As soon as it snowed, it didn't stop falling.
The north wind was blowing, the forest was whizzing, the forest outside the outpost was dark, every tree seemed to hide people behind it, and every grass seemed to be breathing.
The guards on the wall tensed up, fearing that they would be killed by the plot, just like the fisherman who was beaten up.
OB on the official website is too tortured. Not only the players on duty were nervous, Lucius was also nervous.
He has already eaten two groups of people from the Bloody Hand clan, and it is logically impossible for the other party to leave him alone. However, the predators in the north remained silent. Lucius was always uneasy, and sat upstairs wearing an exoskeleton for half the night. He didn't come down until after one o'clock in the morning, and slept until eight or nine o'clock the next day.
On the other hand, those players, one by one, were full of energy and went online in shifts. They seemed to be unaware of the heavy snow, and their work was not affected at all.
I really envy.
Anyway, the body is not their own, and they can't feel the pain beyond the limit. Even if their hands and feet are so cold that they don't feel it, they can eat some meat and carbohydrates, and they can go back to the training cabin and lie down for a few hours.
Of course, this is also the beginning of winter, and the coldest time has not yet arrived. Don't say that ten degrees below zero is not cold, go to the south and experience the magic attack? It doesn't even need to be below zero, a wind can blow away half a life.
"A heat pipe should be added to this exoskeleton."
"Forget it, let's wait until they make the armor lining."
Seeing the truckloads of bricks being transported from the warehouse into the industrial area, a smile appeared on Lucius's face, and he nodded with satisfaction.
Good. These players are very sensible.
Brother Yamasaa and Levin, who got the budget, were too stubborn to spend money. As soon as they went online the next day, they used the budget given by Lucius and bought 5,000 bricks and 500 kilograms of cement directly in the warehouse, and pulled to the industrial area.
Since the silver coins used are all on the corporate account, it is enough to transfer the account directly on the ledger. Old Luka has been able to complete this work proficiently, and Lucius doesn't even need to worry about it.
As for the sand used for plastering, there is not much stock in the warehouse, and it is basically used up when repairing the wall. But it doesn't matter, just spend some silver coins to rent a cart, and hire two players to pull it to the abandoned construction site due north. 1 silver coin per cart, calculated as five carts per side, about nine carts is enough for the time being.
Anyway, it’s only a little over 2 kilometers every time you go there, and the road is not difficult to walk on flat ground, and there are many people rushing to do the work.
There are piles of sand and stones there, all of which are used to build 100-meter-high buildings. You can't tell what the composition is based on the variety, but the quality of things from the pre-war era is not bad.
Although some of the sand was washed into the foundation by rain, the part buried in the soil on the surface alone was enough for them to use for many years.
It takes 96 bricks, 10 kilograms of cement, and more than 50 kilograms of sand to build a 18-square-meter wall. A 20X10 iron and steel factory is fully enclosed with 30,000 to 40,000 bricks and four to five tons of cement. Even if the warehouse is emptied, it will not be able to produce so many materials.
But that's okay. There is no need to be so particular about the waste soil. It is really impossible to paste the north wall first, and then pick up some scrap metal and plastic sheds to build a semi-open factory building.
Wasteland should have the atmosphere of wasteland. Lucius’s previous shack on Beit Street was useless even a half kg of cement.
That's post-apocalyptic style. At least the two directors, Brother Yamasaa and Brother Levin, don't care.
The most urgent task is to make the steel-making converter first, then use scrap metal to melt and cast two rolls, and then create a set of mighty armor for the great Manager! That's their top priority right now.
In addition to hiring two people to carry the sand, they also hired three players who had worked on the construction site to help build the walls and build the base of the converter. Everything is going on in an orderly manner.
However, compared with the smooth progress of the "No. 81 Steel Factory", the progress of the Brick Factory is not so smooth.
Bunny and Tomorrow, who were a step behind in going online, were instantly dumbfounded as soon as they arrived at the warehouse.
Good guy, where's the pile of building materials? I piled up such a high pile yesterday, and it was sold out when it went online?!
"Damn!"
"Why are they moving so fast?!"
"Tsk, I made a mistake."
"Buckets are professional... Forget it, brothers, don't panic, let's go to investigate the terrain first and then think of a solution."
The four of them made a selection in the warehouse, and finally only bought a wooden cart and shovels, axes, and hatchets for land reclamation, and set off against the heavy snow with dry food for four people.
Not that they want to save the shelter money. But it's really money that can't be spent...
By the way, since the enterprise account can only be used in the warehouse, it is not allowed to buy guns in the weapon store.
