27. Heading north

The car drove smoothly on the snow, and soon the familiar frozen lake came into view. Shi Dong slowed down, the wheels rolling over ice floes of all sizes, and steadily drove onto the ice surface.

The ice surface was full of potholes, and the bodies on it were covered with a transparent ice shell overnight.

Fu Yunong's eyes sparkled, and her hands never stopped moving.

Lin Songsong, sitting in the back seat, was holding Huahua. The little one kept wriggling in her arms, its tail wagging restlessly, clearly unable to stay still.

"I'll take it down," Lin Songsong said to them, and got out of the car carrying Huahua. She had to keep her legs tucked in the car, so getting out was a good opportunity to get some fresh air.

As soon as we put Huahua on the ice, the little guy ran around like a madman, his tail held high, clearly in a great mood.

Lin Songsong was infected by its appearance and couldn't help but smile, but the smile soon faded...

Hua Hua leaped forward, slamming her paw into the head of a zombie that was now just a skull, shattering it like a watermelon. Before she could react, Hua Hua had already snatched the crystal core in her mouth and swallowed it whole!

"This, this..." Lin Songsong was so shocked that she couldn't even finish her sentence. She pointed at Huahua and kept glancing at the car, looking extremely anxious.

Fu Yunong and Shi Dong, who were in the car, had already seen this scene. Ignoring the cold, they quickly got out of the car, with Xiao Linfang following closely behind.

After swallowing the crystal core, Hua Hua suddenly arched its body, and a series of cracking sounds came from its bones, as if it were stretching its muscles. Then, it lazily yawned, its fur trembled slightly, and it strode towards the group with light steps.

Shi Dong's hand stealthily reached for the dagger, his eyes wary.

Fortunately, Hua Hua stopped at their feet and rubbed her head against their trouser legs as usual, showing no signs of mutation.

The group breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing that it really didn't want to get in the car, Shi Dong simply put it on the roof.

After the little incident, the group continued their work as crystal collectors. The lake was so vast that it took them a whole day just to collect the surface crystals. As for the crystals still frozen deep within the ice, they didn't bother with them.

Only after collecting the last crystal core did Fu Yunong put away the system panel and let out a long sigh of relief. "Let's go."

Shi Dong nodded, went downstairs to refuel the car, and then the group headed north to find their next place to stay.

The engine roared as it drove away from the frozen lake. Fu Yunong looked out the car window at the desolate, white landscape and thought to herself, "Winter is still a long way off."

Before it got completely dark, the car drove toward a village house halfway up the mountain. Unlike the one last night, this was a house with a small courtyard. Although the courtyard wall was somewhat damaged, the roof and doors and windows were still in good condition.

As soon as they got out of the car, Shi Dong suddenly raised her hand, "Wait." She sensed something was wrong.

She cautiously circled the yard, finding the doors and windows tightly shut, suggesting it wasn't uninhabited. She listened intently to the door for a while, and after confirming there were no unusual noises, she pulled out a dagger, inserted it into the crack in the door, and pried open the lock in a few moments.

The moment the door was pushed open, a strong smell of burning charcoal hit her. Shi Dong turned on her flashlight and shone it inside, then froze. Lying motionless on the chairs inside were four or five emaciated corpses.

She cautiously approached to examine the body and found it to be quite fresh, showing no signs of zombification and no signs of struggle or fighting. In the center of the room sat a charcoal brazier, the embers still warm, and several bottles of adhesive paste lay scattered nearby.

She then searched the other houses carefully and made a reasonable guess that these were probably the owners of the courtyard. They had probably run out of food and saw no way to survive, so they finally chose to commit suicide in despair.

The group felt uneasy looking at the scene before them. Fu Yunong sighed deeply, even having the thought that she was too late, but quickly suppressed the thought.

Out of humanitarian concern, Shi Dong destroyed the corpse's brain, while Lin Songsong dug a pit outside the wall, and the group buried the body together. Only after doing this could they truly settle down temporarily in the courtyard.

They hadn't had a proper meal since last night. Now that they had plenty of money, Fu Yunong suggested they have hot pot!

Shi Dong and Lin Songsong had no objections, and Xiao Linfang nodded repeatedly. Hot pot, is it the kind she's thinking of?!

As Fu Yunong brought out ingredients one by one, Lin Fang's expression went from surprise to shock. Eventually, staring at the lively, wriggling food, her mind went blank. Oh well, just eat!

The hot pot boiled, and its rich aroma instantly filled the room. Several people sat around the brazier, picking up ingredients and dipping them into the pot. As the hot food was eaten, most of their fatigue disappeared.

Halfway through the meal, Fu Yunong raised her soda and said with a smile, "Today, with this hot pot meal, I'd like to officially welcome Songsong and Sister Lin to join us!"

Shi Dong smiled and raised his soda with Lin Songsong. Xiao Linfang's eyes were slightly red, and she nodded vigorously. The four bottles collided with a "bang," and the crisp sound echoed in the room.

After eating and drinking her fill, Fu Yunong clapped her hands. The part she had been most looking forward to was about to begin! When she opened the system, her eyes widened instantly.

Excluding those already converted into points, she now has 10,086 Level 1 Crystal Cores, 224 Level 2 Crystal Cores, and 1 Level 4 Crystal Core! As for the system points, she has a whopping 5,888.5!

