Kingdom of Corrosion
Chapter 739 - 345 Bright Base_2

Chapter 739: Chapter 345 Bright Base_2

There was no third location. Previously, Shadow had a box of landmines, but when the division happened, Shana’s group only took two. Starlight had control of the Highway Star, along with a pickup truck and most of the supplies. Perhaps this was also a merit of the Shadow People; no one complained about getting less during the split. Whenever the topic of division came up, everyone first acknowledged their own mistakes, and no one blamed the absent for their errors. And until now, no one had spoken ill of Starlight.

...

The amount of building materials in the hardware store wasn’t very abundant. This wasn’t for any reason other than the game mechanics at play. Each building had a predetermined number of basic packs per square meter already clearly laid out. Even for a hardware store, this only meant a higher base count, not an overflow of building materials all over the place.

Besides the material packs, this store also had many non-system items, including wrenches, screwdrivers, nails, cement, tiles, glass, paint, and so on. All usable things, the ways to use them left up to the players’ creativity.

It might sound like a good thing, but it wasn’t for Lin Wu and Shana. As they cleared a small area, they turned around to become porters. Hoisting bags of cement on their backs, they made circles transporting it to the base, the detestable Maya wanting everything. Thus, increasing manpower became a topic for discussion between Lin Sha.

More than a day had passed since the establishment of the base, and after yesterday’s efforts, they had specifically scavenged about a dozen barrels of fuel, but so far there was no specific plan to head to Left County, nor had there been an open discussion about it. Today was the eighteenth day of the last month of autumn; considering the potential end-of-season event that could take up a week’s time, there were only about five days left.

Once winter came, the roads would inevitably be blocked by heavy snow. Thinking of reaching Left County, 250 kilometers away, relying solely on cars would be impossible.

Shana said, "Do you believe it? Maya, Stone, and I have some different opinions regarding our work directions."

"I believe it."

Shana, frustrated, said, "You need to say you don’t believe it, so I can continue."

"I don’t believe it."

Shana smiled and slapped Lin Wu lightly, then continued, "Stone wants to personally visit the Angel’s Alliance, and of course, Maya has no objections. But I had a private conversation with Maya. I believe that Stone’s actual intention of recruiting Little Knife and Snow Egg is just a ruse because recruiting those two doesn’t require Stone to make the trip—directly visiting them would be more effective. Stone wouldn’t condescend to invite them personally."

Shana said, "Last night when you went out to clear your head, we had an honest exchange. Stone admitted that Little Knife and Snow Egg were last resorts. His purpose of going to the Angel’s Alliance was to see if there were more suitable candidates available. Or perhaps he could directly recruit two workers responsible for the base and its surroundings, placing them in the tent base with a leader system, allowing them to live in the Shadow base as allies." Allies are not allowed to take any system items from the base.

For example, firearms and ammunition are system items, recognized by the system, which can either be scavenged directly or manufactured in the workshop. Items like screwdrivers and nails are ordinary items; even if they are made in a workshop, they remain non-system items. To put it simply, valuable and essential items are generally system items, whereas non-valuable and non-essential items are generally non-system items.

Lin Wu asked, "Why doesn’t Stone just be straightforward about it?"

Shana replied, "Maya and Stone, due to their differing work environments, approach situations from different angles. As a soldier, Maya has no control over the selection of soldiers in her unit, so she uses whoever is available. She never thinks that someone’s personality could harm the team’s unity, to replace them. Instead, if someone makes a mistake, she must replace them according to the rules. She doesn’t care much about team atmosphere because there’s no choice; she values discipline more. As the CEO of a company, Stone is the rules to a certain extent. Team atmosphere directly affects productivity and creativity, so he might tolerate indiscipline if it can liven up the team atmosphere and bring benefits to the team."

Shana said, "Stone thinks that both Snow Egg and Little Knife are good young people when they are separate, but together it’s a different story. Their relationship hasn’t brought any positive gain to the team, only negative. Maya has her opinion, but as Stone is in charge of personnel, she didn’t say much else, only suggesting to wait and see."

Shana continued, "The same is true for Starlight and Peanut,"

Lin Wu nodded, "Either you refuse to entertain romance from the start."