In order to verify, Tomorrow made a special trip to try it, but the proprietress of the weapon shop didn't bother to talk to him at all, so she had no choice but to give up.
There was a lot of snow outside the outpost, and the north wind was blowing even more. Holding the iron-pipe rifle in his hand, Walker bared his teeth, freed his arm to wipe the snow hanging from his bangs and eyebrows, and complained softly.
"It's so windy, it's so exaggerated at the end of September, what's the point?"
Bunny was optimistic, he said with a smile.
"It's probably to test whether the weather system is stable. Is it a plan to say that it doesn't snow in the game world? I wouldn't be surprised if it snows in summer."
Tomorrow glanced at the only perception department in the team, and reminded him.
"You guys should be careful, we are now in a war with the Bloody Hand clan. Although this river is in Wetland Park, it is not far from the north gate. If the predators attack, we may be the first to meet the enemy of."
Walker grinned.
"I'm afraid of those poor guys?! In the forest, we are boss, this is our home field! When the predators come, I'll go up to one—hey, it's not working, there seems to be someone in front of us."
"F*ck? Seriously?!"
Although Walker is not very reliable, this guy's perception is currently the highest among all players.
After receiving Walker's alert, the other three players didn't dare to hesitate, and hurriedly threw the cart down, and the copycats scattered around.
This is not the first time they have teamed up to hunt. It's not the first time you've faced predators, either.
Walker leaned against the tree, his usual hippie smile was gone, only seriousness and vigilance remained.
I saw him poking his head out cautiously, scanning the snow-falling forest, and suddenly locked his eyes on one place. After gesturing in a general direction with his hand, Walker gave the other three teammates a positive look.
"Outflank the past."
"Got it."
Bunny on the outermost side was the first to act, and the four of them moved forward one by one in a tacit understanding, spreading out in a quadrilateral to surround the past.
Ten meters.
Fifteen meters.
Twenty meters!
In the vast snow and mist, a furtive figure finally emerged.
The man was wearing a gray overcoat, a thick cotton felt hat on his head, and an iron pipe rifle on his back. While pressing the brim of the hat that was constantly blown by the wind with his right hand, he was facing the direction of the outpost.
It's not a good thing at first glance!
Tomorrow made a judgment immediately, and before the man noticed them, he immediately drew the bowstring, put an arrow on it, aimed at the man's right arm, and let go of the string with a snap.
There was only a whistling sound. The man had no time to react, and was shot in the thigh by an arrow, and fell to the ground with a painful howl.
"If you don't want to die, don't move!"
Bunny rushed forward first, kicked away the gun he was holding in his hand, and placed the javelin on his head aggressively. The man was terrified and screamed, but he didn't know what he was talking about.
Tomorrow suggested.
"Let's get someone to take him back."
"Let me do it."
Gale raised the crossbow in his hand. Although it is an intelligence system, things like crossbows don't need too many attribute bonuses.
The other three were also very relieved of the carefulness of the wind and did not have any opinions.
Bunny returned to the side of the cart, found a rope and tied it up for the man, and poked his back with a javelin to threaten him.
"If you dare to escape, we will remove your other leg!"
After all, regardless of whether the man understood or not, Bunny handed him over to Gale, and watched as Gale escorted the limping prisoner away towards the outpost.
...
Watching The Cowboy Team leave the outpost earlier, Lucius saw that it was getting late, so he went to the warehouse to chop a crab leg, and found a room in the former nursing home to roast and eat.
In this snowy weather, the food is not so perishable, so there is no problem eating the crab legs for two or three days. This thing is high-quality protein, so you need to eat more of it to gain muscle.
Lucius now has nothing to do every day. He just wears an exoskeleton and walks without turning on the power, or does push-ups and bench presses with a nitrogen-powered hammer on his back to practice his arm strength.
Every time I finish my practice, I go to the bathroom to take a shower, dry the changed clothes, and make some food for myself after dinner. The small life is much more comfortable than when I was on Beit Street.
Although the training marks on his body are not obvious, and the attribute panel has not changed due to the exercise, he can still clearly feel that his strength and muscle coordination have improved slightly.
Lucius speculated that the data scanned and summarized by the physical examination equipment mainly measure the "Basic hardware" of the body, and exercise may provide efficiency bonuses for the hardware in the form of BUFF.
For example, "Strength +3%" or "Strength +5%" and the like. When the base value of the attribute is larger, the effect of exercise is more obvious. And for players of the strength gene sequence, exercise can also accumulate the development progress of the gene sequence and break through the boundaries of hardware.
