Two hundred years ago.

In 2125 to be exact, a war broke out on this prosperous planet.

Both sides of the war are determined to destroy the other completely, and they use almost every means at their disposal.

The war lasted only three years.

But it only took three years to destroy everything on the surface.

The long nuclear winter almost extinguished the flame of civilization, and each side succeeded in sending the other to hell and also successfully burying itself.

Since then, the wasteland era has begun, which is even more depressed than the Great Depression.

Although two centuries have passed since that apocalyptic war, and the nuclear winter has largely ended more than a century ago, humanity has not returned to the top of the food chain.

The proliferation of nuclear, biological, and even genetic weapons has led to the evolution of the entire planet's ecosystem in an extreme direction.

And those mutants, known as "xenomorphs", are also the main threat faced by the survivors struggling in the ruins.

For example, when Chu Guang first came to this world, the wolf dog with two heads he encountered was one of them.

But even if it's a different species, there are strong and weak ones.

"Deformed children" caused by gamma rays, such as the two-headed hyena, are usually not very combative, and with a few lucky exceptions, the combat effectiveness is not even as good as before the mutation.

In contrast, the nibblers, creepers, and other xenomorphs caused by biological weapons and mutated to the point where their ancestors can no longer be traced back are the real monsters born for killing.

Their nervous systems are eroded by mutated fungi and often hide in delighted facilities such as ruins, sewers, or subways during the day, and only take to the streets to feed at nightfall.

The situation in the suburbs will be much better than in the city.

Especially in the suburbs.

In the past five months, the most dangerous xenomorph that Chu Guang has encountered is nothing more than a mutated brown bear. Although the guy is strong, he is relatively unresponsive.

Before being discovered by it, Chu Guang carefully avoided it.

The glimmer of the morning light shines through the broken concrete walls, along with the shadow of steel waste, and falls on the streets strewn with car wreckage and rubble.

It's eight o'clock in the morning.

There is a time difference of about 12 hours between the time here and the 8th time zone on the other side of the world.

Looking at the two mutant hyenas roaming the street, Chu Guang clenched the pointed water pipe in his hand and carefully walked around the back of the ruins.

Although he was confident that he would kill them both, there was no need to make a fuss.

Besides, these beasts are so clever that they even know how to use their own kind as bait, and no one knows how much is hidden in the shadows of the ruins next to them.

Follow the trail through the run-down neighborhoods.

When he saw the sign of the Children's Park on Bate Street, Chu Guang finally breathed a sigh of relief.

In front of it is "Bate Street", a relatively large survivor settlement in the nearby area, where more than 100 families of survivors live.

Before the outbreak of the war, it was a children's playground with plenty of play equipment and a wide lawn.

After the war, it was designated as a temporary shelter by the military, and it housed a large number of citizens who fled from the city of Cheongsen.

What happened to those refugees is unknown, but today, more than 200 years later, it has developed into a "small town".

Discarded plastic sheets, canopies, and wooden and metal brackets were mixed together to create improvised shacks on the bare mud floor.

It's like the kind in the "Diao Min Era".

The amusement park walls are natural barriers, which have also been crudely repaired with wire and nailed planks.

In the center of the amusement park is a five-storey classical castle with a fairytale feel. It's just that the paint on the surface has long since faded, and the wall facing the city center has collapsed in half, leaving only the north half and a crumbling lone tower.

Even if it's a fairy tale, it's definitely a dark fairy tale.

But even if the building is broken like this, it is still the "most luxurious" building on Bate Street.

At the same time, it is also the home of the mayor.

Although he had lived here for five months, Chu Guang had never met the mayor. The adult was mysterious and rarely showed his head.

"Yo, I'm back so early."

Looking at Chu Guang coming from the corner of the street, Old Walter who was hanging a dry cigarette squinted, and a trace of cloudy white smoke came out of his nostrils.

He held a double-barreled shotgun in his hand.

Although it looks like it's been some years, no one doubts its power.

Chu Guang had seen with his own eyes that the old man only fired two shots, and then put down a mutant brown bear that was rushing towards the gate of Bate Street.

Since then, he's been longing for one too.

"Stayed out there overnight."

"Outside?"

