Chapter 26

"The leaves withered and turned yellow, the temperature dropped, and an unprecedented crisis was approaching.

"This winter will be harsher and come earlier than in previous years... We don't have much time left to prepare.

"From now on, we must seize every minute, even every second! We must prepare for the cold wave before the situation gets completely out of hand!

"The mission panel has been updated, listing the necessary supplies, the facilities that need to be completed, and the corresponding rewards.

"Remember, only by uniting can we overcome this crisis!

"The harsh winter is coming.

"This is a test of fate for all of us!

"In the residents' hall of the shelter, an inspiring voice echoed.

"Facing the players' spirited gazes, Chu Guang delivered an impassioned speech, officially opening the pre-release of the first expansion pack of the game—'The Harsh Winter is Coming.'

"As the new chapter began, the atmosphere at the 404 Shelter Outpost and the game's official website began to change.

"Not just the players.

"Even Chu Guang himself could feel a sense of urgency in the gradually cooling air.

"The outpost's supplies were never particularly abundant, and the population had surged from 6 to 30, a fivefold increase!

"The sudden population growth brought more labor, but it also multiplied the pressure on the outpost's supplies.

"To feed the thirty mouths that were about to arrive, Chu Guang had been working tirelessly, almost from morning till night, leading Night Ten, who had a perception gene sequence, to hunt all over the place to stockpile more food.

"For a time, the entire Linghu Wetland Park was in turmoil.

"However, the results were quite impressive.

"In three days, Chu Guang had killed over ten mutated hyenas and caught countless wild rabbits and squirrels using traps.

"Although they were mutants, they were still edible.

"Moreover, Night Ten, responsible for vigilance and reconnaissance, had successfully leveled up from LV0 to LV1, and Chu Guang himself felt that he was on the verge of a breakthrough.

"However, the Administrator gene sequence was too special.

"Chu Guang had yet to figure out the key to leveling up and could only confirm through the health check equipment that the development progress of the gene sequence had increased slightly.

"On the other side, the other players also performed exceptionally well, even to the point of each showing their unique skills.

"Old Bai and Fang Chang used charcoal as a reducing agent to recover a small amount of iron slag from rusty rebar and car parts through calcination, and added these iron slags to the cement kiln, mixing them with crushed limestone and clay to produce more reliable cement clinker.

"This was a labor-intensive task.

"Whether it was operating the manual blower or transporting stones with the repaired two-wheeled cart, it required a lot of effort.

"However, due to this, Old Bai, who had a strength gene sequence, leveled up again, from LV1 to LV2, with his strength attribute increasing by one point.

"As for Fang Chang, who worked shifts with him, he finally broke through the limit, leveling up from LV0 to LV1.

"However, his increased attribute was not strength but agility.

"It seemed that while the development of the gene sequence followed the 'use it or lose it' rule, the growth of attributes was a different matter.

"Speaking of leveling up, the most unfortunate was probably Wild Wind.

"So far, among the four pre-release players, he was the only one whose gene sequence level was still 0.

"Over the past few days, he had caught many fish with improved traps, but he was still a little short of the 'experience' needed to reach LV1.

"The 'experience' gained from trapping mutants seemed to be less than that from killing them in direct combat.

"Wild Wind was also puzzled by this.

"Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be a good solution for now.

"Besides the four original players, the two new players were also full of enthusiasm and had been busy almost non-stop.

"For example, 'WC Really Has Mosquitoes.'

"This guy wasn't in a hurry to level up and continued to do carpentry work, occasionally helping Old Bai and Fang Chang or repairing Wild Wind's damaged traps.

"Besides these tasks, he was busy with his own projects.

"According to Mosquito, he planned to build a simple wooden cabin to use as his chemistry lab and storage.

"Over the past few days, he had collected many bottles and jars while helping to transport stones from the construction site and placed them next to the wooden cabin.

"Although Chu Guang was skeptical about the safety of such a small wooden cabin, seeing how enthusiastic Mosquito was, he felt it was better not to interfere too much with the players' choices.

"Compared to Mosquito's leisurely pace, 'Tomato and Egg' was a model of hard work.

"As the outpost's chef, he not only had to cook but also help the Administrator process the hunted game.

"This included bleeding, skinning, deboning, slicing, and the crucial step of smoking.

"Since the outpost's salt was too precious to use for smoking, Tomato and Egg adopted the most primitive method.

"That is, using nothing at all.

"He hung the sliced meat on a rebar rack, placed it in a kiln made of clay and bricks, and used charcoal to produce smoke, slowly roasting it to dry out the moisture, and sealed the kiln with pine branches and leaves.

"The smoked meat produced this way was more like dried meat, which could be stored for a while without salt and didn't require any fancy wrapping.

"By the middle of next month, it would be winter.

"At that time, the dried meat could be wrapped in plastic bags or bark and buried in the snow, and it should last until next spring without much problem.

"However, the texture and flavor of the smoked meat produced this way were, to put it mildly, questionable.

"Moreover, Tomato and Egg didn't waste the hides from the mutated hyenas but collected them to make leather.

"Actually, tanning was a complex and tedious process, much more complicated than making dried meat.

"However, the shelter didn't need high-quality, smooth leather; it just needed warm materials for insulation, with no requirements for quality.

"Many unnecessary steps could be skipped.

"Previously, when Old Bai was burning wood ash, the potassium alkali solution filtered out was stored in plastic buckets.

"Tomato and Egg used all this potassium alkali solution as the tanning solution, soaking the raw hides cleaned from the game.

"Once the leather and tannins were fully combined, he hung them on a simple tanning rack to dry, producing a leather of acceptable quality.

"…Respected Administrator, I must report to you that I am really overwhelmed. I desperately need help, even just one person!"

"Taking the freshly killed game from Chu Guang, Tomato and Egg's gaze involuntarily fell on Night Ten.

"He always felt that this guy seemed to be very idle, doing nothing but carrying game for the Administrator.

"Maybe…

"He could give him a hand.

"Night Ten immediately saw what he was up to and waved his hands in refusal.

"Don't look at me, I'm very busy.

"Ha, ha.

"Leveling up with NPCs, where else can you get such free experience?

"He didn't want to learn cooking with this guy!

"Seeing Night Ten's refusal, Tomato and Egg rolled his eyes and muttered to himself.

"Busy my ass!

"Looking at the complaining Tomato and Egg, Chu Guang consoled him.

"Night Ten needs to help me search for game, and his perception of danger is crucial, so I can't let him stay to help you. However, I promise that your problem will be solved soon. Our reinforcements are on the way and will arrive on the surface soon."

"Alright, thanks… If that's the case, that's great."

"Tomato and Egg sighed, paused for a moment, and continued.

"There's another thing. Although I tried tanning, I can only do some basic processing. As for making clothes… I really can't do it."

"Chu Guang smiled and said.

"Don't worry about that. Among the reinforcements arriving soon, there are experts in this field. I will assign the tanning and making of warm clothing to them."

"Not just tailors.

"Among the 24 new pre-release players I selected, there are talents from various fields.

"They may not be experts in their industries, and some are even students, but within their capabilities, they can still be of some use.

"Moreover, we have the internet.

"Chu Guang was full of confidence in these energetic and enthusiastic players. As long as they worked hard, they would eventually be able to move into a bigger house.

"Steady as a rock!"