Training the Guard Corps!

In the end, the beautiful and kindhearted Miss Tengteng still paid for the machine. Even though it wasn't what she had ordered in the first place. Mosquito and Brother Toilet Cable probably felt quite embarrassed as well. Both insisted on charging only half-price for the steam engine and refunded half of Tengteng's money. On top of that, the two begged Tengteng for an extension on the original order, swearing that this time they wouldn't disappoint her, and that she could pay the remaining balance once the textile machine was finished. They helped carry the machine into Tengteng Cottage. Looking at the steam engine taking up nearly half the room, Mosquito scratched the back of his head and said awkwardly, "Uh, the main thing is that I don't really know much about weaving... but don't worry! I'll ask a few acquaintances who know the trade. I can definitely make it!" Staring at the behemoth sitting in her workshop, Tengteng let out a faint sigh. "Let's hope so." Regardless, having a steam engine was a good thing after all. During this time, Tengteng hadn't been idle either. She had been researching how to turn devil moth cocoons into raw silk. Referencing modern silk-making techniques, she discovered that if she continuously boiled the devil moth cocoons in ninety-degree water until the pupae inside were cooked, then let them sit in room-temperature water for a while, the cocoon fibers would naturally loosen and shed layer by layer. At that point, she only needed to reach in with two chopsticks, stir around to tease out the ends of the devil silk threads, and then she could reel the silk by hand. Fortunately, devil moth cocoons were huge, and each cocoon was spun from a single continuous thread. Moreover, the threads were extraordinarily tough—hard to cut even with scissors—making reeling silk considerably easier than with the small cocoons found in the real world. Referencing a PowerPoint presentation downloaded from the internet, Tengteng custom-ordered a set of parts from the woodworking shed and assembled a hand-cranked silk reeling machine herself. Its efficiency wasn't bad. She had already built up a sizable stockpile of raw silk in inventory. The next step was figuring out how to weave it into fabric. Naturally, it would be even better if she could hook steam power up to it. *** At the same time, outside the trenches by the outpost's west gate. A group of survivors transferred from the brick factory stood in a ragged, crooked formation. Many of them were still gaunt and pale, but they looked considerably better than they had half a month ago. Draped in newly issued fur coats, each holding a wooden stick over a meter long, they stared blankly at the Administrator standing before the formation to address them. "I have a new job to give you. Of course, you have the right to refuse. If you put down your wooden sticks now, you can still return to work at the brick factory." Chu Guang waited a moment. No one moved. Nodding with satisfaction, Chu Guang continued, "Very good. Since you have all voluntarily chosen to stay, I expect you to prove your loyalty through your actions." Clearing his throat, he raised his voice. "Starting today, you will be incorporated into the outpost's guard corps, responsible for maintaining order in the outpost! "The number on your chest dog tag is your service number. It will stay with you until your discharge. Your duties will include, but are not limited to, patrolling, standing guard, maintaining order, upholding the dignity of the law, as well as daily drill and study. "In return, Shelter 404 will pay you a monthly salary of eighty silver coins, while providing you with food and lodging." A monthly salary of eighty silver coins was quite handsome. Back at the brick factory, they had only received one silver coin a day at first, until the Administrator later raised their pay to two silver coins a day. Hearing that their wages were going up again, the survivors, who had looked utterly bewildered a moment earlier, beamed with joy. Chu Guang didn't mind their money-grubbing looks. After all, expecting a pack of wastelanders living like hyenas to possess noble ideals and faith was even less realistic than expecting mutants to sit down and negotiate with him. Still, it didn't matter. He would use harsh training to teach them obedience and discipline. "If you understood, sound off!" "Understood!" "Louder! Didn't you eat today?!" "Understood!!!" Facing the Administrator's imposing presence, no one dared slack off. They poured every ounce of strength into their lungs and shouted at the top of their voices. Though still a bit rough around the edges, it was passable this time. Chu Guang nodded, then barked out the next command. "Now, everyone, face left! Run one lap around the outpost, then fall in back here! What are you standing there gaping for? Move! Whoever comes in last runs five extra laps!" Hearing the final sentence, the group finally snapped out of their daze. They took off sprinting, terrified of being the slowest one. Before long, someone had already finished a lap and returned to Chu Guang's side. Looking at the man gasping for breath, Chu Guang spoke. "Report your name and number." Struggling to control his breathing, the man answered respectfully, "Wrench, Number 006, my Lord!" It took Chu Guang a moment to realize that "Wrench" was actually the guy's name. Good grief, talk about a careless name. Was it because a wrench happened to be lying by the bed