Chapter 86: Steel Plant 81's Special Mission

A few players quickly stood up, fearing that the administrator would change his mind. Looking at those lucky fellows, many people chimed enviously.

"I'm so jealous!"

"Damn it! Why can't my Gwent Tavern be approved!"

"Maybe the administrator doesn't like stuff like that? Try something else next time."

"It's already 2340, how can there be no club like Dicky Twister? It's not reasonable at all."

It was clearly snowing, but the outpost was still lively.

At this time, the few players who were in front of the map finally confirmed their plots of land and started to discuss with each other.

"Ohhhhhh, Teng Teng's cabin is right next to the resurrection point! Nice!"

"My Butcher Shop is so close to the granary, so cool."

"What the fuck?! Why is my goblin chemical plant in the outermost area!" Mosquito looked at the map with a twisted expression.

Chu Guang glanced at him and snorted in his heart.

Outermost area?! Heh, you’re lucky I didn’t put you outside the outpost!

As everyone knew, the chemical industry involved extremely high risks. It didn’t matter if players were killed when they played with gunpowder, but if they blew up the shelter while they were at it, it would be a terrible loss.

Chu Guang would let Luca pay attention to the raw material consumption and daily output of Mosquito’s goblin whatever nonsense factory, and keep the inventory of dangerous goods a safe range away from the shelter.

If they expanded the outpost in the future, he would also consider shifting it further away.

Bathroom Goer and Athlete Foot stared at the map with confused expressions.

Neither player had any opinion on the location of the Steel Workshop. Although the location was close to the south gate, it was close to the main road and the way to the warehouse was also convenient. It was just that a question mark was drawn with a pencil on the location of their workshop on the map, which made them slightly confused.

Brother Bathroom raised his head and looked at the administrator.

"Dear Administrator, may I ask... what does the question mark on the map mean?"

Brother Athlete's Foot nodded and wondered along, “Yeah, yeah, I don’t understand either."

Obviously... Question marks meant that there were quests they could accept...

Unexpectedly, those two players forgot the most basic gaming terms!

Chu Guang cleared his throat and spoke with a serious expression, "Steel is the top priority for the industrialization of the outpost. Your hard work made me recall something I wish to ask you. Of course, this task is optional, and you have the right to choose whether or not to accept it."

Hidden task!

The eyes of the two players suddenly lit up, and the players next to them also cast envious looks.

"Two hundred square meters of land and a hidden task!"

"Damn it!"

"This is so cool!"

....

Bathroom Goer shook his hands with excitement. "Dear Administrator, we are willing to accept the task!"

Brother Athlete's Foot bobbed his head vigorously, "Yes! I am also willing.”

The corners of his mouth curled up into a small arc. Chu Guang extended his arm and handed out a task book, or more precisely, a contract that had already been prepared.

"Look at it first before making a decision."

...

[Mission:

Industrial Flames (Optional)

]

- In order to stimulate the increase of steel production capacity in the outpost and to improve the efficiency of scrap metal smelting, the chief administrator has issued an order and is willing to provide a budget of 2,000 silver coins to support the research and development of steelmaking technology.

- If budget support is accepted, the Steel Workshop will be upgraded to a joint-venture Steel Plant. The shelter will hold 80% shares of the Steel Plant and the founder will hold 20%.

- The founder only needs to pay 50 silver coins as registered capital to set up a special corporate account to receive budget subsidies.

- The funds in the corporate account cannot be withdrawn directly. However, it can be used to purchase materials from the warehouse, entrust the warehouse to publish scavenging and exploring missions, and offer rewards. Moreover, it can be used to pay the salary expenses of four employees.

- If the hourly salary is less than 1 silver coin and the working hours are less than twelve hours, you only need to report and register it. If it exceeds the budget, the administrator will need to review it before approval.

- When the funds in the corporate account accumulate to more than 2,000 coins, you can apply for dividends to part of the profits. As long as dividends paid out each month are less than 1,000 silver coins, you don’t have to pay any taxes. Between one thousand and 10,000 silver coins, you will need to pay a 4% tax on those. Anything greater than 10,000 silver coins will be taxed at 8%. The specific implementation tax rate will fluctuate according to the policy.

[Precautions]

1. Please refer to the "Enterprise Account Management Rules" for details on the use of funds. If anyone abuses the rules to extract funds, violating accounts will be punished with a minimum of 200% fine and a maximum penalty of permanent repatriation of the land allocated.

