This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 260: Tide and Floor B4 Mission!

Chapter 260: Chapter 260: Tide and Floor B4 Mission!

Lone Wolf had studied it for a long time, but he couldn’t figure out how this machine possibly achieved more than 60 horsepower.

It wasn’t because the machinery was too complex.

On the contrary, it was because it was "too simple", so simple that he couldn’t help but suspect that the game’s production team was cutting corners.

The principle of the pot camel engine was actually not difficult. Essentially, it involved boiling water, with the piston movement driving the crankshaft, which in turn drove the flywheel, outputting power.

Referencing engines, ignoring cost-performance, simply wanting to increase power was actually very easy. Increasing the cylinder volume, the number of cylinders, or the pressure inside the cylinders are all feasible methods.

However, what baffled Lone Wolf was that the pot camel engine in front of him was a single cylinder!

Sixty horsepower on a single-cylinder pot camel engine?

That’s no joke.

Lone Wolf suddenly said,

"What’s the maximum horsepower of a single-cylinder diesel engine?"

Hearing the young professor’s question, Brother Levin was taken aback and instinctively replied,

"I’ve heard of 30 horsepower."

Brother Ciso also added, "I remember there being 35 horsepower."

Lone Wolf nodded.

"About that."

In his memory, there seemed to be 40, 45 horsepower models, but they were not common, the more common being around 40 horsepower.

Agricultural tools don’t need such high horsepower, and large equipment with hundreds or thousands of horsepower wouldn’t use pot camel engines.

A single cylinder pot camel engine reaching sixty horsepower?

And it only weighs five hundred kilograms?

Lone Wolf couldn’t help but shake his head.

"I’ve never seen something so outrageous."

Brother Ciso chuckled,

"This is my first time seeing it too."

Brother Levin scratched his head and said,

"I don’t understand, I couldn’t figure it out before when dismantling the army’s light truck. The design logic is quite similar, why is their power equipment always slightly more powerful than our replicas?"

Picking up a belt, Lone Wolf held it in his hand and examined it for a while, then suddenly muttered to himself,

"...What is this?"

Brother Levin was taken aback,

"This... is an engine belt, isn’t it?"

Brother Ciso also nodded,

"I think so too."

That was an obvious statement.

Lone Wolf of course knew that the item in his hand was a belt, but he couldn’t figure out what material it was made of.

"It doesn’t look like neoprene..."

Unfortunately, he was neither an expert in materials science nor in engines, he only had a slight understanding because he researched automation design.

"Not just the belt, but also the gaskets, hoses, O-rings... All the rubber components are made of materials I’ve never seen. Is it a fictional setting?"

Lone Wolf tapped the cylinder casing with a wrench, listening to its clear resonance, an expression of surprise lifting his eyebrows.

"Holy shit! Is this damned thing made of titanium aluminum alloy?"

It didn’t quite seem like it.

But it could be something similar.

The more Lone Wolf studied, the more astonished he became.

The game’s production team was quite clever; they directly introduced some materials he had never seen before, and designs that normally wouldn’t be possible suddenly couldn’t be completely ruled out as illogical.

The three pillars of modern technology—energy, materials, information. Just like IC design, many understand it, but not just anyone can produce a chip.

The game production team didn’t provide a solution, just a broad direction, the deeper he delved, the more amazed he felt.

Now he somewhat understood why Yan Feng was so obsessed with this game.

"There’s something to this!"

Watching Lone Wolf muttering beside the machine, Brother Levin and Brother Ciso exchanged glances, a bizarre expression simultaneously appearing on their faces.

"Should we remind him that this is just a game? Maybe the things he can’t understand are just a line of code from Brother Guang."

Although they sometimes take things seriously, they are far from this level of paranoia.

Brother Ciso scratched the back of his head.

"Uh, let’s just wait for him to figure it out on his own."

Newcomers, right?

That’s normal.

When everyone first got here, there were plenty of things they didn’t understand. Spare people under the knife, Brother, was pondering until a month ago what kind of cement they used in those houses in the Wasteland, and how they still hadn’t collapsed after two hundred years. Eventually, he just got used to it.

Anyway, there are still seven devices of the same pot machine here.

It’ll keep those two busy for a while.

...

Official forum:

[Announcement: Immortal Batch has joined the shelter, coming from the distant Ideal City on the East Coast. He aspires to be a great adventurer, but due to an infection by slime fungus, part of his body has mutated. Currently, he is assisting Dr. Yin Fang with some data processing for the science team.]

