In the uninhabited wasteland, there were not many kind and honest people. Traveling merchants were often worried about being robbed by poor and crazy refugees, so they usually wouldn’t do business with them. And refugees were also afraid of traveling merchants and their guards, and rarely approached them on their own initiative.

They were probably rich, but few envied them. Not only were those people rude, they rarely showered and they wouldn’t stay in one place for long.

Not to mention the mercenaries.

Maybe there were good people amongst them, but there were definitely not many of them.

In Frost River’s opinion, the person who could be her husband had to at least have a stable job nearby.

Of course, it would be even better if it was a handsome shelter resident.

It was a pity that those people’s language was too difficult to understand.

Frost Night sighed softly, "I’m so envious… I want to go to work too."

Her elder brother Frost Stove and second elder brother Frost Stone worked in the Hunter’s Guild. They could earn more than 300 silver coins a month, and would occasionally bring some prey given by the guild back to the village.

Their brave elder sister Frost River went to work at the trading post. Although the base salary was not high, she could have 2 meals a day, and it was said that there was a commission on the items sold.

Frost Night also wanted to go to work, but she was not old enough.

Although according to the tradition in her tribe, 14 years old would make them an adult. However, the shelter forcibly raised the age of adulthood for them by 2 years and required all men and women under 16 to receive at least 6 hours of language and arithmetic literacy education every day.

Frost Night didn’t quite understand why there was such a strange rule. According to her father, she was an adult the year before. However, she was considered a child again after entering the outpost.

"Speaking of which, it seems that a new Traveling Merchants Association has been established in the outpost base recently, and it is now recruiting people." Seeing the envious expressions on the faces of her younger sisters, Frost River suddenly remembered the matter.

Frost Snow immediately asked curiously, "Do they have any requirements?"

Frost River pressed her lips and thought about it seriously. "The field staff has 6 months of fieldwork time every year, and requires a wealth of experience in field survival. Those who have already married will be given priority. The office staff are mainly clerks and tellers. About 20 people are needed. The basic requirements are literacy and numeracy. It will be given priority to those who are young, patient, and have good features..."

"Young, patient, and have good features…" the youngest sister, Frost Night, repeated quietly in her mouth. Her eyes suddenly lit up and she looked at her second sister who was sitting on the side.

Frost Snow’s cheeks flushed slightly when she noticed that her younger sister was looking at her. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I also think Snow is the most suitable for the position!" Immediately understanding what the little sister meant, Frost River put her arms around Frost Snow’s shoulders and encouraged, "You should try it. How will you know if they won’t hire you if you don’t try it? And I heard that the Traveling Merchants Association is directly managed by Lord Administrator, and it is at the same level as the Hunter’s Guild! Those who have excellent performance will definitely be entrusted with important tasks!"

If she hadn’t been working at the trading station for a while and didn’t want to change jobs frequently, she would have given it a try already!

Frost Snow felt her cheeks heating up.

She couldn’t help remembering the embarrassing incident at the New Year’s Eve party again.

Under the instigation of her people, she summoned up the courage to go forward and invited the administrator to dance with her on the spur of the moment.

The administrator was really a kind person, and he was so approachable. Even when he rejected her, he was still very gentle.

But even so, she was still upset for a while...

"Oh! The administrator will manage that association personally!" Frost Night, who only paid attention to the second half of the sentence, looked at her second sister with sparkling eyes. "Elder Sister, you can do it! I’m rooting for you!"

No longer caring about her image anymore, Frost Snow rushed forward to tickle her little sister’s armpits with a blushing face. "You bratty girl… How dare you make fun of me!"

Being tickled by her elder sister, Frost Night giggled non-stop.

The noise continued until the evening, when her eldest brother and second elder brother came back carrying a wild boar, and then the 3 of them went with their elder sister-in-law to help process the prey.

At night, Frost Snow thought for a long time, and finally mustered up the courage to go to the recruitment site on North Street before 8:00 to fill out the registration form.

Probably because her handwriting was good and her temperament was not so barbaric compared to other nomads and refugees, her name appeared on the recruitment list the next day.

There were 10 people in the first batch of public announcements, all of whom were office staff, and she was assigned to the front desk.

The daily salary was 13 silver coins, which was slightly higher than that of the Hunter’s Guild. The working hours were the same as that of the bank’s worker, from 8:00 in the morning to 6:00 at night.

The address of the Traveling Merchants Association was located in the outpost, near the north entrance. It was a three-story building that had been repaired before, but the sign had not been hung yet.

Feeling excited and apprehensive, Frost Snow came to the Traveling Merchants Association to receive induction training under the instructions of the staff at the recruitment point.

However…

When she got there, she didn’t see the administrator.

Apart from 9 other colleagues from Baker Street, Longevity Town, and the neighboring village, there was only an old man who didn’t seem to be able to walk very well.

Looking around at the energetic and excited faces, Charlie, with his hands behind his back, pondered for a while and coughed lightly.

When everyone quieted down, he said in a calm voice, "Starting today, you are employees of the Traveling Merchants Association."

"What you have to do is very simple, that is to open up sales for our factories and open up territories where our eyes can see."

"I know that you may not understand what I said, but don’t worry, I will explain to you the specific things you need to do soon."

"Now I need you to remember to always smile at work, always be optimistic in the face of difficulties. Complete everything seriously, and make sure that every chapter you write is worthy of your conscience."

