Chapter 183.1: The Ark Project
[Server announcement: Administrator Dawn has completed the takeover of Shelter 117, and a new stronghold "Shelter 117" has been added to the VM map.]
[Flower Garden Street subway platform map is open: The intertwined subway network is a symbol of Clearspring City’s former prosperity, but now it has become a breeding ground for mutants and Slime Mold, Crunchers, Creepers, Suicide Bombers, and even terrifying Tyrants, Barbarians living underground and plague-spreading rats... There is no concept of night and day here. It has a unique ecological environment, and the risk factors here will be twice that of the surface! However, at the same time, there may be unexpected treasures hidden in this labyrinth connected to the abyss...]
[Warm reminder from Xia Yan: I once lost a leg here. If you must explore this place, do it with your teammates together. At least, you won’t die alone.]
About half an hour after the administrator entered Shelter 117, almost all players with VMs received the series of reminders at the same time.
"Holy shit! A new map has been opened?!”
"The underground labyrinth connected to the abyss, nice… But why don’t I feel that it’s not dangerous at all?"
"That’s because the mutants here have been cleared. What do you think Escaping Mole has been doing here this week?"
"Speaking of which, what can you scavenge in the subway?"
"Maybe the pre-war strategic reserves? But it’s been two centuries. I always feel that even if there was such a thing, it would most likely be taken away a long time ago."
"Anyone wants to explore the new map now? This constitution type player is currently waiting for a perception type player to form a team.""Explore my butt! What time do you think it is now? I can do it tomorrow if you want. But now, I have to go back to save my progress. It’s not easy to gain some experience."
"Sigh, if you die, you will lose all your progress for the day. This death penalty is too real!"
In the tunnel.
Looking at the VM, Ample Time cut to the map page. After finding the icon of Shelter 117, he tapped it with his index finger.
When he saw the sub-page that popped up on the screen, he was slightly stunned.
[Stronghold: Shelter 117]
[Stronghold Level: Relic (LV0)]
[Prosperity: ]
[Industrial Index: ]
[Business Index: ]
[Demand: -]
[Tendency: Exploration (Scavenging mission income +10%), Hunting (hunting mission income +10%)]
"Shelter 117’s data card has actually been updated..."
Hearing Ample Time’s voice, Night Ten was dazed. He quickly opened the map, and then a surprised expression immediately appeared on his face. "What the heck? So the stronghold with 0 prosperity also has an information card now?"
If I remember correctly, Don’t you have to reach 100 prosperity to become a survivor stronghold? And here, let alone prosperity, there is not even an NPC.
Gale also noticed the change in the map, and after thinking for a while, he gave his guess. "Maybe shelter is a special existence? Look at the level column, it’s called a Relic."
Ample Time nodded, agreeing with Gale’s analysis. "Mhm, whether it’s the Outpost or Longevity Town, they are called a village… Maybe it’s because the growth route of the shelter is different from the regular survivor strongholds."
For example, it existed as a saving point for the entrance to the underground labyrinth?
As for what it was exactly, they would only know after the announcement on the official website came out.
...
Retaining the Shelter 117 was a decision made by Chu Guang after much deliberation.
Although the area of Shelter 117 was a little smaller, it had everything that a shelter needed. Including full-cycle life support facilities, the configuration that a three-digit shelter should have was readily available.
The reactor burnout was a problem, but not a big one.
Even if he couldn’t make full use of the functions of this shelter, it was not bad to use it as a bridgehead for players to explore the underground world.
Clearspring City’s underground transportation extended in all directions, not only to commute to various urban areas of Clearspring City but also to many civil air defense facilities.
The only trouble was the mutants wandering in the subway tunnels.
The moment Chu Guang removed the VM from the arm of the former administrator of Shelter 117, he realized that his worry was unnecessary.
Because soon, he received a mission reminder from the Shelter System.
[Mission: Refueling the thermonuclear fusion reactor of Shelter 117]
[Reward: Shelter 404 level B3 authority]
Looking at the mission pop-up window that appeared in the field of vision, Chu Guang couldn’t help but complain, "Where am I going to find the fuel rods for the reactor?"
The fuel rods used in the shelter’s reactor were not the same size as those used by the Pioneer.
