Chapter 61

Flamingos

Radiation level: Level 3

Ability: Spews out red flames infused with solar radiation

Habits: Prefers fresh flesh and blood; fierce; low intelligence; slow landing and takeoff speed, somewhat clumsy. When its life is threatened, it will emit a special cry to call for its kind.

This time, the system directly provided monster information, but specific attributes such as health points and attack power were not displayed.

Qiao Ning knew this creature could call upon its kind, so she didn't give it a chance to call out. First, she threw out a large amount of fresh meat to attract the flamingo's attention, luring it to land and eat. Taking advantage of the flamingo's inability to quickly take off after landing, Bing Lin breathed a mouthful of flame down, instantly turning the entire flamingo charred black, beyond any hope of survival.

She walked over and casually touched the charred bird carcass with a weapon. The carcass instantly turned into black ash and scattered, leaving only a crystal-clear energy stone.

This energy stone is also perfectly round and smooth, about the size of a fingernail, and has much more energy than the faceted energy drill dropped by the treasure-guarding monster.

But it can't compare to the energy stones she dug up in the mine.

Once a hole appears in the barrier, it will certainly not be just in one place.

Killing these mutated beasts will grant you a large amount of experience and an energy stone, but nothing else.

The level 3 flamingo grants Qiao Ning 3000 experience points, plus a level 3 energy stone.

Qiao Ning continued driving, encountering supply boxes, treasure-guarding monsters, and mutated beasts multiple times. It wasn't until 8 PM, when night fell, that Qiao Ning stopped the car to eat.

Today she received 25 energy stones, and her current blind box coin balance is 145.

Supplies: Radiation eliminator*200 vials, painkiller*200 tablets, antidote*100 vials, anesthetic*100 vials

High-grade anti-radiation suit *1, titanium ore *10

20 jin each of rice and flour, 10 bags of black sesame glutinous rice balls, 10 jin of pork ribs, 10 jin of chicken breast, 50 slices of snowflake beef steak, 10 bottles of red wine, 100 bottles of beer, 10 jin of potatoes, 5 jin of onions, 5 jin of tomatoes, 3 jin of bok choy, 5 jin of firm tofu, and 5 jin of thousand-layer tofu.

100 liters of drinking water and 500 units of gasoline

Seeing the drop rates for drinking water and gasoline, Qiao Ning frowned deeply. If the drop rates for these two supplies were low, the players' survival would become even more difficult.

Don't forget that temperatures have been rising, and the negative effects of high temperatures are probably not limited to radiation and heat.

After Qiao Ning and Bing Lin finished their meal in a hurry, Bing Lin went out for a walk on the highway to digest her food and take care of her bodily needs.

Qiao Ning, on the other hand, focused on browsing the chat channel, looking for useful information.

Currently, there are only 48,000 people online. This is before the natural disaster has even reached its most difficult stage, and the number of people has already dropped so low. The situation is not optimistic.

Originally, after Qiao Ning sold all her Sun Herb Liquid, the rate of decrease in the number of players had stabilized. But who could have imagined that today the highway barrier would be scorched by two suns, resulting in a sharp drop of three thousand players in a single day.

I encountered so many mutated beasts today. I don't know where they came from. They all have unique skills. They burned off my hair and almost killed me.

Thankfully, during the last natural disaster, I listened to Boss Qiao and killed the Icefield Monsters to activate my superpower using their beast cores. During this natural disaster, I traded with those wanderers and got ripped off, obtaining some energy stones; otherwise, I really wouldn't have been able to kill so many mutated beasts.

The expert's guide is very useful, but you really can't use it without some skill.

[Those mutated beasts upstairs came in through the gap in the highway barrier. Didn't you notice the gap appeared in the highway barrier today? Boss Pei Jing said it's 90% likely a hole created by the sunlight from two suns.]

No wonder, my friend also encountered several mutated beasts, but I was lucky and didn't encounter any. Maybe my barrier wasn't damaged by the sun.

[I just want to ask, are people without superpowers just waiting to die?]

