Chapter 53

The players' performance indeed did not disappoint Chu Guang.

The two metallurgy experts only took two days to create the tools needed by the "weapon shop owner."

They even improved the blast furnace, ingeniously solving the problem of air bubbles in the castings produced by the primitive smelting method.

The completed castings included a boring tool, a turning tool, and a milling tool.

Although they were all castings, their strength was still reliable. With proper maintenance, they could last for a few months.

In addition, they also created a set of double-rail screw micrometers using screws, steel bars, and old gears. One side of the micrometer was connected to a winch with a transmission shaft and a handle.

This device could convert torque into horizontal thrust through gears. Each turn of the winch moved the tool holder on the micrometer one millimeter horizontally.

Although it was not as efficient as an electric lathe, it could still be used for millimeter-precision machining.

The only thing that left Chu Guang speechless was the IDs of the two players who completed the tasks.

One was called [Wode Jiaoqi Shui Laiwen] and the other was called [Yaer Wo Yao Shang Cesuo].

What kind of creepy names are these...

In any case, according to the order at the warehouse entrance, the two players received a total of 80 silver coins, 40 each.

According to their plan, they intended to grind for a week to earn 2000 points as soon as possible, so they could buy a piece of land in front of the sanatorium.

The reward for making tools had given them a taste of success.

They planned to open a studio later, specializing in metallurgy and forging.

"Are these tools enough?" At the weapon shop, Chu Guang placed the wooden basket containing the metal tools on the table in front of Xia Yan.

Xia Yan glanced at the tools in the basket and nodded reluctantly.

"Pretty good. With these tools, making bullets shouldn't be a problem. If we can produce seamless steel pipes, I can even make some simple iron-barreled rifles for you... Are these the ones you bought?"

"Made by players."

"Made?" Xia Yan looked at Chu Guang in surprise. "I didn't expect your people to have such skills."

Chu Guang smiled.

"Compared to Boulder City?"

"Boulder City is big, but it depends on who you compare it to."

Xia Yan, while installing the micrometer on the wooden table, continued to speak calmly.

"It's not all poor people like us there. There are also well-equipped regular troops—the militia of Boulder City. They have power armor, twin-engine aircraft, neural interface drones, half-track support vehicles, and other things I can't even name."

"Oh? So strong," Chu Guang said with a smile. "Then why haven't they come here?"

"Who knows, maybe they're not interested. The countryside doesn't have much to offer."

Xia Yan answered vaguely.

Actually, she didn't finish her sentence. While the militia of Boulder City did have some good equipment, it was clear that not all of them were fully equipped.

For example, power armor. According to her knowledge, the entire militia had only a few dozen, most of which were inferior copies made after the war, with relatively backward power sources and weapons.

Only a small part was pre-war equipment that hadn't broken down yet, powered by He3 cold fusion batteries, which were becoming increasingly scarce.

As for drones, aircraft, and support vehicles, they sounded intimidating but were more for deterrence than practical use.

Especially in close-quarters urban combat, cannon fodder was always the most cost-effective choice. In the slums of Boulder City, it took only 13 years to turn a baby into a soldier, and the "maintenance cost" was just the nutritional paste made from cockroaches, spiders, and rats.

Although Chu Guang only believed half of what this person said, these interesting settings could be added to the official website's database.

Both cloud players and regular players loved this kind of content.

...

In the evening.

Players gradually returned to the outpost.

Chu Guang noticed that in front of the north gate of the outpost, a few players had already set up stalls.

The most popular stall was actually Ya Ya's.

"Selling mushrooms, fresh mushrooms, don't miss out as you pass by."

"After a day's work, why not treat yourself to a pot of mushroom soup?"

"So fragrant!"

Since she couldn't get quests from NPCs and didn't want to go hungry, Ya Ya, who was embarrassed to freeload, decided to set up a stall.

Besides the mushrooms she used to complete the punishment task, she kept about twenty pounds for herself and, with a trial mindset, put them on the stall to sell.

Passing players quickly gathered around.

"Can these mushrooms be eaten?"

"Are they fully cooked?"

"Male or female?"

"Can sensitive skin use them?"

"Can you see little people after eating them?"

"Can eat, can eat, can see, can see—no, no, can't see! Don't believe me? Watch!" Ya Ya took a bite of a mushroom and hopped around to show she was still alive, neither disconnected nor dizzy.

Seeing the stall owner eat them, the players around the stall no longer hesitated and took out their copper coins.

As Ya Ya said, a pound of mushrooms wasn't expensive, only 3 copper coins, much cheaper than the food sold by the granary.

The new version had been out for two days, and most players could afford it.

"I'll take a pound, no meat today, let's try mushroom porridge."

"Grilled mushrooms sound good too."

"Boss, a pound, I'll come back for a refund if they're not good."

"Can't see little people, that's a shame. Next time, give me something that can make me see little people! I want Klee to call me husband."

"Hey? Is this a pervert?"

