Chapter 81: Disaster Relief? I Have the Perfect Solution!
"Iron wire, is anyone selling iron wire... Ah, there really is, let's see the offer! Oh? It's been sold?"
[You lost 50ml of wine]
[You acquired the iron wire blueprint]
Lin Yue quickly made a transaction in the Trading Mall and immediately used the new blueprint.
Soon after, he opted to start crafting.
A single Iron Block can be used to create a large bundle of iron wire—it's quite economical. After making a large bundle, Lin Yue took pliers out of the toolbox.
He walked to the middle of the courtyard.
Standing here was a building shaped like a "＞", connected by two walls 6 meters long each.
Using the pliers, Lin Yue took 20 iron wires and crossed them horizontally and vertically, ten wires each.
[You acquired 1 iron wire mesh blueprint]
Upon receiving feedback from the system, Lin Yue immediately crafted a sheet of iron wire mesh.
"This one is roughly two meters wide and long, not enough..." He crafted several more sheets and connected them with the remaining wire, forming a large triangular net.
Then, Lin Yue used the wire to make the net extremely dense and climbed a ladder to drape it over the two walls.
This net was not yet complete and required further processing later on.
However, it was still early, and this would have to wait until twilight.
After all, the earthquake would start at midnight on the seventh day, and it was not yet noon.
Lin Yue shouldered the Steel Repeating Crossbow, held an Iron Spear, and went outside with Bai.
He circled around the walls and arrived at the burial site of the raiders from yesterday.
There he found the ground teeming with various insects.
Some were even burrowing vigorously into the soil, seemingly drawn to the corpses.
Lin Yue's spear tip slashed continuously through the mass of insects and kept harvesting Wooden Treasure Chests.
He was like an emotionless Wooden Treasure Chest harvesting machine, killing all the insects in three places before moving to where he buried mutant sheep or tiger-striped shadow deer corpses days ago.
The insects that could drop Wooden Treasure Chests loved feeding on the rotting flesh of these creatures. Lin Yue took advantage of this.
Before, he consistently collected the corpses of slain mutant creatures into Storage Space and dissected them back at the Shelter for this very reason.
Using their bodies to attract scavenging insects, especially effective for obtaining Wooden Treasure Chests!
Lin Yue constantly searched the spots he previously placed corpses for scavenging insects and small lizards, continuously turning them into new corpses while reaping treasure chests!
He was particularly focused on dealing with these insects because Lin Yue's demand for water and food had grown from before.
Having acquired two medium-sized Soilless Cultivation Kits, Lin Yue had to keep increasing his water reserves to cultivate more vegetables.
Bai no longer paid attention to these little insects, and even a lone mutant sheep held no interest for Bai.
With its strength greatly enhanced compared to before, Bai was now a ruler of the desert, capable of chasing after two or even three mutant sheep.
It could even challenge opponents like the spotted wolf or tiger-striped shadow deer.
Lin Yue trusted Bai and allowed it freedom, as his current targets were not these large mutant creatures.
Unknowingly, the total count of Wooden Treasure Chests in the Storage Space had reached a high of 131.
After resting for a while, as the sun set, Lin Yue headed outside the Shelter.
He took out the long-grain fragrant rice previously obtained from the Copper Treasure Chest, poured it into a pot, added an appropriate amount of water, and used a dagger to carve a wooden plank for a lid.
He started a fire to cook!
Rice was something Lin Yue had long desired.
Since arriving here, his main dishes were either bread or instant noodles, longing for rice but unable to obtain it.
Now that he had it, he decided to enjoy a good meal before the disaster arrived.
Cooking with an iron pot and making stir-fried dishes were skills Lin Yue learned while renting and living in a small house off-campus during his four-year university time.
Having prepared the rice, Lin Yue also crafted an iron pot and took out some chicken feather vegetables, washed them briefly, and dried them before retrieving a piece of mutant sheep meat.
Taking out the knife set he previously obtained, he selected a handy one to remove the sheep meat's sinew and fillet it into fine strands.
Without onions, ginger, or garlic, the situation was temporary. Lin Yue, though unable to reach his culinary peak, could still create a simple tasty dish utilizing the ingredients' inherent flavors.
