13: Chapter 13 Harvest

Above the depression, four players were bent over, huffing and puffing as they loaded their loot onto the bicycle.

"Put it down gently!" Ming Shen held a dust-covered circuit board with extreme care, as if he were cradling a rare treasure.

Just as the four were debating fiercely about how to pack more junk, Flash tied the mouth of the cloth bag and looked up, stunned.

"Huh? Holy crap, where did my Dad of Dawn go?"

Flash looked around. The NPC who had been standing there just a moment ago, holding a halberd and looking incredibly cool, had vanished into thin air!

Miracle Walker heaved the sack onto his shoulder and rolled his eyes, retorting:

"Are you stupid? The cutscene already played, and our main quest status must have updated. This is a masterpiece; of course the NPC would despawn or teleport back to the main city after the cutscene. Did you expect him to stay behind and help you carry the sack?"

"That's true. His stealth and despawn technique was incredibly smooth."

Flash nodded in agreement.

At this very moment, the 'smoothly despawning' Dad of Dawn they were talking about was on the wasteland a few kilometers outside the sewers, pedaling his deluxe bicycle with leather seats like a windmill, huffing and puffing as he rode for his life.

"Damn it... these unfilial brats packed way too fast!"

Lin Li faced the wild winds of the wasteland, dripping with sweat, his trench coat soaked through at the back.

"I am the supreme administrator of the Shelter; I absolutely cannot let them catch me riding a bicycle on the wasteland! It's too damn embarrassing!"

To maintain his perfect, cold, and aloof NPC persona, Lin Li pushed his physical limits to the extreme, managing to race back to the Shelter just in time.

By evening, the star of the wasteland began to withdraw its final rays of light.

"Clang!"

The heavy airtight doors of the Shelter opened slowly. The four players, exhausted like dead dogs, dragged their four bulging sacks and walked into the hall with unsteady steps.

In the center of the hall, Lin Li stood quietly, hands crossed on his halberd, like a majestic ancient god.

Only he knew that underneath his trench coat, his legs were twitching violently from the intense exercise and were still trembling slightly.

"Report, Administrator!"

Ming Shen was the first to step forward, standing at attention, and reported loudly and with extreme seriousness:

"Our exploration this time was extremely successful! We encountered a fierce battle with unknown mutated creatures on the outskirts of the ruins, but we successfully brought back food reserves suspected to be protein powder blocks, and scavenged a large amount of valuable loot from the old era!"

Having said that, the four of them worked together to turn the sacks upside down.

"Clatter—"

Accompanied by a harsh sound of metal clashing, a pile of miscellaneous scrap metal, electronic components, and dozens of dust-covered white blocks formed a small mountain in the center of the hall.

The STC-73 optical lens floating in mid-air flickered, and its flat, mechanical voice immediately revealed deep disdain:

"A group of unevolved, low-class scavengers. How dare you dump industrial trash contaminated with mutant bodily fluids and wasteland radiation onto the sacred floor of the Shelter? My cleaning module is issuing a severe overload warning."

The players were already used to the foul mouth of this sharp-tongued Men of Iron; not only were they not angry, but they felt this AI interaction was incredibly well-made.

Lin Li stepped forward, scanning the four with a serious gaze, and spoke slowly in his signature deep tone:

"Sparks, your courage and wisdom have conquered the horrors of the wilderness. Your achievements today will surely be carved onto the monument of humanity's rise!"

"For this, the Shelter will grant each of you a reward of 500 Core Points."

Lin Li paused, then threw out his real trump card: "Furthermore, you will receive a permanent limited title—[Pioneer]."

As soon as these words were out, the four players, who had been exhausted to the point of death, instantly had their eyes turn green, and they went wild on the spot!

"Holy crap!! A permanent limited title?!!"

Flash was so excited that he grabbed Walker by the neck and shook him frantically,

"Points are nothing! A limited title, brothers! It's out of print!"

"Hahahaha! When the newbies from the second and third beta tests come in, I'll put the [Pioneer] title on top of my head. Won't they be so envious they'll pee their pants on the spot? Awesome! It feels so damn good!"

