinghan could react...

boom--! ! !
The city below the projection suddenly exploded, and only then did Shen Qinghan notice the disguised soldiers, who were running around in a panic.

Seeing the power of the explosion, Shen Qinghan was somewhat surprised:
"Missiles?"

However, the perspective suddenly shifts downwards.

The buzzing sound of "death scream" came densely, and as the view followed, Shen Qinghan noticed that it was a group of drones.

It was rushing toward the fleeing soldiers at an extremely fast speed.

Boom boom boom!

As the scenes shifted, Shen Qinghan discovered that Earth in 2022 was also engulfed in war, some of which were no less devastating than those during World War II.

At this time.

The scene abruptly shifts to the [Republic].

【South China Sea】

Two extremely modern warships faced each other on the sea. One of them flew the flag of the Republic, while the other flew a flag that Shen Qinghan had never seen before.

What's strange is that this is happening on such a modern warship.

On the ship flying a flag that Shen Qinghan didn't recognize, dark-skinned soldiers who looked like a group of skinny men were waving sticks and shouting at the Republic's warship.

The soldiers on the Republic's warship simply watched them coldly, then slowly sailed the warship past, startling the opposing side into turning back while shouting.

Screen switching.

【plateau】

On the snow-capped plateau, the soldiers on both sides remained locked in a standoff.

This time, however, Shen Qinghan was able to recognize it. One side was still the Republic, and the other side was India, just like before.

At this point, the soldiers from both countries were still facing off with sticks in their hands.

Indian soldiers were shouting wildly at the edge of the border, perhaps to bolster their morale; there were dozens of Indian soldiers in total.

Faced with only a squad of soldiers from the Republic, they dared not cross the border.

They only dared to wave sticks.

A group of Indian soldiers were shouting and yelling, but they didn't dare to take a single step.

The perspective shifts to different border areas, and they all present similar scenes.

This scene.

Shen Qinghan's lips twitched at the sight. Was this even possible?

But this feels so out of place.

High-tech battles are raging around the world, but the neighbors of the Republic seem quite friendly, only daring to brandish sticks. That's a bit strange.

The thought flashed through Shen Qinghan's mind.

The scene changes.

It appeared over the Ryukyu Islands.

As the camera pans across the scene, a helicopter trails thick smoke as it hurtles towards the sea below.

Boom——!
Flames from the explosion rose.

soon.

News studios in various countries then began broadcasting the news live:
[Japanese Vice Admiral Dies Unexpectedly, Suspected to be a Spy on the Shandong Aircraft Carrier]

The eyes of the world are focused here.

Faced with such a situation.

The Japanese government issued an emergency statement saying that "the accidental death of the vice admiral was unrelated to the Republic."

This surprised many countries around the world who were waiting to see what would happen.

Shen Qinghan's eyes widened in surprise.

Ah this
This is quite a contrast to the previous invasion of Northeast China after a single missing soldier. Now, even the death of a lieutenant general prompts an urgent statement claiming it has nothing to do with the "Republic"?
The changes in national strength are now fully on display.

The short CG sequence slowly ended.

Shen Qinghan sighed:

"Is this the Republic after its rise?"

"So, are those neighboring countries waving sticks because they dare not use firearms?"

After watching Japan's performance, Shen Qinghan also thought of the things that seemed out of place before.

Why is it that wars around the world are fought with firearms, but when it comes to the Republic, they've degenerated into using sticks and clubs, without even knives?
Zhao Ming leaned back in his office chair and stretched.

"It can't be called a rise."

"Because according to the plot, even the 2022 'Republic' is still considered a developing country."

Shen Qinghan's expression was strange:
"developing country?"

"Just?"

"you sure?"

Zhao Ming smiled:
"That's how it goes in the plot."

"No matter how hard you try to explain it."

"It is also a developing country."

Shen Qinghan rolled her eyes in annoyance.

If this were a developing country, how would other countries play 'Earth Online'? This dungeon is a bit too difficult, isn't it?
But since it's just a game background, let them set it up however they want.

After receiving the contract, Shen Qinghan prepared to leave to take care of his business.

Zhao Ming, meanwhile, looked at the timeline of the Republic and the background data of the Awakening Age DLC. After thinking for a while, he felt that there were not enough major events.

I thought about it.

Zhao Ming started copying a timeline for the "Republic".

We started filling in the data by year and the small events that players had triggered in the backend data.

I'll update this when I have time.

Create a detailed version of the [Republic] timeline update.

a few days later.

The game forum on Polaris' official website was flooded with activity.

Players in the game set in 1927 triggered the Nanchang Uprising storyline.

As for how it was discovered...
Because the "Republic" timeline on the Polaris official website will unlock event CGs on the timeline in real time based on the storyline triggered by the player.

