This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 169: The First Weapon Production Line in Shelter No. 404 Goes Live!

Chapter 169: Chapter 169: The First Weapon Production Line in Shelter No. 404 Goes Live!

River Valley Province Northern Part.

The biting north wind howled, while snowflakes as sharp as knives littered the sky for ten thousand li.

As far as the eye could see, countless craters riddled the cracked earth, turning the entire wasteland into a land plowed by some monstrous force, strewn with debris.

Beneath every inch of soil lay charred corpses. On a nearby gentle hill, a burning Lion Flag was planted at an angle—

That was the Army’s flag!

Ten days prior, the Expeditionary Army, locked in a stalemate with the Grand Canyon, launched its first winter offensive against it.

This sudden onset of winter pushed both sides to their physical and mental limits, and everyone knew that the moment of decisive battle had arrived.

The battle-hardened General Kras acted decisively, seizing the opportunity of the blizzard to launch a full-scale attack as the severe weather weakened the Holy Shield System.

His judgment was correct.

Regrettably, although the snowstorm did indeed impact the performance of the Holy Shield System, it did not diminish the defenders’ will.

Like the scythe of the Grim Reaper, drones’ missiles rained down, and the Army’s cannons fought back valiantly, covering the assault of light and heavy armored units and infantry scattered across the hills. In the short stretch of just over a dozen kilometers, countless fully-staffed Ten Thousand Troop units were fed into the fray, none returning.

The entire battlefield had become a cruel meat grinder.

Both sides suffered heavy casualties, but the Army’s cost was undeniably steeper.

The distant sound of artillery fire rose again, like the beating of war drums, but anyone could tell that the drums beat with exhausted spirit.

A man dressed in navy-blue military attire was jolted awake by the cannonade.

He shook his head, spat out the mud in his mouth, and struggled to stand up from the ground.

Just ten minutes ago, as a Centurion, he was ordered to lead a squadron of twenty light infantrymen to fill a gap in the defense.

His superior had not told him the specific combat orders, merely instructing, "Do not retreat," and then shoved him out.

When he opened his eyes again, the burning flag was already more than a hundred meters away. Looking around, there were no living souls, only land so parched that even the accumulating snow had been baked dry.

He lowered his head to see his swinging pant legs and the half-length of intestine protruding from his belly.

Unable to contain the fear in his heart, he dumped his rifle, collapsed into the muddy ground, and let out cries like a newborn baby.

Similar scenes were visible everywhere on this land.

Meanwhile, dozens of kilometers behind him, on the plains leading to the northwest of River Valley Province, a convoy retreating westward was facing a devastating attack.

They planned to retreat westward, but two power armor squads broke through the northern defenses and quickly intercepted them.

Steel was burning, and survivors were few and far between.

A piece of power armor, with a searchlight slung over its shoulder, was dragging a blood-soaked man out of the wreckage of an off-road vehicle.

"I can pay... a ransom," he stuttered with a missing tooth, his left eye glued shut with blood, but still able to speak, "We lost... I surrender."

Defeat was not to be feared.

General Kras, a veteran of countless battles, had not won every fight in his life.

However, the power armor ignored him. After comparing the holographic image information, it turned to a comrade nearby.

"It’s him, the leader of the Expeditionary Army, Kras."

"Are you sure he’s not a clone or some kind of body double?"

"Not sure, but does it matter?"

Laughter arose from the group.

Indeed.

Did it matter?

The Army’s strength in River Valley Province had been utterly decimated. They had annihilated hundreds of thousands of troops, leaving behind only the dead and the fleeing.

So what if a Naked Commander remained?

The piece of power armor turned again to the man it held in its grip, shaking the withered flesh and blood as though holding a small chicken.

"There’s a Dead Claw nest nearby."

"Excellent, those little creatures must be famished."

"They’ll like this gift."

As Kras heard this exchange, a hint of panic surfaced on his otherwise unflappable face. His withered hands gripped the steel around his neck, struggling in vain.

"You... if you kill me... the Army... won’t let... you go!"

Kras felt short of breath.

The man looked at him mockingly, staring into his eyes.

"Then let them come."

"There are no cowards in the land beyond the valley."

...

Dawn began to break.

The sparse noise disturbed the tranquility outside the eastern gate of Changjiu Farm, as the young guard on the enclosing wall sneezed and gave his relieving comrade a tired look.

"You’re finally here."

A horse-faced guard came forward, holding an iron mug filled with boiling water, and glanced outside the enclosing wall.

His name was Liuding, and he was Wrench’s deputy.

His name used to be Rivet, but he gladly accepted the new name given to him by the esteemed Manager.

"Any issues last night?"

"None," Lu Bei shook his head, slinging the rifle onto his back, "I watched them all night, nothing unusual to report except for some loud snoring... I’ll leave this to you; I need to catch some sleep."

He was the youngest member of the Outpost Security Team, having just turned fourteen last month, but he already looked no different from an adult.

In the security team, age and birth were irrelevant; the only requirement the Manager had for them was loyalty and honesty. Although he was the youngest, Lu Bei felt that he met these standards better than anyone else.