"Not really. I am also thinking about the impact a romantic relationship between colleagues could have on the team."

Though the pair chatted, the fight was far from easy. While working with Maya, Lin Wu could slack off after pulling aggro, but when paired with Shana, he had to turn back and assist her since her combat efficiency was somewhat lower. With no Blood Hearts for hundreds of kilometers around, Lin Wu would rather sustain numerous injuries himself than not protect Shana thoroughly, as every Serum syringe used was one less they had.

After clearing an area, the two looked at the lumber piled there with concern. This was lumber that could be broken down into planks rather than Splintered Wood, directly usable large compressed boards. The only issue was that ten boards were bundled together, making them quite heavy. And if they were to separate them, each bundle would require ten trips to transport. There were five such bundles on site.

Lin Wu contacted Su Shi to explain the situation and asked, "Is it useful?"

"Yes, very useful," Su Shi said. "We could potentially acquire a large quantity of lumber, which can be processed into various wooden products, burned into charcoal, or transformed into building materials. Even if it’s not used for production in the workshop, we could handcraft tables and chairs. It has a very wide range of uses."

"Su, I’m not too keen on this answer."

Su Shi replied, "If it’s useless, it’s trash."

Maya interjected, "Lin Wu, go swap places with Stone at Position A, Stone, move the planks."

Stone dissatisfiedly asked, "Why?"

"You have strength."

"And me?" Shana asked.

"You have willpower."

Stone grumbled, "The capable are always overworked, right?"

Maya said, "Trust me, if we let a certain someone do it, we wouldn’t see those planks at the base by the end of the day."

"Slander, that’s slander. I’ll move them." Lin Wu felt upset, the remark was quite harsh, even though he had actually considered not moving the planks today, focusing instead on clearing out the zombies first.

A single plank weighed 20 kilograms, and a set of ten planks amounted to two hundred kilograms, which had to be carried separately. After splitting them up, the planks were lighter, but their large size made them difficult to transport. Carrying them on one’s back or dragging them, either way, was uncomfortable.

While bending over to carry the second plank, Lin Wu had a sudden thought, "If I were to cross the street with a plank on my back, would I be caught by surveillance?"

"Yes," Maya answered, "Anomalous moving object."

Lin Wu said, "That surveillance is really something else, huh?"

Maya explained, "The surveillance doesn’t directly identify you, it sends out an alert, and the drones confirm whether it’s friend or foe. Assuming you carrying a plank doesn’t trigger the surveillance alert, then we might as well put a barrel over our heads or a few people could walk down the street under a sheet."

Maya said, "You could try it, and take a rest in the meantime, the tent’s cooldown period is up."

So Lin Wu tried it, and as Maya said, the surveillance issued an alert, and drones arrived soon after. By this time, everyone had already hidden inside the base. The drones flew around the perimeter of the base, including the safety zone, and searched for a few minutes before leaving.

Lin Wu, of course, complained; Little White Rabbit told Lin Wu that generally, anything above a 10-meter range from the main building of the base wasn’t considered a safety zone. And even if a drone entered the safety zone, it would not be affected in any way. It’s the same as when zombies enter the safety zone; it doesn’t negatively impact them in any way.

After saying goodbye to Little White Rabbit, Lin Wu built a tent base on the west side of the base. By lunchtime, the tent base was completed. Lin Wu then left the Shadow Base and established the Bright Base. The name of Bright Base originated as an antonym to Shadow Base, which was a makeshift fit.

Since the two bases were very close to each other, they easily completed the task of forming an alliance. The tent base adopted a leadership system, in preparation for possibly recruiting labor later on.

After lunch, Lin Wu went back into the tent and rolled around on the carpet with Wai, then Shana came in. She headed straight for the dormitory tent; compared to the dormitory’s spring mattresses at the base, the bedding here, made of quilts and blankets, was much more comfortable.

"What are you doing? Stop moving around." The lack of privacy was a significant issue in the tent dormitory.

"Scrooge, I’ve been working, and later we still have to move bricks."

Lin Wu immediately stayed motionless, "So tired." Bricks were actual bricks, which although yielded only a small amount of stone when broken down, could be utilized directly. For instance, for building walls or constructing a natural farm on the rooftop.