Chapter 68

The 12 deer hides were the entire stock of the shelter, three of which Chu Guang had obtained by undermining the wall of an old leech and trading with the Yu family.

There was no fault to be found with the quality of the deer hides; both the color and completeness were top-notch. After some deliberation, Lister finally nodded reluctantly.

"Deal."

The two parties exchanged their goods.

Before leaving, Lister shook hands with Chu Guang and managed to squeeze out a somewhat pleasant smile.

"Goodbye, friend. If we meet again, it will probably be in the spring."

Chu Guang also smiled faintly.

"We'll always be here, take care."

"You too."

Suddenly remembering something, Lister added,

"By the way, I heard there's a raider tribe called the Blood Hand Clan north of the city's elevated road. They have about sixty to seventy people. It's not a good idea to settle here. Even if they mostly raid to the north, it's only a matter of time before they find you... Be careful. See you around!"

With that, Lister left with his caravan.

Chu Guang watched the caravan disappear into the woods and then turned back to the perimeter of the outpost.

Of course, he knew this place wasn't a good spot to settle.

If he had a choice, Chu Guang would have found a more secure place to settle, preferably one suitable for farming and mining, and with no significant dangers around.

Unfortunately, this wasn't a game of Civilization where you could restart if you didn't see the resources you wanted within three squares. The shelter had been built two centuries ago, and it was too late to change that.

Back inside the perimeter.

Chu Guang looked at Yu Hu and took a white token from his pocket, handing it to him.

"Thanks, you've done me a big favor."

Seeing Chu Guang take out the token, Yu Hu's face changed, and he quickly waved his hands.

"No, no, what are you doing? I can't accept it."

As he spoke, he suddenly remembered something and rummaged through his pocket, pulling out a small piece of aluminum foil.

"Right, my brother's illness has improved, and my father asked me to return the remaining medicine to you—"

Seeing that he was unwilling to accept the token, Chu Guang sighed and put it back.

"Alright, if you insist, I won't argue. But keep the medicine; I don't need it."

It took some time to convince this straightforward young man, but finally, he left the forest. Chu Guang thought he might need to sell more medicine.

He had heard that in other large and medium-sized shelters, the medicine trade was quite common.

After all, larger shelters usually have a pharmacy, and some even have a large stock of medicine.

Of course, rumors in the wasteland should be taken with a grain of salt.

Even in the age of information explosion, not every piece of news is true, let alone here.

The players had been quite diligent these past few days, accumulating an average of 5-7 reward points per day, totaling 22 points.

He assigned the task of assembling the generator to the players and then returned to the shelter.

When he opened the system and entered the [Manager Log] page, a light blue pop-up appeared before him.

[Side quest completed.]

[Reward: +100 reward points.]

Faced with this unexpected reward, Chu Guang was momentarily stunned.

Wow.

This side quest had dragged on for so long that he had forgotten about the reward, only remembering that the outpost still needed a generator.

"Got rich!" Chu Guang was excited. Before he could even steady himself in the shelter, he turned and walked out.

"I need to wash my face first!"

Advanced blind box!

This thing can't be taken lightly!

...

About 1.7 kilometers north of the Linghu Wetland Park.

A group of men dressed in animal skins, with red and black paint on their faces, and a wild appearance, were advancing south along the ruins of the elevated road.

They held strange-looking iron tube rifles in their hands, not on their backs, as if they were ready for battle, advancing with a fierce momentum.

Mutated rats scattered on the road, and occasionally, a few mutated cockroaches the size of small dogs rushed over, only to be crushed or smashed with the butts of the rifles.

However, this also created quite a commotion.

Moreover, the discipline of this group was far from commendable, and their chatter could be heard from a distance.

Several players transporting stones from the construction site soon noticed them, quickly hiding the mine carts and themselves.

"Who are these guys?" [Construction Site Teen and Brick] whispered nervously, looking at the distant group, "Ten people, and they're leading three dogs... I have a bad feeling about them."

"I have the same feeling... They look like raiders." [Edge Loafer] also looked nervous, gripping the small knife in his pocket.

Although it didn't give him much security.

"Damn, is it really a siege event? Is the planner buying a house on the forum??"

"Rational analysis... You've already been heard."

"Planner, my father!"

"Shh, you two, stop talking," [Debt Big Eyes] looked at his teammates and whispered, "Old Brick, go report."

"Damn, why not you?"

"I'm an intelligence type! Who can I run faster than? You be careful, strength types are good at long-distance running."

"Then why not Loafer?"

"He's a perception type! Don't talk nonsense, hurry up. Reporting valuable information has rewards, remember?"

Hearing about the reward, [Construction Site Teen and Brick] finally moved.

His heart was pounding as he hid behind a GG frame and took a 200-meter detour until the group was out of sight, then sprinted into the forest.

When he reached the outpost, the new players were cutting trees, and the experienced players were carrying back their hunt, while others were setting up stalls and thinking about lunch.

A peaceful scene.

Ignoring his racing heart, [Construction Site Teen and Brick] rushed to the gate and shouted.

"Raiders! Raiders are attacking!"

Hearing his shout, the people near the wall were confused, not understanding what was happening.

"What? What raiders?"

"Where's the manager! Quickly, go report to him!" The teenager, hands on his knees, panted and said brokenly.

"I'm right here," Chu Guang walked out, water still on his eyebrows, and looked seriously at the player, "You said raiders?"

"Yes! They have a group, ten people to be exact! They're coming along the north elevated road, each with a gun and three dogs!"

Chu Guang's expression changed, and he immediately ordered the nearby players.

"Get all the players near the outpost back! Hurry!"

"Yes!"

Several players ran off excitedly, with no signs of worry, but rather excitement.