With no family left, he wholeheartedly believed in the Manager, who had rescued him from the Looter’s dungeon. He would not only stand guard but was even willing to die for him.

"Go rest, kid, I’ve got this."

Liuding patted the young guard’s shoulder, watched him leave, and then set the iron mug on the icy concrete bunker.

Looking over the refugee camp, he took the Arbitrator’s Rifle from his back and watched the direction carefully.

Some refugees were coming out of the camp to gather firewood, while others set up pots to boil snow.

Jiu Li, the man, was organizing them, seeming to manage everything well, but Liuding did not have much faith in his ability to control these people.

Unlike the nomadic tribe led by Iron Axe, Liuding could tell from experience that these people were not all together.

Whether it was the distribution and orientation of the shacks or the locations of the fire pits, it was clear there were at least four groups... perhaps even more.

On the other side, the POWs were also being driven out to gather firewood; Changjiu Farm’s fuel demand had increased several times.

According to Old Luka, they had to build two more charcoal kilns to maintain a fuel balance. Those prisoners from the Army were likely to be out picking firewood all day.

Remembering the Manager’s instructions, Liuding tightened his grip on the hefty rifle and forced himself to stay alert.

"Hope there won’t be any trouble."

...

Outpost Base.

Little Fish arrived at the surface early before the banks opened and everyone was online, and quietly built a snowman in the plaza in front of the sanatorium.

Although it might be a meaningless act and the snowman wasn’t good-looking, she still wanted to do something for those who ensured the safety of Shelter No. 404.

[Work hard on today’s adventure too!]

She hung a wooden sign on the snowman’s belly with a line of crooked letters that she had recently learned.

At last, her work was complete.

Brushing the snow off her gloves, Little Fish hopped back a couple of steps, her eyes sparkling as she admired her handiwork, and gave a satisfied thumbs-up.

"Not bad, not bad. Little Fish is awesome."

Mimicking the Manager’s intonation, she praised herself with a good mood and slipped away.

After a while, players began to log on.

Seeing the snowman on the plaza and the crooked words on the sign, countless little players instantly felt their hearts melt.

"!!!"

"Wuu wuu wuu, this snowman! It must have been piled up by little Kali for me!"

"Ugh, Demon Demon Spirit? It’s the end of the year time to chase achievements, I’ve found you a freak."

"I feel full of strength, I could even beat a Crack Claw Crab!"

"Crack Claw Crab? Isn’t that easy if you have hands!"

"Good buddy, let’s go!"

"Hehe, it must be Little Fish who made this to cheer me on. Don’t worry, sis will be careful, and I will make you a delicious mushroom soup when I get back!" As Light spoke, Crow took out a pretty big mushroom from her pocket and carefully made a nose for the snowman.

"Wait for me! I feel like it’s still missing something!"

Seeing Crow’s action, Teng Teng suddenly had an idea, clapped her hands, ran back to the cabin to get a scarf, and hung it around the snowman’s neck.

"Nice!" Teng Teng touched her chin with satisfaction and nodded with pride, "It looks much better now!"

Carrying the newly-made rocket, Mosquito chuckled and wanted to join the fun, but before he reached the square, he was tackled to the ground and given a face full of snow by a group of enthusiastic players.

"What are you doing! My rocket! That’s my rocket!"

"Gosh! At least pay for it!"

Yawning, Xia Yan carried Xiao Qi up to the third floor.

She couldn’t help but comment after glancing at the players in the square outside the window, who were making a racket early in the morning.

"I’m really envious of them, so full of energy first thing in the morning."

"Xiao Qi was full of energy too, until a strange woman carried him upstairs."

Xia Yan glared at this trash can.

"What do you mean? I did you a favor by bringing you up here, and that’s wrong?"

Xiao Qi’s camera didn’t look at her.

"Xiao Qi doesn’t want to talk to you today. Please come back tomorrow."

"As if I care!"

What a nutcase!

Xia Yan rolled her eyes, went downstairs, and opened the door to the weapon shop.

Shelter No. 404 was as lively today as it was yesterday; the spirited young players had left early in the morning to work.

As for Chu Guang, of course, he wasn’t idle either.

As a planning administrator, he knew he couldn’t always be squatting in front of the computer monitoring things. He still needed to do what a planner should do.

Like securing more benefits for the players.

Factory No. 81.

Standing next to a machine that took up about six or seven square meters, Chu Guang looked it over for a while and then said,

"Is this called... a punch press?"

"Yes, respected Manager! It’s a bit rudimentary, but its function is no less," Brother Ciso chuckled and said, "By the way, this is my graduation project... Although you might not know what a graduation project is."

Chu Guang thought they really took him for a fool, but he didn’t say much, and his face showed no change in expression.

NPCs have this advantage.

When you don’t feel like dealing with people, you don’t, and you don’t have to explain yourself if you don’t want to. No one will think it’s rude. It’s much more comfortable than doing sales.

