Late at night.
Chu Guang slept restlessly, waking several times and only drifting back to sleep after feeling the gun hidden in his sleeping bag.
Life in the shelter had been too comfortable. There had been no need to worry about danger, and now that he had suddenly returned to such an unstable environment, he found himself somewhat unable to adapt.
"I've grown slack."
Chu Guang sighed and unconsciously reached for the gun hidden beneath the blanket again. Its thick, long barrel gave him a sense of security.
He wondered how the players were doing.
Although he had told Xiao Qi what to do while he was away, he still could not put his mind at ease without being there himself.
When he woke again at five in the morning, Chu Guang could not fall back asleep no matter what. So he simply lay there with his eyes open, waiting quietly.
It was not until the sky outside began to brighten that he crawled out of his sleeping bag, got dressed, and slung the steel pipe and newly bought gun over his back.
This time, he probably would not be back for quite a while.
The mayor's collection notice had forced him to move up his relocation plans. All preparations had to be completed before the end of the month.
If he could not stockpile enough supplies to support a hundred people, he would have no choice but to wait until February or March next year for the next round of testing.
The entire winter would be wasted.
He pushed open the door.
Chu Guang, having finished organizing his equipment, was about to leave when he happened to run into the men of the Wang Family.
Wang Defu, who had caused trouble outside his door yesterday, glanced at him without saying a word. However, there was a hint of provocation in his gaze.
Perhaps because his father and two older brothers were beside him, and because he was carrying hunting gear, he was clearly much bolder than yesterday, even looking somewhat smug and showy.
Naturally, Chu Guang would not lower himself to argue with a little brat.
A sixteen-year-old was already considered a man capable of standing on his own in Bette Street, but in Chu Guang's eyes, he was still just a child whose feathers had not fully grown in.
"Hey, don't go getting yourself killed."
Chu Guang ignored him and did not even spare him a glance.
The Wang Family boy became furious, gritting his teeth as his face reddened. The outsider's disregard made him feel humiliated.
Just as he was about to do something reckless to provoke him, his eldest brother suddenly placed a hand on his shoulder.
Though still resentful, Wang Defu quickly behaved himself.
It was obvious that the boy listened to his brother.
Chu Guang glanced at the Wang Family's eldest son. That sturdy, powerful man was looking back at him as well.
Chu Guang sensed a faint trace of danger from him, though it was not especially pronounced.
Interestingly, while observing him, Chu Guang noticed a flash of surprise on that man's face as well, though it was carefully concealed.
A hunter's instinct—
This guy was not easy to deal with!
After that brief exchange of gazes, both sides quickly looked away.
There was no need to invite unnecessary trouble.
The Wang Family members went farther away.
Chu Guang also prepared to set off.
Just then, a crisp voice came from behind him.
"Be careful on the road."
Chu Guang stopped and turned around, seeing Little Fish peeking at him from behind the door.
He smiled and replied casually.
"Mm, thank you."
"You're welcome."
In the blink of an eye, the little girl slipped back into the house and vanished again.
By six in the morning, it was nearly fully light outside.
Bette Street's gates slowly opened. Survivors carrying baskets, bows, short knives, crossbows, and other tools stepped across cracked concrete roads and weeds growing through the fissures, setting out in groups of two or three toward the ruin-filled wasteland.
However, two hundred years later, it was no longer easy to find anything valuable in the wasteland. Even the occasional shell casing left behind by mercenaries or raiders could be treated as treasure.
Chu Guang did not leave the settlement immediately. Instead, he lingered by the gate for a while. Only after everyone had gone far away did he head to Old Charlie's recycling station.
"I need seven kilograms of green wheat. That's twenty-one chips. And tobacco leaves for curing meat... How much can I get for four chips?" Chu Guang had never bought any before, so he asked.
"One tael per chip."
"Then give me four taels!"
Food was the key to development.
Only by preparing more food could he recruit more players to work for him.
The survivors could not drink green-wheat porridge every day. Even if they could endure it, he could not.
Now that he had a gun, hunting would be much easier than before.
Chu Guang planned to buy some tobacco leaves and take them back, curing any meat he could not finish into preserved food for winter reserves.
Old Charlie raised an eyebrow.
"I remember you bought five kilograms of green wheat just a few days ago."
"Is there a problem?" Chu Guang replied casually.
Old Charlie grinned.
"Nothing. Saving up a little more is a good thing."
As Chu Guang planned for the future, alarm suddenly rose in his heart.
The speaker had meant nothing by it, but the listener took it to heart.
He suddenly realized a problem.
He had not brought back any useful junk or other gains for some time, yet he had purchased large quantities of supplies twice in a row.
The mayor might not pay attention to a small fry like him, but others would inevitably wonder where he had gotten so much money.
Yet Old Charlie said nothing further. Perhaps he simply did not care. After weighing out the grain for him, he smiled and saw him out.
"I was careless..."
