Chapter 87 The System Intends to Remove His Nutrient Mud
The teleportation channel was bustling with activity for a day, and finally the last batch of players who had had their fill of fun were sent off. Lin Nanxing rubbed his sore legs and walked out of the staff office building with a tired expression.
The Star Territory suddenly received too many tourists, and there were far too few people. She, who was called the lord but was actually just a brick in the wall, also joined the ranks of helpers and worked in the milk tea shop all day.
After seeing off the enthusiastic tourists, she immediately held a staff meeting to address the shortcomings exposed in the territory that day and to make arrangements for future plans.
Although the first day went very well and most players left satisfied, it wasn't without its flaws.
As Lin Nanxing walked along the road, his steps never stopped, and his mind was constantly replaying the events.
The main problem is the lack of hotels. The rules of Star Territory state that players without a bed are not allowed to stay within the barrier and will be forcibly expelled.
Many players wanted to stay overnight, but were told that the hotel rooms were sold out and they could not purchase any, so they had to leave with regret.
This segment of tourists has suffered a significant loss, as no one can guarantee when they will return.
Lin Nanxing is not short of money; he can build a new hotel with ease. However, how much or how little to build is a skill.
Building too many buildings would be a waste if they were empty, while building too few would easily cause tourists to have negative feelings again.
This troublesome math problem was solved by the evil capitalist who abused her privilege.
Lin Nanxing decisively handed the task to Zhou Qisheng, instructing him to provide a good plan within a week, calculate how many more hotel-type buildings needed to be added to the territory, and rationally integrate them into the overall city layout.
The second drawback is a severe shortage of manpower.
With so many tourists, there's a shortage of people everywhere.
Supermarket staff were extremely busy, restaurants had long queues, and even the receptionist at the water park had lost her voice from talking so much.
However, Lin Nanxing wasn't too worried about manpower. A few days ago, she had poached a big shot in human resources from the original players in Yunpei Town with a hefty sum, and the recruitment advertisement had already been sent to all the safe zones through the teleportation channel.
With high pay and good benefits, her job was considered a legitimate civil servant position before the apocalypse, so she was sure no one would want to take it.
Finally, the third drawback that gave Lin Nanxing the biggest headache was the security issue.
With a large number of players, there's bound to be a mix of good and bad, and a few who don't follow the rules.
Today alone, Shu Yi handled no fewer than three conflicts at the market, ranging from fighting over stalls to transaction disputes, and even theft.
Although she, as the lord, has great authority and can kick anyone out of the territory with a single click, she can't exactly stare at the system panel 24/7 like a surveillance camera, can she?
Previously, the guard team that supported Yunpei Town was mainly tasked with defending the territory and fighting against monsters. They were really not good at dealing with these trivial conflicts within the territory.
After much deliberation, Lin Nanxing adopted Yuan Chengping's suggestion to establish a special security office, headed by the former mayor of Dongyang Town, to handle disputes within the territory and maintain daily order.
She counted on her fingers: the administrative building in charge was there, the hospital had grown from one to five, the school she originally founded had expanded as more children enrolled, and now a police station had been added.
Wow, this setup is getting more and more complete.
Thinking this, she couldn't help but chuckle, muttering, "I'm not playing a post-apocalyptic survival game, I'm practically playing SimCity."
As she was laughing, a sudden flash of inspiration struck her.
Wait a minute! Could this be the system's true intention?
The development of Star Territory has almost entirely followed the guidance of the system's missions.
From small towns to cities, from self-preservation to accepting refugees, and then to building various public facilities, the game opens up different player types.
The system seemed to be guiding her step by step, helping her rebuild the framework of human society's order in this collapsing world.
But if this is truly an endless apocalyptic game, what's the point of restoring order?
An even bolder idea suddenly popped into my head: since it's a game, there should be a time to finish it, right? Could it be that the game progress in this world is almost over?
Lin Nanxing was so shocked by her own guess that she got goosebumps all over her body and her heart started racing. She subconsciously wanted to call the system to ask for clarification, but she held back.
Knowing that guy's usual style, asking him would be pointless; he'd definitely play dead.
She took a few deep breaths and silently suppressed this somewhat startling conjecture.
Regardless of the system's ultimate intentions, and regardless of whether the game will actually be completed, what she needs to do right now is to protect the Star Territory, which has now developed into a city, and live her life well.
*
The first group of players who traveled back and forth through the teleportation portal became unofficial advocates for Star Territory. They praised it to everyone they met in their respective safe zones, describing Star Territory as a paradise in the apocalypse.
Through word of mouth, more and more players went from hesitant to observing to taking action, and began to snap up those seemingly valuable ticket slots.
The types of tourists visiting Star Territory have gradually changed from being exclusively combat-oriented professional players to including casual players, craftspeople, and even families with children.
Long Xueyi and his wife Xie Han are one such couple.
Xie Han is four months pregnant, but in this resource-scarce post-apocalyptic world, she can only maintain basic nutrition by relying on the rations of tasteless nutritional mud.
Pregnancy symptoms were already severe, and with food difficult to swallow, she quickly lost weight, her face turning so pale it was heartbreaking.