At present, Lucius's strength attribute is 10, and the hardware foundation is almost 200% of that of a normal adult male ( Base value 5). Even without any skills, and the coordination of muscles cannot be maximized, he can easily crush opponents of the same weight by virtue of attributes.
If he meets the Crawler again, even without the exoskeleton and nitrogen-powered hammer, Lucius won't say how easy it is to win, at least he won't be as embarrassed as before.
But. This assumption is also unlikely to hold. After all, let alone going out, even if he was in the outpost, he would wear the exoskeleton under the buckskin coat when he was free.
It's just that I don't turn on the power at ordinary times, and it's just a weight training.
Two kg of the crab legs weighing 3 kg were shells, but the remaining 1 and a half kg of crab meat was quite solid. After eating, Lucius clapped his hands and extinguished the fire.
Just at this time, a player walked in from the outside, holding down an aborigine in a coat.
After escorting the captives to the main building of the nursing home, Gale stood at attention with a serious face and reported to the administrator.
"Dear Master Manager...we have captured a predator scout!"
"Captive?"
Lucius wiped his mouth, squinted his eyes and looked at the person in front of him.
I saw that the man was covered with snow, mud and dead leaves, with a broken arrow stuck in his thigh, half of his trousers were stained red with dark red blood, he looked very embarrassed.
He gritted his teeth and said.
"Is this how you treat guests?"
"Hospitality is for the guests."
Lucius felt that he didn't look like a predator, but he also didn't look like a nearby scavenger, so he continued in an interrogative tone.
"Who are you? Why did you enter our territory? There are signs at the three entrances of Wetland Park, which clearly state that no one else is allowed to enter. Even if you can't read, you should recognize the skull logo."
"I'm here to mediate!"
"Mediate?" Lucius squinted his eyes, and said in a bad tone, "Are you a man from Bloody Hand clan?"
"No! I don't belong to anyone!"
Sensing the unkindness in that tone, the man hurriedly clarified, but the wound was too painful, and when his emotions got agitated and his muscles were involved, he grinned again in pain.
It took a long time to recover, the man tried to stay awake, and squeezed out half a word from his teeth.
"...Can you treat my wound first? I may be die after a while otherwise."
It's okay if it's die. Seeing how calm you are, your injury wasn't serious.
Lucius had a happy expression, but he didn't make things difficult for him.
He threw 5 silver coins into Gale's hand, and sent the little player away, then he took out a roll of bandages from the blind box from his pocket and threw it to the man.
I haven't tried the hemostatic effect of this thing. Just take him as an experiment.
The man obviously knew how to use this thing. After dismantling it skillfully, he first broke the shaft of the arrow, pierced it into the flesh with the tool inside, and took out the arrow enduring the pain.
The blood came out like a faucet was turned on, and flowed down the trouser legs.
Lucius frowned and couldn't help being speechless, but the man seemed to be fine, and after gritting his teeth and tied the bandage, he was relieved.
"Do you feel better?"
"Better," The man nodded, took a deep breath, and continued the topic just now, "My name is Harvey, a businessman from Red River Town."
"Why do the merchants in Red River Town mix with the predators?" Lucius looked at him with great interest, and continued, "And it must be fifty or sixty kilometers from Red River Town to here."
"Fifty or sixty kilometers? Oh, that's a straight-line distance. If you want to bypass the urban agglomeration, you have to walk at least 130 kilometers! Of course, if you want to be safe, you have to bypass the highway bridge... It's almost 150 kilometers. "
"So?" Lucius looked at him and raised his chin, "You didn't answer my question, why did you hang out with predators?"
"Hey, it's not that we're together, it's just...we have some business contacts."
Harvey's eyes were a little wandering, and he continued after a moment of embarrassment.
"Well, let me be blunt. I am a businessman...or an employee of the Horseshoe Firm in Red River Town. Because of the boss, we occasionally do business with some trusted predator tribes in the southern part of River Valley Province. Mainly with It’s related to population. Don’t look at me like that, without us, those captives wouldn’t survive the winter at all, at least we gave them a chance to be human again!”
"So you are in the slave business?" Lucius touched his chin with interest, but he didn't show his interest on his face.
"That's right!" Harvey nodded and continued, "This time I was sent by the boss to Spring City to buy some slaves from them. But when I got here, I heard that you are at war?"
Lucius smiled kindly and said.
"Yes, and the enemy of your trading partner is thinking about something right now. Suppose your boss doesn't know you've been here—"
Harvey swallowed and interrupted Lucius nervously.
"I know what you're trying to say, but it doesn't make sense. People die every day in the wasteland, and my death doesn't matter to my boss."
