Chapter 19: The Ambition of the Architecture Team Leader

"Wooooo, master, you finally came to find me."

The Wooooo at the beginning was the sound of rollers rolling over the concrete floor.

After returning to the surface, Chu Guang first went to the third floor of the sanatorium.

He had planned to find Xiao Qi to understand the situation, but before he reached the window, he saw the trash can pathetically leaning toward him.

Chu Guang looked at it, bewildered, not knowing what was wrong with it again.

"What's the matter with you?"

"Xiao Qi only has one bar of battery left."

Well.

He thought it was something serious.

Wait a minute...

Chu Guang, "Where am I supposed to find a place to charge you?"

Xiao Qi, "I have a wireless charging port on my body, just staying in the shelter for a bit will do!"

Chu Guang, "..."

No wonder he hadn't seen a single outlet in the shelter, and that computer on the desk without a host unit never seemed to run out of power—apparently, it was all high-tech.

Although wireless charging wasn't exactly cutting-edge technology.

Lifting up the trash can-shaped robot, Chu Guang headed downstairs.

Xiao Qi docilely retracted its rollers and suddenly spoke up.

"By the way, master."

"What now."

"I just remembered, the power system of the shelter seems to be supplied by a nuclear fusion reactor core."

"Nuclear fusion?"

"Yeah, so the electricity inside can last a very, very long time."

"Oh, that's a good thing, huh." Chu Guang was already figuring out how to steal some of that electricity.

Xiao Qi continued.

"Although, this might not be such a good thing."

His train of thought was interrupted by that statement, and Chu Guang, who was descending the staircase, stopped in his tracks.

"What do you mean?"

"Because it's already the year 2340 now, compared to the year the shelter was built, it's much, much later..."

What?!

Chu Guang quickly asked.

"What happens if the power runs out?"

However, Xiao Qi's reply almost made him spit out a mouthful of old blood.

"I don't know."

"Don't know??"

You're telling me you don't know the answer to such a critical issue!

Isn't there any emergency plan???

Xiao Qi said cautiously.

"According to the plan... this shelter was supposed to open a hundred years ago, but for some reason, it was delayed by an entire century."

Chu Guang, "..."

Seeing that Chu Guang didn't say anything, Xiao Qi continued to softly comfort him.

"Actually, you don't have to be too pessimistic, the power station of Shelter No. 404 should be on the third level of the shelter, just unlocking that level and replacing the fuel rods should be okay."

Chu Guang almost couldn't hold back from bursting out.

"Where the hell am I supposed to get nuclear fusion fuel rods!"

It's already the 211th year of the Wasteland Era,

Xiao Qi, "Err, there must be a way, right?"

Chu Guang, "..."

Anyway, it's not right to take out frustration on electronics.

That's just tasteless.

Chu Guang left Xiao Qi by the elevator and watched as the trash can robot rolled back.

He felt somewhat irritable.

But Chu Guang knew that getting anxious now was useless, problems had to be solved one by one.

In the short term, there shouldn't be a big problem with the power supply, even if the shelter's opening was delayed by a century, the past century had been work-free, it probably ran in energy-saving mode, and possibly the remaining power could last for several decades.

Compared to that, the upcoming harsh winter was more worrisome.

The time left for him to prepare was running out...

Leaving the sanatorium.

Chu Guang arrived in front of the cement kiln and found the players energetically working, already starting on the second cement kiln.

The charcoal piles next to it, too, were neatly set up in eight mounds.

This was skipping the agricultural era, leaping straight into industrialization!

Chu Guang was secretly thrilled.

All thanks to his skill in governing people and managing the village!

Watching the approaching Manager, Old White wiped the mud off his face, looking excitedly not at all like someone in his twenties or thirties. He stood up like a child and said.

"Manager, you're here!"

"Yes, I just went down there... Are these your ideas?" Chu Guang asked as he looked at the earth-made cement kiln behind him.

"It's everyone's contribution!"

"No need to be modest, I've seen everything and the organization will remember your contributions."

Old White was thrilled.

