A Warehouse Manager Who Knows Farmwork

"Bro, why isn't this electric furnace of yours working very well?" "...Probably not enough power. I'll tinker with it some more and see if I can use this copper wire to build a bigger generator." "Sounds solid, bro!" Leaving the woodworking shed, Chu Guang passed through the industrial area and saw several players in front of the iron-smelting blast furnace, pondering how to improve their steelmaking techniques. The electric furnace modified from scrap seemed to have failed, and the issue appeared to be insufficient power. The two players were discussing how to replicate and build a higher-power generator. It would be great if they succeeded. Silently cheering them on in his heart, Chu Guang, carrying his hammer on his back, walked over to the brick kiln and found Spare the Life Under the Blade directing other players in firing bricks. Ever since Fleeting White Horse switched to a hunter build, the post of construction captain had fallen onto Brother Blade, who had a civil engineering background. "A three-meter-high wall is still too low. We don't know when the marauders' second offensive will come. I'm planning to strengthen the outpost's defenses. Do you have any good suggestions?" Spare the Life Under the Blade hadn't expected the manager to consult him on such an important matter. He was pleasantly surprised at first, then immediately gave it serious thought. "Looking at the marauders' weapons, they mostly rely on Molotov cocktails, thrown objects, and light firearms. While a perimeter wall can physically stop them from breaching our defensive line, it doesn't actually provide us much advantage in an actual firefight!" "My recommendation is that we concentrate building materials to construct three- to four-meter-high bunkers outside the wall, and connect these bunkers with zigzagging trenches!" Hearing the player's suggestion, Chu Guang's eyes lit up. This really was a good idea. Creatures like marauders were much like goblins in fantasy films—neither their firepower nor their melee abilities were very strong, and their advantages lay in intimidation and harassment. Intimidation didn't work on players at all; it only made these maniacs more excited. The only thing that needed to be restricted was their harassment capability. A bunker would provide frontal suppression, while trenches spreading out on the flanks would perfectly limit the marauders' mobility. Once they lost their mobility, were marauders still marauders? They'd just be walking bundles of EXP! Even if they gritted their teeth, breached a defensive gap, and jumped into the trenches, what awaited them would be an even more brutal bloodbath. Failing to hit a target when shooting was a skill issue. Would anyone need to worry about that in a trench bayonet fight? The concept of retreat simply didn't exist in the minds of these players. When their eyes went red with bloodlust, they'd take a few enemies down with them even if they had to blow themselves up. With that in mind, Chu Guang made his decision on the spot. "We'll do it your way. How many men do you need?" Spare the Life Under the Blade calculated in his head and spoke up. "Give me twenty men, and I can have it done in three days! With thirty men, two days at most!" Digging trenches wasn't particularly difficult. With shovels and tools, plus a few Strength-type players, it could probably be done in less than a day. They could dig out the main trench lines first, then gradually reinforce them with timber. As for bunkers... Poured concrete wasn't necessary—that would provide way more defense than needed. Hauling over some hardened concrete blocks from the abandoned construction site, using timber and scrap rebar for beams, and putting together earthen bunkers wouldn't be an issue. Chu Guang nodded. "I'll give you forty men!" "Forty? Isn't that a bit too many?" Spare the Life Under the Blade was taken aback. Chu Guang shook his head. "What we lack isn't people, it's time. A batch of reinforcements will arrive on the surface tomorrow, and I'll hand all those newcomers over to you." A full forty players had gained closed-beta slots in this batch, the largest group so far. With so many new players flooding into the game, he had to give them something to do, lest they run around the base aimlessly like headless flies. It would also let them familiarize themselves with Shelter 404's working-stiff culture. To ensure Spare the Life Under the Blade took the mission seriously enough, Chu Guang paused after speaking, then continued in a solemn tone: "This mission is crucial. I expect you to take it seriously. In addition, your contribution points and rewards will depend on the quality of the fortifications." "If the fortifications you design perform well in the next battle, there will be an extra reward." Although the manager didn't specify what the reward would be, seeing the NPC's solemn, matter-of-fact demeanor, Spare the Life Under the Blade immediately treated it as a hidden quest. Straightening his posture in excitement, he pressed his right fist firmly against the left side of his chest and declared with vigorous spirit: "Mission guaranteed to be completed!" "Very good." Chu Guang nodded with satisfaction. "Use the rest of today to draw up a plan and mark the spots outside the wall. Start construction first thing tomorrow morning." "Go ahead." ... After capturing a scout last night, there had been no movement from the marauders all day today. He had no idea what the Bloodhand Clan was thinking. Were they waiting for his side to attack? Neither the raiding party sent to pillage nor the scouting spy had returned. No matter how slow-witted the other side was, they ought to have realized that those men were never coming back. The hunter squads roaming across the north and east of the wetland park were not only hunting game, but also coordinating with the observation posts to hunt for marauder scouts. Wearing the exoskeleton all the time was rather cumbersome, especially with a massive twenty- to thirty-kilogram hammer slung across his back. Chu Guang walked over to the generator, unequipped his gear, found a cable to plug the KV-1 exoskeleton into the power source to recharge, and then began his patrol of the outpost. At that moment, he noticed two players crouching by a corner near the grain storehouse, murmuring and discussing something. He walked over to take a look. "What are you two doing?" The two players crouching on the ground stood up. "Respected Manager, sir, we thought this stuff looked familiar. It kind of looks like the green wheat we ate before." As he spoke, the player pointed his index finger at several greenish stalks