Chapter 46
She knew that the natural disasters set up in this game wouldn't be so simple; there would definitely be many obstacles to survival.
But she never expected that the trick would be played on the highway.
This is actually a bit of a problem.
Even reinforced tires can't withstand sudden icicles, let alone ordinary tires.
Qiao Ning changed the tires first, and then continued driving. To avoid slipping and sudden ice spikes, she had to limit her speed to less than 40 km/h.
She currently has no good solution, so she can only open the chat channel to see if others have encountered the same situation and how they solved it.
Seriously, this game is really messing things up. My tire just got punctured by an icicle, and it's telling me I have to change it and suggesting I reduce my speed, preferably to below 40 km/h. I'd rather just get a new electric scooter.
[Stop joking upstairs. Aren't you cold riding your electric scooter in this temperature? It's not just a matter of ten minutes; you'd be riding it all day. Your head would be buzzing from the cold wind in no time.]
The snow tires and ice tires dropped by the treasure-guarding monster are fine for slippery roads, but the icicles are a real nuisance.
I seriously suspect this game doesn't want us to survive. I just killed a treasure-guarding monster and got a tire cover blueprint, but it says my car level is too low and the crafting menu can't make it. Where am I supposed to get the materials and blueprints to upgrade my car right now?
If they can't even build a Tier 3 car, then wouldn't it require a Tier 4 car? Out of over 110,000 people, how many are truly capable of upgrading a car to Tier 4?
I was lucky; I got tire protectors directly from a monster drop. Everyone should focus on fighting the monsters guarding the treasure, as there are more at night. Those who are strong enough should try to drive at night as well.
[I also encountered the Ice Shard attack. I saw many people encountering it at the same time. Could it be that the game is set to cause this to happen at a certain time?]
[It shouldn't be, because I've already encountered it three times in just 500 meters. The first one was probably a hint, and the subsequent ones probably appear randomly.]
This is another item that can only be obtained by defeating the treasure-guarding monster.
Qiao Ning sighed and contacted the player whose car level wasn't high enough to manufacture tire protectors, asking if he was interested in trading the blueprint.
This player is from the same server as her, both are in server 1408.
Hu Rui: [Qiao Ning, sir? I was one of the earliest followers of 1408, always following you through thick and thin. You might not remember me, but I have a deep impression of you. During the first natural disaster, I probably wouldn't have survived without your kind donations. The same went for later disasters; every time I was on the verge of death, you would exchange them for large quantities of scarce resources. I've survived until now by buying your supplies.]
If you need these drawings, I'll send them to you directly. I don't need anything else; consider it a small token of my gratitude.
Qiao Ning was stunned when she saw the drawings that had been sent to her inbox instantly.
Since entering the game, she has helped many people, most of whom she no longer remembers. Survival is cruel, and she never expected anyone to repay her. She never imagined she would receive such a debt of gratitude at this moment.
"These blueprints are extremely valuable now, and I can't just take something so precious from you for nothing. I don't remember what happened before, and you don't need to hold it against me. Let's keep things separate and do what we should do in the future."
Hu Rui continued to refuse, and Qiao Ning had no choice but to say that if he didn't want to exchange the design, she would have to return the blueprints.
With that, Hu Rui finally stopped refusing. He told Qiao Ning to just give him whatever she wanted.
Qiao Ning thought for a moment and gave him 500 units of gasoline and 50 water balloons for heating.
These things may seem like a lot, but they're nothing to Qiao Ning. If a platinum treasure chest contains gasoline, it's at least 200 units, and she has a water ball maker to make heating water balls.
Hu Rui was startled by the amount of gasoline and heating water balls, feeling that the blueprint wasn't worth that much. He reasoned that the blueprint's drop rate would increase at night when fighting the treasure-guarding monster, and although the roads were dangerous at night, it shouldn't be a problem for a strong person like Qiao Ning.
If you're lucky, you should be able to get a tire cover blueprint in one night.
He didn't know that Qiao Ning would never encounter the treasure-guarding monster.
Hu Rui insisted on returning some of the gasoline and the heating water balloon, but Qiao Ning refused to accept them.
If the email is rejected, the attached supplies will be automatically returned to the sender.
“This blueprint is very important to me; it’s worth this price. And no one else has revealed this blueprint yet. You could sell it to someone else, but you’ve given me priority.”
In interpersonal interactions, goodwill is reciprocal. Qiao Ning never felt obligated to sell to her. With so many buyers, the fact that the other party didn't deliberately inflate the price, and was even willing to sell to her at a low price, already showed great goodwill.
