My OP Minion System in the Apocalypse

I couldn't really tell how late it was getting.

The two of us stood in front of the fire, letting its warm arms hug us tightly. There wasn't really much that I could do. At this point in time, I had exactly 92 Tokens remaining. The fireplace was a pretty significant purchase, although it was definitely a necessary one.

Chloe still wasn't looking at me. She was facing down, admiring the irregular movements of the flame. I couldn't see her face, but I could tell that she was upset.

I'm not a good person.

As time went on, the hut began to warm up, to the point where one couldn't really feel the chilliness of Killer Winter anymore—at least whilst inside this haven.

"William."

"Yes."

"I'm hungry."

She was finally looking toward me, however, her eyes were still partially hidden behind her long hair. Following her request, I decided to take some meat out of my inventory.

I wonder if I can cook with the fireplace, I guess I could, I just needed to get something to put it on.

"I've got a pan," she stated.

"Ah, alright."

She placed it on top of the flame and I placed some ingredients inside. We still lacked anything to add flavour to the food. I considered buying some spices off of the Grand Exchange, but it Token saving was more important.

As the bottom of the pan began turning red, I took a seat on the ground.

It was awkward.

It was hard to speak to Chloe.

I could hear the wind blowing against the side of the hut as the food slowly cooked. My Minions were at work outside, gathering what little resources I was able to produce. I couldn't help but wonder how other humans were going at this time.

I decided to scroll through the Grand Exchange when I noticed something interesting that caught my eye. It was something called a [wood generator], from what it sounded like, it would appear to make resources without any input.

I sorted the offers to see what generators were for sale.

-

<Grand Exchange>

Search: generator, Order: top

1. [x1] iron generator - 165 Tokens

2. [x2] greater wood generator - 50 Tokens

3. [x5] stone generator - 40 Tokens

4. [x3] wood generator - 35 Tokens

5. [x2] wood generator - 25 Tokens

-

Considering that generators were passive income, I assumed that most of these people were struggling with Tokens to such a point where they needed immediate relief. From my understanding, if I simply invested in a generator, it would slowly pay for itself.

However, I was quite unsure of how efficient a generator really was.

The cheapest generator I could find was a single [wood generator] being sold for 18 Tokens.

The offer above that was a sale of two [wood generators] for 25 Tokens.

Above that was three [wood generators] for 35 Tokens.

It was somewhat of a risk but at this rate, I would need to make some big changes if I ever wanted to improve my situation.

"Chloe, how many Tokens do you have?" I asked.

She didn't respond.

It was probably best to leave her alone for a little.

As I continued to think about the value of the generators, I heard Chloe mutter something.

"...I've got 56 Tokens, and I can get more with my system."

With our accumulated wealth, it would be worth the risk.

I spent 35 Tokens to purchase three [wood generators].

The generators suddenly appeared in my inventory. As I held the blueprint in my hand, I saw that it was quite a small mechanism. I could fit all three in the corner of the hut. As I placed them down, they stacked on top of each other like little boxes.

When I walked closer, I saw some text.

[Currently producing 1 wood/hour]

(Use [Enhancement Agent]?)

Ah, so it really wasn't worth it. At that rate, even with the three of them, I'd only be making 3 wood per hour. If I directly converted those into Tokens, I would be getting 0.03 Tokens per hour, which means it'd pay itself back in just under two months.

However, there was something that intrigued me. Apparently, I would be able to add some of my [Enhancement Agents] which I gathered during the previous fight against the Cloaks. Luckily, I had 94.

At first, I added one [Enhancement Agent].

[Currently producing 1.5 wood/hour]

Hold on, this was quite a significant upgrade.

I added another.

[Currently producing 2 wood/hour]

I added all the rest of my [Enhancement Agents].

[Currently producing 48 wood/hour]

Holy moly.

For a normal person, such an investment in generators would be almost always a bad idea, especially during Killer Winter, where having spare Tokens and immediate Tokens was critical.

However, with the addition of my [Enhancement Agents], I was producing wood at a rapid pace. I could only put the [Enhancement Agents] on one generator but even so, my wood production was at 50 wood/hour, which was equivalent to a Token every 2 hours. It would pay back its purchase price in around two or three days.

I was also gathering around 3200 wheat per day (with increased efficiency and experience) so my settlement was slowly getting more and more self-sufficient. Once I achieve full economic freedom, I'll finally be able to make moves in order to move up the leaderboard.

Now that the generators had been set up, I decided to look into what else I could invest in. At the moment, I probably should make more Minions, it was the simplest and most obvious way of improving my standing. The main issue was, even if I decided to craft more Minions, they would most likely be obsolete. I wasn't able to send them out on expeditions due to Killer Winter, and the Scouts I sent out before never returned.

-

<Advanced System Controls>

~

[Resource Division] (121 Minions)

- 3x Woodcutter Minion

- 11x Miner Minion

- 22x Scout Minion (Mining)

- 25x Scout Minion (Woodcutting)

- 33x Scout Minion (Resource Gathering)

- 6x Scout Minion (Hunting)

- 1x Scout Minion (Farming)

- 20x Scout Minion

~

[Combat Division] (52 Minions)

- 1x Advanced Warrior Minion

- 1x Warrior Minion

- 20x Scout Minions (Swordplay)

- 22x Scout Minions (Archery)

- 8x Scout Minion (Combat)

~

[Utility Division] (24 Minions)

- 13x Builder Minion

- 10x Scout Minion (Utility)

- 1x Minion Manager

!

~

I might craft some more at the end of the day, it was important that I kept my army large enough to convincingly pass the night.