Road Survival, I Have a Hint System!

Awesome!

Zhang Tuohai's eyes sparkled with excitement when he saw the blueprint.

With this accessory, he no longer had to worry about someone parking in front of him and blocking the way.

If anyone dared to block the road, he would simply crash through them.

Previously, when Liu Sisi and her friend parked and blocked the road, Zhang Tuohai had forcibly crashed through, but his car ended up with a noticeable dent on the front.

Fortunately, upgrading the vehicle had fixed that minor damage.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have known how to repair it.

Now, with the bumper, he didn't have to worry about the car body being damaged anymore.

Happily, Zhang Tuohai clicked on “manufacture.”

In the blink of an eye, two sturdy bumpers were installed on the front and rear of the vehicle.

The reinforced bumpers were thicker than ordinary ones and were made of solid metal pipes with sharp spikes on them, looking quite intimidating.

"Not bad!" Zhang Tuohai nodded with satisfaction.

With this, he wouldn't fear anyone maliciously blocking the road anymore.

If he encountered someone like Liu Sisi again, he wouldn’t hesitate to teach them a lesson.

With the reinforced bumpers installed, Zhang Tuohai felt invincible and continued his journey to search for supplies.

The mermaid statue's effect was indeed powerful.

During his journey, Zhang Tuohai found two more supply crates—one blue and one white.

The white crate contained 20 units of gasoline and 2 liters of water.

The blue crate contained four packs of turkey noodles and a blueprint.

[Sunshade Net: Level 1 item, reduces heat absorption by 10% when covered.]

[Material Requirements: 10 units of fabric, 5 units of low-grade plastic.]

[Note: No stacking effect with multiple covers.]

Zhang Tuohai looked at the sunshade net, unsure of what to think.

To say it was useful, reducing heat absorption by 10% seemed rather low.

But to say it was useless, it did indeed reduce the sun's effect.

Moreover, it could be useful against the upcoming double-sun disaster a few days later.

"Although I don't care for this thing, I can sell it!"

Zhang Tuohai thought of a new approach.

While he didn't value its effect, people in the regional channel might.

Especially when the two suns were shining down, causing temperatures to soar. To increase their survival rate, they would have no choice but to buy it.

Zhang Tuohai estimated that the item’s highest value would be on the day the double-sun event occurred.

The higher the temperature, the more valuable it would become.

By then, he might make a fortune.

Thinking of this, Zhang Tuohai felt much relieved.

With plenty of materials on hand, Zhang Tuohai tried making one.

The sunshade net looked like a black mesh bag that could be draped over a car.

However, without hooks, once the sunshade net was hung, the car couldn't be moved.

Otherwise, the sunshade net would be blown away.

"Anyway, it's for them to use, so if it can't be moved, it can't be moved. Compared to getting sunburned, I'm sure they'll tolerate this minor flaw."

Zhang Tuohai put away the sunshade net and began to prepare lunch.

It was already eleven o'clock, and by twelve, he needed to be ready for today’s Brave Challenger event.

After stoking the charcoal on the portable stove, Zhang Tuohai cooked a pot of hand-pulled noodles. He topped it with braised meat and Lao Gan Ma sauce, along with some dehydrated vegetables, resembling the look of a fancy instant noodle package.

Holding a bowl, Zhang Tuohai ate while watching the chat in the regional channel.

Without a smartphone, the regional channel had become his only mealtime entertainment.

"It's noon again; what are you all eating, brothers?"

"Another day of bread and mineral water."

"I’m doing a bit better; I have half a leftover sausage from yesterday."

"Why do you all have so much food? Why do I only have half a piece of bread, and it's leftover from yesterday too?"

"Boss, could you sell some more cracklings? I finished the ones this morning, and now I'm starving."

"Damn, that greasy stuff? You could actually eat that?" someone exclaimed.

"Try going two days without food, then say that. Boss, please, sell some more cracklings."

"Can anyone spare some food? I’ll trade my suit for it, a genuine Goldlion suit, not asking much, just a piece of bread."

Zhang Tuohai glanced at the last person's name—it was the same guy who sold him a watch yesterday.

"Still trying to trade for survival?"

Zhang Tuohai sighed, feeling like he had already sentenced this man to death in his mind.

What's the use of a suit?

Probably no one would even take it if it were given away for free.

Moreover, if he sold the suit, this man would probably freeze to death tonight.

As for those begging him to sell more cracklings, he pretended not to see it.

At times like this, he had to stick to the rules he had set.

Otherwise, if he loosened up every time someone asked, how would he continue doing business?

Also, each portion of cracklings was at least 200 grams, which was enough to keep these people from starving for a day.

Back during the siege of Leningrad, soldiers were only given 125 grams of black bread mixed with sawdust each day; these people were already fortunate to have cracklings.

While browsing the regional channel, Zhang Tuohai ate two bowls of noodles and still felt like having more.

"It's almost noon; when are you bringing the hot water? I'm still waiting to make my snail noodles." Su Qi sent him a private message.

"Almost forgot about these two." Zhang Tuohai smacked his forehead.

"On my way, on my way." Zhang Tuohai said as he filled a kettle with water and put it on the stove.

"Any new blueprints today? I can trade for Lao Gan Ma or peanut butter," Zhang Tuohai asked casually.

"Peanut butter?" Su Qi couldn’t help but drool.

She had loved all kinds of nuts since childhood.

In this world, even finding basic food was a struggle, let alone nuts.

It wasn’t so bad when she couldn’t see them, but just hearing Zhang Tuohai mention peanut butter made her crave it.

However, she and her sister didn’t have much in terms of supplies; every bit had to be used sparingly. How could they trade what little they had for peanut butter?

But peanut butter was so delicious.

Moreover, in the desert, peanut butter was a precious energy source. Just one jar could maintain energy for a long time, making it essential for survival.

Its only downside was that it wasn’t very nutritious.

But at this point, who cared about balanced nutrition?

Su Qi was having an internal struggle.

"How about trading that item?" Su Mu suggested, gently ruffling Su Qi's short hair.

"But that item is too valuable; if we give it to him, we’d be at a huge loss." Su Qi looked at Su Mu in surprise, not expecting her sister to bring out that blueprint.

"It's fine. We can't gather the materials for it right now anyway, and we don’t even have a Level 1 Water Collector. Plus, we’re out of fresh water, so instead of sitting on this blueprint, we might as well trade it for some extra resources."

"Besides, with this statue, we’ll soon get another blueprint like this."

Su Mu said, patting the mermaid statue on the car hood.

"Alright then." Su Qi lowered her head, looking like a child who had made a mistake.

"This blueprint in exchange for an equivalent value of resources, two jars of peanut butter, plus enough drinking water for both of us until the disaster hits. If you agree, we’ll trade immediately."

Su Mu displayed a blueprint to Zhang Tuohai.

[Level 2 Water Collector Blueprint]

In truth, Su Mu didn’t want to trade this blueprint either. She knew that owning it would mean an endless supply of water, solving not only her own water issues but also creating a new source of income.

But the problem was, she couldn't gather the materials. Her luck was bad, and she only had a few blueprints, with resources in short supply. Trying to trade online was pointless because not many people needed this, as many didn't even have a Level 1 Water Collector, let alone a Level 2. The few interested parties were also just trying to lowball her, looking for a cheap deal without any real sincerity.

The worst part was that she still hadn’t found water, and the water Zhang Tuohai gave was almost gone. If they couldn’t trade for more water, she and her sister would die of thirst.

After much thought, Su Mu decided that instead of letting others take advantage, she’d try her luck with Zhang Tuohai. At least they had done business before and knew each other a bit.