[Worldwide Announcement: The Lagrange Point Space Station has been occupied by the Burning Corps!]

[Worldwide Announcement: Congratulations to players "White Horse Passing a Gap", "Long Days Ahead", "Eight-level Wild Wind"... for earning the limited title of "Savior of Civilization"! This achievement will enter the Hall of Fame!]

[Worldwide Announcement: The beta test will conclude soon, and the public test is expected to launch shockingly with the new expansion "New Routes"!]

[...]

Three consecutive worldwide announcements blew up the official website!

The already lively forums now seemed like a barrel of gasoline had been poured on them!

The Lagrange Point Space Station has been occupied!

The biggest dark and evil force on the Wasteland has been eliminated!

Of course, that's not the main point—

What really made players and Backseat Drivers scream was the long-expected public test and the brand new expansion!!!

As soon as the announcement appeared on the official website, forum posts flooded in at the speed of tens of thousands per second, like an avalanche of information!

tail: "Oh oh oh! New Routes!! (✪ω✪)"

Pick up trash 99 level: "Brother Guang is awesome!!! (voice breaks)"

Thunder Law King Professor Yang: "Public Test!!! My Public Test!!! (screams)"

Lord Arrogant Brother: "Heh, keep bragging, if this damn game is real, I'll live stream doing a handstand while having diarrhea! (sneers)"

Dinosaur Warrior: "Cried, I went from middle school to high school, and this game is finally done testing. T.T"

Elena: "Then hang in there for two more years, you'll be an adult soon. (amused)"

Dinosaur Warrior: "Whoa!"

Teng Teng: "Speaking of which, time flies, it's been so many years in the blink of an eye. (๑´ㅂ`๑)"

Crow: "Yes indeed~"

Si Si: "Hmm, I almost forgot about the public test, didn't expect Ah Guang to remember."

Aao Sesame Paste: "Feels like there will be a lot of new players coming in. o(*￣︶￣*)o"

Meat Mountain Big Steamed Bun: "In other words, the server will be filled with strange people. (o__)ﾉ"

Aao Sesame Paste: "Hahaha... that's inevitable."

Elena: "Like Lord Arrogant Brother? (amused)"

Gnome King Riches: "Ancestral skill, specifically for treating low blood pressure. (amused)"

WC Real Mosquito: "Gaga, leave him to me, I love newbies the most. (evil laugh)"

Escaped Mole from the Valley: "Where are the Burning Corps brothers? Why aren't they showing off?"

Spring Water Commander: "I heard from Old White that they plan to take a group photo at the space station, it might take a while. Haha."

Night Ten: "Whoa! Didn't include me in such a good thing! What a loss!!! QAQ"

Debt Giant Eye: "Get lost! Trying to take advantage of everything, you're too much! (angry)"

Construction Site Youth and Brick: "Exactly! You already have a starship, what more do you want!!! (angry)"

tail: "Starship!!! Tail also wants one! QAQ"

Si Si: "Uh, I'll think of a way? (guilty)"

Teng Teng: "(snickers) (snickers)"

Jiu Jiu Loves Pineapple: "You can have the starship, I'm taking Dora, hehe. (///ω///)"

Awake But Sleepy: "Heard it's even bigger than Crow. (stunned)"

Maka Bazi: "Two, two Crow's power?"

Stop Nonsense: "(nosebleed) (nosebleed)"

Crow: "What the hell is two Crow's power, don't use me as a reference!!! (angry) (angry)"

Midnight Chicken Killing: "Here you go, you're welcome. (*・ω・)-✄"

Elena: "Shivering. (amused)"

The forums were full of lively atmosphere, the bickering between players and Backseat Drivers continued, but the topic had shifted from the new routes to which planet and onto the Manager's CP.

This was an old conversation topic.

Since the alpha version test started, the official site had been gossiping about this.

After all, it was well known that most NPCs in this game have emotions, except for the most NPC-like Manager.

This guy seemed like he had no personal life, as if he'd put all his time into work, so most new players only saw him as the "Alliance's mascot".

An enthusiast opened a poll thread and wrote the names of suspected NPCs involved in a py deal.

