The first day after the alpha0.3 version went live.
The testing results for the new version were quite pleasing.
With the players' division of labor and cooperation, the enclosing wall around the outpost was finally completed.
The three-meter-high concrete fortification brought not only a sense of security but also made nighttime activities in the game possible for the players.
Previously, as soon as it approached 6 pm, Chu Guang would lead the players back to the shelter to prevent them from being carried off by the Variants hunting for food.
Now, with the protection of the wall, players were willing to stay on the surface until their characters began to feel sleepy (fatigue value depleted).
Of course, for safety reasons, Chu Guang still prohibited the use of high furnaces and other open fire facilities at night.
During the day, processing steel and burning cement was okay since the forest concealed much of the smoke and dust, and the daylight fire was not as noticeable. But at night, it was a different story.
The Mutant tribe on Street No.76 was like a thorn stuck in the outpost's throat. Chu Guang couldn't feel at ease until this thorn was pulled out.
Besides the wall, the weapon shop and the bathhouse were also completed with the players' efforts, albeit not luxurious; they were functional.
Especially the partitioned bathhouse which Chu Guang was exceedingly satisfied with.
Before, whether it was him or the players, they all had to go to the lake to wash up, but now with the bathhouse, hygiene could be managed directly within the base.
Naturally, the wooden water tank on top of the bathhouse could only store 5 cubic meters of water, and it would inevitably run out after prolonged use.
At this point, someone would need to manually transport water from the lake to the tank so that those inside could continue bathing, which was indeed a bit troublesome.
Therefore, the wise and great Manager was considering converting the bathhouse from a public facility to a charged one, charging 5 bronze coins for each cubic meter of water. At the same time, establishing a new role for a water carrier whose job would be to fill the bathhouse tank.
This was quite reasonable.
On another front, besides construction, the players' performances in production, gathering, hunting, and crafting were also beyond Chu Guang's expectation.
The introduction of money greatly spurred the players' productivity (game enthusiasm).
Just hearing the clinking sound in their money bags could dispel the fatigue and weariness from their limbs, encouraging them to work fervently at their posts.
The most outstanding performance still came from the bull and horse small squad.
Against high expectations, these four veterans excelled at their game, combining scouting, frontline, output, and support into a quadrilateral combat tactic, impressing with their achievements on their first joint operation.
By evening, as they explored south along the elevated path, they had hunted a total of eight mutated hyenas and one mutant reindeer.
The proceeds from the sale of the prey were equivalent to 55 silver coins—43 from the mutated hyenas and 12 from the mutant reindeer.
Although the yield of meat from mutated hyenas and mutant reindeer was not high, usually just over 40% and not exceeding 50%,
Scrambled Egg Brother, who acted as a temporary butcher, still managed to get over a hundred kilograms of hyena meat and over a hundred kilograms of reindeer meat from these prey.
This meat would be processed into smoked meat and stored. Before being turned into smoked meat, players could also spend money to purchase fresh raw meat as their dinner.
It's worth mentioning that originally, everyone at the outpost ate communal meals, with Scrambled Egg Brother, who also acted as the chef, arranging two meals a day.
What the players could eat depended entirely on the chef's mood and whatever prey the great Manager happened to bring back that day.
But now, things were completely different.
The base's food supply would be open to all players, offering fair prices that did not cheat old or young. With just 1 Silver Coin, one could exchange for 1 kilogram of green wheat, or 300g of raw meat, or 200g of smoked dried meat.
What does 1 Silver Coin represent?
According to the rules designed by Chu Guang, 1 Silver Coin was equivalent to 10 Copper Coins, roughly the median income of players in an hour.
In other words, the majority of players just needed to work diligently for 1 to 2 hours, or complete some tasks patiently, to buy food that would fill their bellies.
As for whether the players chose to stuff the food directly into their mouths, or add some seasoning to cook it into green wheat porridge or wheat cakes, or even join others at a table to share a meal or make a trade—it was all up to them to decide.
