Chapter 9

A new day begins in a dry climate.

Qiao Ning was awakened by the dryness and pain in her nasal cavity while breathing.

She got up, drank a bottle of water, and then quickly took out a humidifier from the storage box and placed it next to her. The air instantly became humid, making it much easier to breathe and less uncomfortable.

On the third day after the disaster, the air inside the car became noticeably dry, so it was necessary to use moisturizing products and increase the humidity.

While rinsing her mouth, Qiao Ning glanced at the chat channel and found a chorus of complaints. Many people were experiencing severe skin irritation and bleeding.

Other symptoms include nosebleeds, nasal pain when breathing, frequent thirst, or excessive sweating.

For breakfast, Qiao Ning ate fried eggs, a deluxe sandwich, a large tomato, some grapes, and 5 cherry tomatoes.

After eating and drinking her fill, she noticed it was already 8 o'clock and immediately drove off.

The sun was indeed a bit bigger today.

The temperature didn't rise, but the air became extremely dry.

To increase her chances of finding more supplies, Qiao Ning didn't stop for a break at noon, just ate some purple rice bread and drank some yogurt to fill her stomach. Apart from getting out of the car to relieve herself, pick up supply boxes, and stretch her body, she didn't stop driving, driving until just before 8 p.m. before turning off the engine.

What she noticed most that day was that the air was getting drier and drier.

Five 550ml bottles of water a day weren't enough to keep me going; my mouth was still parched. In this situation, no one dared to drink freely; everyone just tried to moisten their lips to avoid dying of thirst.

It's not advisable to eat too much for dinner, but Qiao Ning had been driving all day and just wanted to eat something nice.

However, she didn't rush to eat; she habitually checked and organized the supplies first.

I drove for about 11 hours today, encountered supplies 15 times, and obtained a total of 45 supply boxes.

There are 20 one-star supply boxes, 20 two-star supply boxes, and 5 three-star supply boxes.

The following are the supplies found in all the crates:

Wood*500, Iron Blocks*30, Copper Blocks*30, Glue*2

These are still the only materials available.

Food, vegetables, fruits, and beverages:

Braised Beef Instant Noodles (5-pack x 10), Self-heating Hot Pot (3 x 3, Spicy Beef Tallow), Pork Hind Leg Cured Meat (5 lbs), Eggs (10 x 10), Green Beans (5 lbs), Tomatoes (3 lbs), Cucumbers (4 lbs), Zucchini (2 x 10), Chives (2 lbs), Chrysanthemum Greens (2 lbs), Endive (4 lbs)

4 bottles of fermented bean curd, 2 jin of salt and pepper steamed buns, and 2 jin of crisp persimmons.

1 pound of green grapes, 1 pound of strawberries, 2 pounds of apples, 2 pounds of pears, 4 pounds of grapefruits, 3 pounds of peaches, and 10 cans of canned yellow peaches (500 grams per can).

10 bottles of orange juice (500ml each), 10 bottles of plum green tea (500ml each), 5 bottles of orange soda (250ml each), 5 bottles of peach tea (500ml each), 10 cans of watermelon passion fruit juice (250ml each), and 12 bottles of cola (550ml each).

The rest are daily necessities, moisturizing items, medicine, and game items:

10 bar soaps, 100 units of gasoline, 5 liters of drinking water

Vehicle repair card*5, humidifier water balloon*10, moisturizing kit*5 sets, first aid kit*4, heatstroke medicine*2 boxes, external injury spray*4 bottles, internal injury medicine*6 vials

Reinforced tire blueprints *1, protective film *5

Oxygen cylinder *1

Qiao Ning was shocked when she saw the last item of supplies.

In what situations are oxygen cylinders needed?

Since we don't need to go into the water, does that mean the air will be so dry later that we won't be able to breathe properly and will need to use an oxygen tank?

This is absolutely terrifying!

Qiao Ning organized the supplies, turned on the electric cooker to boil water, and then stir-fried tomatoes and eggs in a frying pan. There was a lot of broth, so she added four tomatoes and thickened the sauce before serving.

Boil the water on the other side and then add the knife-cut noodles.

I haven't eaten these 500 grams of knife-cut noodles since I opened the package, but now it's time to take them out and cook them.

After the knife-cut noodles are almost cooked, take them out and rinse them with cold water. This will make the noodles chewier.

Place the cooked noodles into a bowl, then pour the stir-fried tomatoes and eggs along with the rich broth over them. Stir well, and your homemade tomato and egg knife-cut noodles are ready.

Qiao Ning loves eating like this; she can easily finish a whole bowl in one go. Paired with a jar of peach tea, and a glass of mineral water if she's thirsty, the fatigue from driving all day seems to disappear in this moment of satisfaction.

It's just that there's no ice or refrigerator, otherwise a chilled drink paired with a bowl of knife-cut noodles would be even better.

After finishing her meal and cleaning up the pots and pans, Qiao Ning took a bottle of plum green tea, leaned back in the driver's seat, and opened the system interface as usual.

Today, instead of opening the chat channel, she first started manufacturing the blueprints that could be made.

Multi-functional flush toilet, intermediate stackable oil tank, exhaust system.

The first manufacturing of that intermediate stacked fuel tank only requires 20 iron blocks, 20 copper blocks, and 5 rubber blocks. The second stacking requires 50 iron blocks, 50 copper blocks, 10 rubber blocks, 5 glass blocks, 10 silver blocks, 1 glue block, and 1 gold block.

