Chapter 724.1: The Flame That Spreads

Ever since becoming an administrator and dealing with countless disputes among survivors, Chu Guang had long since stopped trusting any one person's side of the story.

It wasn't because he was worried someone might harm him. Rather, whenever people spoke, whether consciously or unconsciously, they inevitably injected at least a little of their own perspective and beliefs into what they said.

That depended on how they viewed themselves, as well as how they viewed others and the world.

As a result, even when most people were telling the truth, what they described was not necessarily absolutely objective.

If one believed everything completely, it was easy to end up being led around by the nose.

Of course, that didn't mean a less-than-objective account was a lie. After all, even for a genuine liar, telling outright lies was a stupid thing to do. Once the logic failed to hold together, they would find themselves trapped in contradictions they couldn't explain away, forcing them to invent one flawed lie after another to maintain consistency.

The more sophisticated approach was to take the facts that benefited oneself and embellish them with exaggerated modifiers, while interpreting the unfavorable parts from a carefully chosen angle.

For example, if he had only listened to Sun Yuechi's version of events, one would think that everything the survivors of the Southern Seas ate and used came entirely from the supplies stored in Shelter 70.

Had he never managed a settlement himself and learned the true value of food, fuel, and daily necessities, he might actually have believed that nonsense and assumed those people were all naive innocents.

Of course, he hadn't simply accepted the version from the survivors of the Southern Archipelago Federation either.

Judging from Chalas's broadcasts, the residents of Shelter 70 would have been transformed into evil colonialists from the pre-industrial era, waiting to be judged by the new world.

Chalas was probably not lying. Otherwise, he would never have confidently encouraged people to go home and ask their relatives.

Clearly, some regrettable things had indeed happened there over the past century, and they had never been properly resolved. Otherwise, so many people would never have sided with him.

This was also a lesson the New Alliance had learned from its many grave digging operations. Or to put it in a nicer way, their archeological projects.

If a settlement produced one or two lunatics, perhaps the problem lay with those individuals. But if everyone had gone mad, and one person produced a lighter, another immediately handed over a barrel of fuel, while everyone else either watched or fanned the flames... Clearly, the entire settlement was sick.

From the very beginning, Chu Guang had suspected that Sun Yuechi had dug a massive pit for him. Or at the very least dumped a huge burden onto his lap.

Reality had proven him right.

Free things were rarely cheap. And anything hurriedly shoved into someone else's hands was usually no good either. The seemingly peaceful Southern Seas concealed storms capable of threatening the entire wasteland.

Ordinary pirates might sail around in speedboats robbing people. His players had simply been lucky not to encounter them. And even if they had, they could have crushed them with little effort.

But these people possessed battleships, functioning factories, research facilities, and had even formed a mutually beneficial relationship with the Torch Church with the former providing technology and the latter providing resources.

Based on all the intelligence his players had compiled on the forums, Chu Guang could say with confidence that there was only one thing Sun Yuechi hadn't lied about.

The mess he handed over was indeed a complete disaster.

"... I see."

...

In level B4 of Shelter 404.

When Sun Yuechi learned from Chu Guang that the Federation, born without his knowledge, had likewise shattered into three factions without his knowledge, he couldn't help letting out a pained groan.

His face was filled with despair. In an instant, he seemed to age several years.

Compared to the sincerity he had shown when asking for help, or the panic he displayed upon hearing the news, that was perhaps his truest feeling.

What was destined to happen had finally happened.

Truthfully, Chu Guang suspected that Sun Yuechi had known all along that things would end this way. Yet he had still chosen the most extreme form of shock therapy.

Whether that was true or not, however, only Sun Yuechi himself knew.

"... You placed your hopes on outsiders. I don't think that was a wise decision." Chu Guang gave him a meaningful look.

Embarrassment flashed across Sun Yuechi's face. He tried to explain that he hadn't simply chosen just anyone. Or rather, that he had carefully evaluated who should take over the problem. "I conducted a thorough assessment. Your handling of the Sindison Incident, your management of relations between wastelanders and shelter residents... there were many things worth learning from. Those strengths were precisely why I chose you."

"That's not what I'm talking about." Watching Sun Yuechi desperately justify himself, Chu Guang shook his head. Looking at him seriously, he continued, "First, our methods aren't universal. There is no universal solution in this world. Second, we didn't understand your situation at all, and you never fully explained the nature of your illness. Even though we carefully tried to avoid every minefield, an unexpected spark still caused everything to blow!"

He had no doubt that his little players were already excellent bomb disposal experts, especially Ample Time.

That guy had proven himself repeatedly through action, not because Chu Guang personally favored him.

The undersea freshwater pipeline had been a brilliant move. It resembled the railway project in the Sunset Province.

Had everything gone smoothly, it might genuinely have united most of the settlements and fragmented the unstable Federation. After all, their Federation hadn't existed for very long. Its settlements enjoyed a remarkable degree of autonomy. Governors weren't primarily responsible to the federal capital. They were responsible first to the people living on their islands, and only second to the President.

Unfortunately, the wasteland was not the 21st century. The enemy never gave him time to unite the islands. Instead, they turned his own strategy against him.

They deliberately sent expendable pawns to die near the pipeline, dragging hidden problems out into the open and completely forcing Torch Church's allies within the Federation into open rebellion.

Even though Ample Time had correctly predicted that the Torch Church would make its move on the day the underwater pipe became operational, and had successfully foiled the plan through careful preparation, it still hadn't mattered.

The enemy understood their role perfectly. They were destroyers of order.

If they competed with the New Alliance over who could build a better society, they would lose every time.

As such, they simply flipped the table.

From that alone, Chu Guang could tell that the Pathfinder handling affairs in the Southern Seas for the Torch Church was completely different from Luo Qian, who had attempted to build a twisted form of order in the Brocade Lake Municipality.

That man was probably a genuine player in the game.

Faced with such a direct accusation, Sun Yuechi found himself speechless. After a long pause, he slumped back onto the sofa. "... You're right. I shouldn't have relied on people who didn't understand the situation. And yes, I hid things from you. But I had to! It was the only way to get you involved quickly."

He gulped once, then he continued, "I wasn't completely ignorant about the Federation's problems. The signs of division didn't begin in my generation, they started two generations before me. I still remember what my predecessor told me when he handed over administrative authority. He said perhaps young people would find a solution."

"My god, what solution was I supposed to have? He might as well have dumped the problem onto another old man who only had a few years left to live!"

"Can you imagine it? The moment the islanders learned I was only in my 30s, everyone practically lost their minds. I honestly suspect that old bastard did it on purpose. He wanted me to become the scapegoat hanging from the gallows."

He took a deep breath and buried his face in his hands. "I did think about carrying everything myself. But I didn't want to die. At least not such a pathetic death. In the end, I picked up the broken watch and repaired it again. The shelter residents praised me and said moving the Patrol Fleet out from under naval control and placing it under the government was a brilliant move. It was like gouging out a wolf's eyes and attaching them to a dog."

"They said it delayed the crisis, but everyone knows the truth. That was just ripping planks off the deck to patch holes in the hull. The dogs and the wolves both hated us."

Then he looked at Chu Guang with a bitter smile. "Believe me or not, that ship had already reached the end of its journey. Even if I stayed, it wouldn't have changed anything."

"Or rather, if there had been even the slightest hope, I never would have left. A shelter isn't a wish-granting machine. There's no button inside that solves every problem with a single press."

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