Chapter 72

This game is way too realistic...

This was the second snowfall in Qingquan City since the beginning of September.

And quite coincidentally, it happened right when players were switching their online and offline times. Many people, upon pushing open their doors, saw the scattered silver-white spots beside the torches.

"It's only late September... Winter is coming a bit too early, isn't it?"

"Indeed, it is a bit early."

"Let's analyze this rationally. Perhaps the orbital debris in outer space is blocking part of the sunlight, causing this planet to absorb less heat. Combined with the rapid decline in civilization activities due to the war, the lush vegetation has weakened the greenhouse effect..."

"No, can this game be this realistic?"

"That depends on how the game developers set it up. The official website's setting says they went to the sky, so they can make up stories, but we can't?"

"Damn..."

At the north gate, there was a knock on the door.

After confirming it was one of their own, the guard on the wall greeted them, and the player by the door lifted the bar to let the people outside in.

Chu Guang looked toward the north gate.

He saw a Strength-type player and a Perception-type player quickly approaching, carrying a man tied up like a dumpling, who was missing an ear. They threw him in front of Chu Guang.

Along with the man, they also threw down the corpse of a mutated hyena.

"Respected Administrator, we found this guy near the observation point on the northern overpass!"

Both players were injured, but this man was clearly more severely hurt, with a broken arrow stuck in his knee, causing him to grimace in pain.

The man on the ground, not understanding what the two were saying, stretched out his neck in fear and begged Chu Guang for mercy.

"Sir, I'm a scavenger from nearby, I don't know where I offended you."

"Scavengers wouldn't be out at this time of day."

"I... I got delayed a bit..."

Ignoring his weak excuse, Chu Guang took out five silver coins from his pocket and gave them to the players to divide among themselves. Then he bent down and looked at the man, hooking his necklace with his index finger.

It was a human finger bone.

And it looked like a middle finger.

In the Blood Hand Clan, skulls were the "exclusive" vessels of the leaders, while finger bones were the favored decorations of most raiders.

They would cut off the middle fingers of their captives, dry them, and make them into bracelets, necklaces, pendants, or even bone armor, to show off their bravery and savagery.

Disgusted, Chu Guang threw away the greasy necklace and stood up expressionlessly.

He didn't look at the man, whose face was ashen, but at the two players.

"Raider."

"Send him to the gallows."

The two players respectfully replied.

"Yes!"

"As you command!"

They brought him back alive just because the reward was higher. Most players were already familiar with the Administrator's methods for dealing with raiders.

So, when they heard the order to send him to the gallows, there was no surprise.

But for the man about to be hanged, it was a different story.

As if guessing his fate, he let out hysterical cries and pleas for mercy, which continued as he was dragged out of the north gate, adding a sense of fear and bloodshed to the desolate forest outside.

The sounds and the evil stopped abruptly.

The north gate closed again, and the two players dragged the body toward the morgue.

Chu Guang, standing in front of the sanatorium, felt no pity, even yawned, and as he saw the extractor's furnace start to operate, he turned and walked toward the sanatorium's elevator.

It was already midnight.

He had to wake up at six in the morning.

The enthusiasm of these players for going online was higher than he had imagined, and Chu Guang felt his biological clock was getting messed up.

...

The snow wasn't heavy, but it lasted a long time, continuing from midnight until five in the morning the next day.

A layer of white frost covered the ground, making a rustling sound when stepped on, and it would disappear completely when the sun rose, as if it had never been there.

"The mutants in the city seem to have decreased at night."

"Is it because of the snow?"

"Probably. The cold weather might have made them hide, but the feeders don't seem to be affected. I saw them come out of the neighborhood and wander around until four or five in the morning before slowly moving back."

"Do you remember where they came from?"

"Sort of. I'll log off to eat, and I'll mark it on the map and post it on the forum later."

"Bro, you got it!"

Players who had just finished their shifts at the reconnaissance points were chatting with others in the base's square. Chu Guang, standing at the sanatorium's entrance, heard all of this.

Since there was no radio, these players usually exchanged information in the square, especially during the peak times of logging on and off.

For Chu Guang, this was another good source of information besides the forum.

These players were like his eyes.

However, he had something to do soon and couldn't stay here for long.

He needed to go to Brown Farm before the snow blocked the roads and get some supplies. This time, he had prepared some new trade goods: bird guano.

At Brown Farm, it should fetch a good price.

"Administrator, the supplies you requested are ready. We can set out at any time!"

Canyon Escaped Mole, wearing a hyena skin coat, walked over excitedly. He carried a 7mm bolt-action iron tube rifle on his back, a studded wooden club and a short knife on his left waist, and a wooden tar-filled incendiary bottle on his right waist, looking more and more like a native of the wasteland.

