The bonfire made of wood was burning.
Sparks flew up to the sky with the heat wave.
The herdsmen beat leather drums and played bone flutes in front of the fire, and the young dancers, with veils covering their faces, danced for the New Year on the snow.
The guards, workers and players who loved to join in the fun, who lived near the outpost, also joined in with food and liquor bought from the market.
Although there was only one glass of free red wine, there was a lot of distilled liquor in the warehouse.
A long time ago, players used Polygonum aviculare to make music and yam as ingredients to brew distilled liquor.
Compared with red wine that takes time to taste, this kind of hot and exciting liquor is more popular among wastelanders.
But few people can stand drinking red and white together.
For a while, the market at the north gate was in a mess.
Boss Xia wanted to drink more, but he was already lying on the table and sleeping soundly.
Worried that she might catch a cold, Xiaoyu, who is very caring, went to the bank to get a blanket, stood on tiptoe and covered her shoulders.
There was a brazier under the table.
Xiaoyu patted her back gently, saying in a coaxing tone.
"Don't drink so much next time, okay?"
However, Boss Xia, who had already fallen asleep, obviously didn't listen. He didn't know what sweet dream he had. The corners of his lips were slightly raised, and he kept sipping.
"Hehe... I want more."
Not far away, a taster was anxiously looking for a toilet.
A little further away, a duck's voice was wailing like it was on fire.
"Water! Give me water!"
Makabazi was lying on the ground and shouting, until the construction site boy and Zhuan stuffed a piece of snow into his mouth, which made this guy physically quiet down.
The big-eyed man in debt looked like he had taken off a mask of pain, and he covered his mouth and said alone.
"Damn, what on earth is this for? I feel my stomach growling!"
Edge Slide looked at his bulging belly and couldn't help but complain.
"How much did you eat?"
"Not much, just a few," Debt Eyes burped and said in a vague voice, "Why do I have to eat again in reality when I have already eaten in the game?"
Edge Slide: "..."
Construction Site Boy and Brick: "..."
Is this a question that can be asked by the intelligence department? ?
Fang Chang, who was drunk, sat crookedly on a wooden chair and began his improvisation.
Listening to the nomads' blacksmith-like percussion music and the long bone flute, his index finger beat the rhythm on the table and hummed a newly made ballad.
"Hmm..."
"The gears of heaven fell into the furnace."
"Boiling molten steel splashed out of the pot."
"The undead scourge will never stop."
"We will rebuild the mortal kingdom."
"..."
The hoarse voice that was dried out was like a saw blade pulling the violin, but in the rough accompaniment, there was an unexpected rhythm of ups and downs.
It was like half a bottle of strong liquor going down the throat.
It was also like a forge with bursts of iron-beating sounds.
Fang Chang forgot the lyrics halfway through singing, and the players who were cheering next to him continued to make up his story, and they made a song one sentence after another.
However, the style became more and more outrageous as they went on, from the sacred Terra all the way to Ionia, and the slogan "For the great cause of the revival of the human alliance" also became "People live for XX."
Although I couldn't understand what the residents of the shelter were singing, the surrounding natives also sang along.
The singing dispelled the cold.
It also blew away the barriers between people.
Even with completely different cultures.
People's yearning for a better life and pursuit of beautiful things are the same.
The heat waves and the firelight reflected on their faces, and the people sitting together were no different from each other at this moment.
The drunk Zhao Shu patted Yu Hu's shoulder, and his face illuminated by the firelight was as red as a monkey's ass.
"Good brother, am I right? Life here is simply great!"
Yu Hu drank a little too much and burped drunkenly.
"You're right..."
"Next year, next year I will definitely move here!"
A dance ended on the snow in front of the bonfire.
The shy girl from the Frostspear clan bowed slightly.
But people were not going to let her go.
"One more!"
"Put on your beloved!"
"Oh oh!"
