In the farming zone on Floor B3.
At the very back row of the soilless cultivation units.
Standing in front of a transparent display case, Chu Guang rested his chin in his right hand, his bright, handsome face filled with surprise.
"Potatoes, corn, tomatoes, bok choy, cabbage... Who would've thought so many good things were hidden here?"
He had originally come down just to check on the state of the farming zone, but after taking a stroll around the cultivation units, he stumbled upon an unexpected pleasant surprise.
Behind the transparent display case sat rows of labeled boxes storing crop seeds of various varieties.
These seeds were immersed in a specialized solution and preserved at cryogenic temperatures.
Chu Guang counted carefully: there were twelve varieties of pre-war crops stored in the freezer chests, ranging from short to long growth cycles, and from tropical to frigid climates—covering nearly the entire spectrum.
No matter what kind of climate and environment the shelter's residents faced after the blast doors opened, they would be able to find at least one variety suitable for planting in the current conditions.
On top of that, these seeds were all genetically modified cultivars, generally similar to the Type β-712 cotton seeds he had previously drawn from a blind box.
Quietly trailing beside the Administrator, seeing the intrigued expression on his face, Makka Pakka said excitedly, "Lord Administrator, I think we should put these idle facilities to use!"
Chu Guang nodded and said, "You're right. I do intend to do that."
Hearing this, Makka Pakka waited expectantly, but even as the Administrator turned and walked away, he never heard the line he was waiting for.
Blinking in bewilderment, he hurriedly looked down at his VM.
Huh?
Why didn't a quest trigger?
Did I not trigger the dialogue the right way?
...
In the farming zone's soilless cultivation units, planting, watering, fertilizing, and eventual harvesting could all be carried out via preset automated programs.
In a sense, it was similar to the black boxes' production method, with minimal demand for manual labor or farming experience.
There was no need at all to hand such highly automated facilities over to the players to manage; Chu Guang planned to put Xiao Qi in charge.
Too much human involvement would only drag down the facility's operational efficiency.
Regarding production strategy, Chu Guang planned to focus mainly on breeding staple grain varieties with longer growth cycles, supplemented by short-cycle crops like bok choy.
Come next spring, those staple crop seeds would come in handy.
"Fifty cultivation units, with a theoretical planting area of only 50 mu combined... That's still a bit small."
Even if intensive cultivation yielded enough per mu to feed five people, the output of 50 mu would only support 250 people, not even enough to cover the new players added in the Alpha 0.9 update.
Whenever he thought about this, Chu Guang felt a wave of confusion.
"This doesn't make sense. The shelter's farming zone can't even feed the evacuees on this floor alone. Did people here just live on nutrient paste?"
Could it really be that miserable?
Or perhaps...
Was there more to the story?
Regardless, food was a major issue.
Besides food, his little players also needed fur coats to stave off the biting cold. Although the blue vault jumpsuits offered thermal protection, that was only meant for ordinary cold. This winter in Qingquan City, ice was already beginning to form on the lake's surface, which clearly went far beyond ordinary cold.
Compared to incubation pods, the supplies required to sustain a player were an even more urgent problem to solve right now.
The trouble was that December was right around the corner, deep winter was reaching its peak, and everyone's food reserves were likely running low.
Brown Farm had already been squeezed dry, and there were no other survivor settlements nearby with decent food yields.
The only hope left was the greenhouse ruins.
Hopefully Brother Makka Pakka could step up his game.
It had been a while now; who knew how his cornfield was doing.
After leaving the farming zone, Chu Guang turned a corner and headed to the adjacent infirmary, intending to see what his newly recruited bioengineering expert was busy with.
Due to players constantly crowding around and harassing her, she seemed to have locked the door.
Although the doors on Floors B1 through B3 were mere decorations to Chu Guang, he possessed high emotional intelligence and politely rang the doorbell.
The chime sounded once.
The door opened quickly.
Crossing the infirmary, Chu Guang walked straight into the inner room.
Judging by the equipment and layout, this was evidently a medical laboratory.
As he passed through the partition door, Heya, wearing her blue jumpsuit, was standing in front of an electron microscope, her eyes pressed to the viewing aperture as her right hand deftly manipulated controls on the touchscreen.
Standing nearby and observing for a moment, Chu Guang asked with interest, "What is this?"
Without stopping her hands, her eyes glued to the eyepiece, Heya said in an excited voice, "Mutant slime mold! Samples collected from gnawers! Thanks to your *wanjia*... that's how it's pronounced, right? Anyway, please thank them for me!"
It seemed she had already gotten completely used to how to utilize the players, even if she wasn't entirely accustomed to their enthusiasm yet.
Chu Guang was very gratified by this.
If only all his NPCs were this quick on the uptake; then his micromanagement could be cut in half or more.
