Chapter 4 Chu Guang and Lollipop

Two hundred years ago.

To be precise, in 2125, a war broke out on this prosperous planet.

Both sides in the war were determined to completely destroy each other, and almost used all the means they could.

The war lasted only three years.

But it only took three years to destroy everything on the surface.

The long nuclear winter almost extinguished the fire of civilization. Both sides successfully sent each other to hell and successfully buried themselves.

Since then, the wasteland era, which was more depressed than the Great Depression, has begun.

Although two centuries have passed since the doomsday war, and the nuclear winter has basically ended more than a century ago, humans have not returned to the top of the food chain.

The proliferation of nuclear weapons, biological weapons, and even genetic weapons has caused the entire planet's ecosystem to evolve in an extreme direction.

And those mutants called "aliens" are also the main threats faced by the survivors struggling in the ruins.

For example, the wolfdog with two heads that Chu Guang encountered when he first came to this world is one of them.

However, even among the alien species, there are strong and weak ones.

The combat effectiveness of "deformed children" caused by gamma rays, such as the two-headed hyena, is usually not high. Except for a few lucky exceptions, their combat effectiveness is not even as good as before the mutation.

In contrast, the alien species such as the gnawers and crawlers, which are caused by biological weapons and have mutated to the point where their ancestors can no longer be traced, are the real monsters born for killing.

Their nervous systems are corroded by mutant fungi. During the day, they usually hide in ruins, sewers, or subways, which are dark facilities. They only go out to the streets to look for food when night falls.

The situation in the suburbs is much better than in the city.

Especially in the far suburbs.

In the past five months, the most dangerous alien species Chu Guang encountered was just a mutant brown bear. Although that guy was strong, his reaction was relatively slow.

Before being discovered by it, Chu Guang carefully avoided it.

The glimmer of dawn passed through the broken concrete wall, and along with the shadow of steel scraps, it fell on the street full of car wreckage and rubble.

The time now is eight o'clock in the morning.

The time here is about twelve hours different from the Eastern Time Zone in the present world.

Looking at the two mutant hyenas wandering on the street, Chu Guang tightly grasped the pointed water pipe in his hand and carefully went behind the ruins.

Although he was confident that he could kill them, there was no need to make trouble.

Besides, these beasts are very smart, and even know to use their own kind as bait. No one knows how many are hidden in the shadow of the ruins next to them.

Follow the path through the dilapidated neighborhood.

When he saw the sign of the Bet Street Children's Park, Chu Guang finally breathed a sigh of relief.

In front of him is "Bet Street"-a relatively large survivor settlement in the nearby area, where more than a hundred survivors live.

Before the war broke out, this used to be a children's park with a large number of amusement facilities and a wide lawn.

After the war, the army designated this place as a temporary refuge, accommodating a large number of citizens who fled from the urban area of ​​Qingquan City.

It is unknown what happened to those refugees later, but today, more than two hundred years later, this place has developed into a "small town".

People used discarded plastic boards, awnings, wood and metal brackets to mix and match simple shacks on the bare mud ground.

It looks very much like the ones in the "Era of Troublesome Citizens".

The walls of the amusement park are natural barriers, and after rough repairs, they are tied with iron wire and wooden boards with nails.

In the center of the amusement park is a five-story classical castle, which feels very fairy-tale. However, the paint on the surface has long fallen off, and the wall facing the city center has collapsed, leaving only the north half and a crumbling tower.

Even if it is a fairy tale, it is definitely a dark fairy tale.

But even if this building is so broken, it is still the "most luxurious" building on Beth Street.

At the same time, it is also the mayor's home.

Although he has lived here for five months, Chu Guang has never met the mayor. The mayor is very mysterious and rarely shows up.

"Oh, you're back so early."

Looking at Chu Guang walking from the corner of the street, old Walter, who was smoking a pipe, narrowed his eyes and a wisp of turbid white smoke came out of his nostrils.

He held a double-barreled shotgun in his hand.

Although it looked a bit old, no one would doubt its power.

Chu Guang had seen with his own eyes that the old man only fired two shots to knock down a mutant brown bear that rushed madly towards the gate of Beth Street.

