It is Our Honor to Share Your Burdens!

The night deepened.

Chu Guang slept restlessly, waking up several times. He would feel for the gun hidden in his sleeping bag before drifting back into a fitful sleep.

The Shelter was too comfortable; there was no need to worry about any danger at all. As a result, returning to this unstable environment suddenly made him feel somewhat unable to adapt.

"I've become complacent."

Chu Guang sighed, his hand unconsciously touching the gun hidden under the blanket again. The thick, long barrel filled him with a sense of security.

He wondered how the Players were doing.

Although he had instructed Xiao Qi on what to do in his absence, he still couldn't feel completely at ease while he was away.

Waking up at five in the morning, Chu Guang couldn't fall back asleep. He simply lay there with his eyes open, quietly waiting.

It wasn't until the sky outside the window began to lighten that he crawled out of his sleeping bag, put on his clothes, and slung the steel pipe and the newly bought gun over his shoulder.

This trip out would likely mean a long time before he returned.

The Town Chief's催收 (催收 - collection) forced him to move up his relocation plan. All preparations had to be completed before the end of the month.

If he couldn't stockpile enough supplies for a hundred people, he would have to wait until February or March of next year for the next round of testing.

The entire winter would be wasted.

Pushing open the door.

Chu Guang, having finished organizing his gear, was ready to set off. He happened to run into the men from the Wang family.

Wang Defu, who had caused trouble at his door yesterday, glanced at him without saying a word, but his eyes held a hint of provocation.

Perhaps because his father and his two older brothers were nearby, and coupled with the hunting gear they were carrying, his courage was noticeably greater than yesterday. He seemed to be trying to show off a little.

Of course, Chu Guang wouldn't bother with a little brat.

A sixteen-year-old was considered a self-reliant man on Bett Street, but in his eyes, he was just a kid who hadn't even fully grown his hair yet.

"Hey, don't you die out there."

Chu Guang ignored him, not even looking at him.

The Wang family kid was furious. He gritted his teeth, his face flushed red. The outsider's disregard made him feel humiliated.

However, just as he was about to do something irrational to provoke him, his older brother next to him suddenly placed a hand on his shoulder.

Although still somewhat resentful, Wang Defu quickly settled down.

It was clear that the kid listened to his brother.

Chu Guang glanced at the Wang family's eldest son. The strong, burly man was also looking at him.

From that man, Chu Guang perceived a faint hint of danger, though it wasn't obvious.

Interestingly, while observing him, the man's face also clearly showed a hint of surprise, although it was well-hidden.

A hunter's intuition—

This guy wasn't easy to deal with!

After a brief exchange of glances, both sides quickly looked away.

There was no need to stir up unnecessary trouble.

The Wang family walked away.

Chu Guang also prepared to leave.

Just then, a clear, crisp voice came from behind him.

"Be careful on the road."

Chu Guang stopped and turned back, seeing Xiao Yu peeking at him from behind the door.

Smiling, Chu Guang said calmly.

"Okay, thank you."

"You're welcome."

In the blink of an eye, the little girl scampered back into the house and disappeared.

At six o'clock in the morning, the sky was mostly bright.

The gate of Bett Street slowly opened. Survivors carrying baskets, bows and arrows, short knives, crossbows, and other equipment stepped onto the cracked concrete road and the weeds growing from the cracks, heading in groups of three or five towards the scarred ruins.

However, two hundred years later, it wasn't so easy to find good things in the Wasteland. Occasionally picking up spent bullet casings dropped by mercenaries or Marauders could be considered a treasure.

Chu Guang didn't leave the settlement immediately. Instead, he lingered at the entrance for a while, waiting for everyone to go far away before heading to Old Charlie's recycling station.

"I need 7 kilograms of Green Wheat. Here are 21 Chips. Also, tobacco leaves for curing meat... How much can I get for 4 Chips?" Chu Guang hadn't bought it before, so he asked.

"One point per liang."

"Then I'll take four liang!"

Food was the key to development.

Only by preparing more food can he recruit more players to work for him.

The survivors couldn't drink thin gruel made from green wheat every day. Even if they could handle it, he couldn't.

Now that he had a gun, hunting would be much easier than before.

Chu Guang planned to buy some tobacco leaves to take back and make the leftover meat into cured products for winter storage.

Old Charlie lifted his eyelids slightly.

"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, it's good to save more money."

As Chu Guang was planning the future, a sudden sense of alarm arose in his heart.

What was said was unintentional, but the listener took it to heart.

He suddenly realized a problem.

He hadn't brought back any useful junk or other gains for a while, yet he had purchased a large amount of supplies twice in a row.

The Town Chief might not necessarily notice him, a small figure, but it was inevitable that others would wonder where he got so much money.

But Old Charlie didn't say anything. Perhaps he didn't care at all. After weighing the grain for him, he smiled and saw him out the door.

