Chapter 333.2: Fuel Rod Hidden In The Basement

Since there were people who would worship a black box as a deity, it wasn't that surprising that there were people who would mistake a pre-war era comic book for an advanced technology manual.

Yin Fang looked back at the orange gas tank and said with envy. "100 kilograms of Helium-3... If we were in the Academy, they might even trade Class A technological information with you."

Chu Guang responded, "I wouldn't trade it. I need energy more than Class A technology that I can't use temporarily."

Yin Fang nodded, "Indeed, I don't recommend selling it either. Given your current level of manufacturing, being able to produce Class D technology is already a miracle. So it's better to be practical."

The higher the technological content, the higher the cost, the more complex the process, and the more industries involved. In the New Alliance's current situation, the first priority was to develop their supply lies, and cutting-edge technology only came in second. After all, Class D technologies like solid hydrogen might be just as useful as Class A technologies like the creation of metallic hydrogen.

Chu Guang's real complaint, however, was that Yin Fang actually underestimated the New Alliance's manufacturing capabilities.

The fuck you mean us being able to produce Class D technology is already a miracle?

According to the Academy's classification of pre-war technologies, A3-Type Aluminium should be considered Class C technology. In other words, the New Alliance's industrial capabilities could already produce Class C technology...

"This gas tank should have been disassembled from a fuel rod... Although I don't know which idiot disassembled it, fortunately, all the parts are here, so reassembling it shouldn't be a problem." Yin Fang continued as he looked at the scattered materials around. "Now, all that's left is to find that reactor and Shelter 101. I have to clarify that I don't know how to repair that thing. I'm just a prospector, not a nuclear engineer."

Chu Guang said with a smile, "Don't worry, I've already arranged for someone to find them."

"Really? That's great," Yin Fang sighed in relief.

His biggest headache came whenever the administrator encountered a technical problem. Regardless of whether it was his area of expertise or not, he would always ask him to find a solution.

What could he do?

Even if it was the same language, reading and writing were two completely different concepts, not to mention a complex, systemic project like a controllable fusion reactor.

"... Reassembling the fuel rods will take some time. Can you find a few people to help me move the parts out of here? This place smells terrible. I don't want to work here."

It wasn't just the smell; the environment here was like a haunted house. Normal people wouldn't want to stay for long.

"No problem," Chu Guang nodded. With a flick of his finger, he opened a map and randomly selected a group of lucky players from the nearby area, asking them to help move the parts by assigning a mission to them.

The mission needed 10 people in total, and it offered 10 silver coins and 10 contribution points, along with 50 points of War Score.

As soon as the mission window appeared, it was accepted by the players instantly.

It was so fast that Chu Guang suspected that those little shits didn't even read the mission content, and that they simply accepted it without a second thought.

Upon checking the mission details, he found that out of the 10 people, 9 were agility types.

But even then, this kind of reaction still surprised him!

"... Some people will come to help you shortly. I have some other things to attend to, so I won't stay here."

As he finished speaking, a light blue mission popup suddenly appeared in front of Chu Guang.

[Mission:

Retrieve the VM belonging to Shelter 101's administrator (Requires the device serial number and DNA verification record matching with database information)

]

[Reward:

3500 DNA sequences.

]

3500 activation codes!

Chu Guang was thrilled when he saw the mission reward. He had almost exhausted the 3000 activation codes received after unlocking level B4 of Shelter 404. With these additional 3500 DNA sequences, the player limit for Wasteland Online would increase from 3500 to 7000, doubling the capacity instantly.

Once he thought about it, Chu Guang couldn’t help but sigh, "sure enough, tomb raiding is the best way to become stronger!"

However, his excitement didn't last long. Just half a minute later, Chu Guang regained his composure.

From the available information, it was clear that Shelter 101 was not an abandoned ruin but an active shelter. This meant that their administrator was still alive.

So the question remained: how to politely borrow the VM from a living administrator, which was essentially someone's black box, containing DNA data, work logs, and personal information, much like a 21st-century smartphone.

Chu Guang thought to himself that if someone tried to borrow his phone, he definitely wouldn't want to lend it. Moreover, even if he had deleted everything on it, there would always be a way to recover it.

The mission might not be as simple as it seemed...

In a dark tunnel, a group of people with flashlights in hand searched carefully forward.

2 hours ago, the Bull and Horse Squad received a follow-up mission regarding the fusion reactor and followed NPC Wang Zhong to look for the entrance to Shelter 101. Lu Bei, representing the Guardian Corps of New Alliance, also accompanied them.

The 5 players spread out around them, protecting the 2 NPCs in the middle of the group.

Surprisingly, the mission was fairly easy as they encountered very few threats along the way.

The most dangerous mutant they encountered was a Multi-Legged Beast that had somehow entered their path.

