Chapter 29

There is a dedicated channel for viewing system announcements; all messages sent by the system can be found there.

Qiao Ning flipped through the records; she needed to know which rewards the system had announced to the entire region.

After clicking on the most recent announcement and reading its contents, Qiao Ning breathed a sigh of relief.

Thankfully, the system didn't completely screw things over. It omitted the two most important rewards: Black Flame Stone and the "Eye of Truth" skill book. As for the other items, the announcement only mentioned their names, not their quantities, and item information couldn't be viewed.

As the saying goes, one should not flaunt one's wealth. If this wealth is not fully revealed, it should not attract much jealousy.

However, Qiao Ning dared not underestimate the evil in human nature. Especially in survival games, when facing the pressure of survival, if you are doing better than others, in the eyes of some people, it is a sin, something you owe them.

To avoid any unnecessary trouble in the future, Qiao Ning plans to release the rankings of the Kill Rankings after the natural disaster cycle ends and all the rankings are recalculated.

Previously, she had only killed one wooden club goblin, and her points were rounded to zero. Now, she farms a large number of high-level beasts in the wild every day, which are also counted in the kill leaderboard. She should be able to secure a place on the kill leaderboard eventually.

Qiao Ning only slept for a few hours, but she had to replace three moisture-absorbing balls. Logically, a moisture-absorbing ball should be able to maintain normal humidity for 4 hours, so it shouldn't have to be replaced so quickly.

She looked at the air humidity curve provided by the smart home system and immediately gasped.

Compared to the rate at which the dryness level increases during the initial period, this wet disaster develops at an alarming speed.

If it continues to get damp at this rate, by tomorrow, she might be using up one or two moisture-absorbing balls every hour. By the end of tomorrow, she'll probably have used up more than half of the moisture-absorbing balls in her hand.

Qiao Ning was just about to ask Yuan Heng if he had any extra time left in his Tide-Absorbing Ball when he sent her a message.

Yuan Heng: [Qiao Ning, could you spare some of your stamina potions? I'll trade you a Tide-Absorbing Ball. I wasn't very lucky today; I killed a lot of monsters but only got one small stamina potion.]

Qiao Ning was stunned when she saw the message, and asked him, "How many monsters did you kill?"

[There were about fifty of them, level 2, 3, and 4. They gave us a bunch of random stuff, with very few useful items like skill cards and stamina potions.]

Qiao Ning was shocked. She became even more certain that Yuan Heng's talent was related to killing monsters. Otherwise, with only 100 stamina points, it would be impossible for him to kill so many beasts without being able to obtain stamina potions.

Even with good equipment and high combat power, you can only hunt a maximum of seven or eight enemies at levels 3 and 4 before your stamina runs out.

Perhaps the original Yoko has special techniques for using physical strength?

However, his drop rate... is not much worse than hers for materials.

Qiao Ning thought for a moment and replied, "How about 100 Tide-Absorbing Balls for 20 small stamina potions, or 10 medium stamina potions?"

The drop rate of Tide-Absorbing Water Balls isn't very high, but I encountered many Treasure Monsters in the original game, so I accumulated quite a few.

Qiao Ning actually made a lot of money from this transaction ratio, because judging from today's stamina potion drop rate, there is an increasing trend.

Based on the experience of the last natural disaster, the burst rate of the moisture-absorbing water ball varies from day to day, sometimes more, sometimes pitifully less.

Original reply: [Okay. Give me 10 medium-sized stamina potions. Attachment: 100 moisture-absorbing balls]

After receiving the package, Qiao Ning mailed him 10 medium-sized bottles. The transaction was complete. The two didn't chat much and quickly said goodbye before going to rest.

Everyone was exhausted after a long day and desperately needed sleep to recharge.

Qiao Ning had just taken a nap and wasn't sleepy yet, so she opened the chat channel. It was almost ten o'clock, and quite a few night owls were still chatting.

I've noticed that this disaster cycle provides a lot of food and drinking water. Thinking back to the last disaster when there was severe water shortage and I almost died of thirst, it all feels surreal.

"That's right, the humidity is rising quite quickly. During the beginner phase, the system provides free information like air humidity, but now I want to see the values. It's telling me I need to go to the car monitoring system blueprints, manufacture and install it before it can be displayed."

