A bonfire of logs burns.

Mars floated into the sky with the heat wave.

The herdsmen beat the leather drums and played the bone flutes in front of the fire, and the young dancers, with light veils on their faces, performed a dance on the snow for the New Year.

Guards, workers, and gamers who lived near the outpost also joined in with food and spirits bought from the market.

Although there is only one glass of free red wine, there is a lot of distilled wine in the warehouse.

A long time ago, players used Polygonum grass to make koji and croissants as materials to brew distilled wine.

Compared with the red wine that takes time to taste, it is indeed this kind of hot-tasting, hot-blooded spirit, which is more popular among wastelanders.

It's just that drinking the red and the white together really few people can stand it.

For a while, the market at the north gate was stumbling around.

Boss Sumeria still wanted to drink, but she had already fallen asleep on the table.

Worried that she would catch a cold, Yuki, who is very caring, went to the bank to get a blanket, and tiptoed to cover her shoulders.

A brazier was placed under the table.

Yuki patted her on the back, and said in a tone like coaxing a child.

"Don't drink so much next time, okay?"

However, Boss Sumeria, who was already asleep, obviously didn't listen, and he didn't know what kind of dream she had. The corners of her lips curled up slightly, and she kept sipping.

"Hey... I want more."

Not far away, a taster was anxiously looking for a toilet.

A little further away, a player wailed as if his throat was on fire.

"Water! Hiccup - give me water!"

Red Face Boxer lay on the ground and yelled, until The Boy On The Construction Site stuffed a lump of snow into his mouth, which made the guy physically stop.

Red Face Boxer looked like a mask of pain, and he said alone.

"Damn, what is it because of, I feel my stomach growling!"

Looking at his swollen belly Edge Paddle couldn't help but complain.

"How much did you eat?"

"Not much, just 100 peace," Red Face Boxer hiccupped and said in a vague voice, "But why do you have to eat it again in reality when you have already eaten it in the game?"

Edge Paddle: "..."

The Boy On The Construction Site: "..."

Is this a question that a player from Department of Intelligence can ask??

Tomorrow, who was drunk, sat crookedly on the wooden chair and started his improvisation.

Listening to the iron-like percussion music of the nomads and the long bone flute, he tapped the beat with his index finger on the table and hummed the newly composed ballad in his mouth.

"Hmm..."

"The gears of heaven fell into the furnace."

"Boiling molten steel splashed from the pot."

"The undead natural disaster never stops."

"We will reforge the kingdom of mortals."

"..."

The hoarse voice was dried out, like a violin being pulled by a saw blade, but in the rough accompaniment, there was an unexpected rhythmic ups and downs.

It's like half a bottle of strong wine in your throat.

Like a forge with the sound of hammering iron.

Tomorrow forgot the words in the middle of singing, and the booing players next to him continued to make up, just like this one sentence after another, and suddenly came up with a song.

It's just that the more you go to the back, the more outrageous the song becomes.

Although they couldn't understand what the residents of the shelter were singing, the surrounding aborigines also babbled and sang.

The singing dispelled the cold. It also breaks down the barriers between people.

Even with a completely different culture.

People's yearning for a better life and the pursuit of better things are the same.

The heat wave and the flames are reflected on the face, and everyone sitting together does not distinguish between each other and you and me at this moment.

The drunk Aries patted Yugin's shoulder, his face illuminated by the fire was as red as a monkey's butt.

"Dude, am I right? It's a great life here!"

Yugin also drank a little too much, and burped drunkenly.

"You're right……"

"Next year, next year I will definitely move here!"

On the snow in front of the campfire, a dance ends.

The shy Frostspear tribe girl bowed slightly. But people weren't going to just let her go.

"One more!"

"Put on your crush!"

"Whoa whoa!"

Under the booing and instigation of the people, the young girl of the Frostspear Tribe mustered up her courage, but instead of choosing her dream lover in front of the bonfire, she walked to the dark blue power armor in a mysterious manner.

"May I ask you to dance?"

There was a hint of apprehension in those eyes, like the unlucky kid who lost in a truth or dares.

Lucius gave her a slightly surprised look, and then joked in a gentle tone.

"I can't dance in my outfit, find someone who can keep up with you."

The young girl blushed, turned, and ran away like a frightened animal.

Hena, who was standing with her arms folded and observing, looked at Lucius curiously.

"Why don't you dance?"

A little dissatisfied with this guy's eyes looking at the animal world, Lucius rolled his eyes at her.

"Do you know how much power it takes to dance in a ton of power armor?"

It is not impossible to not turn on the power supply, it is probably similar to weight training, but even if 70 to 80% of the weight can be transferred to the supporting structure of the power armor, driving such a heavy armor without the help of a motor also requires a lot of strength. And it's easy to hurt others.

