Having finally obtained his dream hidden quest, Indebted Big Eye cradled his new toy and walked off in high spirits.
Neural link equipment!
The server's one and only mind-controlled robot!
All thanks to the awesome developer. Opportunity favored the prepared, and his ten points of Intelligence could finally shine!
Watching his little player leave so happily put Chu Guang in an equally delightful mood.
As a developer, bringing joy to the players was his greatest privilege.
Chu Guang looked forward to seeing what kind of creative stunts the guy would pull off with that little robot.
Yin Fang, however, wore a somewhat troubled expression.
"To be frank, I really don't recommend deploying immature gear onto the battlefield. It's irresponsible toward the tester's life."
Chu Guang offered a faint smile. "Relax. Didn't you see how happy he was? You got experimental data, and he got... er, happiness."
"In my book, that's a win-win."
*Happiness?*
Yin Fang froze for a second. He couldn't quite fathom the statement, much less understand what was remotely enjoyable about field-testing prototype equipment, but he didn't press the matter.
He had a mountain of work waiting for him. Between scheduling duties for the research team and improving the robot, he had no time to waste.
After saying his goodbyes, Yin Fang took the elevator back down to the shelter.
Chu Guang didn't head down with him. Instead, he went upstairs to pick up Xiao Qi.
After working all day, little Xiao Qi needed to go back and recharge.
Yet just as Chu Guang was holding Xiao Qi and preparing to take the elevator back down to the shelter, trouble came knocking.
A dense crowd was gathered right in front of the elevator doors.
Every single one of them was an Intelligence-type player.
Meeting those burning, eager stares, Chu Guang instantly understood why they were here, and a pounding headache set in.
*Damn it!*
*How could I forget about this?!*
"Honorable Administrator, I-I'm also level seven Intelligence! And I have eleven points in Intelligence! Please allow me to dedicate my strength to the shelter!"
"Wise and mighty Administrator, look at me! I might not have ten points of Intelligence, but I know I'm way smarter than Indebted Big Eye!"
"Invincible and eternally glorious Administrator—"
"Damn it! Are you guys even trying to out-compete each other on titles now?!"
"Hehe, for a hidden quest, no shame in doing whatever it takes!"
Chu Guang: "..."
Those pleading eyes looked like a nest of hungry baby birds clamoring for food.
Without a doubt, they were all Intelligence-types.
Chu Guang could guess with his toes that the player from earlier had definitely run off to show off his four-legged robot.
*Son of a bitch!*
*Next time I test gear, I'm definitely picking someone low-key!*
Watching Chu Guang surrounded by the chattering crowd with a numb scalp, Xia Yan, who was waiting for him by the elevator doors, curved her lips into a gloating smirk.
*Hmph.*
*That's what you get for ordering people around all the time!*
*Now you know how annoying it is to be mobbed by noisy 'players'!*
...
On the official website:
[Server Announcement: Due to continuous blizzards, the transport route to Yumu District has been suspended. Truck leasing for individuals from the outpost base will also be temporarily paused. Thank you for your understanding.]
[Yin Fang: Chapter One of the Wasteland Survival Guide has been updated! Secrets straight from the Academy to teach you more efficient scavenging!]
[Dawn: Day 5 of the Wartime Management Regulations. Hang in there, everyone, victory is in sight! (Time remaining: 55 days)]
[Xiao Yu: It's getting colder and colder, please make sure to stay warm!]
Tail: "Grabbing Xiao Yu from the front row! (* / ω ＼ *)"
Elven King Fugui: "Sigh, Yumu District is cut off. Hunter players are gonna cry."
Cut the Crap: "Fishing players are crying too! The ice on this lake is so thick I can't even crack it open!"
Yaya: "Waaah, please, awesome dev, make winter end quickly! I've been unemployed forever! QAQ"
Construction Site Youth and Brick: "+1! I'm gonna die without mushroom soup."
Makka Pakka: "Gwak gwak gwak, come farm! Farming players are the GOAT! The Greenhouse Farm welcomes you!"
Elaina: "Sigh... as it turns out, gnawer meat really can't... er."
Elven King Fugui: "Holy crap?! Old Na? What did you do?"
Elaina: "Er, I was just curious. Since I'm a Constitution-type, I gave it a try... and the result, well, you know. (Awkward)"
Ye Shi: "I suggest the devs add an achievement: 'Madlad Who Dared to Eat Gnawers Raw.' (Funny)"
Elaina: "Get lost! I roasted it first, okay?! Who the hell would eat that thing raw! (`Д′*)9"
Ye Shi: "Hard to say. (Funny)"
Elven King Fugui: "(Funny)"
...
