Chapter 74

"Big Brother Chu, what's that on your back?"

"Weapons," Chu Guang didn't want to waste time explaining, so he quickly changed the subject, "Are you here to trade?"

Yu Hu nodded like a garlic pestle, a bit embarrassed, and said, "Yeah, my brother and I hunted a deer and want to trade it for some things. But I don't understand what they're saying, and I don't know what to do... Luckily, you came over."

Chu Guang glanced at the prey, which didn't look small.

"It's fine, I'll give you a pass in a moment... No, I'll give it to you now."

As he spoke, Chu Guang took out a small notebook, drew a few lines with a marker, and handed it to Yu Hu.

"Keep it safe. If anyone stops you, just show it to them."

The paper and pen produced by the shelter were hard to forge.

The words on the pass were written in Chinese, and it also had his signature, which was not easy to imitate.

Out of caution, Chu Guang also wrote a number on it, making it easier to identify who was who if he needed to issue more in the future.

When conditions allowed, he would switch to printed versions with anti-counterfeiting codes.

Yu Hu, who couldn't read what was written, carefully put it away and nodded.

Then, Chu Guang pointed to the old slave Luka beside him and said, "He will manage the warehouse. Hand over the prey to him, and he will help you find someone to process it."

Old Luka, though confused, nodded respectfully.

Based on his experience, he didn't need to interrupt when the master was talking to guests. If there was something he needed to do, he would be told later.

If not, it meant there was no need.

Yu Hu, meeting this person for the first time and not knowing his identity, nodded with a friendly smile.

"Alright."

"Since I'm going to the warehouse anyway, you two come with me." Without lingering at the entrance, Chu Guang led the two and the caravan to the warehouse.

The reindeer had just been hunted, with an arrow through its throat. Chu Guang had the player managing the warehouse weigh it and then send it to the butcher to be processed.

Fried Egg, who was now very skilled at this, had two apprentices watching and learning.

Most of the internal organs of the mutated reindeer were inedible. One reason was the lack of spices to cover the gamey smell, and another was the uncertainty of what it had eaten along the way.

Even though they were herbivores, unlike hyenas that eat carrion, they were not domesticated animals. Some plants and fungi harmful to humans might leave residues in their digestive systems.

Since they weren't constitutionally adapted, there was no need to take the risk.

Yu Hu and Yu Xiong watched curiously. Although they had seen butchers before, this was the first time they saw the blue-coated players handle it so skillfully.

They skinned, deboned, and cut the meat without blinking, and the knives seemed to glide without touching the bones, leaving no meat on the discarded bones.

It was simply amazing.

"The old butcher on Bet Street never let us watch. Once I learn, I'll open a slaughterhouse at our doorstep, and business will surely be good," Yu Hu said excitedly to his brother.

Yu Xiong shook his head.

"Save it. If you're going to open one, don't do it at our doorstep. I plan to have a child next year. It wouldn't be good to scare the little one, or even the fish."

Yu Hu scratched his head.

"Oh, okay. Then I'll open it opposite Old Charlie's general store. There are more people there."

Before long, the edible meat was on the cutting board, and the inedible parts were in a plastic bucket.

Fried Egg hung up the slaughter knife, put the meat in a basket, and weighed it, then looked at the manager.

"Exactly 100 kilograms, quite a lot."

Chu Guang nodded and instructed him to take 20% of the meat, deduct the tendons, bones, and other scraps, and the skin, then put the rest in the plastic bags the two brothers brought.

"Go to the warehouse and get 300 grams of coarse salt later."

The salt price at the outpost had been adjusted once. Now, the price of unrefined coarse salt was 50 grams for 1 silver coin, a slight decrease.

Refined salt was five times the price of coarse salt, 50 grams for 5 silver coins, a significant increase from before. If it was the kind with a buff, the price was 50% higher.

However, whether it had a buff or not, refined salt was not sold to the public, only to players, which was a kind of benefit for players.

If calculated by the salt price, the cost for Chu Guang to trade for this deer skin was about 6 silver coins.

If calculated by the trading cost, this number was probably less than one-third, as most of the coarse salt was "wholesale" from merchants from Red River Town, with an average cost of one kilogram of coarse salt being three kilograms of smoked meat.

However, the two brothers were very happy. Getting genuine, unadulterated salt without any shortage was a happy thing for them.

Especially since Chu Guang gave them 50 grams more, enough to last a few more days!

Win-win, it was great!

Grateful, the two brothers thanked Chu Guang, picked up the 80 kilograms of deer meat and 300 grams of coarse salt, and left happily.

Chu Guang called over Luka, who had been standing nearby, and instructed him.

"Those in blue coats will come to hand in their prey. No need to weigh them. Give 5 silver for hyenas and 12 silver for reindeer. Send the prey to the butcher, process the meat, and then send it to the grain warehouse for storage."

"If it's an outsider like the one just now, lead them to the butcher to process the meat. Take 20% of the meat for smoking, keep the tendons, bones, and skin, and give the rest to them, along with 300 grams of coarse salt. Understand?"

