Nine o'clock in the morning.

The caravan departed on time.

Black smoke erupted from the steep exhaust pipes, and ten tracked trucks loaded with munitions set off in unison toward the eastern wasteland.

According to the plan, after leaving the long farm, the caravan will travel east along the interprovincial highway, past the abandoned highway town and the battery factory, change to the southeast, draw a V-shaped line on the map, bypass the area controlled by the Chewing Bone Tribe, reach the area around the garbage city, and then head north to Honghe Town.

Since the truck was full of goods, people could only walk next to the truck.

But it's not that different.

Even if there was a seat in the car, no one wanted to sit at all.

After getting off the interprovincial highway, and then going east, you can't find a complete section of the road at all, even if the off-road performance of the track is good, you can't stand the road itself is seven up and down.

In addition, the trucks were full of munitions, and the drivers didn't dare to drive too much, and they all climbed on the ground in low gear.

Even if, under normal circumstances, these shells are safe, who can guarantee that every bump is a normal condition?

If you don't want to go wrong, you can only be 10,000 careful.

In addition to the bumps on the road, the biggest threat is the birds, beasts, insects and snakes lurking in the forests and mud pools.

Whether it's a burly youkai or a multi-legged beast that scurries close to the ground, they pose a real threat to caravan guards, mainly with light weapons.

In addition to these "dangerous species", there are also mosquitoes with large basins and arms, which seem to have little combat power, and they should not be taken lightly.

Some red-headed, green-headed flies have even evolved the ability to attack from a distance, capable of spraying white eggs the size of their thumbs. This kind of eggs usually carry a large number of germs, although the direct damage is not high, but if it happens to hit the wound, the wound will be inflamed, and the wound will be maggots, and it is easy to lose a small life if it is not treated in time.

Only God knows how many dangers lie in this wasteland.

“…… Beyond the snow in front of us, there is a deserted wilderness," the mole picked up his binoculars and glanced southeast as he walked beside the convoy, "It used to be a small town, but the houses there were mostly reduced to concrete slag, and only a half-collapsed opera house remained...... We had encountered a deathclaw there before, and there were bones on the ground that I don't know if it was a marauder or a mercenary. ”

The snow is almost melting, and only a thin layer of ground remains.

Many places have simply turned into puddles, and a few pinches of emerald green shoots have been drilled out of the mud.

Life on this planet is far more tenacious than people think.

"Will we meet?" The Elf King Fugui said eagerly.

"How could it be, we're going to deliver goods, not hunting," the mole put down his binoculars, "we'll get around there in a moment, unless the beast comes to you, but it's very unlikely." ”

The IQ of Deathclaw is still much stronger than that of youkai, and its intuition of danger is far stronger than that of ordinary xenos.

Unless it is intruding into its territory, Deathclaw will rarely pick a large group of people as opponents.

There is a high probability that the two sides will be fine.

Within a radius of one kilometer around the Deathclaw's lair, there is a high probability that you will not encounter particularly dangerous carnivorous xenomorphs.

Hearing that it would not be encountered, several players in the vicinity showed regretful expressions on their faces.

Irena: "Speaking of which, I haven't eaten deathclaw's flesh yet...... Of course, it's not that I want to eat it, but I'm a little curious about what it tastes like. ”

The debtor big eyes smiled: "The wasteland gourmand stone hammer is worthy of Lao Na!" ”

Irena: ". ”

Debt looked down at the sky, looked at the clouds in the sky, and sighed.

"A hundred kilometers...... It's going to take a long time. ”

Isn't there a portal or anything like that?

Or you can rush with one click.

Mole opened the VM and glanced at the map, pondered for a while, and said.

"If you don't have to take a detour, it may take two or three days to arrive, and it is estimated that it will take five or six days to go around this circle."

The construction site boy protested with bricks: "Why don't we just kill it?" I think it's totally possible! ”

Debt-Eyed: "+1, it's just a group of defeated men." ”

Glancing at the two of them with inflated confidence, the edge paddling couldn't help but complain.

"Okay, we're going to deliver the goods, not the heads."

On the opposite side, there is not only one thousand-person team, but a whole three, and the total number of people is probably five or six thousand. Even if five or six thousand chickens stood in a row, they would have to be killed for a while, not to mention five or six thousand bandits with guns.