Since then, he has always wanted to have one.

"Stayed outside for a night."

"Outside?"

The old man glanced at the pointed water pipe on Chu Guang's back and raised his eyebrows in surprise.

No one knows better than him how dangerous the night is.

Every time he was on night duty, he dared not move his index finger from the trigger. Any slight movement would make his whole body tense.

Although the alien species in the suburbs are not as dangerous as those in the city, there are too many predators eyeing this place.

If you fall into their hands, your fate will not be much better than dying in the hands of alien species.

Old Walter couldn't believe that this guy spent a night safely in the wasteland with only a steel pipe.

"Something went wrong."

Chu Guang didn't explain, just gave Old Walter a tired look and let him experience it himself, and then walked straight through the gate of the settlement.

There is only one scrap recycling station on Bet Street, which is easy to find, next to the main entrance of the settlement.

Under the rolling door is an old-fashioned electronic scale that never moves accurately, and next to it is a plaque with the words "fair price, no deception for children and the elderly".

This store is the property of the mayor, and it is also the only place on Bet Street that buys scrap parts and mutant mole skins.

In order to monopolize the garbage collection business, the dictator even tyrannically promulgated a law.

That is, no one is allowed to sell the captured prey and the garbage picked up to the caravans passing through here privately.

The reason is to ensure that the goods on Bette Street can be sold at a reasonable price, rather than being shamelessly squeezed by the "cunning merchants".

The reason why this unreasonable rule can be passed is also related to the ignorance of the survivors here to a certain extent.

And the general caravan will not risk offending the dictator to buy the pitiful supplies from the scavengers.

They only do big business.

And they only do business with trustworthy people.

"Sell? Or buy?"

The owner is a fifty-year-old man named Charlie. It is said that he used to be a resident of a refuge in another province. Later, he was captured and made a slave until the mayor bought him from a slave owner and gave him the job of dealing with the scavengers.

Most of the residents here are native "wastelanders" who have not received any education and are very bad at math, to the extent that they may make mistakes in addition and subtraction within 100.

But Charlie is different.

He came from a shelter.

Although no shelter in this wasteland is exactly the same, there is one thing that is similar.

All the people who can live there are elites of pre-war society. Their children not only inherit smart minds from their parents, but also receive a good education since the Enlightenment.

If this world is not so bad, he would probably become an engineer, doctor or scholar like his parents.

Instead of keeping accounts here.

"Sell."

Without any nonsense, Chu Guang took out 6 used batteries and 5 tubes of adhesive from his backpack and threw them on the tray of the electronic scale.

This was what he found in the nearby building debris before discovering Shelter No. 404.

Old Charlie picked up the waste battery on the table, casually checked the model and whether it was bloated and damaged, and then threw it on the scale beside him.

This thing is definitely scrapped, but it is still possible to recycle the materials inside.

"The quality is okay. The garbage in this area should have been searched out. Where did you get this good thing?"

Can this be called a good thing?

"Good luck."

"Haha, I just asked casually. Well, the battery is good, but the quality of the adhesive is average. The seal has been opened, and the situation inside is probably a mess. I can only give you a 50% discount... All added up to a total of 3 chips."

Chu Guang did not bargain with him and took the three white chips from him.

This plastic coin with a metallic texture is the "currency" issued by Boulder City, the largest survivor settlement in Qingquan City, and can be exchanged for food and supplies in most survivor settlements in Qingquan City.

The face value is printed on the front of the chip, and there are special anti-counterfeiting codes and prints on the back, which will show a special luster under sunlight.

This chip has many advantages such as heat resistance, easy storage, and high recognition. The most important point is that it is basically impossible to imitate with post-war technology.

Small and medium-sized survivor settlements like Beth Street, which have a small population and no industrial capacity, mainly do business with caravans in Boulder City, exchanging necessary living supplies and even weapons with agricultural products, prey and picked up garbage.

Naturally, this currency has been circulated in Beth Street.

Of course, it doesn't work all the time. If the caravan doesn't come in a certain month, the prices of the entire settlement will be messed up.

The mayor has also tried to promote Beth Street's own currency-a bookkeeping ticket, but no one recognizes it.