Players are watching the unlocked CG video of the Nanchang Uprising.

From a perspective.

The event was likely triggered by a player who was an outer soldier, who simply followed orders and charged with his unit, only to be killed shortly afterward.

The story then abruptly ends.

It was obvious that they had only played the initial round, leaving the Blue Star players scratching their heads in frustration.

Who is it?!

Triggering this plot point, and you die so quickly?!
At least finish before you die!

This is just the beginning of the CG, and that's it. We didn't see any of the main characters!
Many players were cursing and trying to find out which newbie it was.

But this is clearly not a streamer, but an ordinary player, and it's like looking for a needle in a haystack.

However, it also made the players on Earth realize that this was another way to do things.

A CG sequence will play if someone triggers it.

That only triggered the beginning. Once other characters trigger the Nanchang Uprising and experience it completely, wouldn't that complete the CG sequence?!
The official Polaris website's reply of "yes" excited Blue Star players. So what are we waiting for?
Since the unlock has been triggered, the time and location of the Nanchang Uprising are known in the introduction and CG. A group of Earth players choose to start with the 1927 timeline.

I want to fill in the gaps regarding the Nanchang Uprising.

While we're at it, let's see if we can meet any important figures from the red team and trigger some powerful [story cards].

the other side.

In the same timeline of 1927, in a live broadcast room.

At this moment, the anchor Yang Lang was riding a donkey cart from the Hunan-Jiangxi border to the city where the Nanchang Uprising took place. The straight-line distance from Xiushui County to Nanchang is about two or three hundred kilometers.

So Yang Lang planned to hitch a ride on a fellow villager's donkey cart all the way there.

Yang Lang followed the villager's donkey cart until they reached the market in Xiushui County before getting off. After thanking the villager, Yang Lang started looking for a donkey cart to take him to the neighboring county.

While chatting with viewers in the live stream:

"Brothers, it's only April here, while the Nanchang Uprising started on August 1st."

"Once I get to Nanchang, I'll have at least three months to prepare and trigger the plot."

"Those who started in 1927 are definitely no match for me."

"So stay and watch in my live stream."

"After all, it doesn't matter who you look at, right?!"

As they were talking, a viewer in the live stream pointed out that there seemed to be a special [story card] notification in the upper right corner.

Yang Lang then noticed a golden exclamation mark shimmering in the upper right corner of his vision:

"Special [Story Card] Hint?"

"Does such a thing even exist?"

Viewers in the live stream said that the streamer who triggered the Nanchang Uprising did so by clicking on a golden exclamation mark before the card appeared.

Yang Lang then realized that there were such things that weren't triggered by his own initiative. He glanced at the golden exclamation mark and a look of delight appeared on his face.
"What would mine be if it's gold-colored?"

As he spoke, he clicked on the gold exclamation mark, and the screen suddenly went black.

Yang Lang couldn't move; he could only watch.

Meanwhile, the viewers in the live stream widened their eyes in realization—it was a triggered cutscene?!
Is this even possible?!

The screen slowly lit up.

The twilight was as dark as iron, and the sky hung low.

The sickle and axe cleave through the clouds, the view sweeping across the working people on the border of Hunan and Jiangxi.

Suddenly.

The toiling masses, struggling in the mud, raised a red flag.

Their clothes were tattered, their rough hands gripping sickles and axes as they charged towards the tyrannical army.

Bullets whizzed past.

People kept falling, but even more people rose up, shouting out earth-shattering cries amidst the almost silent CG:

"Fight for the workers and peasants!!!"

But how could a farmer wielding a sickle possibly stand against a soldier with a rifle?

The uprising depicted in the footage began to be overshadowed.

The perspective suddenly shifts upwards.

The group consisted of farmers and workers wielding sickles and axes.

A tall figure stood at the front of the group.

Everyone was watching him.

The military flag fluttered behind him, its red color resembling an inextinguishable flame.

The tall figure suddenly turned around and looked at the outline of the distant mountain range.

For an instant.

The world seemed to fall silent.

A deep and firm voice narrated during the CG:

"Go to Jinggang Mountain. You can settle down there."

The screen fades to black.

Only a single spark remained, flickering among the folds of the mountains.

Subtitles slowly appeared on the screen.

That year, his turn gave direction to the spark of hope.

The subtitles slowly disappeared.

What appeared next in the live stream was a [Story Card], slightly grayish, indicating that it had not yet been triggered.

The card depicts a figure in a gray long-sleeved Zhongshan suit gazing into the distance, surrounded by workers and peasants holding red flags, also looking into the distance. Several large characters are written on the side of the card.

The Autumn Harvest Uprising

(End of this chapter)