After purchasing the blueprints, Qiao Ning checked the required materials: 1 mixed metal, 40 glue, and 2 pieces of leather, which could make 4 tire shields.
The harder the leather, the stronger and more durable the tire cover will be.
Qiao Ning had previously hunted a white-maned rhinoceros in the jungle. It was an old rhinoceros king that had been defeated by a younger rhinoceros after it had aged and weakened.
Although it is old and frail and not as strong as a young rhinoceros, it has one good advantage: its hide is much harder and thicker than that of a young rhinoceros.
At the time, Qiao Ning had too many hides, so she didn't even count the rhinoceros hide as part of her loot. She just tossed it into her backpack and went to look at the other kill rewards.
Not only the white-maned rhinoceros, but also the hides dropped by many wild beasts and mutated beasts were ignored by Qiao Ning and casually thrown into the bottom of her storage box.
Thank goodness she didn't throw it away, or she would be regretting it terribly right now.
Manufacturing tire covers requires mixed metals, and one piece of mixed metal requires 500 iron blocks, 500 copper blocks, 100 silver blocks, and 50 gold blocks.
The last natural disaster cycle was characterized by dampness, which caused car parts to rust and consumed a lot of players' metal. Not many players still have a lot of metal on hand right now.
One set of materials can make four tire covers. Qiao Ning was always short of materials, so she didn't dare to make too many. She only made 20, which she estimated would be enough for her own replacements.
If we don't need that many later, we can exchange them for other items.
After installing tire protectors, the tires are no longer affected by ice shards, but the slippage problem remains. Snow tires and ice tires are currently a bit pricey, and the players selling them are mostly just replacing the tires with warming water balloons.
Qiao Ning didn't have enough warming water balls to replace them, so she had to give up.
Li Yangxing, Pei Jing, and Yuan Heng did have both types of tires, but the chance of them bursting was low, so they didn't have many on hand, just enough for their own use, and couldn't afford to take out more.
Qiao Ning had no choice but to make do with the reinforced tires she had on the road. It was slower, but she didn't lose much of her supplies.
In one afternoon, she encountered four chests, all of which were platinum treasure chests.
The supply crates that were opened during this day:
2500 units of gasoline, 200 liters of drinking water
Heating packs*500, hand warmers*200
300 portions of cold-dispelling medicinal herbs, 800 cotton balls
These are the only types available; none of the others have been drawn.
Although there were fewer varieties, the quantity of each item was quite large, so overall the harvest was pretty good.
Qiao Ning didn't park the car that night, letting the smart assistant continue driving. As for picking up supplies...
The monster we encountered last night is coming to ride in the car again for a free meal.
As always, it would help pick up treasure chests and put them in the car, and politely take a piece of food. This time, Qiao Ning also put other dishes on the table. Whenever a new dish appeared, this guy would definitely try it, and if he liked it, he would take it again next time.
With nothing else to do, Qiao Ning suddenly spoke to it when it came to get food one day: "Do you have a name? What's it called?"
The monster seemed to understand her and pointed outside. Qiao Ning wasn't sure if it was referring to the night fog or the ice field, so she simply named it "Ice Scale".
"Do you know if there are other creatures like you on this icy road?" Qiao Ning actually wanted to ask if it had seen any other treasure-guarding monsters.
Binglin shook his head, then pondered for a moment as if he had suddenly realized something, and nodded again.
Then it raised its paw, pointed to its mouth, and then pointed to the car.
Qiao Ning looked bewildered.
Interspecies communication did not go smoothly, so Qiao Ning temporarily gave up.
The temperature kept dropping at night, and Qiao Ning was extremely afraid of the cold, so she didn't dare to open the window for too long. She closed the window immediately after Bing Lin left.
Several tens of minutes later, a new treasure chest appeared, and Ice Scale reappeared, this time in a huge form, carrying something in its mouth.
As it got closer, Qiao Ning guessed that it was carrying a half-dead monster in its mouth.
It looks exactly like the bizarre-looking treasure-guarding monsters that players often show off in chat channels.
Qiao Ning's eyes twitched suddenly. Could it be that the reason she couldn't even encounter the treasure-guarding monster at night was because this guy killed it in advance?
Ice Scale tossed the half-dead Treasure Guardian Monster in front of Qiao Ning's car, then looked at her expectantly, its tail swishing rapidly.
Qiao Ning stared at it in silence for a long time, watching it go from initial anticipation and excitement to gradual doubt, then disappointment and dejection, and finally lower its big head, no longer even wagging its tail.