where he was delivered? Unable to think of a surname that would sound good with it, and never having been great at coming up with names anyway, Chu Guang didn't bother bestowing a surname upon him. "Number 006, starting today, you are the captain of the guard corps. Your sole responsibility is to train the rookies behind you, and to train alongside them." With that, Chu Guang tossed a VM into his hands. Looking at Wrench, who dropped his stick in a flustered scramble to catch the VM with an expression of sheer awe, Chu Guang kept his eyes fixed on him and continued, "The training schedule will be sent to your VM later. The drone flying above your heads will record your training progress. I give you permission to use any means necessary; my only requirement is that you keep them alive while completing their daily training tasks. "If you fail, it only proves your incompetence. I won't look for anyone else—I will hold you, and only you, accountable. "Understood?!" Looking at the Administrator, Wrench nodded nervously. "Understood, my Lord!" "Ahem." "Sir! Yes, sir!!" Very good. Sharp enough. Glancing at the stick lying on the ground, Chu Guang looked at him and said, "Pick up the stick. Until you are issued guns, it is your weapon. Treat it like your own life. "Train hard. I will be watching you from above." Leaving Wrench scrambling to bend down and retrieve the stick, Chu Guang tossed out those parting words, turned, and strode off toward the outpost. Shortly after he left, Wrench received the training schedule and immediately rallied the men to begin drills. The Administrator had said the drone was hovering in the sky, watching everything they did with absolute clarity. To avoid punishment, Wrench put his life on the line, not daring to slack off in the slightest. To be honest, Chu Guang didn't know much about military training. In his previous life, he had only ever gone through one high-school military drill and one upon entering university. Neither one had come anywhere close to real military training in intensity. Still, not knowing wasn't a problem—even if you've never eaten pork, you've seen a pig run, haven't you? A quick search online turned up plenty of reference material. All he had to do was adapt and re-edit it according to the needs and conditions of the wasteland. For instance: formation runs, standing at attention, low crawls, basic hand-to-hand combat, and bayonet drills. Once they mastered these fundamentals, boosted their stamina, built discipline, and perked up their morale, that would be good enough. Chu Guang didn't need them to possess formidable combat strength; he only needed them to be loyal, loyal, and even more loyal! As for fighting, that was the players' job. After all, no matter how much these survivors trained, expecting them to beat a pack of fearlessly suicidal clones who could reliably "awaken" was completely unrealistic. *** Noon. The spawn square in front of the sanatorium. A crowd of players holding bowls sat gathered together eating lunch, chattering excitedly. "Did you guys notice? Looks like our outpost got another batch of NPCs!" "I saw them too! Over by the west gate, right? When I went over to look, they were practicing bayonet drills! Asking for a friend—can we bring them along for fights in the future?" "What do you mean 'another batch'? The guys by the west gate are the prisoners we rescued from the Bloodhand Clan's dungeon! Didn't they say before that they were working at the brick factory to repay us for saving their lives?" "Holy crap? It's actually them? Okay, I'm kind of face-blind, plus my eyesight is bad, and those guys don't wash their faces often, so it's not surprising I didn't recognize them!" "Looks like they've officially joined us! Awesome! Our outpost has more and more NPCs!" "That guard captain seems to be wearing a VM! Hey, can he trigger quests? Has anyone tried?" "I tried! If you pester him twice, it triggers a quest to train alongside them. But to be honest, that quest is super boring. You only get 5 copper coins for an hour of drilling with them! I'd rather rent an axe from the woodworking shed and chop wood!" "You think if we train with them for a whole day, it'll unlock a quest to join the guard corps?" "Are you an idiot... you've always been able to pick up guard corps quests from the Administrator! It's just the sentry quests that rookies do." "Damn it!" At first, upon noticing the group of NPCs suddenly appearing by the west gate, wielding sticks and drilling with impressive form, many players had been bursting with curiosity. However, that curiosity only lasted for the morning. Once the players realized that these NPCs couldn't trigger any decent quests and barely paid any attention to them, they gradually lost interest and turned back to their own business. Maybe the devs hadn't finished designing that content yet. After all, it was still closed beta; having less content was totally understandable! *** Once lunchtime was over, the players scattered from the outpost. Having lost their tactician, the Cow and Horse Squad temporarily disbanded. Lao Bai and Gale went to the brick factory to figure out how to further boost the brick kiln's output. Ye Shi headed to the lakeside, hanging out with the fishing bros to study casting techniques and baiting tricks. As for Brother Mole, he tearfully pulled out the two hundred silver coins pooled from his team, purchased the priority exploration right for the second floor of the greenhouse ruins from the