Siege event!

They didn't expect the planner to give them such a big event!

However, they didn't know that at that moment, a certain planner was even more frustrated.

Striding to the weapon shop, Chu Guang picked up the dozing shopkeeper, carried her on his shoulder, and grabbed her two crutches with his left hand.

"Hey! What are you doing, in broad daylight—?" Startled by the sudden action, Xia Yan, who had just woken up from her nap, blushed and struggled a bit, but Chu Guang ignored her.

"Shut up."

He placed her by the elevator on the first floor of the nursing home, returned the crutches to her as she steadied herself against the wall, and looked seriously at her.

"If they reach the door, go into the elevator and wait. I'll come and get you. If I don't come, stay quiet and hide."

The elevator to the underground required manager authorization, and Chu Guang temporarily locked it, as it was his backup plan.

Xia Yan nodded, not too panicked, at least not as much as when facing him.

"I understand... Wait, who's attacking?"

"Raiders—"

Before he could finish, a gunshot echoed from the distance, followed by two more. The sound suggested they were about 200-300 meters away.

Chu Guang's expression turned serious, and his blood began to flow faster.

Raiders!

They're here!

...

Outside the north gate.

The raiders, spread out in a line, advanced toward the north gate, firing their guns and shouting loudly, shooting at the fleeing survivors.

Their weapons were varied, from revolvers picked up from traders to semi-automatics stolen from mercenaries, or even DIY iron tube rifles.

In the jungle terrain, hitting a target from 200 meters away wasn't easy.

Indeed, after several shots, no one fell, and the survivors near the wall quickly retreated inside, with only a few wooden stalls at the gate damaged.

However, the outcome of the battle wasn't about how many people were killed but about making the other side completely give up resistance.

The raiders knew this well.

The art of fear had been perfected by them.

The dense gunfire and the resulting suppression had a nearly devastating effect on the morale of non-professional soldiers.

A survivor settlement of thirty people could only provide a third, at most half, as combatants.

There was no need to kill the fleeing survivors on the spot; these rats would scatter, bringing the plague of fear back to their nests and completely destroying their will to resist.

In the small survivor communities they raided, fewer than one in ten actually died in the gunfight.

Perhaps some would muster the courage to fire a few symbolic shots from behind cover, but it wouldn't be long before their morale crumbled, and they would flee through other gates.

At that point, the elderly, children, and women would be left behind, and the fleeing young men wouldn't stand a chance against the raiders' hunting dogs.

The final outcome for these survivor settlements was usually one of two things.

Either they would be massacred.

Or enslaved!

"Ha ha ha! Look at those cowards, they run like rats when the guns go off!"

A muscular man with bare arms, holding a 9mm iron tube rifle, fired and laughed loudly, his fierce face glowing red.

As a ten-man leader of the Blood Hand Clan, his name was Badger, given to him by the chief. The nine men under him were mostly his relatives or close confidants.

The bloodlines in raider tribes were often chaotic. They didn't engage in production, but rather in violence, living off raids and extortion. Thus, there was no traditional concept of family, let alone spouses or partners.

In the Blood Hand Clan, if a newborn was born, strong male infants were accepted into the tribe, while the rest became slaves, either for labor or as breeding tools, often resulting in half-siblings.

These relatives would often act like wolves, and the bravest among them would be appointed by the chief as a ten-man leader. Their relatives would also gain some prestige, becoming veteran or elite raiders with more rights to支配自己的战利品.

"Ha ha, still blue coats? Looks like we'll have some fun inside!"

A tall, thin man laughed and chambered a round in his shotgun, continuing to fire at the cover on the wall.

"Old rules, kill the old and young, cut off the men's index fingers and tie them up."

"Boss, what about the women?"

"First one in gets to pick. We stay for two hours, and anyone still alive after two hours gets taken."

"Roar roar roar!"

Fifty meters away!

No counterattack yet!

Badger's lips curled into a cruel smile.

He knew what these survivors were thinking: wait for them to come out of the forest and then fire from cover.

No doubt, they were already holding their guns, crouched behind the cover, waiting.

However...

Would he be so foolish as to let his men charge forward?

"Light some fire, give them a show!"

"Sure thing!"

The raider at the front, crouching, lit a Molotov cocktail and, under the cover of his teammates' fire, threw it with a running start.

The flame drew an arc in the air and landed precisely on the three-meter-high cover on the wall.

Sparks flew, and the rusted cover quickly caught fire, burning hot.

Then came the second, third, and soon the wall was engulfed in flames, leaving few places to stand.

However, to the raiders' surprise, no screams of pain echoed, and no one fell from behind the cover.

It was as if...

These covers had never been manned?

Badger furrowed his brow, sensing something was wrong.

Could these people have given up resistance entirely?

Not likely.

At least a symbolic counterattack...

That hint of confusion quickly turned to contempt.

Just as he was about to order his men to move forward and use explosives to break the wooden gate, a sharp whistle sounded from the forest.

Like a signal for an attack!

Almost simultaneously, dense gunfire rained from both sides.

Bullets whizzed past, and Badger quickly took cover behind a relatively thick tree stump.

Aim?

Nonexistent.

But flesh is flesh, and even the bravest fear being shot.

He shouted in a hoarse voice.

"Everyone, take cover!"

"Spread out and retreat 100 meters to regroup!"

"Quickly!"

---

(Thanks to "Call Me Xiao Dou Bao," "Kevin with a Broken Leg," and "Efficient Man" for their generous support~~~~~

Brothers, our first subscription has broken 10,000! I love you all!

I'll work hard to write more! This sudden evolution from a 2K party is still a bit hard to adapt to, it's not that I'm not trying to burst, but I really have nothing left QAQ.)