In most cases, what they encountered were just mutated rats and cockroaches... In fact, there were rats pretty much everywhere.

The entire West Continent City had almost become the territory of rats.

Those small creatures had weak combat abilities; a single hand grenade could wipe out a whole group of them.

When they came across a lone rat, they didn't even need to use firearms. A simple kick was sufficient to easily deal with it.

After kicking the corpse of a mutated rat to the side, Night Ten said with a hint of frustration, "We should have brought Make Me along."

Quit Smoking scratched his head and said, "Taking him with us won't help. By the time he tamed all the tunnel's rats, we could have cleared the entire map twice."

Make Me had shared his mutant taming strategy on the official website before. He said that to tame a mutant rat, one first needed to defeat it with their bare hands until it showed its belly and surrendered.

By the same token, players theoretically could also tame Deathclaws, provided they could beat one in hand-to-hand combat.

Not understanding their conversation, Wang Zhong, the guide, thought they were becoming impatient and hurriedly said, "We're almost there!"

Lu Bei, who was walking alongside, tried to reassure him, "No need to rush. Take your time and remember the way the best you can."

"Rest assured, sir. I've walked this road many times before; I can find the way even blindfolded!" Wang Zhong said confidently.

The group continued forward and soon reached their destination.

After they arrived in front of an iron door, Wang Zhong knocked on it.

However, there was no response from behind the door.

Feeling anxious, Wang Zhong knocked on the door again.

Seeing the NPC's actions, Night Ten softly suggested, "Why don't we just blast the door open for him?"

Upon hearing this, Ample Time coughed lightly and cautioned, "This is a 'Unique' labeled mission. Failure would lower our camp's favorability level. I suggest we don't complicate matters."

Scratching his head, Quit Smoking added, "Why do I feel like Night Ten's suggestion makes more sense? Aren't all the shelter residents supposed to be inside the shelter by now? This door isn't even the entrance to the shelter. How could there possibly be anyone..."

Before he could finish his sentence, a small gap opened on the iron door. Then a face appeared from behind the gap.

Seeing Wang Zhong at the door, the man was briefly surprised and he gasped in shock, "Wang Zhong? You're still alive?!"

Wang Zhong laughed with excitement and replied, "What are you talking about? Of course I'm alive! Do you think dead people can talk to you?"

"Sorry... My choice of words was incorrect," the man lowered his head and fell silent for a moment. "Why did you come here?"

"I'm here to bring you good news. The marauders have been taken care of!" Wang Zhong said with a smile.

"Taken care of... Already?" The man's face displayed surprise, as if he couldn't believe it.

At that moment, he noticed the unfamiliar faces standing next to Wang Zhong, and his expression became guarded.

"Who are these people?" He asked.

Lu Bei stepped forward and initiated a self-introduction after giving a military salute, "I am Lu Bei, the commander of New Alliance's Guardian Corps."

Wang Zhong quickly added, "They're the ones who helped us drive away the marauders and cured my wife's illness. They are currently helping us rebuild our home. Also, New Alliance is led by the administrator of Shelter 404, so there's no need to worry. They are all good people!"

When Wang Zhong explained the identities of the people he was with, his words seemed to come from the heart.

Since the New Alliance arrived, they had gone from living meal to meal to a more stable life. Since then, no one in their settlement had died from hunger.

However, not everyone shared Wang Zhong's sentiment.

Staring at the soldier next to Wang Zhong, the man's expression turned doubtful. He didn't seem to believe what was being said and remained silent.

It didn’t take long for the atmosphere to become awkward.

Just then, Ample Time took a step forward, wearing a friendly smile on his face, and greeted the man in his imperfect federation language. "... We are residents of Shelter 404, and we come from the same era as you. We're glad to meet you again... Fellow countrymen."

In order to say such a long sentence, he had rehearsed the words in his mind for quite some time. Yet, he still stumbled over them.

Old White, who stood beside him, couldn't help but cover his face, and Gale, who had remained silent, let out a sigh.

The man already didn't believe that they were from the Shelter, but this idiot still wanted to show off his mediocre federation language skills.

Why couldn't he just keep his mouth shut if he couldn't speak properly?

Night Ten muttered under his breath, "... We should've worn the newbie outfits."

Gale nodded. "We're indeed too careless."

Perhaps their hidden charm stats were too low, as the trigger for the plot had apparently failed.

Staring at Ample Time, the man observed him closely for a moment and, for some unknown reason, chose to believe the fabricated story.

"... You do look quite similar to those people, even though you're not wearing the blue coats," he said hesitantly.

"Those people?" Ample Time asked, a bit puzzled.

"Yes, I'm talking about the Shelter residents," the man said as he opened the door wider. "Let me introduce myself. I'm Tris, a resident of Camp 101 and an employee of Shelter 101..."

"I am one of the Protected."