Kingdom of Corrosion
Chapter 47 - 46 Night

Chapter 47: Chapter 46 Night

Lin Wu said, "Cheapskate, the system has an entertainment room." The entertainment room they cobbled together couldn’t compare to that one.

"Isn’t that just wasting space? There’s even a cinema in the system that can be built using a large indoor or outdoor unit." Stone sat by the campfire, "I’m planning to set up a woodpile. When you guys go out, I’ll collect some wood nearby and process it into lumber to store in the lobby. By the way, do you remember when we first established the Shadow base, we made contact with a wanderer from Right County?"

Lin Wu said, "We’ve been in contact, haven’t we? It’s just a bit far away."

Stone said, "The wanderer also took over a small to medium-sized base and expanded their personnel to 10 people. But some internal problems have arisen—jealousy and infighting. A medical member reached out to me via radio, expressing a willingness to transfer to the Shadow base. I looked at the map, and it will take Bai Ban more than an hour to reach the train tunnel exit for the rendezvous." The only normal transportation in the left and right counties was the railway line, and the connection point was a tunnel about three kilometers long.

Lin Wu said, "I’m on the night shift."

Maya said, "Do you want to keep working the night shift?" With electricity, night activities would naturally increase. Everyone goes to work together during the day and rests together at night.

Stone nodded, "Exactly, leaving you alone on night shift, the entire base won’t be at peace."

Lin Wu said, "The night shift is simpler, I can play however I want. Besides, I want to make a trip to the mountain top observation post to see if I can scavenge some supplies." Lin Wu had once brought back a briefcase that contained information on three military facilities, namely, a post with Night Demons, the mountain top observation post, and the train command center.

The mountain top observation post was about 3 kilometers in a straight line from the mountain top church and appeared to be about one thousand meters in altitude. Lin Wu added, "As a hunter, it’s time for me to go up the mountain to look for traces of animals."

Maya objected, "It’s too dangerous. If you’re going to the mountain top sentry post alone, you must carry a certain amount of firearms and ammunition. Currently, the base has four guns, two shotgun shells, and there are still three bullets for the Eagle Sand. I’m not sure if there are any wild animals, but if there are, they’re definitely not something you can handle with just a dagger. Since it’s a mountain top sentry post, there will inevitably be a large number of zombies with body armor and helmets, and there might be new mutant zombies, like mountain apes or the like. I’m not against taking risks, but I am against risks that outweigh the benefits."

Maya said, "How much can you carry by yourself? Considering the size of an assault rifle, it won’t fit in a backpack. Besides the weapon rack that a backpack provides, you’ll have to carry it on your back. And the bullets? The press modulator you brought back last time weighed five kilograms."

Stone said, "Maya, you’re quite good at rational risk analysis. I think Lin Wu just doesn’t want to stay at the base for an extended period."

Lin Wu explained, "No, that’s not it, I just want to check out the mountain top sentry post. But Maya makes a lot of sense. Tonight I need to sleep, and tomorrow during the day I’ll make a round at Highland Villa across the way." Lin Wu had found a photo of a villa in a factory; in the photo, seven people were shown, two of whom were in military uniforms, and he believed he should be able to get some weapons in the villa. His mind was made up, and he could go anywhere he wanted.

The reason Tangtang died boiled down to one thing: not enough guns. At the very least, everyone should have a gun, and if everyone had an assault rifle, they could kill whatever came their way, even if it were a 100-star siege.

Lin Wu said, "I have another idea. The Blood Plague in building number 2 seems to be connected to the whole structure. I wonder if we could blow up the building."

As soon as Stone heard about demolishing a building, he was interested—few men could resist the joy of demolition: "Su Shi can make simple pipe bombs, but we need ammunition packs. To blow up building number 2, I think we’re going to need a lot of ammunition packs." Ammunition packs were the most scarce basic material in the base, luckily they were not essential.

Maya interjected, "Based on what Lin Wu has described, the Blood Plague has one characteristic: it won’t summon zombies as long as it’s not harmed. We don’t need to destroy the whole building, after we have enough pipe bombs, we just need to detonate them all at once."

Lin Wu asked, "How much is ’enough’?"

Maya thought for a long time, "Enough."

The three of them began to discuss. Lin Wu simply wanted to eradicate the Blood Plague, Stone thought that eliminating the Blood Plague must come with a high reward, and Maya focused more on experimental tactics, as it was only the first Blood Plague.

