Chapter 169: First Production Line of Shelter 404

Northern River Valley Province.

The bitter north wind was howling, and the heavy snow was falling.

At a glance, the cracked ground was covered with countless craters, and the wasteland seemed to have been plowed by something; it was a mess everywhere.

Under every inch of soil, there were scorched corpses. On the gentle hill not far away, there was a burning lion flag obliquely planted.

That was the flag of the Army!

Ten days ago, the Army's expeditionary force, which was at a stalemate with the Great Rift Valley, launched the first winter offensive against the Great Rift Valley.

The sudden cold winter had pushed the physical and mental strength of both sides to the limit. Everyone knew in their hearts that the time for the decisive battle had come.

The battle-hardened General Klaas acted decisively. He seized the opportunity and launched a general attack on the weakened Divine Shield System by taking advantage of the harsh natural weather.

His judgment was correct.

Unfortunately, although the blizzard did affect the Divine Shield System's performance, it did not weaken the defenders' determination to hold their ground.

The drone's aerial bomb was like the scythe of death as it rained on the battlefield. Not to be outdone, the Army's artillery returned fire, covering the light and heavy armored units and the light infantry all over the mountains and fields. 10,000 people charged into the defense position that stretched out for ten kilometers in batches, but no one came back.

The entire battlefield has become a brutal meat grinder.

Both sides suffered heavy casualties, but the price the Army paid was significantly higher.

The loud booms of cannons in the distance sounded again, like a beating war drum, but anyone could tell that they were on their last legs.

The man in the navy blue military uniform was awakened by the sound of gunfire.

He shook his head, spat out the mud in his mouth, and struggled to get up from the ground.

Ten minutes ago, as the leader of the squad, he was ordered to lead a squad of 20 light infantrymen to fill a gap in the defense.

His commander didn't give him specific battle orders. He was only ordered to never retreat no matter what before he was sent to the battlefield.

When he opened his eyes again, the burning flag was hundreds of meters away from him. There were no living people when he looked around, only the ground where even the snow had been burned dry.

He lowered his head and saw his dangling trouser legs and half of his intestines exposed.

Unable to bear the fear, he dropped the rifle in his hand, fell into the mud, and let out a hysterical cry.

Similar scenes could be seen everywhere.

At that moment, dozens of kilometers behind him, on the plains to the northwest of the River Valley Province, a convoy retreating west was suffering a devastating blow.

They were about to retreat even further, but two formations filled with members clad in powerful exoframes quickly intercepted them after breaking through the northern defenses.

The steel was burning, and there were only a handful of survivors.

An exoframe with searchlights hanging from its shoulders was dragging a man covered in blood from the wreckage of an off-road vehicle.

"I can pay... The ransom." He was missing a tooth and his left eye was covered with blood, and he could barely speak. "We lost... I surrender."

Failure wasn’t the end.

He, Klaas, fought all his life, and not every battle could be won.

However, the member in the exoframe ignored him. After comparing the holographic image information the soldier in the exoframe looked at his comrade.

"It's him. This is Klaas, the leader of the expeditionary force."

"Are you sure that he's not a clone or something similar?"

"Not sure, but does it matter?" The group of people laughed.

Yes.

Does it matter?

The Army's troops in the River Valley Province have been completely wiped out, and their expeditionary force was totally destroyed, leaving only dead bodies on the ground and routed troops on the run.

Even if there was still a commander left alive, what could they possibly do?

The exoframe returned his gaze to the man he was holding in his hand, then shook the weak old man's body like he was holding a chicken.

"There's a Deathclaw's lair nearby."

"Great, those little guys must be very hungry."

"They'll love this gift."

Hearing everyone's conversation, Klaas' calm face finally showed a trace of panic. His hands grasped the steel fingers that clamped his neck. He struggled in vain.

"If you guys, killed me... The Army... will... not let you go!"

Klaas struggled to breathe.

The man stared straight into his eyes with a look of mockery.

"Then let them come."

"There are no cowards here."

...

The sky eventually lit up.

The sparse noise disturbed the peace outside the east gate of Longevity Town. The young guard standing on the wall yawned and gave his comrade who came to change shifts an exhausted look.

"You're finally here."

The guard with a long face came, holding an iron tea jar with boiling water on his hand as he glanced outside the wall.

His name was Liu Ding, and he was Wrench's adjutant.

Before, his name was actually called Rivet, but the administrator, who liked to name people, changed it for him, and he happily accepted it.

"Did something happen last night?" he asked.

"No," Lu Bei shook his head and put the gun on his back, "I've watched them all night. Except for the loud snoring, I couldn't see anything unusual... I'll leave it to you. Now, I have to get some sleep."

He was the youngest member of the outpost's guard as he turned fourteen last month, but he looked no different from an adult.

There were no requirements for people's age and background to be a guard, the only requirement from the administrator was loyalty and honesty. Although he was the youngest, Lu Bei felt that he met the standard better than anyone else.

He, who had lost his family long ago, unconditionally believed in the administrator who had saved him from the marauder's underground jail. Not to mention being a guard, he was even willing to die for him.

