"Wow, it's huge!" exclaimed Meat Bun Hits Dog. "This isn't a scene for beginners, is it?"
The gate slowly opened, and the car drove in. The first thing you saw was a series of watchtowers, sandbag positions, and barracks, with fully armed soldiers standing guard and patrolling. Further inside was the residential area.
The architectural layout is rather casual and free, unlike the rigorous urban planning, and there are no tall buildings. Private cars drive through the streets, and there are vendors hawking their wares and residents strolling around, creating a bustling atmosphere, just like a small city.
The car stopped, and the group got out. Lü Cheng instructed his men to prepare a banquet. Since he had invited Han Xiao as a guest, he naturally wanted to show him the hospitality of a host. He led Han Xiao and the other two on a tour of the area. Residents greeted Lü Cheng with smiles from time to time, as Lü Cheng was highly respected in the area.
"That's my arsenal. I have a dedicated assembly line for manufacturing guns and ammunition." Lü Cheng pointed to a controlled area enclosed by barbed wire, where his warehouses, workshops, and weapons research institute were located, with chimneys spewing industrial fumes.
On the other side, there was a second quarantine zone with many tents and about several hundred wanderers living there. Their exposed skin was gray and cracked, like a cracked stone.
The Meat Bun asked in confusion, "What place is that?"
Lü Cheng sighed, "The intensive care isolation ward is where all residents who have contracted the Stone Spot Plague are housed to prevent the spread of the disease."
"Stone Spot Plague?"
Han Xiao exclaimed in surprise. This disease was highly contagious and had been mutated in version 2.0, resulting in a genetic mutation. He hadn't expected to see it here. Just as he was about to speak, a sudden change occurred in the intensive care isolation ward.
A sick resident suddenly ran frantically toward the barbed wire fence, trying to climb over with both hands and feet. The next second, gunshots rang out. The guards nearby reacted Godspeed, opening fire with their submachine guns, riddling the fleeing resident with bullets. He fell to the ground dead, his blood pooling with thick, yellow pus.
Several doctors in white protective suits came out, put the body into a body bag, and sprayed disinfectant mist onto the ground.
The guard who shot the fleeing patient put away his gun, his face expressionless, as if he had just casually killed a chicken.
The patients in the isolation ward watched this scene in silence, their faces numb, and the intense atmosphere of despair was like a gloomy black cloud.
"People who get the disease are difficult to cure, and in order to prevent them from infecting more people, we have to strictly control them," Lü Cheng explained.
Han Xiao turned his head and looked around. The nearby residents all seemed used to it and showed no signs of dislike.
"How cold-blooded," Meat Bun Hits Dog muttered under his breath.
Lü Cheng said calmly, "Originally, there were only a dozen or so patients, but one patient, knowing he couldn't be cured, escaped from the isolation area, so now the number of patients has increased to over three hundred."
The Meat Bun Hits Dog, leaving him speechless.
[You have triggered the quest [The Source of the Stone Spot Plague]]
[Mission Introduction: The Black Pine Settlement is plagued by Stone Spot Plague. What do you think you can do to curb the spread?]
[Task Requirements: 1. Identify the Source of the Stone Spot Plague]
[2. Contain the spread of the plague]
[3. Cured all plague patients]
[Rewards: 20,000 experience for completing Requirement 1, 40,000 experience for completing Requirement 2, 60,000 experience for completing Requirement 3. Completing all requirements will reward you with 800 favorability with Black Pine Settlement and the Wanderer Guard Tactical Set.]
Frenzied Saber and Meat Bun also triggered the quest.
However, Han Xiao wasn't planning on doing that task. He was still in a hurry to harvest... no, to bring more new players into the Mechanic Class. He had business to run around in over a dozen newbie villages, and a huge wave of experience was waiting to be harvested. Time was tight and the task was heavy, so how could he stop moving forward?
"By the way, if the players complete the task, can I get the reward?" Han Xiao's eyes lit up. He glanced at the oblivious Frenzied Sword, and a new idea popped into his head.
"My men have prepared a banquet." Lü Cheng extended an invitation, and the group arrived at the central building of Black Pine, which resembled a small castle, or, in a more Western-style way, the Lord's Hall.
The banquet was generous with the food, and the Black Pine Settlement had planned farmland for growing grain crops, as well as a dedicated slaughterhouse for raising livestock for consumption, such as woolly cattle, pheasants, and black-haired short-nosed pigs. The wanderer camp consumed a lot of resources every day, and the cost of relying solely on the expensive supplies sold on the Dark Net would be unsustainable, so the residents were self-sufficient, living like a small territory.
During the banquet, Han Xiao and Lü Cheng chatted casually, rambling on about this and that. Lü Cheng brought up the issue of payment again, as he still owed Black Phantom a favor, which made him quite uneasy.