After leaving Bette Street's gate and turning a corner, Chu Guang finally let out a breath. He stopped to observe the surroundings for a while before continuing onward.
More than ten chips was already a considerable "fortune" for scavengers, because they usually could not save any money.
Yet he had produced more than twenty chips twice in a row, buying supplies he could not possibly consume anytime soon.
Old Charlie had been fairly friendly to him. After all, they both came from shelters. But Old Charlie was still the mayor's servant.
Thinking of that, Chu Guang could not help frowning.
Unfortunately, the merchant named Lister only bought food, while everything he sold was industrial goods from Boulder City.
Perhaps he should try his luck at Brown Farm.
Seven kilograms of green wheat, ten liters of drinking water, plus ammunition and equipment, weighed more than twenty kilograms in total and pressed heavily on his shoulders.
Besides carrying the supplies, Chu Guang also had to conserve his strength and remain wary of dangers lurking in the shadows.
Even with strength beyond that of ordinary people hidden in his muscles, he could only walk for a while, stop to observe the road conditions, then continue onward.
The roads outside the settlement were difficult to travel. Sometimes, he had to detour around collapsed highways and pass through fallen high-rises.
Chu Guang suddenly envied the protagonists of The Last of Us and Dying Light, who could parkour through ruins with a huge load on their backs. He could only put one foot in front of the other.
Perhaps...
Next time, he should buy a cow?
He just did not know whether Lister sold them.
Fortunately, none of the mutants he encountered along the way noticed him.
After passing through the ruins.
And following the highway for a while, Chu Guang finally arrived at the sanatorium in Wetland Park before eight-thirty in the morning.
However, what surprised Chu Guang was that all four closed-beta players were already online when he arrived.
Not only that.
Outside the sanatorium walls stood four earthen furnaces half the height of a person, along with a hemispherical clay kiln roughly as tall as a person.
This...
What was that?
He did not remember assigning them the task of building furnaces.
"Administrator! You're finally back." Seeing the stunned look on the administrator's face, Fang Chang smiled and walked forward.
"I was delayed outside for the night." Chu Guang stared fixedly at the furnaces, even forgetting to set down what he was carrying on his back. "...How are things on your end? Did you encounter any mutants or other survivors?"
"Everything is normal! Nothing unexpected happened!"
Fang Chang, glowing with excitement, reported their work to Chu Guang.
The four half-person-high furnaces were for making charcoal, while the furnace with the air inlet beside them was for high-temperature calcining the raw material for cement.
"We burned tree bark into plant ash, then mixed it with water and filtered out the potassium-alkali water on top. We squeezed the remaining slurry dry and obtained calcium hydroxide and calcium carbonate for making cement."
"Next, we put those raw materials into the furnace and calcined them until they turned orange-red. Then we mixed them with sand and soil gathered from the riverbank, added water, and stirred it evenly to get plant-ash cement!"
Holy shit?
To be honest, Chu Guang was stunned by these players' practical abilities.
It was not as if he had never tried mixing plant ash with mud to make cement before. He had even used a method taught on Zhihu, but the result crumbled with a pinch and was completely useless.
Now it seemed that his method had been wrong.
The key was the furnace and secondary calcination?
And the purity of the plant ash...
Fang Chang did not stop talking and continued.
"...We plan to use the cement to repair the sanatorium's walls! Oh, and we collected the filtered potassium-alkali water in containers too. This stuff can be used to tan leather, and it works extremely well!"
"You... did very well."
After thinking for a long time, Chu Guang could not come up with anything to reward these players with, and that was the only praise he could think of.
Yet upon hearing those words, Fang Chang became excited all over.
It went up!
Favorability!
It definitely went up!
Not missing this opportunity, Fang Chang solemnly recited the line he had spent the entire night thinking up.
"For the continuation of civilization!"
"It is our honor to share Your burden!"
"..."
Chu Guang suddenly did not know how to face him.
Compared to himself, these players were far too noble.
"Well said... For the continuation of civilization, and for the future of us all."
After coughing lightly, Chu Guang maintained a dignified expression as he looked at the excited player and continued, "I'm going downstairs to put away the supplies. Your plan is excellent... Go ahead and do it boldly!"
Fang Chang straightened his back, full of vigor.
"Yes, Administrator!"
"You should also remember to balance work and rest. Don't wear yourselves out." Chu Guang added a reminder.
It was not because his conscience had suddenly stirred or anything. He was worried these players would push too hard and burn through their enthusiasm too early.
However, this player seemed not to understand his good intentions. With his head held high and chest out, he declared his loyalty.
"It is our mission to serve You. This is also my declaration beneath the Human Alliance banner!"
Hearing that, Chu Guang almost could not hold it in.
A declaration, huh...
Had he even seen what the Human Alliance flag looked like?
"...All right. Very spirited. Go on."
Watching the player jog away, Chu Guang silently sighed in his heart.
In the end, his worries had been unnecessary.
Before you continue