132
A small island in Zhoushan. It was once a sparsely populated desert island, with no more than three digits of indigenous inhabitants. But due to this global natural disaster, the island has become a refuge for survivors. The narrow expanse of land is teeming with people, and tents and various shipping containers cover the island's leeward side.
Zhang Chuan mingled in the crowded crowd on the beach. A warship was anchored on the beach, and the emergency command center was delivering supplies to the island.
The reason they chose to meet here was because there were so many people, and the crowd would give him some courage. Having lived in peacetime since birth, he had no sense of security in the end times.
To be fair, there was no need to be wary. He absolutely trusted Boss 330 and Hailou. He had witnessed the entire situation on the world channel. If even Hailou was a conspirator, then there were no good people in this game.
But in the past few months, too many unexpected things have happened. In the end times, there are no laws and moral constraints, and murders are happening all the time. He has become suspicious out of fear and thinks everyone is bad.
Players don't have a private chat function, so yesterday's communication was entirely conducted on the world channel. Other players with ulterior motives could also track their meeting locations through the message logs and plot something. Of course, the possibility of this happening is extremely small. 330, who just topped the leaderboard for the second season and possesses two S-rank skills, would give even Paradise Island pause.
A month ago, Zhang Chuan joined the alliance. Theirs was one of the newest alliances, and its ten members were essentially the last in the Season 1 rankings. Their locations were widely dispersed. Because none of the alliance members had long-distance teleportation skills, dozens of days had passed without them being able to reunite.
Zhang Chuan was also alone. He was quite cautious. After the refuge ship was upgraded to level 4, he took his family to the archipelago and anchored in a natural bay on another island near this one.
The bay was packed with fishing boats of all sizes, and new ships could no longer squeeze in. His refuge ship was parked in the inner position, and with the camouflage, it was difficult for other players to find him. His entire family lived and ate on the refuge ship, and the empty rooms also took in some survivors. There was not enough food on the refuge ship to be self-sufficient, so he spread a few dozen centimeters of soil on the bow deck to plant potatoes, but it would take forever for these potatoes to be planted. Fortunately, several nearby islands were designated as survivor shelters by the emergency command center. Warships would deliver supplies every once in a while, and he could also buy some nutrient solution from the [shopping mall].
Against the backdrop of global collapse, possessing such a shelter was a great blessing, a blessing in disguise. Accustomed to life on land, he disliked drifting on the sea; even sleeping was rocking and swaying, which made him uneasy. So, he decided to anchor the refuge boat in the harbor. Using materials like fishing nets, wood planks, and an aluminum alloy roof, he meticulously renovated and repurposed it, completely blending the standard refuge boat with the fishing boat. The refuge boat was rarely moved, while others would go to land to complete quests and kill monsters to earn gold and experience.
If the future continued like this, it would actually be quite good. He possessed an AoE skill capable of dealing massive damage to bugs, and he had developed well. Even if the emergency center stopped sending supplies, he could even use the nutrient solution from the [Mall] to feed the tens of thousands of refugees on the entire island. The nutrient solution could be diluted with water. He'd experimented and found that 100 ml of nutrient solution mixed with 1 liter of drinking water was enough for an adult to consume daily. If the nutrient solution got boring, during [Season 2], he'd obtained various crop seeds from the [Blind Boxes] he'd earned from completing missions. These were stored in his [Warehouse] and the storage room on the refugee ship. Planting some on the island's farmland would be no problem. He wasn't concerned with quantity, just a change of pace after getting tired of the nutrient solution. Of course, he couldn't start planting yet; he had no say. Once the emergency center's supplies ran out and he became the sole source of food, he'd have absolute authority. In the apocalypse, where morality and law crumbled, such authority was needed to ensure the survival of as many people as possible.
But Paradise Island wouldn't give him the chance to thrive peacefully with other players like him. His disguise on the refuge ship was certainly good, but if it dragged on for too long, it was only a matter of time before he was discovered. A player on the World Channel had shared about a skill called [Energy Sense] that could sense any nearby player using it. He couldn't guarantee he wouldn't use it completely, as that would be pointless. So, he couldn't guarantee that using it this time wouldn't be the trigger that exposed the refuge ship. It turned out that the beasts on Paradise Island had only one principle: to slaughter players relentlessly, seize resources, and destroy anything they found. So, no matter what, he had to step forward. If other players chose to hide and remain silent while being hunted by Paradise Island, then no one would support him once they were discovered. It was the simplest truth of the saying, "When the lips are gone, the teeth are cold."
