NOVPUB
Chapter 96: Level B2 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 technology tree. After playing thousands of rounds, he finally defeated a few deity-level Artificial Intelligence 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, 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' hall 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: LV8→LV9]
[Attributes]
[Strength: 10→11]
[Agility: 6]
[Constitution: 8]
[Perception: 7]
[Intelligence: 6→7]
[Skills: Wild Instinct]
"Sure enough, one can grow faster by sleeping."
Hehe... 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 skill, Chu Guang felt he could kick some ass.
"It's time to go out and get something to eat."
Oh right, I also have to split up the loot for the players.
Thinking of this, Chu Guang hummed a little tune and walked into the airlock room. He put on the exoskeleton placed there and slung the sledgehammer firmly to his back.
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.
By that time, 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 all, they could earn 2 more copper coins, and those players who had shopping needs would also head to the market before going to find NPCs.
"I don't know whether to say that they are indifferent or strong. One-tenth of their men died yesterday, but no one 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 those 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 you can kill others.”
It was also a first for Hein to see shelter residents like that, but he had seen many strange things. He was slightly surprised, but that was about it.
Since they were still alive, that meant that they weren’t wrong.
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?"
Yaya 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.
Yaya wagged her index finger.
"The small piece 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 Crackleclaw Crab from the warehouse.
Does she mean one chip?
The survivors in Clearspring 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 Yaya's outstretched hand.
However, Yaya shook her head straight after seeing the chips. She hurriedly took out 2 silver coins, and shook them in front of him.
Hein and Lena looked dumbfounded.
They have been to many places, but they have never seen a metal coin such as that.
Seeing that they didn't respond, Yaya sighed helplessly, reached out, and picked up two chips.
"Two chips are equivalent to 1 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 kilograms or less, and the crab meat inside is probably less than one!
Hein's brows twitched, but he couldn't say anything.
After all, he was now living under others’ roofs, so it was better to avoid conflicts.
Damn it! It’s 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 direct attitude, Hein shook his head without saying anything and took a bite of the soft and tender crab meat.
Mmhmm... Well... it is 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 ability users, 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 while standing in the backlines?"
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 men."
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 giant hammer on his back, walked towards the north gate.
When the players saw the administrator, they immediately surrounded him with bright eyes.
Loot!
Contribution points!
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 a real NPC.
Then he announced in a sonorous voice. "I'm going to split up our loot now! The same old rules apply, so I am not going to repeat them."
Reaching the carts piled with loot, Chu Guang picked up a rifled double-barreled shotgun and started doing the work that an NPC should do... He should 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 eighty silver...”
"80 silver coins!"
Chu Guang stared at the person in shock. "...?"
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 again?
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, he could think of it as robbing the rich and helping the poor.
The pace of the auction was very fast, and all fifty main weapons were placed for sale within half an hour.
The remaining bits and pieces were priced at one silver each, 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 fifty pieces of equipment, twenty pieces were unsold, and thirty pieces were sold for a total of 971 silver coins. After deducting 10% of the transaction tax and rounding it down, there ended up being 873 silver coins!
In addition, twenty nine prisoners were also taken into account and they were worth 5 silver coins per person according to the team battle reward rules, which translated into a total of one hundred and 45 silver coins.
Adding on the twenty one veteran marauders killed in the battle, five marauder squad leaders, boss marauder, and a series of side quests such as capturing the stronghold and rescuing the prisoners, the total rewards actually reached four thousand three hundred and 71 silver coins!
In contrast, the funds raised by the auction were small.
All eighty two players participating in the battle could get at least 50 silver coins, and some could even get sixty!
They basically struck it rich overnight!
In terms of the players who died in the battle, apart from the rewards from the loot, there were also pensions specially issued by the administrator.
However, the amount of the pension was not high. Let’s use a player with an Lv1 genetic sequence as an example. Each level could get 1 silver coin per day, so the players of this level could get 3 silver coins in three days.
Lv2 players would get six silver, Lv3 players would get nine silver, and so on.
This didn’t provide much money, but it was better than nothing. Three days later, they would be able to log into the game again.
"Long live the administrator!"
"Fuck yeah! I have a gun now, hahaha!"
"Wuu Wuu, 41 silver coins! I've never been so rich!"
"Hurry up and buy something!"
The Combat Profession players cheered loudly. Holding the silver coins handed out by Chu Guang, they went to spend the money happily.
The eight Lifestyle Profession players who did not participate in the battle cried with envy as they watched from the side. If they knew the rewards were so high, they would've taken their spades and sticks and rushed to the frontline.
Yaya secretly priced her crab legs at 3 silver coins after seeing the auction results.
Lena and Hein, who watched from the side, looked dumbfounded. It took them a while before they swallowed and communicated in low voices.
"What are they doing?"
"It seems to be an auction."
"I don't understand, why do they have to spend money to buy back their own loot? Shouldn't those loots belong to whoever picked them up?"
"I also don't understand it, but I'm shocked."
Hein suddenly had a new understanding of the young ruler. Although he didn't know what methods or spells this man used, this man had clearly mastered the art of ruling to the extreme.
There was nothing commendable about a ruler who was able to make farmers hand in their harvest. After all, anyone was able to load a rifle.
But if a group of farmers was willing, even grateful, to use the coins in their hands to buy back their own harvest...
Probably only the devil had this kind of ability.
In any case, this was the second time that Hein had raised his evaluation and opinion of Chu Guang.
However, Chu Guang did not care how others evaluated him.
Compared to Kiri from Empyrean, Chu Guang felt that he was already a good person. At least he wouldn't scam players, nor would he fool them with a hidden loot drop rate.
Does anyone really think that more money can make players happy?
