Chapter 32: Talents engraved in bones

Construction site.

Dust filled the air, ceaseless sound of hammering, and the clanging of unloading echoed through the busy scene.

Gamers seemed to have inexhaustible strength and enthusiasm as they pushed wheelbarrows they had scavenged from the abandoned construction site, hauling stones one after another. They would then smash the stones with hammers in front of the cement kiln, and pour the broken pieces into the kiln to be calcined into coarse cement.

Gamers squatting nearby vigorously operated the bellows, trying to make the fire inside the kiln burn stronger. Not far away, the charcoal kiln was constantly operating, and further away, there were earth ovens for smoking meat and fish racks. The rising smoke and noise even scared away the birds perched on the trees.

They worked together to pour the fired cement into sand and water, mixing it into a sticky cement slurry. Soon, they completed the foundation of the first wall.

Traces of smoke intertwined in the air.

This place was like a newborn tribe, young and full of vitality.

The construction site was handed over to [Mercy_my_life], who from civil engineering. White and Tomorrow had already begun researching "primitive steelmaking."

On the other side, Hurricane had also improved the fish traps, using the mutated leech spawning as bait. They easily caught a dozen fish every day without any problems, and any leftovers were handed over to Tomato to make dried fish.

The aquatic resources in this lake were even more abundant than he had imagined.

The only thing to be careful about was not to put too much bait in the traps and not to set the water level too deep, as it would easily damage the traps when attracting large fish.

But these were minor issues.

As long as they grasped the tricks, everything would gradually become proficient, and the process itself was full of fun.

The new gamers felt the same way.

They didn't even need to actively search for it; everything here was so novel to them, something they could hardly experience in modern society.

Many people would spend the entire day sitting in an office, repeating work that anyone could do, losing themselves in trivial matters.

But it was different here.

This difference didn't just come from a temporary sense of novelty, but from a sense of self-value and fulfillment.

"CE dogs" who had worked on construction sites for five or six years without getting promoted to a management position would immediately be regarded as a big shot and entrusted with important tasks just by saying "I'm from civil engineering."

And the workers who mixed cement and plastered walls on the construction site.

Most gamers were ordinary people, and the work they did in reality might not be so eye-catching, but here, as long as they had a skill, even if it wasn't outstanding, they would receive collective affirmation.

And thanks to the efforts of each and every one of them, the surface outpost of the shelter was visibly improving at a rapid pace.

In Maslow's hierarchy of needs, this was the highest level of need. It transcended any base desires and brought a spiritual satisfaction that no other desire could match.

What was crucial was that obtaining it didn't require paying a great price. Even if their muscles were sore from exhaustion, it was only the characters in the game that were tired; it wouldn't affect their lives the next day.

On the contrary, because they went to bed early, they would be more energetic the next day.

All of these thoughts were blind guesses made by Light Chu as he returned to the outpost with his spoils and saw the gamers bustling with enthusiasm.

He certainly couldn't know what the gamers were thinking.

As a governor, such matters were simply unimportant and they didn't care.

As long as the number of scheduled gamers was always greater than the gamers on the list, there was no need to worry about a shortage of fresh recruits to sweat it out.

Quitting the game?

AFK?

In that case, please pass on the helmet and account to those in need and try a more primitive way of playing video games.

But let's get back on track.

The harvest from this outing was quite satisfactory.

Two 5mm steel pipe rifles, 62 rounds of 5mm ammunition, and three backpacks that hadn't been flipped open yet.

All of these were found on the unlucky guy who was killed by the two raiders and being chased.

Light Chu was not a person who liked to waste, including the mutant hyena dog that was shot in the neck; he kept everything.

Domesticating it didn't affect its taste. Anyway, to Light Chu, they were all mutants.

He tossed the mutant hyena to Tomato_scrambled_eggs, who served as the chef, and Light Chu began examining the backpacks he had picked up with the two gamers.

"Matches, compass, map, and... a few pieces of jerky? And some plastic chips? What's written on them?"

Upon hearing Nighten's murmur, Trash-kun, whose claws were not very nimble, also leaned in, showing great interest as he picked up one of the plastic chips and observed it closely.

"It looks a bit like casino chips."

"Give me the plastic chips, I can use them."

Light Chu calmly confiscated the twenty or so white "plastic chips." Anyway, these things were useless to the gamers.

Then, he looked at the jerky in Nighten's hand.

"...Forget about these jerky, I don't mind if you eat them."

Nighten, who was about to take a bite, paused.

"Why?"

Light Chu thought for a moment and used a euphemistic expression.

"Raiders usually aren't picky eaters. You can't determine what kind of meat this is."

Trash-kun hadn't reacted yet, but Nighten next to him had already thrown away the jerky and started retching.

Even in the game, he couldn't accept certain settings.