2. After accepting the task, a series of exclusive tasks and orders will be triggered. The reward types include but are not limited to equipment, money, contribution points, budget subsidies, land, and shares. If you give up, you need to meet certain conditions before it can be triggered again.

Are we opening a small workshop or a large factory?!

If this happened in reality, we might have to seriously consider the implications! However... If it's just in game, this is merely a hidden mission we can accept!

Although the budget could not be directly taken from the account, it was still 2,000 silver coins! Using 50 silver coins for the right to use 2,000 silver coins... No matter how they thought about it, it was still a great deal.

Without even a second of hesitation, Bathroom Goer and Athlete Foot accepted the task happily and signed their long IDs.

The main person responsible for registration was Athlete Foot. After the two negotiated, they each held eleven and nine percent of the shares.

"Dear administrator, what is the name of our Steel Plant?"

Chu Guang was naturally unwilling to do such a troublesome thing.

"Go decide for yourself."

We can even name it ourselves!

The two players' eyes lit up, and they immediately got together to discuss.

"How about the

Laiyang Iron and Steel Plant

? This name is pretty cool!"

"Seriously? Do you want to be sued by that corporation after the game is released? Let's change to some other name."

"I can't think of anything at the moment."

"Just use anything other than that name. Hurry up, don't let the NPC wait!"

"How about Plant 81? It’s an auspicious number anyway.”

"Okay. Let’s go along with it."

In this way, the first Steel Plant of Shelter 404, Steel Plant 81, was formally established.

Bathroom Goer and Athlete Foot also unlocked their first exclusive mission, "Customize armor for the Administrator's KV-1 exoskeleton!"

The mission requirements were very simple. The total weight of the armor needed to be less than two hundred kilograms. It was necessary to protect the user from frontal light weapon fire without affecting maneuverability.

In addition, there were some detailed requirements, such as the thickness of the breastplate should be greater than ten millimeters and less than twenty millimeters, and it could be disassembled and replaced after damage.

As for the task reward, it was up to 200 silver coins!

200 silver coins!

After securing equipment, many people couldn't even get double digits silver coins out of their pockets!

When the news spread, all the players in the outpost were left in shock.

"Holy shit, isn’t 200 silver coins a little too much?!" Mosquito roared in fright.

After allocating the land, Chu Guang went back to the third floor of the nursing home to have a rest, and the players who had been busy for a day squatted on the ground to eat their dinner.

Originally, Mosquito was quite excited that his renamed Goblin Industry had been approved. Compared to the Steel Plant dumb and dumber proposed, he felt that what he obtained was nothing!

Tomato Eggs also looked envious.

"Compared to 200 silver coins, I think the budget of 2,000 silver coins is even more outrageous! Lifestyle Profession players are seriously buffed in this update, but why did I not get any buffs? Damn it!"

Several players from the Bull and Horse Club were also nearby, and Night Ten, who was holding a bowl of shofar potatoes, said with a smile, "The administrator said that there is no prey to hunt now, so you can go and dig trenches."

Tomato Eggs growled, "I've changed my mind. Can I change my business? Can I secretly set up a stove to open a restaurant?"

Gale quickly reminded, "There is a risk. It is better to reapply for it. Otherwise, it is said that if the purpose of using the land is changed, you can lose your land and even be fined.”

"

Wuwu

..." Tomato Eggs couldn’t help but pout at the side.

Ample Time, who was watching everything play out, couldn't help but interject, “Actually, it’s not as ridiculous as you think. Receiving a budget of 2,000 silver coins means a huge reduction in control over the plant. Obviously, the developers have taken into account the problem of inflation. In other words, even if you make ten thousand silver a month, you can only obtain 2,000 silver coins... Moreover, you can’t withdraw it directly! You need to pay them out in the form of dividends, and they will be taxed! When everything is done, one will only possess less than a thousand silver coins...”

Mosquito whined, "But it's still a lot!"

Old White sighed at the side, "I’m beginning to regret choosing the combat profession."

Gale mumbled, "Actually, there is a very interesting mathematical problem, about the yield curve. Under normal circumstances, a new player's income is about 300 silver coins a month if they work very hard. If the Steel Plant's profit is less than 3,000 silver coins, then two co-operators are basically losing out because they can make more money by doing tasks. But if they can reduce costs by improving production and create revenue of more than 3,000 silver coins, then they will be able to make a lot of profit."

