Chapter 59
Qiao Ning watched as Bing Lin leaped a few times before disappearing into the darkness.
She moved forward a bit and stopped where the radiation level was over 400. This was the farthest she could go if she wanted to stay alive; she couldn't withstand any higher levels of radiation.
Five minutes felt like an eternity to Qiao Ning as she frowned and stared at the faint outline of the mountains in the darkness.
Even through the mask, the pungent smell still assaulted my nostrils.
Suddenly, she remembered something and took out a miner's pickaxe from her spatial backpack. When she first encountered these tools, she had been thinking about where and under what circumstances they could be used.
Later, whenever she left the highway, out of caution, she would put a little of each type of supply in her inventory, just in case. She always felt that the game wouldn't let players obtain these items for no reason.
Sure enough, it's in use now.
She first used something else to dig at the ground and found that the rocks and soil on the ground were not moving at all, as if they were stuck together with super glue.
Qiao Ning then switched to the miner's pickaxe she had obtained from the chest and easily chipped off a piece of hard rock.
It seems that only the items provided by the system can be used for digging.
She picked up the stone and examined it for a long time, then used a miner's pickaxe to chisel it open. After breaking it apart, there was nothing inside.
Is she overthinking it?
Qiao Ning refused to believe it and continued digging. Two or three minutes passed, but she still found nothing unusual.
The ice scales were about to emerge, and just as Qiao Ning was about to give up digging, her pickaxe made a clanging sound, as if she had struck something special.
Wearing a headlamp and diligently wielding a pickaxe, she really did look a bit like a miner.
Qiao Ning dug around from different angles and used the tip of her hoe to pull out a rock with many sharp edges.
She broke through the outer layer of rock, revealing the crystalline substance inside.
It turned out to be an energy stone with nine facets, roughly the same level as the energy stone obtained from burning the treasure-guarding monster with ice scales.
Although the energy stones she obtained were of low grade, it did not affect Qiao Ning's good mood.
The fact that you can easily find ore containing energy stones proves that there are not only energy stone mines here, but also that the output is quite large.
It hasn't been dug up much, otherwise it wouldn't be possible to find it by simply digging around in the ground.
Just then, Ice Scale, who had gone out to explore, returned, not only unharmed but also bringing back a pile of ore!
Ice Scale has a Gluttonous Space. She doesn't know exactly how much it can store, but since the pet information says it's the top-tier storage space, its capacity must be considerable.
She ignored the ores and first carefully examined Icescale. She lifted its claws, touched and examined them thoroughly, and only breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that it was unharmed.
Perhaps it was because she had killed Binglin once with her own hands before. Even though the matter was over, it left an indelible mark on her heart, making her extremely afraid of Binglin getting hurt.
"Good boy, you're so good." Qiao Ning lowered her head and kissed its fluffy head, then vigorously rubbed its back, praising it continuously.
A rough count of these ores reveals about two or three hundred pieces, certainly not the limit for Ice Scale's storage. It's likely the maximum number it could dig up within five minutes of entering the exploration phase, finding these ores, and beginning to mine them.
It remembered its promise to her and returned within five minutes.
Otherwise, she would have to go into the high-radiation zone to find it, and she would be in danger. Ice Scale didn't want her master to be in any danger whatsoever.
Qiao Ning understood what Bing Lin was thinking. It was because she felt its love for her, which was both overwhelming and subtle, that Qiao Ning couldn't help but soften her heart. Especially when she looked into its clear and gentle dog eyes, her heart almost melted.
"Did you encounter any danger on the other side of the mountains?"
Icescale shook its head; it hadn't lied to its master, it truly hadn't encountered any danger.
They only encountered a few ants, which posed no real danger; a single fire was enough to burn them all. Because they were worried about explaining it to their owner, they didn't hand over the energy stones, keeping them as snacks.
Qiao Ning squinted at it for a long time, and after being stared at for a while, the ice scale couldn't help but look away.
"What did you encounter inside?" Qiao Ning asked in a different phrasing.