After thinking so much and considering carefully, Zhang Chuan made up his mind to join the player alliance headed by Hailou, fight for justice, and cut off the big cancer of Paradise Island.
Taking the initiative to contact Hailou and using the newly developed [Purification] to help Hailou was his "pledge of allegiance".
Amidst the crowded crowd, Zhang Chuan carefully observed every movement on the beach. At a glance, he could see volunteers distributing supplies, military and police officers holding loudspeakers to remind survivors to line up, and survivors desperately pushing forward for fear of not getting their share. All kinds of sounds mixed together on the beach.
But Zhang Chuan remained unfazed. He equipped himself with a C-rank skill, [Sound Blocking], which actively blocks the source of sound, filtering out the noise. He gradually eliminated insignificant sounds: the crying of babies, the complaints and insults of survivors, gossip, and rumors. As more and more sounds were blocked out, his ears became increasingly quiet. He even heard volunteers further away whispering among themselves. They secretly lamented that this was likely the last batch of supplies sent here. The total amount of emergency supplies rescued from the mainland was limited, and there were hundreds of millions of survivors who would eventually starve to death anyway. What was the point in scrambling for them now?
While these volunteers sounded pessimistic, they were also proactive and dedicated in their work with the survivors, showing no signs of running out of supplies. They were doing their utmost to delay the arrival of a horrific moment. Although they hadn't personally experienced the apocalypse, they could infer from past famines the hellish reality that would emerge when food ran out on an island densely populated by tens of thousands of people.
Blocking out the voices of the volunteers, blocking out all human voices, blocking out the sound of the wind, and the sound of the waves, his ears could no longer hear a single sound. The world around him seemed to freeze, as if he had walked into the Orfield anechoic chamber.
Zhang Chuan closed his eyes temporarily and tried his best to listen. Finally, he caught a glimpse of a disturbance at his nine o'clock position. It wasn't a disturbance in the air, which belonged to the category of wind. This was more like a fluctuation of energy.
He opened his eyes and looked towards nine o'clock. Sure enough, in the distance, he saw a distorted space beside a container. Space was twisted into a pitch-black vortex. Several young men and women jumped out of the small vortex one after another, and the vortex quickly closed.
Here she comes! Zhang Chuan approached excitedly, but he didn't dare to recognize her immediately.
As he walked over, observing, he noticed a tall man carrying a comatose patient on his back. The patient looked very ill, likely the player he needed to use [Purification] to save. There were two other tall, muscular men, standing tall but with dull eyes. They were probably the "death warriors" trained by Paradise Island, their souls drained, as mentioned on the World Channel. In addition, leading the way were a skinny boy with unkempt hair and two girls, one sweet-looking and the other smartly dressed.
Zhang Chuan recognized her almost immediately. The taller one must be the 330 boss. He intuitively sensed that she exuded a unique aura, the aura of a strong person.
"@ him on the world channel again and tell him we're here." Tao Sai looked around calmly.
"OK, boss." Guo Pei quickly did as he was told.
Zhang Chuan, who had squeezed through the queue, first heard the voice next to him, and then received a message from the player [Bucai Youshan] on the world channel. He completely lost his suspicion and took the initiative to greet him, waving excitedly: "Hi! I'm here!"
Zhang Chuan led the way, guiding the group to a secluded, clean patch of grass. With tens of thousands of people crammed onto the narrow island, there wasn't much seclusion. However, because the emergency center's warships were distributing supplies, most of the survivors had gathered near the beach. This was one of the few areas free from the stench of garbage. Zhang Chuan didn't take them directly to the refugee boat; that was Tao Sai's suggestion.
Tao Sai instructed the tool character to lay the unconscious He Zhaonian flat on the grass. The virus had already extensively eroded his body, leaving over 75% of his skin bleached, making his face virtually unrecognizable. Therefore, after rescuing him, they hadn't allowed He Zhaonian's family to meet him, which was a significant blow to them.
"Using [Purification] requires a lot of energy and takes a long time, but my energy bar is limited. I may run out of energy in the middle of the process and need to be fed some recovery potions." Zhang Chuan said.
"I'll do it." Guo Pei took the initiative to accept this task, and then bought some recovery potions in the [shopping mall] and placed them next to him in case of emergency.