Cow and Horse Squad, and led Elven King Fugui, Elaina, and four other random teammates to aggressively launch a new dungeon run. Whether he could keep rolling this snowball depended on whether he could conquer the second-floor checkpoint within seven days! Theoretically, it shouldn't be too hard. After several previous battles, Brother Mole had already accumulated rich "anti-moth combat" experience and could handle the pests quite adeptly. That said, the situation they faced was not particularly optimistic. The main reason was that the greenhouse ruins occupied an awkward position, situated right at the entrance to 76th Street. Just around the corner was Brother Edge along with his frequently battered teammates, plus mutants always ready to loose cold arrows. This meant that while Mole and his squad cleared the dungeon, they also had to stay vigilant against mutant harassment. After all, no one could guarantee that the mutants wouldn't take the initiative to come looking for them. Mole had also heard that the Administrator intended to put the first floor of the greenhouse ruins to use, but because the mutant threat hadn't been cleared, that plan had to be temporarily shelved. Fortunately, Brother Edge hadn't given up. He seemed to have locked horns with those mutants for good, drawing a fair bit of their aggro. After a morning of rest and recovery, refusing to admit defeat, he rallied another batch of teammates even more stubborn than himself and launched their second raid of the day against the mutants. This time he had learned his lesson. Instead of taking the main road, he circled out through the Wetland Park's south gate, traveled down the street running parallel to 76th Street, crossed through the rubble, and inserted into the flank of 76th Street. The sneak attack seemed to be a great success. The mutants, dispersed across their defensive positions, never expected a squad to slip into their flank. Caught off guard, an isolated mutant archer was gunned down by the swarming players and had his head lopped off. Gunfire and explosions erupted in the distance once more, carrying on for quite a while. The dark clouds of war hung over 76th Street. Unlike the players, who didn't take the danger seriously at all, the nomad tribe by the east gate was gripped with panic. Their tribe consisted mostly of the elderly, women, and children; some infants hadn't even been weaned. What little fighting strength they had among their young men struggled against ordinary marauders, let alone mutant attacks. Yet unlike his fearful tribesmen, clan leader Wu Tiefu wasn't particularly worried. Especially after receiving his liege's promise that "they were not to advance without orders," he felt even more at ease. This liege was exceptionally kindhearted. Knowing that their tribe had few able-bodied men, he had no intention of using them as cannon fodder. As for safety, Wu Tiefu was even less concerned. That man was formidable, and his subordinates were formidable too. A mere handful of mutants couldn't possibly be a match for them! This could actually be seen from the mutants' behavior. The mutants didn't dare go on the offensive at all, only cowering on 76th Street to set up defenses and ambushes. In Wu Tiefu's view, this wasn't because those bloodthirsty beasts didn't want to fight back, but because they simply lacked the strength for a counterattack! Nor did they dare enter the forest! Still, out of caution, Wu Tiefu warned his tribesmen to steer clear of hunting to the east for the time being, telling them to head north or south whenever possible. According to his scouting over the past few days, the areas along the Fifth Ring Road made for decent hunting grounds. There were plenty of ruined high-rises there sheltering small animals like squirrels and rabbits, and many mutant hyenas had also retreated inside after winter set in. With enough patience to lay traps and bait, one could occasionally make a decent catch. As for the north—the direction they had come from—game was rather scarce. In particular, the stretch along the elevated highway leading out of the city was a vast no-man's-land. On this wasteland, anywhere that offered a source of food or other worthwhile goods wouldn't be completely devoid of human presence. *** On the third floor of the sanatorium. Sitting in his chair, Chu Guang stared at his VM screen, using the drone's aerial view to watch Edge Slacker and his party retreat southward along his planned route while fighting a delaying action. About twenty minutes ago, Chu Guang had used quest assignments to position twenty fully armed players on standby near the extraction point. If the mutants pursued them out, what awaited them would be a ferocious head-on strike! Come to think of it, did this count as micromanagement? Probably not. Just then, Xiao Qi, crouching by the window, suddenly turned its camera toward Chu Guang and said, "Master, Xiao Qi feels like the weather is about to turn." "Turn?" Chu Guang looked up through the window at the pure white snow outside, then gave Xiao Qi a strange look. "How much worse can this damned weather get?" What, was it going to drop another ten degrees? Xiao Qi shook its camera and whispered, "Xiao Qi doesn't know either. It just feels like the clouds are moving a bit fast." Chu Guang frowned slightly. Just as the conflict between Shelter 404 and the mutants reached a fever pitch, near the elevated highway bridge north of the Wetland Park, a band of uninvited guests appeared...