Kingdom of Corrosion
Chapter 255 - 158 Activity_2

Chapter 255: Chapter 158 Activity_2

Everything had changed since she joined the supermarket base, especially after the special blizzard event began,, she even coached Lin Wu in shooting. Perhaps it was out of a begrudging acceptance, a need to coexist under one roof. Maybe it was an inner envy of communal life, since humans are naturally gregarious creatures. Or it might have been just to show goodwill towards Lin Wu, as she already knew of Lin Wu’s strength and might need his help with tasks in the future.

Nightmare was the kind of person who wouldn’t make someone an enemy just because she didn’t like their personality. Just like how people in the 21st century assessed a city, the people here didn’t talk about feelings, only value; whether you were valuable to them determined whether you could develop a relationship.

It was quite normal to have shifts with Nightmare, occasionally exchanging a few words. When Lin Wu and Shana had their shift together, they would start off-topic and end up playing Pictionary, which turned into a frantic mess during two zombie raids, forcing them to set aside their drawing and guessing to chat instead. Their dynamic differed from that of Maya and Lin Wu; because Shana and Lin Wu chatted regularly, they struggled to find new topics to talk about during their shifts. So they switched to playing word games, which involved laughter, annoyance, and even some light-hearted hitting, making things lively.

...

At eight o’clock on the morning of the third day of the blizzard siege, a system broadcast announced: "The total number of surviving players is eight thousand three hundred and two. Players can now choose to head to the sanctuary. Assuming the points earned during the blizzard event are X, choosing to go to the sanctuary now will deduct X points and further deduct a total of X points from the overall score. Please decide within an hour."

The system broadcasted: "Starting today, the number of zombies, the frequency of their attacks, and the ratio of Blood Zombies will increase day by day. Good luck to everyone."

The reset of skill attributes upon death and the 2X points reduction for heading to the sanctuary were intolerable for Shadow and the members of the supermarket base. Faced with the system’s temptation, they all smiled and ignored it.

Through the radio communication, it was learned that Shadow’s base defense was relatively easy. Since Shadow base only had one entrance, all zombie attacks funneled through the church’s entrance. They had enough personnel to assign two to three people per shift. The worst off was Su Shi, who hadn’t been to the lobby for two days due to his Dizzy Zombies condition.

Lin Wu shared some troubling news with the main base. Looking out from the entrance of their base, Lin Wu faintly saw a smear of red amidst the white world. He speculated that the Blood Mist from the cement factory was spreading wildly in the blizzard, possibly engulfing Birch Park during the event. Throughout the coming month plus of winter, the supermarket base faced the threat of the Blood Mist.

Hearing Lin Wu’s report, Stone thought about the possibility of having to deal with the neighboring visits after the blizzard event, and thus inquired if Maya could initiate the siege earlier. Maya repeated her usual statement - they needed vehicles, without which they couldn’t move out.

...

At eight o’clock on the morning of the fifth day of the blizzard siege, the system broadcasted: "The total number of surviving players is now one thousand seven hundred. Proceeding to the sanctuary now will deduct only X points." In other words, all the days they had endured were for naught. The system also stated that the number and intensity of zombie attacks would increase further.

No matter how much regular zombies were strengthened, they couldn’t withstand assault rifles. Although the supermarket base had few people and two passages to guard, they were defending choke points, and the zombies couldn’t build up their running speed. Nevertheless, this increased intensity proved difficult for players armed only with handguns. Shotguns were also inadequate; their slow reloading speed meant if a salvo didn’t finish off the zombies, players would have to reload while fleeing.

At that moment, Shana raised a question, "The rocket launcher is a gun, and the rockets are bullets, so does the rocket launcher enjoy the infinite ammunition perk?"

When in doubt, ask Little White Rabbit. Little White Rabbit gave a negative answer and debated with Lin Wu for half an hour. Little White Rabbit’s core viewpoint was that the rocket launcher was not a firearm; only firearms were entitled to the infinite ammo perk.

...

On the seventh day of the blizzard siege, which was the last day, at 8 a.m., the system broadcast announced: a total of 900 players had survived. Heading to the shelter now would only deduct 50% of X points, and players could receive VIP treatment at the shelter. VIP treatment included an unlimited buffet, hot springs, sunbathing, paragliding, skydiving, diving, and more. Most importantly, everything was free of charge.

