This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 162: You’ve Struck it Rich!

Chapter 162: Chapter 162: You’ve Struck it Rich!

Qingquan City, north.

Near the Fifth Ring Road overpass, a six-person squad pressed on slowly along the icy, desolate streets under the howling wind.

Originally, this journey was planned for just five members.

Back at the Central Square of Outpost Base, Chu Guang had gathered four fully armed players, ready to depart. However, before they could leave through the southern gate, Luo Hua caught up with them, expressing his desire to accompany them.

His reason was quite straightforward—

"The carbon dioxide trap might produce a variety of things, and the captain has asked me to go with you. Although it’s highly unlikely that the city center holds a large scale storage of dangerous goods, he’s still worried you might encounter danger due to mishandling."

When someone offers help out of goodwill, Chu Guang naturally wouldn’t refuse.

Although one of his players was knowledgeable about chemicals, they couldn’t recognize the letters of this world. He could read, but didn’t understand the professional symbols.

Chemical product Blind Boxes aren’t to be opened recklessly; having someone who knows their stuff with them was always a little better.

Thus, the six set out together.

But no one expected that the sunny day, which had started so fair, would suddenly turn into a blizzard halfway through the trip.

These kinds of days were becoming more frequent.

Chu Guang figured that once November came, the weather in the Wasteland would likely get even more erratic, making each day harder to endure than the last.

They would need to hurry along the progress at the Greenhouse Ruins!

Old White, walking at the front of the team, lowered his head and watched as the snowfall suddenly intensified, squinted his eyes involuntarily.

"The last time I saw snow this heavy was in Harbin."

"I saw it on TV," said Fang Chang, holding Dawn in his hands, his gaze sweeping cautiously along both sides of the street, "But more than the snow, I’m worried about something suddenly popping out from the side."

Old White let out a light sigh: "Honestly, I sort of miss Night Ten. Without his Perception Attributes, I always feel like we’re missing something."

"Add one more to that. Our team is a pair of eyes short," Wild Wind commented, pinching a short spear in his right hand, scanning the streets on both sides with a tension that seemed even more exaggerated than Fang Chang’s.

There was no choice; they had to be careful.

Both were now equipped with gear more expensive than the other’s, and the slightest mishap could mean wiping out entirely, like having a rude awakening back to square one.

This steel right hand was just badass; Wild Wind was now reluctant to even wash his hands.

Listening to these guys talk all the way, Edge Shoveling complained discontentedly, "Damn it! Am I not enough? I’m also a Perception Type, and I’m nearly level 7, okay!"

Wild Wind: "No matter how close, you’re still a little Old Six."

Fang Chang: "True, I’m already level 8, Wild Wind is close too, and Old White is about to reach 9. Bro, you gotta step up your game."

Edge Shoveling: "@#%!"

Walking next to Chu Guang, Luo Hua, who could not understand a word of what the residents of the refuge were saying, couldn’t help but softly express his amazement.

"I always thought that only the natives would speak those incomprehensible languages..."

He suddenly realized there might be something problematic about his comment and quickly added an explanation.

"Uh, I didn’t mean any offense, just that it’s strange. Because normally, residents of the refuge would speak standard United Human language, rarely with any accent."

Chu Guang simply smiled, unworried.

"No problem, I’m as baffled as you are. Why do you think that is?"

Returning the question just as it was posed is a reliable move Chu Guang found effective time and again.

Rather than fabricate a flawed excuse that might lead others to sense insincerity or concealment, it was better to share the confusion with them. They might even stand on your side and consider reasons for you.

Why is the sky blue, after all?

Yes, why is that, I’m curious too. What do you all think?

Luo Hua, however, did not press further. He had seen too many strange things on this journey; such trifling matter was hardly surprising to him.

The group quickly reached their destination.

It was an abandoned office building. From the outside, it was difficult to discern what purpose it served in the pre-war era.

Perhaps it was precisely because of its unimpressive appearance that it had been overlooked throughout the scavenging of two centuries and remained hidden until now.

Following the map given by Captain Lu, the group moved along the edge of the hall, entered a safe passage, and quickly ascended the stairs, arriving at the target floor sooner than expected.

Greenish-black mold covered the corridor, parts of which had decayed into a deep brown. Dozens of Variant corpses lay twisting on the ground.

The Variants here had been cleared out, and for the moment, no new Variants were wandering in.

"Damn... what the hell is this?" Edge Shoveling crouched next to a humanoid Variant that was over three meters tall, poking it with the bayonet of his rifle.

Its dark skin was so stiff it seemed unnatural, and the bayonet poked it as if it were poking into the tire of a heavy truck, not piercing at all.

