Chapter 152: Passing on Experience |
The rain poured for an entire day. Thick, leaden clouds blanketed the sky, and the booming of thunder echoed between heaven and earth.
The downpour temporarily dispelled the sweltering heat. As the water washed away the warmth radiating from the ground, even the outdoors became refreshingly cool.
Down on the first floor in the canning room, Bai Mu fashioned a stove out of an old, discarded iron barrel. He cut a square opening at the bottom for firewood. Naturally, he did not use a pair of scissors. Normally, modifying an iron barrel like this required a specialized cutting torch, but Bai Mu could summon Witch. He found that her claws were not only lethal weapons but also exceptional tools.
Witch acted as his portable machine tool, helping him process the steel. Using the scrap metal from the iron barrel, he crafted a large pot to boil and sterilize the filtered rainwater.
It had been a long time since he last bathed. Before today, water was far too scarce. Personal hygiene for the five of them consisted merely of wiping down their bodies with a damp cloth and a meager scrape of soap. Taking a proper rinse was out of the question.
Now, this timely rain had arrived. While not exactly life-saving, it certainly replenished their freshwater reserves. They finally had enough water to bathe. Bai Mu boiled a massive pot of hot water and portioned out a basin for everyone. One by one, they carried their water into private rooms to scrub the grime from their sticky skin and wash their greasy hair.
Bai Mu was the last to wash. Carrying his basin, he stepped into a small room next to his makeshift iron stove. He gave his hair and body a simple but thorough rinse, instantly feeling refreshed.
With the last bit of water, he lifted the basin and poured it directly over his head. The steaming liquid cascaded from the crown of his head all the way down to the soles of his feet. He let out a long breath, feeling absolutely wonderful.
The day after the rain stopped remained wonderfully cool. A shallow stream even gathered in the once-dry riverbed. However, the moisture on the ground evaporated rapidly. By the third day after the downpour, daytime temperatures soared back to their extreme highs. Life in the Abandoned Factory remained peaceful. Every day, they worked on modifying their shelter, reinforcing weak points while carefully avoiding leaving any traces of their presence outside the basement.
He demonstrated on the spot, guiding the four of them step by step. He patiently corrected their mistakes—errors that could cause the firebombs to self-ignite or turn into duds. He wrote down the crucial details on paper, doing his utmost to pass on his survival experience.
To his surprise, the fastest learners were Katie and Leon. Nine-year-old Katie had incredibly nimble hands. After watching him just once, she replicated the entire process flawlessly.
Leon was a bit slower, but he put a tremendous amount of effort into studying the technique. He pored over Bai Mu's notes with intense focus, and within a few days, he was producing nearly perfect firebombs as well.
This craft was purely utilitarian to begin with, involving very few complex steps.
Furthermore, Bai Mu taught the children how to use a handgun.
Anton did not need any instruction. As a former soldier, he had already received extensive firearms training upon enlisting.
As for the three children, they were truly too young to be handling handguns. They lacked the necessary physical strength, and their bones and muscles were still developing. Even the standard recoil of a pistol could easily cause them injury.
Yet, Bai Mu was determined to drill the shooting fundamentals into them. As the timer on his quest log ticked down, he had to face a harsh reality. He was going to leave this place. The moment his Main Quest to survive for fifty days was completed, regardless of whether he wanted to stay, he would be forcibly teleported back to the Community.
He would no longer be able to intervene in the fates of these people he had lived with for nearly a month. Though their time together was neither brief nor exceptionally long, he had to admit that a genuine bond had formed between them.
It was a rare kind of sentiment in this world. They ate together every day, slept under the same roof, shared their water, crafted tools, played cards, chatted, and had even faced life and death side by side.
It was something hard to put into words. But waking up each morning to see those familiar faces and hear their cheerful greetings brought him a profound sense of ease and joy.
However, Bai Mu knew that their relatively comfortable lives were only possible because he was here.
He shouldered the vast majority of the responsibilities. Security, food, water, shelter modifications... he planned and managed all of it alone. The food on the shelves looked sufficient for now, but once he left, Leon, Katie, Sam, and Anton would have to face the brutal truth: they would lose their stable source of food, and worse, their emotional pillar.
Bai Mu had no way of knowing how long this disaster would last, but he was accustomed to preparing for the worst. He operated under the assumption that this world would never return to normal, much like his own decade-long struggle in the apocalypse where he never saw a glimmer of peace or happiness.
The scorching heat and the emergence of the Doppelgangers were harsh environmental shifts. As an individual, you could not change the environment; you could only adapt to it. If you failed to adapt, your only end was death.
Bai Mu did not want to see these four perish. He wanted them to survive. Even if it meant a life of hardship, he wanted them to keep living, rather than dying in agony and starvation.
Because of this, Bai Mu taught them every solo survival skill and trick he knew.
He spent his free time writing notes, sharing his research and hypotheses about the Doppelgangers and the strange mushrooms, instructing them on combat tactics and tool maintenance.
He used Anton, Leon, and Sam as his sparring partners. Trading blows on soft mattresses, he engaged the three of them in close-quarters combat.
He unequipped his titles and stowed away the piglet plushie that granted him an extra five points in strength, relying solely on his base physical attributes to spar with them. He taught them how to generate explosive power and how to react to an opponent's moves.
Even Anton, trained in military martial arts, was completely outmatched. Bai Mu took him down with ease, but the former soldier steadily improved through practical combat and observation.
Bai Mu did not hold back against Leon and Sam just because they were young. Time and time again, he pinned the two boys to the mattresses, forcing them to learn how to fight and defend themselves.
Additionally, he jotted down essential first-aid knowledge. Burns, scrapes, severe bruises... he detailed the immediate treatments for all of them. If he could, he would have directly downloaded all his survival experience straight into their minds.
Unfortunately, there was no such magical shortcut to learning skills in this world, at least not for ordinary humans. Thus, he could only teach them bit by bit, as meticulously as possible.
It was a fulfilling period. Bai Mu dedicated nearly all of his spare time to acting as their instructor.