"Then I'll start." Zhang Chuan no longer had any worries. He sat down cross-legged, equipped himself with the [Purification] skill, and then covered He Zhaonian's body with his palms to activate the skill.
Pure light flashed in circles, and the white spots on He Zhaonian's skin began to change little by little. The smooth skin covered by the white spots began to ulcerate and disappear, leaving behind exposed body tissue. These were the lesions left by the virus. The virus devoured the host's cells and tissues, becoming part of the body. When the virus was cleared, it caused extensive damage to the body.
Where the virus had been completely cleansed, blood vessels and subcutaneous tissue were exposed, and blood began to gush out. Tao Sai quickly assigned Shi Jiahui to work on He Zhaonian's other side, repairing the damaged blood vessels and tissue to prevent his death from excessive blood loss. Cleansing the virus creates wounds, and Shi Jiahui can heal them, which was why Tao Sai had brought her along.
The process of cleansing the virus was so bloody, like a surgical operation, that Tao Sai's scalp tingled and she looked away. She kept an eye on her surroundings, trying to prevent anyone from disturbing this frantic and protracted "operation."
Time ticked by, and Guo Pei repeatedly fed Zhang Chuan, his hands full, recovery potions. The pain also revived He Zhaonian, and Tao Sai quickly drained his recovered energy, leaving him in a deep coma while the "surgery" was completed. The [Energy Steal] skill acted as an anesthetic.
It lasted from early morning to noon, and then to dusk. When the setting sun sank from the sea level, the virus in He Zhaonian's body was finally cleared, and Shi Jiahui's repair of his body lasted for another ten minutes.
After completing the task, Zhang Chuan collapsed on the grass, gasping for breath.
"Thank you very much," Tao Sai handed him a bottle of mineral water. "We will remember your help. You can ask for anything you want, and I will do my best to meet your needs."
Zhang Chuan shook his head, a look of relief on his face. "No, no, sir, it's my honor to help you!"
"Brother, I've fed you countless recovery potions today. Let me introduce myself first. My nickname on the world channel is 'Mr. Bucai Youshan', and that's the person I'm contacting." Guo Pei came up to show his enthusiasm. He had been holding it in for the entire day, and because he was afraid of disturbing him from using his skills, he barely spoke during the entire process.
"Hello, hello," Zhang Chuan half sat up, leaning against the tree, and pointed curiously at Guo Pei's half-long, disheveled hair. "Brother, you are not an artist, are you? You have such long hair, and you have the temperament of an artist at first glance."
Guo Pei waved his hands and said bluntly, "You're overthinking it. I just haven't had a haircut in a while. My hair has been saved for over two months. I wanted to go downstairs to get a haircut, but the owner of the haircut shop downstairs was traveling. I was broke and could only afford a haircut for ten yuan. So I waited another month, and then, well, it was the end of the world. Hey, I noticed that your buzz cut is pretty good. You must have just had a haircut. Do you have a barber on board? Let him shave me too."
Zhang Chuan said, "That's easy. My grandfather used to cut hair under the overpass."
"Very good, this is called resource complementarity. If you want to play games, you can come to me. I have so many fun stand-alone games on my computer!" Guo Pei patted his chest proudly.
"Can you please put these games aside for now?" Shi Jiahui rolled her eyes at Guo Pei and said to Zhang Chuan, "If you're short of any supplies on the refugee ship, tell us and we can share."
She suddenly remembered, "Oh, did you grow vegetables on the refugee ship? My skills can help crops mature quickly, so I can help you ripen them."
Zhang Chuan perked up. "I know this skill. I heard about it on the World Channel. I planted potatoes on the deck, but they haven't grown much in such a long time. I dug up the soil yesterday and saw they were no bigger than my little fingernail. If it's convenient, could you please help me ripen them quickly? I'm almost vomiting the compressed biscuits the emergency center gave me. I really want something else."
"No problem, it's a piece of cake."
As the conversation became increasingly cordial, Zhang Chuan's eyes nearly filled with tears. For the first time, he felt the warmth of his gaming companions up close, something he hadn't experienced even in the Alliance channel. Because they had never met up with the other Alliance members, they were merely "online chatters," and now, perhaps, they were truly companions helping each other.
"What do you think about the player alliance? Do you want to join us?" Tao Sai, who was not very talkative, asked.
"Of course!" Zhang Chuan didn't hesitate for a millisecond. "Boss, I want to join you in destroying those beasts on Paradise Island!"
