Chapter 2: The First Workers

Alina heard the voice again saying something incomprehensible like "work", but the strange thing was that the thug who had intended to harm her left!

Alina patted her chest and breathed a sigh of relief, then sat on the ground with her back against the generator. She almost died.

"Ahem, can you hear me?"

The voice sounded in Alina's ears again. It seemed that it was not an illusion. It was indeed the voice that saved her. Alina quickly replied, "I can hear you talking. Can you tell me who you are?"

Alina's honorifics made Wang Zhan feel uncomfortable. He couldn't stand this kind of unfamiliar tone, so his subordinates called him Brother Zhan in the company.

"I am..."

He is a player, and Alina is an NPC in the game. He needs someone to help him build a generator, so he has to deal with people. Currently, only Alina can hear him speak, so he must keep her.

"...the thing behind you."1

"Behind me..."

Alina turned around to look at the piece of iron. Her dull but very cute expression amused Wang Zhan. She shouted, "Eh?!"

"You may be surprised, but you are not dreaming," Wang Zhan organized his words, "I am indeed that thing, feed me."

As soon as he said this, Wang Zhan realized that something was wrong. Support me? Ask a girl to support me?!

"I understand what you mean." Alina was indeed simple-minded and didn't think too much for herself. "You need someone to keep the fuselage clean and in good working order for you, right?"

No, absolutely not.

When the generator was developed, it was emphasized that it was sturdy and durable. Unless under special circumstances, it does not require maintenance...Are these game settings a little strange when converted to reality?

What the hell is going on here? Wang Zhan realized that he had been misled by Alina. "Sorry, Alina, you're not right."

Alina pursed her lips slightly, seeming to be troubled by not understanding what Wang Zhan meant.

"I am the core of a city, and I can provide energy and heat to the surrounding buildings."

Alina thought for a moment, "Like a reactor for a nomadic city?"

Wang Zhan had done his homework in advance. The nomadic city was a tool used by Terra to avoid catastrophes. The city was built on a giant moving platform, and the power reactor, as its name suggests, would provide power as well as heating and energy for the city.

Very similar indeed.

"Well, I am similar to them, but we are also different."

"You can speak human language...I mean, you can communicate with people."

Alina had a confident look on her face, and her pride overflowed through the screen. If she told the deer in front of her that her energy came from coal instead of Originium... forget it, that would be a matter for later.

"Now that you understand this, what do I need you to do?"

"Help you build the city... um... keep you running by recruiting more people."

"Yes," Alina was such a smart girl that she understood her intention so quickly, "We need to build a city to keep me running."

"Are you running now?"

The little deer was confused and wanted to know the answer. Wang Zhan answered straightforwardly, "No."

"You can talk when it's not functioning?"

Wang Zhan was stunned for a moment. Alina stared at the huge generator curiously. He pretended to be mysterious and replied, "This is a secret. I can't tell you for now."

"Secret... I understand, Mr. Generator." Alina was a little disappointed, but still smiled happily, "I am willing to stay with you as a reward for saving my life."

Wang Zhan stepped back and spun his chair around outside the screen. After a brief celebration, he returned to the screen. Alina said, "It's just that there are some things I still need to do. If possible, I can bring more people to you."

Is it the guerrillas?

Wang Zhan remembered that the fruit basket in Alina's arms was prepared for the guerrillas. If he could station an army, it would bring him more benefits.

However, the leader of the guerrillas is Buldrokkas'tee, a battle-hardened general. He can probably immediately see the weakness of the generator - that is, it cannot be moved, which means that as long as it is discovered by the Ursus garrison, there is no possibility of survival.

However, it is still unknown whether the Ursus garrison will be included in this expansion, but just in case, we should find a way to deal with it.

I understand your difficulty. Go ahead and do what you need to do."

"Thank you for your understanding."

Alina seemed very excited, humming an unknown tune as she walked. Wang Zhan watched Alina disappear from the screen, feeling both lonely and warm at the same time. He didn't expect that after the company went bankrupt, the only person who showed loyalty to him was an NPC.

They all abandoned me. If it weren't for my boss, Mu Ye, and my childhood friend who helped me, I would probably still be delivering food on an electric bike.

Although he was sighing, Wang Zhan put his mind back into the game. Why was Alina the only one who could hear him talking?

He reviewed the situation and came to the conclusion that only Alina had touched the generator.

So can anyone who touches the generator talk to himself?

Wang Zhan wrote this down in his notebook and waited until Alina brought people back before letting others try it.

Wang Zhan glanced at his phone. The real time was five forty-four. The game time was synchronized with reality, and there was no acceleration button.

This detail made Wang Zhan even more curious. It was strange that a game couldn't skip the boring time. Although this expansion itself was interesting, everyone would get bored sometimes, right?

Wang Zhan glanced at his phone and said, "It's almost time to get off work."

Of course, it refers to the NPC's off-get-off work time in the game.

Workers in Frostpunk normally start work at 8 a.m. and finish work at 6 p.m., and no one will work overtime after 6 p.m. unless they use the law to extend their working hours.

But in order to punish these villains, Wang Zhan plans to make them work for 24 hours and do a test at the same time.

In the main game, workers can work during the day and hunt at night, working continuously for 24 hours without sleeping. I don't know if this is possible in this expansion, because these NPCs are too smart, and there may be problems with exploiting system loopholes, as in the past.

Wang Zhan glanced at the resource bar at the top of the screen, which displayed the amount of coal, wood, steel, and steam cores.

The current temperature was displayed in the middle of the resource bar, minus ten degrees Celsius, while the right side showed the amount of remaining ingredients and food rations.

There was a weather forecast bar below the resource bar on the right, and future temperature and weather changes would be displayed on it.

"The fifteen people just now dismantled 44 units of wood." The game does not provide wood resources at the beginning. Wood and steel can be obtained by dismantling villages. In addition, the system also provides 500 units of coal, 100 units of steel, and 400 units of raw materials. 

The hunter's hut requires twenty pieces of wood to build. Wang Zhan clicks on the construction icon at the bottom of the screen, finds the hunter's hut from the food column and places it at the very edge of the foundation.

The operation of the hunter's hut does not need to consider the temperature, and there is no need to be close to the generator.

Other buildings need to maintain a certain temperature because people often occupy them.

As soon as it was placed, a hunter's hut covered with white cloth appeared on the snow, skipping the steps of construction by the workers.

The thugs had just finished work and were walking casually towards the generator. Wang Zhan smiled knowingly, connected the generator and the hunter's hut with a road, then clicked on the hunter's hut and adjusted the number of workers to fifteen.

"Ah, you want us to go hunting right after work?!"

Damn it, they allowed people to hunt right after they demolished the house... Do they want to let people live?

The leader kept cursing, but found himself walking into the hunter's hut.

"Oh my goodness..."

A total of 15 sets of hunter equipment, although simple but complete, were placed in the house. The leader immediately realized that this was their equipment. He swallowed his saliva. If he sold it...

The leader bear was scratching his fingers, which were enough food for them for three months!

"Boss, I want to run away, but I don't know why? I can't move my legs."

The leading big bear had a vague feeling that it was the thing that was issuing orders. Although he was very angry, he didn't understand why they were so obedient.

But now the opportunity to fill his stomach is right in front of him. If he misses this place, there will be no next one. "Run, why are you running? Don't you see the equipment? It's for hunting. Put it on!"