Chapter 58

Pet Name: Ice Scale; Race: Unknown; Lifespan: Unknown

Attribute: Unknown; Status: Childhood

Skills: Unknown Talent: Gluttonous Space (High-level storage space talent only)

Pet's heartfelt words: I love Qiaoqiao, I will protect Qiaoqiao, I will listen to Qiaoqiao, I will trust Qiaoqiao, I will give everything to Qiaoqiao, and I will never be separated from Qiaoqiao.

Qiao Ning was not surprised to see a series of unknowns. Ice Scale was unique in her heart, so it was not surprising that abnormal information was displayed.

But when she saw the pet's heartfelt message at the end, Qiao Ning had only one thought: indeed, her dog really loved her.

Her dog loves her so much, how could it live without her?

Thankfully, they're linked now, so they don't have to be separated anymore.

Icescale is special; its pet information panel is unique, unlike other pets which have such elaborate information descriptions.

Another issue is that Qiao Ning has no way to put the Ice Scales into her pet inventory.

Successfully taming Ice Scale consumed one of her pet slot expansion crystals, but Ice Scale couldn't enter that pet slot.

It can only be allowed to roam freely outdoors. Other pets, on the other hand, can recover their health quickly, consume less energy, and are less likely to get hungry when kept in a pet pen.

Ice Scales look like a product of a system bug.

It seemed unaware of its own specialness, fluttering around Qiao Ning like a silly dog, and the speed at which its tail wagged showed just how happy it was.

Who can resist a happy dog?

Anyway, Qiao Ning couldn't refuse.

Day three of the natural disaster, 3 PM. Hot, radiation level 102, high radiation, not recommended to go out.

100 Blind Box Coins, 158 Energy Stones, 375 Ice-type Beast Cores, 45 Water-type Beast Cores, and 50 Other-type Beast Cores.

This is all the wealth Qiao Ning has accumulated, and she has to tally it up every day to feel at ease.

Qiao Ning got up, washed up, and ate with Bing Lin.

Qiao Ning hadn't had snail rice noodles in a long time, so today she cooked two packets of extra spicy and pungent ones to satisfy her craving. Bing Lin initially disliked the smell, but after being given some to try, she fell in love with the flavor, and even the braised meat in her rice bowl didn't taste as good anymore. She insisted on having a bowl.

If its owner doesn't cook for it, it will cook for itself.

It filled a basin with water, then sprayed out tiny flames to cook a pot of snail rice noodles.

After dinner, Binglin washed the dishes. Qiao Ning discovered today that Binglin had unlocked a new skill: in addition to breathing fire, it could also create water flow, and it could even adjust the water temperature!

What an amazing dog!

Icescale washed all the dishes and chopsticks, put on her work claw gloves, put everything back in its place, took the kitchen trash can away, emptied the trash into the all-purpose toilet, and then put on a clean trash bag.

When the floor gets dirty, it carries a special mop to clean and disinfect it with hot water.

While the dog was busy doing housework, Qiao Ning could exercise peacefully in the activity area.

Qiao Ning never neglects her daily physical training and supernatural abilities practice, while Bing Lin sunbathes on the car roof whenever she has free time.

The solar radiation that is unbearable for humans seems to be the energy it absorbs for cultivation, and the more it is exposed to the sun, the shinier and oilier its fur becomes.

It has more and more red fur on its body. Previously, there were only a few scattered strands in a few places, but now the red fur has appeared in clumps in some places.

Qiao Ning didn't rest all afternoon. She practiced until about eight o'clock, eating rice with Bing Lin while watching the chat channel.

The sun is scorching hot today! Couldn't someone like Hou Yi shoot it down? Or even a celestial dog would do!

[Upstairs, the Tengu is devouring the moon.]

[Whatever it swallows, I just want this sun to cool down. It's hot, and the radiation is unbearable. I can't drive during the day at all. Even through the car windows and screens, I got moderate radiation sickness from the sun. It took me a whole tube of radiation remover to recover.]

I've already installed light-blocking panels on all the windows. It cost me a lot of gold and silver ingots, as well as the new material "titanium ore" that I recently acquired. The light-blocking panels are made of titanium alloy, which requires one titanium ore and two mixed metals to make.

I installed sun-blocking panels on all the windows of my car, front and rear. After doing so, I went bankrupt.

Titanium alloy is a great material. The information I read said it can stabilize the temperature inside the car, protect against radiation, resist corrosion, increase toughness and impact resistance, and has many other uses.

I have a feeling that these basic materials will become increasingly useful in the future, so everyone should stock up on as much as possible, regardless of whether they are needed for this natural disaster. In this game, you can't just stock up at the last minute; you have to have foresight and stock up in advance.

"Isn't that obvious? You don't even need to tell me. I started hoarding them a long time ago. The problem is, no matter how much I hoard, it's never enough. Sometimes I have no choice but to trade them. After all, we're almost dead; what's the point of hoarding materials?"

Has everyone noticed how quickly the temperature is changing? Yesterday, when I wore the anti-radiation suit, although it felt stuffy, it was still bearable. Today, I can't wear it most of the time. I can only wear it outside in the morning before the sun has fully risen and in the afternoon after 6 pm when the sun is about to set.

I'm worried that the high temperatures in the next few days will prevent us from wearing our radiation protection suits, and we won't be able to drive around looking for supply boxes during the day.