Under the people's encouragement and instigation, the young girl of the Frostspear tribe mustered up her courage, but did not choose her dream lover in front of the campfire, but walked to the dark blue power armor.
"Can I ask you to dance with me?"
There was a trace of trepidation in her eyes, just like the unlucky child who lost the truth or dare game.
Chu Guang looked at her with a little surprise, and then joked in a gentle tone.
"You can't dance in my equipment, find someone who can keep up with you."
The young girl blushed and turned and ran away like a frightened little animal.
Heya, who was standing by with her arms folded and observing, looked at Chu Guang curiously.
"Why not dance with me?"
Chu Guang rolled his eyes at her, a little dissatisfied with the guy's eyes looking at the animal world.
"Do you know how much power it consumes to dance in a power armor weighing more than a ton?"
It's not impossible to not turn on the power, which is probably similar to weight training, but even if 70% to 80% of the weight can be transferred to the support structure of the power armor, it still takes a lot of power to drive such a heavy armor without the help of a motor.
And it's easy to hurt others.
There is a reason why Chu Guang chose to stand there as a background board.
"But in this way, you can't enjoy the celebration." He Ya reminded.
"You don't understand, this is how I enjoy the celebration."
For a manager, what can make him happier than watching the settlement singing and dancing, and the residents living and working in peace and contentment?
This is the highest level of enjoyment.
He Ya fell into deep thought.
That expression seemed to recall the past of Shelter No. 117.
At this moment, Yin Fang's ridicule suddenly floated behind him.
"You hurt the girl's heart."
Chu Guang ignored his ridicule, but looked at him strangely.
"Why are you back again?"
"I just went back to get something."
Yin Fang took out a small robot with four short legs and a square head from behind.
"The academy does not celebrate the New Year, but only celebrates great discoveries, but you seem to have the custom of celebrating the New Year here... I just finished it, so I'll give it to you as a New Year's gift."
Chu Guang's face was full of surprise, and he reached out to take the small robot.
Unlike the original one, there is an additional camera on the square head.
Now it is not only laser mapping of nearby terrain, but users wearing neural connection devices can also share its vision with its camera.
Although it is only a small change, the practicality has been increased by more than double.
This little robot is now much more powerful than the original one!
Looking at Chu Guang who was playing with the small robot in his hand with interest, Yin Fang continued.
"Crawler, that's what I call it, or maybe you have a better name. It has one more eye than the original little robot, but there are no major changes."
"Thank you." Chu Guang expressed his gratitude sincerely.
Yin Fang coughed lightly and said.
"No need to thank me, I got all the materials from you, I just helped you deal with it."
At this point, he remembered an important thing, so he continued.
"By the way, its power source is metal hydrogen batteries... It seems that there are not many reserves in your shelter, only about forty or fifty. If you have a chance, you can get more, it's a good thing."
Chu Guang made a helpless expression.
"I know this without you saying it."
The metal hydrogen batteries produced by the enterprise contain many Class A technologies, and this thing is very popular everywhere.
At present, the only thing that Boulder City can produce independently is solid hydrogen batteries. If you want to buy metal hydrogen batteries, you can only hope that the caravan from the East Coast can bring some.
Chu Guang bought dozens of them from the Pioneer before, intending to use them to make exoskeletons.
However, what his players need most at the moment is not exoskeletons, but cheap and easy-to-use equipment, as well as industrial equipment that can produce these equipment, so this matter was put on hold.
Looking at the robot in his hand, Chu Guang suddenly remembered a very serious matter.
"If this thing explodes..."
Yin Fang answered in a relaxed tone.
"It's about equivalent to 6 kilograms of T-En-T, and the power should be able to cover... uh, a football field?"
Chu Guang: "???"
WTF? !
Without saying a word, he stuffed the robot into Yin Fang's hand, and Chu Guang quietly moved half a step to the side.
"Hold it for me first."
Looking at the robot returned to his hand, Yin Fang was stunned for a moment, with a look of tears and laughter on his face.
