Chapter 22 Strolling

Maya was not one to stand on ceremony as she declared, "We need to scavenge the nearby factories, apartments, and commercial streets as quickly as possible. Pay special attention to construction material packages. I'd rather have the building materials rot in our base than leave them behind. If there is a lack of construction materials, other players won't be able to establish themselves near us. Lin Wu and Cotton, you two are in charge of scavenging during the night shift without causing any damage or dismantling. Snow Egg, Tangtang, and Horse Soul will handle the demolishment work during the day shift, while Little Knife and I will take care of daytime scavenging and assist the demolition team as well. I will draft a detailed action plan, and I want everyone to strictly follow the tasks on the action plan without doing as you please or going wherever you want. Otherwise, it will not only be a waste of effort but also difficult to receive support in case of an emergency. In addition, the personnel who stay behind during others' work periods should be ready to provide support."

Maya continued, "Special attention must be paid to Apartment Building No. 2; it is full of Blood Zombies. I believe that the Blood Zombies around the area all come from Apartment Building No. 2. It's currently unclear what's inside Apartment Building No. 2, but avoid it unless necessary. Next is weapon allocation; as you all know, we operate under a command system where the allocation of various items requires the consent of the commander or two deputy commanders. Stone is the commander, and I am the deputy commander. To avoid uncomfortable situations and maintain harmony, there are some things that shouldn't be done."

Maya added, "Currently, we only have one piece of heavy weaponry, which is exclusively for Snow Egg; no one else should request it. The refined steel dagger is Lin Wu's weapon of choice, so no one else should request it either. The night shift crew can request my crossbow arrows, but the day shift should ideally not. Currently, only Lin Wu is authorized to carry a sawed-off shotgun with four rounds of ammunition when going out, because he is the only one right now who could possibly take down a Frenzy by himself."

Maya went on to say, "During non-working hours, if you have the energy, some necessary training should be conducted. For now, Little Knife and Horse Soul still have a lot of room for improvement, and I can offer some advice. The rest of you will have to figure things out on your own."

Stone translated, "Playing a game, right? Work when it's your shift, sleep when you're off, and go monster slaying and level up when you have spare time. Whether it's a factory, apartment, or commercial street, all are over seven hundred meters from our base, so I suggest we get a car first. Transporting the material packages by car will be much more efficient than human transportation."

Maya nodded, "That's fine. It's one o'clock in the afternoon now; I will have the action plan ready by two o'clock. The day shift will work until eight o'clock tonight. Those on the night shift, take note, you will be operating separately, primarily using stealth, and try not to alert the zombies. Your main task is not to collect basic packages or gather trash, but to collect high-value items such as alcohol, antibiotics, weapons, seeds, skill books, etc."

From both a visual and auditory standpoint, nighttime is not conducive to the players' movements. Often, by the time they detect danger, they are already surrounded by zombies. The last time Lin Wu and Little Knife scavenged a warehouse, zombies swarmed in from all sides. If it weren't for the spaciousness of the warehouse, they would have been in a very passive situation.

But they couldn't waste a night either; with the nimble trait, Cotton and Lin Wu had a survival ability stronger than others. If they couldn't win a fight, they could at least run away.

Maya's arrangements were meticulous, mapping out routes for each shift, not demanding work achievements but simply asking them not to disrupt the order. What if someone slacked off? Stone wasn't worried about that; he knew there was something called a sense of collective honor. If others brought back ten units of material and you brought back eight, it could be justified. Bringing back five was barely passable, but if you only brought back one unit, you would have to consider how the group viewed you.

Currently short on material packages, only barracks, dormitories, medical centers, and workstations had been built.

After the meeting, Lin Wu, who was on the night shift, wandered around aimlessly and ended up at the workstation, where he saw Su Shi scribbling on a piece of paper. Out of curiosity, he approached and asked, "Old Su, are you making a bomb?"

Su Shi, with a good temper, replied, "Generator, I don't like the dark."

"Nobody likes the dark," said Lin Wu as he looked at the blueprint. "What materials are missing?" Players could assemble a generator on their own, but it was very difficult. The best way was to unlock the skills necessary to assemble a generator, and unlocking skills required skill books. Lin Wu had played for a whole day, visited many places, and checked countless bodies but only found a piping study skill book during a PK the previous night. He wished he could summon the soul of that deceased player and ask where he had got the skill book.

Su Shi pointed to the blueprint, "I need several coils, but I'm not sure about the materials inside the coils. I can't seem to produce a complete coil no matter how I try to assemble it. Ordinary items can be crafted, but complex machinery can't be made without the skills. Lin Wu, you're just in time; I'm requesting your flashlight, Stone said I need your consent."

Lin Wu asked, "Are you going to be working overtime tonight?"

Su Shi replied, "No, my guess is that I can obtain the system blueprint for making a flashlight by disassembling one."

"You're going to disassemble it just on a guess?"

Su Shi responded, "I think it's worth the gamble. I disassembled a kitchen knife and got its blueprint. Took apart a stove, and got its blueprint. Now I can make kitchen knives and stoves."

Lin Wu shook his head, "I think gambling is a very bad behavior."

"You're stingy."

Lin Wu thought for a moment and said, "Earlier, I came across a chip that you could try to disassemble to see if you can obtain its blueprint. If possible, you can dismantle the flashlight."

Su Shi immediately went to the warehouse and found the chip, claimed it, and brought it to the workbench without hesitation. After a long wait, Su Shi turned to Lin Wu, who was eagerly looking at him, and said, "It's done, you can go on with your work."

Lin Wu rolled his eyes, "You're supposed to say thank you at times like this."

"Thank you."

"Old Su," Lin Wu's eyes lit up, "There's a transformer near the factory. Could we take it apart and use it as a generator?"

Su Shi frowned, "My training is in carpentry; electrical work isn't my strong suit. And is there a necessary relationship between a transformer and a generator?"

Lin Wu countered, "How did you come up with this diagram?"

Su Shi answered, "Conception. I'm conceiving a combustion-driven piston that, once moving, drives a generator to produce electricity."

Lin Wu said, "So we need to make a generator in order to make a generator." This is bad, the core craftsman of the base doesn't seem very reliable.

Stumped, Su Shi asked after a while, "How do we generate electricity then?"

Lin Wu replied, "Could it be that energy drives a rotor, which, when rubbing against certain objects, generates electricity?"

Snow Egg brought back the basic transportation package and saw the two engrossed in thought in the craft room. He asked, "Stuck on a tough problem?"

Lin Wu turned and asked, "Snow Egg, do you know how a generator works?"

Snow Egg answered, "Energy drives a magnet to move through a coil, which generates direct current. Inside the generator is an excitation winding, that, when it carries direct current, becomes magnetized, producing a magnetic field. Simply put, it turns into an electromagnet. A generator consists of two main parts: a stator and a rotor, with the stator composed of three-phase windings and three symmetrical windings... "

Su Shi and Lin Wu listened, astonished, and after Snow Egg finished, he added, "I'm an engineer."

Lin Wu, frustrated, exclaimed, "Why aren't you focusing on your profession if you're an engineer?"

Snow Egg replied, "I studied mechanical engineering for four years at Blue Star, followed by three years of graduate school, then worked as an engineer for three years. Finally, when I get a chance to play a game, I'm supposed to still be an engineer? Wouldn't that be tiresome?"

That left the other two speechless.

Swinging a 15-kilogram sledgehammer, Snow Egg said excitedly, "Let's go, time to start working."

Su Shi, feeling helpless, said, "I'd better just focus on recycling scrap."