Chapter 4 – Wilderness, and a Challenge for the Brave
Finally manufactured!
Zhang Tuohai was overjoyed when he saw the water collector in his hand.
At this point, small water droplets have already begun to condense on the walls of the water collector's bottle. It seems that they can be used as needed without having to be collected every 24 hours.
Carefully placing the water collector on the passenger seat, Zhang Tuohai continued driving, searching for supplies along the road.
However, he drove along the highway for over an hour, but couldn't even find a single supply box.
This discovery made Zhang Tuohai a little anxious.
According to the previous pattern, on average, a supply box will appear every ten to twenty kilometers.
However, he had already advanced forty kilometers, yet he failed to find a single supply box.
This was somewhat unexpected.
Not only had he been driving for 3 hours, half of the gasoline in his car had already been consumed. If he still couldn't find any gasoline, he might be in danger.
"Could it be that obtaining two blueprints in a row increased the difficulty?" Zhang Tuohai wondered in his heart.
After much deliberation, Zhang Tuohai decided to go to the chat channel to gather some information.
Closing his eyes and concentrating, Zhang Tuohai opened the game panel.
At this moment, except for those who were still lying down waiting for rescue, most people in the regional channel were discussing supplies issues.
"Why are all the supply boxes gone? I haven't found a supply box for more than an hour. If I can't find water soon, I'm going to die of thirst."
"Yeah, I was originally staying comfortably in the air-conditioned room, even teasing the new secretary when there was nothing else to do. I don't know who is so wicked to throw me into this place to suffer. They said there were supply boxes on the highway, but after searching for over an hour, I couldn't find a single one."
"Yeah, that's right. Initially, they said there were supplies on the highway, but now we can't find them. Are they planning on letting us all die of thirst and hunger here? Nearly three hundred people have already died, maybe it'll be our turn soon."
As soon as the man finished speaking, another red system prompt popped up on the regional channel.
Player Li Ming died due to dehydration.
Zhang Tuohai raised his head and glanced at the number of group members. At this time, the number of group members had changed to 4,702.
He clearly remembered that there were originally 5000 people in here, so how did it suddenly decrease by so much in the blink of an eye?
Zhang Tuohai scrolled up the system chat.
He was shocked to find that almost every minute, a message about the death of a player would pop up on the regional channel.
Players' death wishes were also diverse. Some died from dehydration, some died from syncope caused by high temperature, some died from explosives in the supply box, some died from poisoning, and some were bitten to death by beasts from the supply boxes. The worst one were people who drank sewage developed acute diarrhea and died of dehydration.
"So many people have died already? It really is too dangerous." Seeing the dense death toll, Zhang Tuohai couldn't help but shiver.
At the same time, Zhang Tuo felt a wave of relief in his heart, thankful that he had obtained the hint system.
Otherwise, he's afraid he would have already become one of the deceased by now, how could he have been here watching the screen so leisurely?
However, what is the reason for the disappearance of resources on the highway?
Just when everyone was guessing, a system prompt suddenly appeared in front of everyone.
[Version update notice: In order to increase the difficulty, a limited-time challenge segment <Challenge for the Brave> has been added.]
[Rules: Starting today, from noon until evening at 6 o'clock, you will automatically enter <Challenge for the Brave>. During this period, all supply boxes will be refreshed in the wilderness on both sides of the road. If you are confident in your own strength, you can go to the wilderness and collect the supply boxes. In order to match the difficulty, all supply boxes refreshed in the wilderness have a 50% probability of being upgraded by one level.]
[Serious Warning: There are countless risks lurking in the wilderness, players are advised to act within their capabilities.]
A challenge for the brave?
Supply boxes are refreshed in the wilderness?
Dangers are lurking in the wilderness?
As the probability of a supply box being upgraded by one level increased?
Zhang Tuohai sorted out the information. Isn't this a high-risk, high-reward scenario?
Exploiting the better supplies and enticing players into facing greater dangers in the wilderness.