Liver Emperor excitedly slapped his thigh.

To The Fourth Calamity, if you give them god-tier gear, they might get bored of it in a couple of days, but if you give them a server-exclusive, top-four limited title, they'd sell their lives to you!

Watching the players get completely bamboozled, Lin Li felt a secret sense of satisfaction and continued:

"Because you brought back extremely precious supplies, the Shelter has specially approved a reward of one high-energy protein block for each of you. I believe this glory of the old era will provide much support to your fragile bodies."

When the four players heard there was food, they almost drooled.

For the past few days in the game, they had been relying on lying in the incubation pods after logging off to absorb nutrient solution just to maintain their basic vital signs. Their mouths had long since gone bland.

As for the monsters they fought on the wasteland, they were all highly toxic and completely inedible.

Like starving wolves, the four snatched a palm-sized white protein block from the ground and ran excitedly toward the surface.

"Go, go, go! Let's go outside to eat; there's not even a fire in this Shelter!"

They rushed out of the airtight door and squatted in the dilapidated watchtower, staring at each other.

"This is awkward..."

Ming Shen felt his pockets. "It seems we didn't craft any pots or pans, and we can't start a fire to cook."

"Who cares? This is high-energy compressed rations; just eat it directly!"

Flash was the impatient type. He tore open the somewhat weathered polymer packaging film, opened his mouth wide, and took a huge bite out of the hard white block.

"Crunch."

After chewing twice, the look on Flash's face, which had been prepared for an extremely terrible taste, suddenly became extremely exaggerated.

"Holy crap... it's sweet! Can you guys believe it? This thing is actually sweet, and it has a faint milky scent!"

Hearing this, Walker and Ming Shen didn't care about their image anymore and each took a big bite.

"My god, the texture is like eating high-density compressed milk tablets! This game's taste system is incredible; they even tuned the flavor of this antique food so perfectly!"

Ming Shen was so moved he was almost in tears. For someone who had been hungry for days, a little bit of sweetness was simply a supreme gift.

Only Liver Emperor was a bit more particular.

He took out a broken canteen made from hammered scrap metal from his backpack, which was filled with water he'd drawn from the big pipe in the depression.

He broke the protein block into pieces, threw them in, and shook it vigorously until the water turned a thick, milky white.

Old Liver tilted his head back, gulped down half the canteen in one breath, and let out a satisfied burp.

"Mmm! The taste absolutely destroys those god-awful gym protein powders on Earth! Plus, the satiety is so strong; I feel my stamina bar is skyrocketing, and even my wound healing speed has increased!"

Watching the four players above eating without any issues, Lin Li, who was hiding in the underground control room, could finally hold back no longer.

He grabbed a large piece of protein powder block he had set aside earlier, paired it with that bottle of suspicious white liquid he had gotten from a lucky draw, and wolfed it down.

The rich energy slid down his esophagus into his stomach, and the hunger that had been tormenting him for so long finally receded like a tide.

"Phew..." Lin Li collapsed into his chair, let out a long sigh of relief, and felt as if he had come back to life.

As night was about to fall on the wasteland, the four satisfied players returned to their incubation pods one after another, disconnected, and logged off.

The Shelter hall returned to silence once again.

"73, get to work."

Lin Li walked to the small mountain of loot, wiped the milk stains from the corner of his mouth, and said, "Inventory what these locusts brought back."

STC-73's red lens floated over, and a fan-shaped blue beam instantly swept across the entire mountain of trash.

In less than a second, an extremely detailed list of supplies was projected onto Lin Li's retina.

"The list of valuable items is as follows, Creator:"

"1. Approximately 10KG of high-energy protein powder blocks.

Evaluation: Although it has been severely expired for over ten thousand years and some internal molecular bonds have broken, it can still be used as low-quality fuel for low-level carbon-based organisms."

"2. Golden Age Carbon Matter Purification Box.

Evaluation: A portable picnic device commonly used by the civilian class during the Golden Age. It can precisely filter and remove most harmful substances, radiation, and Warp toxin particles from carbon-based food and water sources. Warning: This purification process is extremely brutal; do not place living organisms inside, or they will be instantly decomposed into basic carbon atoms."