Ice Scale had no choice but to confess, gesturing that he had encountered two weak creatures, which he killed easily and obtained some energy stones.
It glanced at Qiao Ning's expression and hurriedly took out the energy stone to hand it over.
Qiao Ning refused, and instead patted its rump: "If I hadn't asked, would you have kept quiet?"
Binglin had never been spanked by Qiao Ning before, and she jumped up instantly, but the next second she sat up straight again.
Although the owner's slap didn't hurt much, and it was no different from rubbing and petting it normally, the big dog still lowered its head.
Look at that pitiful sight...
Seeing this, Qiao Ning couldn't bear to continue scolding it. She could only sigh and tell it not to hide things from her next time, otherwise she would only worry more.
Ice Scale let out a howl, indicating that it had remembered.
Next, Icescale went into the mine again. This time it stayed inside for about ten minutes, and when it came out, it brought back more than a thousand pieces of ore. Clearly, now that it was familiar with the area, its mining efficiency was much higher.
Qiao Ning was worried that it would damage itself while digging with its claws, but Binglin said it wouldn't. Those rocks were no different from tofu to it and couldn't possibly hurt it in the slightest.
But Qiao Ning still let it take a miner's pickaxe in. When its paws got tired of digging, it would pick up the miner's pickaxe and dig, changing the way it dug.
When Binglin entered the mine, Qiao Ning was not idle either. She took a miner's pickaxe and chipped open the ore one by one, revealing the crystal-clear energy stones inside.
The energy stones she had previously unearthed had nine facets, but the ore Ice Scale brought back, when broken open, revealed no facets at all; instead, they were all round spheres. The smallest of these energy stones was the size of a goose egg, while the largest was slightly larger than a basketball.
There was only one, bigger than a basketball. Its color wasn't like the low-grade energy stone with its golden sheen; instead, it was dazzlingly golden, and staring at it for too long could probably blind you.
Qiao Ning's spatial backpack was full of things, leaving little room for anything else. She hadn't expected to encounter a mine tonight and find so many energy stones, so she hadn't brought any extra space with her backpack beforehand.
Fortunately, these energy stones can be stored in the ice scales.
In fact, Qiao Ning often puts things into Bing Lin's space, all sorts of random things.
Almost an hour later, just as Qiao Ning was getting a little restless, Bing Lin finally returned.
This time it brought back at least several thousand pieces of ore, which also included another type of ore.
The outer layer of the energy stone is black, while the outer layer of another type of mineral is silvery-white.
Qiao Ning cracked open the silvery-white ore and discovered that it was actually titanium alloy! It wasn't titanium ore or titanium metal; it was a titanium alloy!
Other players usually combine titanium ore dropped by monsters guarding treasures with other metal ores in the crafting menu to form titanium alloys.
And now she has directly mined titanium alloy?
Can titanium alloys be formed naturally? It seems not; they must be synthesized artificially, right? Or are these ores originally titanium metal, but due to some special circumstances, they eventually evolved into natural titanium alloys?
This explanation was far-fetched, but it was the only one Qiao Ning could think of.
Qiao Ning even checked her Lucky Star passive effect for the day, and sure enough, it had been triggered.
The effects of a lucky star's arrival are usually subtle, and Qiao Ning often overlooks them. But sometimes, they can suddenly bring her tremendous joy.
Qiao Ning was having a great time mining, and Binglin seemed to enjoy mining as well. It was usually full of energy and always by Qiao Ning's side. It had a lot of energy to release, so it was having a good time in the mine.
To reassure Qiao Ning, it would howl every now and then, letting her know that it was fine and that no danger had occurred.
Qiao Ning could see the pet information display. Ice Scale was a special case; it didn't display any attributes like a health bar, but strangely, it did display mood status, hunger status, fatigue status, and physical health status, such as whether it was injured.
When it's happy, its face is a striking red smile. It usually shows a red smile when playing, or when Qiao Ning praises it, pets it, sleeps with it, cooks for it, or eats with it.
A dog's happiness is that simple.
