Chapter 124: Sense of Participation |
Bai Mu turned all the pockets of the clothes and pants in the house inside out. He didn't spare any nooks and crannies where spare change might be hidden, ultimately scrounging up around fifteen dollars in loose change.
A handful of paper bills and a few scattered coins rested on the small coffee table in front of him. Afterward, he took out a kraft paper notebook and a black ballpoint pen to take inventory of his food and water.
The food would last for about a week. If the authorities maintained a normal water supply, he wouldn't need to worry about water resources for the time being.
The top priority remained solving the food issue.
"Judging by the situation outside, supermarkets and vegetable markets are mostly out of the question," Bai Mu remarked, glancing at the deserted streets.
Money had already become nothing more than waste paper to the residents of this city, but Bai Mu had another channel for purchasing goods.
Sitting in front of the television, he cast Best Friend's Help and summoned Lucy.
Little Lucy materialized beside Bai Mu. She seemed to be in a rather poor mood, not taking the initiative to hug him as usual, though she still shared some small snacks from her plush backpack.
"Did something upsetting happen?" Bai Mu asked gently.
Bai Mu patted her head. Since she had actively materialized her physical form, he could actually touch her. The sensation was akin to stroking some kind of soft water—cool to the touch, which even provided a bit of relief from the heat. Bai Mu tore a page from his notebook, folded it into a small paper boat, and gave it to her as a toy. Her eyes instantly lit up, and she lifted the little boat, balancing it on her head and pushing it back and forth.
Having such a little companion around brought a much-needed touch of life to the otherwise empty house.
In Lucy's skill tree, there was an ability called Supermarket Shopping. This was Bai Mu's shopping channel; he could have Lucy go to a supermarket in another world to buy things for him.
However, he was in no rush to hand the spare change over to Lucy. Once she executed the skill, she would disappear. For at least a week, his food was sufficient to sustain his survival. On his first day entering the Script, he did not plan to go out, choosing instead to observe the situation first.
Living alone seemed like a highly risky endeavor that could easily attract attacks from Doppelgangers, so he decided to let Lucy
accompany him for a while longer, at least to see if they could safely make it through the night.
Additionally, he decided to thoroughly reinforce the vulnerable parts of the house.
There was a toolbox in the house fully equipped with a hammer, wrenches, and nails. Around noon, after eating a bag of compressed biscuits and drinking half a bottle of mineral water, he dismantled the extra stools and the dining table.
He used the wooden planks to completely board up the perimeters of the windows and the front door. He did not go to extreme lengths, merely ensuring that if something tried to break in, the doors and windows would produce a loud enough noise to alert him to the anomaly.
Lucy, unable to sit idle, floated up to the ceiling and did a lap around the room, helping him check for any drafts.
By two o'clock in the afternoon, he had finished the basic modifications, leaving the doors and windows looking much sturdier.
With the little paper boat still perched on her head, Lucy looked at the wooden frames with satisfaction. Having participated throughout the entire process, she felt a considerable sense of accomplishment.
The high temperatures seemed to have no effect on her whatsoever, but Bai Mu was experiencing firsthand what it truly meant to be drenched in sweat.
Truthfully, he had not engaged in much physical exertion, yet his stamina was draining rapidly. Despite doing very little actual work, his physical energy had already depleted by fifty percent.
"In this kind of heat, just sitting still burns a ton of energy," Bai Mu muttered, his clothes soaked entirely through with sweat.
He took off the Dance of Elvis and his military boots, storing them in his inventory. At this moment, he was wearing only a pair of shorts and a short-sleeved shirt he had found in the wardrobe.
The Dance of Elvis was a heavy black coat, and the military boots were made of a waterproof synthetic material. Although both were Paradise equipment, they still retained their basic properties as clothing. Wearing a heavy coat and unbreathable boots in such sweltering weather was absolute torture. Besides, keeping them on provided no practical benefit to Bai Mu in this situation.
After fortifying the doors and windows, Bai Mu sat back down on the sofa and drained the remaining half of his bottled water.
It was now the hottest part of the day. Even staying indoors, he felt like he was trapped inside a bamboo steamer. The temperature in the room was likely approaching forty degrees Celsius.
Seeing that he could barely endure the heat, Lucy picked up a magazine and vigorously fanned him.
However, it was completely useless. Bai Mu had even turned off the electric fan because he realized that circulating the air in such extreme heat only caused his body moisture to evaporate faster.
He told Lucy to just sit and relax. The two of them watched television out of sheer boredom. With no new news broadcasts on the screen, they settled for watching some vintage-style cartoons together.
While watching the cartoons, Bai Mu kept a portion of his attention sharply focused on the outside.
He noticed that the asphalt road had begun to melt under the intense heat. The originally dried black tar had turned into a viscous liquid, faintly emitting visible waves of steam.
Withered trees lining both sides of the road had spontaneously combusted, sending up plumes of black smoke.
"With temperatures like this, I feel like if I cracked an egg on the ground, it would fry instantly."
Extreme heat was absolutely one of the most difficult natural disasters to overcome.
When it was cold, one could always put on more layers or burn wood for a fire, but when it was hot, finding an effective way to cool down was nearly impossible.
Whether for humans or animals, there were only a few methods to dissipate heat: either soaking in water or retreating to a naturally cool shaded area. Using an air conditioner was, fundamentally, just another way of seeking shade.
But this house lacked an air conditioner. Based on the level of technology he had observed so far, the number of houses in this city equipped with air conditioning could likely be counted on one hand. Furthermore, having an AC unit did not guarantee there would be electricity to power it.
The authorities responsible for maintaining order could collapse at any moment. It was best to establish the psychological expectation and make practical preparations for widespread water and power outages ahead of time.
Bai Mu mentally listed out the tasks he needed to complete. The first was to find enough food and water resources to last for fifty days, ideally saving Lucy's Supermarket Shopping ability.
The amount of food and water Lucy could bring over each time was limited. He could not expect an elementary school-aged girl to carry heavy items. Moreover, once he sent Lucy off to shop for him, he would temporarily lose a powerful helper.
After all, as long as the skill remained available, he could always summon the Witch to help him fight in critical situations.
The Doppelgangers were an unavoidable threat in this Script. Who knew when a Doppelganger might come knocking at his door looking for a fight? In the worst-case scenario, he might encounter a Doppelganger tonight.
Having the Witch or not would result in two completely different outcomes.
Secondly, he needed to find a way to figure out the habits and abilities of the Doppelgangers. So far, his understanding of Doppelgangers was limited to news reports and a few brief scenes from the Script's introduction.
It seemed that Doppelgangers were intelligent creatures. They might even operate in swarms or groups, possessing social hierarchies and differing ability levels much like humans.
He wanted to uncover the secrets of these Doppelgangers as much as possible. For him, this would not only decrease the difficulty of his survival but also help his Reporter profession gain experience points and earn Points.
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