The seasoning set obtained from the Survival Points Mall came in handy; Lin Yue prepared a sauce in a bowl, heated oil in a pot, stir-fried the meat, then added vegetables...
"Chirp? Chirp chirp?" Bai came running back, lured by the aroma. It had never smelled such a fragrance before and abandoned a half-finished mutant sheep herd nearby.
"Haha, Bai, you're too gluttonous! Be patient; the rice will be ready soon."
"Chirp chirp!" Bai circled the pot, watching Lin Yue add various seasonings as the aroma intensified, causing its stomach to growl louder.
After some time, Lin Yue uncovered the pot, carrying it into the Shelter.
A unique rice fragrance permeated the entire room.
Lin Yue used a wooden spatula to serve the aromatic rice into two bowls and brought over the stir-fried sheep meat with chicken feather vegetables, putting some into Bai's bowl.
"Bai, eat up. We need to replenish our strength today; the night might be hard to bear."
Lin Yue shoveled rice into his mouth, relishing the nostalgic aroma of rice and the freshness of vegetables, while lost in thought.
In a short time, this disaster—the earthquake—will erupt.
Yet the system only provided information of an earthquake ranging from magnitude 1 to 8, no other details.
Unlike last time during the snow disaster when a definite duration was given.
Even so, Lin Yue hoped the earthquake wouldn't last for hours or even a few, as surviving humans couldn't bear it.
The myriad natural disasters following the earthquake would unleash terrifying energy!
Generally, an earthquake lasting a few minutes is already considered fortunate, but caution was still necessary.
He gazed outside at the incomplete "＞"-shaped walls.
Lin Yue shoveled the remaining rice into his mouth and descended into the basement, storing all wine into Storage Space, before going outside to retrieve a prized item he'd previously acquired.
The East Beige Disaster Relief Tent.
He laid the groundsheet out, set up the tent, positioned poles, and secured it with stakes and polyester fiber ropes according to the instructions.
With Lin Yue's actions, a sturdy tent nearly ten square meters large was pitched between the two walls!
The tent's ceiling was not low; Lin Yue moved a wooden bed inside, tidied it up, testing its comfort.
After finishing these preparations, Lin Yue emerged from the tent and found darkness outside.
Heading indoors, he inspected the basement thoroughly, ensuring stability before cramming everything appearing flimsy from the first floor into Storage Space.
He completed these tasks, closed the stone door, and took a deep breath.
Next, he would bring his perfect disaster-resistant structure idea to life.
"Chirp?" Bai tilted its head, clueless about its owner's intentions.
But it had already heard the noisy sounds of mutant creatures gradually growing active in the desert.
The night is when mutant creatures become more active, posing the greatest threat to Survivors!
Chapter 82: Major Earthquake, the Arrival of the Second Disaster!
The sky darkens.
Lin Yue hurriedly worked on the shelter in his heart that could withstand an eighth-level earthquake and also fend off the frantic mutated creatures at night.
"Bai, stay alert, let me know immediately if there's any danger!"
"Puchi!" Even if Lin Yue didn't say it, Bai would do this task it had been doing consistently.
Lin Yue glanced at the stone gate of the perimeter wall, which was already tightly closed. Ordinary mutated creatures would not be able to breach this barrier.
During the night, the remaining threats for him came from those unseen mutated birds and flying creatures, as well as the endless insects.
The wall in front of him in the ">" shape was not the final shape of the shelter he planned.
An equilateral triangle was.
A triangle is the most stable and solid shape that most people can imagine. It was naturally Lin Yue's first choice for earthquake resistance.
After setting up the tent, Lin Yue connected the third stone wall with the other two, completely enclosing the tent.
Lin Yue inspected from outside and found that the three six-meter-long walls were perfectly connected without even a gap.
Next, Lin Yue quickly embedded Iron Blocks into the stone walls, modeled on the method of a shelter.
This could also make the walls more solid.
Having done all this, Lin Yue climbed the ladder with Bai in his arms and went up the wall.
After using pliers to create a square hole in the net laid on the wall that he could enter, he covered the entire net, except the hole, with wooden boards.
After confirming the stability, Lin Yue covered and combined the top of the triangular enclosure piece by piece.