Ever since December began, the snow in the northern suburbs of Qingquan City had only gotten heavier. The players' operational radius kept shrinking like a closing storm circle in a battle royale, gradually forcing them from the surface into the underground.
To be honest, Chu Guang was even more anxious than they were.
Previously, his little players could hunt or fish, but lately, prey was nowhere to be found, and fishing was out of the question.
The ice on the lake required explosives just to blast open!
Yet thanks to the heavy snow, progress on conquering the B3 underground tunnels advanced steadily, and the southern line had successfully connected to the Qingquan City subway network.
Now, from the B3 exit, one could travel directly to the Huayuan Street Subway Station at the edge of the Fifth Ring Road, as well as Vault 117.
For players eager to explore the city ruins, this was a massive boon.
Previously, moving from the outpost base to the edge of the Fifth Ring Road meant crossing a straight-line distance of nearly five kilometers. Even along the shortest route, the trip took two to three hours, eating up nearly half a day just going back and forth.
Now, following the subway tracks, they could bypass the ruins entirely. A brisk walk took less than an hour.
To cut down on travel time, Chu Guang prioritized allocating fifty newly produced hibernation pods to Vault 117, giving players a convenient forward spawn point.
However, as the players' advance through the underground tunnels pushed forward, their ammunition consumption skyrocketed.
To keep pace with the ever-growing demand for bullets, Chu Guang had to map out a larger munitions factory in the new industrial zone and order two sets of specialized stamping equipment from No. 81 Steel Mill for cartridge cases and primer caps.
Thanks to the magnetically confined plasma cutting machine obtained from the Enterprise, they could manufacture what was needed; without it, many items couldn't be produced even with existing blueprints.
Beyond the cartridges themselves, bullet production required nitrocellulose and short-columnar lead azide (alpha-type).
Previously, these components were produced by Mosquito's Goblin Technology and served as the workshop's main revenue source.
Unfortunately, Mosquito's small workshop simply had too low an output. On top of that, due to his eccentric habits, standardizing product specifications and quality proved nearly impossible, leaving him unable to keep up with the munitions factory's needs.
For the sake of efficiency, Chu Guang planned a dedicated chemical plant in the new industrial zone to produce various industrial chemicals and gunpowder, supplying raw materials to the munitions factories.
Chu Guang didn't hand this plant over to any single player to run. Instead, he appointed several NPCs as director and deputy directors, hiring trade-class players with chemistry backgrounds to serve as technical advisors guiding production.
Currently, there were quite a few players on the server with chemical backgrounds—roughly thirty in total—all high-quality individuals Chu Guang had carefully vetted from the forum discussions.
Although many of them were theoretical armchair experts lacking hands-on experience, and their skill levels varied widely, having search engines as references made them far more reliable than wastelanders who operated purely on crude guesswork without any theoretical foundation.
Besides, out of a pack of huskies, there were always a couple that looked enough like wolves. The same went for his little players—among a bunch of goofy trolls, one or two exceptionally hardcore talents would occasionally surface.
At present, the number of active trade-class players in the new industrial zone had reached seventy-one, alongside two hundred and forty hired NPC workers.
These numbers were still far from enough. Both groups had plenty of room to expand.
While the heavy snow blocked the roads, Chu Guang had to seize every second and leverage every available resource to fan the flames of wasteland industry higher and brighter.
The Bone Chewer tribe would never abandon a fat prize like Qingquan City.
Even if they couldn't bite through the hard bone of Boulder City, those marauders would certainly try everything they could to tear off a chunk from the northern suburbs.
A clash between the two sides was inevitable.
And it would happen right after the snow melted!
The outcome of that battle would decide who truly owned the northern suburbs!
...
During the first week of the Wartime Regulations, although the players didn't get an answer from the awesome dev regarding when winter would end, the players of Wasteland OL did receive some great news.
Boss Xia, who had kept them guessing all week, finally put brand-new merchandise on the weapons shop's shelves—two models of light machine guns and submachine guns developed independently by Shelter 404.
However, upon seeing the styles of the new weapons, almost all the players gathered outside the shop let out groans of disappointment.
"Damn it! Did the devs get addicted to ripping off CrossFire?!"
"Why is it Kalashnikov again?!"
"My brain is breaking. Never mind the light machine gun, what the hell is that submachine gun?!"
"Devs, I'm begging you, release a couple of AR-pattern guns!"
Unlike the groaning FPS enthusiasts, Brother Toilet Cable and Brother Levin wore dismissive sneers, looking at them like a bunch of idiots.
"Tsk, talk is cheap. They think milled receivers are that easy to make?!"
"Exactly! Do they even consider mass-production costs?!"
