This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 214 Fear of Insufficient Firepower

Chapter 214: Chapter 214 Fear of Insufficient Firepower

Finally got the long-awaited "hidden quest," Debt Giant Eye happily carried his new toy.

Neural Connection Equipment!

The only robot in the whole game that can be controlled by brain waves!

Thanks to the scheming mastermind, the chance was given to those who were prepared, and his 10 points of intelligence attribute finally came into play!

Seeing his little player so happy, Chu Guang felt very pleased as well.

As a game designer, making players happy was his honor.

Chu Guang eagerly anticipated the player making a splash with this little robot.

However, Yin Fang’s expression showed some concern.

"Honestly, I don’t really recommend sending immature equipment into battle, it’s irresponsible towards the testers’ lives," he said.

Chu Guang smiled slightly.

"Relax, don’t you see how happy that guy is? You get your data, and he gets... uh, happiness."

"I think it’s a win-win."

Happiness?

Yin Fang paused slightly, not quite understanding the statement, let alone where the joy was in testing immature equipment, but he didn’t ask further.

He still had a pile of things to be busy with, whether it was arranging work for the academic group or improving robots, he didn’t have time to linger here.

After saying goodbye, Yin Fang took the elevator back to the shelter.

Chu Guang did not go down with him, instead, he went upstairs to bring down Xiao Qi.

After a day’s work, it was time for student Xiao Qi to recharge.

But just as Chu Guang, holding Xiao Qi, was about to take the elevator back to the shelter, trouble immediately found him.

A dense crowd surrounded the elevator.

They were all intelligence system players.

Facing those fervent gazes, Chu Guang instantly understood their purpose, and his head began to grow heavy.

Damn!

How could he have forgotten about this!

"Respected Manager, I... I am also level 7 intelligence! And I have 11 points of intelligence! Please allow me to contribute to the shelter!"

"Wise and valiant Manager, look at me! Although I don’t have 10 intelligence points, I think I’m much smarter than that Debt Giant Eye!"

"Invincible and eternally great Manager—"

"Damn! Do you all have to show off even in your titles?"

"Heh heh, for a hidden quest, no shame!"

Chu Guang: "..."

Those pairs of eager eyes were like young birds waiting to be fed.

No doubt, they were all intelligence types.

Chu Guang could guess with his toes, it definitely was that player, showing off with the four-legged robot.

MMP!

Next time he tests equipment, he needs to find someone low-key!

As Chu Guang, surrounded and chattered at by players until his scalp numbed, stood at the elevator, Xia Yan, who was waiting for him, couldn’t help but curl her lips in schadenfreude.

Humph.

Serves you right for liking to boss people around!

Now do you see how annoying it is to be surrounded and nagged by "players"?

...

Official website:

[Server Announcement: Due to the recent blizzards, transportation routes to Elm District have been suspended, and vehicle rental service at Outpost Base is also temporarily halted. Please understand.]

[Yin Fang: "Wasteland Survival Handbook" has been updated to Chapter One, secrets from the Academy, teaching you how to scavenge more efficiently!]

[Dawn: "Wartime Management Regulation" enters its fifth day, hang in there, victory is nearing! (Remaining time: 55 days)]

[Little Fish: The weather is getting colder. Please keep warm!]

Little Fish: "Front row hugs for Little Fish!

Gnome King Riches: "Ah, can’t go to Elm District now, hunter players are gonna cry."

Little Brat: "Fishing players gonna cry too, the ice on the lake is so hard I can’t even chip it open!"

Crow: "Wuu wuu wuu, begging the big planner to let winter pass quickly, I’ve been out of a job for so long. QAQ"

Worksite Youth and Brick: "+1! I’m gonna die without mushroom soup."

Makabazi: "Haha, everyone, come farm! Farming players are awesome! Greenhouse farms welcome you!"

Elena: "Well... it’s proved that the meat of Eaters really can’t be eaten."

Gnome King Riches: "What the hell? Old Monk? What did you do?"

Elena: "Uh, I was just curious, after all, I am a Constitution type, so I gave it a try... You know what happened. (awkward)"

Night Ten: "I suggest the officials add an achievement for daring to eat Eaters raw. (funny)"

Elena: "Get lost! At least I cooked it, okay? Who would eat that thing raw! (`Д´*)9"

Night Ten: "That’s hard to say. (funny)"

Gnome King Riches: "(funny)"

Ever since December began, the snow in the North Suburb of Qingquan City fell heavier, and players’ activities were shrinking like a diminishing safe zone, retreating underground from the surface.