With only one piece left, Lin Yue descended halfway down the ladder, entered inside the walls, and laid the last stone wall.
The iron net and wooden boards were pressed down by the stone walls, but there were still some tiny gaps that served as ventilation passages, preventing Lin Yue and Bai inside from suffocating.
After lighting a lighter, Lin Yue slowly stepped down the ladder, then lit a torch and placed it in a corner away from the tent.
He looked up at the three-meter-high ceiling and the tightly packed sturdy walls around him, nodding with satisfaction.
This should be enough to withstand an eighth-level earthquake and the crazy mutated creatures outside.
Although... it kind of resembles a Stone Coffin.
"Puchi?" Bai didn't understand why the master didn't stay in the original comfortable shelter but built something like this instead. In this narrow space, it couldn't stretch its limbs comfortably.
However, it seemed quite comfortable inside the tent.
"Bai, we still need to wait a bit,"
Lin Yue opened the system panel and checked the time.
There were still a full four hours until the arrival of the second disaster - an earthquake ranging from level 1 to 8.
He still had quite a few things to do.
For instance... opening treasure chests!
Opening treasure chests might be tiring, but it brought Lin Yue some joy.
Especially when there were many chests to open, or when the quality of the chests was high.
In his hand, there were 131 unopened Wooden Treasure Chests and 3 Silver Treasure Chests.
As per the old rule, open the wooden ones first.
[You obtained Hot Dew Mineral Water 600mlX1]
[You obtained Hey Elephant Spicy Noodles a bag]
[You obtained Tianjin Scallion Pancake a bag]
[You obtained ... ]
Wow, something new came out!
Aside from the usual water, instant noodles, bread, and dried noodles, Lin Yue was unexpectedly finding scallion pancakes!
bottles of water, 17 pieces of bread, 23 bags of instant noodles, 7 bags of dried noodles, and 6 bags of scallion pancakes!
Scallion pancakes... it seems like I haven't had them in a long time.
For the arrival of something new, Lin Yue was quite welcoming, especially when it's something delicious.
Scallion pancakes can be made into more than just pancakes; if there are enough ingredients, Lin Yue could even bake an egg tart for himself.
After placing all the items he obtained into the Storage Space, Lin Yue turned his eyes to the three Silver Treasure Chests.
These were the good items left behind by the lucky viewers when he was experimenting with the electric Steel Repeating Crossbow at that time.
[You obtained Mini Solar Charging Kit X1]
[You obtained Regional Map X2, Kitchenware Set X1]
[You obtained Thermal Emergency Blanket X1, Folding Bicycle X1]
Oh wow?
The things obtained this time are nice!
Isn't the solar charging kit better than the oil generator?
It only needs sunlight to generate current to power some simple non-consuming devices!
Lin Yue thought that after the earthquake, he could possibly make a major renovation to the shelter.
After using the regional map, Lin Yue surprisingly found that the areas shown on these two maps were right next to his shelter, and one of them was even connected to the shelter where there were people before.
Lin Yue also found that there were no signs of people on these two maps, but the shelters were still there, perhaps worth exploring thoroughly.
The tasks to do are one after another.
The premise is to safely survive this disaster.
As for the kitchenware set, thermal emergency blanket, and folding bicycle, Lin Yue didn't take them out to look at them in detail for now, just tossed them into the Storage Space directly.
He glanced at Bai beside him, and this little creature seemed to sense something too, becoming restless, always wanting to get out of this cramped space.
Lin Yue pulled it to his side: "Bai, don't worry, we'll be fine."
Bai, perhaps understanding, became much calmer.
Man and pet entered the tent, then Lin Yue checked the surroundings to ensure the tent wouldn't easily collapse before feeling relieved.
According to the forecast, there were still over two hours before the disaster would start, but in this dark night, Lin Yue had been hearing all kinds of strange noises since just now.
Flapping wings, sharp piercing screeches, weird unpleasant noises, continuously coming from outside.
This was fundamentally different from the previous nights.
The noise was never this loud before...
Lin Yue looked at the numbers in the upper right corner of the group's interface.
7751, 7541, 7121... it was plummeting rapidly.