This was exactly what he had been waiting to hear!

Especially the last part.

"... Furthermore, on behalf of the organization, I will award each of you 1000 Contribution Points as a recognition for unlocking cement building materials. And from now on, you will be the Construction Leader at Outpost of Shelter No. 404."

"You will be able to freely express your creativity, within the planned scope, to design and construct our Outpost Base."

If only a system notification chime could sound right now.

That would definitely be cool.

Or, it would be nice if a reward notification window could pop up in the players' eyes.

But unfortunately, neither happened.

Still, even such verbal promises and praises made Old White glow with excitement.

Contribution!

Position!

And, favorability!

It seemed that the hidden systems in this game were more intricate than he'd initially thought!

"Respected Manager, I will definitely do my utmost to build our homeland!"

The other three players looked on enviously.

Although everyone got Contribution Points, it was clear that Old White, who scored the "Construction Leader" role, really hit the jackpot.

Having the freedom to construct facilities wasn't just about being a Construction Leader; he was essentially the planning director of Wasteland OL!

Awesome!

Watching the spirited Old White, Chu Guang nodded appreciatively and spoke,

"Well done, now I need you to tell me about your plans."

"Yes!"

Old White stood straight and began to report.

According to Old White, after logging off yesterday, he had visited a real-life cement plant, consulted the masters there, and learned that mixing iron filings into cement could yield a stronger, more durable product.

Since NPCs seem to automatically ignore out-of-game content discussions, seeing no response from the Manager, Old White proceeded directly to the main topic.

Considering the rusted steel scattered across the Wasteland, he had mixed collected rust with charcoal, using the latter as a reducing agent, to produce iron through calcination, and then calcined the iron slag with wood ash cement.

Although this process seemed to increase production costs, the cement produced this way could be used to make more durable, temperature-resistant kilns with greater output.

"Relying solely on these earth kilns to produce large amounts of cement is impossible, so I plan to invest the initial batch of cement into construction facilities to further increase production!"

Chu Guang nodded his approval.

"The idea is good, but... how much cement can we produce using just tree bark?"

Just now, Chu Guang had noticed that not only the pile of logs that had been chopped down, but also the trees near the sanatorium had almost all been stripped bare by the survivors.

Even the stumps had not been spared!

Old White had clearly anticipated this problem and confidently replied,

"That's exactly why we need more professional kilns... ones that can reach temperatures of 1450 degrees! With those, we can produce calcium carbonate cement by calcinating limestone and clay, completely replacing the wood ash materials!"

Wood ash cement containing potassium and sodium was not the ideal building material, merely a substitute when conditions dictated.

After being appointed Construction Leader, Old White suddenly harbored greater ambitions.

His vision no longer included just a wall or a sanatorium.

Instead, it encompassed the entire Wasteland.

He wanted to transform this world into the image he envisioned!

"You've considered everything very thoroughly, go ahead and implement your plan."

Chu Guang nodded and then turned to the other three players.

"We will soon have two newcomers finishing their rest and joining our expedition team. I plan to hold a small celebration to welcome them, so we need to bring back some game... we can't just offer them porridge."

After a pause, Chu Guang continued.

"Who wants to go hunting with me?"

As soon as the words fell, four hands shot up instantly.

Chu Guang was stunned.

Good grief, even his newly appointed Construction Leader had raised his hand!

"Cough, we don't need that many people... Night Ten, you come with me, you're the Perception type."

"At your command, Manager!"

Night Ten saluted excitedly, and with a proud stride, took his place next to the Manager while the three players watched enviously.

Chu Guang turned to the other three players and said seriously,

"Your task is also very crucial. Cement is critical for the development of the Outpost. We have enough wood for now, so we can put logging on hold, I need you all to focus on producing cement. Can this be done?"

Although they were disappointed not to join the Manager in hunting, the three players obediently followed his instructions.

"Mission guaranteed!"

Very well.

These are indeed the players I've appointed!

Chu Guang nodded in satisfaction, and with a delighted Night Ten, headed towards the forest south of the sanatorium...