Chapter 390: Conclusion

After spending three days and passing the basic operation test, the internal beta test for Galaxy Era officially began.

The first batch of 50 million players were randomly matched on various copies of planet Nidru. Similar to a battle royale, each match was comprised of 83 players as the leaders of 83 countries, where they were to flex their muscles in a survival of the fittest.

Three massive nations.

Twenty big nations.

60 middle powers.

Without a doubt, anyone would want to be distributed a superpower, as they could establish a huge advantage from the beginning and emerge as the last player standing by defeating all other competitors.

Li Dong also had the same idea.

However…

“Congratulations, you have been matched with a big nation, the Kingdom of Bregslo. Your country has a land area of 5.5 million square kilometers, a population of 350 million, a standing army of 1 million, a relatively complete industrial system, and nuclear arms. The Kingdom of Bregslo’s comprehensive national strength is ranked eighth in the world… you are the supreme king of this country, and no one can violate your will.”

Upon hearing this, and looking at the elegant and majestic costume fully embellished in jewels that he was wearing and the palace environment before him…Frankly, Li Dong felt as if he had reached the peak of his lifetime in an instant.

“Your majesty…”

“Good day, my great king…”

Two beautifully dressed maids greeted him with a bow and a gentle smile the likes of which could heal all wounds.

Li Dong blushed a little and displayed the expression of a complete amateur. He unwittingly whispered to himself, “Now that’s the Xing Hai Technologies I’m talking about. They understand us too well.”

He had, in fact, gotten it all wrong. Not all 83 countries practiced autocratic monarchy. Countries governed by imperial regimes were only the minority. There were countries that practiced constitutional monarchy, republics, and even dictatorships.

Li Dong was rather lucky. He was not allocated a top superpower, but his control over his nation’s authoritative power was still unusually firm. His personal will could easily be carried out.

In contrast, the real authoritative power in a constitutional monarchy lay with the prime minister, and in republican governments, with the president. Any enforcing of laws and regulations would need to be approved by the parliament. An individual dictatorship, meanwhile, relied on Machiavellian scheming and trickery. Its rule was based on the individual’s capability and the fear that their underlings had towards them. If one were to lack any of these traits, their country would plunge into instability very swiftly.

Hence, Li Dong felt that he had drawn the long straw.

Considering the strength of a big country, it was unlikely that he would get to acquire the power and resources of the entire planet. Li Dong decided not to act rashly, and to observe for a few days to understand more about the situation.

There weren’t many players like him who were vigilant.

Just two to three days after the internal beta launched, all the servers were already at sixes and sevens.

“The Republic of Maro officially declared war on the Kingdom of Sabui. The two nations have entered a state of all-out war!”

“Two imperial soldiers went missing. The Fache Empire Council passed a war bill and decided to declare hostilities against the Republic of Bahamas.

“The Gordo national fleet suddenly attacked the warships of the Shiguya Nation that were parked in a military port, triggering an undeclared war.”

“Superpower Minetti issued an ultimatum, demanding that all countries surrender and offer their utmost loyalty within three days.”

“The President of the Republic of Nuparta died suddenly due to an excessive infatuation with the female NPCs. The country’s territory and population were quickly annexed by neighboring countries.”

“In the 15,421st match, a nuclear nation released all of their atomic bombs, annihilating the entire world… all players in that game have exited the beta test.”

“The President of the Balist Nation was assassinated. The country was plunged into chaos. Neighboring countries took advantage of the situation and annexed the country.”

“The Justice Alliance was established to jointly cope with the bullying and aggression by big nations.”

“…”

Netizens who were concerned about the beta test were having heated discussions among each other.

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“Wow, so this is what an ultimate modern war would look like. Atomic bombs seem so underwhelming to me.”

“Killing goes way too fast in future warfare. Hundreds of millions of people could perish in just a short few days.”

“I think that Xing Hai Technologies has come up with a not-at-all-small challenge. The situation on the planet Nidru is too riotous. There are powerful countries all over the board. There is no nation strong enough to unite the whole world and integrate the planet’s forces and resources… this challenge is too big.”

“Uhm, is it necessary to do it through war? They could use diplomatic means, form military alliances, and mull over things with each other. Wouldn’t this help to attain an integration of power?”

“What you’re saying is something like the Earth Federation that we have in reality. The problem is that planet Nidru is enormous and is in too big of a mess with internal conflicts happening everywhere. It is unlikely that all the countries could be integrated into a single organization.”

“The difficulty of this beta test is immense, and everything is just set on the surface environment of a single planet. If things were to be upscaled to that of an entire universe, I wonder how complicated things would get.”

…

Inside dorm 302.

“Argh!! Damn it!”

Cai Qinghai smashed on the table with his fists, a frustrated look on his face, “F*cked in just three days by the war. The fate of small countries is simply pathetic.”

“So am I. I’m almost done for here.”

Liu Yichen was slapping his own head. “I was given a big nation, very rich in both natural resources and cash. I felt very confident and was about to annex a small country in the South. I did not expect that, at five days in, I would only be 30 kilometers past their borders. The strength of my military is five times more than what they have, but the losses we’ve sustained are almost the same. When neighboring countries saw that I was in a weakened state, all of them swarmed over. Now, two-thirds of my territory is already gone.”

“Rich country, weak military… isn’t it a little like Idaily?” Cai Qinghai immediately thought of an original source of inspiration.

“Wealth does not equal fighting power, and everything has two sides. I was really too impetuous in this.” Liu Yichen shook his head.

After Li Dong went offline, his roommates inquired about his match as well.

In the chat group.

Mu Wanqiu also asked with interest, “Commander, I bet the match you’re in is also going to blow up soon. How is the situation now?”

“There are local conflicts, but there hasn’t been a full-blown war. But after a few days of speculation, I think I have come to a conclusion.”

“What conclusion?”

Mu Wanqiu startled. What had her commander found out?

“Once a full-blown war breaks out, everybody loses,” Li Dong said.

“Uhm…” Cai Qinghai was baffled. “Aren’t players supposed to fight in this game? Isn’t the victor determined through war? Like, whoever lasts till the end wins?”

Liu Yichen agreed, “This game should be testing the players’ military strategizing abilities. The player with the most outstanding military conduct can eliminate all opponents that pose a threat and acquire the biggest reward.”

“You guys are wrong if you think so,” Li Dong said. “Military force is not all-powerful! Even with outstanding war strategies, it is still impossible to eliminate forces ten times or a hundred times the size of your own, and to win over the common people, who have no sense of belonging—especially in the modern era, where national consciousness has already taken shape. Defeating a country’s army does not necessarily mean defeating the entire country. The annexation of a country’s territory does not entail conquering it… in this era, force is mostly used to deter one another, not to seize territory.

“In the matter of integrating all forces and resources, war is the last thing that you want. This feat can only be attained through consensus.”

“I think I understand now,” Cai Qinghai said. “So, this is actually a diplomatic game, and everybody should make friends with one another?”

“But without war, how will the winner be determined? How can players get a higher score?” Liu Yichen asked.

Mu Wanqiu also inquired, “Commander, have you thought of a way?”

“Uhm…there is no particularly good way. I just don’t want my score to be too low.”

Li Dong shook his head. He was given a ‘big country,’ not a ‘massive country,’ and thus did not have the ability to dictate the situation. Nor did he dare to be too high-profile. Otherwise, he might become a consistent target for other players.

“Okay, then. Keep it up, commander! I believe you can do it,” Mu Wanqiu said in encouragement.

“Thanks.”