Honestly, Chu Guang was even more anxious than them.

Before, his little players still could hunt or fish, but recently they couldn’t even find any game, let alone think about fishing.

The ice on the lake had to be blown open with dynamite!

However, thanks to the heavy snow, the exploration progress of the B3 level underground passage continued to advance, having already connected with the Qingquan City metro network to the south.

Now from the exit of the B3 level, it’s possible to move directly to the Garden Street Metro Station at the edge of the ring road and to Shelter No.117.

For players wanting to explore the city area, this was undoubtedly good news.

Previously, to move from Outpost Base to the edge of the ring road—a nearly five-kilometer straight-line distance—even by the shortest route, it would take about 2 to 3 hours, and a round trip would take half a day.

But now, by following the metro, crossing the ruins directly, if one moved quickly, it could take less than an hour.

To reduce the time players spent traveling, Chu Guang prioritized supplying the newly produced 50 sleep cabins to Shelter No.117, facilitating players to save their progress on the front lines.

However, as players continuously made progress in exploring the underground tunnels, the rate of bullet consumption was also climbing.

To keep up with the increasingly rapid demand for bullets, Chu Guang had to plan a larger ammunition factory in the new industrial area and ordered two sets of pressing and priming machines specifically for manufacturing bullet casings and caps from Steel Plant No.81.

Thanks to the magnetic confinement plasma cutting machine tool he got from the enterprise, without this device, many things could be found in blueprints but made impossible to realize.

Besides the bullets themselves, there were also the production of nitrocellulose and short columnar lead azide (α-type) needed for the bullets.

Previously, these components were being produced by Mosquito’s Goblin Technology, and it was a major source of income for the Goblin Technology.

However, unfortunately, the output of Mosquito’s small workshop was too low, and due to personal reasons, the specifications and quality of its products were hard to standardize, slowly becoming unable to meet the needs of the munitions factory.

For efficiency reasons, Chu Guang planned a specialized chemical plant in the new industrial area to produce various types of chemicals and gunpowder, supplying raw materials to the munitions factories in the new industrial area.

Chu Guang didn’t leave this factory to a single player to manage; he appointed several NPCs as factory director and deputy directors and hired players with relevant chemical experience to instruct and oversee production as technical staff.

There was a good number of players with chemical experience on the server, about thirty or so—these were high-quality human players Chu Guang had carefully selected from the forum’s discussion boards.

Although many of them were armchair strategists lacking practical experience and had varying levels of skill, with search tools available for reference, they were somewhat more reliable than the Waste Land Wanderers who had no theoretical basis and relied entirely on experience.

Moreover, in a bunch of Huskies, there’s bound to be one or two that look more like wolves; it was the same with his small players—a few exceptional leaders could sometimes emerge from a bunch of jokers.

Now, the number of players with livelihood professions active in the new industrial area had reached 71, and the hired NPC workers had reached 240.

These numbers were not enough; whether the former or the latter, there was room for further increase.

Taking advantage of the roadblocks caused by heavy snow, Chu Guang had to make the most of every minute and use every available resource to fan the industrial flame a bit more vigorously on the wasteland.

The Chewing Bone Tribe wouldn’t give up on Qingquan City’s lucrative opportunity.

Even if they couldn’t bite through Giant Stone City’s tough bones, that group of Looters would definitely try every way to get a bite of the North Suburb.

There was bound to be a major battle.

And it would happen right after the snow melted!

The outcome of this battle would also determine who would be the master of the North Suburb!

...

In the first week of the Wartime regulations’ implementation, although they didn’t receive any response from the top planner about when winter would end, players of Wasteland OL still received some good news.

Boss Xia, who had been playing dumb riddles for a whole week, finally displayed some newly launched weapons in the weapon shop—two types of light machine guns and submachine guns independently developed by Shelter No.404.

However, upon seeing the new weapons’ models, nearly all the players gathered in front of the weapon shop let out disappointed howls.

"Damn! This operator is addicted to copying CF!"

"Why is it Kalashnikov again!"

"Shatter, forget the light machine gun, but what the heck is this submachine gun?!"

"Please, operator, bring two AR series weapons!"

Compared to the wailing of FPS players, Brother Ciso and Brother Levin looked unconcerned, as if watching a bunch of fools.

"Tsk, these people, they speak so easily. As if manufacturing rifle receivers is an easy job!"

"Exactly! They don’t consider the costs of mass production!"

