Chapter 52: Truly a Charming Group—Everything Sold Out

Lin Mu began to pick up speed; a supply crate every hundred kilometers was simply too good to be true. And there were twenty of them, each enough for six people. In a single day, Lin Mu had struck it rich.

Setting out a little after eight in the morning, he didn’t stop until nine at night. By then, he had collected loot from ten waves of crates. That’s right—ten full rounds, two hundred crates in total. He’d managed to gather sixty frost potions and over thirty lava stones. As for mithril equipment, he had quite a haul too: more than a dozen longswords and sets of leather armor. That was the advantage of being able to claim supplies for six.

There was only one regret: the S-rank mithril longsword mounted on the car. He’d discovered that weapons modified with the upgrade skill were now unusable by him. He’d hoped to sell it for a high price, but that hope was quickly dashed.

“Brother Mu~~”

What was that strange sound? Lin Mu shivered all over. He turned around to find Jiang Ying looking at him coyly.

“What is it? Do you need to use the bathroom again?”

Jiang Ying froze, feeling utterly exasperated. Was that really the only thing about her that left such a deep impression?

“Well, Gu Wanqing and I would like to take a bath. You know how it is for girls—if we fall ill, you’ll have to waste one of your precious medicines, won’t you?”

Behind her, Gu Wanqing’s eyes widened in shock.

Wait a minute! When did I ever say I wanted a bath? Though she did want one, she didn’t dare bring it up herself.

Lin Mu thought about it and realized she had a point. He had more water than he could use, and, frankly, the smell coming from these people wasn’t pleasant.

“All right, you two go ahead and wash up.”

The tub was technically for one, but it was big enough for two girls to squeeze in if they didn’t mind.

Jiang Ying’s eyes lit up. She’d braced herself for a scolding, but it turned out to be so easy!

“Thank you, Brother Mu, love you, mwah mwah!”

Lin Mu felt goosebumps all over his body. He really couldn’t stand that nonsense.

The two girls, guided by 001, made their way to the second floor. When they saw the setup there, they were stunned.

“This is luxury! Wooden floors, a double bed, carpets! Wow, this bathroom is huge. I had no idea a vehicle could be upgraded like this!”

Jiang Ying stared in disbelief at everything before her. If it weren’t for the reality outside, she’d have suspected she was back on Blue Star.

“You can use anything in the bathroom, but don’t touch anything outside. Otherwise…” 001’s index finger transformed into a surgical blade.

Both groups nodded vigorously—no one wanted to mess with this robot.

“Use this stove to heat water; it’s connected to the system. I’ll be downstairs if you need me.”

Like obedient children, the two girls stood at the doorway and watched 001 descend the stairs.

Once 001 was gone, Lin Mu put her in charge of cooking. Then he opened the regional channel to check on the current situation.

[Region 562] — Population: 66,013

There was no denying it—disaster days were days of suffering for humanity. The previous seven days had been relatively peaceful; most of the deaths had been from humans turning on one another. But that was inevitable—everyone needed to level up.

What Lin Mu didn’t understand was, with so many cores gone, how were people supposed to upgrade their vehicles?

Today alone, more than ten thousand people had disappeared. Even the Wrath of Winter hadn’t been this brutal.

“I went to four locations today and collected over twenty crates, but I don’t even dare to open them.”

“Don’t even mention it. I don’t even dare turn on the air conditioning anymore—went through over 200 liters of gas in a single day.”

“Is the temperature going to keep rising? If it gets any hotter, I can’t stay in my car—it's already forty degrees. If I didn’t have so much water, I’d have died of thirst by now.”

“Are you a guy or a girl, having that much water?”

“…”

Most people had only managed to grab a few crates; at the first sign of danger, they’d retreat without a second thought. Even those holding mithril ingots didn’t dare craft too many weapons. The main issue was the lack of armor.

Lin Mu glanced at the mithril leather armor in his backpack. Perhaps he could fetch a good price for it.

He opened the trading center—almost everything he’d put up for sale had been bought out.

“What a bunch of lovely people. If only world trading could be enabled; maybe next time.”

Lin Mu had begun to notice a pattern: before every new disaster, there was always a comfortable journey, followed by the unlocking of new features.

[Mithril Leather Armor (A)]: Trade for 8 Mithril Ingots and 2 Lava Stones
[Mithril Leather Armor (A)]: Trade for 8 Mithril Ingots and 2 Frost Potions
[Mithril Leather Armor (A)]: Trade for any 4 blueprints related to firearms

He didn’t put many up for sale—just three of each. Eight mithril ingots might seem like a lot, but quite a few people had that many; there were usually three to five in every crate. If you didn’t have mithril ingots, you could trade blueprints for firearms instead.

After all, what good were blueprints if you didn’t survive?

He then took out a lava stone, turning it over in his hand as he opened the modification skill menu.

“Increase temperature resistance, or enhance defense against lava creatures.”

As soon as he had the thought, Lin Mu saw a glowing ring spinning on the interface.

It might just work! Normally, if something was impossible, the interface would simply say so. But as long as the ring appeared, there was hope.

Half a minute later, options popped up:

[Option 1]: Add a heat-resistance shield: 6 Lava Stones, 2 Frost Potions, 10 Universal Materials
[Option 2]: Enhance defense against lava creatures: 10 Lava Stones, 10 Mithril Ingots, 2 Universal Materials

Better to cool things down first.

After the light faded, Lin Mu used the camera on the collection device to look at the vehicle. The once-black exterior was now a pale red, adorned with mysterious white patterns that resembled magical arrays from a novel.

He modified it again, this time to boost defense, using two fewer lava stones. Now the car was a deeper red, with even more white markings. Where the white had once been pure, it was now a silvery white. The array-like white designs were only on the front, but the silvery threads ran across the entire vehicle.

It actually looked quite nice.

After dinner, Lin Mu went up to the third floor. It was still mostly empty.

“Should I put a jail up here? Or maybe turn this space into something else?”

With the collars around Jiang Ying and her two companions’ necks, Lin Mu wasn’t worried about them causing trouble. As for the other two, they would likely disappear soon; he’d just have to wait for new teammates.

“Maybe I should make two bedrooms—one for the men, one for the women. Then build a small jail as well. Anyone who doesn’t behave can go straight in.”