Long Xueyi was extremely anxious. He happened to overhear people talking about the Star Territory at the market, saying that there was not only normal food there, but also fruit and fresh meat.
He observed for a few days with some skepticism, until he saw his neighbor return from the Star Territory with bags full of fresh fruits and vegetables and looking radiant. Only then did he make up his mind.
After staying up all night and staking out the location, he finally managed to snag two precious teleportation tickets.
When the white light that had transported them dissipated, the couple found themselves in a tidy little room with a sign on the wall that read "Changing Room".
The two people who were teleported over were still wearing protective suits. After feeling that the temperature here was cool and pleasant and that they didn't have to worry about being burned, they quickly took off their heavy protective suits and changed into light summer clothes from their backpacks.
Pushing open the door to the changing room, a sweet aroma wafted out. Right across from it, a simply and clean shop had a sign that read "Xingxing Milk Tea Branch".
"Honey, is that a bubble tea shop across the street?! Am I seeing things?" Xie Han blinked incredulously. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen a bubble tea shop, a shop that belonged to the old days.
Long Xueyi had already inquired about the situation in the Star Territory before he came, so he wasn't surprised. Instead, he took his wife's hand and walked towards the milk tea shop: "Let's go, let's buy two cups of milk tea first."
The two walked into the shop with curiosity. The interior was clean and bright, but behind the counter, there were not the cluttered tools they had imagined. There was only a smiling waitress and a simple silver machine.
"Welcome! Here's the menu. See what you'd like to drink?" The waiter handed over a glowing tablet.
Long Xueyi cautiously glanced at the menu. Pearl milk tea, jasmine milk green tea, passion fruit double shot, and so on. The menu had a wide variety of milk teas, and the names all conveyed a long-lost sense of familiarity.
He ordered a signature milk tea and a lemon honey tea for his wife, which is said to relieve morning sickness.
The waiter put the tablet away, and she tapped it a few times on the machine panel, which emitted a slight running sound.
In just a few dozen seconds, two half-packaged drinks slid out of the spout, with fine water droplets still condensing on the cup walls. The milk tea looked exactly the same as I remembered.
The waiter opened the refrigerator next to him: "Would you like some ice?"
Long Xueyi stared at the seemingly normal-looking milk tea and couldn't help but ask, "Excuse me, my wife is pregnant and can't eat just anything. I want to double-check if this is safe and if it contains any additives."
Upon hearing this, the waiter subconsciously glanced at the woman's slightly protruding belly next to him and smiled understandingly: "Don't worry, all our milk teas are produced by the system and are absolutely safe and healthy. Just like nutritional puree, although the taste is terrible and the appearance is ugly, it is actually rich in nutrients and the quality is fine. Ours is the same."
Xie Han, however, was not as cautious as her husband. She eagerly took the cup of lemon tea and carefully took a sip.
The sweet taste of honey and the slightly sour taste of lemon melted in her mouth, and the cool sensation instantly soothed her nausea that had lasted for days.
"It's so delicious!" she exclaimed instinctively, then took a big gulp. The slightly sour taste of the lemon seemed to awaken her long-lost appetite.
Seeing the rare look of satisfaction on his wife's face, Long Xueyi's tense nerves finally relaxed. He thanked the waiter, paid the bill, and picked up his own cup of milk tea.
The two walked out of the store with their drinks in hand. Standing on the clean and refreshing stone-paved road, almost identical to the old streets in their memories, Xie Han took a deep breath of the air, which was filled with the fragrance of bamboo leaves. She turned around and asked impatiently, "Honey, where do we go next?"
Long Xueyi was prepared. He smiled and took out a neatly folded itinerary from his pocket: "I have already planned it. I asked a friend who arrived earlier to book a hotel for us in advance. We will check in at the hotel first, and then go to the shopping street. I heard that the bamboo crafts and park there are worth seeing."
"Anything else? Anything else?" Xie Han's eyes lit up, as excited as when she was in love.
Long Xueyi affectionately put his arm around her shoulder. "Don't rush, I've also booked the family pool area at the water park. We can relax there when we get tired of walking around."
"Also, there's a massage and physiotherapy center here with a really good reputation. Haven't you been complaining of lower back pain lately? I'll take you there this afternoon to get some relief."
Xie Han became more and more excited as she listened, and a rare blush appeared on her pale and thin face.
Seeing his wife like this, Long Xueyi felt a pang of sadness. She hadn't been this happy in a long time since she became pregnant.
He suppressed his bitter feelings and said with a smile, "Don't worry, I booked a room for a whole week. We can take our time and experience everything you want to do."
Time flies when you're having fun, and by the time the couple came out of the water park, it was already lunchtime.
Long Xueyi took Xie Han directly by elevator to the revolving buffet restaurant on the top floor of the Xingxing Hotel, which is said to be the fastest expanding hotel.
Grilled steak, stir-fried vegetables, bamboo shoot stew with meat, mushroom soup, braised pork, and many other home-style dishes that were once scorned before the game's arrival have now become the signature dishes of the buffet restaurant.
When Xie Han saw the dazzling array of fresh dishes on the rotating dining table, her eyes welled up with tears. To hell with the nutritional stuff, this is what people should eat.
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