"Yes?"
"Compared with how to deal with me, don't you want to hear my proposal first?"
"Okay, I am listening."
Harvey continued speaking quickly.
"The Bloody Hand clan wants to have a truce with you. They are willing to pay a ransom of 20 chips for each captive...Of course, if they are missing arms or legs, they are only willing to pay half of it."
"Oh, and what about the contract they gave you?"
"Mine? Contract? What contract—"
"Okay, stop pretending," Lucius said impatiently at Harvey who was pretending to be stupid, "Do you think you can fool me? You said that people die every day in the wasteland, and someone will Is life blocked by something that is not good? Or is it good for you that our truce?"
Harvey said with a smile, "I didn't deliberately hide it... It's just that I really don't have a contract with them. Well, I'm telling the truth, his leader promised me that as long as I can bring their people back, they are willing to take those wounded cheap 'Handling' for me. But it's actually good for you too, isn't it?"
"No one wants to fight in the snow, and your neighbors are also very troubled by the terrible weather. Why don't you sit down and have a good talk. In fact, it's not an endless conflict. The misunderstanding inside will definitely be resolved."
"I took the captives back to the business, you got a sum of war compensation, and shook hands with your neighbors... All three of us can win!"
Lucius smiled. But the arc of the corner of the mouth is cold.
Misunderstand? Untie?
Hahaha. He had never heard such a funny joke.
If he hadn't met him, and happened to meet this group of players, if it was another survivor stronghold, let alone what would happen to men and women, even the bones would have been sucked clean.
Make peace? Those people are nothing more than waiting for an opportunity. For example, the snow stopped.
"Mr. Harvey, I feel that you are making me laugh. Reconcile with the predators? Do you believe what you said?"
Harvey's expression was a little embarrassed. In fact, before he walked into this outpost, he already had a hunch that this group of people was different from the survivor strongholds he had been to before.
Walls, trenches, sentries on duty, hunting sentries... No one here is a professional soldier, but everyone seems to be able to fight very well, and the most important thing is to dare to fight.
They wear blue coats, but they have no illusions about the kindness of the world. This negotiation is likely to collapse...
"I understand. You have your own difficulties. If you can't talk about it, I won't force you...Can you let me go? I will keep everything I see." Harvey made a speech in a second. The judgment of stop loss.
However, Lucius didn't speak, just stared at his eyes without moving, and just stared at him for a long time. The latter felt terrified at being watched, only felt that a creeper was staring at him, and sweat gradually oozes from his back. Unable to bear the pressure, he opened his mouth with trembling lips.
"Even if you kill me, you won't do any good...Why bother? I have no grievances with you, you can continue to fight, and I promise not to get involved anymore."
"But it doesn't do any harm either."
For a moment, Harvey felt that his heart stopped beating. However, Lucius's next sentence ignited his hope of life again.
"You said, you are in the slave business?"
"Yes, yes!" As if grabbing a life-saving straw, Harvey nodded in a panic, "Do you need slaves? I can help you! We not only import slaves, but also export them. We also provide door-to-door delivery. You need-"
"Follow me."
Seeing the man walking out of the door, Harvey was forced to stop talking, swallowed, dragged his lead-filled legs, and limped to follow.
The snow fell harder and harder outside, and the wind blew on his face like a knife, especially on the wound. Harvey felt as if his blood was about to be frozen. Fortunately it wasn't very far.
The man led him to a simple shack, and after talking to the old man on duty at the door, he saw the old man nodded, turned back to the house, and took out a wooden box.
Lucius weighed the weight of the box, and then handed it to Harvey.
Harvey, who took the box, felt his hands sinking, and looked at the man who handed him the box in puzzlement.
"……This is?"
"Open it and have a look."
There was an ominous premonition in his heart, but Harvey still freed up a hand and opened the box. When he saw the ornaments made of finger bones in the box, the blood in his whole body seemed to freeze, and his face lost its color.
He, who has dealt with predators all the year round, of course recognizes these things.
Those people would treat the index finger of their prey as a trophy, dry it and wash it to make it into an ornament and hang it on their body, as inseparable as lifeblood.
Those blue-skinned Devils! Not a single one was left...
"Winter is coming, and I don't have so many cells here. I'm afraid you can only find the prisoners you want from here."
Looking at Harvey, who seemed to have lost his soul, Lucius smiled casually.
"Let's make a deal."
"I promise, you'll get a large group... and a large group of captives, behave yourself in front of your boss, go to the pinnacle of your career, and if you're lucky, even say goodbye to your head on your belt life."
"And I, can solve the troubles in the north once and for all."
......