Tao Sai nodded. "Okay, you can take a few days to get ready, spend time with your family, etc. When you're ready, @ me on the World Channel and I'll pick you up."
The space tunnel led to the captain's cabin of the Glimmer. Tao Sai instructed the tool character to place He Zhaonian on the bed. The virus had been completely eliminated from his body, and the extensive wounds caused by the lesions had healed. He was temporarily out of danger. However, the damage caused by the lesions was irreversible in many parts of his body. Scars and epidermal defects would accompany him for the rest of his life unless he could develop the skills to repair skin tissue.
He opened his eyes, but was still very weak and needed at least a few days to recover.
"Xiao He, how are you feeling?" Tao Sai asked with concern. The others also gathered around the bed.
He Zhaonian nodded. As the virus cleared from his brain, he regained control of his body. He made a sound with his throat, but perhaps because of the damage to his vocal cords or his body being too weak to recover, his words were unclear.
He also realized that he couldn't speak a complete sentence, and immediately thought of speaking in the alliance channel to express his meaning.
This was He Zhaonian's first speech on the alliance channel after many days.
[Three Feet of Life (Lv4)]: Sister Sai, Jiahui, Xiaotang, Xiaoguo, I feel great now, I'm alive!!! I suddenly remembered a line from a skit: My feet are off the ground again, the virus is shut down, and the smart IQ takes over again hahahahahahaha
During the period when his body was controlled by the virus, except for the time when Tao Sai absorbed his energy and he fell into a coma, he was in a semi-conscious state most of the time, but he could not move or speak, and he urgently wanted to express himself.
Although he still can't speak, there are too few feelings that can be expressed through the system. After holding it in for too long, he feels like he is about to become a chatterbox.
[Three Feet of Life (Lv4)]: I'm just a little tired. I don't know if it's because of the virus. I've been having nightmares lately, and they're all horrible nightmares. I hope I can have a good sleep tonight.
[Cx330 (Lv5)]: Have a good rest, we won't disturb you. Get well soon, we have a lot to do later.
[Three Feet of Life (Lv4)]: Ah! Sister Sai, you're already level 5! Awesome! So is the "Deep Sea Fish" also a level 5 refuge ship? I really want to go see it!
[Cx330 (Lv5)]: You can rest first, there is no rush, you will be able to reach level 5 soon.
[Mr. Bucai Youshan (Lv3)]: That’s right, I will be able to reach level 4 soon!
[Three Feet of Life (Lv4)]: Hahahahahaha Xiao He, why are you still at level three?
[Mr. Bucai Youshan (Lv3)]: You don't understand. I'm trying to increase my kill line for [Execution], so I have to get the last hit on the bug, otherwise I'd be level 4 already. I'm going to grow first, and when my kill line reaches 100%, just wait and see, I'll kill everyone, everyone, and even gods!
[Tang Sixi (Lv4)]: So what is your kill line now?
[Zhizhi (Lv4)]: So what is your kill line now?
[Cx330 (Lv5)]: So what is your kill line now?
[Three Feet of Life (Lv4)]: So what is your kill line now?
[Mr. Bucai Youshan (Lv3)]: ...1.923%
Guo Pei scratched his head awkwardly.
Seeing that He Zhaonian's eyelids were almost closing, Tao Sai asked everyone to leave, leaving him a quiet environment to rest.
When Tao Sai returned to the Deep Sea Fish, he noticed several new messages on the Alliance channel.
[Three Feet of Life (Lv4)]: Even though I can't control my body, I can actually feel it. It feels so good not to be abandoned.
[Three Feet of Life (Lv4)]: Thank you
[Three Feet of Life (Lv4)]: I love you guys!!!
[Three Feet of Life (Lv4)]: Good night, see you tomorrow
Tao Sai paused. She suddenly remembered their previous stay at Jiange. Under threat of death, Shen Yi had revealed all the information he knew. He had said that the virus He Zhaonian had contracted would attack the brain, capture the host's body, and strip it of consciousness. This process would be very rapid. Once the brain gave way and consciousness was lost, even if the virus was eventually cleared, the host would become a tool, a "soul stripped away." Only those with exceptional willpower could delay this process. He Zhaonian had clearly been like this. For all this time, he had fought the virus tenaciously every moment, holding on until they rescued him.
Perhaps the illusion honed his tough character like weeds. Tao Sai fully believed that after this baptism, Xiao He had at least evolved into an indomitable warrior in his mentality.