Lin Yue shook his head, took out the toolbox, and removed a piece of liquid crystal display obtained from the Secret Realm with a screwdriver.
Every disaster brought death.
But what remains after each disaster are survivors who are smarter, stronger, and better adapted to this world.
Survival of the fittest.
The system aims to cultivate these elites who can survive various disasters.
[You obtained Liquid Crystal Display (damaged) X1]
After successfully dismantling the broken monitor, Lin Yue checked the remaining parts, which still seemed quite well preserved.
After continuously dismantling some monitors, time slowly passed.
Unlike usual, Bai, until now, hadn't laid down obediently, as if it sensed this time the impending disaster was entirely different from the last.
Rubbing his sore eyes, Lin Yue looked at the countdown.
Eight minutes left.
Lin Yue conducted another check.
The Steel Repeating Crossbow and Iron Spear were right beside him.
He donned the wooden armor, equipped the wooden shield, and also wore a helmet he barely used.
In case this "Stone Coffin" couldn't withstand the earthquake's tremor and collapsed, he would escape from there as fast as possible!
"Bai, stick with me."
Lin Yue brought Bai to the outside wall of the tent.
He was awaiting the impending disaster!
Soon after, the system's warnings came two minutes before the countdown ended!
[Warning, second disaster, earthquake is imminent! Warning, second disaster, earthquake is imminent!]
[This disaster will last for 10 minutes!]
[The earthquake's intensity will get stronger as time passes!]
[All Secret Realms will be closing simultaneously, and those inside will be forcibly ejected! Refresh after the disaster ends!]
[More system functions will be available after this disaster!]
[Wishing everyone to get through the hardship!]
[The next disaster forecast will be sent out in 72 hours!]
The disaster was coming!
Five, four, three, two, one!
The earth started to shake slightly, then became increasingly stronger!
The rumbling sound of the quake echoed from all directions!
...Chapter 83: The second disaster ends! The system upgrades again!
The earth echoed with booming sounds, one after another.
And as time went on, these booming sounds grew even stronger!
Dust and loose earth were blown into the air, with the roars between the mountains rumbling endlessly, and massive rocks fell continuously from the peaks.
On the ground, deep cracks spread endlessly forward, and the underground water buried deep below erupted like lava!
Rivers suddenly appeared, converging from all directions, flowing to lower areas, forming lakes, and submerging more of the surface...
At this moment, in the desert.
Lin Yue clung desperately to the ground, the intense shaking making it impossible for him to stand, only able to maintain this position and do nothing else.
Ten minutes felt as long as ten years.
Bai only held his clothes with its claws, looking as if wanting to protect him, trying hard to stand up and shield him.
"Bai! Get down! Don't move around!"
This little guy, even at this time, wanting to protect him...
Lin Yue felt his voice was drowned out by the roaring of the earthquake, he could not even hear his own words besides the sound of the tremors.
He breathed deeply, every fiber of his being sensing this indescribable powerful energy.
Every second of this disaster was excruciating, leaving him unable to do anything, not even move.
The terrifying tremors continued on and on.
Yet the triangular metal-stone walls showed no signs of toppling even in this level eight earthquake, as did the roof.
The seismic intensity kept increasing, Lin Yue struggled to look back, only to find that the tent stood as steadfast as a boulder, even though a few poles inside had toppled, the overall structure remained.
This thing really works...
Lin Yue continued to endure the persistent force of the quake, suddenly feeling it seemed to have weakened a bit.
And this feeling became more apparent as time passed!
Could it be that it's finally ending?
Lin Yue felt that the roaring noise also seemed much quieter than before.
But he didn't get up immediately, choosing to remain lying on the ground.
The vibrations and roaring kept diminishing, finally, with a strange sound that slowly vanished, the entire earth returned to silence.
Lin Yue lay exhausted on the ground, the sweat on his face having soaked the soil beneath him.
It's over... The earthquake is over!
Lin Yue struggled to sit up, taking a deep breath, then collapsed heavily onto the ground.
Bai did the same, wobbling as it stood up and finally tumbling down next to Lin Yue.
"Finally, finally..." Lin Yue closed his eyes tightly, just wanting to rest, just wanting to sleep well.