When Chu Guang had previously designed this simple Economic System, he had done some calculations.
A mutated hyena weighing just over 30 kilograms, after discarding the inedible innards and head, would yield roughly 12 kilograms of meat.
Purchasing the game from a hunter for a base price of 5 Silver Coins and paying an average cost of 2 Silver Coins to hire a butcher to slaughter and process the meat, skinning and deboning, the total cost would be a mere 7 Silver Coins of zero cost.
Assuming that 12 kilograms of meat had been obtained and calculating with the price of 300g of raw meat for 1 Silver Coin, this 12 kilograms would equate to 40 Silver Coins!
With a product value of 40 Silver Coins and a production cost of 7 Silver Coins, overlooking the circulation costs, this simple economic chain would hence generate a surplus value of 33 Silver Coins.
This number meant nothing to the players, after all, they were playing a Game; but for Chu Guang, who served as the Manager, it meant a great deal.
As long as this "from game to raw meat" economic chain could keep running, each cycle would provide the Outpost's food supply with "33 Silver Coins worth of raw meat" and "an amount of Silver Coins worth of fur".
Of course, players would not be able to consume all the raw meat. Even if they spent all their money, it would be impossible for them to buy up everything they produced; overeating was not a good idea.
Thus, besides a small portion of meat being purchased by the players with the Silver Coins he distributed, much more of the raw meat would remain, as "raw material" entering a new economic chain, stored in the form of dried meat in the supply depot, as a food reserve for the shelter.
Beyond the "from game to dried meat" industry, chopping trees, picking up trash, making concrete, bricklaying, gathering, and fishing were basically similar economic models.
Through the two levers of pricing and task rewards, it was easy to adjust the stock of various items and the current focus of the players' work.
For instance, now that the Enclosing Wall was built, the base's need for plastering and bricklaying had decreased, whereas there was an increased need for more Food and weapons to feed and arm more players.
Therefore, Chu Guang would appropriately lower the prices of the weapons at the carpentry shop, stimulating players to order weapons, upgrade their equipment, and at the same time, raise the price of game, urging capable players to hunt with the weapons they bought, to enhance their proficiency.
As a result, the players had money, equipment, and also accumulated experience in battle. And Chu Guang not only obtained a large food reserve, but also gained a group of warriors with rich military virtues.
This was truly a win-win!
No, it should be a triple win!
Because as the Manager, Chu Guang could win twice!
Those few Coins were like a catalyst; despite not creating any value, they revitalized the entire economy of the Outpost.
Chu Guang felt he was simply a genius.
The only minor issue was that no one had cooked today.
The brother who fried eggs had not yet saved enough money, and his restaurant had not opened.
And to save money, almost everyone ran to the warehouse for basic subsistence, buying 1 kilogram of goat horn potatoes with 1 Silver Coin, renting a large pot among several teammates, lighting a fire, and simply cooking enough to eat. After finishing their meal, they would rent the pot to the next person.
It actually wouldn't matter if it wasn't cooked properly; the potatoes could be eaten raw; it was just a matter of hygiene and taste.
It seemed that in an instant, everyone, having a goal to strive for, suddenly didn't care much about how their food tasted, taking the spirit of hard work to the extreme; their only requirement was one, to be full!
Only Crow was different.
While everyone else happily munched on potatoes, she couldn't even afford to buy one.
Because the Manager had forgotten to give her the minimal assistance, compounded by the fact that she had logged on too late to find a teammate, she was now sitting in the corner, sullenly nibbling on sour berries and mushrooms.
In the end, it was Teng Teng who couldn't bear to watch this any longer and walked over to share half a bowl of mashed goat horn potatoes with her.
Watching Crow devour the food voraciously, Teng Teng couldn't bring herself to ridicule her and sighed instead.
"Starting tomorrow, you'll have to work hard on missions to earn money, okay? I can't support you forever."