"Don't get excited... This thing is not that easy to explode. And 6 kg T, well, T is the theoretical equivalent. Without detonators and accelerants, how can it really reach that power... This is not a bomb."
There are at least 2 B-level technologies between the metal hydrogen battery and the metal hydrogen shell. The oxygen in the air is not enough to make the metal hydrogen react completely.
And you are wearing a power armor, so what are you afraid of!
But Chu Guang didn't want to listen to his explanation, he just wanted to stay away from this guy.
Yeah.
There will be one more rule in the future.
Robots and exoskeletons with metal hydrogen power sources are prohibited from staying in the shelter for a long time.
...
Abandoned department store.
More than a thousand beds are crowded in the empty hall.
The New Year's songs can't float here, and no one sings. There is only the crackling of the fire and the mother coaxing her children to sleep.
This is a temporary shelter for refugees. Before the end of the cold winter, they can only stay here temporarily.
Thanks to the wood sent by the blue coats, the survivors who were temporarily living here used the wood to repair the damaged walls and French doors and windows, and finally made the place airtight.
The remaining wood was chopped into firewood or burned into charcoal, and thrown into the red brick stove together with the fire starter.
The blazing flames brought a little light and warmth to the empty hall in winter.
Although the environment here is a bit simple, it is at least free from wind, snow and hunger.
The refugees from the central and northern parts of the Valley Province, the survivors of the Winter Willow Camp and the battery factory are all grateful to the blue coats.
The fleeing army on the front line, the looters of the Bone Chewing Tribe, and the chaos that was doing evil everywhere destroyed their homes and burned their farmland and houses.
If it weren't for the blue coats, they might have been frozen to death on the road or thrown into the looters' oil pot.
Of course, they can only represent themselves.
Not everyone is grateful for the current situation.
Of the five survivor settlements in the first relocation plan, only two were actually attacked by looters, and the residents of the other three survivor settlements had never even seen the shadow of looters, and moved here only out of fear.
More than a month has passed since the first snowstorm, and even though no one died in the cold, some people have suffered frostbite from working in the cold.
The terrible weather is still not going to end, and the supply of materials is getting tighter and tighter. Rumors that food is running out are often heard.
As time goes by, it is inevitable that some people will have doubts in their hearts.
Is it really necessary to relocate?
Those survivors who did not relocate seemed to be living well.
"I'm always worried that this house will collapse."
Looking at the stone chips falling from the ceiling, the man wrapped in torn bedding couldn't help but say.
In fact, he didn't really think that the building would collapse, but just wanted to find a bad thing to vent his dissatisfaction with the bad life.
However, this statement somewhat affected the people around.
Looking at the tattered ceiling, many people showed worried expressions on their faces, exchanged fearful eyes, and whispered in a low voice.
"How long do we have to stay here..."
"Those blue coats said it was spring."
"Why don't you let us live in Changjiu Farm? This is different from what we agreed at the beginning."
"They said there are not enough houses..."
"Hehe, it's not that we can't build our own houses. I think they just want to get rid of the trouble a little bit."
Most of them are residents of the Scavengers' Home and Hope Mountain Cooperative.
Compared with Dongliu Camp, Battery Factory and Highway Town, these two survivor settlements are located a little further south, and one is hidden on the edge of the city, and the other is hidden in the mountains and forests.
Now some people began to think that those looters might not be able to find their homes so easily.
After all, their eyes are not in the sky, and not all survivor settlements will be looted...
Ma Zhanqiu, the village chief of Dongliu Camp, saw that the dissatisfaction was spreading. In order to avoid affecting his own people, he immediately came out to appease everyone.
"Don't say such things. It hasn't collapsed for more than 200 years. How could it collapse at this time!"
At this time, a discordant voice suddenly came from the side.
"That's hard to say."
"The snow is so heavy this year. What if the building is blown down?"
The person who spoke was Ding Tian from the scavenger's home, and one of the more influential scavengers there. Ma Zhanqiu recognized this person.
