Chapter 21

Strength increased by 10%.

What kind of black technology is this?

But then again, is this thing considered candy or a stimulant?

Chu Guang was unclear about its ingredients, and there was no production date or list of ingredients on the packaging.

"The duration is actually 10 hours."

A 10% boost effect looks pretty good, and even a 10% increase in strength could be enough to turn the tide in a critical moment.

However, eating a lollipop before a battle…

It doesn’t quite match his image as a tough and resolute man like Wu Yizu.

And the time it takes to take effect is also unknown.

After much consideration, Chu Guang decided to keep it for now.

Having an extra card up his sleeve is never a bad thing.

…

The next morning.

Players logged in as scheduled.

Although they were exhausted from their work in the real world during the day, once they logged in, they were all energetic and full of vigor, lively and spirited.

Lao Bai’s kiln was completely dry.

He and Kuang Feng went to the construction site on the map, brought back several dozen kilograms of limestone on a cart, then went to the river to get several large buckets of clay and sand. They started the first trial firing of the Portland cement with a grunt.

In fact, the formula for ordinary Portland cement can be found online.

In simple terms, it involves crushing limestone and mixing it with clay and iron filings in a specific ratio, then heating it to 1450 degrees Celsius in a specially designed kiln.

The cement clinker produced by this method can be mixed with sand and water to form a cement mortar suitable for construction.

With the help of some professional websites, one can even find the specific material ratios for different types of cement based on construction requirements.

As long as one does their homework before playing the game, it is much easier than starting from scratch in ancient times.

Considering it was his first time, Lao Bai chose the simplest formula. The requirements for materials were not too strict, and the current conditions at the outpost could barely meet them.

Relying on his "Inborn Strength," he swung a hammer to crush the stones he had picked up from the construction site as finely as possible, then mixed them with clay and iron filings reduced from charcoal, and fed them into the newly completed kiln.

The charcoal was ignited.

Blue smoke rose slowly.

Fang Chang enthusiastically helped by rubbing the branches tied to the mud disk—this was a simple blower made of pipes, tree bark, and cotton thread, capable of sending a large amount of air into the kiln to make the charcoal burn more intensely.

"How do we determine the temperature inside the kiln?"

"I don’t know."

"You don’t know???"

"What else? Do you have an industrial thermometer? Just stop talking nonsense and rub the blower harder! Ah… if only we had a generator."

"…"

Lao Bai sighed and stroked his chin, while Fang Chang was speechless.

This guy…

Since becoming the "construction captain," he really has the air of a foreman.

While rubbing the branches, Fang Chang’s mind wandered, wondering where Kuang Feng and Ye Shi had gone…

In fact, not only did they not know, but as the manager, Chu Guang also did not know.

Although he could confirm whether players were online or offline and their general location and distance through the system, he could not pinpoint their exact coordinates.

At least not yet.

However, just as Chu Guang was wondering what those two players were up to, he saw them carrying buckets walking toward him.

"Where did you go?"

In response to the manager’s question, Kuang Feng answered truthfully.

"Near the mutated leech nest."

Chu Guang frowned.

"Didn’t I tell you not to go there?"

"We didn’t go inside, we just set traps near the nest… Look, these are the mutated leech larvae."

Before Kuang Feng could speak, Ye Shi, seeing the manager’s displeased expression, quickly placed the plastic bucket on the ground and explained.

Chu Guang glanced into the bucket and saw several glass bottles filled with palm-sized larvae.

Their bodies were twisted, and they were wriggling with deformed mouthparts, entangled with each other, resembling tentacles in a manga.

"Interesting… How did you manage to catch them?"

He had never heard of anyone catching these things in Bet Street before.

Although mutated insects are rich in protein, they also have a high parasite content, which cannot be killed by simply boiling them in a pot.

Additionally, these creatures live in a special environment, rarely act alone, and their combat strength is difficult to assess, so few survivors are interested in them.

"Blood! We used animal blood to lure them into glass bottles with bait. The larger leeches couldn’t fit in, but the smaller ones got in and couldn’t get out!"

Ye Shi explained excitedly, with Kuang Feng adding a few details.

"These mutated leeches seem to feed at night and retreat to their nests during the day. Apart from a few broken bottles, these little guys are still in the bottles. I was just trying it out, and the results were surprisingly good."

Chu Guang stroked his chin and nodded.

"I see… That’s a good idea."

No wonder Kuang Feng asked for some meat from the prey yesterday; he was planning to use it as bait to catch the mutated leech larvae?

However…

"…What do you plan to do with them?"

Chu Guang looked at Kuang Feng and continued.

"I don’t know about leeches, but mutated leeches are definitely not edible."

"I don’t plan to study how to eat them; I plan to use them for fishing."

"Fishing?"

"Yep," Kuang Feng nodded, looking slightly excited, "When exploring the lakeshore, I noticed some large black birds catching fish in the lake! Since there are fish in the lake, we can definitely catch them for food!"

What a great idea!

Chu Guang’s eyes lit up after hearing Kuang Feng’s words.

Actually, he had tried fishing before, as it was much less risky than hunting.

However, his fishing skills were truly questionable. Even with professional fishing gear and bait, he rarely caught anything, let alone without them.

This wasn’t entirely his fault. If fish were so easy to catch, why wouldn’t survivors settle by the lake?

The fish in Linghu Lake were also mutants, known as "aberrations" among survivors.

After a few failed attempts and losing the fishing gear he had painstakingly made, Chu Guang gave up.

"Can you fish?"

Kuang Feng was taken aback by the manager’s question and replied.

"No… but I looked it up online, and there are fish traps. I plan to try making a few."

Although he wasn’t sure if the NPCs understood what "looked it up online" meant, they had no reaction to such real-world references before, so he assumed it was programmed to be ignored. Thus, Kuang Feng spoke straightforwardly.

Chu Guang was delighted inside but nodded calmly.

"Alright, since you know how to catch fish, this task is yours!"

After receiving the order, Kuang Feng and Ye Shi immediately ran off to make the traps.

Fishing was much more interesting than bricklaying or chopping trees!

Chu Guang watched them gather some branches and plastic ropes from somewhere, and started tinkering in a corner.

Not bothering with them, Chu Guang now needed to research how to use the tobacco leaves to smoke meat.

Yesterday, he followed the method used by the survivors in Bet Street, crushed the tobacco leaves, wrapped them around the meat, and slowly roasted it over a fire to let the tar rich in ketones and alcohols from the leaves seep into the fat layer of the meat, killing parasites and microorganisms…

But for some reason, it seemed to smell a bit off.

"That shouldn’t be…"

He picked up a piece of hind leg meat and sniffed it closely, frowning.

Under normal circumstances, meat smoked this way should have a nicotine smell and a golden-yellow oily sheen on the surface.

However, the piece of hind leg meat in his hand was clearly dark red, undercooked on the inside, and had a faint smell of decay.

"Could the method be wrong?"