Chapter 31

At the construction site on the old sanatorium grounds.

Dust billowed, the sound of hammering never ceased, and the clanging of unloading echoed, creating a bustling scene of intense activity.

These players seemed to have boundless energy and enthusiasm, pushing wheelbarrows scavenged from the abandoned site, carting stones one after another to the cement kiln, where they were crushed with hammers and then poured into the kiln to be calcined into coarse cement.

Players crouched nearby vigorously pumped the bellows, striving to make the fire in the kiln burn hotter. Not far away, the charcoal kiln was in constant operation, and a bit further, there were earth ovens for smoking meat and fish, with rising smoke and noise even driving away the birds from the trees.

The players worked together, mixing the cement with sand and water to form a thick slurry, and soon the foundation of the first section of the wall was completed.

The blue smoke rose and merged into a continuous stream.

This place was like a newborn tribe, young and full of vitality.

Handing over the construction site to the civil engineering expert "Spare the Blade," Lao Bai and Fang Chang had already started researching "primitive steelmaking."

Meanwhile, Kuangfeng had improved the fish traps, using the larvae of mutated leeches as bait, easily catching over a dozen fish a day. The excess was handed over to Brother Chao Dan to be made into fish jerky.

The aquatic life in the lake was even more abundant than he had imagined.

The only thing to note was that the bait in the traps should not be too much, and the water level should not be too deep, otherwise, large fish could easily damage the traps.

But these were minor issues.

As long as they mastered the techniques, everything would become more proficient, and the process itself was full of fun.

The same went for the new players.

They didn't even need to seek it out; everything here was so novel to them, something they could hardly experience in modern society.

Many people spent their entire days in the office, repeating monotonous tasks that anyone could do, losing themselves in trivial matters.

But it was different here.

This difference was not just a fleeting novelty but a sense of fulfillment from realizing one's self-worth.

A civil engineering dog who had worked on construction sites for five or six years without making it to management could be hailed as a master and given important tasks by simply saying, "I'm an engineer."

And the workers who mixed cement and plastered walls on construction sites.

Most players were ordinary people, and the jobs they did in reality might not be particularly noteworthy, but here, as long as they had a skill, even if it wasn't outstanding, they could gain collective recognition.

And the surface outpost of the shelter was improving visibly due to the efforts of each and every one of them.

In Maslow's hierarchy of needs, this was the highest level of need, transcending any base pleasures and bringing a spiritual joy that no other pleasure could match.

The most crucial point was that achieving this did not require a significant cost. Even if the muscles ached, it was the character in the game who was tired, not affecting their real-life the next day.

On the contrary, they would be more energetic the next day because they went to bed early.

All of this was what Chu Guang speculated when he saw the players working enthusiastically upon returning to the outpost with his loot.

Of course, he couldn't possibly know what the players were thinking.

For the administrators, such things were not important and didn't matter.

As long as the number of reservations always exceeded the number of players on the list, there was no need to worry about a lack of new players to sweat and toil.

Quit the game?

AFK?

The same old line: please pass the helmet and account to someone who needs it and try a more primitive gaming method.

Getting back to the point.

The results of this outing were quite impressive.

Two 5mm iron pipe rifles, 62 rounds of 5mm ammunition, and three unsearched backpacks.

These were all found on the two raiders and the unfortunate victim they had been chasing.

Chu Guang, who disliked waste, collected everything, including the mutated hyena that had been shot in the neck.

Domestication did not affect its taste; to Chu Guang, it was just another mutant.

He handed the mutated hyena to Brother Chao Dan, the chef, and then started searching the backpacks with Night Ten and Trash Man.

"Matches, a compass, a map, and... some jerky? And some plastic chips? What's written on this thing?"

Hearing Night Ten's mutter, Trash Man, who was not very dexterous, also came over and picked up one of the chips to examine it closely.

"Looks a bit like casino chips."

"Give me the plastic chips, I have a use for them."

Chu Guang calmly confiscated the twenty or so white "plastic chips," as they were of no use to the players.

Then, he looked at the jerky in Night Ten's hand.

"... I wouldn't eat that jerky if I were you."

Night Ten, who was about to take a bite, paused.

"Why?"

Chu Guang thought for a moment and used a tactful approach.

"Raiders usually don't have a refined palate, and you can't be sure what kind of meat this is."

Trash Man hadn't reacted yet, but Night Ten had already thrown the jerky away and started feeling queasy.

Even in the game, he couldn't accept certain settings.

Seeing Night Ten's reaction, Chu Guang suddenly became curious about what the players were thinking and asked Trash Man.