Seeing him frown, Ma Zhanqiu said in a deep voice.
"What do you want to say?"
The man wrapped in a fur coat curled his lips.
"What do I want to say? I also want to ask, what are we doing for? To fight against those predators from the north?"
"Or to work as laborers for those blue coats?"
Ma Zhanqiu was stunned.
Before the old man came to his senses, someone next to him immediately took over.
"Maybe the people of the Bone Chewing Tribe will not come at all."
"That's right, aren't there still eight survivors living in places that have not been relocated? I think they are staying well in their own homes..."
Although everyone has food here, staying here is not free.
They need to work in the factory and then get a few coins that they don't know what they are used for, and they can't buy what they need at all.
Even if the blue coats promised that the money would be useful in the spring of next year, in their opinion, it was no different from drawing cakes.
Since the blue coats really intend to pay them, why don't they use chips?
If it doesn't work, toilet paper from the East Coast will do, at least someone may want it.
The mood of complaint is spreading.
This has been going on for a long time.
Out of fear of the Bone Chewing Tribe, they accepted the placement of the Blue Jackets and moved here in compliance with the arrangement.
But it has been a month.
Many people did not see the looters.
Except for the increasingly severe blizzard and the hard days that I don't know when it will end, nothing happened.
Some people even speculated maliciously whether the so-called Bone Chewing Tribe's invasion of Qingquan City was a lie from the beginning.
The sleeping child was awakened and cried, and the mother coaxed him in a panic, not daring to say anything to those noisy people.
Looking at the increasingly excited people, some survivors who had seen it with their own eyes and even had wounds on their bodies wanted to refute, but they dared not say a word.
At this moment, someone stood up.
"My eldest brother is dead."
Maybe it was because of the word death.
The noisy voice paused.
Facing the pairs of eyes looking over, Ma Li was silent for a while, and slowly opened his mouth to continue.
"The looters cut open his stomach with bayonets because he refused to surrender."
Ma Zhanqiu sighed softly and closed his eyes in pain.
That was his child.
It was also the thing he least wanted to recall.
Mali paused and continued.
"I only found out later, and I didn't even see his body until the end."
"I really didn't see the looters of the Bone Chewing Tribe with my own eyes. I only heard a few rumors about their brutality."
"But if you say this is a lie, then tell me, where is my eldest brother? Where are those who didn't make it here?"
"It's not only naive but also ridiculous to expect them not to come again, and it's not even self-deception."
"Those residents of the shelter could have stayed out of it. As long as they closed the door, let alone the people of the Bone Chewing Tribe, even if the legion drove a tank over their heads, they could sit back and wait for those people to die of old age before coming out."
Before the shelter is opened actively, no one can open the shelter from the outside.
This is common sense in the wasteland.
Seeing that half of the people who supported him were gone in an instant, Ding Tian was about to say something, when a mother holding a child stood up.
"I've seen it too."
She sat next to the group of people in the battery factory.
Her voice trembled, like an angry lioness, and her eyes were fixed on the man.
"We had retreated to the warehouse at that time, and the predators who surrounded us rushed up one after another. They died in front of us to protect us."
The hall was silent.
Even the noisiest people, being watched by pairs of eyes, couldn't help but keep silent.
People recalled the fear of that day.
They also recalled those heroes.
Ding Tian's Adam's apple moved, and a trace of anger flashed across his face.
He knew he was in the wrong.
But that didn't mean he liked to be taught a lesson.
Especially by people who looked much weaker than him.
Looking at the two groups of people in a stalemate, Ye Xiao, with his arms folded, shook his head and was about to step forward to say something, but was stopped by Hook standing next to him.
"What are you going to do?" The lame old man stared at him.
Ye Xiao said directly.
"Someone has to persuade them. I'm worried that they will turn into a physical conflict in a while."
This is a wasteland.
No matter how many words you say, it's not as effective as fists.