When I woke up this morning, my blankets were incredibly damp, and my clothes were all stuck to my body. It was so uncomfortable. Looks like I'll have to put a desiccant and mothballs in my bed tonight.

We should use dry goods sparingly, right? Otherwise, what will we do later? Let's just bear with it for now.

I don't even want to drive around looking for supply crates anymore; I just want to grind experience and loot gear and items in the wilderness.

[We still need to find supply crates, otherwise where will we get gasoline, drinking water, and food? And I have a inside information that only monsters guarding treasure drop Tide Orbs. No matter how much experience you gain by staying in the wilderness every day, without Tide Orbs, how will you survive the wetland disasters in the later stages?]

I'm from the South, and I think dampness is alright, but drought is truly deadly. Dampness is unlikely to be fatal, right?

[Upstairs, don't underestimate the trouble this survival game system can cause. Who knows what kind of trouble it might create to kill us? We'd better be careful.]

I have dermatitis and really can't stand this damp environment. Does anyone have any desiccant balls? I'm willing to trade gasoline or other equipment for them!

[Selling an 8-inch box of animal-based cream and fruit cake. It's great for boosting energy and providing vitamins. You can exchange it for just 3 moisture-absorbing balls—a very good deal!]

[I have a 10-inch Supreme Seafood Pizza here. Anyone want one? Just two water-absorbing balls and you can take it. It's high-calorie food; after defeating the treasure-guarding monster, a pizza is the perfect treat!]

[Selling fresh, pure meat sausages. I just grilled one, and it smells amazing! Great for stir-fries and fried rice. 10 bags of sausages, 10 sausages per bag. You can exchange them all for just one moisture-absorbing ball!]

What are you people up to? This food doesn't keep well; it might turn sour and become inedible in half a day in a humid environment. You want to replace it with desiccant balls? Don't dream about it.

[Upstairs, we have clearly marked prices and don't force anyone to buy or sell. If you need something, just exchange it. Who forced you to exchange? What's it to you? Why are you being so rude?]

There were quite a few players who were selling fresh food that didn't keep well, which naturally displeased others, and the chat channel immediately erupted into a noisy argument.

Qiao Ning has a storage box. As long as the car doesn't break down, the storage box won't break either. The things inside will always be exactly the same as when they are taken out.

She really wanted to take the opportunity to stock up on her favorite foods, but unfortunately, all the moisture-absorbing balls she had were obtained by trading with others. Relying on other people's stock made her feel insecure, so she dared not use them carelessly.

She picked up a total of 9 supply crates today. Although most of the time she could only find 1 supply crate at a time, she occasionally found 2.

What was found in the 9 supply crates:

Woodlice Killing Spray *20, Desiccant *30

Dehumidifying and moisture-proof camphor balls * 60

Extra Spicy Braised Chicken (Large) *1, Butter Croissant *5, Arctic Sweet Shrimp Sashimi *2 lbs, Arctic Clam Sashimi *2 lbs, Spicy Crayfish Meat *4 lbs, Duck Blood Vermicelli Soup *1 bowl, Mushroom and Chicken Claypot Rice *5, Cured Meat and Sausage Claypot Rice *4, Twice-Cooked Pork Rice Bowl *5, Hot and Sour Shredded Potatoes *5 plates

5 jin of bananas, 4 jin of cherries, and 3 jin of strawberries

10 cups of freshly squeezed orange juice, 5 cups of grape fruit tea

Secret Recipe Beef Canned Goods *20, Eight Treasure Porridge Canned Goods *10, Dehydrated Dried Vegetables *2 jin

Mixed fruit preserves *10, yellow peach preserves *10, mandarin orange preserves *10

A quantity of daily necessities and clothing

150 units of gasoline and 10 liters of drinking water

Two specific drugs for fungal infections and three specific drugs for mycotic diseases.

In terms of the quantity of supplies, the drop rate today is much higher than yesterday, and there are also more dry items.

However, many foods still don't keep well, but Qiao Ning was lucky and opened quite a few canned goods that lasted a long time.

Given the availability of fresh food, she doesn't really crave canned goods. If she opens a large quantity of canned goods in the following days, she'll likely put them up for sale to exchange for the supplies she needs.

While cooking, Qiao Ning checked the supplies. She was too lazy to cook, but since there was some ready-made food in the supply box, she steamed some rice and ate it with braised chicken and duck blood vermicelli soup. She had a hearty meal.