swaying by the edge of the storehouse. To call them stalks of wheat was somewhat generous—they looked more like green bristlegrass. A thin stalk was topped with a small, immature cluster, and beneath the fine hairs on the edges were tiny, sesame-sized, green seeds. Chu Guang had never grown this crop before. In the past, he had only tried growing ram horn potatoes, and had never succeeded. Although he had imported plenty of green wheat, he had never seen where it actually came from, so he couldn't be certain either. Remembering that the outpost happened to have someone who knew the trade, Chu Guang went over to the warehouse, summoned Old Luka—who was standing there familiarizing himself with his duties—and brought him over to the granary. Luka only took a single glance without even needing to crouch down before nodding and saying with certainty: "Master, this is indeed green wheat, and by the looks of it, it's been growing for about half a month. But it wasn't planted at the right time; it looks ready to topple over. Plus, frost fell this morning, and it'll snow in two days at the latest. I'm afraid these shoots won't survive for more than a few days." Holy shit? It really was green wheat? Staring at the precarious shoots on the ground for a moment, Chu Guang figured a few grains must have spilled there when grain was being moved. "You know how to grow this stuff?" "Master, you jest. This old slave has done farmwork for decades... Besides, green wheat isn't actually wheat. It's a mutated crop that came from green bristlegrass, and it isn't hard to grow. With something like ram horn potatoes, you have to wait for them to sprout, cut them into pieces, and coat them in ash. With green wheat, you don't even need that seed-prep step. Just scatter a handful over a patch of ground, and in two or three months a crop will grow, just like weeds," Luka said in a low voice. "It's that amazing?" Chu Guang asked, surprised. "Not particularly amazing, mostly because... this grain isn't anything good. It's usually fed to servants like us. If you'd seen what it looks like right after being harvested, you'd know why I say that. That sour, pungent smell literally smells like weeds. It only gets slightly better after baking under the blazing sun." Chu Guang: "..." Luka glanced cautiously at Chu Guang and continued meekly: "Still, it has its advantages. It grows fast, roots deeply, absorbs nutrients well, resists drought, and can survive as long as the temperature isn't too extreme. It barely needs any tending. The only drawback is that each harvest doesn't yield much; the output is pretty poor." "The heads can be cut off to fill bellies or feed livestock. Burning the stalks into ash and turning them into the soil provides potassium fertilizer, or you can cut them and use them for compost and fermentation... We usually rotate this with other crops." "If there's leftover fertility in the soil—like right after growing something else—you can scatter the seeds and easily harvest four to five hundred jin per mu. If you grow it on its own, the yield is mediocre. The heads stay small, just like the one growing against your wall here. You'd struggle to get even a few dozen jin per mu." "...From what I recall, northern merchants buy a bit of it, and nearby survivor settlements buy some too, but merchants coming from farther south rarely ever buy it." Chu Guang had always wondered what kind of mutant plant green wheat actually was, and now the case was solved. After all this, it turned out to be a mutation of green bristlegrass? No wonder the survivors on Bet Street ground it into flour to make flatbreads or boiled it over high heat into porridge—likely to evaporate more of the oxalic acid. So he had been feeding the players grass all along? Chu Guang's expression turned somewhat subtle. In any case, it was better not to post this piece of intelligence on the official website. "So what crops did you usually grow before?" Chu Guang changed the subject and asked. "A lot of things. Green wheat and ram horn potatoes are the cheapest, available all year round. Fruits and vegetables sell for more, mostly grown in greenhouses. The ones that produce large yields, make good money, and sell easily are red-ribbed leaves. Once dried, they can be used like tobacco leaves. Scavengers and merchants can both afford them, and I've seen people use them as a spice substitute to mask gamey smells. Aside from that, there's another crop called the kam tree, which bears a yellowish-green fruit." "What is that?" Chu Guang immediately asked. Luka shook his head and said: "Master, how would farm owners tell servants like us about such things? I only ever saw merchants from Boulder City coming over and buying them by the crate. Honestly, the stuff isn't good to eat; it chews like tire rubber. But cutting open the bark yields plenty of oil. That's what our generator burns, and it can be used with just a bit of refining." Chu Guang pondered for a moment. "Perhaps that kam fruit wasn't meant to be eaten in the first place." With Luka's level of knowledge, he naturally couldn't understand those words. However, he was smart enough to keep quiet, waiting with a submissive expression, answering only what his master asked. Chu Guang pulled out his small notebook and jotted down a few notes: [1. Wasteland Tip: Brown Farm cultivates a cash crop known as the kam tree. Its fruit is suspected to yield rubber through refining, and its tree oil can serve as fuel.] [2. Faction Intel: Brown Farm conducts frequent trade with the outside world, keeps slaves, stockpiles a certain number of weapons, and intentionally conceals its strength. Its true economic condition and combat capabilities may be somewhat stronger than they appear on the surface. Threat level adjusted from C- to C; faction favorability remains neutral (0).] [3. Faction Intel: Shelter 404 Outpost maintains good relations with the scavengers of Bet Street. Threat level remains E-; faction favorability increased from neutral (30) to friendly (50).] [4. Outpost NPC Added: Warehouse Manager Luka. Old Luka is an agricultural slave with a tragic background who pledged allegiance to the shelter after being saved from the muzzle of a gun by the manager. His dream is an end to hunger across the wasteland. His legs suffer from severe arthritis, so he cannot perform heavy physical labor. Helping him carry supplies might be a good way to raise favorability. Note that acts such as theft will lower his opinion of you. In addition, his wealth of experience with wasteland flora is a valuable asset that may prove extremely useful during the spring plowing season.] For today's website update... These would do for now!