In the midst of their discussion, a red dot appeared on the base system map. When members were at the base, an electronic map interface would appear, with base members as green dots and zombies and outsiders as red dots. Seeing the red dot remain motionless at the edge of the base, it was virtually certain that it was a player.

The trio armed themselves with guns and went to the door to check. Indeed, it was a player who was looking for a base. After chatting with the visitor, Stone told them that their base was full and pointed them towards the nearest other base.

When Stone returned, he heard a call on the radio and went off to attend to his own business. Although Lin Wu had been on missions with Maya, their conversations had almost always been work-related, with no room for idle chatter. Without Stone, the two sat by the backyard campfire for a while; Lin Wu felt uneasy and went to the warehouse to get a book and head to the barracks to sleep.

In the barracks dormitory, he turned on both the lights above and below his bunk, which provided even better lighting than during the daytime. Pulling up the screen created a closed-off space. Although it was small, being inside felt incredibly comfortable and gave Lin Wu a sense of security he had never had in the game before. It was the first time he felt at home in the game. Before, the base only seemed like a dormitory to Lin Wu, existing solely for work purposes, but now it came across as a comfortable dormitory he worked to possess.

It was only seven in the evening, and there should have been a celebration tonight, but unfortunately, due to the issues with Snow Egg and Horse Soul, everyone had gone back to their dormitories, to their own spaces, early. Lin Wu hoped they would be able to handle their matters by tomorrow. Thinking of this, Lin Wu pondered what he would do if he were in a conflict with someone else.

Suppose he had witnessed Horse Soul intentionally not taking the medical pack and, after the fact, Horse Soul not only denied it but also accused himself of framing him. Without evidence, the others didn’t know who to believe.

And suppose Snow Egg deliberately framed him for seeing the medical pack and not taking it, refusing to believe his explanation, leaving the others at a loss for words about the issue.

Should he leave? No, why should he? Lin Wu thought that if necessary, he could leave the base, be expelled, but he shouldn’t actively leave the base when falsely accused. Facing false accusations, running away was the most passive way to respond.

To rally others to ostracize the accuser? Lin Wu didn’t think he could do that, believing in the adage that the innocent would prove their own innocence. He wouldn’t deliberately rally others to prove his innocence by excluding the minority with a majority.

After much thought, Lin Wu arrived at a conclusion, which he also believed to be the most suitable course of action, and that was to vote. If everyone chose to believe him, then the accuser should be expelled from the base. Otherwise, the base would no longer hold meaning for him. For the other people at the base, this was also an acceptable solution. Anyway, as someone neutral, Lin Wu didn’t like the current awkward atmosphere of the base, where it seemed that even chatting had to be deliberately subdued.

Seeing Lin Wu also roll off to sleep, Stone finally began his own work. He first invited Snow Egg out for a walk and a glass of milk, then called Horse Soul out for a glass of the leftover milk. Finally, he asked Snow Egg to come out again to finish the rest of the milk, and the three of them dealt with the matter together.

"Both of you, let’s speak frankly. We only have seven people here, seeing each other when we look up or look down, and we see each other many times a day. Tonight was supposed to be a night of celebration, but because of the dispute between the two of you, it turned out to be a low-key affair. Your conflict has had a direct impact on the healthy development of our base," Stone said. "Personally, I understand Snow Egg’s view and actions, and I also trust Horse Soul’s character. I believe that in this matter, there is no party that is completely right."

Stone continued, "As a manager of the base, if you have any complaints about me, I can patiently explain. If you’re unsatisfied with the explanation, we can discuss this matter openly. If everyone thinks I’m at fault and I don’t believe I am, I can step down from my managerial role. Since your conflict has already seriously affected the atmosphere of the base, it must be resolved, and it must be resolved quickly. As manager, I propose a solution: give you time to come up with a conclusion. The minimum bottom line is to restrain from causing a second conflict. Of course, I hope you can become friends, but all of this depends on you."

Stone added, "If after your discussion you believe there’s nothing left to say, and you still can’t stand each other, we must move on to the next item on the agenda: one of the two of you must go. If you’ve reached the point of discussing this next topic, it proves the topic’s validity. If neither of you is willing to leave voluntarily, then we will have an open explanation of this matter at tea time tomorrow morning, and the other members will conduct an anonymous vote to decide which of you should stay."

"Lastly, I hope that whatever the result, you will realize that your actions have caused a great deal of trouble for everyone." With a nod to the two of them, Stone left the campfire to tinker with the radio.

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