Ye Nan, who was standing aside, heard his son's words and shook his head gently.
"This is not our business."
"But..."
"Go notify the guards and let them deal with it."
At this moment, the main door of the lobby on the first floor of the department store suddenly opened.
The whistling north wind rolled in a few snow leaves.
Two guards wearing black coats and carrying rifles walked in carrying an iron rack. There was some carbon in the iron rack.
Behind them, there were also several residents of the shelter.
That energetic temperament, even if she wasn't wearing a blue coat, they could recognize her.
"Happy New Year!"
"New Year's gift! Sorry to have kept you waiting!"
Cat's ears shook happily, but the hat fell off. With a yelp, he bent down to pick it up rashly.
Standing at the door, Weiwei turned his head and glanced at Sisi next to him.
"Weiwei thought it was a mission, but it turned out to be an errand."
Where's the hidden mission!
She even brought her equipment!
"Emmm... Sisi thinks it's better for Weiwei to get some cold air than to be forced to log off because of a stomachache."
Everyone in the hall was stunned.
Including the two groups in the confrontation, they were also stunned there.
They didn't understand what the blue coats were saying at all.
Fortunately, at this time, the guard who put down the barbecue grill came to the rescue in time and spoke in human language.
"Today is the last day of 211!"
"The administrator asked me to bring you New Year's gifts. Thank you for your cooperation. We have survived the most difficult days."
Everyone in the shelter whispered.
"New Year...gift?"
"What is that?"
This time they understood, but their faces were still confused.
The young guard did not explain, and politely signaled the "player" wearing a chef's hat next to him to start.
The charcoal fire was lit, and the tomato scrambled eggs were brushed with a layer of oil on the iron rack with a brush, and then the palm-sized crab cakes were placed on the iron rack.
"Everyone line up, one by one."
"There are enough things."
"Everyone has a share!"
The guard maintained order on the scene and led everyone to line up in a long line.
The sound of oil sizzling, the aroma of meat filled the hall, and the soft and fragrant crab cakes had an indescribable taste of happiness.
There was actually meat to eat!
All rumors about food shortages were refuted.
Almost everyone's eyes were filled with desire.
Looking at the meat pie in his hand, Ding Tian couldn't help but feel guilty, and those who had followed him to make trouble before all kept silent and lowered their heads to eat the pie.
Standing at the door and feeling hungry, Wei Tail couldn't help swallowing his saliva, staring straight at the barbecue grill.
"Does Wei Tail have a portion, too?"
Si Si tugged at her clothes.
"It's time to go, everyone at Changjiu Farm is still waiting. If you want to eat, I'll order you a takeaway when I'm offline."
"Wei Tail wants beef flavor!"
Ugh!
This person is wrong, this Wei Tail!
Si Si looked at her in surprise.
"I'm just being polite."
Wei Tail: "Chicken flavor is also OK!"
Si Si: "..."
Outside the door.
On the trunk of a truck.
A big rat in a coat was rubbing his hands in the cold wind.
Next to him were the supplies that were about to be sent to Changjiu Farm.
Because he was worried that his appearance would scare the residents in the shelter, he was left behind to watch over the supplies on the truck to prevent alien species from coming to steal food.
Before those people left, they repeatedly told him not to eat the mission props.
These people are really!
He is not a real rat!
Where is the trust between people!
But...
This smell is so good.
Is it noodles?
Feeling the impulse of biological instinct, he decided not to look over there or think about it, and turned to look at the street on the side.
The street was very quiet.
The white snow under the moonlight was peaceful.
There was not even a shadow of alien species here. If it were not for the damaged buildings and walls, it would be impossible to associate this place with wasteland.
Didn't I enter the server at the wrong time?
I heard that there were fights every day in the previous versions. The front fell and the back followed. The professional players of the life fight all picked up weapons and the resurrection coins were almost used up.
If only I had come in earlier.
Looking at the quiet street, the big rat sighed softly and spoke in human language.
"This is too peaceful."