"But... once we manage to make a 20mm cannon, we could consider making a stationary machine gun."

Brother Ciso proposed: "How about a water-cooled Maxim?"

Brother Levin’s eyes lit up: "Good idea! That shouldn’t be too difficult!"

The final reveal pointed to LD-47j and LD-47c.

Apart from the two factory heads at Factory No. 81, almost all the players had bet on the wrong options.

The LD-47j, based on the original Sickle Assault Rifle, had a prolonged barrel installed with a heat sink and a bipod mounted beneath the barrel.

There was no doubt, it was a machine gun.

As for the LD-47c, it was more crudely made, essentially a Sickle Assault Rifle with its barrel sawed off, and the wooden stock replaced by a more compact, foldable steel stock.

Due to the shorter barrel, there was no doubt it was a submachine gun.

However, the operator hadn’t completely skimped on their efforts and did give the two new guns rather imposing names—

The light machine gun was called "Union Harvester," and the submachine gun was called Short Scythe.

Looking at it this way...

The previous semi-automatic designated marksman rifle, could that be considered the "Long Scythe"?

In any case, the prices for both new guns were quite affordable, with the machine gun at 300 silver coins, and the submachine gun at 250 silver coins.

However, the price of these high-rate-of-fire weapons themselves wasn’t significant.

The key was the rate of ammunition consumption; it wasn’t meant for the kind of exchange involving volleys of bullets, and few could afford its use.

After looking at the weapons on the shelf for a long time, until most of the crowd had dispersed, Edge Treading finally couldn’t help but complain.

"Forget the machine gun, but why are the submachine guns also using full-power rounds?!"

Debt Giant Eye, carrying a large bag on his back, curiously asked,

"Excuse my ignorance, but what are full-power rounds?"

Standing beside, a young man from the construction site with bricks explained,

"You see, those World War II movies, bolt-action rifles mostly use full-power rounds. The cartridges are 50 millimeters long, have a massive load of powder, so when you hit someone, the power is basically overkill."

Debt Giant Eye’s eyes lit up, "Got it! Like the bullets used in the 98k, right?"

Construction Youth with Bricks: "Uh, if that helps you understand."

Magnetic Drum Hair Washing Machine: "Though, I think these two models would work quite well against Variants."

Full-power rounds do indeed inflict excessive damage when hitting humans, but they’re just right against Crawler types.

Previously, using 5mm revolving small pipes, hitting a Crawler only scraped off its skin; now, although encountering a Crawler remains very dangerous, at least they could inflict some damage.

Edge Treading shook his head.

"That’s true, but look, besides those of the Strength Type, who else can handle it?"

He was of the Perception type, only his Gene Sequence reaching Level 8, and had slightly increased his strength, barely managing to handle the recoil of the LD-47.

But, he can understand.

From a realistic viewpoint, considering the industrial capacity of Outpost Base, it was already quite an achievement to muster a machine casing production line, especially when all production capacity was prioritized for military development.

Adding an extra weapon production line meant the entire logistics supply cost would also have to increase.

Even if there was a desire to diversify light weapons, it wasn’t something to be done right now.

Sufficient equipment, large quantity ensures full supply.

This was the only guarantee they could provide for the shelter that was still in its early stages.

After buying an LD-47j from Boss Xia, the young man from the construction site with bricks felt the barrel and couldn’t help but sigh,

"It would be great to have a mortar."

Mosquito’s rockets were unreliable, frightening more people than they killed.

Now even the Looter’s equipment was nearly better than theirs; once a small local battle started, two armored pickup trucks could deploy so much firepower that they couldn’t even break through.

They desperately needed supporting firepower!

Debt Giant Eye nodded in deep agreement.

"Indeed, if only we had carried a couple more tubes, we wouldn’t have been pinned down behind cover."

After some deliberation, Edge Treading finally chose the LD-47.

Not just because the base model was the cheapest, only costing 200 silver, but mainly because it suited their needs.

"Let’s not dwell on the hindsight; hopefully, our life profession players can contribute a bit!"

After purchasing weapons and ammunition, the prepared Edge Treading Team left Outpost Base heading towards the Greenhouse Ruins.

Brother Mole’s team had already reached the fifth floor, which was the topmost layer of the surface part.

Since there was ample natural light there, Spirit Leaves thrived, and Devil Moths were much denser than in other layers of the surface, one team alone couldn’t handle it.

Out of caution, Brother Mole called for reinforcements, and since Edge Treading’s team had no other tasks, they planned to join the convoy; the profits would be split equally among them later.