"Still... once we get that 20mm autocannon running, we could definitely look into making a fixed machine gun."
Brother Toilet Cable suggested, "How about a water-cooled Maxim?"
Brother Levin's eyes lit up. "Great idea! That shouldn't be too hard!"
The mystery had finally been unveiled: the LD-47j and the LD-47c.
Aside from the two directors of No. 81 Steel Mill, almost every player had bet on the wrong horse.
The LD-47j took the original Scythe assault rifle, extended the barrel, fitted a heat shroud, and mounted a bipod beneath the muzzle.
Fed by a seventy-five-round drum magazine, it was undeniably a light machine gun.
The LD-47c was even cruder: essentially a Scythe assault rifle with a sawn-off barrel and a wooden stock replaced by a compact folding steel wire stock.
With such a short rifled barrel, it was undeniably a submachine gun.
To be fair, the operators hadn't phoned it in completely. At least they gave the two new guns rather fierce-sounding names—
The light machine gun was dubbed the "Combine Harvester," while the submachine gun was called the "Short Scythe."
Looked at that way...
The semi-automatic designated marksman rifle from before probably counted as the "Long Scythe"?
In any case, both new weapons were priced accessibly: three hundred silver coins for the machine gun and two hundred and fifty for the submachine gun.
Yet for high-rate-of-fire weapons, the cost of the gun itself was trivial.
The real issue was how quickly they burned through ammunition. Unless fighting a major raid where bullets were provided, very few players could afford the upkeep.
After staring at the display rack for a long time, until most of the crowd had dispersed, Edge Paddler finally couldn't resist griping.
"Never mind the machine gun, but why does the submachine gun use full-power rifle cartridges too?!"
Shouldering a massive backpack, Indebted Big Eye asked curiously, "Dumb question, but what's a full-power cartridge?"
Construction Site Youth and Brick, standing beside him, explained, "You know those World War II movies where bolt-action rifles shoot those long bullets? Those are mostly full-power cartridges. Fifty-millimeter case length, packed with propellant—total overkill for shooting people."
Indebted Big Eye's eyes lit up. "Got it! Like the ammo for the Kar98k, right?"
Construction Site Youth and Brick: "Er, if that helps you understand it, sure."
Washing Machine Hairwash chimed in, "Be that as it may, I think both of these guns should be pretty effective against mutants."
Full-power rounds were indeed overkill against human targets, but against mutants like Crawlers, they hit the sweet spot.
Back when they used 5mm pipe revolvers, shooting a Crawler barely scratched its hide. While running into a Crawler was still dangerous now, they could at least deal real damage.
Edge Paddler shook his head.
"That's true, but look around. Other than Strength-types, who can actually control the recoil?"
He was a Perception-type. Only after his gene sequence reached Level 8 and gave him a point in Strength could he barely manage the LD-47's kick.
Still, he understood the reasoning.
Looking at it realistically, setting up a single receiver production line with the outpost base's current industrial capacity was already an impressive feat, and that was with full production prioritizing the military sector.
Adding an extra weapon line meant escalating logistical supply costs.
Even if they wanted to diversify their small arms lineup, now wasn't the time.
Reliable gear, plentiful and dirt-cheap.
That was the only guarantee the fledgling shelter could offer them right now.
Having purchased an LD-47j from Boss Xia and cradling it in his arms, Construction Site Youth and Brick stroked the barrel and couldn't help sighing.
"If only we could get a mortar."
Mosquito's rockets were utterly unreliable, scaring more people to death than they actually blew up.
Now even the marauders had gear that rivaled theirs, rolling out two armored pickups in a single skirmish and suppressing them so hard they couldn't even poke their heads out.
They desperately needed fire support!
Indebted Big Eye nodded in deep agreement. "Yeah. If we'd carried a couple more RPGs back then, we wouldn't have been pinned behind cover."
Edge Paddler shook his head. After browsing, he ultimately picked the standard LD-47.
Not just because the base model was the cheapest at two hundred silver coins, but because he was most familiar with it.
"No point crying over spilled milk. Let's just hope our trade-class players can step up!"
Stocked with weapons and ammo, Edge Paddler's squad finished their preparations and left the outpost base, heading toward the greenhouse ruins.
Brother Mole's team had already pushed to the fifth floor, the very top of the surface section.
Because natural light was abundant there, spirit leaves grew luxuriantly, and the density of devil moths was far higher than on the other surface floors. A single squad could no longer handle it alone.
Playing it safe, Mole called for reinforcements. Since Edge Paddler and his crew had no other active missions, they decided to merge squads and split the loot fifty-fifty.
...
Meanwhile, inside the shelter.