Brother Levin also said with a smile,

"That’s right! The principle of punch presses is pretty much the same—converting rotary motion into linear motion. We designed a set of electric motors to drive the flywheel, which, through the clutch, drives gears, crankshaft, and connecting rod, to push the slide block for processing. The maximum punch force is average; making engines is a bit difficult, but manufacturing AK parts is no problem. The only trouble is that the lubricant quality is not great; we made it from birch leaf ketone acid and pine tar... Anyway, it works for now; we’ll just have to see how it goes."

Brother Ciso: "What AK! It’s LD!"

Brother Levin apologized: "Right, right, right, hehe, I forgot."

To be honest, not only did Chu Guang not find this machine primitive, but he even thought it was awesome.

All the parts used in this machine...were they really cut out by that lathe of his?

That’s incredible!

Next to the punch press was a hot piercing machine used for making seamless steel pipes.

The heated steel would be pressed into rods under the rolling mill, then fixed in a fixture where the perforation, cutting, and cooling were carried out by a motor-driven mandrel before being sent to a workbench where a boring tool would draw out the barrel rifling.

Next to the workbench, you could see a batch of completed steel pipes and machine casing parts—exactly what Chu Guang had previously ordered them to complete.

"Are these two devices easy to operate?"

"Extremely convenient!" Brother Levin said with confidence, patting his chest, "Manager, if you want to produce anything else, just leave it to us. Our products will definitely satisfy you!"

Chu Guang looked at the two with approval and nodded satisfactorily.

"You’ve done an excellent job!"

"With these weapons, we have even more confidence to survive in this world."

Before, the check he had written could finally be cashed in!

Task completed!

Both of them received the notification at the same time and immediately opened VM to take a look.

Seeing the final payment deposited into the corporate account, both Brother Levin and Brother Ciso’s faces broke into excited expressions, as if by mutual agreement.

Struck it rich!

Chu Guang quickly placed a new order with them and then had the warehouse manager come over to inspect the batch of goods and take them to the warehouse.

The assembly could be handed over to Boss Xia.

She had plenty of tools there, and if the precision of the parts wasn’t enough to fit together, a little processing would do, which shouldn’t be too difficult.

However, Chu Guang felt this worry might be superfluous, after all, the mold for that stamping press was carved out with a "Magnetic Confinement Plasma CNC Machine".

Mold not precise enough?

Non-existent!

As for the principle errors caused by mechanical movement, those had little impact.

Watching Xia Yan assemble the firearms, Chu Guang excitedly held it in his hands to fiddle for a while, then he loaded a magazine and took it to the shooting range by the west gate to test the feel of the gun.

He fired a few shots in semi-automatic mode, then emptied a full magazine in automatic.

With a caliber of 7mm, slightly smaller than the 7.62mm used in AKs, but with a 50mm cartridge that could hold more propellant, the penetration was still very impressive.

It worked great, whether against humans or Variants!

"This performance is solid," Xia Yan said with surprise after glancing at Chu Guang, "I didn’t think you knew how to design weapons?"

"I don’t have that kind of skill."

"Then what?"

After thinking for a moment, Chu Guang said,

"You can simply understand it as... we have a place to chat, where many people have nothing better to do than to argue and quarrel. And in the midst of all this arguing, some blueprints from who knows where would pop up."

Honestly, he himself wasn’t shy about fishing for them.

Xia Yan was stunned for a moment.

"Your quarrels have such high stakes?"

"On the contrary, there are no stakes at all. It’s precisely because there are no stakes that all kinds of people show up there," Chu Guang said, ejecting the empty magazine and speaking animatedly, "Anyhow, what do you think of this gun? How does it compare to the Bumblebee X-2 Assault Rifle from Giant Stone City?"

Xia Yan rolled her eyes at him and said, "When I say it’s good, I mean it’s relative to pipe guns. Do you expect something cobbled together in a small workshop to compare to a gun manufactured in a large factory?"

Chu Guang just smiled nonchalantly.

"Experience in production is summarized through practice; it’s bound to get better over time."

Players just need to die a few more times to gain that experience, right?

"That’s true, for a first generation it’s indeed not bad." Picking up a cooled cartridge from the ground, Xia Yan examined it while stroking her chin, "I’ll take a look and see how we can improve it."

Silence lingered nearby.

Xia Yan turned her head and saw Chu Guang looking at her with a surprised face and said softly,

"Is there a problem?"

"No."

Chu Guang shook his head.

It was quite unusual, to be honest.

This guy had been increasingly diligent lately, almost like a changed person.

Drawn by the gunfire at the west gate, nearby players looked over curiously, whispering excitedly among themselves.

"There’s a story unfolding!"

"Sickle! It’s the Sickle! Hahaha, finally revealed!"

"Damn! I’m talking about the Manager and weapon shop owner’s drama! Is nobody noticing her look? Brother Mole, you know what I mean."

"Scram, what’s that got to do with me? You trying to get me muted?"

"Tch, this mole has lost sight of his dreams."

"Maybe he should be roasted."

"%￥#@!"