Chapter 96: The Second Basement Floor of Shelter 404!
Chu Guang had a long, long dream.
This time, it was not a dream about him being hit by a truck after a long day of work, but a dream about him playing Civilization IV in speedrun mode.
He began from a primitive civilization, sending out scouts to scout villages crazily and leveling up his tech continuously… After playing thousands of rounds, he finally defeated a few deity-level AIs and got the scientific victory notice.
But when he opened his eyes, everything was gone.
"Fuck! Can't you let me finish my dream?!"
If he continued to play it, he might even level up to Civilization: Beyond Earth.
He sat up from the bed and stretched, cracking the bones all over his body.
A thought suddenly hit Chu Guang, and he immediately went to the residents' lobby next door and found the medical examination equipment to do a full-body examination on himself.
As he expected, he really leveled up!
[ID: Chu Guang
Genetic Sequence: Administrator
Level: Lv.8 → Lv.9
Basic Attributes
Strength: 10 → 11
Agility: 6
Physique: 8
Perception: 7
Intelligence: 7
Skills: Wild Instinct]
"Sure enough, one can grow faster by sleeping."
So good children should sleep earlier.
After checking the electronic version of the medical report in front of the computer, Chu Guang dragged it into a folder and archived it. He stood up and stretched his arm.
With 220% of a normal adult male’s average strength coupled with the additional buff provided by the "Wild Instinct" attribute, Chu Guang felt he could kick some arse.
"It's time to go out and get something to eat."
‘Oh right, I also have to split the spoils for the players.’
Thinking of this, Chu Guang hummed a little tune and walked into the buffer room. He put on the exoskeleton placed there and hung the sledgehammer firmly behind him.
After everything was ready, he stepped onto the elevator leading to the surface.
It was 5:30 in the afternoon in wasteland time, which was when the outpost was the busiest.
Especially the market at the north gate, which was crowded with players returning from picking up waste.
Although it was snowing again, it did not affect the lively atmosphere here.
Now, players have developed a habit of setting up a stall and selling the things they had collected outside at the north gate. Only when no one was interested in buying them would they sell them to the warehouse.
After doing this, they could earn two more copper coins, and those players who had shopping needs would also come here before going to the NPCs' stores.
"I don't know whether to say that they are indifferent or strong. One-tenth of their people died yesterday, but there was no one who mourned for the dead. No one even set up a decent funeral." Standing at the north gate, Lena looked on with an expression of surprise as she observed these people in blue coats.
She found that there was no trace of sorrow on their faces.
"Indifference and strength do not conflict. The world has become like this. If you are not strong, you will be defeated by yourself before being defeated by others."
It was also a first for Hein to see this kind of shelter resident, but he had seen many strange things, after all, so he was just surprised.
Since it exists, it means it's reasonable.
Moreover, if they were the kind of weak people who indulged in grief, it might be another group of people that stood here.
Attracted by a stall next to him, Hein stepped forward, looked at the Crackleclaw Crab legs on the iron shelf for a while, and asked curiously. "How much is this?"
Ya Ya looked up at the NPC.
Although she didn't understand what he said, she could probably guess by looking at his gestures. He probably wanted to buy her grilled crab legs.
Ya Ya wagged her index finger.
"The small one is 1 silver coin." She hadn't figured out the price for the big one yet. She planned to think about it carefully for a little bit longer. After all, it was not cheap to buy the raw material from the warehouse.
Does she mean one chip?
The survivors in Qingquan City seem to use chips.
"Then I'll have two."
Hein put up two fingers, then took two chips out of his pocket and threw them into Ya Ya's outstretched hand.
However, Ya Ya shook her head straight after seeing the chips. She hurriedly took out two silver coins, and shook them in front of him.
Hein and Lena looked dumbfounded.
They have been to so many places, but they have never seen a metal coin such as that.
Seeing that they didn't respond, Ya Ya sighed helplessly, reached out, and picked up two chips.
"Two chips are equivalent to one silver coin." As she said, she touched two chips and a silver coin, indicating that they were equal. Then she took out a grilled crab leg and handed it to Hein who was standing in front of the stall.
‘2 chips for one grilled crab leg?!’
‘Is she crazy!’
‘I wouldn't mind it that much if it's for the larger one, but this small crab leg is obviously only two kilos, and the crab meat inside is probably less than one kilo.’
Hein's brows twitched, but he couldn't say anything.
After all, he was now living under other people's roofs, so it was better to avoid conflicts.
‘Damnit! So expensive!’
‘In such a rural area, 2 chips can buy a lot of supplies!’