"I'll pass along your thanks. So? Have you discovered anything?"
Unlike the residents of his shelter who had been living on the wasteland for a while, Heya had previously stayed inside Vault 117. Though she had heard about the dangerous species active outside, she had never actually interacted with them.
The Administrator of Vault 117 was a relatively conservative leader who opposed risking an ecological imbalance within the vault by bringing wasteland specimens inside.
Chu Guang had no such reservations. Shelter 404 had long been open, and he had no intention of sealing the blast doors shut ever again; a few specimens made no difference.
Therefore, when he heard that Heya intended to study the wasteland mutants, he had agreed without hesitation and even allocated her a budget of 2,000 silver coins.
Even if it only meant learning a few more of the mutants' weaknesses, the money was well worth spending.
"Discovered anything? These samples have completely overturned my first impressions of them! At first, I assumed the mutant slime mold had a parasitic relationship with those mutants you call gnawers and Crawlers, but then I found out that wasn't the case at all."
Hearing this, Chu Guang was slightly taken aback.
This completely contradicted the rumors he had heard.
"...It's not?"
Still staring into the microscope, Heya answered without hesitation, "Of course not! Gnawers, Crawlers, Detonators... based on the samples collected so far, these creatures you call slime mold mutants are actually the fruiting bodies of mutant slime mold, not separate species at all!"
Hearing a term he didn't understand, Chu Guang paused and asked, "Fruiting bodies? What are those?"
"A spore-producing structure! You might not be familiar with slime molds. Their habits are very unique—sometimes they crawl around on the ground like amoebae, and other times they stand upright like mushrooms to release spores. But the behavior of this mutant slime mold is even more bizarre. The fruiting bodies they form are unlike any other slime mold. In both morphology and behavior, they show an astonishing similarity to higher animals with complex body structures and highly differentiated organ functions!"
Her pretty face was filled with scientific fanaticism.
Even though the microscope's eyepiece blocked her eyes from view, Chu Guang could clearly sense an aura radiating from her that was completely different from her usual demeanor.
Chu Guang said cautiously, "Could you elaborate? I mean, preferably in layman's terms."
"In layman's terms, these slime molds display social behaviors similar to ants or bees! They have a clear division of labor: some form toes, some form heads, some undergo programmed necrosis to harden into structure, while others form neural tissues and the muscles that drive limb movement! It's as if a unified consciousness is dictating the selective expression of every gene in the slime mold cells."
Moving her eyes away from the eyepiece, Heya looked at Chu Guang excitedly.
"Haven't any of you noticed?! Gnawers are practically replicated after the template of human beings, while Crawlers look like a hybrid of some four-legged beast and a human. They don't just mimic the appearance of other creatures—they even mimic their hunting behaviors!
"And Detonators are even stranger. They seem to incorporate traits from multiple animals and certain plants, simulating explosives in their attack method, sacrificing themselves to help their kind capture prey... This is simply unbelievable! Are these slime molds really creatures native to this planet?!"
Watching Heya ramble on without pause, Chu Guang wore a strange expression.
He had originally just intended to have her moonlight by helping tend to the crops next door; after all, the soilless cultivation units were highly automated and only required an occasional glance.
Who would have thought he'd hear something so mind-boggling from her?
"You mean... slime mold mutants like gnawers, Crawlers, and Detonators are all fruiting bodies of mutant slime mold? Structures meant to disperse spores?"
Chu Guang pressed a forefinger to his temple, trying to wrap his head around it, his brow furrowing. "But that doesn't add up. I heard they're produced by broodmothers."
"A broodmother? What's that?!"
Heya grabbed Chu Guang's arm, her eyes shining brightly. "Can we get a sample? Oh, right, right! You taught me—I can use the VM..."
Mid-sentence, Heya seemed to remember something. She released Chu Guang's arm and raised her VM, preparing to "place an order."
Startled by her actions, Chu Guang hastily stopped her.
"Calm down first. A broodmother isn't something current players can handle. You'd just be sending them to their deaths."
Good grief.
Did she think the VM was a wishing machine?!
Even if his little players were remarkably handy, this wasn't how you used them!
Stopped in her tracks, Heya looked slightly bewildered, her hands freezing.
"Is that... broodmother very difficult to deal with?"
"It's no longer a question of difficulty; it's simply impossible right now."
Although, according to the standards he had set, such a quest wouldn't even pass Xiao Qi's review, Chu Guang felt it was necessary to give this popsicle—who lacked wasteland common sense—a reality check on what this world had become.
Looking at the stunned Heya, Chu Guang paused for a moment and recounted the intelligence he had compiled under the lore entries on the official website.
This included Luo Hua's observations during his travels, as well as the Tides that erupted periodically in Qingquan City.