However, he hadn't mastered the essence yet.

Chu Guang had tried many weapons, but the most convenient for him was still the pipe with a "fork."

Nodding, Chu Guang said,

"Wait for me a moment."

He turned and went back to the shelter, and soon came out wearing the KV-1 power armor and carrying the nitrogen-powered hammer he had drawn from the system on his back.

Seeing the Administrator's outfit, the surrounding players' eyes widened.

"Damn, that hammer looks cool!"

"Awesome! Did I miss something? When did the NPC change his gear?"

"Don't know. Maybe it was in the shelter all along... The official website's setting says it's a huge cryogenic hibernation facility underground. Maybe there's an equipment storage?"

"Damn! I want one too!"

"Forget it. The NPC's gear is just for show. But I'm curious, is this thing really useful in the wasteland? Against bullets?"

"You're silly. Just because you haven't seen good armor doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Maybe it's meant to be used with something else."

"The atmosphere suddenly feels cyberpunk."

"What cyberpunk, this is wasteland punk!"

"I know, but taking memes so seriously makes you look silly."

As a competent NPC, Chu Guang neither joined in their jokes nor paid attention to their excited chatter. He fulfilled his duties, walking to the prepared covered wagon.

Previously, Chu Guang had assigned [WC Really Has Mosquitoes] the task of designing a medium-distance transport vehicle with a cargo capacity of over five tons.

It turned out that as long as the tool was within the scope of normal human understanding, this guy's skills were quite reliable.

The entire covered wagon was 2.5 meters long and 1 meter wide, with a spacious interior. The chassis was equipped with a simple shock absorber using springs, suitable for both cargo and passengers.

To protect against rain and dust, the top was covered with two layers of plastic sheeting, and curtains were added to the front and back.

This way, even in the rain, the contents wouldn't get wet, making it quite practical.

The only drawback was that the outpost didn't have oxen or mules, so the players had to pull it for now.

"Let's go!"

With Chu Guang's command, the team of six players and one NPC, under the envious gazes of the other players, left the south gate of the outpost and headed toward Brown Farm.

Unlike last time, this time the commotion inevitably attracted the attention of some mutants.

Especially the dog-sized mutated cockroaches and basin-sized mutated flies, which seemed to have lost their fear of humans after mutation, emerged from the shadows at the slightest noise.

However, these players were no longer newbies. After the battle, they had become adept at dealing with enemies.

Chu Guang didn't need to intervene, staying in the rear and watching the players dispatch the minor enemies with knives, guns, sticks, and stones.

If there were mutants they couldn't handle or other high-threat targets, he would step in.

Interestingly, Chu Guang found that his genetic sequence not only improved through basic training but also accumulated a small amount of development progress while leading players in battle.

This unique evolutionary method intrigued him.

However, he couldn't record the development progress of his genetic sequence in real-time for now and would need to conduct further research when conditions allowed.

They stopped and started along the way, avoiding impassable ruins, and finally arrived at their destination before 9:30 AM.

Outside Brown Farm.

When Chu Guang's group reached the gate, they saw a burly man with a hunting rifle leading a thin farmhand out of the wall.

Upon seeing each other, Chu Guang's side wasn't nervous, but the other side was.

Especially when they saw Chu Guang's exoskeleton and the somewhat exaggerated hammer on his back, they instinctively reached for their hunting rifles.

"We are passing traders, don't be nervous."

"At this time, who would be a trader? It's you?"

Liu Zhengyue, standing on the wall, was taken aback. He retracted the gun barrel he had extended and stared at Chu Guang's exoskeleton, hammer, and the blue coat under the exoskeleton.

He clearly remembered that this guy wasn't dressed like this the last time he came here.

"Yes, it's me." Chu Guang smiled faintly and shouted up to the wall, "We need food, steel, and copper."

"What are you willing to trade?"

Liu Zhengyue watched the group outside the wall warily, his eyes scanning their equipment, unsure what to do.

This group was clearly much stronger than the last time they came.

In principle, this wasn't a good time to do business. Winter was coming early this year, and they needed to keep some food for the winter and some extra to guard against raiders.

Raiders from the north would occasionally come here, and although the farm had guns, no one was willing to risk a fight with them.

If they harassed during spring planting, the losses would be more than just the tribute of food.

However...

The gun on the other side's back made him reconsider the risk of refusing.

Chu Guang didn't speak, just walked to the covered wagon, lifted the curtain, and took out a burlap bag, tearing the rope tied to it.

Liu Zhengyue squinted, trying to see more clearly.

"This is...?"

"High-purity ammonium magnesium phosphate. If you don't understand, you can think of it as bird guano. In short, it's high-quality fertilizer," Chu Guang looked up at Liu Zhengyue on the wall, his tone slightly annoyed, "Can you come down to talk? I'm tired of shouting like this."

