Chapter 40

Evening.

Players gradually returned to the sanatorium. Brother Fried Egg set up a large pot on the open ground and started preparing the last meal of the day.

Tonight's menu was salt-boiled horned potatoes with smoked meat.

Thanks to the discovery of the new NPC outpost, the players in the shelter finally had something other than fish soup to eat.

The taste of these horned potatoes was quite good. After boiling them in salt water and drizzling some soy sauce, they had a flavor similar to KFC mashed potatoes.

However, it was a bit wasteful of soy sauce.

Just making 28 servings of mashed potatoes used up about one-fifth of a bottle of soy sauce, and that was with careful use.

On the other hand, the shelter's salt supply was also running low, with only a little more than half a bag left.

At this rate of consumption, it wouldn't be long before everyone was back to eating plain soup and water.

"Wow, wow, wow! This mashed potato is amazing! Uncle Fried Egg, can I have another bowl?" Teng Teng, holding a bowl and squatting on the ground, looked extremely satisfied.

"No, one bowl per person." Brother Fried Egg, dissatisfied with the "uncle" title, rolled his eyes and said irritably.

"Will we have mashed potatoes again tomorrow?" Teng Teng asked pitifully.

"We can't afford it. We don't have much soy sauce left. If you want mashed potatoes, order takeout." As he said this, Brother Fried Egg sighed inwardly.

Cooking for these guys every day was a real headache.

After so many years as a chef, he had never been so frugal for a boss, wishing he could use one grain of salt as two.

On the other side, Yeshi, sitting in the center of the players, held a bowl and vividly described the events of the day, even forgetting to eat.

Especially when he talked about encountering a creeper on the way back, he excitedly put down his bowl and picked up a stick to draw on the ground.

"At that moment, I was walking down the street, and I felt a chill down my spine, my senses suddenly on high alert! Before I knew it, I grabbed my rifle and fired a burst."

Fang Chang, sitting next to him, couldn't stand it anymore and interrupted.

"Another burst? If you didn't know any better, you'd think you had a Gatling gun."

Yeshi cleared his throat.

"That's not important!"

"Then what? Then what? Keep going, how did you take it down?"

"Exactly, don't interrupt!"

The other players, not too concerned about the details, were enjoying the story and urged him to continue, regardless of whether he was exaggerating.

"Everyone, don't panic, let me continue. Before I knew it, the creeper pounced, and I slid under it..."

Seeing everyone so interested, Yeshi quickly adjusted and continued, describing how he supported the manager who was surrounded by mutants, how he looted on the battlefield, and how he tactically disconnected after being ambushed by a traitor, and how he coordinated with his teammates to achieve a last-minute counter-kill...

Fang Chang rolled his eyes, couldn't stand it anymore, and simply moved to another place to eat, out of sight and out of mind.

After the meal.

The sun was about to set.

Chu Guang carried Xiao Qi down from upstairs and led the players back to the shelter in batches, watching them safely log out in their cultivation pods.

Everyone except Laji Jun, who was still out in the wild, had returned.

However, Chu Guang wasn't very worried about him.

Through the player list, Chu Guang could confirm that he was still alive, but the person had logged out two hours ago.

No matter how much he grinded, it was impossible to stay in the game 24/7. He had to get up to eat and stretch his limbs.

Moreover, the clone in the game also needed rest. No one could stay awake 24/7, not even a lizardman.

According to the official website's public information.

There were more ways to log out than just lying in the cultivation pod and going to sleep. Any loss of consciousness could disconnect the connection.

This included, but was not limited to, hitting the back of your head or lying down to sleep somewhere.

However, this method of logging out wasn't very reliable.

First, it couldn't "save," and second, it wasn't safe.

The clone bodies quickly synthesized by the cultivation pods had no consciousness.

In other words, without a connected consciousness, these clones would not react to external stimuli beyond reflexes.

At that moment, even a passing mutated rat or cockroach could nibble away at a person.

However, Laji Jun must have found a safe place to hide, as he was currently quite safe.

Putting Laji Jun's matter aside for now.

Chu Guang sat down at the computer in the residents' hall and, as usual, first summarized the day's work.

"East wall construction completed."

"Resource-wise, we received 110 logs, one ton of charcoal, one ton of silicate cement, two stacks of yellow mud bricks, and several hardened cement blocks. We used 240 logs and 800 kilograms of cement... The wood inventory has been decreasing for two consecutive days, but the cement is starting to have a surplus."

It seemed he needed to arrange some loggers.

Or, increase the daily logging requirement for players.

"Food inventory: 350 kilograms of green wheat and horned potatoes, 5 kilograms of smoked meat, and a small amount of berries and mushrooms. Consumption: about 5 kilograms of smoked meat, 10 kilograms of horned potatoes, and 50 kilograms of smoked meat and 20 kilograms of smoked fish for trade... We need to start hunting again tomorrow."

"Then, fur inventory... besides the consumption for trade, 5 pieces of fur were used today. Teng Teng actually made 5 pieces of clothing? Impressive... Let me think, that should be 250 contribution points."

"Also, the increase in weapon inventory... we need to plan for an armory in the future."

Finally, today's daily task rewards were 7 points.

Time to open some blind boxes again.

After summarizing the data, Chu Guang leaned back in his chair and stretched.

At the same time, the 30 activated cultivation pods in the adjacent room had completed scanning and sampling the clones inside, and compiled the players' genetic sequence progress and panel data into a table.

Chu Guang took a quick look.

Perhaps because the current outpost jobs were mainly physical labor, strength-type players were clearly leveling up faster.

For example, Lao Bai was already at LV3.

