Chapter 152

Su Jing knelt before the workbench in the basement control room of the villa, holding a fist-sized piece of manganese crystal ore in her palm, her fingertips glowing with a faint blue light from her supernatural abilities.

When the ore-controlling ability was fully activated, the energy patterns inside the manganese crystal clearly appeared in her vision, like entwined pale blue threads.

On the workbench, metal blade blanks, miniature furnaces, and reinforced alloy nails are neatly arranged. She is going to melt and cast manganese crystals into the blade blanks to create a mining blade that can cut through the shells of first-tier monsters.

"Su Jing, can this shiny stone really make the knife more powerful?"

Little Jin squatted on the edge of the workbench, its short golden fur covered in ore powder. Its little paws were digging into a piece of manganese crystal, and the voice in its mind was full of curiosity, "The robot's knife couldn't cut the mantis in the dungeon before, can this knife cut it?"

"Yes, manganese crystal is three times harder than ordinary metals. After being injected with supernatural abilities, it can also inflict energy damage. It can definitely cut through the shell of a first-tier monster."

Su Jing smiled as she placed the manganese crystal into the miniature furnace. Her supernatural power flowed through the furnace's metal chute, and a pale blue flame instantly ignited within.

It's not an ordinary high-temperature fire, but an energy fire transformed from the mineral's special abilities. It can precisely control the temperature and prevent energy loss when the manganese crystal melts.

She stared at the furnace's temperature display screen, and when the number jumped to 1500℃, she immediately inserted the metal blade blank. "Now pour the molten manganese onto the blade blank and let them fuse completely."

The pale blue manganese liquid flowed along the grooves of the blade blank, like a thin layer of ice covering the blade. The faint light of Su Jing's supernatural power at her fingertips shone brighter, guiding the manganese liquid to combine with the metal molecules of the blade blank.

A few minutes later, she took out the blade blank—the original silver-gray blade now gleamed with a pale blue luster, and faint energy patterns danced on the blade. She touched the blade with her fingertip, and the communicator popped up: [Mineral Blade (Tier 1): Material: Manganese crystal + reinforced alloy, hardness 60HRC, with ore energy damage, can cut through the carapace of Tier 1 monsters].

"Wow, amazing! The blade is glowing!" Little Jin came closer, gently touched the blade with its little nose, and immediately pulled back. Its inner voice was filled with surprise, "Can I try it? I want to use it to find monsters!"

"Try it again once you've learned to identify the tracks of demonic beasts." Su Jing placed the ore blade on the weapon rack beside her, then turned and took out a sealed box from her spatial storage.

Inside are fragments of a first-tier mantis leg collected from the "Wilderness Monster World" dungeon. "Your monster communication ability allows you to sense the aura of monsters. Now smell this, remember its scent, and you can warn us in advance when monsters approach outside."

Little Jin immediately moved closer to the sealed box. As soon as the box was opened a crack, it wrinkled its nose, its inner voice wary: "This smells terrible! Even worse than the people who stole the water before!"

It sniffed again, then suddenly raised its head. "I think I can sense its 'emotions'—it's irritable and wants to fight!"

"Yes, these are the characteristics of a demonic beast's aura. First-tier demonic beasts are mostly irritable and have a stronger scent."

Su Jing activated the vibration sensor on the outside of the villa, and a real-time vibration waveform popped up on the screen. "Stare at this screen. If the waveform suddenly becomes sharp, and you smell that scent from before, tell me immediately. That means a monster is coming."

Little Jin immediately squatted down next to the sensor, its dark eyes fixed on the screen, its little paws still gently resting on the edge of the screen. "I've got it! Sharp waveform + fierce smell, that's you!"

At this moment, the temperature display screen in the control room suddenly turned red, and the number slowly climbed from 25°C to 30°C—the extreme heat from outside was seeping in.

Su Jing immediately walked to the solar cooling equipment and adjusted the equipment parameters with her fingertips: "Number 3, adjust the tilt angle of the solar panel by another 5 degrees. Now the sun's angle is steeper, so the panel needs to be completely facing the sunlight."

On the 5th, connect the energy storage battery to the backup circuit. In case of cloudy weather, the cooling power must not be interrupted.

Robot No. 3 immediately moved to the second-floor balcony of the villa, and the robotic arm adjusted the angle of the solar panel. The display screen popped up "Tilting angle 35°, photoelectric conversion rate 26%, exceeding the standard value";

For No. 5, the battery plug was inserted into the spare socket in the control room, and the screen displayed "Backup power is connected, and it can last for 12 hours".

Su Jing took out a bottle of cooling spray from her spatial storage and sprayed it twice on her neck.

The spray contains diluted herbal extract, which can keep you cool for up to 2 hours. "It's already 52°C outside, you have to bring this with you when you go out, otherwise you'll get heatstroke."

Suddenly, a message notification sounded on the communicator. Su Jing opened it and saw that the system chat area was full of wails about the extreme heat of 52°C: "China-Sister Li" posted a photo of her sunburned arm, with red, swollen, and peeling skin. Her text was full of despair: "I just went out to find water and got like this after only ten minutes in the sun! All the cooling stuff is sold out. Does anyone have any extra cooling spray? I'll trade it for grain!"

The news from "M&M" was even worse: "Our sunshade collapsed in the wind, and three people inside fainted from the sun. We have no medicine and no water, and they can't hold on much longer!"

"Su Jing, they're so pitiful. Can we sell our cooling spray?" Xiao Jin leaned over to look at the chat area, her voice filled with pity.

Su Jing shook her head: "Selling them now will only attract more people to fight over them. When the monsters arrive, they will need weapons even more. We'll consider it then."

Just then, the screen of the vibration sensor suddenly flickered—

A faint waveform flashed by; it wasn't human footsteps, but a more frequent one.

Xiao Jin suddenly stood up, her ears perked up, and a tense voice in her mind said, "Su Jing! There's a smell! It's different from the praying mantis we just had. It's small, there are so many of them, and it's coming from the east! And... there's a strange smell in the mountains too, even farther away, and it's even more ferocious!"

Su Jing's heart tightened, and she immediately walked to the monitoring screen. The east side was the suburbs. She hadn't seen any monsters in the picture yet, but there were tiny black dots moving on the road in the distance, like swarms of small insects.

She gripped the newly made mining blade and ordered the robots: "Number 1 and Number 2, take the laser guns and guard the eastern protective netting. Number 3 and Number 4, check the sprinkler system and make sure the water pressure is sufficient!"

The last rays of the setting sun shone through the small window of the control room, casting a pale golden light on the light blue patterns on the mining blade. Little Jin squatted at Su Jing's feet, its dark eyes fixed on the monitor screen, its voice in its mind resolute: "Su Jing, I'll keep an eye on them. I'll let you know as soon as they arrive!"

Su Jing patted its head, her gaze falling on the black dot getting closer and closer on the monitor—the first wave of monsters was finally coming.