Chapter 12: A parking lot covered with grasses

Restroom.

Indeed, that was a problem.

B1 level of Sanctuary 404 was more like a reception area. Although there were compartments for cultivation chambers, there were no living facilities inside.

As Light Chu watched the gamers rushing out of the sanatorium after arriving on the surface, he suddenly realized that with the influx of gamers, not only food and drink would be a problem, but also the issue of relieving themselves.

In Bette Street, there were public restrooms, and human and animal waste would be collected and reportedly sold to the nearby Brown Farm.

After arriving at the sanatorium in the Wetland Park, Light Chu had been finding a safe place in the woods to take care of his business, without considering the problem of a hundred people needing to use the restroom.

Perhaps they had eaten something bad, but all four gamers were limping when they returned.

"It's so uncomfortable without a pit toilet."

"And there's no toilet paper. I had to use leaves... Almost ended up bleeding."

"+1."

"Damn, why do I feel a burning sensation... Do you guys feel it too?"

"No."

"Did you wipe your butt with stinging nettle leaves?"

"What? What are stinging nettle leaves?"

"Never mind, endure it, it'll pass."

"???"

Light Chu listened to them awkwardly.

He seemed to have forgotten to tell these guys that moss could be used to wipe. It was a small piece of knowledge he learned from the survivors in Bette Street.

But they didn't seem to give him a chance to speak.

Endure it.

Everyone went through it like this.

"Governor, sir," limping over to Light Chu, Tomorrow said respectfully, "I propose that we build a restroom."

Nighten: "Seconded!"

White: "I agree too, and with a restroom, we can also dig a large pit to collect the waste. We can mix it with grass ash and sawdust to create compost for aerobic bacteria and fungi to decompose organic matter and generate heat, killing the pathogenic microorganisms and pathogens in the waste to make fertilizer."

Tomorrow: "Exactly, and not only can we produce fertilizer, but we can also seal and anaerobically ferment a portion of the waste and organic debris to convert it into combustible methane gas! That's how they do it in my hometown with the biogas digester. The produced biogas can be used for lighting and even power generation."

"That's a good idea, we can adopt it." Light Chu nodded approvingly.

Biogas.

He had been so preoccupied with survival that he had forgotten about this.

From what he remembered, Bette Street didn't have a biogas digester, but the neighboring Brown Farm did.

Seeing the approving expression on the Governor's face, the four gamers became even more excited, exchanging ideas and suggestions.

Building a restroom wasn't difficult, and even a biogas digester wasn't too challenging. The only troublesome part was the materials for sealing and gas storage.

Fortunately, the wasteland lacked many things, but plastic wasn't one of them.

Especially beverage bottles and trash bags.

Since burning them would produce toxic gases, few survivors burned these items; they mostly used them as fire starters.

If they searched carefully, they should be able to find plenty in the nearby suburbs.

And so, another task was added to the task board - Collect plastic bags and bottles.

"Governor, I have an idea regarding the generator," said Hurricane, who had been silent earlier.

Light Chu looked at him. "Go ahead, share your thoughts."

Hurricane spoke up. "Most cars have onboard generators. I want to know if there's a nearby road or a parking lot. If we can find a car, this problem should be easily solved."

Light Chu replied, "Finding a car isn't difficult. There's a parking lot near our location in the Wetland Park. However, I've already checked the cars there, and there's nothing worth salvaging."

"I still want to give it a try," Hurricane persisted. "In case we find a usable generator, we can have electricity at our outpost on the surface!"

"You can go, but I can't let you go alone," Light Chu glanced at the gamer in front of him and then looked at Nighten. "You and Hurricane can go to the parking lot and take a look."

Nighten responded enthusiastically, "Yes!"

Nighten's genetic sequence was perception-based, and his intuition for crises would come in handy.

Before they set off, Light Chu instructed them to take two short knives used for cutting grass. These things were more useful than cumbersome axes when encountering mutants.

In addition, Light Chu repeatedly reminded them that if they encountered mutants, they must avoid fighting and run if possible.

However, if the mutants had already detected them and showed clear hostility, under no circumstances should they expose their backs to the enemy.

Doing so was equivalent to suicide...

With the map of the Wetland Park and a simple compass in hand, Hurricane and Nighten left the sanatorium.

Left behind, White and Tomorrow looked at Light Chu and asked, "Governor, should we continue chopping trees, or...?"

Light Chu surveyed the surroundings, counting the dozens of unprocessed logs on the ground.

"We won't chop trees today. We need to solve the restroom problem first... Here's what we'll do: you two go get shovels and axes, and I'll teach you how to do it."

...

The parking lot was located southeast of the sanatorium.

Two hundred years had passed, and nobody had paid any attention to it.

Nature had completely engulfed the area.

Tree roots pierced through the hardened concrete ground, and bushes and wild grass grew knee-high.

Rusty vehicles were covered in vines, and through the broken windows, one could even see moss growing on the seats and air vents.

Seeing all this, Hurricane finally understood what the Governor meant.

There really was nothing worth salvaging here.

Nighten wore a similar expression.

With this state of decay, finding a working generator was like finding a needle in a haystack.

"Do we want to go back?" Hurricane remained silent for a moment before resolutely stepping forward.

"Since we're here already," Nighten shrugged and followed along.

After knowing each other for so many years, his biggest impression of this online friend was stubbornness. He wondered what they did in real life.

