As the territory keystone upgraded, the territory area also increased by 3 square meters.
Chen Zhuo chose to extend the extra 3 square meters further into the mountain.
However, unlike the last time he placed the territory keystone, this upgrade only expanded the territory area and did not enlarge the entire wooden cabin.
So, the rocks and sand in the mountain did not disappear; they were just covered by the territory.
This left Chen Zhuo feeling a bit depressed, “Do I really have to manually dig through the mountain if I want to expand the Shelter into it?”
“Oh, right, I haven't checked the Survival Platform's chat channel yet.”
While eating the small piece of leftover bread and half a bottle of water, he opened the global chat channel to view various messages sent by other Survivors.
As expected, most of the messages were various curses.
“Where exactly is this? Were you all captured and brought here too?”
“Damn it, what kind of joke is this? I was taking a shower when I was dragged here to play this damn Wasteland survival game. If I find out whose prank this is, I'll make him wish he was dead.”
“Has anyone seen my child? She's 6 years old, a girl with a round face, wearing a pink dress and a single ponytail. Please, kind-hearted people, help me find my child.”
“Does anyone have water? I'm in a desert, dying of thirst! I'll trade my stone pickaxe for water!”
“Where were all of you thrown? Why am I floating on the sea surface as soon as I was born? Someone save me...”
“Damn it, why did they only give three pieces of bread? It's not even enough for one meal. Are they bullying me because I'm strong?”
Chen Zhuo quickly chewed the bread in his mouth, its dry texture making it almost impossible to swallow. Messages in the chat channel kept flooding in, with various curses, cries for help, and complaints rising and falling.
Some were angry about losing companions, some were desperate due to resource scarcity, and others were panicked by the unknown path ahead.
Each message made Chen Zhuo's heart heavier.
He thought of his own game-like experience today, yet at the same time, some people were already in distress.
But all he could do was take care of himself and survive better in this Wasteland World.
Suppressing the inner turmoil, he knew that in this environment, calmness and composure were key to survival.
The online count in the bottom right corner showed a staggering 8 billion people, which made Chen Zhuo realize that everyone on Blue Star had been brought to this Wasteland World.
【happiness points + 0.5】
【happiness points + 0.5】
As the food went down, the notification for happiness points arriving sounded, bringing Chen Zhuo back to his senses.
Switching to the trading market interface, he saw that many people had already started selling various items, though most were haphazardly listed.
Trades like sand for water, and dirt for food, which treated people like fools, were everywhere.
Of course, it was also possible that the people initiating the trades were in a life-or-death situation and had no decent resources to exchange for life-saving items.
But none of that concerned Chen Zhuo anymore; he hadn't even solved his own basic needs yet, let alone had time to play the saint and give to others.
Closing the platform, he rubbed his smooth chin in thought.
“It's already like this before the disaster even begins. I wonder how many people will be left after the acid rain ends.”
With a mix of melancholy and some anticipation for tomorrow, Chen Zhuo's eyelids grew heavy, his consciousness gradually blurred, his thoughts became fragmented, and he slowly closed his eyes and drifted into sleep.
“Cluck, cluck-cluck-cluck”
Accompanied by the crowing of a wild chicken, Chen Zhuo finally got up from the wooden bed, supporting his waist.
“Sleeping on this bed is truly suffering. I forgot to upgrade the bed yesterday and just fell asleep in a daze. This morning, I feel like I've been kicked a few times all over.”
“Speaking of which, I think I heard something in the middle of the night. Was it the happiness points arriving?”
He opened the system and found that his happiness points were already at 24.
The upper right corner of the Survival Platform displayed that it was currently 6:30 AM on December 3rd, with a temperature of 26 degrees Celsius.
December was clearly the coldest month on Blue Star, yet here it was still over twenty degrees. Thinking that this was the Wasteland World with various natural disasters, he felt relieved.
The first thing he did after getting out of bed was to upgrade this hard bed.
As the white light of the upgrade flashed, the last 10 pieces of wood in his bag were also completely consumed.
【Poor Quality Wooden Bed --> Solid Wood Bed】
“Although they both look like wooden beds, the surface is much smoother now, at least not as bumpy as before.”
He picked up his axe and stepped outside, immediately noticing the sky filled with dust, like dark clouds, spreading overhead. “The dust in the sky seems to be getting denser.”
Combining this with the mysterious voice that spoke of the first natural disaster, Chen Zhuo couldn't help but suspect that the impending acid rain was caused by this dust.
But these were not things for Chen Zhuo to consider. “Right now, the most important thing is my own precious life.”
Yesterday, due to time constraints, he started chopping trees not far from the Shelter.
Chen Zhuo thought and decided that from now on, he would go further to chop trees and dig for stones, even if it took more time.
After all, if a sudden open space appeared at the foot of the mountain, anyone would think someone was living there.
With less than two days left until the acid rain began, he didn't think a small wooden cabin could withstand the erosion of the acid rain.
“At the very least, I need to upgrade the Shelter to a stone house before the acid rain arrives.”
An entire morning passed... “Finally, I've gathered enough stones to upgrade to a stone house.”
Looking at the 80 stones and 80 pieces of wood in his backpack, Chen Zhuo's lips curved into a relieved smile.
Back at the Shelter, Chen Zhuo remembered a very important thing: if the acid rain disaster began, he definitely wouldn't be able to go out, at least not without specialized protective gear to stay outside for long periods.
This meant he had to stockpile enough food to sustain him for a week before then.
After deducting today's one bread and one bottle of water, even with Chen Zhuo's frugal habit of eating only one meal a day, the remaining food would only last for one more day.
He then looked at the wild chicken leisurely strolling at his feet, his gaze somewhat unfriendly.
The wild chicken suddenly felt a chill down its spine, as if its fate was being clutched by the back of its neck, and its feathers bristled, quickly retreating in Chen Zhuo's direction.
“Cluck-cluck-cluck, cluck-cluck-cluck-cluck!”
“Sigh, I have to find a way to get some food this afternoon. With this iron sword in hand, hunting animals would be best.”
After hastily eating half a piece of bread and half a bottle of water, Chen Zhuo picked up the iron sword provided by the system and set out to hunt.
After half an hour of fruitless searching near his home, Chen Zhuo decided to look further afield.
He looked in the direction he had come from, with the midday sun at his back, so it should be west. This time, Chen Zhuo decided to go east.
More than an hour passed quietly on the road, but he finally had some success.
On the endless plain, a vast grassland stretched like a giant green carpet in all directions. In the distance, a few solitary trees dotted the green expanse.
But Chen Zhuo had no time to admire this beautiful scenery, because near a tree in the distance, the figure of some creature, too indistinct to make out, was darting through the shoe-high grass.
In an instant, his gaze was drawn to this wriggling figure.
Approaching slowly, he discovered that the creature was a wild boar, its head down, eating. Its body was black, with a tuft of mane on its head, and two long tusks growing by its mouth.
He brought up the system view and aimed it at the wild boar.
【Wild Black Boar: (Green, possesses good defense due to years of grinding its skin with tree bark and mud, its long tusks can cause penetrating damage to enemies)】
“Well, well, my first hunt and I encounter a rare boar,” Chen Zhuo muttered, crouching behind a nearby tree and looking at the system's evaluation...