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As soon as it snowed, it didn't stop falling.
The north wind was blowing, the forest was whizzing, the forest outside the outpost was dark, every tree seemed to hide people behind it, and every grass seemed to be breathing.
The guards on the wall tensed up, fearing that they would be killed by the plot, just like the fisherman who was beaten up.
OB on the official website is too tortured. Not only the players on duty were nervous, Lucius was also nervous.
He has already eaten two groups of people from the Bloody Hand clan, and it is logically impossible for the other party to leave him alone. However, the predators in the north remained silent. Lucius was always uneasy, and sat upstairs wearing an exoskeleton for half the night. He didn't come down until after one o'clock in the morning, and slept until eight or nine o'clock the next day.
On the other hand, those players, one by one, were full of energy and went online in shifts. They seemed to be unaware of the heavy snow, and their work was not affected at all.
I really envy.
Anyway, the body is not their own, and they can't feel the pain beyond the limit. Even if their hands and feet are so cold that they don't feel it, they can eat some meat and carbohydrates, and they can go back to the training cabin and lie down for a few hours.
Of course, this is also the beginning of winter, and the coldest time has not yet arrived. Don't say that ten degrees below zero is not cold, go to the south and experience the magic attack? It doesn't even need to be below zero, a wind can blow away half a life.
"A heat pipe should be added to this exoskeleton."
"Forget it, let's wait until they make the armor lining."
Seeing the truckloads of bricks being transported from the warehouse into the industrial area, a smile appeared on Lucius's face, and he nodded with satisfaction.
Good. These players are very sensible.
Brother Yamasaa and Levin, who got the budget, were too stubborn to spend money. As soon as they went online the next day, they used the budget given by Lucius and bought 5,000 bricks and 500 kilograms of cement directly in the warehouse, and pulled to the industrial area.
Since the silver coins used are all on the corporate account, it is enough to transfer the account directly on the ledger. Old Luka has been able to complete this work proficiently, and Lucius doesn't even need to worry about it.
As for the sand used for plastering, there is not much stock in the warehouse, and it is basically used up when repairing the wall. But it doesn't matter, just spend some silver coins to rent a cart, and hire two players to pull it to the abandoned construction site due north. 1 silver coin per cart, calculated as five carts per side, about nine carts is enough for the time being.
Anyway, it’s only a little over 2 kilometers every time you go there, and the road is not difficult to walk on flat ground, and there are many people rushing to do the work.
There are piles of sand and stones there, all of which are used to build 100-meter-high buildings. You can't tell what the composition is based on the variety, but the quality of things from the pre-war era is not bad.
Although some of the sand was washed into the foundation by rain, the part buried in the soil on the surface alone was enough for them to use for many years.
It takes 96 bricks, 10 kilograms of cement, and more than 50 kilograms of sand to build a 18-square-meter wall. A 20X10 iron and steel factory is fully enclosed with 30,000 to 40,000 bricks and four to five tons of cement. Even if the warehouse is emptied, it will not be able to produce so many materials.
But that's okay. There is no need to be so particular about the waste soil. It is really impossible to paste the north wall first, and then pick up some scrap metal and plastic sheds to build a semi-open factory building.
Wasteland should have the atmosphere of wasteland. Lucius’s previous shack on Beit Street was useless even a half kg of cement.
That's post-apocalyptic style. At least the two directors, Brother Yamasaa and Brother Levin, don't care.
The most urgent task is to make the steel-making converter first, then use scrap metal to melt and cast two rolls, and then create a set of mighty armor for the great Manager! That's their top priority right now.
In addition to hiring two people to carry the sand, they also hired three players who had worked on the construction site to help build the walls and build the base of the converter. Everything is going on in an orderly manner.
However, compared with the smooth progress of the "No. 81 Steel Factory", the progress of the Brick Factory is not so smooth.
Bunny and Tomorrow, who were a step behind in going online, were instantly dumbfounded as soon as they arrived at the warehouse.
Good guy, where's the pile of building materials? I piled up such a high pile yesterday, and it was sold out when it went online?!
"Damn!"
"Why are they moving so fast?!"
"Tsk, I made a mistake."
"Buckets are professional... Forget it, brothers, don't panic, let's go to investigate the terrain first and then think of a solution."
The four of them made a selection in the warehouse, and finally only bought a wooden cart and shovels, axes, and hatchets for land reclamation, and set off against the heavy snow with dry food for four people.
Not that they want to save the shelter money. But it's really money that can't be spent...
By the way, since the enterprise account can only be used in the warehouse, it is not allowed to buy guns in the weapon store.