[Usually, Batch wears armor and roams around the shelter. If you see a Variant that can talk, please do not harm it.]

[Luka: Sunny Day has persisted for over a month now, and the snow on the ground has mostly melted. The busy farming days are drawing near.]

[Wrench: There’s Death Claw activity around Far Creek Town, and three residents unfortunately perished. The danger areas have been marked on the map—please exercise caution!]

[Patch Update: Seasonal system adjustment—the melting snow has raised air humidity. Please make sure to keep warm.]

Pick up trash 99 level: "I giao! I was wondering why I kept getting intermittently disconnected!"

Makabazi: "Hahaha! How embarrassing!"

Crow: "Wuu wuu wuu, is winter ending? Will we still get to see the snowmen piled up by Little Fish? (ó﹏ò｡)"

Elena: "Manager: If this winter doesn’t end soon, my granary will be overrun by rats. (facetious)"

Night Ten: "Crow! Have you arrived?"

Teng Teng: "Yes, we just got here tonight. Man, Giant Stone City is really far. It looks like it’s just 20 kilometers away on the map, but it actually took us two days to get here."

Tail: "And can you believe they close the city gates at eight sharp! We barely made it, arriving ten minutes before the deadline. (`-д-;)ゞ"

Sesame Paste: "That was really close, just made it by a hair’s breadth."

Si Si: "But I must say, the city gate area is bustling at night. Standing under the massive wall, you would never believe we’re in the Wasteland."

Tail: "It feels like a big city! ψ(｀∇´)ψ"

Teng Teng: "We plan to rest for tonight and continue exploring the city’s secrets tomorrow!"

Night Ten: "Hehe, as long as you’ve arrived safely."

Fang Chang: "(sideways glance)"

"..."

Two days had passed since the caravan departed.

Two tons of Spirit Leaf had been delivered to Giant Stone City, and Chu Guang found out from Shu Yu that List had paid him his entire 100,000 chips.

It seems that Spirit Leaf is indeed a hot commodity in Giant Stone City; almost as soon as it was delivered to the warehouse, buyers showed up with chips.

To facilitate the trade, Shu Yu had opened an account at the Giant Stone City Bank as instructed by Chu Guang, and the transaction of these 100,000 chips would be completed via bank transfer.

This would be much safer than keeping it in a safe.

Additionally, the owner of the Gray Squirrel Clothing Store recently approached again, hoping to order another batch of art pieces and suggested that it would be nice if the quality of those socks could be slightly lower.

"Lower quality?"

Over the phone, after hearing Shu Yu’s report, Chu Guang said curiously, "I’ve never heard such a strange request before."

Shu Yu: "I found it odd too... but he didn’t explain why; he just asked us to think of a way."

"Hmm, that’s actually not too hard to manage. The production of Devil Silk is limited, and we have been planning to develop some alternatives targeting the lower-tier market." After a pause, Chu Guang continued, "By the way, how is the recruitment going?"

Shu Yu: "As per your instructions, I have recruited twenty-three employees for both field and office duties. Their salary during the two-month probation period is 40 chips a month, and it increases to 100 chips a month once they are regularized."

The personnel expenses alone amount to 2300 chips, plus 800 for monthly rent, and a budget of 400 chips for miscellaneous expenses, which brings the office’s monthly expenses to 3500 chips.

That’s no small amount.

Converted into military armament, it could buy nearly thirty rifles.

We really need to find more ways to generate income.

"Are the resumes of the employees ready?"

Shu Yu: "They’ve been compiled!"

Chu Guang immediately responded.

"Send them over to me for review."

"Very well, sir!"

Having received the resume from Shu Yu, Chu Guang glanced over it briefly.

Strictly speaking, there’s no such thing as a resume in the Giant Stone City’s talent market. These resumes with photos were merely a simple record taken by Shu Yu during the interviews, as instructed by Chu Guang.

For instance, he asked about the applicant’s previous roles, any special skills they might possess, and after making these notes, he combined all the information gleaned to effectively screen out dishonest candidates.

Chu Guang was surprised to find that many of these applicants had worked in factories in Giant Stone City, and one resume particularly caught his eye.

"Once served as a workshop manager in the Giant Stone City Steel Factory... How credible is the information on these resumes?"

Such talent being utilized for internal tasks was indeed an underuse.