In less than five minutes, the twenty pounds of mushrooms on the stall were all sold out.

Holding the sixty shiny, heavy copper coins in her hand, Ya Ya was so excited that tears almost welled up in her eyes.

This, this is the feeling of being rich!

It's so hard!

Although...

It's only 6 silver coins in total.

On the other side, the players who bought mushrooms, when passing by the weapon shop, suddenly noticed that there were some new tools on the wooden table in front of the weapon shop owner.

As everyone knew, the developers of Wasteland OL were very detail-oriented. Keen-eyed players recognized that the items on the table were tools for processing equipment.

In other words...

In the future, they could gather materials and have NPCs modify their equipment for them?

"Are you the Celestial Kelly?"

"Where's the boss?"

"Stupid, she's the mercenary the manager saved before! There's no boss."

"I know, but you look so serious, it's kind of silly."

Xia Yan looked at the players surrounding her, confused.

Although she didn't understand what they were saying, she remembered what Chu Guang had told her and looked at them coolly, reciting her lines slowly.

"Hello, I'm Xia Yan from the weapon shop. How can I help you?"

"This NPC doesn't seem very smart."

"Normal, for such a large server, it's already good to have one or two intelligent NPCs!"

"5mm smoothbore iron-barreled rifle, quality [inferior]... damn, even inferior ones cost 100 silver coins! I'm out."

"Can't afford it, can't afford it."

"Ugh, she must be the Celestial Kelly, I can feel the richness from the price list."

Xia Yan: "..."

These people are so annoying, why are they so talkative.

Are they buying or not?

However, what slightly relieved Xia Yan was that, as Chu Guang had said, these people were indeed friendly.

Although staring at people wasn't very polite, at least they wouldn't do anything irrational just because she ignored them.

In the tavern of Boulder City.

99% of the fights were because A looked at B one too many times.

...

After the players logged out, a post appeared on the Wasteland OL official website, quickly becoming the top post of the day.

"Mole Daily: 404 Shelter Welcomes Second NPC! The Weapon Shop Owner from the Celestial Realm—Xia Yan!"

Mole in the Canyon: "Hello everyone, I'm a mole from the canyon who escaped to the wasteland because the land in the estate isn't enough. Let's get to the point, today I'm talking about the new NPC, Xia Yan!"

"This NPC actually went live yesterday, but it was probably in the testing phase. Although she was sitting at the table, there was a 'closed' sign at the door. Today, not only was the 'closed' sign removed, but there were also guns on the shelves, and a set of tools on the table! Boldly guessing, this will be your Kelly in the future. I wonder when we'll get a 14th-level reinforced iron-barreled rifle. (joke)"

"Also, here's my rough sketch, just for reference, don't flame me if you don't like it."

[Image]

Although Wasteland OL doesn't support in-game screenshots, it doesn't stop the talented artists from sketching the characters in the game.

For example, this mole, who turned out to be a hidden sketching master, drew a pretty good likeness.

Lao Bai: "666!"

Ye Shi: "Looks exactly the same!"

Teng Teng: "Love it, love it, the sister is so cool, this is too awesome! (cute) (cute)"

Mole in the Canyon: "Hehe, I studied art, but I failed the entrance exam to the Central Academy of Fine Arts and changed careers. A small suggestion for the official, maybe add a punk-style Z-shaped studded belt and goggles to the new NPC, and change her outfit to jeans and a white shirt. Red hair would make her even cooler! Of course, just a suggestion."

Jie Yan: "Dude, draw the Dawnlight Boss too! I'm more interested in him! (pitiful)"

That One Thought: "Exactly, who wants to see the weapon shop NPC, I want to see what the Boss looks like! There's not even a browse image on the official website!"

Mole in the Canyon: "Don't rush, I'll draw it now. Damn, what's so good about a male NPC, just wait a bit."

Elena: "No rush, I'll be online tomorrow night. (joke)"

Jie Yan: "&%@#!"

Today, the official website was completely dominated by Xia Yan. Chu Guang glanced at the picture drawn by the mole and then at Xia Yan, who was sitting in the corner practicing her lines.

It's quite a good likeness.

But, would adding a studded belt and goggles really make her look better?

As a pure-blooded straight man, Chu Guang's fashion sense was about the same as the information feed on Taobao and JD, and he was aware of this.

But, he looked good in anything, so it didn't matter.

Noticing Chu Guang's gaze, Xia Yan nervously shrank back.

"W-what..."

"Nothing, just thinking about how many days it's been since you changed your clothes."

Chu Guang looked at her right leg, where the wound had mostly healed, but the bloodstains on her pants were still there, looking unhygienic.

Change, change clothes?

Xia Yan became even more nervous, her face turning pale, then red, then green.

"Relax, I just wanted to ask your... size... sigh," Chu Guang shook his head halfway through. "Forget it."

Asking this was indeed inappropriate.

He should write a task note and have Teng Teng measure her.