"Even an exclusive mission has a reward of 200 silver coins... So, is it that difficult to earn 3,000 silver coins a month?" Night Ten couldn’t help but ask.

Ample Time explained, "It's still a bit difficult. Don't be blinded by the short term profit. You have to look further. Think about it, how many armor suits can the administrator wear?"

Mosquito had a glimmer of surprise in his eyes. He who had opened a shop in reality immediately understood what Ample Time meant.

"Wait, what you said... I seem to understand what you mean."

That’s why I like chatting with smart people...

Ample Time smiled. "Right?"

Night Ten was still confused. Seeing that Ample Time had no plans to talk about it, he hurriedly asked, "What do you mean? I still don't understand!"

Ample Time grunted impatiently, "Tsk, simply put, exclusive orders are actually limited! This game has a concept that many MMORPGs don't have, market demand!”

"NPC aren’t black holes, infinitely buying things produced by players. Most of the things produced by players need to be sold to other players. That is to say, the benefits of the Steel Plant are not determined by itself, but by the consumption power of other players. Especially Combat Profession players!"

"Suppose I am a combat player and I have a hundred silver coins in my pocket. If I plan to spend 50 silver coins to upgrade weapons and armor, then Lifestyle Profession players may earn these 50 silver coins, but they have to compete with NPCs. Do you understand what I mean now?"

Night Ten seemed to understand, and said in a daze, "...In other words, how much money a Lifestyle Profession player earns would depend on how much a Combat Profession player earns by doing missions? Hmmm, I seem to understand..."

Ample Time continued, "That’s pretty much what it means. For example, if I want to buy an exoframe now. Then the engine, steel, sensor components, and other equipment of the exoframe will have corresponding demand. If Lifestyle Profession players want to make the product, they will have to cough up the cash to buy the raw materials! Where do they get their money from? Obviously, from tasks! The same goes for most players!"

The simple truth was that if a game intended to put a piece of equipment in the store, it would definitely make it affordable for some players.

They could either use banknotes to buy some coupons or take time to farm in-game currency.

As a whole, the total income of Combat Profession players will not be lower than that of Lifestyle Profession players, because the latter needed the businesses from the former.

Even if the value was inflated, both sides would grow correspondingly.

For example, when players’ genetic sequence reaches LV10, and when an abandoned shelter dungeon is discovered, maybe the reward for clearing that abandoned shelter will be as high as a thousand, or even 10,000 silver coins!

That wasn’t impossible!

Old White asked immediately. "So, staying as a Combat Profession player is still the way to go?"

He was a strength-type player, and naturally, that was what he cared about the most.

Ample Time nodded. "It can be said that when battle becomes the main theme, the lucky fellows will be the ones who can take part and fight on the front lines of the battlefield. The only difference is which genetic sequence will be the luckiest! Combat Profession players do quests to earn money from NPCs, while Lifestyle Profession players earn money from Combat Profession players. In this way, the economic chain in the game will form a closed loop, and inflation is less likely to occur. There won’t be a situation where players would have a lot of money but cannot buy anything, or there are a lot of things that no one wants to buy."

Gale thought for a long time while holding his bowl in his hand and added, "It can only be said that the current economic model of the shelter is military-oriented. Perhaps when the external environment changes, such as the export system is added or we need to sell goods to other survivors' settlements, this theory may not necessarily be true."

Ample Time said in a relaxed tone. "Yes, so the lucky guys I'm talking about are not absolute. As for the possibility you mentioned, I don't think it will be added to the game anytime soon. We have not even solved the Bloodhand Clan's threat, and the map of Boulder Town hasn't been opened yet."

Gale nodded once again. "Indeed."

Old White thought for a while, then suddenly spoke. "But based on what you said, doesn't it mean that someday in the future, Lifestyle Profession players will usher in a strong period?"

Ample Time said with a smile, "Buff and nerf rotation is the norm, isn't it normal in other games?"

"Should we also build a Steel Plant and reduce risks? If Combat Profession players are not popular one day, we can still make money from the steel industry." Old White asked.

Ample Time rolled his eyes at him. "... Do you know how to make steel?"

Old White grinned, "I don't know how to make steel, but I can make bricks and cement! Actually, I’m great at making bricks. There are many brick factories in our hometown. They have a type of kiln called a continuous kiln. All you need to do is to place bricks in the kiln cart and then push the cart along the track into the kiln. As soon as those bricks are sent in from the back, the burned bricks will come out from the front. They can be used immediately when they cool down. I heard that the big continuous kiln can even have a daily production capacity of millions of bricks!"