Even though the applicant was in his forties, Chu Guang didn’t see that as a problem.

Shu Yu cautiously said, "Well... there’s no way to verify, and the information on the resume can only serve as a reference. However, I feel his experience in management is quite substantial."

Chu Guang nodded, then continued,

"You can ask him for me to see if he’s interested in working at the ’North Suburb’ steel factory. We could offer triple his previous salary."

Shu Yu earnestly responded,

"I’ll ask him, but... from my observations, local residents are quite resistant to leaving the Giant Wall, apart from the highly mobile mercenaries and those who are extremely poor. Very few accept external work that might require leaving Giant Stone City."

"No worries, just ask. There’s no need to push too hard."

Chu Guang paused for a moment, then continued.

"Later, you could frequent the talent market in Giant Stone City more, whether you go yourself or send someone else, or maybe even set up a permanent booth there. Giant Stone City’s factories can’t absorb all the excess talents, we can help them with that."

In short, it’s about mining the corners whenever possible.

Not only talents, but also the second-hand equipment phased out, everything Giant Stone City can’t use, ’North Suburb’ can take them all.

This way, Giant Stone City shedding employment rates, optimizing the extremely imbalanced talent market, and eliminating excess industrial capacity.

Although it’s a slight loss for himself, Chu Guang thought it was not a big issue.

What defines the spirit of internationalism?

Of course, it is sacrificing oneself for the sake of others.

Realizing the manager’s intent, Shu Yu smiled knowingly and said,

"I understand, sir."

Chu Guang nodded approvingly.

"Good, as long as you understand me."

Though appearing young, this young man named Shu Yu was unexpectedly capable, saving him a lot of work.

After hanging up the phone, Chu Guang browsed the official website.

Today’s forum was as lively as ever.

Mole Squad and Edge Squad had reached Garbage City, encountering a Multilegged Beast den along the way, but fortunately, there was no real danger.

More than twenty Multilegged Beasts were killed; they took the only valuable parts—the gallbladders and skins—and continued on their journey.

There was also a minor incident.

Although the caravan guards all said Multilegged Beast meat was inedible, Old Na, out of curiosity, still grilled a leg to try.

It proved that things from the Wasteland really shouldn’t be eaten indiscriminately.

Even with a constitution near twenty points, she ended up vomiting against a tree trunk for half an hour...

Apart from the Mole and Edge squads, other players were also busy with their activities. Brother Springs was on an expedition team’s mission, gathering valuable data for Yin Fang, while Trash Lord was hunting in Far Creek Town, trying to break through to Level 10.

There were also life skill players who designed irrigation channels for Lihu. North Shore and a drainage system for Changjiu Farm.

Currently, the engineering team from Spare people under the knife was busy with intensive construction.

The most unexpected for Chu Guang was still the progress made by the one he had sent north, Difficult for the strong.

After dallying along, this Rat-man brother finally led his group of rat brethren successfully to West State City.

Although many rats fell behind on the road, it wasn’t a big deal for him.

Upon reaching the destination, Difficult for the strong quickly used his superior boxing skills and unscrupulous tricks to beat the local rats into searching the ground for their teeth, bowing down to him and crowning him as the Rat King of West State.

Having conquered a territory, Difficult for the strong did not stop there and quickly familiarized himself with the terrain around the southern suburbs of West State. He soon began establishing a secure foothold in the Southern Urban District of West State City with the radios, sleeping cabins, storage batteries, and a small generator he brought along.

After establishing contact with the signal tower of the sanctuary, the maps he explored along the way were also synchronized to the server via VM.

According to what Difficult for the strong described in his post, that place could only be described as "desolate" and "miserable."

The ruins were permeated with unfading foul odors, bodies were carelessly discarded on the streets or hung from overpasses and street lights, some with slogans insulting the Resistance strung around their necks, corners were filled with rats, cockroaches, and Hyenas.

The entire city was like Hell!

"...the Ya Clan from the Chewing Bone Tribe had already looted everything possible, leaving only a few survivors who organized a resistance, along with themselves."

"With those Looters’ style of not worrying about the next meal after they have eaten the previous one, I reckon they won’t last long, but perhaps the strategic minds among the Army did play a role, they began to drive some of the captives to farming, and I heard that as long as they could produce food, they wouldn’t be eaten. Those captives are literally working themselves to death in the fields."

