Chapter 72: Guano Business
This was the second snow that Qingquan City has ushered in since September. And very coincidentally, just in time for the players to change shifts. As soon as many people pushed the door, they saw the silvery white smudges scattered beside the torch.
"It's only late September... Winter is coming too early."
"Yeah, it is indeed too early."
"According to my rational analysis, perhaps the orbital debris in outer space blocked part of the sunlight, causing the planet to absorb insufficient heat. Coupled with the rapid decline of civilized activities caused by the war, the luxuriant vegetation weakened the greenhouse effect..."
"Can this game be so real?"
"That depends on the game settings. Anyway, doesn't the setting of the official website say that they even had a war in outer space? So why is it not possible?
"Damn..."
At the north gate, there was a knock at the gate.
After confirming that it was friendly, the guard on the wall signaled the player next to the gate to lift the latch to let the people outside in.
Chu Guang looked towards the north gate.
He saw a strength type player and a perception type player carrying a man who had been tied up and missing an ear walking in quickly. When they arrived before him, they threw the man to the ground in front of him.
What was also thrown on the ground was the corpse of a mutant hyena.
"Dear administrator, we found this guy near the Viaduct observation point in the north!"
Both players had injuries on their bodies, but the man was obviously injured more severely. There was a broken arrow stuck in his knee, and he was grinning in pain.
The man lying on the ground couldn't understand what the two people behind him were saying. He raised his head in panic and begged Chu Guang for mercy.
"Sir, sir, I am a scavenger nearby, I don't know where I offended you."
"Scavengers won't be out at this time."
"I-I accidentally delayed a while..."
Ignoring this weak excuse, Chu Guang took out 5 silver coins from his pocket and handed them to the players, asking them to divide it by themselves. He then leaned down and looked at the man, using his index finger to hook up the necklace on the man’s neck.
There was a human finger bone strung there.
And it looked like an index finger.
In the Bloodhand clan, skulls were "royal" vessels for the leader, and fingers were the favorite decorations of most marauders.
They would cut off the index fingers of the captives, dried them, and made them into bracelets, necklaces, pendants and even bone armor, showing off their bravery and barbarism.
Throwing away the oily necklace in disgust, Chu Guang straightened his body blankly.
He didn't look at the man whose face had already turned pale, but looked at the two players.
"Marauder."
"Send him to the gallows."
The two players respectfully said.
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
They only brought the man back alive just because the rewards for doing so were higher. Players were no stranger to the administrator’s method of dealing with the marauders.
So, after hearing the order to send the man to the gallows, they didn’t look surprised at all.
But the person who was about to be hanged had a different mentality.
As if he had guessed his own destiny, the hysterical wailing and begging for mercy were dragged all the way to the north gate, adding a bit of fear and blood to the bleak woods outside the gate.
Then the voice and the sin came to an abrupt end.
The north gate closed again, and the two players dragged the corpse toward the morgue.
Standing in front of the nursing home, Chu Guang didn't have the slightest pity in his heart. He even yawned. He watched the extractor's stove start to run, and turned to the nursing home's elevator.
It was already twelve o'clock in the morning.
He had to get up at six tomorrow.
The enthusiasm of these players to go online was higher than expected, and Chu Guang felt that his biological clock was about to be messed up.
...
The snow didn't fall much, but it lasted for a long time. It didn't stop until 5 o'clock the next morning.
There was a layer of hoar frost on the ground. Stepping on it would make a crispy sound. When the sun rose, it disappeared completely, as if it had never been there before.
"It seems that there were fewer mutants in the city this evening."
"Is it because of snow?"
"I guess so. They might be hiding because of the cold weather, but those Crunchers do not seem to be affected. I saw them walking out of the community and wandering around the street until four or five o'clock before moving back slowly."
"Do you remember where they came from?"
"Yes, I'll go offline for a meal first, and post the location map on the forum later."
"Old Brother, you are really steady!"