What could she do but accept the gift and then give it a delicious meal in return?
Qiao Ning got out of the car and used the Black Flame Bone Blade to strike the monster, receiving a system notification that it had been killed.
[Congratulations to player Qiao Ning for defeating the Bronze Guardian Monster*1, obtaining 4 Enhanced Icefield Tires, 10 Bottles of Icefield Beast Repellent, and 2 Bronze Leather]
Sure enough, this monster really is a treasure-guarding monster!
Qiao Ning's eyes lit up instantly as she looked at Bing Lin. She could pretend she'd never encountered the treasure-guarding monsters before, but this one behind...
"From now on, if you encounter any of these monsters, please capture them for me, okay? It would be best if you brought them with you still alive." If the guardian monster dies, it will disappear quickly.
Even those hunted by Icescale are no exception.
If Icescale could bring her the last remaining treasure-guarding monster, it would save her a lot of trouble.
She might not be able to sleep well tonight; she'll have to keep waiting to kill monsters at any time.
Ice Scales seemed to understand what she needed, and with a few leaps, it disappeared into the night mist.
Qiao Ning continued driving, and encountered treasure chests several more times, but did not see Ice Scale, and did not know what it was doing.
Just as Qiao Ning was about to park the car and take a nap, she suddenly heard a rumbling sound.
Qiao Ning leaned out of the window. Something was wrong; there was no thunder.
After a while, Qiao Ning stared in disbelief at the treasure-guarding monsters rushing towards her through the night fog.
What's going on?
Are these treasure-guarding monsters having an evening party?
If it weren't for the fact that the road game setting prevents you from driving back, Qiao Ning would have wanted to turn around and drive away.
Just as the treasure-guarding monsters were about to get within fifty meters of Qiao Ning's car, Bing Lin suddenly leaped and slid in front of all the treasure-guarding monsters, and then unilaterally beat them half to death.
These treasure-guarding monsters all look like aliens, with the most normal being the two-meter-tall muscular goblin.
No matter what level they are, none of them can defeat Ice Scale.
Amidst her surprise and uncertainty, Qiao Ning finished off each of the group of treasure-guarding monsters one by one. She had to finish off about fifty or sixty of them.
"How far did you run to catch so many treasure-guarding monsters?"
Ice Scale held its big head high and swung its tail, looking very proud.
Then, it pulled something out from the seams of its abdominal scales.
That was the backpack Qiao Ning had given it to carry food.
Ice Scale tossed the backpack to Qiao Ning, its tail slamming against the icy ground.
The meaning is quite obvious.
Qiao Ning put away the backpack and replaced it with a spatial backpack. She already had several of these, so she didn't mind giving this one as well.
Qiao Ning packed various snacks, meals, fruits, desserts and other food into her spatial backpack.
She wasn't sure if Ice Scale could use the spatial backpack.
After getting the ice scale, it used its claws to pry it open, took out a box of chocolate cake, and ate it with a big bite.
For a fleeting moment, Qiao Ning vaguely felt as if its large, bell-like eyes were glowing.
Ice Scale carefully put away the spatial backpack that it considered extremely important, and then slowly walked towards Qiao Ning.
Qiao Ning felt a tightness in her back. Although she had spent two nights with Bing Lin and knew that he meant no harm, he was still a monster, and getting close to him would trigger her subconscious vigilance.
Ice Scale has extremely strong senses. It seemed to know that Qiao Ning was nervous and wary, so it shrunk itself to the size of an ordinary small dog.
This should be the smallest size it can become.
Sensing Binglin's kindness, Qiao Ning finally calmed down and let it slowly approach her, and then... rubbed its head against her trouser leg.
When it's large, its facial features resemble those of a canine; now that it's smaller, it looks even more like one!
Qiao Ning tried to resist, but couldn't help herself and ruffled its head. The mane on its neck was incredibly soft, and the feel of it was intoxicating for anyone who loved plush fur!
Qiao Ning really wanted to take Binglin with her, but it didn't seem to be an ordinary beast and couldn't be tamed as a pet. In addition, it couldn't live during the day, so she could only watch Binglin disappear into the night fog, looking back every few steps.
Qiao Ning will still encounter treasure chests, but Bing Lin will no longer bring her any more guardian monsters—it must have already caught all the guardian monsters in the nearby area.
As dawn approached, Binglin did not reappear. Qiao Ning turned off the smart home assistant's wake-up service and, unable to resist her drowsiness, fell asleep.
