Chapter 157
Su Jing squatted in front of the equipment table in the villa's control room, pinching a leaf of a spiritual herb between her fingertips—the leaf was slightly curled at the edges even when placed in a temperature-controlled cabinet at a high temperature of 58℃.
She looked up at the display screen of the cooling equipment. Next to the red number "28℃", a message flashed that it was "operating under overload". The cold air from the vents carried a slight burning sensation, indicating that even the interior of the villa was almost unable to block the heat wave from the outside.
"Number 1, fill the high-powered flashlight with batteries. The blue-striped snake is afraid of light, so this is crucial. Number 2, check the heat dissipation system of the laser gun. Continuous firing at 58°C can easily cause it to jam. Prepare 3 spare energy magazines."
"Su Jing, I also brought a mini high-powered flashlight! I've hung it on the cloth bag, so if a snake attacks from behind, I can shine it in its eyes!"
Little Jin came running over, carrying a palm-sized, powerful flashlight in its mouth. Its short, golden fur was plastered to its body by the air conditioning, yet it was still sweating profusely from nervousness. The voice in its mind was a mixture of excitement and wariness.
"I just sniffed the direction we went into the mountains, and the smell of snakes was stronger than this morning! They seemed to be hiding in the cool crevices of the rocks, afraid of the sun!"
Su Jing put on a lightweight, heat-insulating suit—
The fabric can reflect 60% of sunlight, but it still can't stop the high temperature from penetrating. She tucked the mining blade into her waistband, slung the laser gun across her shoulder, and attached a heat-insulating patch to the outside of Xiao Jin's cloth bag: "Stay close to me after we go into the mountains, and don't go near the crevices in the rocks, snakes like to hide in them."
Numbers 3 and 4 stayed at the villa and set the sprinkler system on the protective netting to 'timed' mode, spraying for 5 minutes every hour to keep the netting moist and prevent snakes from climbing up.
As soon as I stepped out of the villa, a wave of scorching hot air hit me—
The concrete ground was bleached white by the sun, and stepping on it barefoot could instantly burn you. The distant mountains and forests were distorted into blurry green shadows in the heat.
Su Jing sprayed half a bottle of Lingcao Cooling Spray, but the coolness only lasted for less than a minute before being swallowed up by the heat wave.
"Number 1, use the robotic arm to measure the ground temperature." She gave the order, and the temperature sensor of robot number 1 touched the ground. The screen immediately turned red: "Ground temperature 72℃. Continuous exposure for more than 10 seconds will cause third-degree burns."
Little Jin huddled at Su Jing's feet, its four paws resting on the heat-resistant mat Su Jing had laid out beforehand. Its inner voice complained, "It's so hot! Even the air is hot! How can a snake stay in a place like this?"
Su Jing didn't say anything, but quickened her pace and walked into the forest—the further into the mountains she went, the denser the trees became, the sunlight was blocked by the leaves, and the ground temperature gradually dropped to 55°C, making it a little easier to breathe.
"Su Jing! This way!" Xiao Jin suddenly ran to a pile of rocks on the left, her little nose close to a huge crevice in the rock, then immediately pulled back, her voice filled with tension.
"There's a snake inside! The smell is so strong! It's the smell of 'cold and slippery,' it's sleeping and hasn't noticed us!"
Su Jing immediately signaled robots No. 1 and No. 2 to form a fan shape around the pile of rocks, while she herself, holding a powerful flashlight, slowly approached the crevice in the rocks—
The gap was about 20 centimeters wide, and it was pitch black inside. A faint greenish shadow could be seen curled up inside.
"Number 1, shine the searchlight into the crack in the rock, but don't shine it directly. Shine it on the rock next to it first, so that it reacts."
Su Jing gave the order in a low voice, and the searchlight of Robot No. 1 turned on. The pale white beam fell on the outside of the crevice, and the shadow inside the crevice moved instantly.