"I really can’t bear to eat their crops, and the tuber potatoes buried in the ground don’t taste good at all. So I told my little brothers to hold back a bit, and we’ll feast on the grains once they enter the granary."

"Moreover, the whole city isn’t completely under the control of the Chewing Bone Tribe, although they’ve destroyed all the survivor bases on the surface, they haven’t conquered everyone, and there are still some who have survived."

"These people call themselves the Resistance, hiding in sewers and air-raid shelters, waging guerrilla warfare in the ruins, causing quite a bit of trouble for the Looters. Although the Ya Clan dispatched two thousand-team squads to hunt them down, the outcome was barely effective; the environment there is like a maze."

"The leader of the Ya Clan seems to plan on securing their foothold in West State City before continuing to expand southward. I’m trying to make contact with the local survivors; they’re few in number, poorly equipped, but have high morale. If we could give them a little help, perhaps they could help hold off the troubles to the north for us."

"Finding them is not too difficult. I now have more than a hundred little brothers; the only thing that troubles me now is... how do I convince them to trust a talking Rat-man? Damn it, why did it have to be a rat! I wish I were a cat!"

The post was a full three pages long.

Chu Guang read through the challenging post and summarized the information.

West State City, although fallen under the iron hooves of the Chewing Bone Tribe, hadn’t been completely conquered; there were still many survivors putting up a fierce resistance.

Because West State City had accumulated a large stockpile of looted spoils and slaves, the Ya Clan, planning to use West State City as a base for further southern expansion, couldn’t ignore these resistance organizations and had to divert a significant number of forces to deal with them.

It would be a protracted battle.

Before they could resolve their own troubles, they wouldn’t be able to spare all their forces to continue moving south.

Looking at the information he had compiled, Chu Guang finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Previously, the whole situation in West State City was a dark territory for him; nobody knew when the northern Looters might come again, and he could only predict it might be after the autumn harvest.

Based on the information from Difficult for the Strong, Chu Guang could now be fairly certain that the Chewing Bone Tribe from the north couldn’t spare any forces to deal with him for at least the next three months.

After organizing the information in the post, Chu Guang immediately edited two intelligence-gathering missions, setting the publisher as [Difficult for the Strong].

However, Chu Guang didn’t send the missions right away but set a timer to release them the next morning.

This would seem less deliberate.

"...Perhaps connecting with the local survivors and supporting their resistance movement would be a good idea."

Chu Guang thoughtfully stroked his chin.

South of Shelter No. 404 is Giant Stone City; the space to expand southwards is small, and with the complex situation in Clear Spring City, expansion could only be northward.

West State City was a good choice.

There were extensive reserves of both manpower and resources there.

Now the only problem was that the number of players was still too small; as strategic depth gradually increased, 1,100 players clearly weren’t enough.

"If only we could open up Floor B4!"

It was the planting season, and whether for gardening or brick-moving, people were needed.

Glancing at the time and seeing it was getting late, Chu Guang regretfully turned off the Computer, stood up, and went back to his room to sleep.

That night.

He had a very long dream.

In the dream were many faceless strangers, calling him father, father.

Annoyed by their calls, just as Chu Guang wanted to ask who their mother was, the dream suddenly ended.

As he opened his eyes, feeling the wet heat and stickiness on his back, Chu Guang immediately guessed what had happened.

No surprises.

He had leveled up again.

"...This is really sudden."

Muttering as he sat up from the bed, Chu Guang moved his limbs to adapt to his body after the enhancement.

He felt no change in strength, his thinking speed seemed the same as before, but his reaction speed appeared faster, and his vision slightly improved.

So was this enhancement for agility?

Just as Chu Guang was recalling what exactly he’d done the previous day, a pale blue floating window suddenly appeared in front of him after a long absence.

And the words in that floating window truly made him realize what a surprise really felt like.

[Mission: Tide!]

[Brief: According to air quality monitoring data, the concentration of active "Mutated slime fungus" spores in the air has reached a critical level, with a 97% probability of new lairs forming. This poses a severe test for the survivors of Clear Spring City.]

[Requirement: "The Tide" will arrive within two weeks, resist the invasion of "The Tide," search for and annihilate the lairs north of the Third Ring, and completely remove the crisis of the Tide!]

[Reward: Access to Floor B4 of Shelter No. 404]

[Support Available: "200 Sleeping Cabins" × 2]

After reading the mission from start to finish, Chu Guang stood there stunned.

What timing for trouble.

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