Rebuilding Base is Under Construction (BASE)
The red-haired female assistant pushed the door open and entered.
Miss Romanov stood at the doorway and spoke, "Mr. Warden, the staff have had a request recently... they hope I can convey it to you."
This was strange.
Since when did the tools have demands? It hadn’t even appeared on the to-do list yet.
Zhang Dianyu smiled amiably and gestured toward the sofa by the door, "Please, have a seat."
Miss Romanov’s heart tightened.
She knew it would be like this.
The prisoners in this prison had poor treatment—but at least they had large dormitories and an endless supply of potato meals. The staff, on the other hand, were in a truly miserable state.
There was no fixed dining area and only two small and dirty staff break rooms, each with just one sofa—now two—for overnight stays.
But they have dozens of staff members!
They didn’t even have beds, let alone toilets or showers.
They filled their stomachs every day and went straight to work but not daring to voice any complaints.
No wonder their faces were all numb with resignation.
Miss Romanov even suspected that the Warden had some kind of secret leverage over these people that forced them to work here under such harsh conditions.
As soon as she brought up the staff’s grievances, the Warden’s calm expression immediately twisted into a terrifying grin, and he invited her to sit down in a chilling tone.
If she weren’t a Shield agent, she might have succumbed to his intimidation like the other staff members.
"Mr. Warden," Miss Romanov remained standing with her tone unchanged, "the staff hope to be provided with basic iving facilities, such as dormitories for rest and communal bathrooms and toilets."
Zhang Dianyu raised an eyebrow.
"Otherwise, the staff may lose their ability to work." Miss Romanov added.
"...Oh?" Zhang Dianyu drawled and spoke slowly.
This game was getting more and more ridiculous.
The Localization Pack had drained him dry, and now he was left with only Wayne Corporation’s charity funds and a small remaining balance, totaling just over forty thousand dollars.
The prisoners scheduled for intake tomorrow hadn’t arrived yet, and his daily income couldn’t cover this shortfall.
On one side were the staff’s demands, and on the other was the transfer of prisoners. Zhang Dianyu couldn’t help but frown.
After the game became reality, it seemed to automatically fill in many details and settings.
For example, he now had an assistant—though it seemed unnecessary—and his staff had started demanding basic necessities like food, sleep, and hygiene.
It was... somewhat reasonable.
Zhang Dianyu sighed inwardly and opened the map to start reorganizing the land.
Currently, there were two buildings in the northeast and west corners of the prison that used to house prisoners.
The main structure was a large dormitory, with rows of bunk beds filling the room. The floor was covered with dark patterned tiles that add a slight touch of liveliness.
—Actually, the tiles were there to increase the prisoners’ movement speed and prevent stampedes during the morning rush to the showers.
Adjacent to the showers was a narrow communal toilet, with two long rows of toilets installed along the walls.
Prisoners could even have heart-to-heart conversations while doing their business, which helped foster a civilized and harmonious prison atmosphere.
—Pixel characters had no human rights.
Having toilets was already a luxury, and it also made it easier for them to engage in same-sex relationships.
Isn’t prison a hotspot for that kind of thing?
Zhang Dianyu, after all, is a rather open-minded Warden and doesn't prohibit prisoners from adding a bit of life's flavor to their routines. As long as they behave themselves, what they do in the toilets and bathrooms is of no concern.
But the northwest corner is quite interesting.
The infirmary next to the courtyard is adjacent to a massive morgue, which provided considerable convenience for the prison's initial management.
The number of corpses the Corpse Transport can remove each night is limited.
Although the prison has gradually been getting back on track recently, and incidents like the free-for-all shooting in front of Wayne at noon today are becoming increasingly rare, the historical backlog has made the morgue's beds quite sought after.
Zhang Dianyu stroked his chin and thought.
Once the Stun Guns are fully equipped, the mortality rate among prisoners will significantly decrease. Perhaps the morgue could be converted into a staff cafeteria.
After all, both are places for handling bodies—pretty much the same.
For now, the cafeteria will temporarily be shared with the prisoners, and a dormitory and public bathhouse will be built for the staff.
So now, apart from the office building in the southwest corner and the activity center in the southeast corner—which includes the laundry room where prisoners participate in prison labor and the workshop with its constant machine noise, alongside a library, a small chapel, and a cramped classroom, making it a veritable hodgepodge—there’s only the newly built large area of Solitary Confinement between the two buildings.
Zhang Dianyu felt a bit regretful.
Originally, this area of Solitary Confinement was a very satisfying part of his future plans for the prison—this was related to the Guards being equipped with Stun Guns.
Troublemakers who were stunned could be taken to Solitary Confinement and left to rot in pitch-black rooms without even a toilet.
Legendary-level prisoners, unruly super-heavy convicts—meaning a daily government subsidy of $2,000—could all be thrown into Solitary Confinement and never to see the light of day again.
It was a beautiful future and filled with the sound of flowing gold coins.
Unfortunately, it has all turned to bubbles now.
Zhang Dianyu sighed and allocated half of the Solitary Confinement area to be converted into staff dormitories.
He looked up and saw Miss Romanov watching him warily, and he smiled slightly.
"Natasha, may I call you by your name?" he asked with an inquiring look.
"Of course, Mr. Warden," the red-haired female assistant replied in a flat tone.
Zhang Dianyu picked up the phone on his desk then dialed the foreman's office number and, under Natasha's surprised gaze, instructed the construction team to immediately begin renovating the adjacent Solitary Confinement area.
"You're right, the staff deserve better treatment." Zhang Dianyu said as he interlaced his fingers and offered a calm smile.
Of course, he didn’t mean their salaries.
The staff had endured a 50% pay cut throughout the prison's initial phase, and Zhang Dianyu had originally planned to reward them with a raise once the total assets reached $500,000.
Now, that seems like a distant dream again.
For some reason, after Mr. Wayne left and before the system issued the prisoner transfer task, he found that work arrangements like the construction team and emergency rescue could no longer be simply managed through the game panel.
At the same time, the to-do list included the phone numbers of relevant contacts, so he had to try using the brand-new phone on his desk.
For this game, phone communication isn’t uncommon—the Mayor often calls to give his opinions.
He could only assume that the game was now moving towards a more realistic simulation.
Although he still didn't know how he suddenly ended up in the game, bankruptcy was definitely not a good option.
For now, he had to do his best to play the game well—by which he meant earning more money.
As for how to arrange the transfer of prisoners tomorrow, he had a few ideas.
There was no extra space on the map to build new structures, but he could make use of existing buildings. Currently, there were two buildings that could be repurposed into a Single Cell.
The cafeteria, or the morgue.