Kingdom of Corrosion
Chapter 538 - 268 Fuel Consumption_2

Chapter 538: Chapter 268 Fuel Consumption_2

Stone: "Where are that many normal cars?"

Lin Wu said, "There are only twelve of us in Left County, how could we not support ourselves?"

Maya said, "You’re both right, cars indeed provide a wealth of resources. At the same time, cars that can function normally are scattered throughout the city. Finding them is already a dangerous task. The noise made during demolition can bring about new dangers. Besides cars, there are some items that won’t decay, such as musical instruments, books, newspapers, and so on. We also have Outpost Cards."

Lin Wu: "What else?" Are you hiding some private stash?

Maya: "That’s not what I mean. I mean, we will be able to obtain more Outpost Cards in the future. Outpost Cards can bring us a lot of resources."

Stone said, "We are getting to the core of the matter. The ratio of returns to investment for demolition has already started to become disproportionate, and in the future, we must develop with the base as the center, which means we won’t need as many field staff."

"Hmm?"

Stone looked at Lin Wu: "Hmm what?"

Lin Wu said, "Speaking of Outpost Cards, do you think it’s possible? After the Sawmill is disbanded, if we use an Outpost Card to occupy the Sawmill, could we acquire the facilities left behind after its dissolution?"

"What are you thinking? After dissolution, all man-made structures return to zero."

Maya: "I disagree with you, Stone."

Stone was surprised: "They don’t return to zero?"

"No, I mean the previous topic."

Stone pointed at Lin Wu and said, "Get lost." A pure troublemaker.

"Old fart." He left.

Maya said, "From the cars, we know that the system has retained similar items. For example, firearms, bullets, and other such items. However, compared to before, we can no longer obtain additional items."

Maya took as an example a clinic they had scavenged earlier, during which they obtained a basic medical supply pack. Because the basic pack was discontinued, the medical supplies would be transformed into actual medications, such as alcohol, which a doctor could produce as medicine in the sick bay. The cabinets in the clinic couldn’t be dismantled for wood, but the medications placed within would not spoil.

Stone said, "You mean that the division of items into System Items and ordinary items at the start of the game means Dawn already had an idea how to play."

Maya said, "Exactly." Broken tiles, shattered glass, even the excrement Lin Wu stored in the warehouse, all are ordinary items, existing in reality, that can be manually processed, not recognized by the system.

Apart from basic items like shredded cloth, there are many that are recognized by the system, like the medicinal herbs, pills, iodine, and so on in medicine; the seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and so on in agricultural science; the wrenches, hammers, and so on to strengthen the production room.

There is also a category of items similar to game animals. When they are still wild beasts, they are ordinary items. After being cut as game, their skins and meat become basic items recognized by the system.

Stone and Maya contacted Shana’s team, which verified their theory in a shopping mall based on their ideas. In the end, it proved that Maya’s theory was correct. Opening a bag of well-packaged shrimp chips would produce a rotten smell, but opening a bottle of disinfectant would release the unmistakable sharp scent of alcohol. The shrimp chips’ only use was being tasty, while the disinfectant could be processed into medicine and bandages in the sick bay.

Shana connected: "Starlight, Little Knife has been vomiting continuously."

"Sick?" Starlight replied, "Just need one online consultation and treatment."

A minute later, Starlight said, "No good, I can only treat viral infections, not bacterial ones. The system tells me that Little Knife has bacterial gastroenteritis, and the treatment is to take antibiotics and be hospitalized for two hours." This was the first time a non-viral infection appeared in Shadow.

Little Knife: "I just ate a piece of chocolate."

Snow Egg reminded, "Wasn’t it four pieces?"

Little Knife was angry, "Get lost."

In the infirmary, Starlight said, "The formula for antibiotics is: painkillers, disinfectant, or alcohol or iodine, and herbal medicine. We have them all. Additionally, the system notes that it’s possible to recover without medication, but it doesn’t clearly state when recovery might happen or if it’s even certain." Some bacterial infections can heal on their own, but special bacterial infections, such as tuberculosis or typhoid fever, cannot. Broad-spectrum antibiotics are a rather effective way to combat bacterial infections.

Emerald Feather said, "It seems the system has also very clearly delineated the injuries and illnesses."