The old man glanced at the pointed water pipe behind Chu Guang's back, and his eyebrows raised a hint of surprise.

No one knows better than him how dangerous the night is.

Every time he was on the night shift, he didn't dare to move his index finger off the trigger, and the slightest movement would make his whole body tense up.

The outskirts are not as dangerous as the city, but there are too many marauders eyeing it.

If it falls into their hands, it will not end much better than dying at the hands of xenos.

Old Walter didn't believe that this guy had spent the night in the wasteland with just a steel pipe.

"Something happened."

Chu Guang didn't explain, only gave Old Walter a tired look for him to experience, and then walked straight through the gate of the settlement.

There is only one recycling station on Bate Street, and the location is easy to find, next to the main entrance of the settlement.

Under the roller shutter door, there is an old-fashioned electronic scale that can never be walked, and next to it stands the archway of "fair price, no bullying of children".

The shop is the property of the townsman, and is the only place on Bate Street where scrap parts and mutated mole skins are purchased.

In order to monopolize the business of picking up garbage, the dictator even arbitrarily enacted a law.

That is, no one is allowed to sell the prey and garbage they have caught to caravans passing through the area.

The reason is to ensure that the goods on Bate Street can be sold at a reasonable price, rather than being shamelessly squeezed by "cunning merchants" on price.

The reason why this kind of arrogant and unreasonable rules can be passed is also partly related to the ignorance of the survivors here.

And the average caravan would not risk offending the dictator by buying the meagre supplies from the scavengers.

They only do big deals.

And only deal with people you can trust.

"Sell? Or buy? ”

The shopkeeper was a fifty-year-old man named Charlie, who was said to have been a former resident of a shelter in the provinces, and was captured as a slave until the mayor bought him from a slave owner and gave him the job of dealing with the scavengers.

Most of its inhabitants are native-born "wastelanders", uneducated, and suck at math to the point where addition and subtraction under a hundred can be miscalculated.

But Charlie is different.

He came out of the shelter.

While none of the Vaults in this wasteland are the same, one thing is the same.

The people who were able to live there were all members of the elite of pre-war society, and their children not only inherited brilliant minds from their parents, but also received a good education from the Age of Enlightenment.

If it weren't for the fact that the world was terrible, he would probably have become an engineer, a doctor, or a scholar, like his father.

Instead of bookkeeping here.

"Sell."

No nonsense, Chu Guang took out 6 used batteries from his backpack and threw them on the tray of the electronic scale.

This was what he had scavenged through the wreckage of a nearby building before he discovered Vault 404.

Old Charlie picked up the waste battery on the table, casually checked the model and whether it was flatulent and damaged, and threw it on the scale next to him.

This thing must be scrapped, don't think about it, but it's still okay to recycle the materials inside.

"The quality is okay, the garbage in this area should be cleaned, where did you get good things?"

Can this also be called a good thing?

"Good luck."

"Hehe, I just asked casually. Well, the battery is good, but the quality of the adhesive is average, the seal has been opened, and the situation inside is estimated to be a mess, I can only give you a five-fold discount...... All add up to 3 chips. ”

Chu Guang didn't make a bargain either, and took 3 white chips from him.

This metallic plastic coin is the "currency" issued by Boulder City, the largest survivor colony in Qingquan City, and can be exchanged for food and supplies in most survivor settlements in Qingquan City.

The front of the chip is printed with the face value, and the back has a special security code and stamp, which will show a special luster when exposed to sunlight.

These chips are heat-resistant, easy to keep, and highly recognizable. In particular, the most important point is that it is basically impossible to imitate the technology of the post-war period.

Small and medium-sized survivor settlements like Bate Street, which have small populations and no industrial capacity, also mainly trade with caravans in Boulder City, exchanging produce, game, and collected garbage for necessary supplies and even weapons.

Naturally, this currency also circulated on Bate Street.

Of course, it is not easy to use at all times, and if the caravan does not come in a single month, the prices of the entire settlement will be chaotic.

The mayor had not tried to introduce Bate Street's own currency, a kind of book-entry ticket, but no one had acknowledged it.

Even the survivors of Bate Street know that that the scrap of paper is no different from scrap paper, even wiping the butt.