For him, this disaster was finally over.
This incredibly sturdy triangular stone wall not only withstood the severe earthquake but also prevented those insane mutant creatures outside from breaking in.
Lin Yue took a deep breath, finally getting up again, shaking off the dust clinging to his body and head.
He picked up a torch, checked the metal-stone walls carefully, and was amazed to find that they didn't even have a crack.
It seems this makeshift structure indeed had enough strength to withstand the intensity of a level eight earthquake!
However, Lin Yue felt somewhat lucky as well.
Fortunately, it wasn't a 9.0 level quake.
If it had been a 9.0 level earthquake... I guess this wall wouldn't have held.
It's known that the destructiveness of a 9.0 and an 8.0 earthquake is not on the same level.
Listening to the howls and cries of mutated creatures resuming outside, Lin Yue was now certain of his earlier speculations.
The first and second disasters weren't as severe as they seemed.
The snowstorm forced survivors to hunt, train themselves, and store large amounts of supplies, allowing them to endure 48 hours in the shelter during the blizzard, when leaving was impossible.
The earthquake forced survivors to venture out of the shelter and face the overwhelming swarm of mutant creatures.
After all, without considering these mutant creatures, even in an 8.0 earthquake, one can simply avoid it by staying in an open area, free of large rocks or trees.
And places like that are everywhere in this Otherworld.
But the despicable part of the system was scheduling the earthquake at night.
Night is when mutant creatures are most frenzied and also the time humans are most vulnerable.
Even without considering visibility, the sheer number of mutant creatures would mean certain death unless one was in a Gundam form.
This meant one had to find a place guaranteed not to collapse during an earthquake.
Lin Yue took a deep breath, fixed the torch in place, and entered the tent.
Bai followed directly behind, Lin Yue closed the tent zipper, its security immediately providing a sense of safety.
He re-fixed the toppled poles but had no energy left to look at the system panel.
He was beyond exhausted.
Knowing the stone wall wouldn't collapse, he had nothing else to worry about. He called out to Bai, who remained vigilant, and lay down on the bed, slipping into slumber.
However.
Not everyone in this world was able to get through this night as safely as Lin Yue did.
Under the intense earthquake, many hadn't the time to leave their wooden or stone shelters before they were buried along with their houses.
Many more fled their shelters only to be attacked and killed by the mutant creatures outside.
Some were lucky not to be crushed, only to be overwhelmed by the tide of mutant creatures...
With the rising of the sun and the setting of the moon.
The scars of this horrific disaster on humanity were fully revealed with the breaking of the dawn's first light.
Lin Yue slept fitfully, awoke groggily.
His muscles ached all over, he struggled to wake fully, and opened the system panel.
Inside the triangular walls, he didn't even know what time it was anymore.
[The system is about to upgrade!]
Suddenly, the system's voice sounded, thoroughly waking Lin Yue.
Upgrade? Another upgrade?
[Upgrade Progress: 29%]
[Upgrade Progress: 74%]
[Upgrade Completed]
[The system has been upgraded to Official Version 2.0]
[The second disaster has ended.]
[As of the end of this disaster, the global remaining population: 2,602,474,756 people]
[Please note, with the system upgraded to Official Version 2.0, there will be significant updates to previous features.]
[Update 1: Mutant creatures will further increase, and giant creatures will randomly appear.]
[Update 2: Underground Ruins Exploration is now open. There will be more powerful mutant creatures in underground ruins, but there are also rich rewards. Just like Secret Realms, underground ruins will have teleportation gates that refresh weekly.]
[Update 3: Systems will merge groups to accommodate a standard of 100,000 people]
[Update 4: The system opens a free market for survival points, merging with the original trading market. Barter is still possible, and items can be traded for survival points.]
[Update 5: The Secret Realm Gate refreshes every two days, but the Ancient Secret Realm Gate that opens a day before a disaster will lead to a mysterious place.]
[Update 6: Resource points in the wild will refresh randomly, please pay attention.]
[Other updates will be gradually released in the coming days!]
[A reminder that death here is true death!]
[Wishing all humanity good luck!]
...
Chapter 84: Post-Disaster Reconstruction, Building New Shelters!
