Chapter 49: I'm Not Going. If You Dare, Keep Calling Me

Jiang Ying glanced at Zhang Qian, who was lying on the ground, then reached up to touch the collar around her own neck.

It seemed this thing might be even worse than an iron chain.

She quickly sat down beside Gu Wanqing and whispered, "Do you think what happened to her just now was because of this collar?"

Gu Wanqing nodded. "Most likely, but it shouldn’t be anything serious. Lin Mu probably wouldn’t shock someone without a reason."

Most likely? Probably?

Hearing those three words made Jiang Ying shudder from head to toe.

...

At eight in the evening, Lin Mu finished up his affairs for the day.

Noticing the smell on his body, he hurriedly opened the car’s functional zoning interface.

Currently, each floor had about forty square meters of space—plenty of room.

His first move was to divide the second floor, using half for sleeping and the other half for bathing and using the toilet.

[Single Bathtub]: Stone x20, Iron Ingot x2, Copper Ingot x2, Plastic x2.

Build!

After building, Lin Mu could only frown. He didn’t have nearly enough water for this.

A small purified water collector could only gather 100ml at a time, and the intermediate one just 500ml.

A bathtub would require at least 200 liters of water.

“It looks like I’ll need to make more purified water collectors, preferably a large one, or even bigger. Otherwise, this will be way too troublesome.”

[Intermediate Purified Water Collector]: Iron Ingot x5, Plastic x10, Charcoal x20, Electronic Component x4, Glass x2.

Make ten at once!

One machine after another was produced, and Lin Mu tossed them into the bathroom. From now on, this would be the bathing area.

He also placed a water storage barrel in the bathroom.

As for Jiang Ying and the others, they would just use his bathwater—no need to waste materials making another one.

A thought flashed through Lin Mu’s mind. He went upstairs and snapped a photo of the bathtub and the ten collectors.

Returning to his seat, he opened the regional channel.

“[Anonymous]: Sigh, I can finally take a bath. Haven’t bathed in twenty days, and I feel terrible all over. This time I’m going to scrub properly—otherwise, how could anyone stand it? By the way, how often does everyone else bathe? Picture.JPG”

“???”

“???”

“What am I seeing?! So many purified water collectors? Just for bathing??”

“Come on, man, isn’t this a bit too extravagant?”

“Are you selling bathwater? I’m not picky, just keep it at 38 degrees.”

“...”

For such a wasteful act, the others voiced strong condemnation.

Watching the chat box fill up with messages, Lin Mu chuckled to himself.

“Who says life here is boring? Isn’t this great?”

He played some music, intending to relax for a while.

“With a steamed bun in my hand, and nothing in the stew...”

Skip. He had to skip this one!

“The loneliness of one person...”

Skip, skip, skip!!

“Nothing can stop your pursuit of freedom...”

Lin Mu nodded. This song wasn’t bad—far better than the previous two.

...

The next day was the last day of the week.

At noon, as everyone was eating, a voice echoed from the sky.

“Congratulations, players, for surviving another week. The number of survivors is even higher than I expected, which is quite disappointing.”

Lin Mu’s lips twitched as he glanced at the number in the regional chat.

[Zone 562]—Population: 85,116

Is that really so many?

“But don’t worry, all progress is predetermined. Tomorrow marks the beginning of the second disaster—Inferno.”

“A reminder to all players: be sure to upgrade your vehicles to level four, or you really might die.”

“Have fun, players.”

The voice faded.

“When will this end? I just want to go home,” Jiang Ying said gloomily as she ate.

Who didn’t want to go home? Even Lin Mu wanted to return.

After all, here, death was always a possibility. At home, at worst, he’d just be unemployed.

“I have a suggestion—you could try suicide. Maybe you’ll wake up at home.”

Jiang Ying’s mouth twitched as she looked at Lin Mu.

Come on, I’m not that stupid.

Lin Mu glanced at the thermometer.

Outside: 50 degrees Celsius.

Inside: 24 degrees Celsius.

Not too bad.

“Jiang Ying, get out and take a walk.”

Jiang Ying shook her head repeatedly. “No way, it’s scorching out there. I’d be cooked alive.”

“Ahem, you don’t want to get shocked, do you?” Lin Mu cleared his throat.

He sent a mild electric current through her collar.

Jiang Ying trembled, letting out a couple of soft whimpers. Her face instantly flushed deep red, tears welling in her eyes as she looked at Lin Mu.

Lin Mu’s mouth twitched. Why did she look like she was enjoying it?

“Are you going or not?”

“No. Go on, shock me again if you dare.”

What the—she’s a masochist!

Lin Mu increased the voltage.

“Okay, okay, I’m going!” Jiang Ying shuddered violently, hurriedly stood up, and opened the car door.

A wave of heat blasted into the vehicle, and the thermometer’s reading began to creep upwards.

Stepping outside, Jiang Ying felt like she was in a furnace, her arms roasting in the heat.

“Alright, that’s enough. Any longer and I’ll be well done,” she called out to Lin Mu pitifully.

“What does it feel like?”

“It burns—if I stayed longer, my skin would definitely turn red.”

“Come back in.”

At his words, Jiang Ying quickly turned. But her shoes stuck to the ground.

She toppled straight over.

Thud!

“Ow! That hurts!!”

She sprang to her feet and dashed back into the car, slamming the door behind her.

She looked down at her arms and legs.

The spots that had touched the ground were already reddening, looking almost cooked.

A gentle touch was met with a fiery pain—far worse than a sunburn.

“Here,” Lin Mu said, handing her a universal medicine.

Jiang Ying swallowed it quickly, feeling the injured spots slowly begin to heal.

She breathed a sigh of relief. She’d nearly become a well-cooked woman.

Lin Mu started up the car, searching for treasure chests.

With the heat outside, he had no intention of getting out himself.

Reaching the chests was no longer a problem, though.

His collection device could now extend forty meters, and he had installed a camera on it.

He could adjust its position by watching the live feed.

It was amazingly convenient.

“001, bring me a bottle of Happy Water from the fridge.”

“Yes, Master.”

A bottle beaded with condensation was handed to Lin Mu.

Gulp, gulp, gulp—

Ahhh—burp—

“In this weather, you need something ice-cold. So refreshing!”

Jiang Ying watched, swallowing hard. She wanted some too, but dared not ask.

She felt miserable, on the verge of tears.

Lin Mu glanced at the three of them in the rearview mirror, amused by their pitiful looks.

“001, give each of them a bottle.”

The three’s eyes lit up. “Thanks, big bro.”

Little Chubby and Gu Wanqing, following Jiang Ying’s lead, also started calling him “big bro.”

Lin Mu found it funny. Was it really just for a few bottles of Happy Water?

He glanced at his backpack. There were more than two hundred bottles left—he could afford to be generous.