These marauders have come all the way from the middle of the River Valley Province, and they may not have awakened ten captains, let alone the commander of the legion, if these people do not show their flaws, it may still be difficult for the survivors of Red River Town to defend their territory.

A flash of excitement flashed in the edge paddling eye.

A close fight?

Not bad.

It's on fire!

The debtor big eye and the construction site boy and the brick glanced at each other, and the expression on his face suddenly became a little subtle.

"Are you panicking?"

"I didn't panic, but now it's a little."

"Anyway, if we die...... Isn't this road in vain? ”

"! Is it too late to change teams? ”

"Or ...... You go and ask the moles, do they still want people? ”

Edge paddling: "??? ”

……

It was just after noon.

The caravan bound for Red River had departed less than four hours before the caravan returning from Boulder City followed closely behind at the south gate of the outpost.

I happened to come back from a mission, and when I looked at the bandaged Wind and Night Ten, I had a surprised expression on my face when I quit smoking.

"I'll go, why are you two hanging the lottery?"

Lao Bai smiled and said, "When I came back, I was targeted by marauders, about twenty people, but it wasn't a big problem." ”

Although Lao Bai said that it was not a big problem, looking at the expressions on the faces of several other NPCs in the caravan, it was obviously not as easy as he said.

The team leader, named Qian Lai, still has a palpitating expression on his face.

And the guard next to him hung another color, quit smoking and remember that before leaving, he had a bandage on his arm, and now the other arm is also wrapped.

Quit smoking's face was full of weirdness: "Damn, those marauders can still ambush you?" ”

Fang Chang said.

"It's not an ambush either, we spotted them a long time ago, and they obviously knew that they were following us all the way. We can't go fast with the goods, we can't get rid of them, they may not be able to grasp our strength, and they don't dare to get too close, so they haven't made a move, so they follow behind to find opportunities. ”

"When we got to the edge of the Fourth Ring Road, we probably felt that if we didn't make a move, we would have no chance, so we finally couldn't hold back and moved, and then we fought in the alley."

Quit smoking excitedly.

"Exciting! How many did you kill? ”

"Halfway, they'll run away halfway through," Lao Bai smiled and raised his chin and pointed to the back of the group, "Well, I caught two more." ”

Next to a two-headed cow, two dejected-looking men dressed in animal skins were chained and hung on the two-headed cow's body.

On another cow not far away, there was the equipment that had been seized from it, and in addition to a few iron tube rifles that were not used by the budding ones, there were actually two assault rifles and a grenade launcher inside.

Two caravan guards watched from the sidelines, monitoring their movements.

Ye Shi, who had a bandage on his shoulder, scolded and said.

"MMP, I suspect that there are marauders in the slums! As soon as I went out, the feeling came! ”

Tempest said calmly.

"There is no doubt that if I were a slum man and watched a group of fat merchants pass by every day, I would definitely find a way to get some oil and water from them."

Unlike Ye Shi, he was shot in the thigh, but the other party used a steel core bullet and passed directly through his leg, which was not a big problem.

Regarding the two teammates' statements, Fang Chang nodded in agreement.

"Indeed, those marauders probably came out of the slums, and I would venture to guess that they were already eyeing us when we entered."

Where did all the marauders in Clear Springs come from?

It can't be a crack in a stone.

As the largest surviving colony in the southern part of the entire River Valley Province, Boulder City absorbs people from across the province and neighboring provinces.

It is impossible for so many people to flock into the city, and there are not so many places in the city for so many people, let alone so many jobs.

The vast majority of people can only build a shed outside the city and do some work that the city people do not want to do, and over time slums are formed.

The sprawling slums are a breeding ground for chaos and crime, and are not only rich in mercenaries, cannon fodder and scavengers, but also rich in marauders.

I've heard of gangs in the slums, and even businesses that help looters sell stolen goods, and the black market there always buys things that aren't common in the city. Helping to keep an eye on some fat sheep who look like bullies is naturally not a problem for those people.

Why doesn't Boulder care?

This question is asked with a big picture of the situation, but it is somewhat uncannibalistic.

From the standpoint of Boulder City, you can also ask rhetorically-

Why bother?

"Anyway, it's finally safe," Lao Bai looked at Ye Shi, "You and Hurricane should take refuge in the shelter first, his injury is fine, and you still have to go to the infirmary for a minor operation." ”

The cultivation cabin has the effect of accelerating recovery, and generally small wounds with small wounds, even if they are intellectual, will heal after lying down for a few hours, which is exactly the time to save a file.