It was not without reason that Lucius chose to stand there as a background board.

"But in this way, you won't be able to enjoy the celebration." Hena reminded.

"You don't understand, this is how I enjoy the celebration."

For a Manager, what could make him feel more happy than watching the settlements' happy environment, and the residents live and work in peace and contentment?

This is the highest level of enjoyment.

Hena was lost in thought.

That expression seemed to recall the past in shelter 117.

At this moment, Tom's teasing came from behind him.

"You broke a girl's heart."

Lucius ignored his teasing, but gave him a strange look.

"Why are you back again?"

"I'm just going back to get something."

Tom took out a small robot with four short legs, a square head and a square brain from behind.

"The college doesn't celebrate the New Year, it only celebrates great discoveries, but you seem to have a custom of celebrating the New Year here... It just so happens that I finished it too, so let's treat it as a New Year's gift to you."

Surprise was written all over Lucius's face, and he reached out to take the little robot over.

Different from the original one, there is an extra camera on the boxy head.

Now it's not just laser mapping of nearby terrain, users wearing neural connection devices can also share their vision with the help of its cameras.

Although it is only a small change, the practicality has more than doubled.

Now this little robot is much more powerful than the original one!

Looking at Lucius who was playing with the little robot in his hand with great interest, Tom continued.

"Reptile, that's what I call it, or you have a better name. Compared with the original little robot, it has an extra eye, but other things haven't changed much."

"Thank you." Lucius sincerely expressed his gratitude.

Tom coughed lightly and said.

"You don't need to thank me. I got all the materials from you. I just helped you deal with them."

Having said that, he remembered another important thing, so he continued.

"By the way, its power source is a metal-hydrogen battery... You don't seem to have a lot of reserves in your shelter, only forty or fifty. If you have a chance, you can get some more, that's a good thing."

Lucius made a helpless expression.

"I don't need you to tell me that."

Metal-hydrogen batteries produced by enterprises contain a number of Class A technologies, which are very popular everywhere.

At present, only solid-state hydrogen batteries can be independently produced by Jushicheng. If you want to buy metal hydrogen batteries, you can only hope that the caravan from the east coast can bring some.

Lucius bought dozens of them from Pioneer before, planning to use them as exoskeletons.

But right now, what his players need most is not exoskeletons, but cheap and easy-to-use equipment, as well as industrial equipment that can produce these equipment, so this matter has been shelved.

Looking at the robot in his hand, Lucius suddenly remembered a very serious matter.

"If this thing explodes..."

Tom answered with a relaxed tone.

"It's about the equivalent of 6 kilograms of TNT, and the power should be able to cover... er, a football field?"

Lucius: "???"

F*ck? !

Without saying a word, he stuffed the robot into Tom's hand, and Lucius moved half a step to the side calmly.

"You hold it for me first."

Looking at the returned robot in his hand, Tom was stunned for a moment, with a dumbfounding expression on his face.

"Don't get excited... This thing is not that easy to explode. And 6 kg TNT is a theoretical equivalent, without a primer and a combustion aid, how can it really reach that power... This is not a bomb."

There are at least two B-level technologies between the metal hydrogen battery and the metal hydrogen shell, and the oxygen in the air is simply not enough to completely react the hydrogen in the metal state.

And you are afraid of a hammer in power armor!

But Lucius didn't listen to his explanation so much, he just wanted to stay away from this guy.

Um. One more rule will be added in the future.

Metal-hydrogen powered robots and exoskeletons are prohibited from staying in shelters for extended periods of time.

...

Abandoned department store.

More than a thousand beds are crowded in the empty hall.

The New Year's song does not float here, and no one sings, only the crackling fire, and the mother coaxing the child to sleep.

This is a temporary shelter for the refugees, and they can only stay here temporarily before the end of the cold winter.

Thanks to the wood sent by the blue coats, the survivors who temporarily lived here used the wood to repair the damaged walls and floor-to-ceiling doors and windows, and finally made it airtight.

Some of the remaining wood was chopped into firewood, or burned into charcoal, and thrown into the red brick furnace together with the fire.

The blazing flames brought a ray of hard-won light and warmth to the empty hall.

Although the environment here is a bit rough, at least it is free from snow and hunger.

The refugees from the central and northern parts of the Valley Province, the survivors of the Winter Willow Camp and the Green Battery Factory, are very grateful to those blue coats.

Fleeing troops from the front lines, predators from the Bone Chew Tribe, and a vicious chaos everywhere destroyed their homes, burning their fields and houses.

If it weren't for the blue coats, they might have either frozen to death on the road or fell into the frying pan of the marauders.

Of course, they can only represent themselves. Not everyone is grateful for the status quo, either.