After finishing her meal and cleaning up, she walked around in the car for most of the day to digest, then washed up, watched a movie for a while, and finally fell asleep.

The fourth day of the natural disaster.

At seven o'clock in the morning, the first thing Qiao Ning did after getting up was to check how many moisture-absorbing balls she had used up the night before.

Upon inspection, she discovered that she had just acquired 100 moisture-absorbing balls yesterday, and with the remaining forty-odd ones, she had a total of over 140, but now she only had 120 left.

The rate of consumption is faster than she predicted!

【bite--】

Qiao Ning received an email from a friend. Both sending messages and emails produce a slight notification sound, which can be turned off or switched to vibration. If she doesn't want to receive any messages or emails, she can also enable Do Not Disturb mode.

But she only has two friends on her friend list, and they haven't bothered her much, so she doesn't need these features.

It was an email sent by Yuan Heng.

Why did you send her an email so early in the morning? Is it something urgent?

Qiao Ning opened the email and saw that it contained 100 moisture-absorbing balls!

Qiao Ning desperately needed this, but she couldn't accept something for nothing. She and Yuan Heng had only been friends for a few days, and they weren't close enough to not care about these supplies.

She sent a few question marks, and then attached 10 medium-sized stamina potions.

Yuan Heng: [No need to be so polite, I have plenty of this. I just wanted to ask if you have any food. I'm not picky, I just need something to fill my stomach, and I don't have any food allergies.]

Qiao Ning: ...

She was full of questions, but because they weren't very familiar with each other, she was too embarrassed to ask too many questions, fearing it would embarrass the other person.

Fresh food is worthless during this natural disaster cycle, and the drop rate is ridiculously high. Qiao Ning mailed him a bowl of duck blood vermicelli soup and two clay pot rice dishes, one with mushrooms and chicken and the other with cured meat and sausage.

Yuan Heng opened the attachment and saw the delicious food that instantly appeared before his eyes. Without saying a word, he started eating, and while eating, he sent a message to the girl whose contact name was "Qiao Jinli":

Is there anything else? I feel like this isn't enough.

Qiao Ning mailed him two more servings of twice-cooked pork rice, one serving of hot and sour shredded potatoes, two pounds of spicy lobster meat, and two cups of grape fruit tea.

Thank you, that's enough.

"No need to thank me, these things are worthless. The moisture-absorbing ball you gave me is much more valuable."

Yuan Heng sighed. There was no way to store food now. When he woke up today, all the food he had opened yesterday had rotted and become moldy.

He has a refrigerator in his car, but even the things stored inside it ended up getting moldy.

The ones frozen in the freezer are fine, but we can't eat them right away.

Foods that can be stored for a long time have a low drop rate, and those who are extremely unlucky are almost never able to find them.

He didn't hide anything from Qiao Ning and briefly explained his predicament of being hungry: "Those who put fresh food on the trading market yesterday were forced to take it down by the system because the food was spoiling."

Canned foods are edible, but they're all getting more expensive.

Since we're spending a lot of money on food anyway, we might as well let our friends have it instead of letting others have it for free.

After understanding the situation, Qiao Ning said, "Then these 100 moisture-absorbing balls will be considered your food expenses. I will mail you three meals a day until the end of this natural disaster cycle."

The two hit it off immediately. After discussing it, they had just closed the chat window when they saw Li Yangxing's distress message.

He was also starving and was crying loudly. Li Yangxing's Tide-Absorbing Ball didn't have a high success rate, so he could only use what he needed and didn't have many extras. Therefore, what he mailed to Qiao Ning were materials, mostly metal.

Qiao Ning essentially paid for both of their meals. After collecting the "meal fee," she glanced at the time; it was already eight o'clock. Qiao Ning then instructed the smart device to start the car.

After driving for about ten kilometers, Qiao Ning encountered toll station number 2.

Several giant carnivorous plants swayed their petals in the tollbooth, each petal bearing a large, serrated mouth.

As Qiao Ning approached, one of the deep red carnivorous flowers emitted a voice like that of a little girl.

[Toll fee: 1000 experience points, plus 3 packs of desiccant. My skin has been a bit damp and irritated lately, so I need to apply a face mask.]