Chapter 57

Qiao Ning cooked another serving of sour soup dumplings. After finishing her meal, she began to take stock of the supply boxes she had encountered that morning.

There are even more supply boxes today. I've collected 20 in just one morning: 12 platinum and 8 silver. I haven't encountered a single low-level box.

The food, water, and medicine that Qiao Ning replaced last night have been almost replenished this morning by unpacking the boxes.

Wish Box Coins Balance: 50

Items unpacked: 800 units of gasoline, 300 liters of drinking water

10 sets of anti-radiation clothing, 20 vials of radiation scavenger

Nutritional supplement*100 vials, internal and external injury medicine*100 doses

50 rolls of hemostatic bandages, 200 wads of sterile cotton, 80 vials of antidote, 200 tablets of analgesics, and 100 vials of anesthetic.

Food: 10 jin of fresh pork, 5 jin of snowflake beef, 8 jin of mutton, 3 roasted ducks, 5 roasted chickens, and 20 jin of spicy braised duck parts.

A quantity of daily necessities, a quantity of cold weapons, 3 firearms, and 5 boxes of ammunition.

In terms of the quantity of supplies, there have been increases and decreases in various types of supplies, but the overall fluctuation is not too large.

The reduction in gasoline and drinking water is more noticeable.

Qiao Ning organized and put away the supplies, then began basic body tempering and practicing basic sword techniques. Occasionally, she would also drive for a while in place of the smart butler. Driving is a skill that requires frequent practice, otherwise one will become rusty.

In case of an unexpected situation where the smart home system fails to start and she needs to drive the car manually, she cannot be unfamiliar with the process.

Driving a motorhome is very different from driving a car, so ever since Qiao Ning started raising her motorhome higher and higher, she would set aside some time each day to drive it herself.

I encountered two treasure-guarding monsters in the afternoon, both goblins. However, these two goblins seemed to be affected by radiation, with some ulcers and deformities on their bodies.

This mutation did not reduce the goblins' attack power; on the contrary, it made them quite ferocious and bloodthirsty.

The first one was solved by Qiao Ning, and the second one was when Bing Lin suddenly spewed out a ball of flame, instantly burning the mutated goblin to ashes.

The goblin, reduced to ashes, unexpectedly left behind a crystal. It must be the energy stone those wanderers were talking about.

It's different from the beast cores Qiao Ning obtained before; it's more like a diamond with a slight golden glow. It even has facets. The one in her hand has nine facets, and she doesn't know what level it is.

After studying it for a while, Qiao Ning discovered that this thing functioned similarly to a beast core, belonging to a type of energy substance. It could be used as a quick replenishment when energy consumption was excessive, and it could also be absorbed during cultivation to enhance the strength of one's supernatural abilities.

Moreover, it has no attributes, while beast cores do. Some beast cores are not of the ice or water type, so Qiao Ning cannot use them.

This energy stone wasn't of a high grade; Qiao Ning absorbed a little of it, and the energy inside was gone. After the energy was drained, the energy stone truly became a hard diamond.

It's not very useful, but it's pretty.

Qiao Ning put the gold diamond into the storage box.

The highest radiation level reached 60 in the afternoon. Qiao Ning tried to feel the radiation intensity. Within just one minute, her exposed skin became red and swollen, followed by ulceration and pus discharge.

If you are wearing only ordinary clothes and are fully covered, you will be on the verge of unconsciousness if you stay outside the car for a maximum of half an hour under a radiation level of 60.

This is only moderate radiation exposure, which can be resolved with one dose of radiation remover. After use, there is still one hour of absolute radiation resistance time.

However, if the radiation level increases in the future, it will probably be more than a single cleaning agent can solve the problem.

This natural disaster is quite special, and Qiao Ning has a very limited supply of radiation removers. She suspects that the game is forcing everyone to find their own way to obtain radiation removers.

She must find a way to obtain radiation removal agents as soon as possible, otherwise it will be very difficult for the server's survival rate to reach more than 20% in this disaster zone.

In the afternoon, 25 supply crates were collected, but the amount of supplies obtained from them was about the same as in the morning, with no gasoline or drinking water.

Qiao Ning has 75 blind box coins remaining and will continue saving. She hopes to accumulate as many as possible during this natural disaster. The next natural disaster might not have such a high drop rate of supply boxes.

At 8 p.m., as darkness fell, the radiation level instantly dropped below 10 p.m.

Qiao Ning was wearing a radiation protection suit, but not the matching radiation protection mask.

This thing is safe, but it's so stuffy. Wearing the hood makes it even stuffier, and you have to rely on an oxygen tank for oxygen after a while.

Qiao Ning had already driven so many kilometers, so of course she couldn't go back to the place from last night to wait for those homeless people.

She had originally planned to stay there for another day or two and trade with them a few more times, but the radiation levels unexpectedly increased rapidly on the second day, disrupting her plans. She had no choice but to continue on her way and collect as many supply boxes as possible.

She had no idea how big this ruined city was; she had driven for a whole day and still hadn't seen the edge.

Qiao Ning parked the car, turned off the engine, and left the highway with Bing Lin.

The moment Qiao Ning stepped off the road, the scene before her eyes suddenly changed. It was no longer a desolate and dilapidated ruined city, but a wasteland.

Not far away stood an unnamed giant tree, upon which the human camp was built. After her body refinement, her five senses were heightened, and her eyesight had improved significantly; even from a great distance, she could see the situation in the camp clearly.

Qiao Ning even saw a bustling market and grotesque mutants who looked as big as the Hulk.

Qiao Ning had no intention of getting close to the camp. She could intimidate a group of vagrants, but she might not be able to intimidate a whole camp of vagrants.