Besides Boss Xia, it even included Heya, Nicole, Yin Fang, and even Dog Plan, who wasn't even in the game.

In theory, such a poll thread couldn't produce a serious result, and an absurd option would surely come out on top.

However, to everyone's surprise, the one who topped the list was a trash can named Xiao Qi!

The reason this result surprised everyone wasn't because it was unwarranted or anything, since Xiao Qi was quite popular on the forums, only second to the true Alliance mascot Little Fish.

What truly shocked people was how absurdly "serious" the result was, with an incredible 99% vote rate!

As a result, the second planner "Xiao Qi" with a 1% vote rate on the list didn't seem to have many points to complain about.

Many people expressed that their vote button felt like it was broken, not creating any waves at all.

tail: "Giao! So many people voted for Xiao Qi? Tail voted for Boss Xia. (guilty)"

Meat Mountain Big Steamed Bun: "Same here. (whispers)"

Teng Teng: "I voted for Alyssa... (guilty)"

Debt Giant Eye: "What on Earth is Alyssa?!"

Teng Teng: "But don't you think they match well? They're both glowing types... (quietly)"

Spring Water Commander: "Rare to see this guy ship a somewhat normal CP, I thought she'd vote for Yin Fang... (facepalm)"

Teng Teng: "Not that it can't be. (///ω///)"

WC Real Mosquito: "Gaga, I voted for him! (evil laugh)"

Edge Shoveling: "Pfft—"

Night Ten: "Wait, won't Alyssa die? At least Boss Xia has higher HP? By the way, I voted for Yin Fang too."

Spring Water Commander: "Cough, if you're gonna put it that way, then it can only be Frost. Hmm, so I voted for Yibers."

Edge Shoveling: "???"

Debt Giant Eye: "Wait, so who actually voted for Xiao Qi?! (stunned)"

Lord Arrogant Brother: "This must be cheating, right?!"

(Pre-ordered player "Lord Arrogant Brother" encountered a random forum event, hit by a meteorite, and hospitalized, muted for 24 hours.)

Thunder Law King Professor Yang: "Wait, at least they should be human?!"

(Reservation player "Thunder Law King Professor Yang" encountered a random forum event, got hit by a flowerpot when going out, and was muted for 24 hours.)

Tail: "!!!"

...

While the forum was enveloped in a joyous atmosphere, the distant Lagrange Point Space Station was also filled with a happy vibe.

The casualty rate of the 2000 brothers who landed was only half; there were still 1000 players who survived, far exceeding the initial expectations of the staff who planned this action.

To be frank, the battle when they landed on the Iron Heart was much more difficult than this one.

Although the Celestials are much stronger than General McCullen from years ago, today's Alliance is no longer its former self either.

Having endured so many trials by blood and fire, now anyone from the Burning Corps thrown back to the past would be a powerhouse above T0.

In contrast, despite the Celestials hiding behind the scenes having pre-war technology and legacy, they fall short of the Alliance in terms of combat experience and determination for victory.

From this perspective, their complaints are not entirely unreasonable.

Since the landing crafts heading to the Lagrange Point didn't have a return function, everyone had to stay here for a while, at least until the Alliance repaired the Orion Missile Cruiser orbiting Earth's synchronous orbit and brought it over.

To celebrate this hard-won victory, some players suggested taking a group photo.

So a large group of players carried the Alliance's flag outside the space station, posing in various ways to take pictures for remembrance.

Apart from those players keen on showing off and checking in, some explorers chose to wander inside the space station.

Previously, the strategy was too rushed, and they hadn't had the chance to take a close look at this marvel of the Human Alliance Era.

Now that the battle was over, they finally had time to rummage around, and a large wave of players flooded into various sections of the space station, pondering over this unbelievably huge Space Fortress.

In the shipbuilding area of the space station, the empty production area was like a building lying on its side—

—just like those in Ideal City.

The unfinished hull was quietly moored in the empty ship compartment.

From the appearance alone, the square hull seemed to be merely a section of a deck on the Orion Missile Cruiser.

The starships of the Human Alliance Era apparently employed this kind of modular processing technique.

