Not long after the giant rat riding the "motorcycle" set off with his rat underlings, a pioneer team composed of five hundred refugees had already relocated from the temporary shelter to Changjiu Farm.
Roughly 1,500 refugees currently remained at the temporary shelter.
Winter was now drawing to a close, and the snow was slowly melting, seeping into the soil. They couldn't stay in those cramped, dilapidated buildings forever; it was neither safe nor sanitary, and come spring, it could easily become a breeding ground for germs.
Walking at the front of the refugee column, Jiu Li found Luka waiting by the east gate and shook his hand.
"We were held up a bit on the road. Sorry to keep you waiting."
Luka said gently, "No trouble at all. The road is covered in snow, so it wasn't easy trekking over here. Seeing you all arrive safe and sound puts my mind at ease."
After brief pleasantries, Jiu Li got straight to the point.
"Where do we start? Here? Or somewhere else?"
Last year, their camp had been outside the east gate, destroyed by a blizzard; faint remnants of it could still be seen on the ground today.
Old Luka looked at Jiu Li and said, "Per the Administrator's orders, your homes will be by the west gate. Right now, the urgent priority is solving housing. Bricks, cement, and timber have already been delivered to the construction site, and specialists will guide you on how to build. Once the houses are up, we'll assign you your spring plowing tasks.
"Land will be allocated by household. Two people form a household, allocated ten mu of fields, plus one additional mu for each child in the family. Unmarried individuals aged sixteen and older will receive three mu per person; once married, they'll form a new household and receive ten mu afresh.
"Land ownership belongs collectively to Changjiu Farm. It cannot be transferred or leased out. Inspections will be held every season; violators will have their household registration revoked and their land confiscated.
"For the first three years, we will supply you with seeds and fertilizer. In return, you only need to hand over half the harvest to us. Once the three-year period is up, provided the land hasn't been left barren, the household-allocated fields will be entirely yours to tend, and you will only need to hand over twenty percent of the harvest. Whether you keep the remaining grain for yourselves or sell it to the granary is up to you."
The refugees whispered among themselves, excitement beaming from every face.
"They're providing seeds?"
"And fertilizer too!"
"We only have to hand over half the harvest... That's unbelievable."
Never mind them; Luka himself found it unbelievable.
On the wasteland, allowing tenant farmers to keep twenty percent of the crops was already considered generous.
Yet the Administrator not only allowed them to keep half the harvest, but even generously pledged to provide seeds, fertilizer, and professional guidance for the first three years.
"Refugees are refugees because they are rootless duckweed. The food grown from the land is one thing, but on the other hand, we need land and work to tie them to us, so they don't think about fleeing over every little thing.
"Ten mu contracted per household—based on the five hundred farming households counted, they can plant at least five thousand mu. Not only will these five thousand mu allow over five hundred families to live comfortably, but they'll also provide rations for thousands of people, feeding another group of refugees working in factories to expand production.
"Of the remaining 25,000 mu, part will be managed by the collective farm, primarily tilled by prisoners of war. The rest will be contracted and managed by shelter residents, with all harvested grain purchased centrally by the granary."
Those were the Administrator's exact words.
Luka hadn't fully grasped it all, but it gave him a fresh appreciation for that lord's benevolence.
He genuinely, from the bottom of his heart, hoped these wretched souls could live good lives.
Such a kind heart was truly rare on the wasteland.
After settling Jiu Li and his people and placing tools and construction materials in their hands, Luka left the remaining work to the foremen and guards and returned to the farm alone.
In the office, Wrench, captain of the guard team, was waiting for him.
Currently, Changjiu Farm was short-handed, especially in logistics.
Besides standing guard, the guard team occasionally had to handle communications with the refugees.
According to the Administrator as well, this was a stopgap measure, and reforms would follow later.
After all, to refugees, a crisp black uniform and a large-caliber rifle slung over the shoulder were always far more persuasive than a sheet of paper covered in writing.
Simply put, literacy education was only in its elementary stages; most people could barely recognize a few words, and long regulations were impossible for them to memorize.
Something like the law was far less reassuring to them than a single verbal decree from the Administrator clad in power armor.
That gave them a greater sense of security than anything else.
