While Ample Time was busy replying, Shu Yu finally finished all his work, and Shelter 404’s office in Boulder Town was finally successfully established.

It covered a total area of 120 square meters, and there were no publicly shared areas, not including the entrance. There were 3 floors in total, and the monthly rent was 800 chips. The 1st floor was used as a lobby, and the 2nd and 3rd floors were used as hotels for players to rest.

In the future, according to the situation, Chu Guang would consider whether to set up a save point and arrange a few nurturing cabins to be stored there, so that players could log out in Boulder Town.

The area near the industrial area in Boulder Town was connected to the grid. 1 chip could buy 10 kilowatt-hours of electricity. Some people would buy a wood-powered generator, or tie solar panels to the roof to generate power themselves.

There was also a mixture that was used.

However, buying a generator could easily cost 3 or 4 figures, which was not suitable at this stage.

The budget was only 10,000 chips, so Shu Yu dared not waste it. After paying three months’ rent and a month’s deposit, half of the remaining 6,800 chips would be spent on decoration and furniture.

That was the request of the administrator.

Even if the budget was tight, he had to follow the pictures provided by the administrator to decorate the place with ‘a taste of the Adventurers’ Guild’.

Shouldn’t it be a chamber of commerce?

Shu Yu was a little confused, but he didn’t take it to heart. He just regarded it as the administrator’s personal hobby.

After renting the venue, he put up the communication base station immediately, hung the antenna on the roof, and disguised it with some inconspicuous objects.

With it in place, the players’ VMs could finally receive messages from the shelter normally!

But it may be because the wall was too high, the signal was too weak.

Late at night.

Shu Yu finally finished his work. He placed his earphones in and got in touch with the administrator who was far away in the outpost. "Sir, according to your instructions, I have already contacted the local decoration company for renovation. The decoration of the lobby is expected to be completed within a week, and the decoration of the second and third floors will also be completed within 2 weeks."

"Thank you, you’ve done a great job." There was a voice of approval on the other end and he paused for a while before he continued, "Since the problem of the office is solved, the problem of having employees must be resolved as soon as possible. I need you to hire some local employees who understand the local situation. At least 10 of them. Half of them will be office staff and the other half will be field staff.”

The field staff would be responsible for assisting players and communicating with locals.

That was what Chu Guang promised in the version, and it would provide players with a more convenient channel to hire NPCs with higher trading levels to help them sell things.

When there was nothing to do, they could also research the market, gather information, and organize them into reports to be sent back to the shelter.

Soon, Clearspring City would become lively!

When the time came, he should be able to hear some interesting news!

As for the office staff, to put it bluntly, they would be civil servants, including the teller who would be responsible for receiving players, handling business, issuing missions, and also negotiating other business with locals. 𝐫â𐌽О𝐁ĘȘ

If they discovered unemployed engineers, or even blue coats from other shelters, they could also introduce them to Shelter 404.

Well… That was if they were willing to go.

"... You can just train the new employees according to the manual I sent you, and the wages can be appropriately higher according to market conditions. We can’t count on their loyalty, but we can use benefits to tie them to us. You can handle this yourself, I believe in your ability." Chu Guang’s voice came from the other side.

Holding the earphones in both hands, Shu Yu nodded seriously. "Okay sir, but now there is a problem… We only have 3,400 chips left in our account. Even at the minimum standard here, we have to pay an employee a daily salary of 3 chips. Considering that we need to bear their board and lodging, the actual cost may be 4 to 5 chips, and the actual employment cost for a month may be as high as 150. If we hire 10 people at a time, our current funds can last up to 2 months at most.”

It wasn’t just the fact that they didn’t have enough funds at the moment! The source of their funds was the problem!

An institution that provided services to hundreds or even thousands of people couldn’t always rely on the shelter subsidies, not to mention that the shelter did not have so many chip reserves.

Hearing the worries in his heart, Chu Guang said in a reassuring tone, "Don’t worry, the funding problem will be resolved soon. I hope you don’t have to worry about chips in the future. After the trade route is opened, you will be responsible for bulk commodity import and export business between the shelter and Boulder Town. 10% of the transaction amount will be allocated to your expenses."

Chu Guang concluded. "But remember, you are not a profit-making institution. You are making a public institution tp serve the shelter collective. I want you to keep that in mind!"

To put it simply, the assessment of departmental KPIs should not take the retention of departmental funds as a reference. They shouldn’t be wasteful, but they also shouldn’t be too frugal either. They most certainly didn’t need to fight with other departments for funds.