In order to verify, Tomorrow made a special trip to try it, but the proprietress of the weapon shop didn't bother to talk to him at all, so she had no choice but to give up.
There was a lot of snow outside the outpost, and the north wind was blowing even more. Holding the iron-pipe rifle in his hand, Walker bared his teeth, freed his arm to wipe the snow hanging from his bangs and eyebrows, and complained softly.
"It's so windy, it's so exaggerated at the end of September, what's the point?"
Bunny was optimistic, he said with a smile.
"It's probably to test whether the weather system is stable. Is it a plan to say that it doesn't snow in the game world? I wouldn't be surprised if it snows in summer."
Tomorrow glanced at the only perception department in the team, and reminded him.
"You guys should be careful, we are now in a war with the Bloody Hand clan. Although this river is in Wetland Park, it is not far from the north gate. If the predators attack, we may be the first to meet the enemy of."
Walker grinned.
"I'm afraid of those poor guys?! In the forest, we are boss, this is our home field! When the predators come, I'll go up to one—hey, it's not working, there seems to be someone in front of us."
"F*ck? Seriously?!"
Although Walker is not very reliable, this guy's perception is currently the highest among all players.
After receiving Walker's alert, the other three players didn't dare to hesitate, and hurriedly threw the cart down, and the copycats scattered around.
This is not the first time they have teamed up to hunt. It's not the first time you've faced predators, either.
Walker leaned against the tree, his usual hippie smile was gone, only seriousness and vigilance remained.
I saw him poking his head out cautiously, scanning the snow-falling forest, and suddenly locked his eyes on one place. After gesturing in a general direction with his hand, Walker gave the other three teammates a positive look.
"Outflank the past."
"Got it."
Bunny on the outermost side was the first to act, and the four of them moved forward one by one in a tacit understanding, spreading out in a quadrilateral to surround the past.
Ten meters.
Fifteen meters.
Twenty meters!
In the vast snow and mist, a furtive figure finally emerged.
The man was wearing a gray overcoat, a thick cotton felt hat on his head, and an iron pipe rifle on his back. While pressing the brim of the hat that was constantly blown by the wind with his right hand, he was facing the direction of the outpost.
It's not a good thing at first glance!
Tomorrow made a judgment immediately, and before the man noticed them, he immediately drew the bowstring, put an arrow on it, aimed at the man's right arm, and let go of the string with a snap.
There was only a whistling sound. The man had no time to react, and was shot in the thigh by an arrow, and fell to the ground with a painful howl.
"If you don't want to die, don't move!"
Bunny rushed forward first, kicked away the gun he was holding in his hand, and placed the javelin on his head aggressively. The man was terrified and screamed, but he didn't know what he was talking about.
Tomorrow suggested.
"Let's get someone to take him back."
"Let me do it."
Gale raised the crossbow in his hand. Although it is an intelligence system, things like crossbows don't need too many attribute bonuses.
The other three were also very relieved of the carefulness of the wind and did not have any opinions.
Bunny returned to the side of the cart, found a rope and tied it up for the man, and poked his back with a javelin to threaten him.
"If you dare to escape, we will remove your other leg!"
After all, regardless of whether the man understood or not, Bunny handed him over to Gale, and watched as Gale escorted the limping prisoner away towards the outpost.
...
Watching The Cowboy Team leave the outpost earlier, Lucius saw that it was getting late, so he went to the warehouse to chop a crab leg, and found a room in the former nursing home to roast and eat.
In this snowy weather, the food is not so perishable, so there is no problem eating the crab legs for two or three days. This thing is high-quality protein, so you need to eat more of it to gain muscle.
Lucius now has nothing to do every day. He just wears an exoskeleton and walks without turning on the power, or does push-ups and bench presses with a nitrogen-powered hammer on his back to practice his arm strength.
Every time I finish my practice, I go to the bathroom to take a shower, dry the changed clothes, and make some food for myself after dinner. The small life is much more comfortable than when I was on Beit Street.
Although the training marks on his body are not obvious, and the attribute panel has not changed due to the exercise, he can still clearly feel that his strength and muscle coordination have improved slightly.
Lucius speculated that the data scanned and summarized by the physical examination equipment mainly measure the "Basic hardware" of the body, and exercise may provide efficiency bonuses for the hardware in the form of BUFF.
For example, "Strength +3%" or "Strength +5%" and the like. When the base value of the attribute is larger, the effect of exercise is more obvious. And for players of the strength gene sequence, exercise can also accumulate the development progress of the gene sequence and break through the boundaries of hardware.