"Consider it a friendship. If you ever need anything, feel free to contact me; I'll be happy to help." Han Xiao left his phone number. He wanted to stay in touch with Lü Cheng so he could find out when the four blueprints quest would begin. After thinking for a moment, he added, "Speaking of which, I need your help with a small favor. I need to borrow the workshop and some materials to manufacture something."
"No problem, I'll have someone arrange it." Lü Cheng felt relieved; he only felt at ease when Han Xiao made a request.
"Your territory has been Stone Spot Plague. If you don't deal with it quickly, it could become a disaster. My friends will stay and help you." Han Xiao slapped Frenzied Sword hard on the back, causing him to spit out his food and cough uncontrollably.
Frenzied Sword exclaimed in disbelief, "Are you going to abandon me?"
"I'm not interested in your mom," Han Xiao refrained from uttering aloud, and instead wrote several tasks, which he then passed to Frenzied Sword and Meat Bun Hits Dog.
The general content of these tasks is to have the two stay in Black Pine, solve the plague problem, and improve the Black Pine camp's favorability. Han Xiao spent 200,000 daily experience points, which were evenly distributed between the two. These are all relatively long-term tasks, and he plans to keep the two in Black Pine.
For the upcoming trip to the starting village, there's no need to bring two players along. It's inconvenient for them to log in and out, and it will slow them down. It's better to leave them in Black Pine to do quests.
The potential players he chooses not only benefit from his personal training, but also from the fact that they can gain early access to high-level factions and explore the map ahead of other players. This is a major attraction that keeps players following him. By having these potential players do other tasks and providing them with extensive training, he can help them develop their unique characteristics, unleash their potential, and also give himself time to do other things on his own.
Moreover, sooner or later, a portion of the rewards that potential players earn from completing tasks will end up in his pocket. If Frenzied Saber completes the Plague quest, Han Xiao will also gain some experience, and he will use some of the money he earns to buy equipment from him.
They not only want to make money off the players, but also to profit from the NPCs by reselling their services through the players!
If Han Xiao himself is an aircraft carrier, then the players he leads are like a fighter jet squadron. No matter how great the results, they will eventually return to base. Of course, the premise is that he must always demonstrate greater benefits. In this regard, he is very confident. Apart from the players themselves, no one understands the players better than him.
"I'm a true business genius," Han Xiao exclaimed, shamelessly.
Frenzied Sword had no choice but to agree (he had no room to refuse). He was actually quite satisfied. Black Pine was a high-level scene with generous mission rewards. As for Meat Bun Hits Dog, it didn't matter. He already had enough footage, and staying in Black Pine meant he wouldn't have to worry about losing track of Han Xiao, allowing him to focus on making the first video.
Lü Cheng felt that Frenzied Saber and Meat Bun were not very strong and could not be of much help, but he still expressed his gratitude out of respect for Han Xiao.
After finalizing their next move at the dinner table, it was already afternoon when they finished eating. Lü Cheng went to rest; he hadn't slept during the battle the night before and was exhausted from the morning's journey. Han Xiao slept for a while in the car, feeling refreshed. He was free to move around at Black Pine, so he went to find the pilot of the Dark Net helicopter and gave him a few instructions. Then he made a call to Farrian to arrange the rental of the transport plane and negotiated with Antonov for more than ten minutes. Afterward, led by the Black Pine guards, he went to the armory workshop. The guards there had all received Lü Cheng's orders to open the workshop to Han Xiao's use.
Lü Cheng had already had the materials prepared, and Han Xiao began working on the lathe. He needed to repair the Magnetically Controlled Armor, replenish some ammunition and basic Energy Storage blocks, and then manufacture some small new mechanical parts, just in time to build the "Sunworm" flamethrower that he had recently fused together.
With an Intelligence attribute of 200, the manufacturing speed of machinery is very fast, and with the amplification of skills such as Mechanical Affinity and Strength attribute enhancement, the manufactured machinery will have better attributes.
["Sunworm" Portable Flamethrower]
[Type: Small flamethrower]
[Quality: Blue (Superior)]
[Basic Attributes: 27~34 fire damage/s, 60-second overload, 20-second cooldown before re-use, 7-meter burn radius, 92 energy output]
[Fuel type: HF concentrated liquid fuel]
[Energy: 210/210 (Consumes 1 point of energy/s)]
[Weight: 9.4 lbs]
[Additional benefit: Integrated design - The fuel tank is machined and fitted into the main body for easy portability]
[Additional Effect: Concentrated Jet - Increases fuel power, attack power +33%, attack range +25%, burn damage detection changes to once every 0.6 seconds, lasts for 12 seconds, consumes 8 energy/s, immediately overloads after 12 seconds and enters cooldown period]
[Additional Effect: Adhesive Burning - Extends the duration of the target's burning state and worsens the burn severity]
[Note: The flickering flames are like the warmth of love.]
Han Xiao raised his eyes, wondering what kind of nonsense this was.