A green-striped snake, about 1.5 meters long, slowly poked its head out. Its body was greenish-blue with black diamond-shaped patterns. Its vertical pupils shrank into slits in the light, and it flicked its forked tongue, showing obvious aggression.
"It's the Blue-Striped Serpent! A first-tier demonic beast!"
Su Jing gripped the high-powered flashlight tightly and suddenly shone the beam directly into the snake's eyes—the blue-striped snake immediately hissed and twisted violently, clearly stimulated by the bright light, trying to retreat back into the crevice.
"Number 2, aim the laser gun at the middle of the snake's body, don't hit the head, save the demon core!" Su Jing shouted. The laser gun of Robot Number 2 instantly shot out a pale red beam. With a "sizzle", a charred wound was burned in the middle of the snake's body. The Green-Striped Snake was in pain and darted out of the crack in the rock, pouncing towards Robot Number 1.
"Number 1, mechanical arm, block!" Su Jing simultaneously drew her mining blade. The pale blue energy blade shone even brighter in the intense light. She circled behind the snake, the blade slashing towards its tail with energy—
With a "crack," the snake's tail was severed, and the blue-striped snake lost its balance and fell heavily to the ground.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Su Jing shone a powerful flashlight directly into the snake's eyes again. The blue-striped snake completely lost its ability to resist, curling up on the ground and convulsing. She immediately stepped forward.
With a gentle slash, the blade sliced across the snake's belly, and a pale green demon core rolled out. A communicator popped up: "[Obtained Tier 1 Azure-Striped Serpent Demon Core x1, containing trace amounts of toxin resistance energy, which can enhance the ability's tolerance to toxins]."
"Su Jing! There's a snake! In the crevice of the rocks over there! I can smell it!"
Xiao Jin suddenly pointed to another rock not far away, his voice trembling with urgency.
"Not just one! There are three! They were startled by the sound and are hiding deeper into the crevice!" Su Jing's heart skipped a beat—
There were more blue-striped snakes in the mountains than expected. In the 58°C heat, they all hid in the shade, but once the temperature dropped in the evening, they might approach the villa.
"Number 1 and Number 2, use your searchlights to scan the crevices in the surrounding rocks and mark the locations of the snakes."
"Let's collect this demon core first, then return to the villa—staying in this high temperature for so long, we won't have enough energy blasts and cooling spray."
Su Jing put the demon core into the collection box and was about to turn around when she saw a smaller blue-striped snake dart out from a crack in the rock and pounce on Xiao Jin.
She immediately pointed the powerful flashlight at the snake and pulled the trigger of the laser gun. With a "sizzle," the snake was hit by the laser and instantly stopped moving.
On the way back to the villa, the heat was even more intense than when they went into the mountains. Su Jing's heat-resistant suit was soaked with sweat, and Xiao Jin lay on the mechanical arm of Robot No. 1, too weak to even speak.
As soon as she stepped into the villa, her communicator started buzzing incessantly. She opened the system chat area, and the screen was filled with the cries of survivors: "Sister Li from the Flower Country" posted a photo of her sunburned back, her skin red, swollen, and peeling.
"Does anyone have hemostatic herbs or cooling spray? I'm in so much pain! I'll trade my last bag of compressed biscuits for it!" The message from "US-Mark" was even more desperate: "A snake from the mountains has stormed into the shelter! It bit three people, and we have no antivenom, so we can only watch them convulse! @I am the God of Wealth, please open your shop! I need to buy weapons and medicine!"
Su Jing glanced at the chat bar flooded with "@IamGodofWealth," then at the Azure-Striped Serpent Demon Pill in her collection box, and made a decision—
The high temperatures and monsters will continue. Instead of letting supplies rot in the space, it's better to put them up for sale at a high price. This can alleviate the crisis for some people and also earn more points to prepare for dealing with more dangerous situations later.
She gave the order into the communicator: "Number 5, organize the mineral daggers and purified water in the space, and prepare to put them on the 'Number One Shop in the World'. Set the price at 1.5 times the market price, and limit each person to one item to avoid hoarding."
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