Chapter 85

Action speaks louder than words.

Chu Guang immediately found an axe and chopped off the joint of the back leg of the Cracked Claw Crab. The piece he chopped off was about as long as a baseball bat.

Surprisingly, the crab leg looked quite solid, thick and long. It weighed at least six or seven pounds, enough to feed two or three people to the point of being full.

The white crab meat jiggled inside the shell, looking tender like tofu, full of high-quality protein and fat.

This big guy looked so ugly on the outside, with mud all over that seemed impossible to wash off, but the crab meat inside looked quite refreshing.

Since he hadn't had lunch, Chu Guang randomly selected a passing player and had him call Yaya to the infirmary.

Before Yaya could even ask what he needed, Chu Guang handed her the crab leg and showed her the crab meat.

"Can it be eaten?"

Yaya looked bewildered and nodded dumbly.

"Uh, it should be?"

At least it wasn't green.

However, words alone couldn't be trusted.

Chu Guang, who was always cautious, continued in a commanding tone.

"Take a bite."

His demeanor was as if he were bestowing a favor.

Just like the NPCs standing by the respawn point in other games.

However, the player who received the favor didn't see it that way.

Seeing the administrator about to stuff the crab leg into her mouth, Yaya quickly backed away, waving her hands and said with a wry smile.

"Wait, wait! This is raw, right? At least cook it before you make me eat it?" She didn't mind the administrator's strong attitude, after all, he wasn't a real person.

Damn!

Why be so picky in a game?

If you're told to eat it, just open your mouth and take a bite.

Unexpectedly, this little player was so particular. But after a moment's thought, Chu Guang felt she had a point.

Freshwater crabs are different from deep-sea crabs. Freshwater environments have more parasites, so it's not advisable to eat them raw.

After all, just because they're not poisonous doesn't mean they won't give you diarrhea. It's like having a strong constitution but still not eating dirty things on purpose.

With this in mind, Chu Guang no longer insisted but changed his approach.

"I have a task for you."

"What, what task?"

Yaya's face was full of suspicion and vigilance, sensing a conspiracy in the word "task."

However, Chu Guang didn't bother to explain, just forcefully handed her the crab leg, which was as long as a baseball bat.

"The task is simple. First, you need to cook this crab leg... Here are 2 copper coins, take them to the warehouse to buy some charcoal."

It seemed the task would be triggered step by step.

Although she felt there was a trap, as a player, Yaya couldn't resist the allure of an "exclusive task." She took the 2 copper coins, which were the "task items" given by Chu Guang, and happily ran to the warehouse to buy charcoal.

Soon, Yaya returned with the charcoal she had just bought.

She carefully found a non-drafty room on the first floor of the infirmary, squatted in the corner, and used stones to make a small circle.

Then she placed the charcoal, lit a fire, and started roasting the crab leg while humming a song.

While Yaya was roasting the crab leg, Chu Guang, standing at the door, let his thoughts drift.

Why can cockroaches, which are also scavengers, not be eaten, but crabs can?

Could it be...

They can actually be eaten too?

Just no one has tried.

Unable to figure it out, his gaze unconsciously fell on Yaya's back.

Just then, the crab shell on the fire cracked with a "pop."

The sudden sound startled Yaya, who was focused on roasting the crab leg. She instinctively pulled back her neck and shoulders, but didn't sense any ill intent from someone.

Chu Guang walked into the room and looked at the crab leg in her hand.

The mud-green crab shell had turned a dark red with a black rim. A small crack had formed in the center of the shell.

Steam and bubbles seeped through the crack, carrying the aroma that had been trapped inside the shell, filling the entire room in an instant.

"Wow... It smells so good."

Yaya sniffed and swallowed her saliva.

This looks even better than a king crab.

The key is, she had eaten king crab before, but not this one!

"Is it done?"

Hearing the urging from behind, Yaya snapped back to reality, realizing she was still on a task, and quickly stood up with the crab leg.

"Respected Administrator, I have completed the task you assigned me!"

"Very good."

Chu Guang took the cooked crab leg from Yaya, waited for it to cool down a bit, then broke it in half and gave her half.

"Eat it."

"Yes!"

Who would refuse cooked food?

Yaya obediently took the crab leg with both hands, put it in her mouth, and took a small bite. Finding it not too hot, she quickly devoured it, then looked up at the administrator with anticipation.

Chu Guang didn't speak but waited quietly for a while. Seeing no toxic reaction, he finally took a bite of his own.

The aroma of the crab meat spread in his mouth.

Although there was a bit of a raw, fishy smell, it didn't affect the fresh, tender, and slightly chewy texture. As the Treant had said, high-end ingredients often require the simplest cooking methods.

In one word, delicious!

Especially for Chu Guang, who had been eating dried meat and rations for too long, this crab meat reignited his passion for good food.

The only downside was that when he took the crab leg, he noticed that the Cracked Claw Crab was male, so there was no crab roe.

He could only gnaw on the legs, which was a pity.

"Good."

Chu Guang nodded after finishing a bite, then continued to chew, taking another bite... and countless more.

Surprisingly,

This thing was more and more addictive the more he ate.

If only he had some cooking wine to remove the fishy smell, and some vinegar with garlic to enhance the aroma...

Yaya stood by, eyes wide open, holding the half-cooled crab leg shell, waiting for a long time without any further instructions.

Seeing the administrator finish the crab leg, she finally couldn't help but ask with a hint of urgency.

"Respected Administrator, do you have any other instructions?"

Chu Guang wiped his mouth and handed her the crab leg shell.

"No, just find a place out of the way to throw it away."

Yaya looked at the crab leg shell in her hand, then at the administrator, hesitating for a long time before finally speaking.

"Um... What about the reward?"

Chu Guang looked at her blankly.