Lin Yue climbed the ladder carefully and put the stone wall cover on top into the Storage Space.
The dazzling sunlight also shone in from the gap when he entered before.
"Squawk!" Bai lagged behind, squeezed outside to greet Lin Yue, while also telling him that it's safe outside.
Lin Yue squeezed out of the gap and stood on the wall.
The second disaster has finally passed.
The earthquake, an eight-degree earthquake at its highest, has finally passed!
With his wisdom, he finally overcame this disaster!
Lin Yue felt refreshed, unable to resist the urge to shout, but he suddenly noticed that not far from here, there was something that originally didn't exist!
He picked up the Steel Repeating Crossbow, looked through the Sighting Scope towards that direction, and his fingers couldn't help but tremble!
"A lake? When did there become a lake there? Wait, is that a river?"
Lin Yue looked more carefully, somewhat reluctant to believe this scene.
Yesterday, it was an endless wilderness, how could there suddenly be a large lake there? Even a river had emerged!
"Could it be caused by the earthquake?" Lin Yue was shocked in his heart, recalling the terrifying tremors from last night.
An earthquake can rip the earth apart, and if underground water buried deep gushes out... there doesn't seem to be any other explanation.
Looks like he has a new place to explore.
He looked around the surroundings.
The stone walls surrounding the Shelter had collapsed in one or two places, and some had fractured into pieces, but remained upright without toppling.
It seems they couldn't withstand the intensity of the earthquake.
Lin Yue set up the ladder, walked down from the wall, and headed directly to the Shelter, which appeared unchanged.
He pushed open the stone door and went inside, finding everything as before, except for some new cracks on the walls and a collapsed stove, but otherwise, there's no major problem.
He continued inspecting the basement, finding a few shelves collapsed on the ground. He walked over to check and found only a few bottles of water spilled on the floor, nothing serious.
Looking around the walls, he noticed some new fissures and scattered stone blocks.
As for the iron basement, other than some slight deformation, there's actually no major issue.
However...
Lin Yue frowned, looking at the peculiar-shaped new door beside the iron basement wall, deep in thought.
What on earth is this?
The door in front of him was entirely different in style from the Ancient Secret Realm Gate; the latter was vines, ancient bricks with a wooden door, while this one was embedded with yellow, green, and red tiles in an oval door frame, and the door was stone with indescribable lines and layered colorful circles painted on it.
Lin Yue was sure this door in front of him was definitely not some kind of Ancient Secret Realm Gate.
Wait.
After the system upgrade, wasn't there supposed to be something new? Underground Ruins?
It seems this has to be the answer.
The Underground Ruins Gate opening in his basement, that's quite something.
"Squawk!" Bai also came to the basement, not seeming to have any special thoughts after seeing this strange door, just kept chirping.
"Hungry again? You little foodie." Lin Yue took some stone blocks and filled in the cracks on the outer walls.
Quickly, the iron mixed stone wall repaired the gaps and scars at a speed visible to the naked eye, restoring to its original state.
Repeating this in another room, Lin Yue went to the ground level and tidied up the broken stove.
However, he didn't want to keep this thing with the sleeping area anymore. If he often cooked here, the resulting smoke would definitely affect sleep quality.
After repairing the ground level walls again, Lin Yue also returned the bed and other furniture to their original positions and took Bai outside.
He opened the Storage Space and found the Shelter Design Map.
"Anyway, I have two design maps left, using one to make a dedicated kitchen isn't overdoing it." He said, using one.
[To build a stone ground level shelter, 45 blocks of stone are required]
[Please select the construction location]
"Right next to this Shelter!"
A white glow flashed.
Quickly, Lin Yue found that in front of him appeared a new building, exactly the same size and shape as the original buildings!
"Wow, straight off the assembly line? Exactly the same, that's impressive." Lin Yue couldn't help but ridicule looking at two buildings carved from the same mold.
Lin Yue immediately stuffed a lot of Iron Blocks into the stone house, successfully turning it into an iron-stone building.
Though it looks indistinguishable from the outside, it's much sturdier than the original. Otherwise, it couldn't withstand the earthquake, right?