Once a set of modules was produced, they would move horizontally or vertically along fixed tracks to the "U-shaped port" outside the space station for assembly with other modules, finally constructing the entire starship like building blocks.

Perhaps it was due to this modular design that the Twin fell into dozens of fragments when it crashed on South Gate Two.

However, even considering the modular craftsmanship, the size of a single module here was still impressive.

All the space stations on Earth combined aren't as big as a single hang here.

Staring at the armored outer shell fixed on the scaffolding and the rows of dense mechanical arms, Corner Old Six couldn't help but sigh.

"I can't figure it out... How did the powerful United Human fall?"

Walking beside him, Fang Chang glanced at him.

"Why are you still asking this question now?"

Corner Old Six: "Aren't you curious?"

"Curiosity is curiosity, but you can't discuss two unrelated issues together."

Fang Chang sighed patiently.

"Being strong doesn't mean being invincible. Even the Sun will extinguish one day, let alone a regime that exists in a specific historical period. When it fails to accommodate the interests of all internal layers, it naturally reaches its end. The army is like this, and the Poluo Country during Absek's era was like this too. At such times, its strength not only doesn't help but becomes a huge hidden danger."

Corner Old Six scratched the back of his head with a puzzled expression.

"Why?"

He couldn't understand.

Fang Chang thought for a moment and said.

"Which has a greater explosive power, a ton of black powder or a ton of metallic hydrogen?"

Corner Old Six chuckled bitterly and said.

"Of course, it's metallic hydrogen, but... isn't this analogy inappropriate?"

Fang Chang said casually.

"This is the most appropriate analogy. If you ponder a bit, you'll understand."

Because the United Human was so powerful, it seemed impossible for it to fall.

When everyone thinks that it is impossible to fall, it's often the beginning of the Prosperity Epoch's end.

Because behind the "impossible to fall" usually lies another metaphor—

That is, we can do whatever we please.

This so-called "whatever we please" doesn't refer to a specific action by a high-level person in the United Human, but rather the various disagreements that arise from different social layers, both upwards and downwards.

The strength of the United Human wasn't a castle in the sky, but rather each layer within the United Human possessed unparalleled power.

When the disagreements of all parties reach a critical point, and this unparalleled power is no longer used for creation but for eliminating disagreements, the "Minsky moment" of the United Human arrives.

At that time, unless a stronger force intervenes externally to forcibly suppress this explosive barrel, no one can stop its explosion.

Clearly.

There was no such strong existence beside the United Human.

The Academy, which can command the winds and rains in the Wasteland, was merely a loose academic organization during the United Human period.

Fang Chang himself is not a historian, so it's challenging to analyze the specific causes of the United Human's collapse, nor is it easy to assert when exactly it happened.

However, based on past work experience, he could confidently conclude that the three-year war was just the spark that ignited the contradictions or the last straw that broke the camel's back.

"...Even you couldn't analyze it, so this part will likely remain a blank slate in the background material."

Corner Old Six sighed in surrender, a bit of unsatisfied regret on his face.

Thinking about it makes sense.

If the United Human really collapsed due to a failed battle or some specific person's wrong decision, regardless of who the person was or what they did, such strength would seem too pale.

It's not just about the United Human.

Even Giant Stone City, with only a population of tens of thousands, couldn't be summed up in just a few words.

For the United Human, consisting of billions, explaining its collapse would require starting before the Prosperity Epoch and telling an entire book's worth of content.

And this book, undoubtedly, would be much thicker than the Alliance's history.

Looking at Corner Old Six's regretful expression, Fang Chang smiled faintly, speaking in a lighthearted tone.

"After the whale falls, all creatures thrive, there's nothing to be regretful about. The wonders left behind by the United Human have already surpassed any miracle created by any classical epoch organization, and that distant hundred years might have been more spectacular than the transformation of this planet over thousands of years..."

"Even if their era has ended, it doesn't change the fact that they were once giants."

"Moreover, we indeed did not let down the great expectations they placed upon us, standing up again from the ruins."

With that, he patted Corner Old Six on the shoulder, smiling as he looked towards the next ship compartment.

"It's time to look forward."

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