At present, Lucius's strength attribute is 10, and the hardware foundation is almost 200% of that of a normal adult male ( Base value 5). Even without any skills, and the coordination of muscles cannot be maximized, he can easily crush opponents of the same weight by virtue of attributes.
If he meets the Crawler again, even without the exoskeleton and nitrogen-powered hammer, Lucius won't say how easy it is to win, at least he won't be as embarrassed as before.
But. This assumption is also unlikely to hold. After all, let alone going out, even if he was in the outpost, he would wear the exoskeleton under the buckskin coat when he was free.
It's just that I don't turn on the power at ordinary times, and it's just a weight training.
Two kg of the crab legs weighing 3 kg were shells, but the remaining 1 and a half kg of crab meat was quite solid. After eating, Lucius clapped his hands and extinguished the fire.
Just at this time, a player walked in from the outside, holding down an aborigine in a coat.
After escorting the captives to the main building of the nursing home, Gale stood at attention with a serious face and reported to the administrator.
"Dear Master Manager...we have captured a predator scout!"
"Captive?"
Lucius wiped his mouth, squinted his eyes and looked at the person in front of him.
I saw that the man was covered with snow, mud and dead leaves, with a broken arrow stuck in his thigh, half of his trousers were stained red with dark red blood, he looked very embarrassed.
He gritted his teeth and said.
"Is this how you treat guests?"
"Hospitality is for the guests."
Lucius felt that he didn't look like a predator, but he also didn't look like a nearby scavenger, so he continued in an interrogative tone.
"Who are you? Why did you enter our territory? There are signs at the three entrances of Wetland Park, which clearly state that no one else is allowed to enter. Even if you can't read, you should recognize the skull logo."
"I'm here to mediate!"
"Mediate?" Lucius squinted his eyes, and said in a bad tone, "Are you a man from Bloody Hand clan?"
"No! I don't belong to anyone!"
Sensing the unkindness in that tone, the man hurriedly clarified, but the wound was too painful, and when his emotions got agitated and his muscles were involved, he grinned again in pain.
It took a long time to recover, the man tried to stay awake, and squeezed out half a word from his teeth.
"...Can you treat my wound first? I may be die after a while otherwise."
It's okay if it's die. Seeing how calm you are, your injury wasn't serious.
Lucius had a happy expression, but he didn't make things difficult for him.
He threw 5 silver coins into Gale's hand, and sent the little player away, then he took out a roll of bandages from the blind box from his pocket and threw it to the man.
I haven't tried the hemostatic effect of this thing. Just take him as an experiment.
The man obviously knew how to use this thing. After dismantling it skillfully, he first broke the shaft of the arrow, pierced it into the flesh with the tool inside, and took out the arrow enduring the pain.
The blood came out like a faucet was turned on, and flowed down the trouser legs.
Lucius frowned and couldn't help being speechless, but the man seemed to be fine, and after gritting his teeth and tied the bandage, he was relieved.
"Do you feel better?"
"Better," The man nodded, took a deep breath, and continued the topic just now, "My name is Harvey, a businessman from Red River Town."
"Why do the merchants in Red River Town mix with the predators?" Lucius looked at him with great interest, and continued, "And it must be fifty or sixty kilometers from Red River Town to here."
"Fifty or sixty kilometers? Oh, that's a straight-line distance. If you want to bypass the urban agglomeration, you have to walk at least 130 kilometers! Of course, if you want to be safe, you have to bypass the highway bridge... It's almost 150 kilometers. "
"So?" Lucius looked at him and raised his chin, "You didn't answer my question, why did you hang out with predators?"
"Hey, it's not that we're together, it's just...we have some business contacts."
Harvey's eyes were a little wandering, and he continued after a moment of embarrassment.
"Well, let me be blunt. I am a businessman...or an employee of the Horseshoe Firm in Red River Town. Because of the boss, we occasionally do business with some trusted predator tribes in the southern part of River Valley Province. Mainly with It’s related to population. Don’t look at me like that, without us, those captives wouldn’t survive the winter at all, at least we gave them a chance to be human again!”
"So you are in the slave business?" Lucius touched his chin with interest, but he didn't show his interest on his face.
"That's right!" Harvey nodded and continued, "This time I was sent by the boss to Spring City to buy some slaves from them. But when I got here, I heard that you are at war?"
Lucius smiled kindly and said.
"Yes, and the enemy of your trading partner is thinking about something right now. Suppose your boss doesn't know you've been here—"
Harvey swallowed and interrupted Lucius nervously.
"I know what you're trying to say, but it doesn't make sense. People die every day in the wasteland, and my death doesn't matter to my boss."