Was this thing really a carbon-based life form?

"Tyrant," muttered Chu Guang, glancing at the Variant on the ground with a slight frown. "To think there would be such a monster within the Fifth Ring."

"Manager, sir, is that Tyrant tough to deal with?" Fang Chang asked, looking towards him.

"Difficult to deal with," Chu Guang considered before replying. "In this kind of terrain, a team like yours could probably be wiped out twice over."

Actually, he had never seen one.

But exaggerating wildly could never be wrong.

Fang Chang swallowed hard, Wild Wind shrank his neck, while Old White and Edge Shoveling seemed unaffected—their equipment was only at the bare minimum standard.

If they died, they died.

Stepping past the Tyrant’s corpse, Chu Guang led the group through a metal door that read "No Admittance for Unrelated Personnel," and arrived inside the carbon dioxide trap.

The space inside was enormous, almost occupying half the floor and was open to the space above.

The carbon dioxide generated by the entire building was delivered here through the central ventilation system, where it was broken down into graphite and oxygen as needed, or added with hydrogen, or the oxygen was replaced with hydrogen.

For the people of that era, atoms were like toys in their hands; with what seemed like endless energy at their disposal, they could freely transform nature’s creations into whatever form they needed.

All the produced materials were stored in boxes made of special materials, piled up beside a dedicated freight elevator, waiting for the forever absent workers to carry them away.

Looking at the room filled with boxes of various sizes, Chu Guang roughly estimated there to be around three to four hundred cubic meters.

He couldn’t help but ask,

"Hasn’t your captain ever been curious about what’s in those boxes?"

"No need for curiosity. As long as we have enough energy, we can make anything related to carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, it’s just a matter of cost... for instance, these black boxes here clearly contain graphite. Looks like your luck isn’t very good."

Luo Hua laughed and walked towards another row of boxes.

Shining a flashlight over them, he read aloud the text and continued with interest, "This is better, a bunch of high-polymer fibers... the label reads X-4."

"X-4?"

"It’s a code name. After all, their spatial structures are complex and bizarre; we can’t just use chemical formulas to identify them." Pausing for a moment, Luo Hua added, "By the way, although its main use is for making clothes, if you need, you can also substitute the wood fibers in smokeless gunpowder with it. The speed and power of the explosion could increase by at least 20%... that’s what we do."

That made it much easier to understand.

In gaming terms, it would be — [Rifle Ammunition Power +20%, Chamber Explosion Risk +?].

Chu Guang silently took note of its uses, glanced at the quantity of similar boxes, and estimated there were around forty to fifty of them.

Even if he underestimated, there would still be twenty to thirty tons.

It looks like it’ll last quite a while.

Just then, Luo Hua walking in front took a sudden gasp.

"Damn?!"

Chu Guang, snapping out of his thoughts, lifted his head and immediately walked over to his side. Four little players, thinking they had triggered a plot event, followed and crowded around, curiously sticking their heads in.

"What happened?" Chu Guang asked for them.

"Dilat Rubber!"

Staring at the unassuming gray box in front of him, Luo Hua took a deep breath, his face a mix of disbelief and envy as he muttered to himself.

"How could this be here?! It’s so abnormal!"

Chu Guang: "Is there a problem?"

"Of course, there is! The products of the carbon dioxide traps are mainly determined by the industrial demand of the region. Commonly seen are starch, graphite, polymer fiber, and near industrial zones there might be olefins and aromatics, even phenol ketone. But Dilat Rubber... I’ve only seen it near the Aerospace Industrial Park. Does Qingquan City have an aerospace industry?"

Taking another deep breath, Luo Hua made his conclusion.

"In a word, you guys are rich!"

Dilat Rubber, a composite nanomaterial formed by the chemical bonding of organic and inorganic components at the molecular level.

Yes, it’s not just an organic compound - it couldn’t be synthesized from carbon dioxide and water alone. Other substances also had to be introduced to the reaction system, and even in Ideal City, it could sell for quite a bit of money.

That was why Luo Hua was so surprised.

In an anaerobic environment, its molecular structure would fold and arrange itself into a gel-like liquid at the macro level. Upon exposure to oxygen and under normal temperature conditions, it would rapidly transition to a solid state, with its molecular structure undergoing a change to resemble that of a crystal.

It was like cement that had undergone a hydration reaction.

Since the molecular components were altered, this process was usually irreversible.

This material had excellent abrasion resistance, acid and alkali resistance, and almost metallic tolerance to high temperature. Unlike traditional rubber, it didn’t age easily. Such properties were extremely rare in traditional polymer materials. And because of that, it was typically used as a material in aerospace.