He pushed open the stone door to enter, discovering the two rooms were connected, but separated by a door frame in between, with stairs inside leading to the basement.
Going down, he found it just right in the iron house.
After repositioning the wine, he returned to the ground level and crafted a table and stove.
Putting the previous kitchen set, single standing knife set, seasoning combination, etc. on the table, Lin Yue looked back; it seemed somewhat empty.
Positioning the embedded fireplace against one side, Lin Yue also placed some electric appliances obtained in the Secret Realm, finally making the kitchen look more presentable.
He lit the stove, inserted yesterday's freshly acquired scallion pancake dough, carefully frying it with oil, and he also took out a package of "King of Kings" sausages, cut open the packaging, split them, and placed them in the pan.
"Squawk? Squawk!" Bai smelled the aroma and came over.
However...
"Grrroooar..."
At this moment, outside came the beastly roars.
Lin Yue glanced at the bloodstained Bai, who remained unfazed.
Been hunting huh, but knowing to leave some breath for him to collect boxes, Bai's cooperation with him keeps getting more in sync.
Finished cooking and placed the pancakes on plates, wrapping each with a sausage, Lin Yue pulled out a wet wipe to clean his hands.
"Bai, hold on to eat, I'll handle the thing outside first." Lin Yue grabbed the Iron Spear and Steel Repeating Crossbow, went outside and followed the sound to find a nearly dead Mutant Sheep.
[You have obtained a Copper Treasure Chest]
Got it, got it.
After letting the system dissect it, Lin Yue took his knife and carved out two lamb chops, buried the carcass, and finished his task.
Just when Lin Yue was ready to go back and eat the pancake, suddenly, he felt another tremor from beneath his feet!
"Aftershock?!" Lin Yue was about to prepare to drop to the ground, but the tremor was quite brief.
However, shortly after, a second and a third sound followed the first!
Moreover, these sounds are extremely rhythmic, absolutely impossible for an earthquake!
Wait, Lin Yue suddenly remembered that he had experienced this kind of tremor before, but that was beside the Tokyo Tower in the Secret Realm, from a creature with eight legs...
He looked up sharply and suddenly noted at the end of his vision, the silhouette of something huge like a mountain appeared!
Chapter 85: A Massive Monster Appears, Restart the Power Plan!
A giant six-legged animal covered in blue-grey long hair was moving slowly across the vast desert.
With every step it took, the ground would tremble significantly.
From time to time, its neck, over ten meters long, would twist and its cow-like face would lower to the ground, extending a long black tongue to sweep unsuspecting mutant creatures into its mouth full of sharp teeth.
Its powerful tail, like a whip, struck the ground, and the bone spurs on it destroyed everything they encountered, leaving them riddled with holes.
The booming sound continued, incessantly.
A kilometer away.
On the rooftop, Lin Yue swallowed a gulp of saliva and slowly lowered the sighting scope.
"What... exactly is that?"
A dinosaur? But a fully-haired dinosaur with six legs doesn't exist, right?
This monstrous creature reminded Lin Yue of those he had seen in the Secret Realm, but the ones there had disgusting tentacles, which this did not seem to have.
Even from this far, Lin Yue could feel the immense impact the giant creature carried!
Fortunately, it didn't seem too interested in his direction and went another way.
Only after it completely disappeared from view did Lin Yue let out a sigh of relief.
He also remembered that the system had warned him that this upgrade would randomly spawn giant creatures.
Coming down from the rooftop, Lin Yue returned to the kitchen, only to find Bai lying on the ground with a bloated belly.
"Hiccup~ Squeak!"
This little guy had actually taken advantage of his absence to secretly eat both pancakes and four sausages.
Lin Yue shook his head with a smile, picked it up, and petted its head, "Why the hurry, you'll hurt yourself if you overeat."
"Hiccup~" Bai nodded with difficulty, but upon seeing Lin Yue take out more pancakes, it immediately struggled to come closer again.
Seeing this little guy, Lin Yue couldn't help but relax slightly as well.
The tension and pressure brought on by the giant creature dissipated quite a lot.
While eating a pancake, Lin Yue opened the group chat.
Having just survived a calamity, the number of people had dwindled yet again, and after the system update, he had more things to get used to.