"Go and get some rest, child, leave it to me." Liu Ding patted the young guard on the shoulder, and after watching him leave, he placed the iron tea jar on the frozen concrete bunker.

Facing the refugee camp, he took off the Arbiter rifle on his back and kept his eyes on them diligently.

Some refugees came out of the camp and went outside to pick up firewood, while others set up pots and threw snow into it to boil.

Jiu Li was giving them instructions and seemed to manage everything in an orderly manner, but Liu Ding was not confident that he could control those people.

Unlike the nomadic tribes of Iron Axe Wu, Liu Ding could tell from his experience that those refugees who came were not from the same place.

Regardless of the distribution and orientation of the shacks, as well as the location of the fire, it all meant that there were at least four groups of them, perhaps even more.

On the other side, the prisoners of war had also been driven out to collect firewood because the fuel demand throughout Longevity Town had surged.

According to Luca, they had to build two more charcoal-burning kilns to meet the fuel demand. So the prisoners of war from the Army would be out picking up firewood all day.

Bearing in mind the instructions of the administrator, Liu Ding tightened the heavy rifle in his hand to cheer himself up.

"Hopefully everything will go smoothly."

...

Back in the outpost...

Xiaoyu, who came to the surface early, quietly built a snowman on the square in front of the nursing home before the bank opened and everyone was online.

Although it may be meaningless, and the snowman she built was not good-looking, she still wanted to do something for those who kept the shelter safe.

[Have a safe adventure today!]

She then hung a wooden sign on the snowman's belly, with a line of crooked words written on it. Those were words she had recently learned.

It's finally done.

After patting off the snow on her gloves, Xiaoyu jumped back two steps, looked at her masterpiece with sparkling eyes, and gave a thumbs up with satisfaction.

"Not bad, Xiaoyu is great."

Imitating the way the administrator praised her, Xiaoyu skipped away in a good mood.

After a while, players went online one after another.

Seeing the snowman in the square and the crooked words written on the sign, countless players felt their hearts melting.

"?!?!"

"This snowman! It must have been built for me by little Klee!"

"Hello, is this the FBI? We have spotted a pervert."

"I feel like I'm full of power. I can even defeat a Crackleclaw Crab!"

"Crackleclaw Crab? Anyone can do it!"

"My good brother, let's go do it together!"

"Haha, Xiaoyu must be trying to encourage me. Don't worry, your big sis here will definitely be extra careful. I'll make you delicious mushroom soup when I come back!" Feeling that a promise was not enough, Yaya took out a beautiful big mushroom from her pocket and carefully made a nose for the snowman.

"Wait! I think it's missing something!"

Seeing Yaya's actions, Teng Teng clapped her hands as if realizing something, turned and ran to her hut to get a scarf, which she then hung around the snowman's neck.

"Nice!" Teng Teng stroked her chin with satisfaction and nodded proudly. "It looks so much better now!"

Carrying the newly made rocket, Mosquito laughed and wanted to join in the fun, but before he reached the square, he was shoved and pinned to the ground by a group of enthusiastic players.

"What are you doing?! What the heck! My rocket! That's my rocket!"

"Damn you all! You need to pay me!"

Yawning, Xia Yan carried Little Seven to the third floor.

Glancing at the players in the square outside the window, who were screaming and shouting with excitement in the early morning, she couldn't help but complain. "I really envy them for being so motivated early in the morning."

"Little Seven was full of energy too, until it was carried upstairs by a strange woman."

Xia Yan glared at the damn bin. "What do you mean? Are you saying that it is wrong for me to help you?"

Little Seven didn’t even turn the camera up to look at her. "Little Seven doesn't want to talk to you today, please come back tomorrow."

"You think I like to talk to you?!" Xia Yan stared at Little Seven while gnashing her teeth.

What's wrong with this robot?!

Rolling her eyes, Xia Yan turned around and went downstairs to open the Weapon Shop.

Shelter 404 was as lively as the day before, and the energetic players went out to work early in the morning.

As for Chu Guang... Of course he wasn’t idling.

As their supposed game developer, he knew very well that he couldn't always squat in front of the computer and peek at the screen. He still had some things to do.

For example, he needed to give players more benefits!

Steel Plant 81.

Standing next to a machine with an area of ??about six or seven square meters, Chu Guang looked at it up and down, and said after a while, "This is the... Is this the punch press?"

"Yes, dear administrator! It's a little rudimentary, but it's not bad at all," Bathroom Goer smiled and said, "By the way, this is my graduation project. ...Although you may not know what a graduation project is..."

Chu Guang was speechless. They really took him for a fool, but he didn't say much. His expression didn’t change either.

That was the advantage of being an NPC.

If he didn't want to talk to people or explain anything, he just needed to ignore them. No one would think that he was rude, which was simply much more comfortable than doing sales.