Of the five survivor settlements in the first batch of relocation plans, only two were actually attacked by predators, and the residents of the other three survivor settlements did not even see the presence of predators. Been there, moved here only out of fear.

More than a month has passed since the first snowstorm, and even if no one died in the cold, some people suffered frostbite from working in the cold.

The abysmal weather still has no end in sight, but the supply of supplies is getting tighter and tighter, and rumors that there is not much food are often heard.

After a long time, it is inevitable that some people will whisper in their hearts.

Is it really necessary to relocate?

Those survivor settlements that have not been relocated seem to be doing well.

"I'm always worried that the house will collapse."

Looking at the stone chips falling from the ceiling, the man wrapped in a torn bedding couldn't help but say.

In fact, he didn't really think that the building would collapse, but just wanted to find something unlucky to vent his dissatisfaction with the bad life.

However, these words affected the people around them somewhat.

Looking at the dilapidated ceiling, many people showed worried expressions on their faces, exchanged scared eyes, and whispered in low voices.

"How long do we have to stay here..."

"Those blue coats say that we have to stay here until Spring."

"Why don't you let us live in Starwood Farm? This is different from what was agreed at the beginning."

"They said there wasn't enough room..."

"Oh, it's not that we can't build our own house, I think they just want to keep the trouble away."

Many of them are residents of the House of Scavengers and the Mount Hope Cooperative.

Compared with the Winter Willow Camp, the Green Battery Factory, and the Highway Town, these two survivor settlements are located a little further south, and one is hidden on the edge of the urban area, and the other is hidden in the mountains and forests.

Now some people feel that those predators may not be able to find their home so easily.

After all, their eyes do not grow in the sky, and not all survivor settlements will be looted...

Maanji, the village head of the Winter Willow Camp, saw that the dissatisfaction was spreading, and in order to avoid affecting his own people, he immediately came out to appease everyone and said.

"Don't say such things, it hasn't collapsed for more than two hundred years, how could it collapse at this time!"

At this time, a discordant voice suddenly came from the side.

"That's not good. This year's snow is so heavy, what if the building is blown down?"

The person who spoke was Karl from the House of Scavengers, and one of the more influential scavengers there. Maanji recognized this person.

Seeing him frowning, Maanji said in a deep voice.

"What do you want to say?"

The man in the fur coat pouted.

"What do I want to say? I also want to ask, what are we for? To fight against those predators from the north? Or to work for those blue coats?"

Maanji was taken aback.

Before the old man came back to his senses, someone followed closely behind him.

"Maybe the Bone Chew Tribe won't come at all."

"That's right, isn't there still eight survivors who haven't moved their residences? I think they are staying in their own homes quite well..."

There's food here for everyone, but staying here isn't free.

They need to go to the factory to work, and then get a few coins that they don't know what to do with, and they can't buy what they need.

Even if the blue coats promise that the money will be useful in the Spring of the coming year, in their eyes, it is no different from fake promises.

Since those blue coats are really going to pay them, why not use chips?

If not, the toilet paper on the East Coast will do, at least maybe someone will ask for it.

Complaints are pervasive.

This is not a day or two.

Out of fear of the Bone Chew Tribe, they accepted the arrangement of the Blue Coats and moved here according to the arrangement.

But it's been a month. Many people did not see the predators.

Except for the intensified blizzard and the hard days when I don't know when, nothing happened.

Some people even speculated maliciously whether the so-called Bone Chew Tribe's invasion of Spring City was a lie from the very beginning.

The sleeping child was awakened and cried, and the mother coaxed her in a panic, not daring to say anything to the noisy people.

Looking at the few people who became more and more emotional, some survivors who had seen it with their own eyes and even had wounds on their bodies wanted to refute it, but they didn't dare to speak out.

Just then, someone stood up.

"My eldest brother is dead."

Maybe they heard the word death.

There was a loud noise.

Facing the pair of eyes looking over at him, Mali was silent for a while, and then slowly continued.

"The predators bayoneted open his stomach because he refused to surrender."

Maanji sighed softly and closed his eyes in pain.

That was his child.

It was also the last thing he wanted to remember.

Mali paused, and continued to speak.

"I didn't know until later, and I didn't even see his body until the end."

"I have never actually seen the predators of the Bone Chew Tribe with my own eyes, and have heard only a few rumors of their brutality."

"But if you want to say it's a lie, tell me, where is my eldest brother? Where are the people who didn't make it here?"

"Hoping that they won't come back is not only naive, it's ridiculous, it's not even self-deception."

"Those residents of the shelter, they could have stayed out of it, as long as the gate is closed, let alone the people of the Bone Chew Tribe, even if the legion drives the tanks above their heads, they can sit back and relax and wait until those people die of old age come out."

No one can open the shelter from the outside until it is actively opened.