People who thought that way mostly played too few games. They have never seen a game where players would be rewarded with hundreds of millions and billions of gold coins in every mission. In the end, only the players who are new to those games are satisfied, with the old and loyal players feeling like they were betrayed.
Yes, Chu Guang had been scammed by game companies more than once, so he was very careful when designing the economic system of Wasteland Online.
He knew very well that he was not like those real greedy game publishers, who would sell some divine outfits to milk players dry.
Amidst the cheers of the players, Chu Guang waved his hand, went through the north gate and returned to the nursing home, and took the elevator underground.
The elevator to the level B2 was in the residential lobby of level B1. It was still locked and there were only a few hours left before it would be opened.
Taking advantage of some free time, Chu Guang sat in front of the computer and updated the information he had sorted out from the Bloodhand Diary on the official website for those non-test players.
Then Chu Guang collected the ideas on the forum for a while, and looked over the posts that he didn't have time to read last night like reading memorials.
Some of those ideas were really good, so he decided to add them to the alpha 0.5 version update.
Time passed by quickly, and it was finally two o'clock in the morning.
Seeing that it was almost time, Chu Guang stretched his body and stood up from the chair. He put on the exoskeleton suit again, and put his hammer on his back.
Although the possibility of the first administrator harming him was only one in ten thousand, it was still better to be careful.
"Little Seven, I'm going down now." Little Seven, who had already returned to the corner to charge, raised its camera and nodded happily.
"Mhm. Be careful, master." Chu Guang, who was about to get on the elevator, stopped and looked back at the robot.
"What do you mean be careful? Is something dangerous down there? Or do you know something?"
Being stumped by the series of questions, Little Seven froze for a long time before saying in a dull voice.
"I don't know, hmm... Probably not?"
"Then why do you want me to be careful?"
"Ah?! That... That is just a saying stored in the language database..."
Hmm?! Is that really true?!
"... Come with me."
Looking at Little Seven who stopped talking and rolled next to him, Chu Guang stepped onto the elevator heading to level B2, less worried.
It was not that he was scared. He was just trying to be cautious.
As Chu Guang stepped in, two buttons labeled B1 and B2, as well as authorization boxes, immediately appeared on the originally dark touch screen.
Chu Guang stretched out his index finger and pressed B2 without hesitation.
The door closed lightly, and the elevator began to descend. However, the door opened again in less than three seconds, and a gust of dry and refreshing air rushed through the crack of the door.
There was even a refreshing fragrance to it.
"... Air freshener?" Chu Guang had a weird expression and glanced at Little Seven next to him. "Go explore the place."
"Okay..." The voice sounded weak and even a little upset.
In the end, Little Seven still listened to its master's words, and rolled its wheels sulkily.
Holding the hammer handle behind him in his right hand, Chu Guang walked forward steadily and cautiously stepped into the area that was said to have been unattended for more than a century.
The floor here was very clean. There was no trace of dust, and no creaking sound could be heard when stepping on it.
Not only the floor, but the surroundings were so brand new that there was not even a trace of anyone having lived in the place before.
The elevator was located in the center of the circular lobby, similar to the stage of a circular theater, and the area here was more spacious than the residential lobby on level B1.
There were four gates located in the south, east, north, and west of the lobby. Behind the gates was a straight main corridor and four fan-shaped areas.
There were controllable alloy doors between adjacent partitions, which were usually opened by default. If necessary, the gates could be lowered to isolate the partitions as a whole.
Among them, Zone A was a functional area, and the facilities inside seemed to be quite complicated. Chu Guang intended to leave it and explore later.
The structure of Zone B, C, and D were also very simple. He could guess from the floor plan posted at the entrance that he was on a residential floor.
The densely packed doors and numbers were like pigeon cages, filling the entire corridor. It was roughly estimated that the area of ??each room was only four to five square meters, which was enough for one nurturing cabin and one table. It was less than half of the area of the rooms on level B1.
"Can people really live in this kind of place?" Chu Guang, who was walking in Zone C, was secretly shocked. He opened a room and found that there was only a nurturing cabin in it.
Alright then... Maybe it really isn’t a place for people to stay after all?
"... The room is a bit smaller, but the four-man room has been changed to a standard room, which can be considered as a concern for the players' privacy."
There were two hundred rooms in each partition, and the rooms in Zone C and Zone D were equipped with nurturing cabins. So, there were four hundred rooms in total.
The population limit of the shelter was increased from one hundred to five hundred, and that was undoubtedly good news for Chu Guang, who was in short supply of labor.
With so many spots, it was enough to last him several versions!
The only pity was that the large population was probably not needed in winter.
Come spring... It would be a different story!
As for Zone B, it had a very common configuration. There was only a bed and a foldable table in each room, without so much as a stool.
This should be the living area
Chu Guang thought to himself. However, after he searched all the rooms, he couldn't find a single personal items left behind.
Including the matching bedding, everything was neatly folded, and they looked similar to a tofu block. Even if he used a ruler to measure it, he probably would not be able to find any errors.
"...If someone has ever lived in this place, it wouldn't be this clean."
Just when Chu Guang was thinking like this, he, who walked to the last room on the main corridor in Zone B, was slightly stunned.
Not only did he stop, but Little Seven who was rolling in front of him also stopped.
"Master, there seems to be something on the ground."
"I saw it."
It was a card, and it looked a bit like an ID card.
The card fell in front of the room at the end of the corridor, and it was just below the doorknob... It looked like it was left there on purpose.
Chu Guang stepped forward and picked it up.
The light from the ceiling of the corridor reflected off the white card. Following the hexagonal pattern, Chu Guang could see the metal-like luster, but it was impossible to identify what material it was made of.
There were no photos or names on the card, only a word unclear as to whether it represented occupations or a code name.
"... Guard?" Chu Guang seemed to have understood something.