In the parking lot, many car hoods were rusted shut and couldn't be opened. Hurricane circled the parking lot before finally finding one that could be opened with some effort.

However, after opening the hood, he was completely stunned.

This was...

Engine?

"What's wrong?" Nighten leaned over and asked.

"It seems to be an electric engine... but also seems not," Hurricane frowned and said, "Do you know about cars?"

"I haven't even taken the driver's license test, how would I know about this?" Nighten chuckled, "You've been working for many years, why haven't you bought a car?"

"I live in the company dormitory, I only have a bicycle."

Hurricane continued searching inside the engine compartment, even going around to the back of the car and crouching underneath... he checked everywhere he could.

But suddenly, his hand stopped.

Noticing the expression on his face, Nighten asked, "What's wrong now?"

"It's a bit strange... I can't find the power source," Hurricane wiped the dirt off his face, furrowing his brows and pondering for a long time, "I can roughly find the engine, but... I haven't found the power source."

"Could it have been removed?" Nighten suggested, "After all, it's been two hundred years in this wasteland, and it's normal for survivors to have scavenged here."

"That possibility cannot be ruled out."

Closing the engine hood out of habit, Hurricane looked at the parking lot filled with junk cars, feeling complicated.

In fact, there's another possibility.

According to the game's background setting, the pre-war society had advanced technology, and it's possible that they had reached a level where remote power sources could replace fixed ones.

But regardless of which possibility it is, it's not a good thing for him.

It's unlikely that he can salvage a generator from a junked car now...

...

On the other side.

There was progress in the construction of the toilet.

Under Light Chu's command, White and Tomorrow first dug a large pit on the empty ground outside the sanatorium. The pit was two meters wide, three meters long, and deep enough to bury a person. They then inserted sawed-off logs around the pit as walls and filled it with pieces of stones and leaves.

With the septic tank finished, the toilet became much simpler.

Light Chu had White and Tomorrow set up two makeshift shelters by the edge of the septic tank, and connected them to the nearby septic tank using plastic hoses they had removed from the outer wall of the sanatorium.

With that, a simple toilet was considered complete.

"Feces and urine need to be stored separately; mixing them together can create sludge. And urine is sterile, it can be directly used to irrigate crops... but let's leave it at that for today," Light Chu looked at the morning's labor of the two men and nodded approvingly.

White and Tomorrow, panting with shovels in hand, exchanged glances, wearing helpless expressions.

Although it was a completely realistic virtual reality game, did it really need to be this realistic?

"There's also the issue of bathing... There's a water source within a kilometer, but there are many mutants near the water source, so extra caution is needed when fetching water."

We should build a bathhouse later.

Otherwise, the smell might be a minor issue, but falling ill could become a big problem.

"Master Governor," Tomorrow raised his hand.

Light Chu looked at him.

"What's wrong?"

"I think we should consider safety issues," Tomorrow said, "Based on the mutant we encountered yesterday, this wasteland is not safe."

No kidding.

Do you even need to say that?

"I know, but hygiene is also a significant concern. The sanctuary doesn't have enough medical supplies, and if an epidemic breaks out, the consequences would be severe."

The safety issue isn't as urgent since the mutants in the wetland park are less active than those in the city area, and there aren't many survivors visiting this area. Even if there is danger, we can hide in the sanctuary.

But hygiene for over a hundred people is a big problem.

In every household on Bette Street, they use iron barrels to store water, heating and disinfecting it on the rooftops, and they wash their bodies every two or three days. It's not because the people there are particularly fastidious, but because it really stinks and they would be driven out if they didn't clean themselves.

Tomorrow and White exchanged glances.

I hope this Master Governor's AI doesn't include a cleanliness obsession.

We'll have to pay attention to that later.

"Speaking of which... there's one question I've been wanting to ask. Why is there no reserve of supplies in such a large sanctuary?" White interjected, "And we've been on B1 level the whole time, what about the other floors?"

"The other floors are temporarily closed and will be opened later."

Light Chu didn't explain the reason, he simply stated the fact.

Although the two gamers were curious, they couldn't get any further answers, so they let it go and accepted it as part of the game's setting.

At this moment, Nighten and Hurricane, who had gone out to explore, returned.

Looking at the mud-covered Hurricane, Light Chu asked, "How is it? Did you find the generator?"

"I didn't find it, but it wasn't a complete loss either."

Saying that, Hurricane opened a plastic bag he had picked up from a random trash can, inside of which were a bag full of blue mushrooms.

These mushrooms were small, only the length of a finger, and had a surface covered in translucent fine hairs. When looked at along the grooves, they had a colorful luster.

Light Chu took a glance and his face showed a surprised expression.

"Where did you find these things?"

With a hint of satisfaction on his face, Hurricane reported truthfully.

"There's a concrete structure sewer pipe near the parking lot. It's about the height of two people, and there are quite a few of these mushrooms growing inside the pipe. I'm not sure if they're edible, so I picked some to bring back."

Initially, he wanted to taste them, but the game was just too realistic, so he hesitated for a long time and couldn't bring himself to put it in his mouth.

It's called the Blue Umbrella Mushroom, scientific name 'Caeruleum angelum.' It's said that people who eat it can see real angels within one hour."

"There's no need to doubt, unless you're a mutant with immunity to all poisons, you definitely shouldn't eat this."