"3. 10ml Nano Repair Fluid.

Evaluation: A magical liquid capable of repairing damaged mechanical structures at the molecular level. This is one of the top civilian technological achievements of the Golden Age. Unfortunately, the quantity is too scarce, and it can only perform very small-scale local repairs."

"4. One hundred and fourteen electronic employee ID cards.

Evaluation: The only two identity markers of the mechanical laborers of the old era; they contain micro-energy storage arrays inside."

"5. As for the rest..." 73's red light flickered for a moment, "They are all pure trash with no recycling value."

Lin Li's eyes grew brighter as he listened, and finally, he burst into a joyful cheer, "Good heavens! This time, I've really struck gold!"

He pushed aside the pile of scrap metal, crouched down, and carefully unearthed a square, silver-white metal box about the size of a microwave.

"Carbon Material Purification Box! This thing is exactly what I need right now!" Lin Li rubbed his hands in excitement.

They couldn't move the large purification machine from the underground food factory for the time being, but with this portable purification box, the mutant beast meat they hunted in the wasteland would no longer be toxic trash!

This meant that the Shelter finally possessed the ability to convert wasteland creatures into safe rations, and the food crisis was solved!

"73, is this thing effective for water as well?" Lin Li asked with his eyes gleaming.

"Theoretically, it is entirely feasible, Creator." 73's emotionless electronic voice replied instantly, "Its filtration precision is extremely high. You could even try discharging your own urine into it; once the harmful waste and urea are extracted, you can drink the pure, sweet distilled water directly."

The smile on Lin Li's face instantly froze, "...Thanks a hell of a lot..."

Although this thing wasn't large and its one-time purification efficiency was likely low, in the current impoverished early stage of development, it was absolutely a god-tier item.

Subsequently, Lin Li's gaze turned to the special glass tube containing 10ml of nano-repair fluid.

When hearing 73's introduction about repairing machinery, the image of the half-ruined Matter Constructor in Workshop No. 3 immediately surfaced in Lin Li's mind.

If used well, these few drops of extremely precious liquid—even if they could only repair a small part of the Matter Constructor's core blade cluster or high-precision printing module—would be enough to cause a qualitative leap in the players' manual crafting capabilities.

He couldn't let them keep banging out shields from scrap metal forever!

After putting away the repair fluid, Lin Li finally picked up a dusty metal flake from the ground.

This was one of the so-called 114 employee ID cards.

The first impression upon holding it was that it was extremely thin and light; about eight centimeters long and five centimeters wide, with rounded edges, it felt like an ultra-thin mini smartphone that had been flattened.

"How do you use this thing?" Lin Li pressed the smooth surface, but there was no response.

"They have built-in high-efficiency solar conversion films; as long as they are exposed to starlight for a while, they can be fully charged," 73 replied.

Lin Li didn't care that it was already evening; he grabbed an ID card and ran along the elevator to the surface watchtower.

Only the last bit of afterglow remained from the wasteland's dark red sunset.

Lin Li placed the ID card on a stone, and in less than two minutes, the previously lifeless metal flake suddenly lit up with a faint, ghostly blue glow!

An extremely clear holographic screen appeared on the previously smooth surface, displaying only a line of cold, numbered characters: [CC-435].

Lin Li reached out and tapped the screen a few times, even trying to swipe, but the screen was like a frozen device, with no response at all.

He took the charged ID card and returned to the underground main control room.

"73, what does the code on this mean? Why isn't the touchscreen responding?"

STC-73, hovering in mid-air, stared at the ID card, and a rare, extremely faint pause appeared in its mechanical voice: "CC... is the fixed sequence code for the Golden Age industrial production-type Men of Iron, and 435 is its factory serial number."

After saying this, 73 fell completely silent.

In that flickering optical lens, Lin Li seemed to read a hint of mourning belonging to a silicon-based lifeform for its kin who had long turned to dust over the long passage of time.

Lin Li did not disturb the AI's sorrow; he directly threw out the plan he had been plotting for a long time: "Can you modify this ID card into an interactive terminal for players?"