She's rich now! She's a rich woman! In fact, all of this adds up to more than her savings from her previous life! Fu Yunong was so excited she almost jumped up.

Suppressing her excitement, she first exchanged the Level 4 crystal core. The next second, the interface popped up with "Level 4 Nest Mother Crystal Core". After the exchange, her balance instantly increased by 600 points.

To her even greater surprise, the system simultaneously popped up an upgrade notification. Fu Yunong was somewhat puzzled. She remembered that the previous condition for upgrading from level two to level three was [accumulated 20,000 points + 1 level three crystal core]. Now, using a level four crystal core could also trigger the upgrade. Did this mean that as long as it was level three or higher, it would work?

This is a good thing!

Fu Yunong's eyes sparkled as she took the hot tea Shi Dong handed her, drank a sip, and quickly upgraded the system to Lv3.

The moment the upgrade was completed, the system interface was completely refreshed: the original [40㎡ storage unit (upgradeable)] became [80㎡ smart storage unit (upgradeable)], and the space was thoughtfully divided into a living area and a storage area. The living area is furnished with a few essential pieces of furniture; the storage area retains the automatic storage function and is still subdivided into food, tool, and miscellaneous items areas.

The internal temperature is now based on the external temperature, and can fluctuate by 10°C!

As for the range and distance of crystal core harvesting, the system did not directly explain it, but it must have changed, which she needs to explore on her own later.

In addition, Level 3 has opened up five new categories: [Weapon Protection], [Transportation Vehicles], [Value-Added Services], [Life Skills Assistance], and [Basic Energy].

Fu Yunong clicked through each item one by one, and the more she looked, the more she realized she didn't have enough points and crystals. The items were just too tempting; she wanted everything!

After browsing around, Fu Yunong first placed an order in the [Weapon Protection] section, buying a pistol with a silencer for herself, Shi Dong, Lin Songsong, and Xiao Linfang, and also a few boxes of ammunition.

Which woman wouldn't love this toy!

Fu Yunong handed the gleaming pistols to the three women one by one. Xiao Linfang held the gun, her fingers gently stroking the barrel, her eyes lighting up. This was more than just a gun; it was an unparalleled sense of security.

Shi Dong took the gun, skillfully checked the magazine, pulled the bolt, and aimed at the air a few times with swift and decisive movements. She put the gun down, glanced at the three people, and said slowly, "This gun looks light, but the recoil is quite strong. I'll teach you how to use it when I have time. Never use it carelessly before you've learned how, or you might accidentally hurt yourself."

Fu Yunong and Lin Songsong nodded quickly, and Xiao Linfang said even more earnestly, "I'll remember."

Next, Fu Yunong asked about the number of crystal cores each person needed. Shi Dong took the lead and asked for five level-two crystal cores, Lin Songsong thought for a moment and asked for two level-two crystal cores, while Xiao Linfang asked for three level-one crystal cores.

After absorbing the power, Xiao Linfang's ability rose to level two, and she couldn't hide her joy. Lin Songsong's ability also improved, but he hadn't yet reached the threshold for upgrading.

To Fu Yunong's surprise, Shi Dong had been stuck at level three for some time and had been fed a lot of crystal cores, but there was still no sign of her leveling up. She secretly thought that perhaps lightning-type abilities were inherently more special than other abilities.

It was getting late, so to keep warm and conserve resources, Fu Yunong took out a thick mattress and blankets from her spatial storage and laid them out in the main room near the brazier, where the four of them slept together. Hua Hua had already tiptoed over and curled up in a corner of the mattress, dozing off. Her fluffy tail occasionally brushed against the mattress, and she would glance at the others from time to time, looking extremely lazy.

The wind on the mountain was exceptionally strong, seeping in through the cracks in the walls with a "whooshing" sound, much like a human's wail. Fortunately, the group had gotten used to it, and the night passed relatively peacefully.

The next morning, Fu Yunong got up with a yawn and saw Shi Dong already in the yard checking the car, while Lin Songsong and Xiao Linfang were cleaning up the mess from last night's hot pot.

Well, she's the one who can sleep the most.

After breakfast, the four of them sat around the brazier and discussed their next plans.

Shi Dong blew on his hot tea and spoke first, "The water is frozen over now. My suggestion is that if the wind and snow aren't too bad, we should keep heading north. Otherwise, it will be difficult for us to cross the ice once it melts."

Lin Songsong and Xiao Linfang exchanged a glance, neither of them having any objections.

Fu Yunong is now even more confident. Her system has been upgraded, and she has plenty of points. If she can't find a place to stay on the road, her system has a windproof tent in the [Basic Survival] section; even if her car breaks down or runs out of gas, there's a vehicle repair service in the [Value-Added Services] section, and gasoline in the [Basic Energy] section. If all else fails, she can simply buy a new vehicle from the [Transportation] section!

She glanced at her balance and silently retracted her previous statement, feeling guilty; she couldn't afford a car yet.

After packing their things, Fu Yunong carried Huahua into the car, and the four of them set off again. The car slowly drove away from the village and headed north along the mountain road.

The mountain road was winding and slippery due to the freezing temperatures; one wrong step and you could easily skid. Fortunately, Shi Dong was a skilled driver; anyone else would probably have thrown the steering wheel away.

The road ahead is long...