After hearing about these startling matters, Heya finally developed a general understanding of how dangerous a broodmother was.
That thing was extraordinarily perilous!
Just like a natural disaster.
Even an established local survivor faction with substantial industrial capacity like Boulder City struggled when facing a Tide whipped up by a broodmother.
As for collecting a sample from a broodmother, with the shelter's current conditions, it was practically an impossible task.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know... it was such a dangerous thing," Heya said, shame showing on her face.
Chu Guang shook his head. "It's fine. I was just as shocked when I first heard about broodmothers. Research on mutants can be taken one step at a time. Once we have the capability to resolve the trouble in the city center, I promise you'll get the samples you want."
Although the conditions weren't ripe yet, Chu Guang had no doubt in his heart that one day, he and his little players would completely eradicate the menace lurking in the city center.
At any rate, he had obtained fascinating intel from Heya.
Chu Guang planned to selectively update this information into the official website's lore compilation later to give his little players reference material.
...
A busy day came to an end.
Carrying javelins, spears, and axes on their shoulders, the little players emerged from the depths of Floor B3's tunnel, still eager for more.
In a single day, they had successfully pushed the front line 500 meters both north and south, killing nearly two thousand gnawers, over a hundred Detonators, and nearly twenty Crawlers!
The mutant numbers in the tunnel were far larger than anticipated. Especially to the north, the swarms of gnawers had even formed wave after wave of zombie hordes!
However, the experienced players were clever. They placed wooden barricades along the way, slowing the gnawers' advance while stretching out their ranks.
Once unable to achieve high density, gnawers weren't nearly as frightening.
Against mutants that relied on numbers and possessed simple attack methods, as long as one wasn't swarmed all at once, even life-class players who weren't skilled in combat could dispatch them with ease.
Not to mention the veteran hardcore players in the tunnel, whose average level was LV6 or higher!
Inside the shelter, long lines had formed outside the shower rooms on Floor B2 and Floor B3, a clamor of chatter filling the air.
"Damn it! Move faster up front!"
"Exactly! What the hell's taking so long?! You've been in there ten minutes!"
"!!! Are you guys dogs or what?! You don't even take ten minutes to shower?!"
"I strongly suggest raising the water price!"
"Don't raise it! Any higher and Boss Ya won't even be able to afford a shower!"
"Piss off!"
Carrying a bucket, Yin Fang had planned to wash up before dinner, but frightened by this spectacle, he didn't even dare grab food before scurrying back into his makeshift laboratory.
The laundry room entrance was the same story.
Especially those players who had crawled out of the tunnel—each and every one looked as if they'd worked in a coal mine, covered in more soot than blood!
Having finally squeezed out of the crowd, Ye Shi was heading back to his room to log off when he caught sight of Brother Mosquito. Seeing the guy covered in soot and grime, he sauntered over with a grin and greeted him.
"Yo! Brother Mosquito, in the mood to run dungeons today?"
"Dungeon my ass. I got like this testing new equipment."
"Exploded again?"
Hearing this teasing remark, Mosquito couldn't help rolling his eyes.
"What do you mean 'exploded again'?! If it doesn't blow up, can you even call it a weapon? Anyway, the test results today were pretty good. Just had a slight issue with the propellant ratio—after leaving the muzzle, it blasted a face full of soot right at me. Damn it, I need to lengthen the launch tube."
Pausing, Mosquito looked at Ye Shi and continued, "Enough bullshitting. By the way, have you seen that dumb lizard? How come I didn't see him doing push-ups in the corner today?"
The moment the lizard was brought up, Ye Shi chuckled.
"You mean him? Hahaha, he went on a rampage in the tunnel outside Floor B3! He probably hasn't had his fill of fun yet."
Thinking back a few versions ago, Brother Garbage had been utterly flashy and formidable—the only one on the entire server who could act at night, eating raw flesh, drinking blood, and tearing mutants apart with his bare hands. Every player had envied him to death.
Yet who would've thought that in less than a month, winter arrived? As a cold-blooded animal, Brother Garbage had been frozen straight into logging off on the spot, unable to even walk out the shelter's blast doors.
Truly, every update crowns a new king; you only hear the laughter of the new, never the tears of the old.
Mosquito clicked his tongue. "I feel for Brother Garbage. He's been spectating from the sidelines for at least three versions now, right?"
Ye Shi sighed as well. "Be confident—drop the 'right'!"
The wasteland night deepened as the morning sun rose in reality.
Whenever the peak log-off window arrived, web traffic on the official Wasteland OL forum would experience a minor surge.
Chu Guang skimmed through the forum and found that players were discussing his newly released version with remarkable enthusiasm.
In under 72 hours, over a hundred guides had already been published.
"The Self-Cultivation of a Monster Hunter! Soloing the Split-Claw Crab Guide!"