Even the survivors of Bette Street knew that the paper was no different from waste paper, as it was not even a hindrance to wiping one's butt.

"Want to buy anything? The store just received a batch of new goods from Boulder City."

Chu Guang, who was about to leave, stopped and turned back to ask.

"Do you have a gun?"

"No, you can't afford it even if you did."

Old Charlie grinned and continued as he looked at Chu Guang who was about to leave.

"But there is some food and fuel. If I were you, I would definitely buy more before the price goes up."

Guns, even the cheapest ones, are hard to buy in places like Bette Street.

Because even if a caravan selling arms passes by here occasionally, those weapons are usually put into the mayor's own warehouse and are not placed on the shelves here for people to choose from.

And as Old Charlie said, even if there really is such a thing, they, the scavengers, can't afford it.

Chu Guang knew why he said that.

As a well-educated resident of the shelter, Charlie must have seen that all the survivors living on Bette Street, whether they were scavengers or hunters, had their surplus value completely exploited by the mayor's family.

Even though the mayor never personally reached out and took even a chip from their pockets.

"Are food and fuel prices going to rise?"

Charlie smiled faintly at Chu Guang, whose face was full of surprise.

"Haven't you noticed that the temperature has dropped recently, and the alien species outside have become active."

Chu Guang frowned and thought for a moment, then suddenly thought of something and spoke.

"Is winter coming?"

"I remember that you came here only five months ago, so you may not have experienced it. In previous years, the temperature would start to drop slowly at this time. This year... winter is expected to come earlier, and it may snow in October."

At this point, Charlie paused for a moment and said meaningfully.

"Winter is coming."

"Whether you are a human or an alien, you have to prepare in advance."

When Chu Guang first came to Beth Street, he was wearing a blue coat, and Charlie subconsciously thought of him as a person from the shelter, so he was quite considerate of him.

Although this consideration has never been reflected in the transaction price, the old man did help Chu Guang a little in terms of experience.

Otherwise, he would not have adapted to life in the wasteland so quickly.

Chu Guang nodded seriously.

"I know, thank you."

"You're welcome," Charlie smiled faintly, "Don't die."

It is already early September, and if it really snows in October, Chu Guang will only have more than a month to prepare.

For the survivors living in this area, snow is definitely not something to be happy about. This means that in addition to food, fuel expenses must be added.

Most people here make a living by picking up garbage and hunting, and nearby farms only need people during the busy farming season.

In winter, the difficulty of picking up garbage will increase exponentially. No one can predict whether the parts buried in the snow are recyclable parts or the fangs of mutant mice.

Animals that can provide meat, such as wild deer and rabbits, will also reduce their activity time, or even hide in their nests for the winter.

The most terrible thing is that once winter comes, the caravan will not come here. Even if you pick up good things, you can only pile them up at home and wait until the beginning of spring to sell them.

Or, take the risk to go to the Boulder City ten kilometers away.

That is the largest survivor settlement in Qingquan City, and the market there will not close even in winter.

However, it is located on the edge of the Third Ring Road of Qingquan City, next to the North City District of Qingquan City, and there are countless dangers along the way.

For ordinary people, wanting to walk there on two legs, especially in winter when the lowest temperature can reach minus ten degrees, is tantamount to suicide!

...

After leaving the recycling station, Chu Guang first went back to his residence.

In fact, it is more like a shack that can barely keep out the rain than a residence, and it doesn't even have a decent window or door.

Until yesterday, he was still thinking about saving some cement, PVC boards and other materials to seal the leaky wall before winter comes.

But now it seems that there is no need.

Chu Guang took out a rusty aluminum box from the moldy sleeping bag, and with great effort he broke it open and poured the plastic coins hidden inside onto the lame wooden table.

A total of 47 white chips with a face value of 1 point.

Including the 3 chips he had on him, the total was exactly 50 points!

He saved this money bit by bit by living frugally, so that one day he could leave this hellhole and move to Boulder City with better conditions.

But now...

He has a new plan for this "property".

Why live under someone else's roof when you can start your own business?

"The ruins of the sanatorium above the shelter can be used, and the walls around the building are all concrete structures... If there are players who can help, we can collect some materials nearby, and the repair should not be too difficult."

