I'm playing Frostpunk in Arknights

[Announcement: We've reintroduced building animations, making our game more realistic—it's truly amazing!]

Wang Zhan's lips twitched. Our game is indeed progressing well.

[The Telegraph Station has been downgraded to an initial technology.]

Mu Ye has indeed taken action to address the issue. However, under the current circumstances, there's simply no time to unlock this technology; it will have to wait until after the storm.

[We've also added a Temporary Patrol decree to refine NPC behavior logic and introduced hope and discontent changes triggered by NPC events.]

Is this related to the four NPCs I mentioned to Mu Ye? Are the effects of events they encounter now integrated into the system?

[We've optimized the placement of certain resource points to reduce early-game difficulty.]

Great!

The boss truly cares about his subordinates.

[We've added event reminders to help players avoid unexpected changes in hope and discontent due to oversight. This feature can be turned off if desired.]

Is this a beginner-friendly feature?

The rest of the update involved bug fixes and other details Wang Zhan couldn't quite grasp, so he skipped over them.

Closing the patch notes, a notification popped up:

[We have observed that in four days, a storm will hit the Generator. Its level will reach six, reducing the temperature around the Generator by six degrees (60°C).]

What?!

A level-six storm!

Wang Zhan was utterly shocked. Who in their right mind would create such a catastrophic disaster?

Is Mu Ye going through a rough patch and using this game to vent his frustrations?

[Would you like to inform the populace about the storm?]

This was something he had discussed with Alina early this morning. Wang Zhan chose "No" and summoned Alina.

Although the Extended Shifts decree was enacted yesterday, it hadn't been communicated to the people, so it wasn't in effect yet. Extended Shifts was the decree that would actually be implemented.

"Extended Shifts allows you to designate any workplace to extend work hours to 14 per day," Alina repeated Wang Zhan's words. This decree was much more tolerable than the previous one.

For the infected, who were already accustomed to grueling tasks, working 14 hours wasn't too much of a stretch.

"Will this decree apply to all infected?"

"For now, only the workstations," Wang Zhan replied. Apart from the workstation, he also had a cookhouse, two collection points, a medical station, and a hunter's hut under his command.

Wang Zhan planned to build another hunter's hut to ensure that everyone had "Firefly" thermal gear before the storm arrived. The collection points also needed extended shifts to gather the steel and wood required for the upcoming "Worker's Shed" decree.

Speaking of steel, he still needed to unlock the "Steel Mill" technology.

Not enough engineers. There just wasn't enough time.

Alina, noticing Wang Zhan's silence, announced the Extended Shifts decree to the people beneath the Generator.

Wang Zhan noticed a slight increase in discontent. As expected, nobody liked the idea of working overtime.

Among the infected, someone spoke up. "Miss Alina, I appreciate the food, shelter, and warmth the Generator provides, but this gentleman told us yesterday to work 24 hours straight. Everyone understood it was an emergency."

The man wore a monocle, feigning a scholarly air. Wang Zhan clicked on the man: [Yi Yi, Occupation: Vagrant]. As expected, not an engineer.

"But now, you're telling us to extend our work hours to 14. What does this mean? Tomorrow, will we have to work 24 hours like criminals?"

Alina looked uneasy. She opened her mouth to respond but quickly closed it again.

If they told the infected about the incoming storm, perhaps they would understand the Generator's decision. But what reason could they give right now?

"Isn't that right, everyone?!"

Yi Yi turned confidently to the crowd, but everyone remained silent.

"But, big brother, isn't this our duty?"

Yi Nuo tugged at Yi Yi's sleeve. "The Generator saved your life. Shouldn't you repay it with your own?"

Yi Yi looked down to meet Yi Nuo's gaze. The pure innocence in her eyes stirred compassion, yet her words sounded utterly fanatical.

"Tch, you brat—"

"Do you think the Generator's help is something it owes you, big brother?"

The crowd remained silent. Wang Zhan noticed discontent levels slowly dropping. Could persuasion mitigate the negative effects of a decree?

But wasn't this child a bit extreme? While he did help the infected, it wasn't to the point where they owed him their lives.

Maybe when he enacts the "Overstep" decree...

If this situation wasn't controlled soon, it could spiral out of hand. Wang Zhan had no intention of seeing people work like penitents every day.

"Alina, explain to them that the workstations need overtime because the current technological progress is too slow and will affect everyone's survival."

Alina conveyed Wang Zhan's message, and the crowd immediately understood the Generator's intent.

This overtime wasn't for the Generator's benefit—it was for the survival of the infected!

How shameful and despicable it was to have misjudged the Generator lord's intentions!

Indeed, the Generator lord was merciful.

Yi Yi shrugged off Yi Nuo's hand. "Heh, you people just don't understand my concerns!"

"Yi Yi," Alina addressed him by name, as Wang Zhan had informed her. "The Generator lord allows you to rest for a while, though you'll only have leftover food and a tent to sleep in."

Uh… That doesn't sound too bad?

Yi Yi broke into a smile. "The Generator lord truly is kind-hearted—"

"You brat, are you seriously going to rest?"

A warrior among the infected grabbed him in a headlock, jabbing his waist with the hilt of his knife. "You think it's fair to slack off while the rest of us are busting our asses?"

"Karl, don't be too hard on him," Alina said with a soft hum. "If it's the Generator lord's will, let him be."

"This…"

Yi Yi scanned his surroundings. His monocle had earned him respect, making people think he was an educated city man.

But now, the admiration in their eyes had turned to disdain. Something was clearly off.

"If everyone is working hard to survive, how could I rest alone? Besides, leftover food is just too… uncivilized for a city dweller like me."

"Yi Yi, are you really a city man?"

Alina covered her mouth with her fingers, feigning astonishment. "Impressive, though it's a pity you can't read. We could've used more people at the workstation."

"Ahem…"

"Stop pretending," Karl said, punching him in the shoulder. "Here, only those who work deserve respect. Stop thinking about slacking off."

Karl's remark sparked a thought in Wang Zhan. What if someone did slack off?

As a former capitalist, dozens of countermeasures came to mind. But this was just a game. Efficiency was probably fixed.

As long as tasks got done, why overthink?

A new notification appeared on Wang Zhan's screen—

[Sasha assisted the hunter's hut in a hunt. His Originium skills boosted efficiency by 50%. Should we continue assigning Sasha, a minor, to the hunter's hut?]

A 50% boost!

Seeing this increase, Wang Zhan was deeply tempted.

However, he noticed a red cross icon at the bottom of the screen—a marker for illness.

"What's going on?"

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