Tao Sai walked into the big empty warehouse and miraculously found that he had made it in time for dinner.
Before leaving with Xiao He to clean up the virus, Tao Sai briefly met with everyone. Before leaving, Aunt Li asked her when she'd be back, saying she'd wait for her to eat. She'd assumed it would be quick, saying before noon. After all, Zhoushan wasn't far away, and a space warp wouldn't require a stopover. However, the cleanup took a bit longer, lasting well into the evening. Lunch lasted until two o'clock, and dinner at eight o'clock, when Tao Sai finally arrived. The large warehouse had three large round tables, and a family-friendly comedy was playing on the projection screen in front.
It was just an ordinary home-cooked meal, with seven dishes and one soup, a combination of meat and vegetables, but with so many people gathered around the table it felt especially homely.
As the refugee ship reached level five, its decks and large warehouses became larger, and Lan Xiaojia proposed further expanding the scale of the plantation. As for manpower, she could easily manage it. The crew and refugees aboard the ship were actually quite free. Their daily activities ranged from helping Lan Xiaojia with the crops, fishing and netting, preparing preserved foods in the kitchen, and exercising on the stationary bike while generating electricity.
Tao Sai agreed to Lan Xiajia's suggestion, "No problem, let's use all the space, otherwise it will be wasted."
She then said to Zhou Ning, the "first mate" sitting next to her, "You can collect fertile soil first. As for the shelves and storage boxes, I'll figure out a way."
"No problem, I will arrange for everyone to go to the shore to dig soil tomorrow." Zhou Ning said.
"That's great!" Lan Xiaojia clapped her hands excitedly. She felt that her dream of building a farm on the sea was about to come true.
"Oh, Xiao Tao, I have a question," Li Yinzhu suddenly said, looking troubled. "The bottles of liquefied gas we bought earlier are almost gone. If we don't have gas, I'm afraid we'll have to burn firewood."
Tao Sai rested his chin on his hand, thinking. This was indeed a problem. The gas tank factories had surely been ravaged by the insect swarm, and the oil and gas fields that produced natural gas would suffer the same fate. Once the four tanks of liquefied gas they had brought aboard were used up, there would be no replacements. There was room on the refugee ship for a stove, but storing firewood would require a lot of space, not to mention the considerable labor involved in finding it.
Just as Tao Sai was lost in thought, Zhou Ning had an idea. "Taotao, I have an idea. We can build a biogas tank and use biogas as fuel. I just learned about biogas tanks a few days ago and I understand the principles. I think we can put it into practice."
"Is it okay?" Tao Sai became interested as soon as he heard it.
"Of course!" Zhou Ning spoke with increasing enthusiasm. "It's definitely better than a clay stove. Burning wood is so tiring. And we can use the waste from our ship's toilets. Under anaerobic conditions, these organic substances, when broken down and converted by microorganisms, can produce biogas."
"Okay! But let's not talk about this topic for now." Tao Sai stopped Zhou Ning from continuing in time. She was afraid that she would vomit out everything she had eaten.
However, Tao Sai was still very pleased. Zhou Ning used his brain with enhanced intelligence to learn a lot of useful knowledge during this period.
Biogas seems like a viable alternative to liquefied and natural gas, but if it's to be installed on a refuge ship, the location and materials of the biogas tanks must be considered. Flammable gases are, after all, dangerous. Rural biogas tanks are typically buried underground, connected to septic tanks, so even an explosion would be a minor concern. However, if a biogas tank were built on deck, the potential damage could be enormous. No one can foresee disasters. In severe weather at sea, if a biogas tank is exposed on deck, a lightning strike could have devastating consequences. Building a biogas tank inside a ship's hold is equally dangerous.
It would be great if there was some dense material used as the outer wall of the biogas tank, so that most of the dangers could be avoided.
As Tao Sai was thinking, he suddenly thought of a material, "super cobalt-chromium-tungsten alloy"!
This is the material used by Jiange to build "safe houses" on refugee ships. It's stronger than insect mouthparts. Kobayashi Nobukazu had once dreamed of using this thing to trap her in the safe house. Using this material to build a biogas tank must be much safer. No matter how the gases inside move, no matter how violent the explosion, it can't break the tank's structure.
There is another very important point. If there is too much sediment in the subsequent biogas pool and it needs to be cleaned, she can directly freeze the singularity of [collapse] inside the biogas pool, and cleaning it will cost a lot of effort.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