"Want to buy something? A new batch of goods from Boulder City has just arrived in the store. ”

Chu Guang, who was about to leave, stopped and turned around and asked.

"Do you have a gun?"

"Not really, you can't afford it."

Old Charlie grinned, looked at Chu Guang who turned around and was about to leave, and continued.

"But there is some food and fuel. If I were you, I would definitely buy more before the price increases. ”

Guns and such things as guns, even the cheapest ones, are hard to come by in places like Bate Street.

Because even if there were occasional caravans selling arms passing by, the weapons would usually go to the mayor's own warehouse, and would not be on the shelves at all.

Besides, as old Charlie said, even if there was such a thing, it would be impossible for them scavengers to afford it.

Chu Guang knew very well why he said that.

As a well-educated Vault resident, Charlie must not fail to see that all the survivors living on Bate Street, whether scavengers or hunters, have been exploited by the mayor's family for their surplus value.

Even though the mayor never reached out and took even a chip directly from their pocket.

"Food and fuel prices are going to rise?"

Looking at Chu Guang, who had surprise written on his face, Charlie smiled faintly and said.

"Haven't you noticed, it's been cooling down lately, and the xenos outside are starting to be active."

Chu Guang frowned and thought for a moment, then suddenly thought of something and spoke.

"Winter is coming?"

"I remember you only came here five months ago, and you probably haven't experienced it, but it's about the time of year when it starts to cool down. This year...... Winter is expected to come earlier, and it may snow in October. ”

Speaking of this, Charlie paused for a moment and said meaningfully.

"It's going to be winter."

"Whether it's a human or a different species, you have to prepare in advance."

When he first came to Bate Street, Chu Guang was wearing a blue coat, and Charlie subconsciously regarded him as a person in the shelter, so he took care of him.

Although this kind of care has never been reflected in the transaction price, in terms of experience, this old man did help Chu Guang a little.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have adapted to life in the wasteland so quickly.

Chu Guang nodded seriously.

"I see, thanks."

"You're welcome," Charlie smiled faintly, "don't die." ”

It was already the beginning of September, and if it was really going to snow in October, there was only a little more than a month left for Chu Guang to prepare.

For the survivors living in this area, snow is definitely not a cause for joy. This means that in addition to food, there is also an additional cost of fuel.

The vast majority of people here make a living by picking up trash and hunting, and the nearby farms only need people during busy periods.

In winter, the difficulty of picking up trash increases exponentially, and no one can predict whether there are waste-ready parts buried in the snow or the fangs of mutant rats.

Animals such as wild deer and rabbits, which can provide meat, will also reduce their activity time, or even hide in their dens for the winter.

The worst thing is that once it is winter, the caravan will not come here. Even if you pick up good things, you can only pile them up at home and sell them until the beginning of spring next year.

Or, venture to Boulder City, ten kilometers away.

It is the largest survivor colony in this area of Kiyosen, and the market there is not closed even in winter.

However, its location is on the edge of the third ring road of Qingquan City, next to the northern district of Qingquan City, and there are countless dangers hidden along the way.

Ordinary people want to walk on two legs, and it is still in the winter when the minimum temperature can reach minus 10 degrees, which is tantamount to suicide!

……

After leaving the recycling bin, Chu Guang first went back to his residence.

In fact, it is not so much a shelter as a shack that can barely keep out the rain, and it doesn't even have a decent window or door.

Until yesterday, he was still thinking of saving some cement, PVC board and other materials to seal the leaky wall before winter came.

But now it seems that there is no longer a need for this.

A rusty aluminum box was found out of the moldy sleeping bag, and Chu Guang struggled to break it open, dumping the plastic coins hidden inside onto the lame wooden table.

There are 47 white chips with a value of 1 point.

Counting the 3 pieces on your body, it adds up to exactly 50 points!

This money was all saved by him frugally, in order to one day leave this ghost place and move to Boulder City with better conditions.

But now......

He already has a new plan for this "property".

If you can stand on your own, why send someone under the fence?

