LOSS System: Last Store Standing

“Can any of you swim?”

The question caught Elias off guard.

“What does that have to do with your idea?”

“Some people my age might still know how,” Hal said. “But most younger people have never even seen water deep enough to swim in.”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Jack said. “Since the pit can hold water, why not use water instead of a wall?”

The others waited for him to explain.

“We dig a trench around the convenience store and fill it with water. Two meters wide and three meters deep should be enough. If most people here can’t swim, crossing it would be almost as difficult as getting over a wall.”

Elias finally understood.

“You want to build a moat around the store?”

“Exactly.”

The more Jack explained, the better the idea sounded to him.

“A wall needs bricks, workers, and plenty of time. Even after it’s built, we still have to worry about whether it’s strong enough. With a moat, anyone trying to reach the store would first have to cross the water.”

“Digging it might take just as long, but once it’s done, we only need to keep the water running until it fills.”

Hal wasn’t convinced yet.

“The idea could work, but digging a trench that large would take a lot of people. It may not be any easier than building the wall.”

“We’d save the bricks for other buildings,” Marg said. “That alone would make it worthwhile.”

“And who’s going to do all the digging?”

Marg gestured toward the Dustchucks working along the foundation line.

“Don’t we already have free labor?”

Jack laughed. “That’s exactly what I had in mind.”

Only then did Hal notice the Dustchucks digging along the marked line.

“You can control them?”

“We’re cooperating,” Jack corrected him.

Elias indicated the large pit nearby. “They dug that too.”

Hal studied the enormous pit, then the Dustchucks still working in the distance. For several seconds, he had nothing to say.

“So, can the moat work?” Jack asked.

“In principle, yes,” Elias said. “But how would we get in and out?”

The moat would keep outsiders away, but it could just as easily trap everyone inside.

“We leave an opening for now and guard it,” Jack said. “Once we have the right people and materials, we can build a bridge and complete the rest of the moat.”

“Does anyone here know how to build a bridge?” Marg asked.

“Probably not, but we don’t need one yet. Someone with the right knowledge might show up eventually. Hal appeared right when we needed him, didn’t he?”

Hal seemed a little uncomfortable at being used as an example.

“People my age are often treated as burdens in other settlements,” he said. “The irony is that most of those who still remember the old world are already getting old.”

“They just don’t understand the value of what they have,” Jack said. “Anyway, if the moat can work, then it’s settled.”

He hurried back to the convenience store to prepare enough potatoes for the Dustchucks. If he wanted them to dig an entire moat, he certainly couldn’t expect them to work for nothing.

Whether they could understand the new instructions was another matter.

There was only one way to find out.

Seven days passed before they knew it.

After giving up on the wall, Jack took potatoes to the Dustchucks every day and had them continue digging along the route Elias had marked.

At first, he stayed close and watched them carefully in case they went the wrong way. But the lead Dustchuck gradually learned what he wanted. Before long, Jack only had to show it where to dig, and it would gather the others and get to work.

The rest of the settlement remained just as busy.

Surprisingly, the first structures they completed weren’t part of the trading post. They were a bathroom and a toilet.

The change had begun at dinner six days earlier. After working in the heat all day, everyone returned beneath the canopies with their clothes soaked in sweat. Jack had barely sat down when the smell hit him.

That was enough for him.

From then on, everyone had to wash after work. A bathroom immediately became a priority, and Hal suggested building a toilet at the same time. Properly treated, the waste could later be used as fertilizer.

They placed both structures outside the growing area and left a separate space behind the toilet for processing the waste.

Ava also began spending more time with the Dustchucks.

She had followed Jack everywhere while he supervised the moat. The Dustchucks were cautious around her at first, but they soon grew used to her. Some of the bolder ones even came to her for potatoes.

Jack eventually discovered that the lead Dustchuck would follow Ava along the moat. As long as she carried a bag of potatoes and showed them where to go, the rest would follow and continue digging.

So Jack happily gave her the job.

Vane was less pleased when he found out, but Ava loved it. Every morning after breakfast, she grabbed her small bag of potatoes and ran off to find the Dustchucks.