Lin Li gestured with the metal piece in his hand: "I need it to have a UI interface similar to Earth's online games, including displaying the player's basic attributes, level, current tasks, and Shelter point balance. Oh right, it must unlock its touchscreen or holographic gesture interaction functions."

"This level of system overwriting is child's play." 73 instantly recovered its arrogant posture from the silence.

A blue beam of light suddenly enveloped the sack full of ID cards on the ground. Only a few seconds passed.

"114 terminals, underlying logic has been completely formatted and modified."

"The efficiency is too high!" Lin Li rubbed his hands in pleasant surprise and added, "One last step, can you link my administrator privilege terminal directly to this main control computer in Room 1? That way, even if I'm out in the wasteland, I can send them tasks and deduct points remotely at any time."

"Physical bridge established." 73 paused, "But please note, due to the highest security protocol, some core functions involving the Shelter's underlying energy scheduling can still only be operated on this physical main control machine."

As soon as the words fell, the [CC-435] screen in Lin Li's hand flashed suddenly. The original monotonous number disappeared, and in its place was a miniaturized holographic UI interface completely synchronized with the computer desktop in Room 1!

"Well done, 73!" Lin Li played with the metal piece in his hand, unable to put it down, a smile full of exploitative meaning curling at the corners of his mouth, "From today on, you shall be called [PV Device], Player View terminal! When this bunch of Calamities logs on tomorrow, I can finally open up the real game panel for them!"

...

Earth, early morning.

Miracle Walker was wearing a loose pair of pajamas and climbed out of his big bed, full of energy.

He stretched out in a big yawn, his bones cracking all over.

"The restorative effect of this deep sleep is simply amazing; I feel like I can take on a cow single-handedly right now!"

He habitually walked to the computer desk, picked up the cola he hadn't finished last night, turned on the computer skillfully, and prepared to start a round of "Stellaris" streaming before breakfast to clear out a star sector.

In the gap while waiting for the game to load, he picked up the phone on the table. As soon as he unlocked it, a QQ message notification box for a special contact popped up on the screen.

From the [I Also Want Happiness] core test group. The group admin, Immortal Lin, had posted an extremely eye-catching, bolded group announcement just one minute ago!

["warhammer 40,000 Online" Version Update: Wasteland Dawn: V0.12 Minor Update Log]

Miracle Walker quickly put down his cola, widened his eyes, and began to read carefully.

"To all the brave and death-defying core pioneers of the first test! Addressing the pain points reported by players during the first phase of testing, the development team has once again sacrificed the hair of our lead artist and developers to bring you the following major updates:

[Wasteland on the Tip of the Tongue]: The food system has undergone an epic update! We have added a series of real food interaction systems that almost completely comply with the laws of physics and chemistry. From today on, as long as you obtain purification equipment or safe ingredients, you can even experience the fun of real cooking in the game! (Stop complaining about only being able to eat raw protein rations!)

[Hardcore Manual Crafting Era]: Based on more realistic underlying physical rules, we have injected a massive amount of manufacturing recipes into the backend database. Now, workstations, including the [Primary Matter Constructor], can craft more outrageous and precise things. As long as your imagination is big enough, there are miracles everywhere in the wasteland.

[Epoch-making Interaction Update]: Officially opening player-exclusive game terminals! In the game, we have introduced a brand-new personal panel—the PV Device. It can provide every player with the most intuitive visualization of data such as basic attributes, main/side quests, level experience, life/radiation status, and more! Note: When all Sparks log into the game and obtain the PV Device, please be sure to find the auxiliary hub [STC-73] to perform dual iris and gene binding.

[Planner Immortal Lin's Survival Guide]: Tools determine the upper limit of human civilization and also determine how long you can survive in the wasteland. Go and utilize every resource you can, praise the Spark!"

After reading this update announcement, Miracle Walker's hand holding the phone was trembling slightly. "Cooking system... more blueprints... and the most critical personal terminal system!!"

He stood up abruptly from his computer desk, his eyes bursting with fanatical light. "This game... is going to be absolutely legendary!"