At this moment, Icescale's mood status is a red smiley face, which means it's having a lot of fun.
Being in the radiation zone, Qiao Ning had to use a radiation remover from time to time to restore her physical condition.
The night passed by in the act of mining and breaking the ore. When breaking the ore got tiring, I would mine again. When I got tired of mining, I would break the ore, like opening a blind box. You wouldn't know the size of the ore inside until you broke it open.
Perhaps because they have each other's company, the two of them, one person and one dog, don't find it boring at all.
As dawn approached, the radiation levels increased even further, and Qiao Ning could no longer stay on the edge of the area.
She knew it was time to leave.
Even though the ores were very tempting, she couldn't possibly move the entire mine. One should be content with what one has; she was already very satisfied with the amount of ore she had mined.
Even if she could move, she wouldn't. If the mine stays here, new ore will be produced continuously, and if the humans of this world discover it, these mineral resources might be able to help even more people.
One natural disaster after another made Qiao Ning deeply understand a truth: humanity must abandon its arrogance, come from nature, and return to nature. Depleting resources, arrogance, and a sense of superiority over nature, leading to endless destruction, will only lead to self-destruction.
This is something that the survival game tells all players from the very beginning: those who fall will inevitably face destruction.
The game presents players with various calamities and challenges, and Qiao Ning vaguely senses that the greatest challenge is to restrain human instincts and desires.
The closer one is to despair, the more desires arise.
Qiao Ning had never encountered a desperate situation, but the game's tests of desire were far from insignificant. If she made even one wrong step, her good fortune could very well become her death warrant.
A long howl pulled Qiao Ning out of her thoughts.
It turned out that Binglin was getting impatient with her walking too slowly and wanted her to climb onto its back so it could carry her.
The radiation levels are rising, and they must leave as soon as possible.
Qiao Ning smiled and said, "You're not big enough yet. When you're older, you can carry me on your back."
Actually, Icescale is already as big as a Caucasian Shepherd Dog, so carrying her on its back shouldn't be a problem. Besides, it's not a real dog, so you can't estimate its carrying capacity based on that of an ordinary dog.
It is estimated that the ice scales will become larger after absorbing enough solar radiation by tomorrow morning.
Let it grow a bit bigger before letting it carry her, otherwise Qiao Ning will always feel a little reluctant.
When she came in, Bing Lin walked in front of her, but when she came out, Bing Lin walked behind her, his intention to protect her was self-evident.
Back on the highway, the bright moon hung high in the sky, though for some reason it was covered by a few dark clouds.
Qiao Ning returned to the car and checked the environmental data detected by the smart home system. As expected, the radiation level was at least 20 points higher than the previous two nights.
It seems that from now on, even the night will not be completely safe.
On the fourth day of the natural disaster, at 8:00 AM, the temperature was 38 degrees Celsius and the radiation level was 120 points. Currently, the radiation level is increasing by 10 points per hour.
The heat forced Qiao Ning to turn on the air conditioning. The air conditioning in a Class 5 car can significantly cool and heat the car, with a much wider temperature control range than that of a lower-class car.
Ice Scale had already climbed onto the roof of the car to sunbathe. Qiao Ning wasn't sleepy at the moment, so she opened the chat channel to check on the other players' situations.
[Why is the weather getting hotter and hotter? They said it was a solar radiation disaster, but the game didn't mention any accompanying high-temperature disaster. I'm dying of heat right now; even with the air conditioning on, it doesn't escape the oppressive heat. I desperately want an ice cream.]
Ice cream doesn't really quench thirst, but I still want some.
[The treasure-guarding monster dropped cooling water balloons. Could the temperature keep rising? It's already 38 degrees Celsius. If it keeps going up, the consequences are unimaginable. I think the car won't be able to withstand it; it will definitely be damaged.]
Since the recent floods, I've learned my lesson and have been stockpiling vehicle repair cards. I currently have dozens, but I don't know if that'll be enough.
Wait a minute, everyone stop talking and look outside! Am I seeing things? Why do I see a sun suddenly appear in the sky?
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