"Scavenger's Manual! OP's Painstaking Summary of Twenty Cost-Effective Recyclable Materials! Just Asking for an Upvote!"
"The Darling of the Version Is Born! Strength-Type Scavengers Show You What 'Brute Force Creates Miracles' Means! Starting with Two Bare Hands, All Gear Picked from the Ground!"
"Shelter 404 Floor B3 Tunnel Guide! Four Constitution-Type Perpetual Motion Machine Playstyle Carves a Path Forward! Farm Until the Monsters Go Extinct!"
"..."
Chu Guang glanced over a few and couldn't help marveling at the wisdom and boundless creativity of his little players.
What did it mean to be high-quality human players?
Merely the average standard in the Wasteland OL closed beta server!
The guide writers were full of passion, and the spectators, armchair gamers, and silly netizens were just as enthusiastic.
Among those hundred-plus guides, fully twenty percent had over ten thousand upvotes and over a thousand replies!
By forum standards, such numbers were extraordinarily staggering.
However, what intrigued Chu Guang most wasn't the guide threads, but rather several high-engagement threads in the general discussion section.
WC Really Has Mosquitoes: "Motherfucker! The 12-tube rocket has enough punch, but muzzle velocity is still a bit too low! High-speed targets are impossible to hit! Though against ground targets, it's surprisingly effective?"
Fleeting White Horse: "How much?"
WC Really Has Mosquitoes: "80 silver!"
Ye Shi: "Tsk, you're selling it for more than the Panzerfaust in the NPC shop. Why wouldn't I just buy a Panzerfaust? One shot and even a split-claw crab gets blasted silly. (Funny)"
WC Really Has Mosquitoes: "Fuck! That's already cost price, alright?!"
Fang Chang: "Bro, find a way to cut costs, or the word 'practical' will forever remain a dream. By the way, now that player numbers are up, it's time to expand production scale."
WC Really Has Mosquitoes: "My head hurts! I'll think of something!"
Fleeting White Horse: "If you ask me, don't waste effort tinkering with anti-aircraft rocket launchers. Not to mention guidance, you don't even have proximity fuses—what the hell are you going to defend against? You'd be better off building an SPG-9 recoilless rifle; its anti-air performance might actually be more reliable than whatever Fliegerfaust you've got. (Side-eye)"
Ye Shi: "+1. Give me enough elevation and I could take down a plane with a tank's main gun. (Funny)"
WC Really Has Mosquitoes: "Bullshit! What do you think this is, Battlefield?!"
To be honest, Chu Guang didn't quite understand the violent aesthetics in Mosquito's heart either.
The guy was actually very capable; Mosquito deserved at least half the credit for the outpost base producing industrial chemicals, nitrocellulose, and TNT so quickly.
However...
The weapons he built always had a bizarre style, and those with practical utility could be counted on one hand.
While that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, Chu Guang felt that relying on him to fill the outpost's anti-aircraft weapon deficit was an eighty percent lost cause.
In another thread slightly less popular than Brother Mosquito's, "Ya'er I Wanna Go to the Restroom" and "Who Smelled My Athlete's Foot Levin" were holding a technical exchange with several armchair players whose ideas bordered on criminal.
Brother Toilet Cable: "Replicating an 88mm flak cannon is still a bit too difficult. Even though blueprints and videos can be found online, and parts can be machined with the shelter's black-tech equipment, many issues remain unresolved. Especially the barrel—to increase muzzle velocity, you have to increase propellant, which subjects the barrel to much higher chamber pressure!"
Brother Levin: "Exactly! And developing new gear is so damn expensive! 500 silver coins won't even cover the R&D costs; you'd need to add at least another zero!"
The exorbitant R&D expense truly was an issue.
Staring at the computer monitor, Chu Guang pondered for a moment, switched to the desktop, and opened a budget spreadsheet.
"For developing large equipment with high production barriers and substantial expenses, leaving the R&D costs entirely on the players isn't quite appropriate."
Chu Guang thought it over and came up with an idea.
He planned to establish a special fund to support new equipment development. As long as a proposal passed review, it could receive financial backing.
As for No. 81 Steel Mill's anti-aircraft weapon project...
Chu Guang considered it for a bit and made a decision.
"A budget of 5,000 silver coins looks too deliberate. Let's make it... 5,500 silver coins. If it's not enough down the line, we can always add more.
"Keep the original quest unchanged, and reissue the new quest in the form of a 'Custom Order.'"
As for Mosquito's side...
He'd let him tinker on his own for a bit first.
If Brother Mosquito could produce a reliable design proposal, Chu Guang would naturally support him with an R&D budget as well.
It was just that so far, Chu Guang still hadn't figured out what on earth the guy was trying to build...
Chapter 193