"What reward?"

Seeing the administrator's forgetful expression, Yaya immediately became anxious and quickly reminded him.

"Well, the task reward... Wasn't it a task to roast the crab leg? I've completed it, right?"

Chu Guang was silent for a moment, then looked at her with a strange expression and slowly nodded.

"Yes, you've completed it."

Hearing this, hope rekindled in Yaya's eyes, reflecting the light of anticipation.

"Then—"

Chu Guang: "But didn't you eat it too?"

Yaya: "???"

What the heck!

Is this even possible?

...

One shouldn't be too greedy.

Isn't sharing a meal with the great administrator and enjoying a delicacy even more precious than a king crab enough of a reward?

No matter how much Yaya tried to persuade, Chu Guang just looked at her with an "I'm an NPC" expression.

He now understood Little Seven.

Pretending to be not very smart seemed to be quite convenient.

In the end, Yaya didn't get the reward she had hoped for from the respected administrator and left this place that made her sad.

However, the strong-willed Yaya was only sad for two seconds before quickly regaining her spirits.

Rationally speaking, a task without a reward doesn't exist because it doesn't align with game design logic!

Especially a core NPC "inviting" a player to do an "exclusive task." Since the task wasn't a failure, there must be a reward.

The reward must have been given!

Just not in the form of money or contribution points, but in another way.

Yaya instantly recalled a conversation she had with a game designer via internal messaging, her eyes gradually lighting up as she whispered to herself.

"Right, NPCs have favorability, how could I forget such important information!"

Not giving experience or money, it must be favorability!

How could I be so stupid!

To actually ask an NPC for a reward!

Thank goodness the NPC didn't give it, or the favorability would have been converted to silver coins, and I would have regretted it!

Thinking about this, Yaya felt relieved. She was glad she didn't insist, and even more glad that the NPC didn't give in after all.

The only downside was that favorability couldn't be checked, as it was a hidden value. She didn't know how much this task had added.

But, but, isn't that how brain-injected web novels are written?

The protagonist does a simple meal for an NPC, who doesn't pay but gives a thumbs up. Later, when the protagonist and readers have forgotten about it, the NPC suddenly appears, slaps a big sword into the protagonist's pocket, and then a secret manual that only passes to the protagonist, and everyone slaps their thighs in amazement.

Wow, that meal was a foreshadowing!

She must have read something similar in a novel, definitely! It's just that she read too many and couldn't remember which one.

The more she thought about it, the more she felt it was possible.

Yaya, who was originally a bit depressed, was now grinning from ear to ear, as if she had grasped the future.

Favorability.

Hehehe.

Hidden task!

Hehehehehe.

Suddenly, the snow outside and the cold wind blowing past her ears and ankles didn't feel so cold.

Teng Teng, carrying a basket of fur, was just coming out of the warehouse.

She coincidentally saw Yaya passing by the door, and her silly smile caught her attention. Teng Teng couldn't help but look at her for a moment.

But...

Is this girl okay?

That expression looks like she's eaten the wrong mushrooms.

But Teng Teng only glanced at her for a moment and then continued on her way, humming a cheerful tune, heading to the tailor's stall not far from the warehouse.

In the evening, the great and wise administrator would allocate the land for building the tailor's shop.

Then her identity would change from little tailor Teng Teng to big boss Teng Teng!

Teng Teng had already planned it out.

Becoming a rich woman wasn't important; what mattered was that she loved making clothes. She wanted the clothes with her carefully designed logos to be popular throughout the wasteland!

Not just players, but even the NPCs in the game would wear her designs.

A completely realistic virtual reality game.

It's amazing!!

...

In the afternoon.

The snow was getting heavier.

To prevent the trenches from being buried in snow, Chu Guang instructed the players on duty at the gate to report immediately if they found any flooding or snow accumulation in the trenches.

To prevent raiders from approaching during the heavy snow, he also sent out two Perception-type and two Agility-type players in teams, one from the north gate and one from the east gate of the Wetland Park, to carefully scout along the main roads.

If there was any situation, they were to report back immediately.

After doing these things, Chu Guang, wearing a deer skin coat, went to the industrial area north of the infirmary.

He brought four pieces of wood, two of which he stuck at the entrance, and two against the infirmary building, marking a 5-meter-wide main road.

The entire outpost base wasn't very large, about 100 meters long and wide, including the walls.

A 5-meter-wide main road seemed a bit excessive, but for future planning, Chu Guang decided to make the roads around the "respawn point" wider.

After marking the main road, Chu Guang, like drawing a grid, used branches to mark points at regular intervals along the main road, and marked the corresponding points on the outpost base's blueprint, labeling the areas with numbers.

Later, he would place signs in the marked areas, corresponding to the grid on the map.

"Tsk, I didn't expect surveying to be such a technical job."

He should have found a physical education teacher to help.

The area inside the walls was only a bit larger than a school playground.

He remembered that when he was in school, there were no laser surveying instruments. The PE teacher would walk along the playground with a spoon, drawing a straight line, which was straighter than what the math teacher drew on the blackboard.

Seeing that it was already late, Chu Guang shook the snow off his notebook and returned to the infirmary, where he gathered the players who had been approved for industrial land.

Actually, there weren't many people involved. Including Mosquito, who later submitted additional materials, he had only approved five projects in total.

However, many more players gathered around.

Most of them were there for the spectacle.

"Land is being allocated!"

"Land reform!"

"I hope my steel workshop is close to the respawn point."

"Unrealistic, you filled out such a large area, how can it be close to the respawn point? Don't even think about it!"

The noise in his ears didn't stop.

With a serious expression, Chu Guang cleared his throat and loudly announced his arrangements.

"The approved industrial land is marked on the map."

"Players whose projects have been approved, please come forward to claim your land."