In the future, if they forget Chu Guang’s orders after they were promoted or if they raised the import price to earn a little more money, they would be in big trouble!

However, what Chu Guang thought was simple may be a bit difficult for people in the wasteland, so he simply changed it to a way he could understand.

Of course, Shu Yu understood what the administrator meant, and he couldn’t help feeling a little admiration.

Not for the purpose of profit, and the interests of the collective take precedence.

As expected of an administrator!

No wonder he can rule such a large territory and unite the ill-disciplined wastelanders.

This far-sighted vision, as well as this ideological realm, is indeed not something that ordinary wastelanders can compare with...

...

The next day.

Early in the morning, shortly after the 4 players got up, they were summoned by the NPC named Shu Yu.

After putting on the equipment, Night Ten said energetically, "What are we going to do today?"

Shu Yu spoke in non-standard shelter language. "Hire. Employee."

Recruiting new NPCs?!

Is this something players can participate in?!

Hearing these words, the eyes of the players lit up instantly.

Especially Night Ten, his whole body shook in excitement. "Will you refer to our opinion?"

Shu Yu froze for a moment, glanced at VM, looked at the subtitles that popped up on the screen, and nodded. "Can."

Of course, he would refer to their opinions.

After all, this office was established for them.

It could even be said that their opinions mattered the most.

"Hahaha, Noice!" Night Ten shook his fist excitedly, with an expression of excitement written all over his face.

"...?"

Noice? What does that mean?

VM had translated it, but after reading it for a long time, he still couldn’t understand what the translation result meant.

Gale looked at Ample Time helplessly, but he didn’t expect that the dude wasn’t a serious guy either. He was holding his chin and mumbling to himself, "This really needs to be paid attention to carefully... After all, it’s going to be our partner who’s going to spend time with us, day and night."

Who would refuse a fair-skinned and beautiful girl, who would whisper in their ears to stay safe or they will be waiting for them to come back victorious?

Even if they simply cheered them on, we will be more motivated to fight!

Ample Time swore that it was definitely not his personal hobby, It was mainly for the sake of everyone.

Gale sighed, "We should look at this rationally..."

Ample Time immediately guessed what he was going to say and interrupted him immediately. "Well said, and you can now shut up."

Night Ten also choked in, "Go away, I don’t want to be rational!"

Old White nodded at the side. "

Mhm

, I actually value gameplay more than rationality."

"..." Gale felt that it was better for him not to talk too much.

Leading the way was the guard of Liszt’s caravan, a man named Kaeya with an arm in bandage.

The group turned a few corners and came to a lively market.

However, it was different from other markets.

The goods sold on the stalls here were not a dazzling array of goods, but people.

Some sold others, and some sold themselves.

"This is the biggest ’talent market’ in Boulder Town! Whether a free man or a slave, you can find them here!"

"... Occasionally, you can even see androids brought by caravans from outside, and even good things eliminated from the homes of nobles in the inner city."

"There is no bigger talent market in Clearspring City. If the people here can’t catch your eye, you can only try your luck in the slums outside. But the quality there is too bad... I think you probably won’t be interested them."

After making a general introduction, Kaeya smiled slightly, and looked at Shu Yu and others standing to the side.

"You can take your time, and just be careful of those with obvious tattoos. These people may be gang members, and some are even marauders. They can’t tell who they are and what their backgrounds are, so it’s best to be cautious."

Shu Yu looked at him in shock. "There are marauders here too?"

"Of course there is. The gates of Boulder Town are open to anyone. Marauders will not write down what they have done on their faces. But it is actually very easy to distinguish them. Sensing the feeling is a compulsory course for an experienced warrior." Kaeya had a confident smile on his face. "Anyway, I’ll be free until dark. If you can’t make up your mind, I’m willing to help you!"

He was just a temporary worker in the caravan.

Although he had worked for Liszt for a year, he was far from being a core employee. If the market was not good, he may be fired next year, and he would have to go to the wasteland to make a living.

It wouldn’t be wrong for him to get on good terms with those before him.

He knew very well in his heart that without Liszt’s relationship, those people might not even be interested in talking to him.

Even his boss needed to please those people, so he would naturally not let go of this opportunity to curry favor with them.

Shu Yu, who was concentrating on his work, didn’t think too much. After nodding to thank him, he walked forward with the players.

This place was not so much a talent market as it was a refugee camp. It was really big, but the quality was not that great.