"Do you want to go into the wilderness and give it a try?" Zhang Tuohai pondered with his head lowered.
"Alright, I'm going to venture into the wilderness and take my chances. Staying here, I'll be trapped and likely die anyway. I might as well try my luck; if I die, it's still a release," someone said first.
"I think it's better to stay here and wait for rescue. As long as we all refuse to look for supplies and cooperate, maybe they will let us go." Someone obviously didn't want to take action.
"That's right, 300 people died while searching for supplies on the highway just now. Now that we have to go to a more dangerous wilderness, the chance of death will definitely be higher. Which of you is willing to go? I won't go anyway."
"Humph, then just stay here and see what you will do when there is no food for you to eat tomorrow!"
The regional channel was obviously divided into two groups. One group advocated for going into the wilderness to try their luck, and the other group advocated for staying in place, at least until after the challenge time tomorrow, and taking advantage of the morning to search for supplies on the highway, which was less risky.
The two factions held their own opinions, and no one was able to convince the other.
Zhang Tuohai looked at the noisy regional channels, shook his head, and exited the game panel.
He was going to try exploring the wilderness.
For others, the wilderness may be full of dangers, but for him, it may not be.
Because he has a hint system.
Since the hint system can help him avoid dangers in the supply boxes, maybe it will be equally useful in the wilderness.
If the hint system can help him avoid dangers in the wilderness, then the time-limited <Challenge for the Brave> is an excellent opportunity for him to obtain resources.
Moreover, he also had another reason for going into the wilderness.
That's because seven days later, there will be a disaster called <Double Soaring Sun>.
<Double Soaring Sun>, just by hearing the name, you know that it is definitely not to be underestimated.
In just a few hours, 300 people died on the regional channel. What about the day of the <Double Soaring Sun>?
If they cannot prepare in advance, even if they survive the first six days, death will be waiting for them on the seventh day.
It is precisely for this reason that he must look for every opportunity to collect supplies and improve his chances of surviving the day of the disaster.
Zhang Tuohai picked up the crowbar to defend himself, put the water collector in his arms, took out the car keys, and walked toward the desert.
As soon as Zhang Tuohai got out of his car, he could feel the waves of heat.
The blazing sun scorched the road so much that you could feel the heat from the road even through the soles of your shoes.
Zhang Tuohai estimated that if he were to throw an egg on the road at this moment, it would be cooked in just a few minutes.
The scorching wind blew by from time to time.
However, these winds not only failed to bring even a hint of coolness but made the body feel even hotter.
Not only that, the wind was also carrying fine yellow sand. After a while, Zhang Tuohai's face was covered with a layer of fine sand.
This sand mixed with the sweat flowing down his forehead, soon turned into mud, hanging on Zhang Tuohai's body, not mentioning how uncomfortable it felt.
However, Zhang Tuohai couldn't care about these things at the moment. He cautiously observed his surroundings, probing the desert ahead with his crowbar. After confirming that it was safe, he took a step forward, leaving the road and entering the desert area.
At the same time, the electronic synthetic sound of the hint system rang again.
[There is a hidden quicksand pit a hundred meters ahead. If you fall into it, you will die.]
[Two hundred meters ahead at 11 o'clock, there is a pile of bones under the yellow sand. If you step in accidentally, you might pierce the soles of your shoes and contract the tetanus.]
[At 3 o'clock, go forward 500 meters and cross the sand dunes. There is a level 2 supply box behind the sand dunes, which contains two buckets of instant noodles, a tea egg, and a liter of mineral water.]
A/N:(Tea egg is a typical Chinese savory food commonly sold as a snack, in which a boiled egg is cracked slightly and then boiled again in tea, and sauce or spices.)
"It really works!"
Hearing the electronic synthetic sound of the hint system, Zhang Tuohai waved his fist excitedly. His guess was correct. The hint system was also useful in the wilderness.
Zhang Tuohai quickly walked towards the sand dune.