Lao Bai, who had logged in not long ago, was being guided toward the prep room by Ye Shi and Kuang Feng.
The entire way, Lao Bai kept asking questions.
"What is this about? Why are you being so secretive?"
For once, Ye Shi kept his mouth shut tight, not leaking a single word the entire trip, only urging him on. "Alright, stop asking. You'll see when we get there."
Beside him, Kuang Feng nodded, maintaining his usual brevity. "+1."
Lao Bai: "...?"
Full of curiosity, Lao Bai followed Ye Shi and Kuang Feng into the prep room.
He found Fang Chang already waiting there.
Beside Fang Chang stood Liu Ding, the deputy commander of the guard team, clad in a Type 5 exoskeleton.
And next to Liu Ding stood a brand-new orange exoskeleton.
Facing Lao Bai as he walked in from the buffer chamber, Liu Ding spoke in a flat, businesslike tone.
"Your valor and loyalty have proven that you are worthy of this equipment."
"Your friends wish to gift it to you. Do you accept?"
In an instant, Lao Bai held his breath, his eyes widening in shock.
A Miner Type I exoskeleton worth two thousand silver coins!
The single most expensive piece of equipment on the entire server!
It required Level 10 and Citizen-tier contribution just to purchase!
Before he could speak, Fang Chang cut in from the side.
"Silver coins are going to depreciate soon. If we don't spend them now, they'll just lose value. Before the exoskeleton's price goes up, and since you're the only Awakened in our squad, we all agreed to chip in and buy one for you."
It wasn't just the exoskeleton that hadn't seen a price hike.
Many items priced above five hundred silver coins that the shelter couldn't produce independently should have seen their prices rise in theory, yet their tags hadn't budged by a single cent.
Clearly, the dev had chosen to show some mercy, leaving a buffer period for players with heavy savings to cash out before inflation hit.
Naturally, Fang Chang wasn't about to waste Ah Guang's good intentions. Combining his savings with Ye Shi's and Kuang Feng's, scraping together two thousand silver coins was no trouble at all—they didn't even need to touch their dividends from the Niuma Brick Factory.
"How can I accept this?! Other gear is one thing, but this exoskeleton is way too expensive!"
Snapping back to his senses upon realizing everyone had pooled their money to buy him gear, Lao Bai shook his head vigorously, refusing outright.
"Don't treat us like strangers," Kuang Feng said, shaking his head. "If we really break down the math, had you not covered our retreat, our losses would've been far worse than two thousand silver coins. By any reasonable measure, we owe you a new set of gear."
"Exactly! That's the truth," Fang Chang agreed with a nod. "Our schoolteacher sure knows how to talk!"
Kuang Feng coughed lightly. "What does that have to do with teaching..."
Lao Bai said, "At least let me cover part of—"
"Cover my ass! We already said we all chipped in to buy it for you, so what are you paying for?" Ye Shi interrupted with a grin. "Of course, if you ever want to gift me some gear, I won't say no."
Listening to his friends, Lao Bai felt a surge of warmth in his chest, rendered speechless for a moment.
Seeing that Lao Bai still wanted to argue, Fang Chang placed a hand on his shoulder and laughed heartily.
"Alright, spare us the mushy stuff!"
"Don't forget what you always say: gear is meant to be used, and tiptoeing around in a game ruins all the fun! Everyone pooled money to buy it for you, so it's yours now. Don't carry it around like a burden!"
Ye Shi chimed in with a grin. "Damn right. There are still four floors left to clear in the greenhouse ruins. We're counting on you to lead the raid!"
Lao Bai's gaze gradually hardened. Taking a deep breath, he gave a firm nod.
"...I won't waste words on pleasantries, but I'll remember this gratitude."
"Everyone, gear up. Our objective is the B6 level of the greenhouse ruins. We roll out in ten minutes sharp!"
Kuang Feng smiled and nodded. "Copy that!"
The players marched toward the wasteland's underground maze, beginning another day of adventure.
At that exact moment, Chu Guang was sitting in the Administrator's office, studying the little gadget in his hand with an amused expression.
It was a compact digital camera that integrated both photo and video recording functions, roughly the size of an ordinary pen.
A grooved clip ran along its side, allowing it to snap neatly onto either end of a VM, or be clipped like a pen to a collar or chest pocket for maximum convenience.
This was a handy accessory Chu Guang had commissioned Yin Fang to craft, designed to interface with the VM.
After turning it over in his hand for a while, Chu Guang felt deeply satisfied, though a twinge of greed couldn't help surfacing.
"This camera is pretty neat."
"Shame it can't make phone calls, though."
"If only it had an instant messaging system built in, that would be even better!"
Chapter 214