As for some non-disabling serious injuries, they usually only take a day or two. If it's more than three days, most players will choose to save a file first and then make up for it themselves.

A single shot is nothing, just take the bullet out.

At the beginning, Lao Bai planned to use alcohol to help Ye Shi detoxify, learn from those NPCs, and help him take out the bullets.

But helplessly, the position of this bullet happened to be stuck in the subscapular joint.

Lao Bai took the tweezers and pulled it, but he didn't get it down, and he didn't dare to push too hard, turning a small problem into a big problem, so he wrapped it around him with a bandage.

It's the NPCs who don't know it, who are made a fuss by the behavior of the two.

But it's no wonder.

One was there with tweezers and tumbling over the wound, and one was impatiently urging there, the key being that the anesthetic had not yet been used.

Such a ruthless behavior, even if it is placed on the awakened, is somewhat outrageous. Until now, several caravan guards looked at the two of them with some admiration.

Night Ten nodded.

"Okay, what about you and Fang Chang?"

Lao Bai said with a smile.

"We've got to get what everybody ordered, and we've got to go to the storekeeper for a task later."

Thanks to the fact that Fuji Teng's products were sold well in Boulder City, they didn't make a trip in vain this time, and they made a lot of money.

After some discussion, instead of exchanging the 2,000 chips they earned for an exoskeleton, they bought a second-hand hydraulic crusher at the auction house.

This thing can be used to process coarse cement and can also be used to crush concrete block waste. If you order at the factory, you will need at least 5,000 chips, and if you can buy it with 2,000 chips, you can be considered a leak.

It is a magnetic confinement plasma cutting machine tool that can produce some precision instruments, but the inert gas and fusion battery used as the cutting working fluid are not cheap after all, and some heavy equipment outposts are still very scarce.

Swapping chips for merchandise and shipping them back to sell to other players is a one-shot deal, and at most you will make a difference, but if you buy production equipment and ship it back, it will be a steady stream of income!

With the demand for building materials in the outpost skyrocketing, it's easy to see what the answer is.

As soon as the Niuma team put together, they immediately decided to add a new cement production line on the basis of the original brick production line, and at the same time produce recycled cement bricks made from concrete waste.

I heard that the cement factory in Boulder City uses concrete residue that can be found everywhere in the wasteland. As for the technology of reusing construction waste, they have already studied it perfectly.

The next time he goes to Boulder City, Lao Bai plans to look in the talent market to see if he can pick up a leak and hire a talent who understands cement aggregate recycling technology to come back.

It is said that now the office can entrust recruitment, and you can apply for it from Lucca or the warehouse manager, and the salary can be settled in silver coins, which is very convenient.

In addition to what they bought, there were about 2,000 chips from other players, some of which had been exchanged for something, and some of which had been left over.

For example, the one that belongs to the rich woman vine.

This includes a 220-kilogram sewing machine with its own electrical box and intelligent components, as well as 21 chips.

"Deliver to the vine hut?" Ye Shi's eyes lit up, and he smiled, "Take me one, and I'll help too." ”

"You do a hammer," Tempest rolled his eyes, "and see how swollen your arms are." ”

Night Ten: "Gan! It doesn't matter in the game, it doesn't hurt anyway! ”

While he was talking, Fujito had already arrived at the south gate.

Seeing the caravan parked next to the unloading point, she stepped forward and was about to ask if the goods she ordered had arrived, when she saw the bandages wrapped around the wind and Yashi, and couldn't help but whisper.

"Are you all right?"

Before the wind could speak, the night ten next to him called out.

"Woo woo, it's not good at all, I was shot in the shoulder and it hurt me to death."

Fujito: "Huh?! Well, hurry up to the infirmary......"

"Okay, you're not pretending," Lao Bai rolled his eyes at Ye Shi, looked at the overwhelmed vine, took out 21 chips from his pocket and handed them over, "Your things are carried on the back of a double-headed ox, more than 200 kilograms, you can't move it, we'll send it to you later." ”

"Thank you! Great help! ”

Fujito nodded gratefully, but he was embarrassed to take the chips, glanced at the wind and night ten next to him, and whispered.

"I don't want the rest of the chips...... Think of it as medical expenses. ”

"Take it."

Lao Bai stuffed it into her hand without saying anything, and said with a hearty smile.