Luka, being sensible, didn't ask what the blue-coated players were, only remembered what he needed to do, and nodded immediately after understanding.

"Understood."

Chu Guang nodded in satisfaction.

But at that moment, he suddenly remembered something, took out two coins from his pocket, one silver and one copper.

"These are silver and copper coins. Recognize them. I'll teach you some simple daily phrases later to communicate with people here. It's fine if you don't understand; just do what you should and say what you should. Got it?"

Luka stared for a while and nodded vigorously.

"Got it!"

"Great, basically that's your job. Stand here and get familiar with the work environment. I'll teach you more later."

Luka stood obediently, next to the player who was also a part-time warehouse manager, making the latter feel a bit uncomfortable.

Chu Guang was very satisfied with his attitude.

This new NPC was good. Indeed, you get what you pay for. The one bought with a token was better than the one obtained for free.

Xia Yan, that guy, was not worth mentioning. He could fall asleep while reading a book and would start slacking off once his work was done. He wouldn't move without a whip, but he was quite popular on the forum.

Chu Guang still couldn't figure out what made him so popular besides his chest...

At that moment, Xia Yan, sitting at the entrance of the weapon shop and dozing off, sneezed unexpectedly.

She sniffed, raised her red forehead in confusion, and looked around like a groundhog just waking up.

Finding no business in the shop and no one checking on her, Xia Yan sighed in relief, wrapped herself in her fur coat, and continued to doze off.

Perhaps because her old profession was no longer an option and her future was bleak, she admitted she had been a bit lax recently, even losing her basic vigilance.

However, although this place wasn't as bustling as Boulder City, the fur coat was quite warm, made of high-quality reindeer skin and hand-sewn.

In Boulder City, it would probably cost a lot of tokens.

Tokens...

Wine... Chocolate...

Thinking about it, her saliva involuntarily flowed.

...

In the carpentry shed.

When Chu Guang found [WC Really Has Mosquitoes], he saw him standing in front of a wooden box about half a person's height, fiddling with something.

"What are you doing?"

Hearing the voice behind him, Mosquito put down his tool, clapped his hands, and turned to look at the manager, his face beaming.

"Respected Manager, I'm designing a new weapon!"

"...A new weapon?"

"Yes! After the last battle, I realized we urgently need a support weapon that can pour massive firepower onto the enemy's position in a few breaths!"

Excitedly, Mosquito pointed to the honeycomb-shaped wooden box in front of him.

"'Blizzard 0.1'! It's designed for this!"

Is this a cluster rocket?!

But it was empty, so the key "rockets" hadn't been made yet.

Staring at it for a while, Chu Guang finally managed to say something.

"...I thought you were at 0.2 last time. Why did it go back to 0.1?"

"Cough, that was Hellfire, a different series."

Mosquito's expression was slightly awkward but quickly turned back to excitement, "Please listen! Although it looks primitive, I guarantee it's really, really useful!"

"According to my design, it can launch all 50 rockets carrying black powder, acetone, and wood tar in 10 seconds, covering a battlefield 100 meters away!"

Covering a battlefield 100 meters away is fine...

Let's not talk about the coverage radius and accuracy.

I'm more worried about it exploding, covering the battlefield 100 meters behind as well.

"Rockets? Are you sure?"

"Uh, sure! Although the propellant is black powder, the effect should be similar?"

Mosquito's gaze drifted to the side, and he chuckled.

"According to my design, each rocket's propulsion unit is about 1 kg, and with a fire retardant, it can theoretically extend the operating time to 6-8 seconds, generating 3.5-5 kg of thrust, and theoretically delivering 1-1.5 kg of warhead is no problem!"

"I plan to use wood tar, acetone vaporized from wood, and black powder for the 1 kg warhead, so it will burn after exploding!"

Chu Guang's eyes twitched.

Oh my.

This is using explosives to launch explosives.

If it goes off, everything is fine, but what if it doesn't?

That would be a disaster!

Coughing lightly, Chu Guang cautiously reminded him.

"In close combat... this might not be enough, and I feel it's dangerous. I suggest you try to make nitrocellulose, which might be more powerful."

Black powder has a detonation speed of 600, while smokeless powder can reach 2000, with no residue.

I heard the famous "Katyusha" BM-13 series rockets used smokeless powder as the propellant early on, and later used viscous glycerin as a plasticizer mixed with nitrocellulose to make a double-base solid propellant.

Black powder...

Is enough for bombs.

Using it for this is really pushing it.

"You're right," Mosquito rubbed his chin, muttering, "If only we could get gas cylinders."

Chu Guang felt this guy was thinking of something dangerous, but it was hard to say if gas cylinders existed in this era, so he didn't need to worry too much.

"Let's not talk about that... I need you to make three single beds."

"Okay, is it urgent?"

Chu Guang thought for a moment and said, "At least one by tonight. Can you do it?"

Mosquito rubbed his chin and said, "Shouldn't be a problem."

Developing weapons takes time.

But carpentry...

Isn't that just a matter of having hands?