Dawn did everything possible to encourage everyone to leave the blizzard event before it ended. To achieve this, following the broadcast, each base was shown a video. Miss or Mr. Guides took players on a tour of the VIP amenities. Just the sight of the buffet made Lin Wu and Shana hungry, with lobster, crab, barbecue, hot pot, cake... Everything you can think of in terms of delicious food could be found there.

The male and female guides also offered VIP players professional massages, beachside sunbathing... If it wasn’t prohibited, Lin Wu guessed they would even resort to the underhanded tactic of "seduction." Once that was used, he believed many players who had sworn off gambling and poison would completely succumb.

However, being able to live a wealthy life for 24 hours at the cost of only half of one’s points was quite tempting for Lin Wu. Fortunately, he had Shana and Nightmare by his side, and even with the temptations, Lin Wu was someone who cared about his reputation, and he ultimately resolutely rejected the seduction and continued to fight.

On the last day, the proportion of Blood Plague Zombies increased to 50%, and the number and frequency of zombie attacks greatly increased. Relying on his Blood Plague survivor’s advantage, Lin Wu alone defended a 7-meter passageway. Shana managed to barely hold the 14-meter passageway; getting infected was not an issue, since there were plenty of Serum syringes left anyway.

Taking into account that Nightmare and Shana were a weaker combination, Lin Wu gave up sleep to focus solely on defending the 7-meter passageway. That day, Lin Wu didn’t even know how many bullets he fired or how many zombies he killed, to the point that in the end, he was shooting purely on instinct. This level of defense severely tested the players’ willpower.

Of course, this applied to bases with fewer people. For Shadow Base, it was simply not an issue. The Maya group of four, plus Stone, made sure there were always three assault rifles defending the main gate. They didn’t even need to aim for headshots; the sheer firepower of the assault rifles was enough to easily hold back the zombie hordes.

Maya took the opportunity to correct everyone’s shooting stances, conducted a round of training, and even practiced tactics. She instructed the group on how to arrange the three gunmen to create a crossfire that could halt the zombies’ advance. The fiercest among everyone was Little Knife, whose primary weapon was not the 5.56 assault rifle, but the 7.62 Raider, whose bullets were much more powerful than the 5.56. With 150 rounds before needing to reload, Little Knife saved a significant amount of time.

Under Maya’s guidance, Little Knife balanced the recoil and mastered the optimal timing for follow-up shots. By nightfall, with the Raider, Little Knife was able to hold the church’s door all by herself in single-player mode.

...

Finally, the blizzard event ended, and the system broadcast declared that the final number of surviving players was 376, congratulating everyone. Due to the blizzard, the marketplace would reopen two weeks later. In one week, a home-based leisure activity would take place for the first time: an ice-fishing contest. All players interested in participating in ice-fishing should prepare their fishing gear and bait early. There’s a chance to catch pirate treasure during ice-fishing, with a variety of items up for grabs, including but not limited to firearms, supply packs, Skill Books, Loot Chests, blueprints, Base Function Cards, and more.

System Broadcast: Wish everyone happy gaming, goodbye.

...

Lack of sleep put Lin Wu into a fatigued state at the end of the event. The decrease in morale wasn’t serious, but the impact of fatigue and hunger was significant. In terms of fatigue, aside from reduced attributes, it also added a vulnerable state. One could even sprain an ankle just walking on flat ground. Therefore, Lin Wu stayed to sleep, while Shana and Nightmare went through the sewer to the supermarket to continue scavenging food supplies.

After sleeping for ten hours, Lin Wu awoke, while Shana and Nightmare had brought back six food packs, totaling 24 units of food. At the same time, the main base was also experiencing a food shortage; their supply could only last one more day. After unsuccessful food searching during the day, they contacted Shana in the evening. After discussion, tomorrow Maya would lead the main group to the supermarket base, entering Left County through the sewer to search for food.

The bad news was that the food packs in Left County’s supermarket had already been completely scavenged by the supermarket base, so they would need to find a new sewer exit tomorrow. As for the dangers lurking around or whether there were any food packs, it was all unknown. Fortunately, the supermarket base had replenished its stock, and if worse came to worst, they could take food packs from the supermarket base as an emergency measure.