Leveling Up Wives In The Apocalypse



There were four general areas of improvement that Mathew could invest in, in order to improve the settlement.

First came the utilities, an area that he was not only already familiar with but also one that started off at level three, as opposed to the rest of them which all came in at level zero.

'So this part is responsible for all the types of things that we are using and that would normally depend on a developed civilization around, like electricity, running water, sewage…' Mathew thought, quickly analyzing the content of the category.

But as he read more and more into it, he realized just how much wider the real thing was than his original image of it.

There was a water filtration system, air filtration system, passive cure infusion, active cure infusion, passive power growth, active (inactive) power growth areas…

Anything that one could expect from the modern living standard would be there, split into several different categories to showcase just how elaborate of a task it was to accomplish something as simple as providing running water.

Thankfully, though, there was no option to increase just a single element of the settlement utilities, saving Mathew the trouble of micromanaging everything despite a complete lack of knowledge on how to do it properly.

Yet, besides all the things that he could understand, there were also things that he had never seen or thought about before.

'Passive and active cure infusions?' Mathew thought, staring at the first element that caught his attention with how out of place it appeared to be. 'And what is this power growth, not to speak about something that's active yet it's not…'

Mathew really wanted to take his time to analyze those things too… but he knew there were limits to how much he could think about stuff before his mental energy would be exhausted.

'And there is no way I will waste all of my brainpower just to figure out the meaning behind a few words without even checking the rest of the stuff!'

Prompted by his decision, Mathew turned his eyes toward the next main element of the settlement, the production.

This time, it was pretty simple and straightforward.

Every level of production of the settlement would spawn a new production spot. And as Mathew read more into the details of the deal, he learned that it would be up to him to decide the fortress where it would take place… but picking a specific area was outside of his means.

The system behind the settlement would do it for him, always picking the most suitable area.

On the outside, it was a great thing. Once again, Mathew wouldn't negatively influence the process of picking a spot with his ignorance. After all, he knew about production just as much as he knew about rocket science…

'Or not,' Mathew quickly found a lapse in the logic of his thoughts. 'I actually know less about production than I know about rocket science, given how I used to geek out and learn some about the letter in my free time!'

On the outside, having the system pick the best possible production area appeared like a great deal. Yet, the moment Mathew reached the FaQ part of the settlement's production description, he realized just how wrong he was.

'So that's how it works…' Mathew thought while releasing a long sigh while his body slumped down on his chair.

Production, as described on the computer screen that stood for the merchant now, had nothing to do with what Mathew associated with the world in his mind.

What he expected the production to be turned out to be included only within the manufacturing upgrade tree. The production wasn't about creating items that they could properly use.

The production was all about creating basic ingredients for the items, be it food like vegetables, resources like wood or coal, or even some mystic-sounding elements like the core's heart or core buffer.

'Those last few things do catch my eye… but it's not what I looked forward the most to,' Mathew thought, forcing himself to once again look over the details that he didn't fully understand to save his mental strength for the next two elements.

Mathew finally moved his eyes and the cursor of the screen before right-clicking on the 'manufacturing' folder. And just like the two times before, rather than opening the context window of the upgrade, Mathew revealed the simple explanation behind it.

"There it is…" Mathew uttered as a wide smile formed on his lips.

The one thing that he was looking for since what felt like ages ago. The element that he already encountered while conquering the media building but that was locked all the way until now.

The manufacturing. Or in other words, the ability to refine raw cores and turn them into actual useful products!

Sadly, for how much more useful this part of settlement upgrades was, Mathew quickly found out that it was actually far more complicated than he expected.

"I should've figured that out in advance," Mathew muttered to himself as he removed his hand from the mouse and then stretched back on his chair. "If manufacturing was as easy as the production, this entire system would be greatly unbalanced."

'And there is no way they will allow me to find another problem to exploit to my advantage,' a voice in Mathew's head added, startling the young man to no end.

"What the hell…?!" Mathew nearly jumped. His eyes opened wide as he searched for the possible source of the voice that his own thoughts didn't create.

It was the greatest feeling of an uncanny valley that Mathew ever went through in his life.

It was as if this single thought was extremely foreign to his body like some sort of an invasive parasite… while being the most natural thing that he could think of at that precise moment!

'Once again…' Mathew took in a deep breath, 'I can't waste my energy trying to analyze the details,' he thought, releasing his breath back into the shadowy world.

Matthew then looked a bit closer into the problematic nature of the manufacturing.

On the outside, it was an extremely simple scheme. Just like with production, upgrading this part of the settlement would create a manufacturing area in the fortress of Mathew's choosing while leaving the picking of the exact location to the merchant.

The next part was still simple, as it was all about providing such a manufacturing area with enough manpower to make it run smoothly… and then supplying it with all sorts of basic ingredients.

And from the single look that Mathew took of the few recipes accessible, it was the supply of those basic ingredients that was the major problem.

'Wood, stone, nails, cores, and even damn tools I can provide,' he thought, clenching his teeth. 'But where the hell do I get lesser manufacturing core? Or ambient processing chip?'

Mathew could read the name of the ingredients required in some of the recipes. And while he could see those names on the names of some of the other, simpler recipes, stuff like ambient processing chips were not anywhere on the list.

And so, following his rule from earlier, Mathew turned his eyes over the last major element of the settlement, the trade, only for a wave of understanding to wash over his mind.

"I guess that's where I will have to get all those unknown items from!"

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