I'm playing Frostpunk in Arknights

"Alright, don't worry too much. The Patriot has experienced countless battles and will know how to handle those garrison troops."

Alina held the blueprints and motioned for Tallulah to follow her. "Come on, Mr. Generator has given us the blueprints. We can start building some houses ourselves."

Blueprints? Architectural blueprints?

"Can these blueprints alone construct such complex buildings?"

Tallulah was excited. What if these blueprints were brought outside the canyon and shared with other infected?

Then the infected could build their own homes.

"Yes, but these blueprints are quite complex and must be used alongside the instruction manuals."

Alina pulled out a textile factory process manual from her pocket. After carefully reviewing it, Tallulah felt slightly disappointed. The textile factory operated on energy provided by Mr. Generator.

"It seems these buildings can only function near the Generator. They rely on Mr. Generator for power."

Wang Zhan grew intrigued. In the Frostpunk expansion The Last Autumn, there was a concept of settlements independent of a Generator's power.

If the infected could use these blueprints, they could extend the Generator's influence, and standalone buildings could potentially run on coal for power.

"I think it's feasible, Tallulah."

"Mr. Generator has approved your idea," Alina added. "He said standalone buildings might be powered by coal, which he can provide."

Tallulah had seen the neatly packaged coal in the storage facility—each crate weighed over a ton. If Mr. Generator supplied it, the infected wouldn't need to worry about resources for pioneering.

"Let's revisit this plan after the storm has passed."

Wang Zhan noticed Tallulah's face brighten. This idea clearly excited her, but for now, it was still premature.

"Right, we should focus on handling the storm first," Tallulah said, patting her chest to calm herself. "The black market's transport convoy has reached the vicinity. I'll need some manpower to bring the food back."

"Take as many people as you need," Wang Zhan said. Even with another textile factory in the works, there were still plenty of idle hands. He reassigned workers from the abandoned village, and Tallulah rallied them to follow her.

"Alina, I'm heading out now."

Tallulah led 20 energetic workers out of the Generator's vicinity. Alina watched them depart.

"Alina, did I forget to ask how much food Tallulah traded for?"

"It should be a lot," Alina replied, puzzled at Wang Zhan's question. "Isn't the storage facility spacious enough?"

Not at all, not even close.

Wang Zhan recalled that the storage facility could only hold 300 units of raw food. While it allowed for overflow, exceeding capacity would halt operations in the hunter's hut and textile factory. That would force him to construct resource depots.

"Alina, finish your tasks first. Later, head to the workstation to find the blueprints for a resource depot."

After waiting for some time, Wang Zhan saw Tallulah and her group returning from the canyon. He watched in disbelief as the raw food count jumped from 91 to 1,091.

A thousand units of raw food?!

Well, food shortages were no longer an issue. He had just promised no one would go hungry this morning, and by afternoon, that promise was fulfilled. Was this kind of sci-fi miracle really happening to him?

The hope value at the bottom of the screen rose by 8%. Clearly, the infected were also aware of the food overflow.

"Store all the food in the storage facility," Tallulah instructed, leading the group to the facility behind the Generator. They packed the food in until the aisles were filled before leaving.

"Isn't this too much? Won't it spoil?" one of the infected murmured. Tallulah laughed; she never expected they'd worry about food going bad one day. "Don't worry, food won't spoil in the storage facility."

As Tallulah exited the storage, Alina rushed out of the workstation, looking flustered. "What has Mr. Generator asked you to do this time?"

"Build three resource depots for food storage," Alina said, wiping sweat from her forehead. The area around Mr. Generator was so warm—did it really need further upgrades?

"Resource depots?"

Given the current technology points, upgrades had to be prioritized. Since upgrading the resource depots to increase capacity wasn't an option yet, the only solution was to build more.

It didn't matter whether they were built sooner or later, so Wang Zhan didn't mind.

"I'll go with you," Tallulah offered.

The two led a group of infected to the base of the mountain, following Wang Zhan's designated locations. They spent three hours constructing three resource depots.

The depots had red roofs and wooden walls. Inside, a small crane was installed in one corner to stack resources.

Curious, Tallulah stepped into the crane's operation room beneath the depot. She noticed operating instructions on the wall. "Were these diagrams made specifically to help the infected use the equipment?"

The attention to such details in the blueprints surprised Tallulah.

Despite the rough exterior, the equipment felt remarkably user-friendly.

"Practicality," the word surfaced in Tallulah's mind.

"This task is in your hands," Alina said. She had been tasked with announcing a new law. Wang Zhan had enacted the next law: Child Shelter.

"You must construct a Child Shelter."

The law was issued, and Wang Zhan dismissed the alarm. Tomorrow, he would unlock Engineer Apprentices, allowing him to explore other law branches.

He noticed a new law branching from the Child Shelter that wasn't in the original game.

The new law, Night School, enabled workers to transition into doctors or engineers after a period of study, though it required additional food and an engineer to oversee it.

Wang Zhan was puzzled. Was this law mutually exclusive with Apprentices, or could both be enacted?

He casually sent a message to Mu Ye for clarification and expected a reply by evening.

The effects of Night School were clearly better than Apprentices. If forced to choose, Wang Zhan would go with Night School.

With more engineers, he could build more workstations and greatly improve research efficiency.

After announcing the law, Alina returned to the base of the Generator, where Tallulah had been waiting.

The infected didn't react much to the Child Shelter law. Only those who had once had children spoke with her for a while.

A house specifically for children—it was a luxury the infected had never imagined.

To them, children were labor.

If not for Alina's insistence, the fate of the children would likely have been the same.

"The Child Shelter law is excellent," Tallulah remarked. She had always believed children should sit in schools learning knowledge, not moving goods alongside adults.

"Our order is slowly being rebuilt," Alina said. "We'll start by putting the children on the right path, then the infected under the Generator, and eventually, all the infected on this land will enjoy the peace this order brings."