Thomas also finished modifying the outdoor faucet. He turned the single outlet into four connections: one for the large pit, one for the bathroom, and the other two for the growing area and the brickmaking area.

Thomas buried most of the hoses in shallow trenches, leaving only the connections exposed.

“Wouldn’t it be easier to leave them above ground?” Jack asked.

“The sunlight would make them brittle over time. They’re safer underground, and no one will step on them.”

Thomas also added an extra connection at each outlet so they could install more hoses later.

After finishing the water lines, he set up a simple sprinkler system on the roof of the convenience store.

“Let’s see if it works,” Thomas said. “If it does, we can install another one on the trading post later.”

The convenience store already had its own temperature-control system, so Jack doubted the sprinklers would make much difference. Still, there was no harm in testing them.

By then, Jack, Cass, and Mort had also mostly recovered. Susan cleared all three of them to return to normal activity, as long as they avoided anything too strenuous.

Cass immediately rushed into the new bathroom. The sound of running water soon came from inside, earning him disgusted looks from everyone nearby.

“You’re next,” Jack told Mort.

“No need.”

“Stop arguing.”

Jack found him a set of old clothes inside the store. Once Cass finished, Mort reluctantly carried them into the bathroom.

His discomfort disappeared the moment the cool water poured over him from head to toe.

Later that morning, Jack lay in bed, staring at the familiar ceiling.

He had already spent sixteen days in this world. It didn’t sound like much, but those sixteen days had somehow been more eventful than the previous hundred and sixty.

“Other people get transported to another world and enjoy themselves. Why does mine feel like I’m rushing from one job to the next?”

Jack got up, washed, and changed his clothes. He was about to head downstairs when a thought suddenly stopped him.

“Wait. Am I forgetting something?”

A moment later, he slapped his forehead.

“I almost forgot!”

Jack hurried back to the bed and pulled out the black submachine gun and the box of ammunition underneath.

He picked up the gun and examined it with satisfaction.

“I nearly died for this thing.”

Then he called out in his mind, “LOSS, give me an introduction.”

The system took a moment to respond.

“MP5A5 submachine gun. Uses nine-millimeter ammunition. Equipped with a retractable stock for easier transport. Low recoil and relatively easy to control during automatic fire. Standard magazine capacity: thirty rounds. Its effective range, accuracy, and close-range firepower are all far superior to your current revolver.”

Jack checked the ammunition in the box.

“What about these bullets?”

“They use the same nine-millimeter ammunition as your revolver and are fully interchangeable.”

That made Jack like the weapon even more.

“Not bad. This is really useful.”

The system’s reply was full of disdain.

“For a human incapable of identifying a weapon’s model or basic performance, any functional firearm would seem useful.”

Jack’s smile vanished.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Hmph.”

“I used to run a convenience store, not work as a weapons expert. Is it strange that I don’t know much about guns?”

LOSS ignored him.

Jack waited for a response, but the system was clearly done with the conversation. Still, being mocked did nothing to ruin his mood.

He had a submachine gun now. What was the point if he didn’t take it outside and show it off?

Jack searched the closet until he found a black leather jacket he couldn’t remember buying. He put it on, slung the MP5A5 across his chest, and admired himself in the mirror.

“Not bad.”

Satisfied with the result, he swaggered downstairs.

Under the canopies, Cass was checking the drone footage. Jack deliberately walked past him several times until Cass finally paid attention.

Cass’s first comment, however, had nothing to do with the gun.

“Aren’t you hot?”

Jack’s excitement immediately faded.

“That’s not the point.”

He tapped the MP5A5 hanging across his chest.

“This is the point!”

Cass barely gave it a second glance.

“It’s just a gun. I’ve seen guns before.”

He went back to the drone screen, only to realize something a second later.

“Wait. That’s not the gun you had before!”

Finally getting the reaction he wanted, Jack lifted his chin proudly.

“Of course it isn’t. This is a submachine gun.”

Cass immediately got up to take a closer look, but before he could reach Jack, the system’s voice sounded in Jack’s mind.