"There is a wetland park near the sanatorium. It is not convenient to collect metal scraps, but the surrounding vegetation is still lush, and there should be no shortage of fuel for heating. In addition, wood can be used as a material for repairing buildings and making furniture... Axe! Yes, I have to buy four axes."

Kill monsters to level up?

Not possible!

It is said that this is a 100% real hardcore game. Since it is a hardcore game, it is natural to start from the most basic work!

"Tools such as shovels and saws are also necessary!" Before the players logged in, Chu Guang had already thought about how to arrange them.

Of course, in addition to the tools for work, there is also the most critical rations.

Once the culture chamber is activated, it will immediately consume the active substances pre-stored in the culture chamber to synthesize clones for the players to use.

And these clones all need to eat!

Although the clones can lie in the incubator and hibernate at a lower metabolic level when the players are not online, they can't lie there forever.

People need to eat to live, this is an eternal truth!

"At least enough food should be stored for five adults to consume in a week... If we count two meals a day, one wheat cake for each meal, there will be 70."

Wheat cakes are the most common food on Bet Street, and 1 chip can be exchanged for two.

This thing is usually as big as a palm, and it tastes hard and rough when bitten, like soil mixed with sand, but it can fill the stomach and add a little salt.

Throw it in the pot and cook it, and it can also make porridge.

70 cakes, if you buy them, you need 35 chips, even if you bargain, 30 chips are indispensable. In this way, your budget is not enough,

Chu Guang frowned, but soon relaxed again.

He just made the problem complicated.

In fact, there is no need to let those players eat too well.

If the wheat cakes were replaced with the raw material for making wheat cakes, that is, green wheat produced by nearby farms, only 3 chips would be needed to buy a full kilogram!

Stock up 5 kilograms, enough for him to eat for two weeks!

As for the rest, we will find a way when the time comes.

"Let's prepare these things for now..."

Chu Guang swept the allocated chips into the backpack and put the backpack on his back again.

Although he hadn't slept all night, he was now very excited, as if he had found the meaning of life again, and he didn't feel sleepy at all.

When he pushed open the door and came outside, he saw the little girl from the neighbor's house hiding at the door of the next shack, looking at him curiously.

Chu Guang recognized her name, Yu Xiaoyu, the youngest daughter of the Yu family.

Most of the survivors in the wasteland were pale and thin, and the youngest daughter of the Yu family was no exception. Her arms and legs were like reed sticks, making it hard to imagine that she was already of marriageable age.

Seeing that Chu Guang noticed her, she didn't feel shy and walked out of the house.

"I heard some noise at your house, so I came to check it out."

Every morning, the men on Bet Street would go out to scavenge or hunt, while the elderly, women and children would stay at home to look after the house or do some work that could make money.

Although everyone was poor, they had no money to save, and there was nothing to steal at home, but no one wanted someone to come to their house and take advantage of them when they were out.

This man named Chu Guang came from outside. He usually went out early and came back late, and rarely communicated with the neighbors in the settlement.

She didn't know much about him, but she felt that he didn't look like someone who could endure hardships.

At first, everyone was very wary of him, and her mother asked her to keep an eye on this stranger from outside.

However, Xiaoyu didn't think he was a bad person, because he once stewed soup at the door and gave her a bowl.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. I can help you look after the house when you are out." She blinked and added happily, "I'm free anyway."

Poor child.

If she were in that world, she would still be studying at her current age.

Not wanting to offend others, Chu Guang hid a trace of pity in his eyes, took out a lollipop from his pocket expressionlessly, and stuffed it into the little girl's hand.

"Take it and eat it."

"Don't tell others that I gave it to you."

"Otherwise, you won't have it anymore."

I've never seen such food before.

Yu Xiaoyu first took a bite of the wrapping paper, but found that she couldn't bite it open, and then she realized that the outer packaging had to be torn open.

Her big black eyes stared at the red fruit ball on the plastic stick, and she carefully stretched out her tongue and licked it gently.

What is this taste like? !

So sweet!

With little stars twinkling in her eyes, she raised her head happily and wanted to say thank you.

However, the person who gave her the candy had already walked away.