Night Ten gasped, "...Holy shit, for real?!"

Gale tutted, "The selling price of the red brick of the shelter warehouse is 1 silver coin per one hundred, and the purchase price is 4 copper coins for the same amount. The theoretical income of one million bricks produced per day is four thousand to 10,000 silver coins? But I think with the conditions of the current outpost and the setting of Wasteland Online, it is not realistic that you want to build a Brick Factory covering a big area."

Old White sighed, "Of course I know that! Besides, investing in such a Brick Factory needs at least twenty million yuan in real life, not to mention the equipment purchase. How much steel do you think it will need?"

Ample Time added from the side, "Actually, we don’t need to produce one million a day. If we can produce ten thousand a day, we can still earn forty to 100 silver coins a day. According to the daily salary of ten silver coins per brickworker, as long as the daily production capacity is more than a thousand bricks, we will be able to make money. If it’s less than one thousand, it’s better to go to the administrator to apply for a professional low-income subsistence allowance for brickworks."

"Question, what's the concept of ten thousand bricks?" Night Ten asked suddenly.

Old White replied in a professional manner, "It’s smaller than two cubic meters of bricks."

"Uh, is it hard to make?"

Old White thought for a second and explained, "If you use the most primitive mud kiln, and burn it for three days and three nights, you can produce four or five cubic meters of bricks, which is more than two thousand bricks. If we find a larger area and build a few kilns, the continuous one I mentioned.. Hmm, brothers, why don’t we build a Brick Factory? I think it is actually feasible!"

"Do you think the outpost has land for you?" Ample Time asked suddenly.

Old White chuckled and said, "There is no harm in trying, right? Anyway, winter is here, and there is not much prey to hunt. Why don't we start this Brick Factory first? By the time we need to build our guild, we also need bricks too.”

Gale stroked his chin and nodded. "You are right... If everyone wants to build a house, the demand for bricks will probably be greater than for equipment."

At this time, Ample Time also recovered and realized that he had overlooked a very serious problem. "Wait... How did I forget this? Wasteland Online is not a traditional MMORPG. Players need more than equipment! In that case, the demand for bricks may really be a lot!"

"A wall with a standard thickness requires one hundred and twenty eight standard bricks per square meter. You can count it yourself." Old White seemed really pleased with himself.

Mosquito and Tomato Eggs fell into a moment of a daze after hearing what he said.

"Holy shit, can I join?!"

"

Huff

! It's so tempting!"

Ample Time shook his head. "You both have lands already, so don’t take risks with us. Focusing on your own industry is the right way to go. Anyway, you guys don’t have to listen to Old White’s nonsense. I’m not even sure he will be able to produce as much as he says.”

Seeing that Ample Time didn't believe him, Old White didn't worry and said with a hearty smile, "It will definitely be more than two or three thousand bricks! When I go back, I will ask my fellow villagers how to increase the output. Don't worry guys, when the guild system is added in the future, the income of the Brick Factory will be the funds of our guild! Although I can’t guarantee anything, we will not forget you guys!"

Ample Time put down the bowl and stood up directly. "Long delays cause complications.

We are definitely not the only players who can think of this. I propose that we should submit the application as soon as possible and get the approval before other people do. We may even be able to trigger hidden tasks if we submit the application early... Old White, how much space does it take to build a smaller Brick Factory?"

Old White touched his chin and said, "Four hundred square meters should be enough, a kiln is about five by five... Almost two meters high... I guess."

Ample Time nodded. "Okay, then apply for four hundred square meters of land!"

Night Ten cheered at the side, "Awesome!"

𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

“Boss, let me join in as well!" Gale was also ready to join in their operation.

The four players didn't dare to delay. They hurried to the warehouse to buy paper and write an application without finishing their dinner.

The order from the warehouse had clear requirements for brick materials and specifications, which were similar to standard bricks in reality, with a size of 240mm×115mm×53mm.

One cubic meter of bricks was made up of almost six hundred and eighty five bricks.

At present, the brick-burning process in the industrial zone has been improved from the original stacked firing to a sunken pit that was easier to control the size, can produce higher internal temperature, and consumed less fuel.

However, although the temperature of pit kilns of that type was higher than before and they only needed to produce one batch a day, the output couldn’t be increased anymore.