When she woke up, it was already noon. She was starving, so after washing her face and brushing her teeth, she quickly took out her food and ate it to her heart's content.
On the third day of the natural disaster, at noon, it was cloudy, -2 degrees Celsius, with a level 1 cold wind.
Qiao Ning opened the window, intending to feel the temperature and cold wind outside, but she immediately closed the window again after only a second or two.
The biting wind felt like knives cutting into your face, causing a sharp, painful sensation.
She had no doubt that if she were left outside in the cold wind without any protection, it wouldn't be long before her face would suffer frostbite, or even become frostbitten.
This is only a level 1 cold wind. Who knows what will happen if the cold wind upgrades later?
Qiao Ning didn't even want to pick up the supply boxes anymore; every time she got off the vehicle to pick up the supply boxes, it felt like going to the execution ground.
She had never used the spatial vortex even once. It was so cold outside that she didn't want to move at all, let alone cause trouble or cause problems for others.
Perhaps because everyone was too lazy to bother with anything, and there were very few people looking for trouble, Qiao Ning didn't encounter any guys who teleported over from the Vortex Gate to get themselves killed today.
Qiao Ning opened each supply box she picked up, instead of saving them up.
She just wanted to quickly find something that could help her collect supply crates.
Pets can be helpful, but the locust has legs but no hands, making it inconvenient for it to pick up the locust. Fat Tiger does have claws, but it hibernates in winter; when it gets cold outside, this guy is even less active than its owner, spending all its time eating and sleeping. Sometimes it's too lazy to even eat.
Green Pearl, needless to say, would wilt as soon as she went outside.
Could Qiao Ning bear to force it to be summoned?
That's definitely not possible. Evolved plants also have feelings; they feel cold and pain. They are Qiao Ning's battle partners, trusting and obeying her completely, so Qiao Ning naturally cherishes them very much.
"If only cars had the ability to pick up supplies," Qiao Ning fantasized countless times.
Perhaps her lucky star talent finally heard her prayers, and she truly opened a blueprint from a platinum chest:
Automotive mechanical gripper drawings.
Manufacturing the mechanical claw requires 10 units of a mixed metal material.
It was expensive, but considering the increasingly lower temperatures ahead, Qiao Ning gritted her teeth and built one.
Ordinary thermal clothing can only keep out low temperatures, but not the biting cold wind. Even though Qiao Ning covered her head up so that only her eyes were exposed, the cold wind could still seep in everywhere, chilling her from head to toe, and even hand warmers were useless.
Qiao Ning's sensitivity to cold is not due to physical constitution, but rather psychological factors. She got lost once in winter when she was a child. It is said that her parents searched frantically for a day and a night before finally finding her. However, her memory of that day is very vague; she only remembers that it was very cold, and nothing else.
Later, Qiao Ning's family discovered that she seemed to be particularly intolerant of the cold. If the temperature dropped even slightly, she would have to put on more clothes. If the temperature dropped below zero, she would shiver from the cold if she didn't wear several layers.
In the next few days, the natural disaster will escalate, and the temperature will drop to tens of degrees below zero. Coupled with the freezing wind, if Qiao Ning didn't have a mechanical claw, she might have to give up picking up the treasure chest—she might really freeze to death outside during the short time she got off the vehicle.
With the mechanical claw installed, Qiao Ning no longer needs to get out of the car to pick up the treasure chest. She can simply use the mechanical claw to grab it and bring it in through the window, or she can have the smart butler open the trunk and let the mechanical claw put it in.
When Qiao Ning modified the car, she didn't remove the trunk of the fifth-class car, but only reduced its size.
The mechanical claw can twist and extend freely 360 degrees, reaching a maximum length of over ten meters. It can also be used as an attack tool when necessary.
With it, Qiao Ning was finally able to catch up on a good night's sleep.
I took a nap and woke up around 7 p.m.
She had slept too long today and felt unwell, so she desperately needed some exercise. After eating a little something, Qiao Ning went to the activity area to work out, practicing her knife skills over and over again until she was covered in sweat.
It was exactly eight o'clock when Qiao Ning finished showering and changing. Yesterday at this time, Binglin was waiting outside the car, but Qiao Ning didn't see it today.
About an hour later, Qiao Ning finally saw a familiar figure in the night fog.
When the ice scales got closer, Qiao Ning noticed that there was a large wound on its beautiful scales, like a tear in the claws of some giant beast!
Ice Scale's eyes darted around, just like a dog that had lost a fight but was too afraid to tell its parents.
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