At least in Qingquan City, that was all the wasteland people recognized.
"The transport route to Yumu District has been restored. Right now, both transport capacity and labor are stretched thin, so we can only guarantee a daily supply of 500 to 800 logs to the farm... and that's on the premise of not disrupting land reclamation."
"The Administrator said land reclamation is priority number one. I'll arrange for people to process these logs; once they're delivered to the farm, just leave them to me."
Luka paused a moment, then continued in a serious tone:
"Additionally, the brick factory has prioritized its production capacity for Changjiu Farm. We need to build at least five hundred houses before the end of the month, as well as ensure the completion of the three collective dormitories in the farm, to fully relocate the refugees from the temporary shelter here."
Wrench hesitated a moment. "Is such a short time enough?"
They still needed to prepare for spring plowing; freeing up that much manpower would likely be very difficult.
However, Luka's reply took him by surprise.
"At first, I also thought this task would be nearly impossible to finish, but the diligence of those shelter residents has exceeded our expectations... The land reclamation tasks they took on are already one-fifth complete. In a week at most, they'll finish everything remaining.
"The Administrator said that if things look promising, they can clear another ten thousand mu of wasteland before the 20th.
"Counting the ten thousand mu assigned to the prisoners of war, finishing the thirty-thousand-mu reclamation task before spring plowing won't be a problem at all.
"That way, the saved manpower can all participate in housing construction, and refugee resettlement can speed up."
With that, Luka unfolded a blueprint.
On it was drawn a brick-and-timber house. The overall shape was square and boxy, completely unremarkable in appearance, yet it had all the necessary design elements.
"These are row houses designed by the shelter residents. Each household gets thirty-six square meters. It's a hybrid brick-and-wood structure that requires relatively few building materials, while thermal insulation and safety are quite reliable."
Wrench stared at the blueprint for a while. Though he didn't fully understand it, his intuition told him that these houses really did use far fewer bricks and cement than the brick houses inside the farm.
After a long while, he couldn't help sighing with emotion:
"My highest respect and gratitude go out to these honorable people."
Luka nodded with equal emotion. "We truly must thank them. They've sacrificed so much."
War, natural disasters, famine, disease...
Even compared to the hardest days of the past, this year's harsh winter had undoubtedly been on hell mode.
Without those blue jackets, let alone the refugees from outside, hardly anyone in the entire northern suburbs would have survived this winter.
This winter, not a single person had starved to death, and they had even celebrated an abundant New Year.
It was practically unimaginable.
Of course, for Luka himself, his gratitude was much simpler.
If not for the Administrator's chip, he would probably have died long ago under some guard's gun.
He didn't understand grand philosophies, and to this day he still didn't comprehend what the Administrator meant when telling him: "Stand up, no kneeling."
Luka knew only one thing: his life had been saved by him.
Then this life belonged to him.
...
Night.
The caravan heading toward Boulder City settled down in an abandoned office building.
After clearing out the gnawers from the lobby to the corridor, they came to the second floor of the building.
Tying a tripwire to the exit of the emergency staircase, the caravan guard tasked with escorting Qian Lai and the others back to Boulder City walked over to Xu Shun and Fang Chang, saying to the two:
"This is our safehouse on the edge of the Fourth Ring Road. We'll rest here for the night and continue at daybreak."
His name was Luo Guang. He had risked his life working for Liszt for five or six years, making him a veteran employee of the caravan.
The other two guards had worked for two years each. The one with a submachine gun slung across his chest was named Wang Zhong, and the one with bandages wrapped around his right arm was called Kaiya—all details Fang Chang had learned by asking Xu Shun.
Before arriving here, the group had been ambushed by a band of marauders, and that unlucky fellow Kaiya had taken a bullet to the right arm.
Those goblins lurking in the ruins always popped out unexpectedly and opened fire without a word, making no effort to hide their raw desires.
Everyone present wore shaken, unsettled expressions, save for one person whose face was entirely nonchalant, acting as if nothing had happened.
That person was Fang Chang.
Wasn't running into bandits while trading standard RPG common sense?
If the devs gave you guns, they'd naturally give you occasions to shoot them.
Standard play, no need to hype it up.
