Chapter 53: Nice Weather |
Having finished the Side Quest, Bai Mu finally had time to eat.
He picked up a plate of tomato and pea spaghetti, casually finding a stool by the fire to sit down.
This was his first meal of the day. Great Northern Wilderness had decent cooking skills; despite the limited ingredients, he managed to stir-fry the noodles into something quite flavorful.
Misty Rain scooped the baked pizza onto a cutting board, sliced it into four pieces with two quick cuts, and tossed a slice onto everyone's plate. Killing Zombies was physically demanding work, and everyone had expended a lot of energy. As a result, they ate with great relish, and even a girl like Misty Rain scarfed down her food in large bites.
As the saying goes, hunger is the best seasoning. After finishing his noodles, Bai Mu directly picked up the pizza crust topped with pork sausage and smoked bacon, wiped it through the leftover sauce on his plate, and polished it off like a flatbread.
After eating and drinking their fill, the four discussed the night watch arrangements. They ultimately decided to stick to groups of two, taking the first and second halves of the night respectively. However, they did not follow the original grouping from the supermarket. Nancheng Port took the initiative to suggest that Bai Mu group up with his brother, while he would team up with Misty Rain Traveler.
A more naive person might have thought Nancheng Port was trying to create an opportunity to be alone with Misty Rain, but women in the community were easy to hook up with. As long as they made it out alive, there would be no shortage of women to sleep with.
Bai Mu could tell that he had volunteered this arrangement because he still harbored reservations about the other two members of the team.
If Nancheng Port teamed up with his brother, neither of the two people on watch while they slept would be someone he could completely trust.
The four had no objections and drew slips of paper to determine the order. Bai Mu and Great Northern Wilderness took the first half of the night, while the other two took the second half.
They did not sleep in separate rooms, instead dragging mattresses and blankets directly into the first-floor lobby, treating it as their campsite.
That crude stove served as a makeshift campfire, providing a bare minimum of light and warmth.
Using porcelain plates and woolen string, Bai Mu rigged simple tripwire traps on all the doors and windows across the first and second floors. If anything other than them attempted to open a door or window, the porcelain plates would shatter with a piercing crash, alerting the people inside.
He also completely sealed the chimney with table fragments, a microwave, and a pile of miscellaneous junk. It was packed tight and airtight. There was no need to worry about ventilation, as the windows on the first floor where they stood watch were left cracked open.
Great Northern Wilderness gave a thumbs-up. "Brother Bai, you've really thought of everything. I'm starting to suspect you have actual experience surviving in a Zombie flick."
'Maybe he is the protagonist of a Zombie flick,' Misty Rain thought to herself.
After finishing the basic preparations, the two taking the late shift lay down on the mattresses to rest and recover their stamina.
Bai Mu and Great Northern Wilderness guarded the windows on opposite sides of the lobby, keeping a vigilant eye out for any anomalies outside.
Bai Mu shared two candies with Great Northern Wilderness. According to the item description, candies taken from Lucy's Candy Box had a refreshing effect and could also be used as health potions to restore Health.
In return, Great Northern Wilderness handed Bai Mu three cigarettes. There weren't many left in the pack, fewer than ten in total. All three men had smoked quite a bit while driving.
Bai Mu pocketed the cigarettes, unwrapped the shiny foil of a candy, and popped it into his mouth.
It was a grape-flavored hard fruit candy, a mix of sweet and sour. As it melted in his mouth, Bai Mu felt a faint, warm current flow through his body.
The refreshing effect was obvious. He had been feeling a bit drowsy, but the moment he swallowed the candy, he instantly felt energized.
However, this effect only lasted until the candy melted. Once it completely dissolved, the cooling sensation—like having fresh mint leaves pressed against his forehead—faded away.
After finishing the first, he unwrapped a second. This time, instead of letting it melt naturally, he crunched it between his teeth and swallowed.
The duration of the effect was exactly the same as before. It seemed the refreshing boost had nothing to do with how the candy melted; as long as it entered his mouth, it worked its magic.
The entire duration lasted for about five minutes. The description mentioned that the candy could also restore Health, but since his Health was full, he couldn't see the exact amount recovered.