There were many skinny people here, and most of them had sallow faces. They seemed to be living on those nutritional creams that were not nutritious at all.

There were a few people in neat formal attire, holding a sign full of words in their hands, stating their skills and job requirements.

Some people simply set up a booth and paid to help others write on the signs.

[Zhao Duo, electrical engineer. Expects a daily salary of 20 chips, accepts a 12 hour working system, can do carpentry, and can also assemble iron-pipe rifles.]

[Belleci, blacksmith. Worked in a steel factory. No matter small tool or a big piece of machinery, they can operate it. Expects a daily salary of 6 chips. 5 chips at the very least if two meals are included, no jobs outside the city.]

[Rim, he can use guns, daggers, …]

[…]

Looking at the scene in front of them, Ample Time and Night Ten lost all hope.

"I’ve lost hope for the future"

"I thought that everyone’s genes have been improved?"

Looking around, they didn’t see any beautiful girls.

"The two of you are old players, alright. Why do you act like you just entered the game for the first time..." Old White coughed dryly, "With the nutritional conditions in the wasteland, it would only be strange if there are many good-looking people here, right?"

"Mhm, the poor people here are too skinny, but there are some beautiful girls among the mercenaries..." Gale’s eyes were fixed on a beautiful woman in a leather jacket, but when the other party looked over, he looked away reflexively.

Night Ten argued and gave a counterexample. "But Xiaoyu!"

Ample Time rolled his eyes at him. "Is she not healthy? Do you think the administrator has mistreated her?"

Gale nodded and commented pertinently. "Indeed, that little girl seems to have grown a little taller than when we first entered the game."

It was not just Xiaoyu.

Most of the younger NPCs in the outpost looked pretty good, especially those who were still developing.

For example, the boy named Xu Shun next to him, and Lu Bei, who followed Escaping Mole to Red River Town.

Those were all they could name.

There were also the tribal people near the outpost, who also gave them some exotic feelings.

A hint of understanding suddenly appeared in Night Ten’s eyes. "Understood, the goal of this version is to raise NPCs!"

"..."

Ample Time grinned in response. “Enterprise-level understanding.”

Gale slapped his forehead. "I beg you to be rational."

...

While Shu Yu and the players were selecting employees, Seal was still sitting behind the wooden table and dozing off at his Gray Squirrel Clothing Store.

The two dresses in the window were gone.

It wasn’t that they had been sold. Instead, he leased it to a few people.

After all, those blue coats would stay for several days. If they didn’t sell in the end, wouldn’t it be a waste of his good position?

Lost or broken?

That would be even better.

Those people who rented them just needed to pay the prices on the labels and the matter would be over.

Doing business with acquaintances was still very reliable.

All of a sudden, the door was slammed open, and Seal, who was dozing off, woke up in fright, almost falling off his chair.

Seeing that it was his old friend Rob who ran the bar, he immediately cursed angrily. "What are you doing? Don’t you know how to be gentle when you come in?!"

Rob ignored his words. He walked up with bright eyes, clapped his hands on the wooden table in front of him, and said hurriedly, spittle flying. "Do you still have that kind of clothes?!"

"Yes..."

Rob continued non-stop, "I want all of them! And that sock, the long one!"

Seal froze for a moment and then finally reacted, "You want them all?"

Seal, who hadn’t woken up a second ago, sobered up instantly, looked at Rob with a serious expression. "No problem, but it’s Devil’s Silk, and it’s made by a shelter... I’m afraid it will not be easy to get."

"But…" Seal deliberately slowed down, and then said, "For the sake of our relationship, I can help you find a way."

Rob, who just revealed an expression of disappointment, immediately grabbed Seal’s hand. He yelled in excitement, "Thanks, you’re my good brother!"

Seal cleared his throat. "Ahem, chips..."

"Haha, of course! I almost forgot about that!" Rob chuckled. He let go of his hand, took out a bag of chips with large denominations, and slapped them on the table.

"Including the deposit, there are 600 chips here! The rest of the money can be used as the deposit for the new purchase!"

Surprised by this guy’s straightforwardness, Seal quickly put away the chips while looking at him and asked, "Why do you need so many clothes?"

"You know, I run a bar!"

"Of course, I know……" Seal mumbled.

"Then you definitely don’t know what happened yesterday. I’m not bragging, you really should have had a drink or two at my place yesterday," Robb said happily, "When my dancer appeared on stage in that dress, everyone in the bar lost their mind!"