He didn't find it strange in the slightest; instead, he thought that mob had been absolute trash.
"Safehouse?"
Xu Shun glanced around, looking at the mold in the corners and the mat formed by mutant slime mold, failing to see how this place was safe at all.
Standing beside him, Qian Lai grinned.
"Don't be nervous. Those gnawers won't spring up out of the floorboards, and even if there's a small incubator on the roof, a giant swarm won't just appear out of nowhere. Handled properly, gnawers wandering the corridors actually serve as our cover."
There were at least a hundred gnawers in the ground floor lobby; on their way up, they had only taken down a dozen or so, leaving a whole crowd behind.
If marauders planned to sneak up on them, they'd have to clear out the gnawers from the lobby to the emergency stairwell just like they did.
Even if those marauders didn't fire a single shot and executed the gnawers in close combat, the thud of heavy bodies hitting the floor would still be heard by those on the second floor.
As long as someone stood guard near the emergency exit, safety was essentially guaranteed.
Qian Lai patiently said to these two rookies who had never traveled far from home, "Lighting an open flame here is dangerous, so I'm afraid we'll have to spend the night in the dark. Did you bring dry rations?"
Xu Shun replied, "Yes."
Qian Lai nodded. "Good. There's no place to build a fire and cook here."
The caravan's dry rations consisted of nutrient paste; while they also had wheat cakes, they were frozen rock-hard and no one wanted to eat them.
Xu Shun pulled out a steamed bun warmed against his chest, reached into his backpack, and took out pickled vegetables kept in a jar. Slitting open the steamed bun with a small knife, he spooned some pickles inside, then popped it into his mouth and took a bite.
The surrounding caravan guards watched him curiously, whispering among themselves.
"Why is that bread white?"
"What a weird food."
"I've seen it at their market... but it was crazy expensive. A lump of it actually cost four chips!"
Hearing this, the other two guards looked stunned, their gazes toward Xu Shun tinged with unanimous envy, as if looking at a tycoon.
Four chips for a single meal!
That was far too luxurious!
Fang Chang ate a stuffed bun and quickly polished it off. Walking over to sit by the window, he pulled a small notebook from his pocket and looked down at it by the faint moonlight outside.
It was covered in dense, small writing—all his observations along the journey, which he planned to post on the forum once he logged off later.
Conditions inside Qingquan City were vastly different from the northern suburbs.
They had run into at least two marauder ambushes along the way.
The first time was five people firing wildly at them with pipe rifles, but three were quickly taken down and the remaining two fled in disarray.
The second time, more people showed up—twelve spotted in total, equivalent to a ten-man squad.
Sitting against the wall, Kaiya treated his wound with alcohol, cursing under his breath:
"Those motherfuckers! Bullying the weak and fearing the strong!"
Xu Shun looked at him and asked, "Why are there so many marauders?"
Kaiya muttered, "They're everywhere. In those empty buildings, who knows which window has a pair of eyes hiding behind it? Places bullets can't reach don't stop eyes from watching. Ten to one, they've had their eyes on us from the moment we entered the city."
Xu Shun grew alert. "Then if they surround us..."
Kaiya gave a dry chuckle.
"Relax, buddy. Not every marauder ends up like the Bone Chewer Tribe, just like not every cancer cell turns into a tumor. At least a third of these marauders used to be mercenaries. They either killed their employer or screwed over their comrades, couldn't go back to Boulder City, couldn't summon the courage to start a new life, and finally just went all in and turned into bandits. What kind of competence do you expect from scum like that?"
Wang Zhong chimed in from the side, "Our luck was pretty decent. The ones we ran into were only running petty rackets. If they were dealing in big business, it'd be trouble."
Xu Shun: "...What do you mean?"
"Exactly what it sounds like." Pinching out a projectile with tweezers, Kaiya waved it in front of him, grimacing in pain. "Steel ball, about 6mm... Thank goodness. If it were lead, this arm would probably be done for."
Wang Zhong joked with a grin, "Wouldn't that be great? You could swap in a mechanical arm."
Kaiya rolled his eyes. "Give me a break, I can't afford that."
Expensive gear like that wasn't something someone like him could dream of.
