Watching the increasingly rich game content, and the battles getting bigger and bigger with more and more weapon types, the many cloud players could only wait agonizingly.
People in the community kept offering to buy or rent accounts and equipment from beta players, with the highest offer reaching 40,000 soft sister coins per day; who knows which rich guy it was.
But there was no other way, the population could only increase slowly. Electricity, production capacity, plus precious water resources, were all important factors limiting the population.
On the fifth day, the second 'Barbarian' was completed. Caoyuan generously gave it to Ma Lou.
6 new players joined, three of whom were internal recommendations from existing players, and three were from the community's open selection.
After getting familiar with the environment, they excitedly went to the old players to learn how to use weapons, and then ran outside the camp to practice shooting with tens of thousands of bullets left by the Raiders.
Lu Yuan improved the task chain for new employees. Now, one only needed to spend half a day, complete a few training tasks, and then pass the test at the shooting range to receive the deluxe starter kit: combat uniform + 'Madman' automatic rifle + 'Softball Player' grenade launcher + 'Spike' sniper rifle.
As for the old players acting as instructors, they could receive a large amount of experience based on the number of their apprentices.
Currently, the camp is self-sufficient. Supplies are neither scarce nor excessive. The economic model has transitioned from primitive gathering to an early tribal model, and there is no need to introduce currency for the time being.
However, it is necessary for the new players to understand that effort corresponds to reward, rather than freely enjoying the fruits of others' labor.
Lu Yuan watched the new recruits practicing shooting when he received a message in his tactical helmet.
【Nan Guo de Xue】: I have a few inventions I need to show you. I'm in the main factory building.
What is it? Being so mysterious?
Lu Yuan came to the largest factory building and saw Nan Guo de Xue taking out three weapons from the 3D printer.
“Jubian and I upgraded the 'Madman' and 'Spike',” she said, pointing to the newly made automatic rifle and sniper rifle. “We changed the propellant from smokeless gunpowder to ONC, which is octanitrocubane.”
“If I remember correctly, this should be a high-energy explosive? Oh, by the way, is your arm okay?”
Nan Guo de Xue shook her head with a slight smile.
“It's been fine for a long time now, thank you for the Executive Officer's concern. You're right, ONC is one of the most powerful conventional explosives, with a detonation velocity of up to 10,000 m/s. Without changing the charge amount, it can increase the projectile's kinetic energy by at least 4 times. For this, we designed new specifications for the ammunition, increased the casing thickness, and the weight and length of the projectile, and also redesigned the bolt and barrel,”
“Hmm…”
Lu Yuan saw that the magazines of the two guns were indeed different in shape, and the barrels were also thickened to adapt to the higher chamber pressure.
The new sniper rifle rounds were as long as a dagger, truly ferocious.
Nan Guo de Xue: “However, this will also multiply the recoil. Currently, only Caoyuan and players wearing exoskeletons can handle it.”
“Then let Caoyuan use it first. What's the other one, a crossbow?” Lu Yuan looked at the third weapon.
“Yes.”
Nan Guo de Xue lifted the weapon. It looked quite heavy.
“A modern compound crossbow, using special alloy limbs, with a very high draw weight of 1700 pounds, and a sufficiently long draw length.”
Lu Yuan: “Humans can't even pull this back…”
“That's fine, it's cocked by an electric winch, and the battery is in the shoulder rest. However, even so, the projectile's kinetic energy only slightly exceeds that of a sniper rifle. The real innovation is here.”
Nan Guo de Xue picked up a crossbow bolt that looked like a short spear. Seeing the size of the bolt, Lu Yuan understood why such an exaggerated draw weight was needed.
Nan Guo de Xue: “Each crossbow bolt has a built-in small battery and plasma generator, which can generate a high temperature of 100,000 degrees Celsius at the arrowhead. In addition, it has a B mode that can cause the cross-shaped blades to spring open in the air, increasing the cutting range.”
Lu Yuan understood.
This was a single-soldier anti-armor weapon even more ferocious than an RPG!
In comparison, ordinary anti-materiel rifles seemed like toys.
“The lethality is very high, but wouldn't the cost of each crossbow bolt be very high like this?” Lu Yuan raised his question.
“Yes, overall, this is a very expensive weapon, but in the right hands, everything is worth it.”
After speaking, Nan Guo de Xue held the weapon up to Lu Yuan.
“For me?”
“Yes…”
She paused for a few seconds.
“The Executive Officer is also very powerful when clearing dungeons, so please accept it.”
Huh? Is my output that dazzling? Or do they think that as an NPC, I might trigger a bug that doesn't consume ammunition?
Lu Yuan had such a thought.
They were testing 'program vulnerabilities' so quickly!
“Okay, then I'll accept it.” He didn't say much more and accepted the gift. “Also, let Caoyuan come and get his new weapon.”
The time came to two o'clock in the afternoon.
Caoyuan changed to his new weapon and also brought the six fresh recruits who had just completed their combat training.
Finally, Cangyuan Future Technology had assembled a team of 16 people, giving a somewhat mighty feeling.
“What's the situation around the camp? Are there any suspicious communications or convoys?”
Before the entire team entered the dungeon, Lu Yuan first needed to confirm that no one was planning to attack the camp next.
Although the main task recently was to clear dungeons, Caoyuan and Ma Lou still took the time to place some drone base stations, initially establishing a monitoring and early warning network.
Caoyuan: “Within an 80-kilometer radius, there are no suspicious enemy activities.”
“Very good.”
Lu Yuan looked at everyone.
“Today, both our firepower and personnel have been greatly enhanced. My intuition tells me that the Mechanical Hive buried deep underground is already close at hand.”
“Let's not waste any more words. I hope everyone is in high spirits. Let's go!”
“Oh oh oh!”
Two exoskeleton players jogged, while the others rode mechanical pack beasts, charging into the dungeon with great momentum.
At this moment, it was 7:15 PM in reality, and Ye Xing's live stream was lively.
Many people saw the new weapon on the Executive Officer's back and started the no-prize guessing game.
“That thing the Executive Officer is carrying on his back… is it a crossbow?”
“Yes, it's definitely a crossbow.”
“So, every game has to include a high-tech crossbow? Is this some kind of romance?”
“Look at those thick and long crossbow limbs, the power should be great.”
“No matter how powerful, it can't shoot through the mechanical race.”
“This is probably to limit the NPC's strength. As the faction leader, the Executive Officer's attributes must be much higher than the players'. If he's also equipped with a good weapon, wouldn't he just rampage through the dungeon!”
Lu Yuan silently watched the live stream in the small projection window and smiled slightly.
Your imagination is quite rich!
Excluding the 6 new recruits who joined today, the remaining 10 people were already well-coordinated.
Soon, the team encountered small monsters.
“Everyone pay attention, let's go!”