Meanwhile, back in the shelter.

Old White, who had just logged on, was being led towards the equipment room by Night Ten and Wild Wind.

All the way there, Old White kept asking questions.

"What exactly is going on that it’s all so secretive?"

This time, Night Ten unusually held his tongue, not revealing a single word the entire way there, merely urging.

"Alright, stop asking. You’ll find out once we get there."

Beside him, Wild Wind nodded in agreement, sparing his words.

"+1."

Old White: "...?"

Curious, Old White followed Night Ten and Wild Wind to the equipment room.

There he saw Fang Chang standing as well.

At that moment, beside him stood the deputy head of the security team—Liuding, wearing a Type Five Exoskeleton.

And next to him, stood a brand new orange exoskeleton.

Facing Old White, who was approaching from the direction of the buffer room, Liuding spoke emotionlessly in a business-like tone.

"Your bravery and loyalty have proven, you are indeed worthy of this equipment."

"Your friends wish to present it to you. Do you accept it?"

In an instant, Old White held his breath, his gaze slightly startled.

A Miner Type I Exoskeleton worth 2000 silver coins!

The single most expensive piece of equipment on the server!

One needs to be Level 10 and have the contributions of a citizen to purchase it!

Before he could respond, Fang Chang, who was standing nearby, spoke.

"Silver coins are about to devalue. If we don’t spend them now, it would be a waste. While the exoskeletons haven’t gone up in price yet, and you’re the only Awakener in our team, we’ve unanimously decided to pool money and equip you with one."

It was not just the exoskeletons that had not risen in price.

Many pieces of equipment priced over 500 silver coins, which the shelter couldn’t produce on its own, should have increased in price by now, yet they remained unchanged.

Clearly, the Dog Plan had finally decided to be humane, giving players with substantial savings some buffer time to spend their money before inflation hit.

Of course, Fang Chang wouldn’t waste Ah Guang’s hard work. He, together with Night Ten and Wild Wind, could easily raise 2000 silver coins without even dipping into the profits from the Bull Horse Brick Factory.

"How can this be! Other equipment is fine, but this exoskeleton is too expensive!"

Hearing that the group planned to pool money to buy him equipment, Old White who had finally come back to his senses, kept shaking his head, refusing no matter what.

"Don’t say such things that distance us," Wild Wind shook his head and said, "If we’re being honest, if you hadn’t covered our retreat, our losses would likely far exceed 2000 silver coins. By all rights, we should get you a new exoskeleton."

"That’s right! That’s the logic," Fang Chang nodded in agreement, "Teachers really do know how to speak!"

Wild Wind coughed.

"What does teaching have to do with this..."

Old White: "At least let me bear a part—"

"Bear nothing, we already said everyone chipped in to buy this for you, what are you paying for?" Night Ten interrupted Old White with a chuckle, "Of course, if you want to gift me some equipment, I won’t refuse."

Listening to everyone’s words, Old White was deeply moved and for a moment didn’t know what to say.

Seeing Old White was about to speak again, Fang Chang placed his hand on his shoulder, laughing heartily.

"Alright, let’s skip the mushy talk!"

"Don’t forget what you said yourself, equipment is bought to be used, what’s the point of hesitating in a game! Everyone chipped in to buy this, so it’s yours, stop feeling burdened!"

Night Ten also said with a laugh.

"That’s right, there are still four layers to go in the Greenhouse Ruins, we’re waiting for you to lead the team!"

Old White’s gaze gradually hardened, he took a deep breath, and nodded seriously.

"...I’ll skip the formalities, but my gratitude will be remembered."

"Everyone, prep up. We’re targeting Greenhouse Ruins B6 Layer. We move out in 10 minutes!"

Wild Wind nodded with a smile.

"Roger!"

The players headed towards the labyrinthine Wasteland, embarking on a new day’s adventure.

At that moment, Chu Guang was sitting in the Manager’s office, looking at a small gadget in his hand with an intrigued expression.

It was a small digital camera, integrated with both photo and video functions, no larger than a pen.

It had a notch on the side, perfectly fitting the ends of a VM, and could be clipped onto a shirt collar or pocket like a pen, extremely convenient.

This gadget was a small tool that Chu Guang had asked Yin Fang to fabricate, compatible with the VM.

After examining it for a moment, Chu Guang, admiring it, couldn’t help but express a bit more desire.

"This camera is pretty good."

"It’s just a pity it can’t make calls."

"It would be even better if an instant communication system was integrated!"

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