It Is Our Honor to Share Your Burdens!

Deep into the night. Chu Guang slept fitfully, waking several times. Only after resting his hand against the gun hidden in his sleeping bag could he drift back to sleep in fits and starts. Life in the shelter had been far too comfortable. With no danger to worry about, suddenly returning to such an unstable environment left him strangely unadjusted. "I've grown slack." Chu Guang sighed, his hand instinctively brushing against the gun tucked beneath the blanket. The thick, long barrel provided a reassuring sense of security. He wondered how things were going with the players. Though he had instructed Xiao Qi on what to do during his absence, he still couldn't put his mind completely at ease while away. Waking again at five in the morning, Chu Guang found it impossible to fall back asleep. He lay there with his eyes open, waiting in silence. Only when the sky outside began to pale did he crawl out of the sleeping bag, dress himself, and sling the steel pipe and his newly purchased gun over his back. Heading out this time, he likely wouldn't return for quite a while. The mayor's levy had forced him to move up his relocation schedule; all preparations had to be completed before the end of the month. If he couldn't stockpile enough supplies to support a hundred people, he would have to wait until February or March of next year for the next testing phase. The entire winter would go to waste. He pushed the door open. His gear packed, Chu Guang prepared to set off, only to bump right into the men of the Wang family. Wang Defu, who had caused trouble at his doorstep yesterday, glanced at him without a word, though his eyes carried a provocative glint. Perhaps because his father and elder brothers were beside him, and because he was carrying hunting gear, his courage had grown considerably compared to yesterday, carrying himself with a touch of swagger. Chu Guang naturally wouldn't lower himself to the level of a kid. A sixteen-year-old youth was already considered a grown man capable of standing on his own in Bet Street, but in Chu Guang's eyes, he was merely a greenhorn who hadn't even grown all his feathers yet. "Hey, don't go dying out there." Chu Guang ignored him, not even sparing him a glance. The Wang boy flushed with rage, gritting his teeth. Being ignored by an outsider felt like an outright humiliation. Just as he was about to make a rash move, his eldest brother suddenly placed a hand on his shoulder. Though still indignant, Wang Defu quickly settled down. It was clear the boy listened to his brother. Chu Guang glanced at the eldest son of the Wang family, and the brawny man looked back at him. From that man, Chu Guang sensed a faint hint of danger, subtle though it was. Interestingly, as the man observed him, a flicker of surprise showed on his face, though carefully concealed. A hunter's instinct—this guy was not someone to be trifled with! After a brief moment of eye contact, both looked away. There was no need to invite unnecessary trouble. The Wang family walked off into the distance. Chu Guang was also ready to depart. Just then, a crisp voice came from behind him. "Be careful on the road." Chu Guang paused and looked back, finding Xiaoyu peeking out at him from behind the door. Smiling faintly, Chu Guang replied, "Mm. Thank you." "You're welcome." In the blink of an eye, the little girl slipped back into the house and vanished from sight. *** At six in the morning, the sky was nearly fully bright. The gates of Bet Street slowly swung open. Survivors carrying baskets, bows, daggers, crossbows, and other gear stepped onto the cracked concrete and through the weeds pushing up from the fissures, setting off in small groups toward the scarred ruins. Two hundred years later, finding good scrap on the wasteland was no easy task; occasionally stumbling upon spent bullet casings dropped by mercenaries or marauders was treated like finding treasure. Chu Guang didn't leave the settlement immediately. Instead, he lingered by the gate for a while, waiting until the others had moved far ahead before heading to Old Charlie's recycling station. "I need seven kilograms of green wheat. Here's twenty-one chips. And the tobacco leaves for curing meat... how much can four chips get me?" Chu Guang asked, having never bought them before. "One chip per liang." "Give me four liang, then!" Food was the key to expansion. Only by stockpiling more grain could he recruit more players to work for him. The survivors couldn't just drink green wheat porridge every single day; even if they could stomach it, he certainly couldn't. Now that he had a gun, hunting would be far easier than before. Chu Guang intended to take some tobacco leaves back and cure any leftover meat into preserves, storing it away for the winter. Old Charlie lifted an eyelid. "I seem to recall you just bought five kilograms of green wheat a few days ago." "Any problem with that?" Chu Guang replied casually. Old Charlie cracked a grin. "Nothing at all. It's good to save up." Though his mind was on future plans, Chu Guang's vigilance immediately spiked. The words might have been spoken casually, but the listener took them to heart. He suddenly realized a problem. He hadn't brought back any useful salvage or other hauls for quite 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 was getting so much money. Old Charlie didn't press the matter, perhaps not caring in the least. After weighing the grain, he saw Chu Guang out with a smile. "Careless of me..." Once outside the gate of Bet Street, turning a