"Wait a moment... I need to consult my master."

After saying this, Liu Zhengyue disappeared from the wall. However, he soon returned with a farmhand and reappeared at the main gate.

"My old friend... You've changed a lot."

"Recently, I've been doing well."

"Are you really nomads?" Liu Zhengyue stared at the blue coat under Chu Guang's exoskeleton, clearly unsure of his judgment.

"Does it matter?" Chu Guang smiled faintly, "Don't worry, I found this coat."

Seeing that Chu Guang wasn't going to reveal more, Liu Zhengyue stopped asking and looked at the bag of fertilizer.

"I need to inspect it."

This was a reasonable request, and Chu Guang nodded.

"Please."

The inspection method was the same as last time. Liu Zhengyue kicked the farmhand beside him and pointed to the bag.

The farmhand stepped forward, dipped his finger in the bag, and then, without hesitation, put his finger in his mouth to taste it.

"It's bird guano."

Hearing this, Liu Zhengyue's face lit up with a smile.

Although he didn't know where this group got these good things, they were indeed what they needed.

Animal and human manure, when thermally treated, could also be used as fertilizer, but the nitrogen content was insufficient, and the overall fertility was clearly inferior to bird guano, which had been aged and washed by rain.

Often, a handful of bird guano was equivalent to a large bucket of cow manure. If the latter was used, it would need to be mixed with urea.

Brown Farm couldn't produce high-quality urea in large quantities, and using urine directly would burn the roots and cause soil compaction when mixed with manure.

Therefore, they usually imported synthetic and organic fertilizers from Boulder City or Red River Town, mixing them with fermented manure.

Not just Brown Farm, but almost all the survivor settlements around Qingquan City used this method.

"Give me a price!"

"We only brought 300 kilograms. Give me a reasonable price, and we can cooperate in the future."

A mu of land generally required 10-50 kilograms of fertilizer, depending on the crop, soil conditions, fertilizer type, and expected yield.

From the pre-war map, the entire farm wasn't very large, with a maximum of 80-100 mu of arable land, equivalent to 7-9 standard football fields.

Of course, it was also possible that they were practicing vertical agriculture or indoor planting, as such technologies were not uncommon before the war.

Chu Guang couldn't guess their needs, so he let them name the price.

After a moment of hesitation, Liu Zhengyue tentatively said,

"300 kilograms... 2 tons of green wheat?"

Hearing this, Chu Guang couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

It was a good thing he didn't name the price first.

The wholesale price ratio he found online on Earth was about 1:5, and his expected ratio was around 1:6-7.

Now it seemed that the price in this parallel world had no reference value at all.

Chu Guang looked at him and said,

"Minimum 5 tons."

"5 tons?! That's impossible," Liu Zhengyue exclaimed, "We only get 500 kilograms of green wheat per mu of land."

"That's because you haven't used our fertilizer. Starting next year, it will be 1000 kilograms,"

These mutated crops have low yields...

If only he could get the pre-war seed bank.

For wheat, the yield in the parallel world's Earth was at least 600 kilograms per mu, and up to 1000 kilograms or more, but 10,000 kilograms was definitely an exaggeration.

Chu Guang thought to himself that his shelter aside, the normal shelters should have some seed reserves.

Perhaps it was the distance or the climate that prevented pre-war crops from becoming popular in the wasteland.

Or was it just in this area?

"Are you dreaming? 1000 kilograms per mu?" Liu Zhengyue's eyes widened, and he shook his head, "Friend, if you're serious, 3 tons... That's my bottom line. We have stable suppliers who can provide in large quantities. Do you think your bird guano is irreplaceable?"

"But it's definitely the most cost-effective, and I don't think they would sell it cheaply after transporting it from far away," Chu Guang said, "1 kilogram for 12 kilograms of grain. Considering the early winter, this is my biggest concession."

"Next year, we will supply this in large quantities. If you can't accept this price, I'll return the same way and sell it to passing traders."

The bird guano was scattered on the shallow southern shore of Linghu Lake and extended to the east, with a considerable but not abundant reserve. With some time and manpower, it could be mined.

Chu Guang didn't know why these survivors hadn't discovered this treasure, but now it belonged to him.

Liu Zhengyue hesitated for a moment and finally nodded.

"Alright, I hope you're not lying... In the spring, we need 3 tons of bird guano for planting. Where are you? In Qingquan City or nearby? If it's not far, we can come to pick it up."

"There's no need. After this winter, we'll deliver it to you ourselves."

Chu Guang smiled and extended his right hand.

"Then I wish us a pleasant cooperation."

Although his face showed pain, Liu Zhengyue managed a smile and shook his hand.

"…Pleasant cooperation."