Crow hugged Teng Teng with emotion.
"Teng Teng, are you an angel?"
Looking at Crow with tears shimmering in her eyes, Teng Teng, whose face was being squished, sighed and wriggled out from under her arms, her face flushed,
"...What nonsense are you talking about?"
The sky gradually darkened.
Chu Guang, strolling inside the base, was inspecting his territory as well as the situation of the players.
Although most players wanted to stay a little longer, in two more hours it would be dawn in the real world, so the working folks needed to freshen up and leave for their jobs.
Chu Guang, thinking that it was getting late, was about to call them together when a thumping knock suddenly came from the north gate of the base.
All the players looked towards the gate, and Chu Guang's right hand subconsciously gripped the pistol in his pocket, but he soon relaxed.
Through the player list, he confirmed that the person outside should be Junkie.
Looking at the two players closest to him, Chu Guang ordered,
"Fang Chang, Old White, go open the door."
"Yes!"
Fang Chang and Old White jogged forward, lifted the bar blocking the door, and pulled open a crack in the wooden gate.
Seeing Junkie squeeze through the gap, Fang Chang and Old White were taken aback.
"Fuck?"
"Bro, what happened to you?!"
Blood!
He was covered in it!
Although some of the wounds had already healed, many more were visibly raw with bite and gunshot wounds.
Seeing Junkie in this state, Chu Guang's brows furrowed slightly—he could guess what had happened to the poor guy.
Fortunately, if the enemy had mistaken him for a Variant, and not a particularly tasty one at that, the likelihood of being pursued was not high.
Ignoring his own injuries, Junkie hurried to the Manager, gasping for air as he said,
"The Raiders' Camp! It's about 2 kilometers north of the abandoned construction site, roughly 3 to 4 kilometers away from here! It's a tire factory!"
Night Ten couldn't help but ask, "Did you get into a fight with them?"
"No, no, I swear I didn't provoke them!"
Junkie quickly waved his hands to clear things up, stealing a glance at the Manager before continuing, "I was planning to retreat, but just then I bumped into their patrol... I saw there were only three of them."
Night Ten then asked, "And yet you ended up fighting them?"
Junkie looked embarrassed and averted his eyes.
"Uh... Got caught, couldn't help it."
It seemed he must have lost the fight.
But that wasn't surprising; a patrol of three people would usually have a dog with them, and the bite wounds on his body were probably from that.
Although this guy had a clear advantage in terms of panel data, fighting experienced Raider veterans, he wasn't necessarily going to come out on top.
It was already lucky that he made it back.
"The tire factory to the north, huh? I got it," Chu Guang nodded, then said to Junkie, "You should go rest in the Cultivation Chamber."
The Cultivation Chamber had the function of accelerating tissue and cell repair for clones synthesized by oneself. Coupled with Junkie's own Constitution attribute, he should recover before long.
"Yes, esteemed Manager." Having said that, Junkie, with his tail wagging, hobbled towards the direction of the sanatorium.
Along the way, many players noticed his state and began whispering to one another.
"This guy's injuries are severe!"
"Heard he found the Raider Camp."
"The Raider Camp?! Are we getting a new instance?!"
"Awesome!"
"Damn, I need to hurry up and save money for a gun!"
"Ah, I'm torn... should I buy land or a gun first?"
"Don't be stupid, start with bricks first."
Clearly, these players didn't realize the gravity of the situation and were eagerly discussing it instead.
But that was understandable.
After all, for them, this was a Game.
Only Chu Guang, as the Manager, felt a pressing concern.
To the north lay the Raider Camp, to the east the Mutant tribe's lair, to the west Rhombus Lake, and to the south, the survivors of Bet Street and Brown Farm.
The strategic position of the Outpost was not great; its room to expand was tightly constrained.
"Whether it's the Raiders or the Mutants."
"To break the deadlock, we'll have to fight one of them..."
Chu Guang had already thought through the content of the next expansion pack.