Don't be too pessimistic. You can team up to deal with this natural disaster. You can team up with friends who have special abilities. There's strength in numbers. With the help of the top players in the server, the chances of us surviving the natural disaster are still quite high.

Didn't Boss Qiao Ning put up a lot of Sun Herbal Liquid? This stuff is really amazing. A little bit is enough to cover the whole car. After applying it, it not only protects against radiation, but also greatly reduces the temperature inside and outside the car.

Hopefully, the developers will release more of these potions in the future. I think they're crucial for us lower-level players to survive this catastrophe!

I'm grateful to Qiao Ning every day. My previous impression of her was that she was ruthless and taciturn, but now I just find her a bit aloof. Otherwise, she's great; at least she's definitely not a bad person, and she's generous.

Stop praising her. If she weren't so generous, she would share her resources with everyone for free, while we have to spend resources to buy them. It's just the hypocrisy of the powerful.

[Upstairs, you're right, but what's the point of living for a piece of trash like you who hasn't even offered a shred of kindness? It's unbelievable that even after the fourth cataclysm, there's still someone like you.]

Stop arguing. The situation is so dire; it's understandable that people have grievances. Even in a peaceful modern world, there are still so many people who resent the rich, let alone in a survival game. The harsher the living conditions, the more complex human nature is revealed. Don't waste your breath arguing with those people; it's useless. There will only be more of them in the future.

Don't let this disrupt server unity; that's the bottom line for all players.

[@Qiao Ning, do you still have any Sun Herbal Liquid?]

[Has anyone else noticed that the days seem a bit longer today? Ever since I noticed the time was off on the first day of the disaster, I've been using a regular watch to keep track of it.]

Normally, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. is 12 hours, but on a regular watch, the timekeeping is actually 36 hours.

Yesterday, daytime was 24 hours and nighttime was 18 hours.

The days are getting longer, while the nights are getting shorter.

I estimate that the darkness tonight may only last for 12 hours.

With more than two days left until the natural disaster ends, we would normally need to experience two nights plus four hours of darkness, but now it seems that may not be the case.

It's very likely that tomorrow, the fifth day, or the day after tomorrow, the sixth day, the darkness will no longer appear.

[Holy crap, don't scare me! Are the days really this long now? I've almost gotten used to it, it doesn't even feel that way anymore.]

The increasingly long days are scary, but the possibility of night disappearing is even scarier! I'm counting on nighttime to travel longer and find more supply crates. Driving during the day is so hot, it's exhausting for both the vehicle and the rider.

[If it were daytime all day, I really don't want to think about the consequences. People would be dried out by the sun.]

[That's not all! There are already two suns. What if we not only have full daylight all day, but also another sun?]

After the last message appeared, the chat channel fell into an eerie silence for a moment, and then everyone seemed to fall into an unprecedented panic.

Many top players from various servers stepped forward to comfort everyone, saying that no matter what, everyone has to try to survive.

Qiao Ning was carefully considering her words, trying to figure out how to say things in a way that would lessen everyone's panic and fear; in fact, she herself wasn't sure.

She has the resources and strength to survive natural disasters, but the key issue of survival rate cannot be solved by her alone.

Is this really the end for District 1408?

Just as Qiao Ning was deep in thought, the smart home assistant suddenly issued a reminder:

[Master, the Sun Grass you planted earlier was fully harvested at 8:00 AM, totaling 8954 jin (approximately 447.25 kg). You also obtained 19746 seeds. Would you like to plant all the seeds?]

Qiao Ning's eyes lit up: "Plant them! Plant them all!"

With Sun Grass, players can continuously extract Sun Herb Liquid, and as long as they have enough liquid, they won't be afraid of the sun.

The problem now is, how do we quickly extract medicinal liquid from so much sun grass?

She had previously asked the chief of Shiwu Village that to extract the most effective medicinal liquid, it had to be done as soon as possible within 2 hours of harvesting the sun grass; the longer it was delayed, the less effective the medicine would be.

There are many ways to extract juice, whether it's by hammering or grinding, any method will do, as long as the juice can be extracted.

Qiao Ning couldn't think of a good solution, and time was of the essence, so she quickly sought help from her friends Pei Jing, Miao Qinghe, Li Yangxing, and Yuan Heng.