Although some were trolling in the group chat, there were those whose words contained a wealth of information.
Oh right, the Survival Points have been updated again... but I don't think I've used much of the previous ones.
He clicked on the Survival Points option, and a flood of comments sprang up quickly.
But Lin Yue wasn't interested in reading what they wrote, and went straight to the results.
[Daily Survival Points Settlement Successful: Survival Points +2407]
[Survival Points Remaining from Yesterday: 4309]
[Total Survival Points: 6716]
Boy, they keep accumulating!
How about buying something to use them up?
Lin Yue opened the Survival Points Mall, only to find it unexpectedly displayed, "Upgrading, please come back later."
Oh well, it's not like there's anything worth buying anyway.
This time, he opened the group chat, browsing through the group members' messages.
But... the number in the upper right corner was staggering.
99785!
After the system 2.0 update, the size of the group had surprisingly increased to 100,000!
With more people, things became livelier, but naturally, more issues would arise.
Even on the day before the disaster, aiming for the top rank on the leaderboard had suddenly become much harder!
Those who survived the second disaster until now—regardless of their current status—likely didn't get through it just with 'luck', but rather had their own skills.
So, what would these "elites" left after two rounds of weeding have to say?
"Everyone, did any of you see the giant creature the system mentioned? What does it look like?"
"I saw it, but unfortunately, I didn't have a camera, even if I did, I couldn't send a picture... hmm? Why does the system suddenly have a camera function, did you guys see that?"
"Already taking selfies, but the system's not delivering, doesn't even have beautification, why does my face look like this, calling for a PS expert, offering Survival Points!"
"Are you here to survive or just to play? My shelter's on high ground, but discovered this morning it's turned into a small island in a lake, anyone have a boat blueprint? Offering a high price!"
"Any big shots been to the ruins? Heard there are good things, list it in the mall for us to see!"
"When will the group allow image sharing? If it does, I can show you right now."
"With so many new members, any new big shots? Wonder if anyone can take down Lin Yue? Looking forward."
"Who's Lin Yue? Is he famous?"
"Last rank 2195 points, must be new here!"
"No way? Gotta be kidding? 2195 points! I've only gotten to 590 myself!"
"I know, it must be a group total score, our original group had a 2078-pointer with a 30-member team, @Zhou Tongfeng."
"Solo! System considers it solo, how incredible is that! A 30-member team can't match one person, wow."
...
Lin Yue realized that topics, while serious initially, would suddenly veer and focus on him.
Is it this hard to keep a low profile?
Still, he managed to glean some useful information.
Someone else had also seen the giant creature, but Lin Yue didn't know if it was the same as what he saw.
He hoped it was the same; it would mean the number of these giant creatures wasn't too many.
Another thing that grabbed his attention was the camera feature.
Lin Yue left the group chat, opened the camera, and aimed it at Bai, who was still lying on the ground, too full to get up.
Taking a few shots, he found they were quite clear, every scale on Bai could be seen, even zooming in and out was possible, along with some simple editing features.
"Hmm? It seems there's also a video recording feature?" He swiped further and discovered the system's new functions not only included a camera but video recording as well.
He recorded a few seconds of video of Bai and felt a hint of the fun of playing with a phone.
Phone... it's been so long since I last touched one.
Lin Yue felt a twinge of nostalgia for his old life, it was just too comfortable, at least when compared to now.
Working to earn money, buying food and drinks, doing whatever, life was dull but there wasn't a lack of gadgets, and no need to worry about not having electricity...
Speaking of which, could electricity be an option?
Didn't I acquire a small solar power kit before?
"Squeak?" Bai struggled to sit up again, thinking his owner might take him hunting, but instead, the owner fiddled around, seemingly unsure of what he was doing.
Lin Yue placed the half-eaten pancake on the table and excitedly climbed the ladder to the rooftop, taking out the small solar power kit!
Holding three small black solar panels, Lin Yue placed them one by one on the sloped rooftop, connected the wires, and finally led them inside.
Then, he rummaged through the kitchen for a while, finally fixing his gaze on the ice maker.
The weather was hot, how could he not drink a cool beverage?
"Bai, fancy some iced tea?"