Chapter 194.1: My Cute New Little Batch Of Leeks Are Here!

North of Linghu Wetland Park.

In the ruins of the abandoned tire factory.

It was once the lair of the Bloodhand Clan, and with its fall, it was once occupied by cockroaches and rats.

Recently, the well-structured factory building was repurposed as a result of the expansion of Shelter 404.

With the efforts of countless new players, the mutants who built their nests here were expelled, and NPCs set up guard posts in the surrounding high-rise buildings. And now it had become the northern industrial area of the outpost, and all the light and heavy industries that were originally crowded on the south side of the nursing home had been relocated to where the factory was.

That included both the Steel Plant 81 owned by players who were professionally trained in real life, and Goblin Technology owned by the crazy asshole who seemed to be a god internet weapons researcher.

Although under Mosquito's constant begging, the generous administrator finally agreed to keep his hut on the south side of the outpost, the production activities involving chemicals, inflammables and explosives in the future had to be carried out in places far away from the vicinity of the resurrection point.

It was not that Chu Guang was targeting him, but it was that there were too many complaints.

That crazy bastard randomly test-fired weapons in the forest outside the base, either scaring away the fish in the lake or accidentally setting the pine and cypress trees outside the base on fire. In the past month or so, people had approached Chu Guang more than once to protest against Gobin Technology, hoping that he could restrain Mosquito a little.

Chu Guang believed that Mosquito didn’t do it intentionally, but to let him continue to mess around would make Chu Guang a little nervous.

These problems would not exist where the factory was. First of all, it was 5 kilometers away from the outpost, and it was in an abandoned uninhabited urban area.

There were enough mutants in there for him to test his strange weapons.

In the future, Mosquito would no longer have to risk being thrown into the lake by angry fishermen when he secretly shot rockets into the lake!

All in all, under the planning of the wise and powerful administrator, the northern industrial zone would use steel and coal as the pillar industries to produce seamless steel pipes of various calibers, bullets, stamping receivers and other manufacturing products. Players were encouraged to be creative and make more cheap and user-friendly products.

There were usually no scavengers near a marauder's lair, and the nearby area was rich in recyclable resources. Even if the inventory was occasionally insufficient, scavengers could be hired to collect materials.

The most important thing was that it was close to the road that led out of the city. As long as the obstacles and vegetation along the road were removed, and the road surface was slightly repaired, trucks could even drive directly to the factory gate from under the elevated road nearby!

Whether it was the advantages of transportation or resources, the factory was much better than the outpost located in the wetland park.

It was simply a boon for industrial players!

The truck-accessible factory where the dried meat of unknown creatures was hung, had been transformed into the new site of Steel Plant 81!

A circular hole was dug out at the top of the factory building, on which a red brick chimney was built. It was like a torch, igniting small but firm light on the ruins of civilization.

...

Inside the building of Steel Plant 81...

Hot molten iron filled the blast furnace.

With sweat dripping all over his neck, Li Niu unbuttoned his jacket and fanned his palms to cool himself. "The fire today feels twice as hot as yesterday. Am I just feeling things?"

If it wasn't for the two VM-wearing foreman forbidding it, he even wanted to take off the steel helmet with the fur lining on the top of his head.

Standing next to him was the neighbor from the same town, Wu Dahe of the Wu Family that lived beside him. Their family was a blacksmith, but there was no business in winter, and there were very few opportunities to open the shop.

So when recruiting new workers, both sons of the Wu family both applied. The older one was hired to do the same task as him as a furnace worker, and was also responsible for doing some chores, while the younger one was selected to be a stick worker, operating the stick for hot rolling under the guidance of the blue coats. Occasionally, it was necessary to use a hammer to hit some small pieces, but that was not always the case.

"The foreman said that a new batch of funds has been received in the factory. The factory manager plans to add boron to the blast furnace and try to make 50B steel... It is said that it is used to make gun barrels."

Li Niu looked curious. "What is boron?"

Wu Dahe took out a small stone from his pocket, shook it in front of him, and put it back. "This kind of little black stone, it is said that the strength of steel can be greatly improved by adding only a small amount, but the amount must be controlled and we can’t add too much... I don't know much, anyway, this kind of complicated thing will be handled by those blue coats. We just need to do what they say."

Li Niu nodded in understanding, then asked again after a while, "What is 50B steel?"

Wu Dahe shook his head and replied, "I don't know. Anyway, just do as they say."

Li Niu was speechless.

Although he didn't get the answer he wanted, he noted it down in his heart.

With the addition of boron, steel would be more durable, but only a little, not too much.

But soon, other confusions arose in his mind.

But how much exactly should I add?

Also, does the steel mentioned here mean all kinds of steel? Or is it only limited to a few types?

After all, the method of making steel in the factory was very strange. Sometimes, tungsten was added, and during some other times, chromium and nickel were added, they would even add silicon from time to time! According to the different materials, the use of steel was also different. Some were sent to make barrels, some were made into receivers, and there were also some that were made into bicycle frames.

The work of a blacksmith at Baker Street would not be so troublesome. At most, a little carbon would be added, but the forged tools were still passable, and they were also sturdy and durable.

It was said that smart blacksmiths also specialized in recycling steel from scrap car racks, especially the kind that were parked in indoor garages.

Those materials that were returned to forge steel would be much more durable than ordinary steel.