In the wasteland, this is accepted common sense.

Seeing that the number of people who supported him was reduced by half in an instant, Karl bit the bullet and was about to say something when a mother holding a child also stood up.

"I've seen it too."

She sat next to the group at the Green Battery Factory.

Her voice trembled, like an angry lioness, her eyes 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 in order to protect us."

The hall was silent.

Even the noisiest people, being watched by pairs of eyes, involuntarily fell silent.

People recalled the horror of that day.

Karl's Adam's apple twitched, and a flash of anger from embarrassment flashed across his face.

He knew he was wrong. But that doesn't mean he likes being educated.

Especially someone who looks much weaker than him.

Looking at the two groups of people in the stalemate, Nolan, who folded his arms, shook his head, and was about to go forward to say something, but was stopped by Tommy who was standing beside him.

"What are you going to do?" Said the lame old man, staring at him.

Nolan said straightforwardly.

"Someone needs to persuade them. I'm afraid they will turn into a physical conflict in a while."

This is wasteland. No amount of words are as effective as fists.

Nomila who was standing by the side shook her head slightly when she heard her son's words.

"It's not something we should manage."

"But……"

"Go and notify the guards and let them handle it."

At this moment, the main entrance 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 overcoats and carrying rifles walked in carrying an iron frame. There is some carbon in the iron shelf.

Behind them, there are several residents of the shelter.

Even without the blue coat, they can recognize the energetic temperament.

"Happy New Year!"

"New Year's gift! Keep everyone waiting!"

Tail shook happily, but finally took off the hat, made a "sesame paste" noise, and boldly bent down to pick it up.

Tail standing at the door turned his head and glanced at Sisi next to him.

"Tail thought it was some kind of mission, but it turned out to be running errands."

The promised hidden mission! She even brought her equipment!

"Emmm...Compared to being forced to go offline because of a bad stomach, Sisi thinks it would be better for Tail to blow the cold wind."

Everyone in the hall was taken aback.

Including the two groups of people in the confrontation, they also froze there.

They didn't understand what the blue coats were saying at all.

Fortunately, at this moment, the guard who put down the barbecue grill came to the rescue in time, and stepped forward to speak in human language.

"Today is the last day of 211!"

"The Manager asked me to send you New Year's gifts. Thank you for your cooperation. We have survived the most difficult days."

Everyone in the shelter whispered.

"New Year's gift?"

"What is that?"

This time they understood, but their faces were still blank.

The young guard didn't explain anything, and politely signaled to the "Player" next to him wearing a chef's hat to start.

The charcoal fire was lit, and Scrambled Eggs were brushed with a layer of oil on the iron rack, and then the palm-sized crab cakes were placed on the iron rack.

"Everyone line up and come one by one."

"There's enough stuff."

"Everyone has a share!"

The guards maintained order at the scene and led everyone to form a long queue.

The sound of oil is sizzling, the smell of meat permeates the hall, and the soft and delicious crab cakes have an indescribable taste of happiness.

There is still meat to eat!

All rumors about food shortages are self-defeating.

Almost everyone's eyes were imprinted with longing.

Looking at the meatloaf in his hands, Karl couldn't help but feel ashamed, and those who followed him before were all silent and lowered their heads to eat the meatloaf.

Standing at the door and looking hungry, Tail couldn't help swallowing, and stared straight at the barbecue grill.

"Is there anything for Tail too?"

Sisi tugged at her clothes.

"It's time to go, everyone at Starwood Farm is still waiting. If you want to eat, I'll order you a takeaway when I get offline later."

"Tail needs to be beef-flavored!"

Alas!

This girl—no, this Tail!

Sisi looked at her in surprise.

"I'm just being polite."

Tail: "Chicken flavor is also available!"

Sisi: "..."

Outside the door.

On the trunk of the 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 Starwood Farm.

Because he was worried that his appearance would scare the residents in the shelter, he was left to watch the supplies on the truck to prevent aliens from coming to steal them.

Before those people left, they repeatedly told him not to eat the mission props.

These people really are so shameless!

I am not a real mouse! Where is the trust between people!

But……

It smells so good. Is it gnocchi?

Feeling the impulse of biological instinct, the strong man decided not to look over there, nor to think about it, but instead looked towards the street beside him.

The street is very quiet.

The white snow under the moonlight is peaceful.

You can't even see the shadow of the alien species here. If it weren't for the damaged buildings and walls, it would be impossible to think that this place is a wasteland.

Sure enough, it's time to enter the server by yourself, isn't it?

I heard that the previous versions fought every day, and the front fell and the back followed. The life professional players who fought all copied the guys, and the resurrection coins were almost finished.

It would have been nice to have come in sooner.

Looking at the quiet street, the big mouse sighed softly and spoke out.

"It's too peaceful."