Miao Qinghe: [If you trust us, hand over the Sun Grass to us. We'll help you extract the medicinal liquid, and then give it to you. You'll still sell it to us.]

Miao Qinghe was always polite to people, but after spending time together, Qiao Ning knew very well that Miao Qinghe's words were not just politeness, but rather a sign that she trusted Qiao Ning's character and therefore directly asked her to bring out all the Sun Grass.

Otherwise, given Miao Qinghe's personality, she would never have rashly made such a request.

Pei Jing: [Leave this to us, don't worry. Are you still able to continue planting the sun grass? I have a lot of fertilizer.]

Hara Yoko: [I also have a lot of fertilizer on hand, which I've already mailed to you. This stuff isn't very useful to me.]

Qiao Ning: "You guys should at least leave some fertilizer for yourselves, don't give it all to me. The Sun Grass doesn't consume much fertilizer. From what I've observed, it matures under certain conditions, only during the transition between day and night. So we won't have many more chances."

"Because the days are getting longer and the nights are about to disappear, the sun grass will soon be unable to grow anymore."

Upon hearing Qiao Ning's words, the group fell silent in unison.

A moment later, Yuan Heng suddenly sent a message: [It's okay, I really don't need this stuff. When I grow things and fertilize them, they don't grow well. Every now and then they get sick or wither and die. Very few survive, so I stopped wasting fertilizer a long time ago and have accumulated a lot.]

Qiao Ning, Pei Jing, and the others sent out a string of question marks. No, how could such a magical and convenient planting pot kill the plants?

She didn't understand.

Seeing the question marks, Yuan Heng said helplessly, "I don't know why, but they seem to be incompatible with me; they don't last long in my hands."

Li Yangxing: [Brother Heng, I really don't want to tell you, but you're probably just unlucky; you dragged down all the plants you planted.]

Pei Jing: [While I also experience planting failures, the success rate for normal players should be over 50%.]

Tao Tao: [I wasn't very lucky; my success rate was probably around 50%. @Qiao Ning, what about you, Sister Qiao?]

Qiao Ning thought for a moment, then decided to tell the truth: "I've never failed."

Even the planted evolutionary green ivy successfully broke through to the ultimate form in one go.

[System notification: Yuan Heng has left the group chat.]

Perhaps it was this distraction, and the arrival of the Sun Grass, that lifted everyone's spirits. Pei Jingmiao and Qinghe stayed together, working overtime to extract the medicinal liquid after receiving the Sun Grass.

Qiao Ning was researching how to increase the yield of Sun Grass, while also reassuring other players in the chat channel that Sun Grass Liquid would be provided in large quantities, so there was no need to be afraid even if the daylight hours were extended or even if polar day occurred.

Qiao Ning's influence in the server was undeniable. Her words reassured the players, who stopped sending pessimistic and negative messages in the chat. The chat channel finally returned to its usual lively and positive state.

The first batch of the medicine was quickly put on the shelves, each serving containing 10ml, with a limit of one serving per person. 20,000 servings were made available.

Qiao Ning studied it all night, without even leaving the road to explore. After many experiments, she finally discovered that when the Sun Grass and the evolved sunflower were planted together, they would grow more abundantly.

Each planting pot needs to hold at least ten sunflowers. Qiao Ning's planting pots are all upgraded intermediate planting pots, each pot can hold 10 kinds of plants, with no limit on the number of each kind.

Qiao Ning didn't have enough evolved sunflower seeds, so she had to use fertilizer to accelerate the growth of the sunflowers. Each time it advanced, there was a chance to produce evolved sunflower seeds. Often, out of a pile of seeds, only one or two were evolved.

She was busy buying up both evolved sunflower seeds and fertilizer in the trading area all night long, until dawn, at eight o'clock in the morning, as day and night alternated.

Another batch of sun grass has matured.

The night actually lasted much less than the "12 hours" predicted by the previous player, only 8 hours.

She drew back the curtains and looked out the window at the sky; the sun had already risen.

The sky was cloudless, and three suns hung brightly overhead.