Li Niu was not a blacksmith. Before he came to the outpost, he was just a scavenger living on Baker Street. Occasionally he would go out hunting with Yu Hu, the second son of the Yu Family, because he could always find the den of wild boar... Although he didn't know how he did it.

As for why he worked there... That was a long story.

A week ago, when the industrial area of the outpost was relocated, Charlie posted a job notice on the square, recruiting 5 to 10 able-bodied workers between the ages of 16 and 35 to help out. The job not only provided two meals a day but also 1 silver coin of daily salary.

At the Subdistrict Office store on Baker Street, 1 silver coin could be exchanged for 1 kilogram of green wheat or shofar potatoes and 50 grams of salt.

Such a good job opportunity was extremely rare. Not to mention that on such cold days, there weren't that many jobs to begin with. So hearing that he could save some food for the family, Li Niu signed up without any hesitation.

As for whether they would be paid in chips or silver coins, not many people cared recently.

The caravans in Boulder Town had stopped coming here since the winter. For survivors, whatever they could use to buy food was money.

The work of relocating the factory was not very laborious. It was just to transport some large and small things out of the forest with a trailer, load them on a truck at the north gate of the park, and then unload the truck at the abandoned tire factory.

The abandoned tire factory used to be the stronghold of Bloodhand Clan, and many Baker Street residents were afraid to approach it, but Li Niu was not afraid.

Bloodhand Clan had been eliminated, and on the roof of the factory building, the flag of Shelter 404 was fluttering.

He often followed Yu Hu to the outpost, and he knew very well that those blue coats were good people.

And this was indeed the case. The relocation work lasted for three whole days. Not only did he have meat, but he could also eat his fill.

Li Niu would even want to stay there forever if they had more work.

At that time, the foreman of the steel factory came out and threw an olive branch to them.

Steel Plant 81 intended to recruit a group of contract workers, with a monthly salary of 60 silver coins. Food and lodging would be provided in the factory. And there would be 4 days off every month. They could even decide which days they wished to rest. Moreover, if they did well, they could get a commission.

In addition to age, there were two requirements for recruiting, one was strength, and the other was literacy... Literate people would be given priority.

According to the foreman, the factory would set up night literacy classes to organize workers to learn to write, count, and draw. But because they had to sign a contract, they had to know how to write their name before they could sign up, and no one else was allowed to sign it on their behalf.

It was the first time in Li Niu's life that he realized how wonderful it was to be literate.

He had attended Charlie's night school literacy class before. Although he had only been there a few times, at least, he knew how to write his name.

Those whose names had three characters suffered a bit. They could either only write two, or they would only be able to write their surname after a long time.

In the end, there were only fifteen people who stayed. The foreman gave them hard hats and warm fur coats, arranged dormitories for them, and told them that from now on they were workers of Steel Plant 81.

As long as they worked hard, they could even settle down with their family in the future.

Li Niu didn't think that far as his current life was enough to make him feel happy.

Wearing the fur clothes made by the factory, he even felt a little hot standing in the factory. Every time he changed his shift, he would go out and enjoy the cold wind for some time.

A wonderful life like that was something he had never dared to imagine before!

Looking at the molten iron in the blast furnace, Li Niu couldn't help sighing in his heart, "Yu Hu, that kid, doesn't like to study, I have to find a way to persuade him..."

Their break time was quickly over.

As the molten iron in the blast furnace reached the expected temperature, Li Niu cooperated with another worker, operated the controller, and moved the suspended blast furnace to the mold for pouring under the instructions of the foreman, making a rod-shaped billet.

Then the motor started. The roller below the billet began to work.

Conveyed by a row of rollers, the rod-shaped billets were sent to the punching machine, and punched and drilled by special high-temperature resistant drill bits.

"The temperature of the billet dropped too fast."

"Indeed... I have to think of a way to rectify the hot stamping technology and directly stamp it in the mold to keep the quenched state."

"Can the barrel be thinner? Otherwise, the barrel will be too heavy. It will have zero mobility, and it consumes too much materials."

"Let's try our best. With such a large caliber, I'm afraid that it will explode if we make it too thin."

Bathroom Goer and Athlete Foot, who were standing in front of the production equipment, pointed at the equipment at work, and whispered to each other.

As for why they were so energetic...

Because this morning, when they just went online, they suddenly received a research and development fund of 5500 silver coins!

Maybe it was because the administrator was moved by their hard work. From now on, for the research and development of new equipment, as long as they submitted drawings and budgets according to the process, they would receive special funding! They no longer needed to fund their research on their own.

In addition to solving their immediate needs, the respected administrator also deployed two clone nurturing cabins for them, saying that it was a reward for their hard work.

It was great as they didn't need to go back to the shelter in the future. They could simply log off from the factory.

If other players knew about what they received, it would definitely make them jealous and drive them crazy!

Happiness arrived too suddenly.

However, Bathroom Goer and Athlete Foot were not blinded by the sudden happiness.

They knew too much about the jealous players on the forum, and if they knew that they had so many benefits, they would definitely clamor for a nerf again.

Therefore, the two of them did not tell other players what they received, but secretly enjoyed their rewards. They spent money to hire scavengers to recycle good steel from the wasteland, rented a shelter machine to cut the required parts, and did their best to increase the production capacity of the steel plant. Secretly, they were making the steel industry bigger and stronger.

They wanted to come up with some real products and show them to these fake internet experts what they were capable of!

Also... They needed to show that they weren’t fake experts!

...