"Don't listen to those two guys, this game doesn't hurt at all. And it's us who should say thank you, if it weren't for your artwork, we wouldn't have been able to afford the big guy in the back. ”

"But ......"

"We've already received the agreed payment, it's as much as it should be," Lao Bai shook his head and said, "We don't want to do such immoral things as charging extra fees." ”

Hearing him say this, Fuji Teng no longer insisted, whispered a thank you, and silently accepted the 21 chips.

However......

All the forcing was left to Lao Bai to pretend to be alone, and Ye Shi was suddenly unhappy.

"Gan! What does it mean to not hurt at all! It's also a little bit of a feeling, okay?! ”

Tempest answered with a blank expression.

"I have objections, only Night Ten is there pretending to be in pain, I didn't call."

Lao Bai smiled awkwardly and scratched the back of his head.

"Uh, this...... I didn't pay much attention to it, mainly because Ye Shi's acting skills were too exaggerated, and I was too upright to watch him bully a little girl. ”

Night Ten: "Fuck off! I think you're just trying to pretend to be a force! Bah! ”

Tempest: "+1"

Lao Bai: "??? ”

Secretly looking at the noisy three people, Fujito's cheeks were slightly hot.

I always feel ......

They have a very good relationship.

It's been knocked on!

Not noticing the unnatural expression on Fuji Teng's face, Fang Chang couldn't help but ask strangely when he saw her change into a light leather armor.

"Are you going to go out?"

Hearing the voice next to him, Fujito, who made an "ah" sound, came back to his senses from his brain, nodded with a red face, and said shyly.

"Well, I'm going to go to Boulder City!"

"Mission?"

"Sort of, but it's mainly for the purpose of examining the market!" Speaking of this, Fuji Fuji's eyes lit up, and he continued excitedly, "The cultural characteristics and dressing style of Megalith City are different from any country in reality, and there are some things that can't be seen from the photos alone, so I plan to see them with my own eyes!" ”

Fang Chang nodded in agreement.

"Indeed, the content that can be written in the strategy is limited after all, and no matter how many strategies you read, it is better to play it yourself...... How are you going to get there, though? ”

The road to Boulder is not easy.

On the way back, in addition to the marauders, they were targeted by a group of cavemen hiding in the sewers.

Although it will not overturn, it is also a hard battle.

Before Fujito could reply, a nimble figure sprang out from behind her.

"Mercenary Tail here!"

Sisi, who was wearing body armor and a steel helmet, also walked over from the side and pushed the steel helmet covering his eyes up.

"Oh! And Siss! ”

Looking at the energetic two, Fang Chang was stunned.

"You're also going to inspect the market?"

"That's right! Tail wants to be a mercenary! ”

Speaking of this, Tail sighed old-fashionedly, shook his head and said, "Damn, it's all because the spring water is too useless, and all the luck is used in the lottery!" Didn't go to Chenghonghe Town, gas! ”

Sisi glanced at her.

"But on the other hand, could it be because we're lowering the team's score?"

Tail immediately retorted.

"How is that possible! Tail is also an Awakened Person, okay! ”

The two of them woke up half a month ago.

After all, it's been some time since I joined the game, and the development speed is decent, and the strength is not weak, and Nu Hard Work is also a T2 player.

But......

Fang Chang looked at the girl with a pair of cat ears next to him.

This should be a newcomer, right?

"You too?"

The cat's ears on the top of his head shook slightly, and he nodded a little embarrassedly by the sesame paste that stared at the ears.

"I, I'm not awake...... It's not close. ”

"I'm not asking about that, it's not really the point of being awake or not. I mean, are you going to go with them too? Fang Chang kindly reminded, "The road to Boulder City is still quite dangerous, you see over there, those two idiots are also in the teens, and they still hurt themselves." ”

Sigh, the sesame paste nodded vigorously.

"It's okay! I, I'm the one who went to war! ”

Although it was just a letter to everyone offline, it also played a key role!

At least, she has the confidence that she won't panic.

Seeing the firmness in his eyes, Fang Chang nodded with a smile and said approvingly.

"Hmmm! Nice, very energetic! Come on, girl! ”

Game.

It's good to be happy, there's no need to think too much.

Even if he died, he was only on the forum for three days, and it wasn't a big problem, everyone came from the newcomer stage.

Besides, the manager didn't say that newcomers can't do tasks, did they?

As long as there is that determination, anyone can contribute to the great cause of the revival of the Human Federation.