Liszt's relationship with most people here was temporary employment; only a select few could become core employees and serve the caravan for life—which was precisely what drove them to strive.
Watching the intermittent subtitles appearing on his VM, Fang Chang pondered for a long time, then added another entry in his notebook under the moonlight:
[...Mercenary is a very common profession in Boulder City, with most practitioners coming from impoverished families.]
[At the same time, a private armed forces market with severe oversupply has led to cutthroat competition in the mercenary trade. The vast majority of mercenaries must risk their lives for meager pay just to make a living, which is also the root of Qingquan City's chaos...]
[Or at least one of them.]
Closing the notebook in his hands, Fang Chang was about to log off when, for some reason, a faint intuition suddenly prickled his mind.
It was as if something was watching him.
Slipping his pen into his pocket, Fang Chang's hand unconsciously moved toward the mechanical compound bow leaning against the wall.
After his Awakening, he had 7 points of Perception.
While not high compared to Perception-type players, it amounted to 140% of an ordinary person's intuition.
Combined with the experience accumulated in battle, his practical perception of danger was no weaker than that of a low-level Perception-type newbie.
Noticing the movement of his hands, Luo Guang cast an inquiring look his way.
"Spot something?"
Fang Chang couldn't understand what he was asking, but could guess the gist from his expression, so he gave a silent nod.
The three guards and Xu Shun immediately grew alert, gripping their weapons tightly, while Qian Lai shrank back toward a safer spot.
He had a clear assessment of his own combat capability, and he also trusted that these people could handle the marauders without him needing to lift a finger.
Everyone stood on quiet alert.
Just then, Fang Chang's hands moved.
Raising his mechanical compound bow, an explosive arrow nocked on the string, he silently counted down a few seconds before cleanly letting loose a shot toward the window across the corridor.
Crossing dozens of meters, the moment the arrow flew out the window, a burst of fire detonated with a boom. Steel balls packed inside the paper casing zipped through the air, and soon a wretched wail and the heavy thud of a body hitting the ground came from outside.
"Ambush!"
"It's marauders!"
Kaiya rushed toward the window directly ahead, while the other two covered the corridor and the emergency exit door.
Without using the elevator, that was the only way up.
Hearing the firefight, marauders downstairs immediately charged up.
Standing at the entrance of the corridor with his submachine gun raised, Luo Guang sprayed fire at the marauders rushing in. Two were killed on the spot, while another managed to duck behind cover and tried to return fire. But before he could fire more than two shots, an arrow lodged in his forehead, and his pupils dilated as he fell backward.
Just as Xu Shun aimed and prepared to shoot, Fang Chang had already put his compound bow away.
The battle was over.
"Three little lackeys didn't come up!"
Standing by the window, Kaiya propped his rifle and fired two shots at their retreating figures. Seeing they were out of range, he pulled back his muzzle and spat.
"Dammit, those motherfuckers got away!"
Carefully approaching the emergency staircase exit, Luo Guang confirmed the marauders had retreated before crouching down to inspect the corpses.
"...Probably the same batch we ran into during the day. They've been tailing us."
Kaiya couldn't help swearing, "What the hell do these idiots want?"
Wang Zhong joked with a grin, "Maybe they're lightheaded from hunger."
A few chuckles broke out.
Though it had been a close shave without casualty, it had still set everyone's nerves on edge.
Luo Guang patted Kaiya's shoulder.
"We still have some ground to cover tomorrow, and we should reach Boulder City around noon. I'll get some sleep first and relieve your shift in the second half of the night."
Kaiya gave him an assuring look. "Got it, Boss."
Fang Chang returned to sit by the window. Once he confirmed the crisis was resolved, he calmly looked at his notebook, stuffed it back into his pocket, closed his eyes to summon sleepiness, and prepared to log off.
Xu Shun walked over and sat down beside Fang Chang.
Naturally, the Administrator had instructed him that whenever his residents slept, he must stand night watch diligently and not allow anyone to approach.
Luo Guang glanced at Fang Chang with his eyes closed, then at Xu Shun sitting beside him, asking in a low voice:
"Is he asleep?"
Xu Shun nodded. "Yes."
As agreed, Fang Chang would relieve his shift around 3 a.m., and during this time he wouldn't wake up.