corner, Chu Guang let out a quiet breath. He paused to observe his surroundings for a moment before continuing forward. Anything over ten chips was already a sizable fortune to scavengers, who rarely managed to save any money. Yet he had twice produced over twenty chips, buying supplies he couldn't possibly consume alone in a short span of time. Old Charlie was relatively kind to him, seeing as they both came from vaults, but at the end of the day, he was still the mayor's man. Thinking of this, Chu Guang couldn't help but frown. Unfortunately, that merchant named Liszt only accepted grain and dealt exclusively in manufactured goods from Boulder City. Perhaps he should try his luck at Brown Farm. *** Seven kilograms of green wheat and ten liters of drinking water, combined with his ammunition and gear, weighed well over twenty kilograms, pressing heavily against his shoulder. Aside from hauling the weight, Chu Guang had to conserve his stamina carefully, staying alert to dangers lurking in the shadows. Even with strength beyond ordinary men coursing through his muscles, he could only walk a stretch, pause to inspect the road, and then push on. The terrain outside the settlement was far from easy to traverse. At times, he had to skirt collapsed highways and weave through ruined high-rises. Chu Guang suddenly found himself envying the protagonists of *The Last of Us* and *Dying Light*, who could parkour through ruins carrying mountains of gear, while he had to trudge forward step by step. Perhaps... he should buy an ox next time? He just wasn't sure if Liszt sold them. Fortunately, none of the mutants he encountered along the way spotted him. Cutting through the ruins and following the highway for a stretch, Chu Guang finally reached the sanatorium in Wetland Park just before eight-thirty in the morning. To his surprise, upon arriving, he found that all four closed-beta players were already online. Not only that. Outside the sanatorium's perimeter wall stood four waist-high earthen kilns, alongside a domed earthen kiln roughly the height of a man. What... were these? He didn't recall assigning any quest to build kilns. "Lord Manager! You're finally back!" Seeing the astonished manager, Fang Chang walked forward with a smile. "I was delayed outside for the night," Chu Guang said, his eyes glued to the kilns, forgetting to even set down the load on his back. "...How are things on your end? Did you run into any mutants or other survivors?" "All clear! No unexpected situations whatsoever!" His face flushed with excitement, Fang Chang reported their progress to Chu Guang. The four waist-high kilns were for producing charcoal, while the adjacent one with a blower vent was meant for calcining raw materials for cement at high temperatures. "We burn tree bark into plant ash, mix it with water, and filter off the potash solution on top. Then we press the remaining slurry dry to obtain the calcium hydroxide and calcium carbonate needed to make cement." "Next, we feed those raw materials into the kiln to calcine until glowing orange-red, mix them with sand collected from the riverbank, add water and stir thoroughly, and we get wood ash cement!" *Holy crap?* To be frank, Chu Guang was stunned by the players' practical ingenuity. He had previously tried mixing plant ash with mud to make cement using methods taught on Zhihu, but the resulting product crumbled to dust under the slightest squeeze, completely useless. Looking at it now, his method had simply been flawed. The secret was using a proper kiln and secondary calcination? And the purity of the ash... Fang Chang didn't stop, continuing enthusiastically, "...We plan to use the cement to repair the sanatorium's walls! Oh, and we also collected the filtered potash water in containers. That stuff works wonders for tanning leather—it's incredibly useful!" "You all... have done very well." After racking his brain, Chu Guang couldn't think of what reward to give these players on the spot, managing only that single sentence of praise. Yet hearing those words, Fang Chang grew visibly thrilled. *It went up! Favorability! It definitely went up!* Not letting the moment slip, Fang Chang assumed a dead-serious expression and recited the line he had spent all night preparing. "For the continuation of civilization!" "It is our honor to share your burdens!" "..." Chu Guang suddenly felt at a loss for how to respond. Compared to him, these players were practically saints. "Well said... For the continuation of civilization, and for the future of us all." Chu Guang coughed lightly, maintaining a dignified expression as he looked at the excited player. "I'll head downstairs to stow the supplies. Your plan is excellent... proceed boldly!" Fang Chang snapped to attention, his back straight as a ramrod, brimming with vigor. "Understood, Lord Manager!" "Make sure to balance work and rest. Don't push yourselves too hard," Chu Guang added as a reminder. It wasn't out of a sudden pang of conscience, but out of concern that the players might overexert themselves and burn through their enthusiasm too quickly. However, the player didn't seem to grasp his underlying concern in the slightest, puffing out his chest to declare his loyalty. "Serving you is our mission, and our pledge under the flag of the Human Alliance!" Chu Guang nearly choked back a laugh. A pledge, really... Have you even seen what the Human Alliance's flag looks like? "...Right. Great spirit. Off you go." Watching the player jog away, Chu Guang let out a silent sigh. In the end, his worries had been entirely unfounded.