Starlight said, "Overall, Dawn is quite merciful; it did not require us to differentiate between all kinds of diseases." Currently, there were only five major categories: bleeding, bone fractures, limb amputation, viral infections, and bacterial infections.

Emerald Feather: "I’ve always wondered why there was a formula for antibiotics. I’ve never encountered a situation where antibiotics were used in practice."

Lin Wu: "Thus, the First Blade is born!"

Little Knife: "Don’t randomly give people nicknames."

Lin Wu said, "Then it’ll be my nickname, from now on, I’ll be known as The First One."

After thinking for a long time, Little Knife said, "Alright, I’ll take First Blade." It sounded pretty good.

The team had escorted Little Knife back, and the situation was pretty bad. If it weren’t for the fact that diarrhea was impossible, it would have been worse. Little Knife had returned dry-heaving all the way and was already too weak to bicker with Lin Wu, her face ghastly pale, rather terrifying.

After recovering, Little Knife said, "Compared to the suffering when I was sick, getting infected with the zombie virus is nothing."

...

Little Knife’s ordeal told everyone that, aside from the previously scavenged snacks and fruits, the obtained processed foods were no longer edible. An inspection of the base’s snacks revealed that everything was normal. Maya believed the difference was that the snacks outside the base were quickly corrupted by the world, while those inside decayed at a normal rate.

Dinner was mooched at Shadow’s, with an extra portion packed for Dashuang, leaving behind some peanuts, and the Doomsday Trio returned home.

Back at Doomsday Base, Maya went to the command center to start fussing with water, preparing to first build a bathroom. There were three types of bathrooms available for players to choose from: one was a large bathhouse segregated by gender, another was shower rooms also segregated, and the last one was a luxurious single room with a bathtub, featuring both soaking and shower capabilities. Hot water was provided for free in all of them.

But vile Dawn set another restriction, each person could only use the bathroom once a day, without time limits.

The first type, the large bathhouse, allowed only one gender to use it. The second type, the shower rooms totaling six, could have the male-to-female ratio set. The third type was limited to one person at a time.

At this point, the different bathing cultures of each area came to light.

For example, Cotton had only heard of, but never seen a large bathhouse and was adamantly against it. Dashuang, on the other hand, considered daily showers as merely small cleanses; for her, the weekly bathhouse was the thorough wash. Maya preferred to bathe alone in a tub.

Lin Wu and Peanut expressed indifference, just needing a reserved spot and time. After discussions and compromises, the second type with three shower rooms for each gender was finally chosen. It was because Cotton could not accept the bathhouse option, while Dashuang was okay with showers.

Once the decision was made, construction began immediately, and ten minutes later, the bathrooms were built. While the people of Doomsday Fortress were still looking for towels and sorting out shampoo and body wash, Shadow Group arrived in two cars fully equipped with bath supplies. Stone, Horse Soul, and Snow Egg took over the male bathrooms, while Starlight, Little Knife, and Emerald Feather occupied the female bathrooms.

Everyone who walked out of the bathrooms couldn’t help but exhale with a wow or an ah. The system’s bathrooms were incomparable to river water; after a hot bath, everyone felt incredibly refreshed.

The girls laid out mats on the rooftop, sat on the floor, and basked in the moonlight while drying their hair, chatting and enjoying the comforting satisfaction. The men drank beer and bragged nearby.

In the meantime, Stone went back to Shadow to load Su Shi in the trunk and transport her to Doomsday Fortress, leaving poor Peanut lonely at Shadow Base.

Shadow had a total of seven girls, and with three shower rooms, Maya was the last one out. Instead of joining the girls upstairs for a chat, she bundled up her hair, went to the command center, grabbed some paper and a pen, and began to draw the sewage system map of the living area from her memory.

Maya felt she shouldn’t connect to the water source because once it was connected, a bathroom would have to be built. With a bathroom, the Shadow Group would inevitably come every day to Doomsday Fortress to check-in. Each round trip was 15 kilometers per car, making it 60 minutes for both cars back and forth. Considering the lowest gas consumption of 12 liters per 100 kilometers for a sedan, it would mean 7 liters of gas consumed for daily baths. Dashuang was only able to produce 5 liters of gas a day.