"Your performance will be recorded in the file through the VM on your arm. Those who are serious, reliable, and have good performance will be promoted quickly. But if they take bribes, play favoritism or play other tricks, we will also see them in the labor camp soon.”

"This is a mission personally explained by the administrator, I hope you can understand the weight of this."

...

The Traveling Merchants Association played a very important role in Chu Guang’s layout of the Beta Test, even a little more important than the Hunter’s Guild.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t leave it to Charlie.

The new town mayor of Baker Street was voted on by the townspeople themselves, from among candidates nominated by the Subdistrict Office. Those who could be nominated were people with management experience. A mature model had been formed there, and it didn’t matter who would be chosen to be the new town mayor.

During his tenure, Charlie trained a lot of management talents.

Perhaps because he guessed that one day he would be transferred away, he even arranged for a teacher to take his place in the literacy class.

At present, with the continuous efforts of players and aboriginal people, the industrial zone of the outpost had evolved from a single industrial chain model where they used Steel Play 81 as their center to drive the development of multiple small arms workshop, to a new model where they had multiple pillar industries driving the comprehensive development of small and medium-sized factories.

The industrial area continued to expand north.

With the continuous input of external resources and the enthusiasm of players for production, the population in the northern suburbs alone was not enough to digest all the products of the industrial zone.

Although foreign traveling merchants could take some of them away, Chu Guang couldn’t always wait for them to come to the shelter. He needed his own caravans.

There were many survivor settlements in the wasteland.

Many small settlements like Baker Street couldn’t even produce bullets, and they still used bows and arrows, steel forks, iron-pipe rifles, and even front-loading muskets.

And because of insufficient pre-war inheritance, some larger survivor settlements may be ridiculously strong in some fields, but in other fields, they may have fallen to a degree that was similar to the pre-industrial revolution society or even primitive society.

Using androids to plow the fields, cloning humans as slaves, launching miniature nuclear warheads with trebuchets, and worshiping black boxes as miracles… There were too many similar things happening in the wasteland.

The products produced by Shelter 404 may not be the most advanced, but they were definitely the most cost-effective. When bringing goods outside, they could also export a little goodwill from the northern suburbs by the way, and take advantage of the common yearning of human beings for a better life.

At dusk.

Chu Guang, who returned from Longevity Town to inspect the base, happened to see Charlie who had just finished the induction training for the employees when he passed by the gate of the Traveling Merchants Association.

"How’s it going?"

"Between the age of 16 and 25, I have selected all the people who have received literacy education and can be hired. I estimate that I can recruit 30 or 40 people." As he spoke, Charlie sighed softly and complained, “The association was established a little bit late, so many talents were taken by other places."

Chu Guang chuckled softly, "Thank you for your hard work."

Charlie shook his head. "It’s not that hard. Besides, being able to do something meaningful in the last moments of my life is also an unexpected surprise for me. Although I don’t hold out much hope... Maybe you’re not like us."

After a pause, the old man continued in a joking tone, "Everyone is very disappointed that they didn’t see you. I feel that many people are here for you. Are you really not going to show your face?"

Chu Guang said helplessly, "I may look free, but I’ve been busy since morning, and I only have a little free time when it gets dark."

Most people just needed to worry about the work on their hands.

However, as the administrator of Shelter 404, he had to take into account the affairs of the two worlds at the same time, and constantly switch between the identity of a developer and NPC, trying to take into account the different demands of 2 completely different groups.

It was like being a mother at the same time as being a father.

Thanks to the 20 points of intelligence, the players he personally selected gave him peace of mind, otherwise, Chu Guang suspected that he might not be able to handle this job.

He was so busy that he didn’t even have time to collect materials.

"Understand." Charlie nodded slightly, and continued, "But with all due respect, you may need to think more about the future path than the details of how to take each step."

This sentence was said so vaguely that Chu Guang wasn’t sure if what he understood was the same as what Charlie wanted to express. "For example?"

"You led your people to defeat the barbarians, and then defeated the Tide, which was considered invincible. In your opinion, this may be a trivial matter, or a matter of course, but I can see the shock in people’s hearts. You have created miracles in front of them."

Charlie said softly. "From the market of Longevity Town to the alleys of Baker Street, people are talking about your achievements, and feeling extremely lucky and proud to live under your protection."

The flattery caught Chu Guang off guard completely. Even though his face was thicker than the shelter’s door, he still couldn’t help coughing lightly, "Thank you for the compliment."

"You may think I’m flattering you, but I’m serious about this." Charlie paused, then continued with a serious expression. "Your residents are very proud, but also very troubled. They don’t know what to call themselves... People in Boulder Town ridicule them as hillbillies in the northern suburbs, rats scurrying in the ruins. They know they are not, but they can’t figure out where they really belong."

"There are people who live on Baker Street, people who live in the outpost, people who are in the industrial area, or the village at the west gate of Longevity Town... They have never been to the shelter, so they certainly cannot be counted as residents of Shelter 404. In the face of a common crisis, people will naturally unite, but they must have something that they can continue to unite for."

Chu Guang said thoughtfully. "I think I understand what you mean now."

Actually, he had been thinking about this matter for a long while.

The new version was not only a new version for the players, but also a new page for the survivors in the northern suburbs.

Charlie nodded. "Whether you plan to be an emperor of an empire or the leader of an alliance, you’d better think of a name or title for yourself."

"People need a name that can unite them, and a legitimate identity. Whatever it is, it’s better than not having it. This celebration is a good opportunity!"