"What does it feel like to kill someone?"

Trash Man paused, scratching his head.

"Didn't notice..."

What feeling could a game provide? He had played more violent games before.

The blood effects in this game weren't particularly exaggerated, so he hadn't paid much attention at the time.

But...

When he rushed forward and thrust the spear into the last raider's chest, and the blood splattered on him, he suddenly felt a craving for food.

It was like a biological instinct.

Chu Guang looked at this "lizard man" with some surprise, not expecting the player's psychological resilience to be so good.

Was it the dream that dulled the sense of death?

Or did the players view this world through a filter that he didn't understand?

He wasn't sure.

After all, Chu Guang didn't design this device, and he hadn't used the players' helmets, so he didn't know if the world they saw was the same as the one he saw.

It seemed he would need to chat more with the players in his role as a planner...

...

By five o'clock in the afternoon, the northern wall of the sanatorium had been largely repaired.

It had to be said, these players were geniuses.

Chu Guang even felt that he, as an NPC, was superfluous.

Some talents, though not listed on the attribute panel, were ingrained in their bones. Give them a piece of land, and by tomorrow, it would be a field.

Even if the server reset and the world was destroyed tomorrow, they could rebuild it brick by brick.

The treasures on the construction site were not just the grayish stones but also the cement blocks piled up in mountains, wrapped in burlap.

These were too heavy for ordinary survivors to carry or use, so they had remained in their original state since the nuclear war.

Although the cement had hardened and could not be mixed with sand to pour the foundation, it could be used as bricks to build walls, which was much better than the yellow mud bricks made by Lao Bai.

Under the leadership of "Spare the Blade," the players drove pine logs, cut to about four or five meters, into the ground, stacked the cement blocks from the construction site in the middle, inserted stolen rebar for reinforcement, and poured mixed calcium carbonate cement over it.

Once the cement dried, a simple yet reliable concrete structure was completed.

On the inner side of the wall, they built a slope with cement blocks and concrete debris.

In case of an attack, the players inside could crouch on the slope and use it as cover to counterattack the invaders.

Considering the future expansion of the outpost, an additional defensive structure could be built on the outer side of the fortress, along with guard posts and watchtowers for vigilance.

"... The entire wetland park has relatively flat terrain, and the area around the sanatorium is a forest plain with no steep slopes for cover. I can cut down all the trees around here, so any target approaching the outpost can be detected immediately!"

"Bro, what do you do in real life?" Lao Bai looked at the new player in surprise.

He had a vague memory of "Spare the Blade" from the group chat, but only a faint one, remembering that he had joined a long time ago.

He hadn't expected such a talented player to be hiding in the small game group.

Spare the Blade smiled shyly, embarrassed to say.

"... I'm just a civil engineering dog, a marginal figure in my unit, drinking tea and reading newspapers all day, with few people even giving me a second glance."

"No, no, your skills are impressive! Honestly, I didn't think we could finish an entire wall today."

"Too kind, too kind!"

It was already evening, and the sky was turning a dusky yellow.

Brother Chao Dan, the chef, set up a large pot in front of the sanatorium, threw in the fish caught by Kuangfeng from the lake, and made a pot of pine nut fish soup.

The players sat on the ground, each with a bowl, accompanied by a piece of smoked meat. A sip of fish soup and a bite of meat, they ate with a unique flavor.

Of course.

Not everyone could accept this flavor.

For example, Teng Teng, sitting on the ground, pinched her nose and looked at her bowl with a frown.

"Ugh, so fishy..."

Whether in the game or in real life, she was very sensitive to smells and couldn't tolerate this heavy cooking style.

Brother Chao Dan, hearing this from nearby, rolled his eyes.

"Do you think I want to... There's not even cooking wine here, I've done my best."

His expression clearly said, eat it or don't.

"Just bear with it, you'll get hungry if you don't eat in the game," Night Ten consoled her from the side. "Want to pinch your nose and drink it down? I can help."

Teng Teng moved away a bit.

"No need."

The administrator was also nearby.

However, he did not join the players for the meal. He stayed for a while and then hurriedly left.

When he returned, many nearby players noticed that his face was ashen, and his mood seemed to be bad.

The players were in an uproar.

Noticing the situation nearby, Lao Bai was curious and put down his bowl, standing up from the ground.

He quickly walked over and pulled Kuangfeng, who was closer, to ask.

"Bro, what happened?"

Kuangfeng's expression was serious, and he said in a low voice.

"Rumor has it..."

"It seems someone died."