Hein didn't want to buy a second one, but he still looked at his companion and asked politely. "Do you want some?"
Lena didn't talk nonsense. She grabbed half of it with her left hand, neatly broke the crab leg into two with her right hand, and then shook the half in her hand.
"I'll take this."
"..."
Accustomed to this woman's rudeness, Hein shook his head without saying anything, and took a bite of the soft and tender crab meat.
‘Mhm.’
‘I must admit that it's delicious.’
It was just that there were no condiments on the street stall, and it was still far inferior to the meal that Chu Guang invited him to eat two days ago.
And it didn't seem to be that fresh...
After eating the crab meat, Lena licked the juice at the corner of her mouth, looked at the people at the North Gate Market, and abruptly spoke. "What do you think of their strength?"
Hein thought for a while and gave a fair evaluation. "Very strong. Whether it is their ability to handle pressure or other abilities, these people are much better than other shelter residents I‘ve seen before."
"Especially their leader; I am afraid that he is on the verge of awakening… but I don't get it. They are not barbarians who worship brute force. It’s the first time I’ve seen a leader of a force who trains himself to the extent that he nearly awakens. Isn’t it much better to command his people in the rear?"
Halfway through, Hein suddenly noticed the intriguing expression on Lena's face and hesitated for a moment.
"What are you thinking?"
"Not about you anyway," Lena made no secret of what she thought, flicking her hair and speaking bluntly. "I like strong males."
Hein gave her a mocking look, then glanced at the girl grilling crab legs next to him and said. "Look, if even a girl like her is grilling crabs, I don't think that man will be interested in you."
Perceiving Lena's unkind eyes, Hein shrugged and left while making a gesture of surrender, indicating that he was not her opponent...
While the two chatted, Chu Guang, carrying a sledgehammer, walked towards the north gate.
When the players saw the administrator, they immediately surrounded him with bright eyes.
Spoils!
Contribution points!
There is also favorability!
Without waiting for players to say anything to flatter him, Chu Guang raised his right fist majestically and signaled players to gather around like real NPC.
Then he announced in a sonorous voice.
"I'm going to split the spoils!"
"The same old rules apply, so I am not going to repeat them."
Reaching the carts piled with spoils, Chu Guang picked up a rifled double-barreled shotgun and started doing the work that an NPC should do - appraise the equipment!
"... This is an 18mm caliber double-barreled shotgun. His previous owner was the leader of the Bloodhand Clan, Bear. Although like Cha, he had done evil all his life and was eventually sent to hell by the hammer of justice, his weapon is innocent. There is a bear engraved on the wooden stock. The writings below may be inaccurate, but it's not important. Marauders are not educated people anyway."
"Now we begin the bidding. The starting price is 40 silver coins, and the highest price is 80 silver—”
"80 silver coins!"
Chu Guang: "...?"
The players around who were ready to call out their prices all cursed loudly.
"Fuck!"
"It's this guy again!"
"He's too damn fast!"
Chu Guang was also speechless.
Originally, he thought that except for the barrel of this broken gun, which was made of good steel, there was nothing good about it. So, he casually gave it a price that was neither high nor low.
But he didn't expect that it would still be sold out in a second.
However, looking at the regretful expressions on the faces of other players, he understood in an instant.
"Tsk, I'm careless... Boss's equipment has a collection value."
What was that called?
Anyway, it's a weapon with a name!
Despite feeling regretful, Chu Guang didn't take it too seriously.
He wasn’t a man who would be bothered by such trivial matters.
Besides, there were five weapons of the five squad leaders here. He could easily make up some stories about them and sell those weapons at high prices.
Anyway, this could be regarded as robbing the rich and helping the poor.
The pace of the auction was very fast, and all fifty main weapons were sold within half an hour.
The remaining bits and pieces were priced at 1 silver each piece, and players could choose at will. If there were still some left, the rest would be priced at 1 copper coin each and pulled to the warehouse and sorted slowly.
Of the 50 pieces of equipment, 20 pieces were unsold, and 30 pieces were sold for a total of 971 silver. After deducting 10% of the transaction tax and rounding it down, there ended up being 873 silver!
In addition, 29 prisoners were also counted as 5 silver coins per person according to the team battle reward rules, which translated into a total of 145 silver coins.
Adding on the 21 veteran marauders killed in the battle, 5 marauder squad leaders, 1 boss marauder, and a series of side quests such as capturing the stronghold and rescuing the prisoners, the total rewards actually reached 4371 silver coins!
In contrast, the funds raised by the auction were small.
All 82 players participating in the battle could get at least 50 silver coins, and some could even get 60!
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