【Then drive at night. This natural disaster isn't too dangerous at night. At most, you might encounter a few mutated goblins, but you can still take them down if you fight hard.】

Qiao Ning: [You can also explore areas outside the highway, but there will be a fairly high risk. In the ruins or camps outside the highway, there are groups of homeless people. They lack food and clothing, and anything that seems insignificant to us can be bartered with them.]

Do not easily trust homeless people; you can use force to intimidate them. Homeless people will only submit to weapons and force, rather than polite conversation.

Note that many homeless people engage in cannibalism; to be precise, they do not see us as their own kind, but as prey.

The wanderer possesses energy stones, similar in function to beast cores, but without any attributes, making them easier to use and absorb. Players who awakened their special abilities during the previous catastrophe can use energy stones to enhance themselves.

Without sufficient force, do not provoke wanderers; beware of mutated beasts.

[The expert is right. A friend of mine teamed up to explore the ruins outside the highway on the first night, but they ran into a group of wanderers, and they all disconnected shortly after. I watched the replay of their deaths; they were killed by those deformed, mutated wanderers.]

The rest of the conversation was censored by the system, but everyone understood roughly what the player was saying.

Since entering the game, everyone has experienced many terrible things, but cannibalism is something that no one with a moral compass can get used to, no matter how many times they have heard about or seen it.

Due to the high survival rate, the players in the server are somewhat united, and most people have a bottom line.

Those players who abandon all principles in order to survive, turning themselves into something neither human nor ghost, have most likely already fallen along with the server.

The severity of natural disasters in the Fallen Zone is incomparable to that of the normal Zone.

Their place was like hell. A natural disaster could wipe out the entire region in the blink of an eye.

This is probably the consequence of indulging in self-destruction.

Qiao Ning then shared some information she had gathered and advised those with the ability to explore areas outside the highway.

She didn't have many supplies, so she didn't put many items on the market. She only put up some food, drinking water, gasoline, and daily necessities. She mainly exchanged materials and talent experience books for players who needed them urgently. She exchanged all kinds of materials, not just metal materials.

When Qiao Ning kills a treasure-guarding monster, it usually drops items or supply boxes. If it's burned to death by ice scales, it will drop an additional energy stone.

But she never revealed any information. Most of the materials she had were from her existing stock, and she also exchanged some with Li Yangxing every day.

Both Li Yangxing and Yuan Heng had titanium ore on hand. This material had just appeared and everyone was in great need of it, so she was too embarrassed to exchange too much.

Hopefully, I can get some information from the homeless tonight and exchange it for something useful.

After parking the car, Qiao Ning took Bing Lin and left the highway.

After stepping off the highway this time, I didn't go far before I saw not ruins or wasteland, but towering, dark mountains.

Before she could even take a good look at her surroundings, Qiao Ning heard a series of system notifications—

[WARNING! WARNING! Player Qiao Ning is currently in an area with extremely high radiation levels, with a detected radiation level of 875. The anti-radiation suit will become completely ineffective within 10 seconds. Players are advised to leave this area within 10 seconds, otherwise they will immediately suffer severe radiation exposure!]

Without hesitation, Qiao Ning immediately retreated, stopping only when she was close to the highway barrier. At this point, the system notified her that the radiation level had dropped to 350, placing her in a high-radiation zone, and advised against Qiao Ning, who was wearing her new anti-radiation suit, staying there for an extended period.

If you must stay here, it is best to take a radiation scavenger every half hour.

Qiao Ning found it a bit strange because the system didn't immediately warn her about the high radiation levels when she first stepped off the road. It only started issuing warnings after she entered the ultra-high radiation zone.

It seems that this system notification isn't something that can be triggered casually.

The other night, the moon was high in the sky, the radiation level was low, and the temperature was comfortable. Sometimes, you could see the road ahead by moonlight alone, without needing any other light.

In this area, the sky was overcast, the moon was nowhere to be seen, the air was stuffy and hot, and there was an unpleasant smell.

Qiao Ning looked at the mountains ahead, her curiosity overflowing. The Thousand-Mile Sighting skill couldn't see anything; she had to go in and see for herself.

She really wanted to investigate the situation on the mountain and find out what was causing the radiation levels in this area to be so high.

However, the radiation level in the area ahead is as high as 875 points; going there would be certain death.

Are we just going to go back like this? Should we rest tonight?

Just as Qiao Ning was hesitating, Bing Lin suddenly let out a low moan and then rubbed against the back of her hand.

Perhaps they were bound by a contract, for Qiao Ning instantly understood the meaning behind its cry:

"You mean, you want to go and check it out for me?"

Ice Scale nodded.

Qiao Ning was a little worried about it.

Ice Scales raised its head and let out a howl.

"I know you're not afraid of radiation, but what if there's any danger over there? You're still a puppy, you know? A minor!"

Ice Scale immediately became anxious, jumping and flipping in front of Qiao Ning, breathing fire and turning into water to prove that it was no longer a puppy, that it had grown up and was very powerful.

Qiao Ning was dizzy from its shaking. When she disagreed with Bing Lin, she acted cute, rolled around on the ground, and threw a tantrum.

Finally, she couldn't take it anymore and said, "Fine, go ahead, but be careful. If anything goes wrong, come back and tell me immediately. Don't go in and fight head-on, understand?"

"Five minutes at most. If you don't come out in five minutes, I'll come in and find you!"

Ice Scales squatted down properly, raised its paw and placed it in Qiao Ning's palm, letting out a howl to indicate that it had made a promise with her and would definitely listen to her.