Careless...

After leaving the gate of Bett Street and turning a corner, Chu Guang finally let out a sigh of relief. He stopped and observed for a while before continuing forward.

More than 10 chips were already a considerable "fortune" for scavengers, as they usually couldn't save money.

However, he had twice in a row taken out a large sum of over 20 chips to purchase supplies that he couldn't possibly use up in a short time.

Old Charlie was still kind to him, after all, they were both from the Shelter, but he was ultimately the Town Chief's servant.

Thinking of this, Chu Guang couldn't help but frown.

It was a pity that the merchant named Lister only accepted grain and sold industrial goods from Boulder City.

Perhaps he should try his luck at Brown Farm.

Seven kilograms of green wheat and ten liters of drinking water, plus bullets and equipment, weighed over twenty kilograms in total, heavy on his shoulder.

Besides carrying things, Chu Guang also had to carefully conserve his strength and guard against the dangers lurking in the shadows.

Even though unusual strength was hidden in his muscles, he could only walk for a while, stop to observe the road conditions, and then continue forward.

The road outside the settlement was not easy to travel. Sometimes he had to bypass collapsed roads and pass through fallen tall buildings.

Chu Guang suddenly felt a little envious of the protagonists in The Last of Us and Dying Light, who could parkour through ruins with a large pile of things on their backs, while he could only walk step by step.

Perhaps...

Should he buy a cow next time?

He just didn't know if that guy Lister sold them.

Fortunately, the Mutants he encountered along the way did not discover him.

Through the ruins.

He walked along the road for a while, and before 8:30 AM, Chu Guang finally arrived at the Sanatorium located in the Wetland Park.

However, to Chu Guang's surprise, when he arrived, he found that all four Closed Beta Players were already online.

Not only that.

Outside the wall of the Sanatorium, there were four half-human-high clay stoves, and a hemispherical clay kiln about one person high.

What...

What was this?

He didn't remember giving them a task to build stoves.

"Manager! You're finally back." Seeing the surprised Manager, Fang Chang walked up with a smile and said.

"I was delayed outside for a night," Chu Guang stared intently at the stoves, even forgetting to put down the things on his back, "...How are things on your side? Have you encountered Mutants or other survivors?"

"Everything is normal! No unexpected situations!"

Fang Chang reported their work to Chu Guang with a glowing face.

The four half-human-high stoves were used for burning charcoal, and the stove with a bellows next to it was used for high-temperature calcination of raw materials for cement.

"We burned tree bark into plant ash, then added it to water and stirred, filtered out the upper potash water, squeezed the moisture out of the remaining mud, and obtained calcium hydroxide and calcium carbonate for making cement."

"Then, we added these raw materials to the blast furnace and calcined them into orange-red, then mixed them with sand and soil picked up from the riverbank, added water and mixed well, and we got plant ash cement!"

Holy cow?

Honestly, Chu Guang was stunned by the Players' practical skills.

He had tried before to make cement by mixing plant ash with mud, even using a method taught on Zhihu, but the result crumbled with a touch and was completely useless.

Now it seemed his method was wrong all along.

Was the key the blast furnace and secondary calcining?

And the purity of the plant ash...

Fang Chang's mouth didn't stop as he continued.

"...We plan to use the cement to repair the Sanatorium's walls! Oh, and we've also collected the filtered potash water in containers. This stuff is great for tanning leather, it's really useful!"

"You... did very well."

After thinking for a long time, Chu Guang couldn't think of any rewards for these players for a moment, and could only come up with this one line of praise.

However, upon hearing this, Fang Chang became visibly excited.

It increased!

Affection!

It definitely increased!

Not missing this opportunity, Fang Chang recited the lines he had thought about all night with a serious expression.

"For the continuation of civilization!"

"It is our honor to share your burden!"

"..."

Chu Guang suddenly didn't know how to face him.

Compared to himself, these players were too noble.

"Well said... For the continuation of civilization, and for the future of all of us."

Clearing his throat, Chu Guang maintained a dignified expression and continued, looking at the excited player, "I'll go put the supplies downstairs. Your plan is very good... Go ahead and do it boldly!"

Fang Chang stood up straight, full of energy, and said.

"Understood, Manager!"

"Also, pay attention to balancing work and rest, don't overwork yourselves," Chu Guang instructed.

It wasn't out of a sudden pang of conscience or anything, but rather concern that these players might push too hard and burn out their enthusiasm too early.

However, this player didn't seem to grasp his good intentions, and expressed his loyalty with his head held high and chest puffed out.

"Serving you is our mission, and this is my declaration under the Human Federation flag!"

Chu Guang almost choked when he heard that.

A declaration, huh...

Have you even seen what the Human Federation flag looks like?

"...Alright, very spirited. Go on."

Watching the player jog away, Chu Guang silently sighed in his heart.

In the end, his worries were unnecessary.