Kingdom of Corrosion
Chapter 829 - 370: Extreme Cold (Part 2)

Chapter 829: Chapter 370: Extreme Cold (Part 2)

Stone reminded, "Maya, you don’t need to explain these situations, just tell the story."

"Understood, but this isn’t just a story, it’s my own experience."

Maya continued, and the entire dormitory was shocked. Not to mention Lin Meng and Little Knife, even Stone felt thrilled. The scariest part of the story was that everyone knew Maya’s stories weren’t artistically fabricated, and as she described them, it felt like they were all in Apartment 13, overwhelmed by unending terror.

Don’t think otherwise, Lin Meng didn’t squeeze in Lin Wu’s direction, but instead slept with Little Knife.

...

The second day of severe cold, the temperature dropped another two degrees or so, and Stone, who was helping in the kitchen, suffered severe frostbite. Due to the low temperature in the infirmary, there were two choices, the first was to light a fire in the infirmary for an hour for Stone to complete his treatment. The second option was to break Stone’s legs to qualify him for hospitalization; after the doctor issued a slip, he could move freely and stay in the bonfire room for 24 hours.

Stone chose option one. Little Knife, Lin Wu, Su Shi, Snow Egg, and Lin Meng played rock-paper-scissors; Lin Meng won. She grabbed a stick, and as everyone pinned Stone down, he insisted on option one. Lin Wu held the painkiller in hand, "Option one, no painkillers."

"Choose two, go ahead." Stone said tragically.

After Lin Meng swung the stick and scared herself with the first hit. She couldn’t bring herself to hit harder, though Stone screamed in pain, it was nowhere near enough to break a bone. When Lin Meng was about to swing a second time, Stone requested a change, "Get that rascal Lin Wu."

"Eh?"

"Big boss Lin Wu, make it quick."

So, Lin Wu broke Stone’s legs and dragged him to the infirmary. Doctor Shana swiftly arrived at the infirmary, issued a slip, and ran. Lin Wu and Maya carried Stone back to the bonfire room.

Besides Stone’s injury, many others fell ill that day, all without exception from cold-induced frostbite and colds. Out of necessity, they had to light a fire in the infirmary, where the general practitioner Maya tended to everyone. Stone made a rule: anyone who wanted to get sick had to get sick together.

By the fifth day of the severe cold, no one was playing mahjong anymore, and the meals became very simple. Mainly roasted sweet potatoes, radishes, and potatoes, as even Maya and Lin Wu couldn’t stay in the kitchen for long. The happiest times of the day were the half-hour hot showers and the four hours in the safehouse.

Other than that, everyone spent their time in the bonfire room, either reading or chatting quietly, laughter markedly reduced. Snow Egg and Su Shi asked the three leaders, "Can we have a drink? Just one drink?"

Shadow had always strictly controlled alcohol; occasionally allowed a drink for everyone, but mostly prohibited it. Although they were in a game, alcohol and smoking were substances easy to physically quit but very hard to psychologically quit. Long-term heavy drinking in the game could lead to alcohol addiction.

After discussing, the three leaders decided to hold a mahjong contest with alcohol as the prize.

The winner, Shana, drank half a bottle of whiskey, laughing and crying. The runner-up, Maya, drank half a bottle of vodka and fell into a deep sleep, as if knocked out. The third place, Snow Egg, drank half a bottle of brandy and was convinced he could fly, desperately wanting to perform for everyone. Fourth place, Lin Meng, drank half a kilogram of baijiu and then beat Lin Wu severely, making him search the floor for his teeth. The fifth place, Su Shi, sneaked some of Shana’s leftover whiskey, sang loudly and terribly, making Lin Wu thrice point a gun at him, twice wanting to shoot him, once wanting to shoot himself.

The five drunks inconvenienced the three sober ones: Lin Wu, Little Knife, and Stone. Stone felt relieved that Little Knife hadn’t gotten drunk; a drunk Little Knife might not just dismantle the entire base, she could even end up bursting a few heads.

Lin Wu dragged Maya to her own bed and covered her with a blanket, sorting out one problem. Turning around, Lin Meng grabbed his hair and punched ferociously, "Defeating the Devil is everyone’s responsibility." Tired from hitting, Lin Meng lay on the ground, rolling around muttering to herself, inaudible but Lin Wu leaned close and distinctly heard one phrase: "Need to add Agility to hit him, chose Strength by mistake, would kill him, where’s the reset?"