Seeing Nighten's reaction, Light Chu suddenly became curious about what these gamers were thinking, so he turned to Trash-kun and asked, "What does it feel like to kill someone?"

Trash-kun was taken aback and rubbed his head. "I didn't pay attention..."

What kind of feeling could there be in a game? He had played games that were much bloodier.

Instead, the blood effects in this game weren't exaggerated, to the point where he didn't pay much attention to them.

However...

When he rushed forward and thrust the javelin into the chest of the last raider, and blood splattered on him, he suddenly felt a craving for food.

Just like a biological instinct.

Light Chu looked at this "Lizardman" with some surprise. He didn't expect the gamer's mental resilience to be unexpectedly good.

Could it be that the dream diluted the feeling of death?

Or is there some kind of filter in the gamers' perspective of this world that he doesn't understand?

No idea.

After all, this device was not designed by Light Chu, and he had never used the gamers' helmets, so he had no idea if the world they saw through their eyes was exactly the same as his own.

It seems that in the future, he should talk more with the gamers in his role as a game planner...

...

By five o'clock in the afternoon, the walls north of the sanatorium had been mostly repaired.

It had to be said that these gamers were geniuses.

Light Chu even felt that he, as an NPC, was redundant.

Some talents were not listed on the attribute panel but were engraved in their bones. Just give them a piece of land, and by tomorrow, it would turn into a field.

Even if the server reset and the world were to be destroyed tomorrow, they could rebuild it brick by brick.

The treasures on the construction site were not just the grayish-blue stones; there were also cement blocks stacked like mountains in burlap bags.

These things were too heavy for the average survivor to carry and were of no use, so they still maintained the appearance they had at the beginning of the nuclear war.

Although the cement had already hardened and couldn't be mixed with sand to pour foundations, it was excellent to use directly as bricks for stacking walls.

At least, it was much better than the heap of yellow clay bricks made by White!

Led by [Mercy_my_life], gamers drove the sawed-off pine logs into the ground, stacked the cement blocks brought from the construction site in between, and secured them with stolen steel bars. Finally, they poured the mixed calcium carbonate cement.

When the cement dried, a simple but reliable concrete fortification was completed.

As for the inside of the wall, cement blocks and concrete debris were piled up to form a slope.

If they were attacked, gamers inside the wall only needed to crawl on the slope and could use it as cover to counterattack the intruders.

Considering that the size of the outpost would further expand in the future, an additional defensive structure could be built outside the fortress, along with guard posts and observation towers for surveillance.

"...The terrain around the wetland park is relatively flat, and the area around the sanatorium is a forest plain without steep slopes. I can cut down all the trees around here so that we can detect any approaching targets near the outpost at the earliest possible time!"

"That works, brother. What do you do in real life?" White looked at the newcomer beside him, surprised.

He had some impression of Mercy, but only a slight one. He vaguely remembered that this gamer joined the group a long time ago.

He didn't expect that there were so many big shots hiding in this small game group.

Mercy smiled shyly and said, embarrassed, "I'm just a civil engineer, an outsider in my company. I drink tea and read newspapers all day, and no one pays much attention to me."

"Not at all, your skills are impressive! Honestly, I never thought that we could finish an entire wall today."

"Thank you, thank you so much!"

It was already dusk, and the sky turned a dim yellow.

Tomato_scrambled_eggs, who was in charge of cooking, set up a large pot on the open space in front of the sanatorium and threw in the fish caught by the strong wind from the lake. He made a pot of pine nut fish soup.

Gamers sat on the ground, each with a bowl and a piece of smoked jerky. They ate the fish soup and meat together, creating a unique flavor.

Of course.

Not everyone could accept this taste.

For example, Vine_vine, who was sitting on the ground, held her nose and frowned, looking at the bowl in her hand.

"Um, it's so fishy..."

Whether in the game or in reality, she was sensitive to smells and couldn't accept this strong-flavored cooking method.

Tomato, not far away, heard it and rolled his eyes.

"It's not like I wanted to... We don't even have cooking wine here. I've done my best."

His expression was clear: eat it if you like it.

"Just eat it. If you don't eat in this game, you'll get hungry," Nighten consoled nearby. "Why don't you pinch your nose and swallow? I can help."

VV moved away slightly.

"No need."

Governor was also nearby, not far away.

However, he didn't eat with the gamers; he just stayed there for a while and then hurriedly left.

And when he returned again, many gamers nearby noticed that his face was pale, and he seemed to be in a bad mood.

They became restless.

Noticing the situation not far away, White became curious and put down his bowl, standing up from the ground.

He quickly walked over and grabbed Hurricane, who was relatively close, to inquire, "Brother, what happened?"

Hurricane's expression was solemn, and he said in a low voice, "I heard..."

"It seems that someone died."