Chapter 31: Meeting Marauders, Players' First Battle

The uses of acetic acid, acetone, and methanol were still quite extensive.

If the shelter outpost wanted to start industrialization in a real sense, then these chemical raw materials were indispensable.

Although these were not useful for the time being, Chu Guang still gave player Mosquito a reward of 1,000 contribution points and publicized his outstanding contribution of using wood as a raw material to successfully produce acetic acid, acetone, and methanol.

It was equivalent to the server announcement in some online game novels.

Looking at the proud expression on Mosquito's face and the envious expressions of other players, Chu Guang felt that he needed to maintain this fine tradition.

Mhm. Not just in the game. I must also post it on the official website!

In the future, he could also set up a Hall of Fame in which he would record "a certain achievement by a certain player on a certain year, a certain month, and a certain day."

That was his solution to the problem of development. The achievement was similar to that of completing a difficult dungeon anyway.

As a poor ruler, cheap honor was the only cost-effective reward he could give players.

After finishing what he needed to do, Chu Guang took Night Ten and Garbage along the viaduct outside the wetland park and continued to explore north.

While searching for traces of prey, they also looked for valuable exploration targets.

Clearspring City's industrial area was mainly concentrated in the southeast corner of the city, distributed into a fan-shaped expanse along the third ring and the second ring.

The northern part of Linghu Wetland Park was dominated by residential areas. Many unfinished properties could also be seen along the highway.

In addition to having relatively complete public supporting facilities such as those for education, medical care, and transportation, the area had not formed a large-scale industrial cluster. Only some small, light industry workshops were scattered in the suburbs far away from residential buildings and they were near garbage incineration stations.

Of course, after such a long time of being abandoned, lush greenery covered the area.

During the nuclear war, the northern suburbs of Clearspring City were seriously damaged by strategic weapons due to these areas being a collectively huge population base, all the while having extremely low strategic value.

On the other hand, after the complete collapse of order, the huge number of refugees brought a different kind of disaster.

Supermarkets, convenience stores, markets, and shopping malls were quickly looted by refugees; then came the hospitals, schools, office buildings, and even the rest of the shops along the street. Residential buildings weren’t spared either as every refrigerator and locker was rummaged through.

No shelter would risk their safety to open the entrance to accept them, not to mention that they could not do it even if they wanted to. Moreover, the completely paralyzed traffic also made it difficult for those people to leave.

Even two hundred years later, one can see a glimpse of the tragedies that happened, from the bullet holes and broken glass on the wall.

In some showcases or bedside shelves, even inside trash cans, there were still weathered skeletons that could still be seen.

"...This is really miserable."

Looking at the two skeletons that looked like they were hugging each other, Garbage opted to close the trash can, as he couldn't bear the sight.

Night Ten's reaction was rather calm. After all, it was not the first time that he followed Chu Guang out of the outpost. He had grown accustomed to the situation and even had the air of an old player.

"... Have to admit that the scene design of this game is really well done... It's really like a post-apocalyptic world."

"This is the post-apocalyptic world."

Chu Guang replied indifferently, carefully observing the situation in the shop window before making a mark on the paper map.

They should be standing outside a clothing store.

There were barely any clothes left on the shelves, and the two remaining rags that were left hanging were covered with black mold.

Without a doubt, scavengers had turned up here a long time ago. From the looks of it, more than one batch came here.

"... I think we are wasting our efforts," Night Ten sighed. "Clearly, this place has been visited before."

"You can always find something useful... like this." A box of unopened sewing kits was found behind the almost shattered cabinet, and Chu Guang threw it into Night Ten's hands.

The needle should be made of alloy material, and the thread should be made of rayon; oxidation would not pose a problem as long as the package is kept sealed. Let alone two hundred years, it could be used even after another two hundred years.

Those gadgets were what the outposts were severely lacking at the moment and Teng Teng should be interested in it.

Unable to find anything else, the group prepared to withdraw. Who would have thought that they would hear a shrill scream in the distance, followed by two gunshots?

Listening to the sound, it seemed to come from 5mm bullets being shot.

Chu Guang immediately raised his guard. He took the iron-barreled rifle from his back, hid under the shadow of the wall, and carefully traced the source of the sound.

On the corner of the street not far away, under the diagonal billboard, a man in a gray coat fell to the ground after being shot. He forced himself to crawl backward with a frightened expression.

Blood oozed from behind and stained the ground below him red.

Chu Guang frowned. "... Scavenger?"

After a while, another figure appeared from the street corner.

A gunman wearing an animal skin coat, smoking half of a cigarette, carrying an iron-barreled rifle pieced together with garbage, walked towards the man lying on the ground who was begging for mercy.

There was another man and a hyena following behind him.

The second man also carried a similarly shaped rifle in one hand and a hyena leash on the other side, a fire axe hung on his waist.

𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Chu Guang's pupils contracted slightly.

In less than a second, he quickly determined their identities.

Marauders!

"What's the situation outside?" Night Ten approached from the side and asked in a low voice.

He thought he was already very quiet, but his concealment skills were still a little weak after all.

"Shhh!" Chu Guang only had time to make a gesture before he saw the mutant hyena with a chain around its neck turning its head and yelping twice in his direction.