"Enviable mental fortitude," Luo Guang muttered with a grin. "I was just about to tell him those two arrows were beautiful shots."
Among the mercenaries of Boulder City, few would choose bows or crossbows if given a choice. After all, the damage output was inconsistent, and maintenance was far harder than for firearms.
Only certain Awakened, considering their limits, chose weapons that better leveraged their physical advantages.
Even then, most favored thrown weapons.
Throwing knives, javelins, and grenades were the three most common.
Though not as sharp-eyed as Captain Han Long, Luo Guang was now certain in his heart that this sleeping expert was an Awakened!
Xu Shun nodded. "I'll pass that along when he wakes up."
Luo Guang gave an "all good" gesture, pulled his cap over his face, leaned against the wall, and was snoring in no time.
The room fell quiet, as if the previous battle had never happened.
Xu Shun checked his VM.
Signal was completely gone by this point; the only signal detectable was the short-range broadcast from Fang Chang's device.
*Edge of the Fourth Ring Road... If we can reach Boulder City tomorrow, this spot should be right in the middle.*
Xu Shun murmured to himself and placed a marker on the map.
This vicinity could serve as a signal relay station, and caravans traveling from the northern suburbs to Boulder City could also lodge here.
However, with marauders active nearby, caution was essential.
...
The night passed without incident.
The next morning, the group resumed their journey.
As they drew closer to Boulder City, Fang Chang unconsciously quickened his pace, the excitement in his heart beyond words.
Boulder City, which had lived only in the setting guides on the official website!
The largest survivor settlement in Qingquan City!
Soon, he would confirm with his own eyes what kind of surprise the development team had prepared for the players!
Rounding a street corner and standing on a straight, twelve-lane elevated expressway, the excitement on Fang Chang's face gradually gave way to shock.
A towering mega-wall, a full twenty stories high, rose like a dam between two skyscrapers that pierced the clouds.
The oppressive majesty of a colossal construct washed over him.
Even from a kilometer away, it could be felt with stark clarity!
"Seeing that great wall means you're looking at Boulder City. The rest of the road will be much easier," Qian Lai said, a relieved smile spreading across his face. "Finally, warm mattresses to sleep on. You can stay at my place. It isn't big, but the environment is definitely much better than an inn!"
Equally shaken by the sight before them, Xu Shun couldn't help asking:
"How many tons of cement did that take?"
Qian Lai laughed. "Who knows? And it isn't all cement inside either—probably mixed with garbage and discarded concrete chunks. In any case, it has quite a history. This mega-wall was built mainly to counter the threat of mutants and the 'Tide,' though to be fair, the Tide hasn't threatened the base of Boulder City's walls in a very long time."
Xu Shun: "Incredible!"
"It truly is incredible. But I heard this settlement was modeled after Ideal City... though the scale is nowhere close."
Having said that, Qian Lai squinted into the distance and paused, a hint of longing showing in his eyes as he looked toward the wall.
"I hope I can visit Ideal City one day."
Xu Shun: "...Ideal City?"
Qian Lai: "Yeah. Our boss went there once and said it's the place on the entire wasteland closest to pre-war society... Though I bet he doesn't know what pre-war society was really like either."
Xu Shun couldn't quite fathom it.
Growing up in the northern suburbs, "pre-war" was a very vague concept to him.
He had only heard that people back then had endless honey to eat and milk to drink, and clean water was so abundant they could drink one bottle and toss another.
Meanwhile, pop cans, glass bottles, and other treasures scavenged from the wasteland were worthless trash back then that nobody would spare a glance.
Conversely, those intimidating high-rises were treasures they scrambled after.
Everything about the Era of Prosperity seemed completely inverted compared to this era.
Fang Chang wasn't paying attention to the subtitles anymore. Putting on the earphones the Administrator had given him, he snapped a dozen photos of Boulder City in excitement.
Though he was outside communications range and couldn't send the photos back, it didn't matter.
He could save them in his VM's photo album first!
After all, this was an opportunity he had paid 250 silver coins for; he couldn't let it go to waste.
Once he returned, he was definitely going to make quite a splash with these pictures!
Chapter 246