Chapter 24 From now on, you are the shelter's cook!

The newbie named "Mosquito" really had some decent carpentry skills.

Old White and Fang Chang had worked with steel bars as rulers for a long time and couldn't saw out a plank, but he, with just a handsaw, quickly put together a pile in no time.

Not only that, these planks even had slots on their edges, which easily fit together to form perfectly square hollow brick slots.

Soon, several brick molds were ready.

"You guys didn't process the wood properly—look, it's almost growing mushrooms." Mosquito wiped his sweat, leaned the saw on one side, and looked toward Fang Chang and Old White, asking, "Is this enough?"

"Enough, enough! Thanks, bro, you've been a huge help!" Old White wore a thrilled expression, patting Mosquito's shoulder.

Mosquito responded with a shy grin and a short laugh.

"Don't mention it! Just let me know if you need anything."

Old White chuckled heartily and slapped his shoulder.

"Sure! I'll remember that, won't be shy next time!"

Mosquito: "..."

With the molds ready, making mud bricks became much easier.

Old White and Fang Chang mixed the yellow clay collected from the riverbank with a little water, kneaded it into a sticky mud, and poured it into the molds, arranging them neatly on the ground. In the middle gaps, they added some charcoal, and smoothed ash over the surface of the mud bricks.

This was also a method Old White had learned from a wilderness survival video.

When the first layer of bricks was nearly dry, they changed the orientation, stacked a second layer, and continued like this, layer by layer, until the stack of bricks was taller than them.

When all was done, Old White cautiously lit the charcoal inside the stack, allowing the fire to start in the middle and gradually engulf the entire stack.

"Will this thing even work?"

Watching the smoking "mud stack," Fang Chang wiped the sweat from his forehead with his muddy arm, looking as if he had just crawled out of a manure pit.

Old White's appearance wasn't much better, covered in even more charcoal dust, resembling someone who had just emerged from a coal mine.

"Who knows, we'll just have to wait and see."

It was also his first time trying this, and as a child, he had only watched adults do it, unsure if this method would work.

They could only wait until tomorrow to see.

"Let's go, let it burn for now."

"Let's check out the cement kiln. I feel like we're getting really close to the final product. Let's use a bit more force with the blower this time—aim to make a bucket before logging off!"

Meanwhile, with the help of WC There are mosquitoes, Wild Wind and Night Ten had finally finished improving the Nth version of their fish trap.

They replaced the original tubular structure with a cage-like structure and substituted the frail wooden rods with solid steel bars, further reinforcing the main structure of the trap.

No matter what fish, if they enter, they're not escaping!

The three of them headed to the lakeside to give it another try.

It looked quite fun.

As for Chu Guang, he was still deeply contemplating the techniques of smoking meat.

Though still with little progress...

"Respected manager, may I ask what you're doing?"

Hearing a voice beside him, Chu Guang stood up from in front of the meat smoking rack, wiped the charcoal dust from his hands, and looked aside to see "Scrambled Eggs with Tomatoes," looking curiously at his smoking meat rack.

If he remembered correctly, this guy was apparently a chef who graduated from New Oriental?

Thinking this, Chu Guang's eyes suddenly lit up.

"I'm researching how to make smoked meat... You've come just at the right time, from now on, you're the chef for Outpost 404!"

Without giving the player a chance to speak, Chu Guang continued seriously.

"We are facing a dire situation, besides building the outpost's facilities on the surface, we must also store enough food for the subsequent arrival of a hundred comrades before winter arrives."

"I need your help!"

Scrambled Eggs looked bewildered.

Chef? Sure...

In real life, he was a chef, and just before logging on, he had cooked two dishes before handing over his spatula to a colleague. Little did he know he would fall back into his old profession in the game.

Was this like changing his career to a lifestyle player?

It took him a long time before he finally opened his mouth.

"What can I do for you?"

"Good question."

Chu Guang looked towards the smoked meat rack next to him.

"I've tried smoking meat, but the results weren't ideal. I need you to solve the food storage problem... I've read your file, the organization says you have experience with handling food, right?"

Fried Eggs was stunned.

"I know a bit, but the game is still a game—I mean, I'm not sure if my experience is applicable here."

Realizing he was in the Game world, Fried Eggs quickly changed his wording, but it seemed that the NPC didn't care, probably because the program was set to automatically ignore elements irrelevant to the game.

"No worries, I need professional advice," Chu Guang said as he glanced at the smoked meat rack, "Can you take a look and tell me what went wrong with the way I set up the smoked meat?"

Looking at the wooden rack in front of him, Fried Eggs fell silent.

Rather than something specific being wrong...

It was more like everything was a problem.

"This... First of all, shouldn't the meat be smoked in an enclosed environment? Your method seems like it would just char the outside to no use. And this herb sprinkled on the meat, is it?"

"A special kind of tobacco leaf."

"Tobacco leaf?!"

"Yes," Chu Guang nodded as he observed Fried Eggs' surprised face, "This is the Inland Area where salt is very expensive. Local survivors use this tobacco leaf, rich in aromatic compounds and tar, as a substitute for salt. They crush it and smear it on the food. The heat mixes the preservatives with the fats on the food surface, achieving a preserving effect."

Is that even possible?!

Fried Eggs was shocked.

Some aromatic compounds can indeed act as food preservatives, but it was his first time hearing about them being edible.

Maybe if not consumed excessively, it wouldn't be lethal?

But his instincts told him that this smoking technique was like fighting poison with poison...

"Actually, you can smoke meat without salt... it just won't taste as good. I'm not familiar with the method you mentioned, but from a health perspective, it doesn't seem quite right."

Fried Eggs spoke diplomatically since he had heard that NPCs had a favorability setting, and higher favorability could unlock hidden quests.

In reality, he would have eye-rolled.

"You can smoke meat without salt?!" Chu Guang was stunned.

"Yes... Microorganisms need moisture to survive. The essence of smoking meat is to dry out the moisture in the meat, achieving a dehydrating effect. Having salt helps improve the effect, prolongs the preservation, and enhances the flavor. But even without salt, it can still work if done properly."

"Of course, if the fat content is high, dehydration can be a bit tricky... it also depends on what kind of meat it is."

At this point, Fried Eggs paused for a moment, somewhat awkwardly glanced at the smoked meat rack beside him and whispered,

"But no matter what the situation, without sealing... it's definitely not going to work well."

If they could preserve food without using such bizarre tobacco leaves, it would definitely be good news for the Outpost.

However, Chu Guang still had some doubts.

Even if the survivors of Bet Street were ignorant, having survived in the Wasteland until now, they couldn't possibly be wrong about such survival skills, right?

What was actually wrong?

However, Chu Guang didn't want to ponder such complicated matters for now.

One reason was that he wasn't that free.

Secondly, if NPCs solved everything, what would the players be there for?

"Excellent, this glorious and arduous task is yours!"

He patted the newbie's shoulder earnestly.

Chu Guang solemnly entrusted the task of smoking the meat to "Scrambled Eggs with Tomatoes," reminded him again about safety issues, then walked away in high spirits.

Nice.

Another problem solved.

Now that the food issue was starting to get some direction, should he try to recruit more players to boost productivity?

Just relying on these few hands, they might not even finish repairing the sanatorium's enclosing wall by the end of the month.

While Chu Guang was thinking this, suddenly, not far away, a loud exuberant cheer was heard.

"Niubi!!!"

"Damn, finally made it!"