Loot

Cheng Shaofeng, while waiting for the three buildings to finish construction, went quantum surfing and chatted with the three players.

But his quantum surfing was limited to Baidu Tieba on Earth's internet, making real-time communication with others inconvenient.

Luckily, the three players were glued to their Tieba private messages and posts.

The trio had set up a discussion group with Sentinel, just waiting for him to show up.

Sentinel: "Great work, everyone! I just watched your moves from the backend. Overall, solid performance, mission accomplished. Especially Skinny Dog—finding that hidden item we deliberately left in the dungeon shows real instinct."

African Skinny Dog: "See? I told you! I said my game sense, aside from Bro Bing, is definitely the best in the whole forum. Anyone still got objections?"

Ghost-Faced Fox: "Alright. Hard to believe this is the face of the third-generation heir of the Pu family."

Lin Tang: "To be fair, if I look at it from my mod-making perspective, since the dev deliberately placed a hidden item on the map with no buffs for players, it's obviously a quest item. It'll probably help the NPC's so-called Disaster Base. Skinny Dog should get a reward from the base lord when he logs in."

Sentinel: "Smart! Pretty much spot on."

Skinny Dog perked up at that: "Bro Bing, what reward? Can you give me a hint?"

Sentinel: "Hmm... what reward? That's a great question—so great that... I'm at a loss for an answer right now."

The so-called base was just a few machines set up on a hill. Aside from empty promises, he really had nothing to reward Skinny Dog with.

Lin Tang: "Dog Bro, the question you asked makes it impossible for the designer to answer! Obviously, the NPCs in this game are smart AI, not those generic tool NPCs. The rewards are generated on their own, right, Bro Bing?"

Sentinel: "Ah, right, right, right!"

Oh, and he'd mentioned giving them merits before, hadn't he? Well... he'd just give them a bit more.

Though Cheng Shaofeng still hadn't figured out what the players' merits would be used for.

Lin Tang: "See? What do you think!"

When it came to game logic, Lin Tang got chatty.

Lin Tang: "Bro Bing, if I'm not wrong, the merits in our 'Apocalypse OL' should measure a player's contribution to the base, right? We earn merits by doing quests, which lets us take on more challenging missions from the base lord, and completing those gives us even more merits..."

"Oh, and if I were to mod the merit system, merits could also be a threshold for buying base equipment, skills, and items. Only with enough merits can you unlock that tier of stuff. With that design, players would have to stick to base tasks when they log in, not run off randomly. When I make storylines, what annoys me most is players ignoring the flow."

"Since we're on the topic, Bro Bing, I think the merit system could also tie into titles, effects, skins, and so on. Only those who've put in the work get to pay to buy them. That way, players won't feel like they're being milked—they'll be motivated, grinding merits and rushing to spend money in the game."

"Cough, sorry, Bro Bing, I got carried away talking about game design. Showing off in front of a pro..."

Cheng Shaofeng was stunned.

Someone was giving him a guide?

"Lin Tang, I think... what you said makes a lot of sense! That's exactly how we planned the merit system!"

Skinny Dog: "Oh, Bro Bing, our screens show that since our characters died, we can't log in for now. When can we get back online? I just did a combat simulation breakdown with my special forces coach and came up with a strategy to handle raiders. Next time we log in, if the three of us coordinate well, we can definitely farm them!"

Holy crap?

That hardcore?

Cheng Shaofeng felt like players... might be more formidable than he'd imagined.

"Hmm... how about tomorrow? I'll work overtime tonight, tweak some stuff in the backend, and fix a few bugs I found today."

Fox: "Got it. New games always need tweaking. If you need us to test anything, Sentinel, just hit us up anytime."

Lin Tang: "Bro Bing, when's the open beta for this game? Will the closed beta wipe data?"

Sentinel: "Open beta date... not set yet, but I can tell you for sure: the closed beta won't wipe data. Our 'Apocalypse OL' has a complete world logic. Every trace you leave will change the game's future direction. Even I can't easily alter it."

Closed beta, no wipe!

The three of them were blown away!

That meant they weren't just testers—they could reap more benefits during testing, building a solid foundation for the open beta, starting way ahead of other players!

Levels, gear, supplies, skills, maps... they'd all be ahead!

Oh, and most importantly—merits!

Skinny Dog quickly typed: "Bro Bing, one more thing... does the Disaster Base lord have a hidden affinity system? How do I get more benefits from him?"

Hidden affinity system?

Cheng Shaofeng scratched his head, thinking he could add one.

"Skinny Dog lives up to the name—really sharp! You found our hidden system! That's right! NPCs have hidden affinity! Players who leave a good impression on the lord will get more dialogue options and might even trigger hidden quests. That's all I can say. Company policy, can't reveal too much. The rest is for you to figure out. I'm off to fix bugs."

Skinny Dog: "Got it, got it. Thanks for the inside scoop, Bro Bing!"

Sentinel logged off.

Soon, Skinny Dog and the other two regrouped on QQ.

Lin Tang: "Bro Bing made it pretty clear—we need to suck up to the NPC lord for big perks. We've got to keep this hidden setting secret. When more closed beta players join later, this'll be our edge."

Ghost-Faced Fox: "Interesting setup, but I've never been a bootlicker. Wouldn't that be a bit degrading?"

Skinny Dog: "Pfft! We're sucking up to an NPC, not a real person. Is that bootlicking? Call it strategic flattery!"

"True. Haha!"

"Gotta say, Sentinel's a real one, giving us all this inside info. Solid guy."

"You're right. I shouldn't have always called him a hand-stretcher."

The central hill of Four Mountains.

The Calamity Base, styled after a primeval forest.

Cheng Shaofeng exited Quantum Surfing, and construction of the three devices was nearly complete.

Silvery-white particle streams slowly dripped from the three machines, revealing their true forms.

A silvery-white pod over four meters long, a silvery-white boiler, and a tower-like machine with seven empty slots.

Clone Production Pod, Loot Generator, Attribute Conversion Tower.

Perfect!

Now he could revive players!

"Zero, how much material does it take to make a clone?"

Zero: "Master, the body of the fallen player 'African Thin Dog' is well-preserved, the chip inside is undamaged, and the time of death is short. It can be directly recycled. Adding a small amount of other Biological Raw Materials will be enough to produce a new clone."

"Additionally, the Raider corpse beneath your feet can also be recycled. The Biological Raw Materials already exceed the amount needed for a current-stage clone by 30%. The surplus can be stored in the production pod. However, you will need to find one Electronic Component to complete the clone."

"Alternatively, you can place the intact Raider corpse into the Loot Generator and convert it into loot you can use."

Cheng Shaofeng patted the bridge of his nose and continued exploring the useful parts of his memory.

"Biological Raw Materials. That means animal carcasses. I can buy those from the hunters in Salt Well Town."

"Electronic Components. In Salt Well Town, my predecessor's residence still has some scavenged stock. If I sell off the miscellaneous junk and trade it all for grain and prey carcasses, that should be enough to revive three people."

"As for this Raider... I'll convert it into loot first!"

Cheng Shaofeng struggled to shove the green-skinned Raider corpse into the big boiler.

He pressed his hand on it, channeling the base's energy to power the boiler.

Boom!

A strange red energy erupted inside the boiler.

Ten minutes later.

The loot hatch opened, and a conveyor belt rolled out two items.