Great Northern Wilderness's Health, on the other hand, was not full. He had taken some damage when a Jockey pounced on his face that afternoon, losing about fifteen percent of his Health.
Great Northern Wilderness mentioned that his Health topped off after eating one candy, and the soreness in his neck and scalp vanished. However, the recovery rate was indeed quite slow.
Slow, that is, compared to other recovery items in Paradise. It took nearly three minutes to restore fifteen percent of his Health, meaning a recovery rate of only five percent per minute. Some fast-acting items, like recovery syringes, could instantly spike a person's Health by half a bar with a single injection.
This item was useless in the heat of battle, but the total healing amount was actually quite impressive since it restored Health by percentage. Five percent a minute meant twenty-five percent over five minutes. It was perfect for post-battle replenishment. Even on the verge of death, eating four candies and waiting twenty minutes would bring someone back to full Health.
Most importantly, the Candy Box could be restocked at any time. As long as he found something that Paradise recognized as "candy," he could toss it into the box and turn it into a portable health potion.
With this metal tin, he practically had an infinite blood bag at his disposal.
Even if the effect was slow, it was better than nothing. It was worth noting that consumable recovery items were generally priced exorbitantly high. They were the very things Players were most reluctant to buy, yet absolutely had to purchase.
"As expected of an item reward from a high-difficulty Side Quest," Great Northern Wilderness could not help but sigh in admiration.
The difficulty of these two Side Quests was indeed quite high. They required a bit of luck to get tainted with the scent of Zombies and attract the Witch's observation, along with the sheer nerve and meticulousness needed to find the Witch's plushie in the Swimming Pool.
Only by genuinely treating the Witch as a friend and bidding her farewell could one unlock the second Side Quest—driving to the house and solving the puzzle.
For such a demanding task, it would be unreasonable not to reward a good item. Furthermore, aside from this metal tin, Bai Mu also received an entry ticket for an Adventure Script.
Adventure Scripts were generally less difficult than main Scripts, and clearing them usually guaranteed stable item rewards. For Players striving to reach their maximum potential, they were an incredibly rare avenue for obtaining extra resources. Even if he didn't use it himself, he could toss it on the market to sell. According to Great Northern Wilderness, it would fetch at least 300 Points, equivalent to the Point reward for clearing an F-grade Script.
Of course, Bai Mu had no intention of selling it; he planned to use it himself. However, this thing could only be used in the community, so for now, it could only gather dust in his inventory.
Returning to the matter at hand, the first half of the night passed without incident. When it was time to change shifts, Bai Mu and Great Northern Wilderness woke the two sleepers.
Before lying down, Bai Mu distributed two candies to each of his teammates.
He stretched lazily, lay down on the soft mattress, and closed his eyes.
His sleep remained very light. As he lay there, his right hand rested in his pants pocket, ready to grip the Revolver at a moment's notice.
He got a pretty good rest. By the time he opened his eyes, sunlight was already filtering through the gaps in the curtains.
Misty Rain and Nancheng Port sat silently by the windows, peering outside through the cracks.
A few more Zombies had appeared on the road, having wandered over during the night, but they weren't much of a threat.
The four got up, quickly warmed two slices of pizza on the stove—a half slice each to replenish their energy—and stepped out the door.
Bai Mu headed to the garage alone and drove the car out. By the time he reached the road, the other three had already cleared out the Zombies. They piled back into the vehicle and set off toward the farm to the west.
"Nice weather today," Great Northern Wilderness remarked, looking up at the blue sky.
By now, the car had reached the outskirts, and the farm fields were visible in the distance.
But the very second after Great Northern Wilderness uttered the words "nice weather," a dark cloud drifted over. Like a scripted introductory cutscene, it rapidly blotted out the sky in a mere dozen seconds, and a steady drizzle began to fall.
The previously relaxed, outing-like atmosphere vanished instantly. Aside from Bai Mu, the other two shifted their gazes to Great Northern Wilderness. Nancheng Port's eyes, in particular, carried a heavy hint of resentment.
Great Northern Wilderness felt a bit guilty under their stares. "Did I really just jinx it?"
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