"Wait a minute, Fujiten, is it really okay for you to bring this bodyguard?" Night Ten said nervously, "Why don't I go too?" I can be an eyewitness. ”

Fujito waved his hand again and again.

"No, no, don't be so troublesome, you still have to take care of your injuries, we have a perception system in the team."

As soon as Ye Shi wanted to ask who it was, the sharp voice with a hint of dullness came from the side accompanied by a sonorous and powerful steel collision.

"That's right!!"

Everyone looked over and saw a "tin can" covered with steel plates, striding over the side of a meteor.

"Hmph, level 12 of the perception department, the awakened crow is here! Looking at my equipment, who would dare to say that I can only pick mushrooms! Well? ”

The four members of the Niu Ma squad looked confused, and the caravan guards and guards not far away were also stunned by her exaggerated appearance.

This plate armor......

Say less than 300 kilograms, right?

The tail has sparkling eyes.

"Oh! It's amazing!! Si, we won! ”

Si Si was stunned, silent for a moment, and muttered in a voice that only she could hear.

“…… It will be a hassle to recycle VMs. ”

Lao Bai swallowed his saliva and asked cautiously.

"It's ...... KV-1？ Or Miner Type I? ”

It's not visible at all from the outside!

“KV-1！” Standing up on the angular breastplate, Raven said proudly, "It cost me a lot of silver to build this plate armor!" How's that, awesome, right? ”

Lao Bai's expression was a little subtle, and he was embarrassed to speak.

Fang Chang coughed dryly and said.

"I'm guessing it's a mosquito, only that stupid thing would make this thing. He didn't remind you...... Problems with battery life? ”

Raven blinked.

"Endurance? What is that. ”

Fang Chang: "......"

Lao Bai: "......"

Tempest: "......"

Night Ten said in a hurry.

"Electricity! Have you ever driven a new energy vehicle? Originally, the endurance of the naked KV-1 exoskeleton was about a day, and you directly carried a weight of 300 kilograms! Will your battery last until the afternoon? ”

One thing to say, this turtle shell is even worse than the previous set of managers!

Do these people play games without thinking about it?

Learn a hammer with NPCs!

"No problem! I'm fully charged! Raven said confidently, "It's only twenty kilometers, and this distance can still be sustained!" ”

"I don't think you should be too optimistic about these twenty kilometers," Fang Chang said euphemistically, "Twenty kilometers is a straight-line distance, and the actual distance cannot be counted at all." ”

Lao Bai nodded and agreed with this sentence.

"Indeed, you can't fly there. Anyway, I feel that the road from here to Boulder City is no less than going to Yuanxi Town, so feel it for yourself. ”

"Huh?!" Raven was stunned, the expression on his face began to lose so confidence, and whispered, "Is it so far?" ”

"Well," Lao Bai nodded silently, "so I don't even wear an exoskeleton." ”

Crow was stunned and said anxiously.

"That'...... So what to do. ”

Lao Bai: "If you are a strength system, there is no problem walking directly in a three-hundred-kilogram heavy armor, after all, most of the weight is pressed on the exoskeleton, and you can just turn on the power when you need mobility." If it's a different department...... I don't know either, anyway I don't recommend. ”

Tail looked at her: "Why don't you wear it?" She's a physique! ”

Sith glanced at her.

"I don't wear anything like that."

Now it's too late to temporarily change equipment.

After unloading the pot, the caravan at the gate will depart again in two hours at the latest.

But......

Raven didn't give up.

Everyone also agreed that looking for Boss Xia should be able to rescue it.

Looking at the group of people walking towards the base, Ye Shi couldn't help but look at Lao Bai.

"Can they?"

Lao Bai was silent for a moment and shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know."

Night Ten said hesitantly.

"Or ...... I'd better keep along, right? ”

Tempest glanced at him.

"You're not someone's father, what do you care about so much."

"But—"

Fang Chang patted Ye Shi's shoulder.

"Don't worry too much, three awakened ones, it's not a big problem."

It doesn't matter if it's a big problem.

It's only three days.

was touched by this hand on the bandage on the shoulder, and the night ten was full of excitement.

"Gan! Don't touch me so much, my arm is almost swollen! ”

Lao Bai rolled his eyes.

"Then why don't you go for surgery soon?"

"If you drag it out any longer, your arm will be useless, and I'll have to make you up when the time comes!"