"Yes?"
"Compared with how to deal with me, don't you want to hear my proposal first?"
"Okay, I am listening."
Harvey continued speaking quickly.
"The Bloody Hand clan wants to have a truce with you. They are willing to pay a ransom of 20 chips for each captive...Of course, if they are missing arms or legs, they are only willing to pay half of it."
"Oh, and what about the contract they gave you?"
"Mine? Contract? What contract—"
"Okay, stop pretending," Lucius said impatiently at Harvey who was pretending to be stupid, "Do you think you can fool me? You said that people die every day in the wasteland, and someone will Is life blocked by something that is not good? Or is it good for you that our truce?"
Harvey said with a smile, "I didn't deliberately hide it... It's just that I really don't have a contract with them. Well, I'm telling the truth, his leader promised me that as long as I can bring their people back, they are willing to take those wounded cheap 'Handling' for me. But it's actually good for you too, isn't it?"
"No one wants to fight in the snow, and your neighbors are also very troubled by the terrible weather. Why don't you sit down and have a good talk. In fact, it's not an endless conflict. The misunderstanding inside will definitely be resolved."
"I took the captives back to the business, you got a sum of war compensation, and shook hands with your neighbors... All three of us can win!"
Lucius smiled. But the arc of the corner of the mouth is cold.
Misunderstand? Untie?
Hahaha. He had never heard such a funny joke.
If he hadn't met him, and happened to meet this group of players, if it was another survivor stronghold, let alone what would happen to men and women, even the bones would have been sucked clean.
Make peace? Those people are nothing more than waiting for an opportunity. For example, the snow stopped.
"Mr. Harvey, I feel that you are making me laugh. Reconcile with the predators? Do you believe what you said?"
Harvey's expression was a little embarrassed. In fact, before he walked into this outpost, he already had a hunch that this group of people was different from the survivor strongholds he had been to before.
Walls, trenches, sentries on duty, hunting sentries... No one here is a professional soldier, but everyone seems to be able to fight very well, and the most important thing is to dare to fight.
They wear blue coats, but they have no illusions about the kindness of the world. This negotiation is likely to collapse...
"I understand. You have your own difficulties. If you can't talk about it, I won't force you...Can you let me go? I will keep everything I see." Harvey made a speech in a second. The judgment of stop loss.
However, Lucius didn't speak, just stared at his eyes without moving, and just stared at him for a long time. The latter felt terrified at being watched, only felt that a creeper was staring at him, and sweat gradually oozes from his back. Unable to bear the pressure, he opened his mouth with trembling lips.
"Even if you kill me, you won't do any good...Why bother? I have no grievances with you, you can continue to fight, and I promise not to get involved anymore."
"But it doesn't do any harm either."
For a moment, Harvey felt that his heart stopped beating. However, Lucius's next sentence ignited his hope of life again.
"You said, you are in the slave business?"
"Yes, yes!" As if grabbing a life-saving straw, Harvey nodded in a panic, "Do you need slaves? I can help you! We not only import slaves, but also export them. We also provide door-to-door delivery. You need-"
"Follow me."
Seeing the man walking out of the door, Harvey was forced to stop talking, swallowed, dragged his lead-filled legs, and limped to follow.
The snow fell harder and harder outside, and the wind blew on his face like a knife, especially on the wound. Harvey felt as if his blood was about to be frozen. Fortunately it wasn't very far.
The man led him to a simple shack, and after talking to the old man on duty at the door, he saw the old man nodded, turned back to the house, and took out a wooden box.
Lucius weighed the weight of the box, and then handed it to Harvey.
Harvey, who took the box, felt his hands sinking, and looked at the man who handed him the box in puzzlement.
"……This is?"
"Open it and have a look."
There was an ominous premonition in his heart, but Harvey still freed up a hand and opened the box. When he saw the ornaments made of finger bones in the box, the blood in his whole body seemed to freeze, and his face lost its color.
He, who has dealt with predators all the year round, of course recognizes these things.
Those people would treat the index finger of their prey as a trophy, dry it and wash it to make it into an ornament and hang it on their body, as inseparable as lifeblood.
Those blue-skinned Devils! Not a single one was left...
"Winter is coming, and I don't have so many cells here. I'm afraid you can only find the prisoners you want from here."
Looking at Harvey, who seemed to have lost his soul, Lucius smiled casually.
"Let's make a deal."
"I promise, you'll get a large group... and a large group of captives, behave yourself in front of your boss, go to the pinnacle of your career, and if you're lucky, even say goodbye to your head on your belt life."
"And I, can solve the troubles in the north once and for all."
......
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