Chu Guang: "Can you produce it?"

Luo Hua’s expression turned somewhat awkward. After all, he had just shown off, only to be contradicted in less than two minutes.

After a slight cough, he tried to explain.

"... It can’t strictly be considered a hydrocarbon mixture! It also contains many inorganic components, almost like an organic/inorganic hybrid polymer."

Chu Guang nodded thoughtfully, as if trying to translate the sentence he didn’t understand.

So, it probably can’t be produced.

"By a conservative estimate, there are about fifty tons here..." Luo Hua enviously eyed the warehouse, and with a sense of amazement said, "You really shouldn’t let our chief find out."

"Why not."

"I’m afraid he’ll lose sleep over it."

"..."

Is it really that exaggerated?

Chu Guang felt if Li De wanted some, he wouldn’t be so stingy as to not give any.

It’s just that the journey from here to the Action Camp is so long, and the goods would also need to be moved down from the building...

Would charging a shipping fee be too much?

In any case, according to Luo Hua’s introduction, Dilat Rubber had a wide range of uses and was highly valuable. Chu Guang tried to understand its place in the rubber industry - was it somewhat akin to the role of perfluoroether rubber in the early 21st century?

And it didn’t have the problem of being "difficult to process."

Before encountering oxygen, it could be kneaded like glue, and no rubber material could be easier to handle.

By the way, due to its excellent sealing performance, its application in the aerospace, nano-devices, bionic engineering, mechanical seals, and other industries is quite widespread.

For example, the power armor produced before the war made use of this material!

Of course, its uses aren’t limited to this, as many industrial production devices require rubber. If Dilat rubber could be substituted in, maintenance costs would be greatly reduced and production efficiency would be improved significantly.

With these good things, the industrial area of Outpost Base wouldn’t need to worry about rubber for some time.

Of course, with so many boxes, it’s not likely that six people could carry them back.

So, Chu Guang immediately updated a delivery task on the VM—

[Task: Transport goods from the specified location back to Outpost Base (Strength Type recommended)]

[Reward: 10 Silver Coins per box, 10 contributions]

Now, there’s less and less work at Action Camp, and Chu Guang always needs to find something for these energetic little players to do...

After returning to Outpost Base, Luo Hua went back to the Office with his partner, Ais, to pack up and leave.

The Pioneer would depart the day after tomorrow; their work here was done, and a vehicle would pick them up before evening.

Thinking that his newly acquainted drinking buddy was about to leave, Chu Guang couldn’t help feeling a bit sentimental. He went back to the refuge, selected a bottle of red wine with gold plating from Old Leech’s collection, and took it to the temporary office.

"I appreciate everything during this time, I don’t have much to give you," Chu Guang sincerely said as he handed the red wine to Luo Hua, looking at him earnestly, "consider this bottle of wine as a farewell gift. Just remember not to drink it while working."

"Thank you, your friendship is the most precious gift to me!" Luo Hua, visibly moved, accepted the red wine from Chu Guang’s hand and rummaged through his pockets with an embarrassed look, "...damn, I wasn’t prepared at all."

His pocket was cleaner than his face.

There were definitely a few banknotes before...

"That’s okay, your friendship is equally precious to me," Chu Guang said with a smile, "when you finish writing your Journey to the West, just send me a copy."

"That’s a given! But it’s not the same, I have to give you something too..." Luo Hua racked his brains for a while, then his eyes lit up, "Got it! I’ll write you a letter."

Chu Guang gave him a puzzled look.

"A letter?"

Luo Hua immediately nodded, saying excitedly,

"Yes, I have a drinking buddy on the East Coast, and although he can’t drink as much as I can, he’s still not bad! Of course, it’s not just about drinking; he’s also an engineer... Although I forgot what that thing he studies is called, I always hear him complain about how boring life is in Ideal City, envying us lucky ones who can embark on the journey for the future of human civilization."

"When I get back on the Pioneer, I’ll write him a letter and recommend he come over here!"

Chu Guang always felt this guy was a bit naive.

That kind of complaint wasn’t really complaining; it was clearly Versailles bragging.

But out of politeness, he still nodded with a smile.

"Then I’ll be looking forward to your good news."

Luo Hua grinned and assured with a slap on his chest,

"Don’t worry! I’m very reliable!"

Beside him, Ais, who had already packed, glanced at this guy.

If Chu Guang wasn’t mistaken, that was probably an eye roll...

-

(Crack, I just stretched and twisted my shoulder.T.T)