Additionally, Yeshi, who had been accompanying him, had upgraded his genetic sequence from LV1 to LV2, with his primary attribute perception reaching 9, making him the player with the highest perception attribute in the entire outpost.

"Master!"

Seeing Xiao Qi roll to the table, Chu Guang looked away from the computer.

"What's wrong?"

"Why did you bring a strange woman back from outside?"

Chu Guang almost choked on his words.

While it wasn't wrong, it just didn't sound right.

"What are you talking about?"

"Xiao Qi saw it from the roof, you carried her back."

Chu Guang, impatient, said.

"So what?"

Xiao Qi, with a flat electronic voice, said pitifully.

"Nothing, I just wanted to remind you that compared to clones whose actions can be restricted, the original inhabitants of the wasteland are harder to control. It's best not to trust them too easily."

"I've never fully trusted anyone, whether players or natives," Chu Guang said calmly.

"Okay, I'm relieved!"

Xiao Qi's camera on top of his head nodded up and down.

"By the way, you can always trust Xiao Qi. No matter what, I will always be your most loyal assistant!"

"Alright, noted."

"Too dismissive!"

Can't this guy ever rest while charging?

Chu Guang suppressed the urge to comment and continued staring at the computer screen.

It had been about ten minutes since the players logged out, and as expected, the official website forum was now the most active.

Time for some pleasant screen peeking.

Humming a tune to himself, Chu Guang opened the official website backend and first checked the reservation numbers.

The little leeks with bowls had doubled from just over a hundred to nearly 300.

The current game reservation threshold had changed from just filling out a form to filling out a form and answering questions.

While they were all common knowledge questions, the ability to patiently read and fill them out at least filtered out serious players.

Those who could pass could be considered quite high-quality.

At the same time, the website's traffic had increased significantly, with a daily average of 1,000 visits.

While not everyone registered an account or clicked on the reservation, it at least indicated that the popularity of Wasteland OL was growing in the gaming community.

Despite being a three-nothing website with no filing information and only a few construction site photos besides a bunch of text settings, it had managed to gather so many people.

Chu Guang couldn't help but marvel.

"There are still so many bored people."

Just right.

Since he had nothing better to do, he might as well have them work in the "game."

Closing the backend page, he entered the forum.

As expected, the logged-out players had all gathered there, and the forum was bustling.

Including Laji Jun, who had logged out two hours ago, who was also hanging out on the forum.

Trash Collector 99: [Damn, I'm exhausted today, but at least I had some gains! About 2 kilometers north of the abandoned construction site, there's a tire factory. There are people with dogs patrolling nearby, suspected to be a raider camp, but I'm not sure yet! I plan to get closer when it gets dark and confirm. I'll come back to the forum to show off once I'm sure.]

{Wild Wind: 666!}

{Lao Bai: Holy crap, I didn't see you when I logged out! Also, why can you log in during the day?}

{Trash Collector 99: If you were a mutant, you could too! I'll rest a bit and log back in. (Grinning)}

{Yeshi: You're just here to show off!}

{Quit Smoking: I'd be happy just to log in and take a look! T.T}

{Yaya: I'm still on cooldown, crying.}

{Trash Collector 99: (Grinning)}

Apart from Laji Jun showing off, most of the players on the forum were enthusiastically discussing the new NPC the manager brought back and the newly discovered survivor settlement.

Especially the latter.

The players were particularly interested.

At the top of a long thread, Chu Guang quickly found "Lai Ri Fang Chang's" analysis post.

As usual, this guy was good at summarizing, and his posts were the most popular on the forum. If it weren't for the conditions, Chu Guang would have invited him to be the game's planner.

[... I have to praise this Alpha 0.2 update! It's clear that the game developers are quite sincere, truly a great conscience!]

[This update is far more than just the few optimizations listed on the official website. It includes new factions, new monster models, a larger map, and more content than I imagined!]

[For example, the Brown Farm we traded with. Just walking up to the concrete wall, I was amazed by the game's art design. The sense of immersion is hard to describe with words, whether it's the post-apocalyptic architectural style or the detailed textures of the NPCs' clothing, everything shows careful craftsmanship! Not just a reskin of existing assets!]

[Additionally, there was a combat system test. On the way back, we encountered a creeper attack and had a thrilling battle. Before this, I always thought such powerful mutants only existed in the game's lore, but they are already implemented in the current version!]

[Here, I have to say, our manager, as a new player guide, is truly amazing! When the creeper pounced, Yeshi and I were both caught off guard and were just spectating. He single-handedly took down the two-meter-tall creeper with a small pipe, making my blood boil!]

[For me personally, the most exciting part is the addition of a new NPC to our outpost. Her special identity might bring us new gameplay, such as weapon modifications and more side quests... I think it's worth looking forward to!]

[For more information about the Alpha 0.2 update, I will continue to update this post. Interested players can follow!]

Conscience is still good.

Ah, how embarrassing.

Reading the post from start to finish, Chu Guang couldn't stop smiling.

But to be fair, Chu Guang felt he had already been quite conscientious, at least he hadn't taken advantage of the players' wallets.

A game that could liberate dreams and sleep, if developed by a major company, would cost you a thousand or so yuan just to play.

Not to mention, you'd probably have to pay a membership fee just to play.

What?

No money?

No problem, you can always work for it, right?

After all, how else would you show the nobility of the RMB warriors who build walls with trowels? Of course, you could also watch ads for two hours to get a membership discount.

At least Chu Guang wouldn't do such a despicable thing.

In appreciation of the praise, Chu Guang pinned Fang Chang's post.

Closing the post, just as Chu Guang was thinking about what to do to pass the long night, Xiao Qi's melancholy voice came from the side.

"Master."

"The woman you brought back is awake."