Chu Guang was a principled man and naturally wouldn't exploit players' labor without compensation.
Although the refuge was very poor now and Contribution Points could only buy "Resurrection Coins," he still offered Teng Teng a wage.
50 Contribution Points for every piece of clothing made.
The requirements weren't high, as long as it was wearable and warm.
Once the "Shop System" went live, he planned to price the clothes between 100 and 500 Contribution Points based on their quality and sell them to other players.
That being said, he would need to find an NPC to act as a merchant.
He had heard that Brown Farm, next door, sold some less agile serfs every winter to save on food and fuel and would buy a new batch of cheap goods from slave merchants when spring arrived.
Maybe he should try his luck there.
"Respected Manager, when do we set out?"
Looking at Chu Guang who had just come out of the sanatorium, Trash-picking Lad greeted him with his lizard tail wagging, impatiently pressing for an answer.
"No rush, I need to find you a suitable weapon... follow me."
Outside the sanatorium's enclosing wall was a small cabin, built by "WC There Are Mosquitoes," currently serving as a carpentry workshop.
Outpost Base was currently lacking in tools, particularly reliable steel tools, and many things had to be replaced with wood.
But solutions were always concocted by people.
By combining industrial waste scavenged from the Wasteland with wood, this player proficient in carpentry indeed manufactured quite a few post-apocalyptic style tools.
For instance, the crossbow leaning against the Wall was one of them.
The wooden crossbow stock combined with stainless steel parts assembled into a simple mechanical structure and hinges, the bowstring made of treated mutated hyena tendons.
As for the arrowheads, they were sharpened metal pieces.
His own iron pipe rifle was low on bullets, only about twenty left, so he had to conserve them. It would be better to use the crossbow for hunting whenever possible.
Seeing the Manager pick up the crossbow, Trash-picking Lad thought he was going to give this treasure to him and quickly reached out his hands to take it, only to be slapped away.
"Your weapon is that one."
Chu Guang pointed to a few javelins in the corner, their tips made of sharpened metal pieces, next to them a convenient carrying strap.
"With your initial strength at 8 points, mastering throwing techniques will allow you to take down prey within ten meters in one shot."
Trash-picking Lad frowned miserably.
"But Manager, I still feel... if I had a long-range weapon, my hunting efficiency would be higher."
Chu Guang glanced at his two-meter-tall figure.
Such a big guy should be charging forward as a tank, not sniping from behind. Is that really manly?
"Javelin is a basic skill in hunting; it prevents you from becoming passive, whether in close combat or mid-range encounters."
"Today, I'm only teaching you hunting skills; the kind of weapon you choose to fight with in the future is up to you."
It turned out to be a part of the storyline.
Trash-picking Lad nodded as if he understood, then shut his mouth and stopped talking.
While they were talking, the player "WC There Are Mosquitoes" pushed open the door of the cabin, holding two glass bottles as he walked out.
Seeing Chu Guang, his eyes lit up as he said.
"Respected Manager, I was just looking for you! This is the acetone I mentioned! We can make smokeless gunpowder by using it as a solvent."
As he spoke, he imitated an alchemist's motions, shaking the bottle in his right hand, startling both Chu Guang and Trash-picking Lad, causing them to instinctively step back.
"It's fine, hehe, as long as it doesn't meet open flame, it's okay, hehehehe."
Mosquito said this with an excited look on his face.
He would only dare to do such a thing in the Game, definitely not at his small workshop at home.
However, he hadn't expected the Game to be this realistic, actually allowing him to craft such an item.
At this moment, he suddenly noticed the Lizard man next to Manager Lord and his excited expression noticeably paused.
"Who is this...?"
Chu Guang cleared his throat before speaking.
"He is a new Resident, ID: Pick up trash 99 level."
"Wow, a newcomer."
Mosquito looked at him with envy.
Starting with a hidden profession.
That's just too cool!
"Tell us about the thing in your hand," Chu Guang glanced at the glass bottle in his hand, "how did you make this...?"
"The method is quite simple, it's essentially dry distillation of wood. Place the wood in a sealed metal container to bake, lead it out through a conduit, cool it down with a water bucket, and collect the condensate, which can be easily separated into an aqueous solution and a thick tar residue... A simple distillation process will do."
"The aqueous part is wood vinegar, mainly composed of acetic acid, acetone, and methanol, which can be further distilled based on their different boiling points. Acetic acid can react with alkali metal compounds to form salts of various uses, while acetone, in my right hand... its application is quite significant."
Upon saying this, Mosquito let out a sigh of longing.
"Tsks, if only we had sulfuric acid. With sulfuric acid, we could produce hydrogen peroxide, and mixing hydrogen peroxide with acetone would create triacetone triperoxide... TATP, commonly known as TATP explosive."
Junk Lord was agape on the side, swallowing hard.
What on earth does this guy do in real life?
This is seriously intense!
Chu Guang was also shocked by this revelation.
He subconsciously took a look at the little wooden hut in front of him, and couldn't associate it with a chemistry laboratory.
Only players would dare do such life-threatening things.
After regaining his composure, Chu Guang continued to speak to him.
"I will keep an eye out for chemical plants in the vicinity, so... you mean you still can't get explosives?"
"I can't get high-performance ones, but Black Powder is pretty easy to make. Give me some more time, I'm thinking of other methods, but... sometimes it's not absolutely necessary to use explosives to achieve lethal effects," Mosquito shook the glass bottle in his left hand with a heh heh, then continued, "It's a mixture of pine resin and acetone. I've also added some plant fibers in it; lighting the cloth wick at the top of the bottle and throwing it can burn for quite a while."
Molotov Cocktails?!
These items are quite useful!
Chu Guang's eyes lit up as he took the glass bottle from Mosquito's hand and weighed it.
"Have you tested its power?"
"Uh... there are trees all around, and I'm worried I wouldn't be able to put out the fire." Mosquito awkwardly explained.
Not bad.
Looks like the guy still has some sense.
"I will take it outside later to test it for you."
Without showing any change in expression, Chu Guang pocketed the glass bottle and continued,
"Conducting chemical experiments in this environment is still somewhat dangerous, and the shelter is not currently equipped to store such hazardous materials. I will give you the appropriate reward, but I can't encourage you to scale up production."
After a brief pause, Chu Guang changed tack.
"However... I would suggest that you try to find uses for these chemicals in the construction and production at Outpost Base, creating the value we need."
"Creating the value we need, eh..." Mosquito looked ponderous, slowly digesting the sentence, deep in thought.
"Right, you might want to give it some thought," Chu Guang nodded and continued, "Of course, I'd even more strongly suggest you talk with other Residents of the shelter, and ask if they have any good suggestions."
"You might find unexpectedly rewarding outcomes."