Even if the two pit kilns were used together, the daily output was between one thousand four hundred and one thousand five hundred bricks, which was almost two cubic meters together.

Chu Guang had calculated it in the past. The daily salary of a brickworker was 10 silver coins, and if he needed the kilns to run twenty-four hours non-stop, the labor expenditure would be 20 silver coins.

According to the purchasing price set by the shelter, every one hundred bricks was worth 4 copper coins. So the maximum daily output of a kiln was only worth 6 silver coins, which was one thousand five hundred bricks per day.

Even assuming that those bricks would be sold out as soon as they were produced, based on the selling price of one hundred bricks per 1 silver coin, the daily output value was only fifteen silver coins.

Obviously, regardless of whether it was 6 or 15 silver coins, with the labor cost as high as 20 silver coins, it was a huge loss!

It was equivalent to the shelter paying these brick workers for doing something that was not profitable.

Was something like that reasonable?

From the perspective of a shelter administrator, that was obviously unreasonable.

If two workers were hired, and each with a salary of 10 silver coins per day, the daily output value had to be at least 20 silver coins for the shelter to be able to make any money.

Calculating based on the warehouse purchase price of 4 copper coins per one hundred bricks, 20 silver coins correspond to the output of five thousand bricks, which was two thousand five hundred per person.

Otherwise, if the shelter didn't want to lose money, the price of bricks must be increased or the income of the brick workers must be cut.

But if it was done this way, other problems would arise.

If the pricing was increased, too much increase would cause demand to slump. If everyone couldn't afford bricks and all changed to wooden houses instead, the demand for cement would shrink, and the cycle would become unstable.

It was even more unrealistic to reduce the income of brick workers. Making bricks was not a great job. If players couldn’t make 10 silver coins a day, no one would do it.

Even if the lumberjack profession was nerfed twice, a lumberjack could still earn 10 silver coins a day after paying the renting fee for the axe!

Looking at the application form in his hand, Chu Guang just thought about it for less than half a minute and made a decision without hesitation.

"Approved!"

The four players of Bull and Horse Squad revealed happy smiles.

They just wanted to give it a try, but they didn't expect it to be approved!

This is awesome!

Moreover, before they could celebrate, the Administrator's next sentence made them even more excited.

"Your application has triggered a hidden task. Do you want to receive it?"

"If you do, you will get a budget of 5,000 silver coins. In exchange, the shelter will hold eighty percent of the shares in the Brick Factory."

5,000 silver coins?!

The four players were instantly blinded by the silver coins, and they shouted almost in unison.

"I'll take it!"

"Yes, yes, yes!"

Chu Guang nodded in satisfaction. "Very well, I will allocate some land for you."

After saying that, Chu Guang took out a map of the surrounding area, stared at it, and thought about it for a long time.

Looking at the pensive administrator, Night Ten, who was waiting for a while, couldn't help whispering to Old White next to him. "I thought the land allocation announcement would be done together in the afternoon."

"Why do you care about these small details so much!" Old White glared at him, fearing that the administrator would change his mind, and said in a low voice, "Isn't it better to approve in advance?"

Ample Time couldn’t help but growl at the side, "Yes! You can shut up!"

Seeing his teammates staring at him, Night Ten chuckled apologetically. "I didn't say it was bad, I was just a little curious... Besides, don’t people always say that when it is strange, something will definitely go wrong..."

Before this guy could jinx it, his mouth was covered together by several hands.

Although Chu Guang heard the whispered exchanges of the players, he did not pay attention to them.

Brick factories were different from steelmaking. The latter required a little bit of research and could be temporarily placed in the urban area before its production capacity inflates. The former did not require very high technical skills, or it was better to say, that it did not require advanced technology, but a large amount of fuel and soil.

Therefore, the map that Chu Guang was holding was not an outpost map at all, and he had no intention of arranging the Brick Factory in front of his home.

"The location of the Brick Factory shall be one kilometer northwest of the base by the river. There are rich clay resources, and the surrounding trees can be used as fuel."

Pointing to a one hundred by one hundred grid on the map, Chu Guang looked at the four players, and then said, "I thought about it. The four hundred-square-meter layout is still too small to be used. So I plan to grant you all of this ten thousand square meters of land."

"Please use it properly."

Ten thousand?!

The four players were instantly dumbfounded.

Wait... That place wasn’t located in the industrial zone!