Chapter 27: Winter is coming

"Leaves turned yellow, temperature dropped, and an unprecedented crisis is approaching."

"This winter will be harsher than previous years and it will come earlier... We have very little time left for preparation."

"From now on, we must make use of every minute, every second! We need to prepare for the cold wave before the situation worsens completely!"

"Your task boards has been updated with a list of essential supplies, facilities to be completed, and corresponding rewards."

"Remember, only through unity can we overcome this challenge together!"

"Winter is coming."

"This is a test of fate for all of us!"

The resounding voice of encouragement echoed through the sanctuary's main hall.

Facing the enthusiastic gazes of the players, Light Chu delivered an impassioned speech and officially kicked off the first expansion of the game since the closed beta, "Winter is Coming."

With the opening of the new chapter, the atmosphere at the outpost of the Sanctuary 404 began to change, just like the official game website.

It wasn't just the gamers.

Even Light Chu himself could feel a sense of urgency in the gradually cooling air.

The reserves at the outpost base were never abundant to begin with, but the population had skyrocketed from 6 to 30, an increase of five times!

While the increased population brought more labor force, it also put tremendous pressure on the supply.

To feed the thirty mouths that were about to come, Light Chu had been worrying and working tirelessly for the past couple of days. He and Nighten, who possessed the Perception genetic sequence, went hunting outside every day to stock up on food.

For a while, the entire Wetland Park was thrown into chaos by the two of them.

However, the results were quite gratifying.

In just three days, Light Chu alone had killed over ten mutated hyenas, and they had caught countless wild hares and squirrels using traps.

Although they were all mutants, they were still edible.

In addition, Nighten, who was responsible for guarding and scouting, successfully leveled up from LV0 to LV1. Light Chu also had a faint feeling that he was approaching a breakthrough.

However, the Governor's genetic sequence was indeed too special.

Light Chu hadn't figured out the trick to leveling up yet and could only rely on the medical equipment to confirm that the development progress of the genetic sequence had indeed increased slightly.

On the other hand, other gamers' performances were equally remarkable, and their talents were on full display.

White and Tomorrow used charcoal as a reducing agent, using the method of calcination to recover a small amount of iron slag from rusty steel bars, car parts, and other iron-containing waste, which they then added to the cement kiln. They mixed the crushed limestone and clay and produced more reliable cement clinker.

It was a physically demanding task.

Whether it was manually operating the bellows or using a repaired two-wheeled cart to transport stones, it required a lot of effort.

But precisely because of this, White, who specialized in strength, leveled up again. His genetic sequence went from LV1 to LV2, and his strength attribute increased by one point.

As for Tomorrow, who worked in shifts with him, he finally broke through the barrier and leveled up from LV0 to LV1.

However, his increased attribute was not strength but agility.

It seemed that while the development of genetic sequences followed the rule of "use it or lose it," the growth of attributes was another matter.

Speaking of leveling up, perhaps the most unfortunate one was Hurricane.

Up until now, among the four gamers in the closed beta, he was probably the only one with a genetic sequence level of 0.

In these days, he caught quite a few fish using improved traps, but he was still a bit short of the "experience points" needed to reach LV1.

The "experience points" obtained from killing mutants through traps didn't seem to be as much as those obtained from direct combat.

Hurricane was also quite puzzled by this.

But unfortunately, so far, there didn't seem to be a good solution.

In addition to the four gamers who were the first to experience the game, the two newcomers who joined were equally enthusiastic. They had been busy every moment these past few days.

For example, Mosquito.

This guy doesn't seem eager to level up. He's still doing carpentry work, occasionally helping White and Tomorrow, or repairing Hurricane's damaged traps.

Apart from these tasks, he was busy with his own affairs.

According to his own words, it seemed that he planned to build a simple wooden house to serve as his chemical laboratory and storage room.

In the past few days, he picked up many bottles and cans while helping to transport stones from the construction site and placed them next to the small wooden house.

Although Light Chu had doubts about the safety of such a small wooden house, seeing how happy this guy was, he felt that it was better not to interfere too much with the gamers' choices.

Compared to the leisurely Mosquito, Tomato could be considered an epitome of hard work.

As the chef of the outpost base, he not only had to cook but also assist the governor in processing the hunted animals.

This included bleeding, skinning, deboning, cutting meat, and most importantly, smoking.

Since the outpost base didn't have enough salt to use for smoking meat, Tomato used the most primitive smoking method.

That is, not putting anything.

He directly hung the sliced meat on a steel rack and placed it in a kiln made of clay and bricks. He used charcoal to create smoke, slow-roasting the meat to remove moisture, and sealed the hole with pine branches and leaves.

The smoked meat made using this method was more like dried meat. Even without salt, it could be preserved for a period of time, without the need for fancy wrapping with smoking leaves on the surface.

By the beginning or middle of next month, winter would arrive.

By then, the dried meat could be wrapped in plastic bags or tree bark and buried directly in the snow. It should be fine to eat until the spring of next year.

However, in contrast, the taste and flavor of the smoked meat made using this method could only be described as unsatisfactory.

In addition to that, Tomato didn't waste the skins peeled off the mutated hyenas. He collected them and made leather.

In fact, tanning was a complex and tedious craft, much more troublesome than making dried meat.

However, what the base needed at the moment wasn't high-quality fur but just warm insulation material. There were no requirements for the quality.

Therefore, many unnecessary processes could be skipped.

When White was burning grass and wood ash, he saved the filtered potassium water in the collected plastic barrels.

Tomato used all of this potassium water as tanning liquid for tanning the raw skins peeled from the prey and washed clean.

When the skin and tanning agents combined fully, he would hang it on a makeshift tanning rack to dry. This way, he could obtain a piece of decent-quality leather.

"...Respected Governor, I must report that I'm really overwhelmed here. I really need assistance, even just one person would be good!"

Taking the freshly shot game from Light Chu's hands, Tomato unintentionally glanced at Nighten.

He had a feeling that this guy seemed free. Besides helping the Governor fetch the game, it seemed like he didn't do anything else.

Why not...

Give him a hand?

Nighten could see what this guy was thinking and quickly waved his hand.

"Don't look at me, I'm quite busy."

He was joking.

Where could he find such a good opportunity to gain experience by following an NPC to level up?

He didn't want to learn cooking with this guy!

Seeing Nighten's resistance, Tomato couldn't help but roll his eyes and muttered in his heart.

What are you busy with!

Seeing him complaining, Light Chu spoke to comfort.

"Nighten needs to help me search for games, and his perception of danger is crucial. So, I can't let him stay and help you. But I promise you that your problem will be resolved soon. Our reinforcements are already on their way, and they will arrive on the surface very soon."

"Alright, thanks... If that's the case, then it's really great."

Tomato sighed, paused for a moment, and continued.

"There's another thing. Although I tried tanning, I can only do some simple processing. As for how to turn them into clothes... I really can't do it."

Light Chu smiled and said.

"Don't worry about that. Among the reinforcements that are about to arrive, there is someone skilled in this area. I will assign the task of tanning and making warm clothing to that person."

Not just a tailor.

Among the 24 new closed-beta gamers he selected, there were talents from various professions.

Although they might not be experts in their fields and some were even students, within their capabilities, they could still be of some use.

Moreover, there was the internet as a tool.

Light Chu had full confidence in these vibrant and enthusiastic gamers. As long as they worked hard enough, they would eventually be able to move into bigger houses.

Steady as a rock!