There are more than just homeless people there.

She also saw mercenaries raising some kind of ferocious mutated beast.

Qiao Ning hid far away for half the night, and finally encountered a deformed child in the early morning. He was a boy of about ten years old. There were very few women in the wandering group or the camp, and even fewer children.

Could radiation have severely impacted human reproduction?

After being captured by Qiao Ning, the deformed little boy was like a caged wild beast cub, constantly trying to break free and escape using various methods, but Qiao Ning caught him every time.

Only when he was certain that he couldn't escape Qiao Ning's grasp did he gradually become obedient.

Qiao Ning thought he must be thirsty and hungry after all that fuss, so she took out a sandwich and a bottle of milk for him.

The little boy was stunned, seemingly unsure if these things were for him. His mouth was watering and his stomach was rumbling, but he still glared fiercely and warily at Qiao Ning.

Qiao Ning ignored him, put the things on the ground, and walked away.

She and Binglin ate Maoxuewang with rice. Binglin doesn't like bland food; like Qiao Ning, it prefers strongly flavored dishes.

Ice Scale even drank the vegetable soup, which made Qiao Ning's expression twist in disbelief. She couldn't understand how it could drink it.

After finishing the meal, perhaps due to the power of the food, the little boy finally became less hostile towards Qiao Ning.

At this point, Qiao Ning revealed her purpose to him, which was still to trade and exchange items. She asked him to find someone he trusted to bring something to her for the transaction.

This is only for tonight; she will leave by dawn at the latest.

The items traded to her included: energy stones, highly radioactive animal meat, plants, radiation removers, and genetic modification agents.

What can be exchanged: canned meat, canned fruit, fresh meat, fresh vegetables, rice, flour, drinking water, painkillers, anesthetics, antidotes, daily necessities, cold weapons, and firearms.

The fact that this child has survived in such a chaotic camp means he must have had someone to rely on. He must have been protected by an elder. Someone who can protect a child like this must not be a heartless person.

Even if she encounters real danger, Qiao Ning has countless skill cards that allow her to quickly escape the battlefield.

"As long as you do what I ask you to do, I will give you an extra 20 jin of meat and two buckets of drinking water for free."

Qiao Ning has no shortage of food, especially meat. She has meat from Icefield Monsters, regular meat from chests, and mutated beast meat from the wild. Although she can't eat the last one, that doesn't mean she can't eat these mutants.

She had just tried giving the little boy a piece of radiation-inducing beast meat, and after the boy checked the radiation level with his wristwatch, he determined that the meat was safe for them to eat.

"Aren't you afraid I'll take your things and run away?" the little boy asked, puzzled. In his eyes, the "sample" the beautiful woman had given him was very precious.

Qiao Ning smiled but did not answer his question.

So what if she runs away? It won't cause her much loss. If you want to do business, you have to invest.

The child ran quickly toward the camp, as if afraid that Qiao Ning would change her mind and take away the supplies she had given him.

Just as Qiao Ning had expected, the child had parents at the camp, and not long after, his brother arrived with his men.

The transaction didn't go smoothly at first; these people were clearly not as easy to talk to as the group of homeless people from the previous night.

However, in a world where the strong prey on the weak, the one with the bigger fist naturally has more say.

By the time they were willing to trade honestly, made several trips to bring back a lot of goods, and even acquired a batch of precious energy stones, it was almost dawn.

Qiao Ning put her finger to her lips and whistled. Soon after, Bing Lin's figure, running around happily, appeared in her sight.

"Let's go, it's getting late, we should head back."

She hasn't had a proper rest since last night, so she needs to get a good night's sleep today.

Back in the car, Qiao Ning and Bing Lin finished washing up, gave the smart butler some instructions, and then the two of them, along with their dog, went straight to sleep.

Qiao Ning slept for about seven hours. She didn't wake up naturally; her dog woke her up by bouncing around her bedside.

Perhaps all dog owners have to go through this kind of morning routine.

I encountered the treasure-guarding monster twice this morning, which I should have dealt with using Ice Scales. There are now two more energy stones on my bedside table.

There were also twenty-five supply boxes, which were either picked up by Ice Scale or by the smart butler using its mechanical claw.

Qiao Ning got up and washed up. She wanted to take the dog with her, but it refused. Binglin said that it had already washed up and even brushed its teeth clean and white.

I almost forgot, this is a dog that's even cleaner than her.

After eating several meals made from highly radioactive animal meat, Icescale grew very quickly. When we first met it, it wasn't much bigger than the palm of my hand, but now it's almost the size of an adult Border Collie.

Only one day has passed.

At this rate of growth, how big will it be by the time the natural disaster ends? Won't it soon be too big to fit through a car door?

Qiao Ning thought again about the issue of her separation from Bing Lin after the natural disaster ended.

"Your new alias isn't some kind of monster again, is it? Don't play dumb with me."

Ice Scale shook his head, then placed his claws on her hand.

Qiao Ning didn't understand what this meant.

Binglin was a little anxious, circling around her several times, as if he didn't know how to express his meaning to her.

Qiao Ning suddenly had a flash of inspiration and used "Pet Taming" on it.

A virtual progress bar appeared in front of her. She had seen this progress bar before when taming pets, but never before had she succeeded in an instant like this time.

The speed was so fast that Qiao Ning almost didn't see the progress bar; it appeared for less than a second before disappearing.

Having been successfully tamed as a pet, Binglin showed no displeasure at losing its freedom and acted like a silly dog, rubbing against Qiao Ning affectionately.

Qiao Ning was overjoyed, vigorously rubbing the dog's fur and clicking on its pet information.