The exhaust system requires 100 each of iron, copper, silver, and gold.

The universal flush toilet requires 30 iron blocks, 20 copper blocks, 5 silver blocks, 1 gold block, 10 glass blocks, 20 rubber blocks, and 5 glue blocks.

Gold and silver ingots were still not enough, so Qiao Ning sent a message to Li Yangxing:

Are you busy? Are there any extra materials to trade today?

As if waiting for her message, Li Yangxing replied instantly: "Just finished working, and I'm lying here eating the snail rice noodles you gave me, Sister Qiao. It's so delicious, I love it. It's a pity there's no soda, otherwise it would be perfect."

Qiao Ning emailed two bottles of Coke as a gift, since she had plenty of it anyway and it wasn't very thirst-quenching. She didn't usually drink much; she'd only used two bottles when making Coke chicken wings.

She likes iced cola with snacks like grilled meat or rice noodles. Unhealthy, but refreshing.

"Ahhh, Sister Qiao, are you Doraemon? How come you have everything?!"

Qiao Ning said, "They don't have any chilled ones, only room temperature ones. Just make do with it."

Li Yangxing sent a large dog emoji with starry eyes: "Thank you, Sister Qiao!"

"I still have a lot of materials. Do you need everything? I'll send them to you right away!"

"Sister Qiao, why do you need so many materials? I don't see anyone in the trading area wanting these things."

Qiao Ning said, "That's because they need other supplies right now. I need materials more. Various blueprints require a lot of materials, and basic materials won't be cheap in the future."

When Qiao Ning saw the large pile of materials he sent, she was pleased, but also hypocritically offered a word of advice:

"Don't sell too much; keep some for yourself."

Li Yangxing replied, "Don't worry, Sister Qiao, I still have some stock. I don't sell to anyone else, I'm only selling my extra materials to you."

That's exactly what Qiao Ning wanted to hear: the cooperation went smoothly and both sides reached a consensus.

The materials that Li Yangxing mailed to her this time included:

Iron ingots*1500, Copper ingots*1500, Silver ingots*500, Gold ingots*200, Glue*50

Plastic*500, Rubber*300, Glass*200

This time there are even more materials than the last time!

The supplies that Qiao Ning sent included:

Food: 5 packs of braised beef instant noodles, 1 self-heating hot pot

Vegetables: 1 pound of tomatoes, 1 pound of cucumbers

Fruits: 1 pound of peaches, 1 pound of pomelos, 2 cans of canned yellow peaches

Beverages: 6 bottles of cola, 4 bottles of orange juice

Medications: First Aid Kit*2, External Wound Spray*2, Internal Wound Medication*2, Heatstroke Special Medicine*1 box

Moisturizing items: Moisturizing set *1, Cleansing soap *4 bars

Upon receiving the supplies, Li Yangxing instantly turned into a screaming chicken: "Sister Qiao!! You're amazing! You sent me so many rare supplies that are hard to find on the market, the kind you can't even buy! I feel like my materials aren't worth as many of your rare supplies... I really don't deserve them."

Qiao Ning simply sent over what she couldn't use, without feeling that it was inappropriate.

Furthermore, Li Yangxing's material drop rate is ridiculously low; she's counting on him to keep supplying her with materials. Of course, there are also materials for sale at low prices in the trading market, and she won't miss out on any suitable ones.

Looking at the number of materials displayed in her backpack by the system, Qiao Ning couldn't help but ask, "Did you get all these materials from opening boxes?"

She regretted asking as soon as she did. Who doesn't have their own survival secrets? To others, her question seemed a bit like prying.

I didn't expect Li Yangxing to tell the truth, but to my surprise, he actually replied seriously.

Li Yangxing replied, "I only got a portion of the loot from opening the chests. The vast majority of the loot came from the monsters guarding the treasure, and there's also the reason due to my own talent."

Qiao Ning suddenly realized that it was common for monsters to drop basic materials and equipment in the game. In addition, given the talent that Li Yangxing had drawn, it was not surprising that he had so many materials.

Unfortunately, she has yet to encounter a treasure-guarding monster.

"Sister Qiao, the monster guarding the treasure is stronger than yesterday. Be careful if you encounter it. If I drop any suitable equipment, I'll send it to you directly. Don't be shy, survival is the most important thing."

Qiao Ning felt a warmth in her heart. In this survival game, how fortunate it is to have someone who can trust you and genuinely care about you.

She never expected that trading a healing potion would earn her such a sincere heart.

Since it was a matter of life and death, Qiao Ning certainly wouldn't be polite. After all, the supplies she traded to Li Yangxing included quite a few medicines. She hoped they could save his life in time while he was fighting the treasure-guarding monster.

The more equipment Li Yangxing drops, the more advantageous it is for her.

It's because she can't encounter any treasure-guarding monsters and therefore can't get any equipment.

The drop rate for equipment is extremely low, making it incredibly precious. Apart from Li Yangxing, who didn't take it seriously and simply gave her a rare defensive piece of equipment, most people are desperately short of equipment, driving up its price to astronomical levels in the trading area.

Li Yangxing had an incredibly high opinion of her, always thinking she was taken advantage of in transactions and was an overly naive nouveau riche. But in reality, Qiao Ning saw him that way too.