In other words, it was not possible to recover fuel rods from carbon dioxide traps.
Wrench behind Chu Guang was stunned for a moment, at a loss for what the administrator had said, he quipped, "Sir?"
"...Nothing." Looking at the VM recovered from the administrator of Shelter 117, Chu Guang put it on himself and waited for a while for it to recover a little power.
Then the VM was eventually powered on.
What caught his eye first was the original operating system of the Vital Monitor, and by retrieving the data stored in the black box, he found that the previous administrator died of an overdose of sleeping pills.
The desk was clean, with only three things; a pen holder with two pens, a diary with a brown cover, and an empty goblet.
Chu Guang searched his desk, and soon found an unsealed medicine bottle in the drawer.
Looking at the corpse reclining on the office chair, Chu Guang could roughly make out that the administrator must have taken an obscene amount of sleeping pills, drunk a glass of wine, and quietly waited for his death on this chair.
Chu Guang’s eyes then fell on the diary on the table. He reached out to pick it up, and opened the cover that was covered in a thick layer of dust.
[To the scavengers of the ruined world, the archaeologists of the ruins of utopia, the people who clean up the mess.]
[The administrator of Shelter 117, the grave keeper of Utopia, Seven Villard, rests here.]
[The most desperate tragedy is to witness the end of a great era. A year in the tomb is no different from a hundred years, and I decided to send myself away after the mission was over. If my body hasn’t turned into ashes, please find a place to bury it for me, and you can take everything here, because I won’t be able to use it anyway.]
"What does he mean after the mission is over?" Chu Guang was lost in thought as his index finger moved gently along the line.
Maybe because of the Bloodhand Diary, when he saw something like a diary, Chu Guang couldn’t help but think of the first administrator of Shelter 404.
The recording seems to mention that he was the pioneer of the Great Route, the most learned man in the old world.
Could the diary’s presence here also be because of an arrangement two centuries ago?
There was still some encrypted data in the recovered VM, which Chu Guang intended to take back to study along with the diary.
But there were still three doubts that remained unresolved.
What was the mission of the administrator of Shelter 117?
Where have the people here gone?
And, who is Pritt’s employer?
The latter two questions may be answered from the first question.
After collecting the clues, Chu Guang looked at Wrench standing beside him. "I need to take off this exoskeleton, you can put it on."
Wrench was stunned for a moment. "What about you?"
Looking at the exoframe standing aside, Chu Guang’s mouth curled into a smile. "I have that."
...
The subway tunnel.
Entrance to shelter 117.
When the administrator walked through the alloy giant gate and came out of Shelter 117, it caused quite a commotion among the players.
With the dark blue paint, angular lines, and heavy armor, one could feel the sense of oppression just by looking at it!
"Awesome! Our administrator changed equipment again!"
"Holy cow... This exoframe is too cool!"
"I have a question, is this a spoiler event for the exoframe to eventually appear in the Weapon Store?”
"I strongly demand that the game company launch a set of the same exoframe! I want to buy it!"
"Stop dreaming. Even if you can buy this kind of ultra rare equipment, it will most likely be put in loot boxes..."
"Wuuwuu, can the game company please quickly fix the bugs that don’t allow us to spend money on this game?!"
Taking a look at the exoframe on the administrator’s body, and at the beggar version on his own, Old White looked envious.
In fact, in all fairness, the defense of his armor was not weak. The 20mm steel plate was enough to resist the ordinary bullets, which was sufficient in most cases.
However, it was still not comparable to the one the administrator was wearing. Whether it was defensive power or mobility, the administrator’s exoframe was more than an order of magnitude better than his exoskeleton.
"Sigh, I don’t know when our administrator will change his equipment again."
There was nothing else he wanted. He only hoped that he would be able to get the equipment the administrator had outgrown.
Night Ten suddenly thought of something and asked, "Speaking of which, what about the administrator’s old exoskeleton"
Gale glanced in the direction of the entrance to Shelter 117 and said. "It seems to be worn by the captain of the guards."
Old White sighed, "Damn!"
Isn’t it usually auctioned off by Boss Xia?
How can he give it to another NPC this time?
This is not fair!