Athlete Foot also laughed, "That's right! The principles of all punching machines are actually the same. It's all about how the circular motion turns into the linear motion. We've designed a set of electric motors to drive the flywheel, drive the gear, crankshaft, connecting rod through the clutch, and push the slider for processing. The maximum impulse is of an average magnitude. It is a little difficult to make an engine, but there is no problem with building AK parts. The only trouble is that the quality of the lubricating oil isn’t the best. At the moment, we made it with Betulin Terpenic Acid and turpentine... Anyway, it is working at present, and we will see what we can do to improve it in the future."

Bathroom Goer snarled at him immediately. "What do you mean AK?! It's called the LD!"

Athlete Foot chuckled with embarrassment, "Yes, yes, hehe, I forgot."

To be honest, Chu Guang did not think the machine was simple, in fact, he felt that it was incredible.

Speaking of which, are the parts used by this machine really cut out by his machine tool?

This is really incredible!

Next to the punching press, there was also a hot punching machine, which was used to make seamless steel pipes.

The steel that had undergone firing would be sent under the rollers to be pressed into rods, then fixed on the fixture, punched with a motor-driven tool, cut, cooled, and sent to the workbench to create the rifling with a boring cutter.

Next to the workbench, Chu Guang could also see a batch of finished steel pipes and receiver parts, which was the order he had asked them to complete before.

"Are these two devices easy to operate?"

"Very easy!" Athlete Foot patted his chest and said, "Dear administrator, if you want to produce anything else, just leave it to us, we can guarantee that you will be satisfied with our products!"

Chu Guang looked at the two of them approvingly and nodded in satisfaction. "You have done very well!"

"With these weapons, we have more confidence to survive in this world!"

The check he wrote before has finally been cashed!

[Mission Complete]

The two players received a notification at the same time, and immediately opened their VM and took a look.

Looking at the final payment on the business account, Athlete Foot and Bathroom Goer both showed excited expressions.

We are rich!

Chu Guang quickly placed a new order, and then asked the warehouse manager to come over to check the batch and take it to the warehouse.

Assembly matters could be left to Lazy Xia.

She had plenty of tools in her place, and if the parts weren't precise enough to fit, she could just do a little modification to improve it. This shouldn't be difficult for her to do.

However, Chu Guang felt that his concern should be unnecessary. After all, the die of that punching machine was cut with a magnetically-confined plasma numerical control machine.

Not accurate enough?!

Impossible!

As for the principle error caused by mechanical movement... That had little effect on whatever mattered.

After Xia Yan assembled the gun, Chu Guang excitedly played with it for a while, then loaded the magazine and took it to the shooting range at the west gate to test the power it contained.

He first fired a few shots, before raking the target until the magazine was emptied.

The 7mm caliber was slightly smaller than the 7.62mm bullets used by the AK, but the 50mm case length could fit more charges, and the penetration strength was still sufficient.

Whether it was dealing with people, or dealing with mutants, it would be very useful!

"Not bad," Xia Yan gave Chu Guang a surprised look and said, "I didn't expect that you would know how to design weapons."

"It wasn't me."

"Then?"

Chu Guang said after a moment of thought, "You can simply understand it as... We have a place where everyone can chat and people would discuss all kinds of topics. Once the discussions became heated, there would be all kinds of detailed descriptions and blueprints people use to prove their points."

To be honest, he stole quite a lot of ideas.

Xia Yan was stunned. "Is it really possible for such effective communication?”

"Hmmm... There is no limit to it actually, and anyone can say anything. It is precisely why there are all kinds of people there." Chu Guang took out the empty magazine, and said with a smile, "Anyway, that's not important. What do you think of this gun? How does it compare to Boulder Town’s Drone X-2 assault rifle?"

Xia Yan rolled her eyes and said, "When I said it wasn’t bad I was only comparing it with iron-barreled rifles. Do you seriously believe that guns made by a small workshop would be better than a gun made in a big factory?"

Chu Guang smiled in disagreement. "The product will eventually get better once we have more experience in making them. After a few more versions... Wouldn’t it be good enough?”

After my players die a few more times... Wouldn’t we have enough experience?

"You are right. As the first generation product, it's indeed really good." Picking up a cooled cartridge case from the ground, Xia Yan stroked her chin and looked at it for a while. "Let me see if I can improve it."

Not getting responses from Chu Guang for a while, Xia Yan turned her head and saw Chu Guang looking at her in surprise. She couldn't help but froze for a moment, and said in a low voice, "Is there any problem?"

"No." Chu Guang shook his head.

This is getting strange...

This woman has become more and more diligent recently. She's almost like a different person now.

Attracted by the gunshots at the west gate, the nearby players looked over curiously and whispered with interest.

"There's a new plot ongoing!"

"Sickle! It's the Sickle! Hahaha, it's finally out!"

𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

"Get lost! I was talking about the plot between the administrator and Boss Xia! Did no one pay attention to her eyes? Escaping Mole, you know what I mean, right?"

"Go away. Don't drag me into this. Do you want me to get banned?!"

"Tsk, this mole has given up his dreams."

"What's the use of him now? Let's just bake him."

"%!#@!"