Chapter 104: More Power? Isn’t This Just Being a High-Level Employee?

Lin Mu took Zhao Jin back to his car and closed the door.

The three Shu Xin sisters stood nearby, their eyes brimming with curiosity. "Do you think Lin Mu isn’t interested in us because we’re not mature enough?"

"Mature? Shu Yi sister is quite mature," one replied.

"Enough of that, we still need to prepare dinner tonight. Let’s go introduce ourselves to them."

Inside the car.

"You’re only twenty-one people?" Lin Mu looked at the group that had appeared with a baffled expression.

Wasn’t this a complete waste?

In Lin Mu’s view, the squad should have had at least eighty members, yet here they were with so few.

"I wish there were more people, but you know, in this game, human nature is the biggest test," Zhao Jin said with a bitter smile. At their peak, their team had reached 120.

The reason was simple: one-third of them were insatiable.

They wanted supplies but didn’t want to work—what a good deal that would be.

In the end, only about forty were left out of the original 120.

After several skirmishes in this area, this was all that remained.

Lin Mu nodded; that much was true.

Without something like the restraining collars, he wouldn’t have dared to manage things this way.

"Let’s get back on topic. From today on, you’ll be responsible for all matters, big and small, in the convoy. You only need to report to me daily."

Wait, did she hear that right?

"You want me to be in charge of the entire convoy? Aren’t you going to keep some authority for yourself?"

"The collars are going to be put on you all anyway. Isn’t delegating authority normal? Besides, if you can enjoy the benefits, why should you burden yourself?"

Zhao Jin’s mouth twitched; that sounded rather reasonable.

Lin Mu waved to 001 standing nearby.

001 approached Zhao Jin and handed her a collar.

Zhao Jin looked at the collar in front of her, took a deep breath, and then put it on herself.

"So, I’m counting on you from now on. By the way, our team previously had three people each responsible for different areas. You can coordinate with them. Of course, the tasks are simple. If possible, you can be more meticulous."

Zhao Jin nodded helplessly.

Talking with Lin Mu like this, being the team leader didn’t seem like such a big deal.

In the end, she still couldn’t escape the fate of a worker bee.

After Lin Mu and Zhao Jin came out, everyone turned to look at them.

They wanted to find any clue about what had happened in the room.

But when they saw the two dressed cleanly and neatly, their curiosity immediately faded.

"001 will cooperate with you regarding the collars. I hope you won’t disappoint me," Lin Mu said, patting her shoulder before heading towards Zhang Qian.

Watching Lin Mu’s back, she sighed deeply.

"Hope I made the right choice."

...

"Captain, we’ve been driving for two hours now, 300 kilometers. Not a single supply box yet. Are we going to run out of resources from now on?" Zhang Qian and the others looked out the window, eyes constantly scanning.

Screech!

Lin Mu stopped the car.

Standing atop a rock, he surveyed the surroundings.

For two full hours, they’d crossed grasslands and forests to arrive at a small lake.

Not a single supply box in sight.

"Go chop down that tree over there," Lin Mu tossed an axe to Zhang Qian.

He wanted to see if this counted as a resource.

Zhang Qian picked up the axe and began chopping.

Chop! Chop! Chop!

Each strike bit a little deeper, moving forward step by step.

Lin Mu sighed lightly. "There are three trees here. Couldn’t you have chosen a smaller one?"

He had to pick a giant tree that would take two people to hug around; chopping it down could take a whole day.

Zhang Qian looked embarrassed and quickly moved to another tree.

This one was much smaller, about the thickness of a thigh.

In just a few minutes, the tree was felled.

Lin Mu approached the tree, placed his hand on it, and then stored it in his backpack.

Inside the backpack, the tree remained exactly as it was.

"Chop down another small tree. You two, don’t just stand there—take this tool and go find some stones to bring back."

Half an hour later, Lin Mu looked at his backpack. Trees didn’t stack, and neither did stones.

He stroked his chin thoughtfully, sensing this was a bit different from what he had guessed.

"Get in the car. Let’s head back."

After two hours, they returned to the camp.

After sending the others off, Lin Mu opened the workbench.

Still no use!

This couldn’t be right; surely he didn’t have to make this stuff himself.

"Panel Brother, there are no supply boxes this time. How do we gather resources?"

He had tried everything he could think of but still couldn’t figure it out.

[Please unlock the factory function at the workbench. Deposit collected resources into the corresponding factory to obtain specific materials. It is recommended to craft a resource detector first.]

Following the panel’s advice, Lin Mu found the factory button, which was rather well hidden.

[Unlock factory?]

That was a given.

[Unlock factory]: 500 iron ingots, 200 lumber, 10 silver ingots, 5 glass, 100 mustard stones.

Wait a minute, this is just one function—why does it require so many resources?

Regardless of his confusion, these materials had to be paid.

"I want to see what exactly you are."

After clicking confirm, the factory function activated.

[Please set up resource input channel.]

A 3D model of a vehicle appeared, and a one-meter square appeared on the surface of the car, which Lin Mu could drag and place.

He thought for a moment and placed the input channel on the rear trash storage compartment.

Outside, at the back of the trailer, a one-meter metal door appeared.

Lin Mu didn’t rush to check it but looked back at the factory interface.

An icon for a resource detector was flashing—this must be what the panel meant.

The required materials were simple: iron ingots, copper ingots, and electronic components—all basic materials.

But he could only craft ten.

He decided to make them all; having too many was better than too few.

Outside, Lin Mu threw the stones and lumber he had just obtained into the input channel.

[Ding! Obtained 20 lumber.]

[Ding! Obtained 10 stone, 1 iron ingot.]

[Remaining gold, silver, and copper inside are insufficient. Please continue adding.]

Reading the messages popping up on his watch, Lin Mu was speechless.

Wasn’t this just his vehicle trait, “Waste Utilization”?

But compared to his trait, this was quite stingy.

Although those two trees were small, they shouldn’t yield just 20 lumber. Tossed into a recycling station, it should be at least 50.

With the trait bonus, 100 would be reasonable.

How much material had this thing swallowed?

Lin Mu opened the chat channel and raised an eyebrow.

Only one channel left?

Everyone was chatting in this single channel.

Looking through past messages, wow, these people had been bickering all day—such idle hands indeed.