Players who returned from their shift from the observation point talked to other players in the square of the base, and Chu Guang, who was standing at the entrance of the nursing home, caught these voices.
Because there was no radio, these players usually exchanged information on the square, especially during the peak period of online and offline time.
For Chu Guang, this was another good channel for obtaining information besides forums.
These players were like his eyes.
However, he still had things to do later, and it was impossible to stay here forever.
He had to make another trip to Brown Farm before the road was blocked by the heavy snow and get some supplies back. This time he prepared a new trade product—struvite.
At Brown Farm, it should be able to sell for a good price.
"Administrator, the materials you ordered are ready, and we can set off at any time!"
[The_Escaping_Mole], dressed in a hyena fur coat, walked over with an excited expression.
He had a 7mm bolt-action iron-barreled rifle temporarily given to him on his back, a nail-studded stick and a short knife tied to the left side of his waist, and a Molotov cocktail filled with wood tar tied to the right. He now looked more and more like the native people on the wasteland.
However, he hasn't grasped the essence of one yet.
After Chu Guang tried so many weapons, the one he liked to use the most was still the steel water pipe.
Nodding his head, Chu Guang said.
"You guys wait for me."
With that, Chu Guang turned back to the shelter and walked out wearing the KV-1 exoskeleton, putting the Nitrogen-powered hammer drawn from the system on his back.
Seeing the administrator's outfit, the surrounding players’ eyes widened in amazement.
"Damn, this hammer is so cool!"
"So awesome! Did I miss any plot? When did our NPC change equipment?"
"I don't know, maybe it's already in the shelter... Doesn't the official website say that the underground shelter is a huge cryo-hibernation facility? Maybe there is an equipment warehouse?"
"Dammit! I really want one too!"
"Stop dreaming, the NPC's equipment is just for you to see. But I'm curious if this thing really is useful in the face of bullets."
"You're really stupid. If you haven't seen great armor, it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist. Maybe this thing can be used with other things."
"Now the atmosphere suddenly feels like cyberpunk."
"What cyberpunk, this is wasteland punk!"
"I know, I’m just memeing, if you take it too seriously, then it will only make you look very dumb."
As a diligent NPC, Chu Guang neither went to stop them from memeing in the game, nor did he pay attention to their excited exchanges. He fulfilled his duties and walked to the prepared caravan.
Previously, Chu Guang had spoken to [WC_really_has_mosquitoes] in the form of giving out a mission, asking him to design a medium-distance transportation vehicle with a cargo capacity of more than five tons.
Facts had proved that as long as it was to produce tools within the scope of normal people's understanding, this guy's technique was quite reliable.
The whole caravan was 2.5 meters long and 1 meter wide, and the space inside was quite sizable. The chassis was also made of simple shock absorbers with springs, so there was no problem for transporting both people or goods.
Taking into account the rain and dust, the roof was covered with two layers of picked-up tarpaulins. The front and rear doors also had curtains.
In this way, even if it was rainy, there was no need to worry about the contents getting wet, which could be said to make it a great vehicle.
The only fly in the ointment was that the outpost did not not have cows or mules, so players could only pull it temporarily.
"Let’s go!"
Following Chu Guang's order, this caravan composed of 6 players and 1 NPC, and under the enviable eyes of other players, left the south gate of the outpost and moved in the direction of Brown Farm.
It was different from last time.
This time, there was such a big move that it would inevitably attract the attention of some mutants.
This especially applied to ones such as mutant cockroaches that were as big as puppies and mutant flies the size of a washbasin. These insect mutants seemed to have lost their fear of humans after they mutated, and emerged from the shadows when they heard the ruckus.
However, these players were no longer new to the game, especially after experiencing that battle, having been able to do well when facing the enemy.
Chu Guang didn't take any action at all, simply sitting behind them and watching the players use knives, guns, sticks and rocks to take out these wild monsters.
If there were mutants that they couldn't deal with, or other high-threat targets, he would naturally take action.
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