Chu Guang's face changed instantly.

Damn it! Did this hyena allocate all its skill points to perception?!

In a split second, the two marauders turned their heads and reacted quickly. They raised their rifles and fired.

Bang! Bang!

After two consecutive gunshots, Chu Guang quickly retracted his head, but soon realized that he was being overly worried.

The hand-made DIY rifles were most likely without rifling.

They wouldn’t be able to hit jackshit when fired across a street. It went just like he imagined. Those bullets didn’t even hit the door next to him. Instead, they fell on the cement road between them.

"A gunfight?! What's the situation?! Did we run into mutants?!" Garbage, who was hiding in the shop, didn't panic at all, and even rubbed his hands in excitement.

The same was true for Night Ten, who drew the javelin for the first time.

"Don't panic, I'll take a look first..."

"Look my ass!"

Seeing that these two guys were not afraid, Chu Guang felt endless frustration. He freed up his hand to press Night Ten's head to push him back.

"They're marauders! Both of them have guns and there is a hyena too! You withdraw from the back door, and we meet in front of the bus stop three hundred meters away from the south..."

"Dear Administrator, why are we retreating? There are just two people and a hyena. We have more people than them!" Mr. Garbage clenched his fists and said, "We can also fight!"

"Yes! We can fight!"

Night Ten also nodded excitedly and picked up the crossbow that the administrator had just dropped. He whispered in high spirits, "Although we only have one gun, we still have a Molotov cocktail... We also have this two-meter-tall lizard. I don't believe that he would lose to a hyena."

Chu Guang, who was nervous, instantly came back to his senses.

That's right. Why are we running?

In the past, he was alone in the wasteland, so it was normal for him to run away when encountering vicious bandits.

Now he had weapons and people, why did he still need to run away?

Besides, they were only going to face two people...

Chu Guang's reaction was quick, and he immediately made a decision and pulled the bolt to load the bullet.

We’ll fuck them up!

"You, take the Molotov cocktail and go over there." Chu Guang threw the device and the match into Night Ten's hand, casually pointing at the diagonal side of the street corner.

"Pay attention to my instructions. As soon as I shoot, you can throw it!"

The other party didn't know how many people they were going to face, and when they saw someone rushing out, they would give chase for sure.

Night Ten who took the Molotov cocktail, stared at Chu Guang in shock.

"Me?! How do I get there?"

"Of course you’re going to run! Or you want me to carry you? Don't worry, their guns are not rifled and won't hit you." Chu Guang stretched out his hand and pushed him.

Night Ten staggered to the door.

Although he was nervous, he gritted his teeth when he realized that it was an opportunity for him to show his skills in front of the Administrator.

Screw it. This is a game anyway!

Sure enough, just as Chu Guang had predicted, seeing Night Ten rush out of the shop, the two marauders immediately shouted and fired two shots at him.

"Haha, baby, where are you going?"

"Just give up, you can't run away. If you surrender now, I may spare your life!"

Night Ten couldn't understand what these people were talking about, he only felt the bullet swishing past his scalp.

He dared not stop for a moment and rushed into the shop on the other side of the street without looking back.

The pair looked at each other, smiled wickedly, and pressed forward with their guns while letting go of the leash.

They didn’t see the person holding a gun, and that would mean that their target was a mere scavenger!

Killing a scavenger was no different than trampling a cockroach to death.

Chu Guang, hiding in the shop, stood motionless, waiting quietly for an opportunity.

Hearing the hyena getting closer and closer, he leaned out half of his body abruptly. He aimed at the mutant hyena and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

It was impossible to dodge at a distance of less than five meters. The second the 9mm bullet burst out of the chamber, it pierced through the beast’s body.

Although Chu Guang was aiming at its head... Well, whatever.

Before the hyena could scream in pain, it fell to the ground. It tumbled two meters away, and stopped moving.

The marauder who held the leash and was rushing towards Night Ten was taken aback for a moment. Obviously, he didn't expect the other party to have a gun.

When he came back to his senses, the partner he had been with for many years had died tragically. The expression on his face was instantly distorted with anger.

"I'm going to skin you alive!"

"Joan, calm down! They have more than one guy...!"

Before he was done, a Molotov cocktail was thrown over and slammed on the wreckage of the abandoned car behind them.

The flames quickly rose as scattered glass shards blasted all around.

Seeing that the other party had a Molotov Cocktail, the marauders quickly leaped away. A sudden impulse to retreat rose in their hearts. Unfortunately, they had no way to escape at the moment and they immediately fell into a passive situation.

The next second, one of the marauders suddenly caught a glimpse of a terrifying figure from under the eaves of a street shop with the corner of his eye.

It was a lizard with dark green skin. In other words, a humanoid lizard.

"Monster..."

Whoosh!

A crackle cut off what he was about to say, and the incoming javelin pierced his chest, nailing him to the burning car behind him.

Until the last moment of his life, he still didn't understand why a mutant-like monster would be seen with scavengers.

He heard of keeping domesticated mutant hyenas as pets and even some who kept bears and horses. It was the first time he had seen anyone domesticate that kind of monster!

This was simply ridiculous!