"The ruins of the sanatorium above the shelter can be utilized, as well as the walls around the building, all of which are concrete...... If there are players who can summon them, collect some materials nearby, and it shouldn't be too difficult to repair. ”

"The sanatorium is near a wetland park, so it's not easy to collect metal scrap, but the surrounding vegetation is still lush, so there should be no shortage of fuel for heating, and wood can be used to repair buildings and make furniture...... Hatchet! Yes, I had to buy four axes. ”

Fighting monsters and leveling up?

Inexistent!

It's said that it's a 100% real hardcore game, and since it's a hardcore game, you naturally have to start with the most basic work!

"Tools like shovels and saws are also indispensable!" Before the players had logged in, Chu Guang had already figured out how to arrange them.

Of course, in addition to the tools for work, there are also the most critical rations.

Once activated, the pod consumes the active material pre-stored in the pod to craft a clone for the player's use.

And these clones all need to eat!

While clones can lie in the pod and hibernate at a lower metabolic level when the player is not online, it is not always possible to lie down all the time.

It is an eternal truth that people live to eat!

"You have to store at least enough food for five adults for a week...... If you count it as two meals a day, you will get 70 wheat cakes for each meal. ”

Wheat crackers are the most common food on Bate Street, and you can exchange two chips for 1 chip.

It's usually the size of a palm, and it's hard and rough when you bite into it, like dirt mixed with sand, but it fills your stomach and adds a little salt.

Throw it in the pot and boil, and you can make a paste.

70 pieces of cake, if you buy it, you get 35 chips, even if you bargain, 30 chips are indispensable. In this way, your own budget will not be enough,

Chu Guang's brows furrowed, but he quickly stretched out again.

Just now he complicated the problem.

There's no need to make those players eat too well.

If you swap out the wheat cake for the raw material for making the wheat cake, which is the green wheat produced on a nearby farm, you can buy a full kilogram with just 3 chips!

Hoard 5 kilograms, enough for him to eat alone for two weeks!

As for the rest, I'll figure it out when the time comes.

"Let's just prepare these things for now......"

Sweeping the allocated chips into the backpack, Chu Guang put the backpack back on his back.

Although he didn't sleep all night, he was now in high spirits, as if he had rediscovered the meaning of life, and he didn't feel sleepy at all.

When he pushed open the door and came outside, he saw the little girl in the neighborhood cat at the door of the shack next door, looking at him curiously.

Chu Guang recognized her name, her name was Yu Xiaoyu, and she was the youngest daughter of the Yu family.

Most of the survivors in the wasteland have yellow faces and thin muscles, and the youngest daughter of the Yu family is naturally no exception, with small arms and legs like reeds and sticks, it is hard to imagine that she is already the age to marry.

Seeing that Chu Guang noticed herself, she was not shy and walked out of the house.

"I heard movement in your house, so I'll take a look."

Every morning, the men of Bate Street would go out to scavenge or hunt, while the old and weak women and children would generally stay at home to look after the house, or do some lucrative work.

Although everyone is poor and white, they can't save money after eating, and there is nothing to steal at home, but no one wants to go out by themselves, and someone comes to their home to take advantage of it.

This man, Chu Guang, came from outside, usually goes out early and returns late, and rarely communicates with the neighbors in the settlement.

She didn't know much about him, she just thought he didn't look like he could endure hardship.

At first, everyone was wary of him, and her mother also asked her to keep an eye on this stranger from outside.

However, Xiao Yu didn't think he was like a bad person, because once he stewed soup at the door and shared a bowl with her.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, I can help you look after your house when you go out." She blinked and added happily, "It's idle anyway." ”

Poor child.

If she was in that world, she would still be studying at her current age.

Not wanting to be offended, Chu Guang hid a trace of pity in his eyes, and took out a lollipop from his pocket expressionlessly and stuffed it into the little girl's hand.

"Take it and eat it."

"Don't tell anyone I gave it."

"Otherwise, it will be gone."

I've never seen this kind of food before.

Yu Xiaoyu first took a bite of the wrapping paper and found that he couldn't bite it, so he realized that the packaging outside was going to be torn open.

Her big black eyes stared at the red fruit ball stuck in the plastic stick, and she carefully stuck out her tongue and licked it gently.

This, what does this smell like?!

It's so sweet!

With little stars twinkling in her eyes, she looked up happily and wanted to say thank you.

However, the person who gave her candy to eat has already gone away.