Stone took care of Snow Egg, preventing him from opening the window, fearing not only that he might fall to his death, but also that a broken window could freeze them all. Little Knife and her confidante Shana had a heart-to-heart and cried together. As for Su Shi, no point in talking about him, he was all about magic attacks, just endure a bit and it would pass.

After over an hour of chaos, they finally settled these drunken louts, and Little Knife also ended up sleeping with Shana. Lin Wu erupted in cursing, "Whose damn stupid idea was this?" He kicked Lin Meng, that damn girl was too rough, pulling out so much of his hair. Good thing it was him, if it had been Stone, of his age, pulling his hair, it would be a fight to the death.

Stone sat on the side, "Stop cursing, rest for a while."

Lin Wu sighed, continued to clean up the aftermath, covering everyone with bedding, and tidying up the mahjong tiles that had scattered everywhere.

Stone said, "In the old days, it wasn’t my ex-wife that I loved, but another girl."

"Does it have something to do with alcohol?"

Stone didn’t answer. He continued, "One day, my ex-wife said it was her birthday, and no one around her knew about it. I felt pretty sorry for her." He slapped himself.

Stone continued, "So, I took her out for a late-night snack and we had two bottles of beer. She got drunk after just two drinks. She kept saying, ’I want to go home, I want to go home.’ What could I do? I could only take her back to her apartment where she lived."

Lin Wu asked out of curiosity, "Then what?"

"Then she said she was hot and started taking off her clothes." Stone paused for several seconds, then slapped himself again, "The past is unbearable to recall."

Lin Wu laughed gleefully, "Got set up, huh? But it sounds quite amusing."

"Hehe, yes, thinking about it now, it really is quite interesting," Stone said, "I never expected that over the past six months, the person I’ve thought about the most is her. It’s strange, I know clearly that continuing with her would end disgracefully, but after we parted, I couldn’t help but miss her."

Lin Wu asked, "You haven’t been drinking, have you?"

"No," Stone glanced at the leftover alcohol on the table, "This little bit isn’t even enough for me to rinse my mouth. Don’t you drink either?"

"I don’t," Lin Wu said, "When I was in middle school, some bad boys used to drink secretly, and one of them was my best friend who kept a dog. Once, they gathered at a place they called X, which was their secret hideout in an unfinished building, with cigarettes and alcohol. That day, he drank too much and threw his dog from the 21st floor: ’Go, I give you the freedom you wanted.’"

Lin Wu continued, "The next day, he couldn’t accept the fact that his dog had died. After I told him the truth, we had a fight. He said he would sever ties with me."

Stone asked, "What happened afterward?"

Lin Wu said, "The counselor arranged for him to transfer to District 16, saying that the dog’s death had caused him to suffer from some syndrome. Over the following years, I kept reflecting on how I was the only sober one who witnessed that scene. If I had said that the dog jumped on its own, he wouldn’t have fallen ill. Even if he suspected someone else, or even himself of causing the dog’s death, it would still just be a suspicion."

Stone gestured grandly, "That’s enough. People of my age dwell on the past, but you should be looking to the future."

System Announcement: Up to now, there are 700 players remaining.

Lin Wu remarked, "These 100 people decreased really fast." According to Shana’s understanding, the fewer the people remaining, the slower the reduction should be. It took nearly a month to go from 1000 to 900. It took over a month going from 900 to 800. From 800 to 700 took only about a week.

Stone asked, "Is the speed of the reduction due to the severe cold or other reasons?"

On the fifteenth day of the third month of winter, the tenth day of the extreme cold wave, the total number of surviving players dropped to 500 people. In just five days, the number decreased by 200 people. According to system information, the extreme cold wave would continue for at least another 5 days, with the current minimum temperature being minus 65 degrees Celsius, meaning the next 5 days would be even colder.

After discussion, it was decided to light a fire in the kitchen for an hour and have everyone work together on processing the food. Items such as potatoes and sweet potatoes were thoroughly washed, wrapped in tin foil, and ready to be thrown directly into the bonfire for roasting. Pumpkins were sliced, seeded, and prepared cleanly, making it easy for the chefs to cook. Besides the staple vegetables, the kitchen fridge only had some greens left, which were also washed and placed in a pot, seasoned and kept outside the command post, ready to be cooked over the bonfire at any time.

Lastly, there were more than 20 cans left, among which ten were tinned herring. This was all the food Shadow had left. Of course, eggs and vegetables were still being produced daily. However, since it was impossible to go out and collect bugs, the leftover food was insufficient, causing the self-sustaining chickens to lay eggs at a significantly reduced rate.

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