This game is so weird!

By the time Li Ang had led the players through the training of the five simulators one by one, it was already evening.

The pitch-black night enveloped the hillside, and the distant city was also shrouded in darkness, devoid of any lights.

On such a night, the brightly lit containment base stands out, its fluorescent glow emanating from the towering base towers visible even from five kilometers away.

Standing in the square, Li Ang stared at the tower for a while, then frowned.

"Xiao Jin, strengthen the defenses tonight, and go explore the cleanup and patrol missions around the base that the guild has issued."

"yes!"

The cyborg guard captain standing to the side nodded in agreement, and then left alone after Li Ang waved to signal him to go to the guild to issue quests to the players.

Bio-engineered guards have been stationed on the newly built watchtowers around the base, their cavalry assault rifles gleaming coldly under the illumination of the lights.

A swarm of surveillance drones also flew out from the newly built monitoring room, roaming within a five-kilometer radius of the base, serving as the first line of defense to monitor and analyze every move in the surrounding area.

Since the base lacks an AI core, the analysis and processing are currently handled by the ship's control AI, with secondary analysis assisted by on-duty cyborgs.

Behind the two lines of defense, there is also the base's energy shield as the final line of defense. As long as the orc army does not attack, there should be no major problems. If all else fails, the cyborgs and players can be sent to cover the rear, while the spaceships take the nomads and the base core to evacuate first. The orc forces on Sera should not currently have any weapons that can destroy spaceships.

After leading a few guards to patrol the outer area of ​​the expanded base and confirming that the wall had been repaired and closed, Li Ang bid farewell to the guards and arrived at the newly operational vertical farm.

The cylindrical building is four stories high but occupies only 90 square meters of space. It is like a chopstick stuck in the north side of the quarantine camp, near the commercial area.

Upon entering the vertical farm, several stiff-moving players are planting rice following the quest guide.

A player took out a small bag of rice seeds that Li Ang had brought with his spaceship from his inventory, walked to the control panel of the three-tiered planting platform, and poured the rice seeds into the input port.

Under the sunlights on the three-tiered planting platform, several robotic arms skillfully loosened the soil, planted, and watered the crops, while another player poured a bucket of prepared nutrient solution into the nutrient solution storage tank to ensure that the crops could grow quickly.

With the help of agricultural production technology manufactured by the Empire, the rice seeds germinated and grew at a visible speed, quickly turning into a patch of green grass.

These seeds from the "One Day Harvest" brand look almost identical to those in the game. Even the two players who planted them couldn't help but complain: "What happened to 100% realism? This growth rate is practically the same as eating fertilizer!"

"Haha, if you really had to plant them and wait months to harvest, who could stomach it!"

Li Ang quietly slipped past the blind spots of several players, circled all four floors, and left quietly after finding everything normal. The entire process was not noticed by any of the players in the simulator game.

That's the downside of first-person perspective games; the limited field of view makes it easy to get motion sickness.

According to the plan, the first three floors will serve as production areas for staple foods, vegetables, and legumes, providing carbohydrates, vitamins, and protein. After the warehouse at the bottom of the vertical farm is full, any extra production will serve as a biomass raw material replenishment base. Li Ang didn't have high expectations for this; it was better than nothing.

After all, the biological ranch hasn't found a suitable breed yet. The Imperial Mall has a dazzling array of meat livestock, but upon closer inspection, the ones you like are too expensive to buy, and the ones you can afford don't feel right.

Especially since these livestock have to be purchased individually, shredded, and then delivered, not only do you have to pay for shipping, but you also can't raise them yourself, making the cost higher than buying meat directly. Otherwise, there are very common livestock, and Li Ang feels that if you look carefully on Sera or Scars, you can find substitutes, so buying them from the store isn't cost-effective.

Since there are no suitable livestock for the time being, we can only make do with plants for now. I just don't know if the bio-engineered humans cultivated from plant biomass will be considered as vegetative people.

The fourth level of the vertical farm is relatively special. It is managed independently by the players of the vegetable market simulator. After paying contribution points, they can apply for the right to use the planting platform and freely purchase crops and fertilizers from the store to cultivate.

On the one hand, it can add some gameplay elements. To this end, Li Ang also designated an area in the square of the quarantine zone as a vegetable market, allowing players to trade freely with vagrants.

On the other hand, we hope to encourage some initiative from the players and see if their creative ideas can bring about some different changes.

This truly embodies the unique business model of Therastar, which combines free market and planned economy.

After inspecting the most important vertical farm, Li Ang visited the construction simulator players who were working hard and the chef players who were researching dark cuisine before returning to the guild hall in the commercial district to prepare for rest.

The checkpoint on the other side.

Shortly after Li Ang guided the players through the tutorial with the help of the wandering extras and left the checkpoint, a small group of wanderers arrived.

Following the directions of the bio-engineered guards and the signs, people lined up at the station entrance.

The two children glanced back at the guard standing ramrod straight at the entrance, then tiptoed to peek inside the checkpoint.

"Mom, are we safe?"

The blonde woman tightened her grip on her child's hand, a glimmer of hope appearing on her weary face. "We'll finally have a better life, we definitely will!"

"beep--"

"Next!"

When it was her turn, the woman nervously led her two children forward, passing through the metal detector one by one, and placing her backpack on the table at the door as instructed by the guard.

"Wow! A sexy young woman!"

"Ahem!" One player raised his hand and poked the kidney of the player who had spoken recklessly. "Watch your step, your compliance score is dropping."

"what……"

Even without tactile feedback, players who saw the screen shake felt a pang of pain—how could they lose points right after finishing the tutorial…?

He quickly became serious and used temperature and heart rate monitors to check the condition of each of the three people.

Seeing two expressionless inspectors circling around her, the mother froze, while the child happily watched the two expressionless uncles, curiously examining the instruments in their hands.

"You are all in good health and are not carrying any prohibited items." After a short while, the players who had finished checking their backpacks came over, spoke with the players who had undergone physical examinations, and replied, "May I ask your names?"

"Mary, these are my children, Chuck and Cody."

"Okay, Mary, please take these three signs."

The player handed over three metal cards, one blue and two white, and gave one to Mary and one to the two children. "Children, take these too. These are your identification tags. You'll need them to get food and lodging. Remember to keep them safe and don't lose them."

"After you leave the checkpoint, follow the blue signs to reach the dormitory building. After you wash up there, you will be assigned temporary accommodation. You don't need to bring your luggage; it will be returned to you after disinfection."

Upon hearing the examiner with facial paralysis say "pass," the blonde woman let out a deep breath, "Thank you! Thank you!"

"Chuck, Cody, let's go."

After bowing and thanking the three cold-faced but kind-hearted inspectors, the woman excitedly pulled her two children away quickly. As they passed through a thin, misty membrane, the metal tag flashed slightly, and they soon left the checkpoint.

Just then, a man with a blank expression, wearing overalls, ran out of the checkpoint pushing a cart full of luggage. On top of the cart was a backpack that looked somewhat familiar to Mary. He quickly overtook them and sped off towards the camp.

"Mom, our bag..."

Chuck pointed to the uncle who had just run away.

"Hmm." Mary pulled Chuck back, who was about to catch up, and looked in the direction where the expressionless man had disappeared. A conspicuous, flashing sign appeared in her eyes.

Welcome to Hope Town

[Newlyweds Check-in Point]

"The bags have arrived, let's hurry over there."