The wild boar, engrossed in eating, hadn't noticed the danger behind him.
Chen Zhuo, with his iron sword in hand, had carefully crept up to the wild boar, and, taking it by surprise, swung his sword.
It had to be said, this boar was indeed a wild animal; its vigilance was exceptionally high.
The moment Chen Zhuo's sword moved, the wild boar had already reacted, shaking its four legs vigorously and quickly dodging to the side, avoiding the strike.
Turning its head, the wild boar glared angrily at Chen Zhuo, who held the sword.
Although he hadn't seen a creature like Chen Zhuo before, it was clear that the previous action had thoroughly enraged it.
Relying on his tough hide and sharp tusks, it charged at Chen Zhuo.
Chen Zhuo hadn't expected that his careful approach and attack would still be dodged by the wild boar. The wild boar charging at him in his momentary daze made a flicker of panic cross his mind.
Seeing the wild boar about to collide with him, he instinctively pointed the sword tip at it, closed his eyes... With a howl, the sensation of the iron sword piercing flesh traveled from the blade back to Chen Zhuo's arm, followed immediately by a impact force that hit Chen Zhuo.
Stumbling back five or six meters, Chen Zhuo plopped down onto the grass.
The wild boar also hadn't expected how such a seemingly frail creature could so easily pierce its usually impenetrable hide, without even causing it any harm.
Chen Zhuo opened his eyes, and what met them was a wild boar that had died with its eyes open, unwilling to close them. Most of the sword had entered the wild boar's body, and at this moment, the wild boar's tusks were no more than ten centimeters from Chen Zhuo.
He let out a sigh of relief, feeling somewhat fortunate that the system hadn't given him a short sword or a dagger as a weapon; otherwise, he would have been severely injured today, if not dead.
And in this environment, even a common cold or fever could only be endured, let alone severe injuries, which would basically be a death sentence.
He put the wild boar into his backpack and found that it weighed a full 190 jin.
This delighted Chen Zhuo; even if he just lay around for the rest of the time, this meat would be enough for him to get through the first wave of natural disasters.
Closing his backpack, he was about to go back and collect more wood and stones when a green glowing box appeared at his feet.
"Did I get a drop?" Chen Zhuo said, his breathing a little hurried.
【Congratulations to the Host for defeating the Wild Black Boar, a rare treasure chest has dropped. Do you wish to open it?】
"Nonsense, of course I want to open it." He was a bit speechless at the system's impersonal question.
As the box opened, the green light dissipated, revealing the treasures inside:
Kang Shuaifu Instant Noodles X2 (Green),
Mineral Water X2 (White),
Regional Map X1 (After use, displays the terrain of a 10 km radius area centered on the Shelter).
"It's actually a map! Although it's only a 10-kilometer radius area, this can bring me great gains in the early stages of the natural disaster!"
"Now, other aspects are basically sufficient to meet the conditions for surviving the first wave of natural disasters, but the water source is still a big problem."
He then opened the map to check.
Sure enough, having a map was much more efficient than blindly searching for resources himself.
Chen Zhuo had not run little these past two days, collecting resources while also keeping an eye out for a decent water source, as there were many plants near the Shelter's hill.
Initially, he thought he couldn't find any because the water sources for these plants were hidden underground.
Who would have thought a stream lay quietly behind the hill where the Shelter was located?
"Now even the water source problem is solved!" Chen Zhuo said, somewhat pleased.
He put all of today's harvest into his backpack and returned the way he came.
Back at the Shelter, he first threw the half-eaten bread from lunch to the wild chicken.
The wild chicken, which had initially been afraid and hiding from Chen Zhuo, immediately forgot about it upon seeing the bread. It lowered its head, quickly pecking at the bread on the ground with its beak, occasionally looking up and around, then continuing to peck.
He used two stones and two pieces of wood to synthesize a simple campfire in the Survival Platform's crafting interface.
He took out the flint, exchanged for 10 happiness points, and relit the fire in the house. Then, he used stones to make a stone bowl in the crafting function.
With everything ready, Chen Zhuo put the long-awaited instant noodles into the stone bowl, added half a bottle of water, and slowly began to cook them... Chen Zhuo didn't waste the waiting time. He first spent 50 stones to upgrade the wooden house to a stone house, then upgraded all other remaining furniture to stone.
Although Chen Zhuo didn't think that wooden furniture becoming stone furniture would make him live more comfortably, who cared when the happiness points indeed increased after upgrading the furniture?
【Stone Cabin: happiness points: 40】,
【Stone Single Bed: happiness points: 20】,
【Stone Table: happiness points: 12】,
【Stone Stool: happiness points: 8】.
"happiness points double with each upgrade, so at this rate, it won't be long before happiness points exceed a hundred."
Chen Zhuo felt the gene agent beckoning him.
"I almost forgot, my noodles."
He quickly picked up the stone bowl and placed it on the table, then pressed his four burning fingers against his earlobes to relieve the pain.
He picked up the freshly made chopsticks, took a handful of noodles, blew on them, and then put them into his mouth. While doing so, he took a sip of the warm noodle soup. The savory taste of the broth burst in his mouth, paired with the chewy noodles, bringing him an indescribable comfort and satisfaction.
In this dreadful place where even eating shit wasn't hot enough, just a bowl of warm, savory instant noodles made Chen Zhuo thoroughly enjoy his meal.
He finished the noodles in a few bites, not even leaving a drop of soup. Chen Zhuo let out a satisfied burp, exclaiming, "What a treat!"
【happiness points +2】
He suddenly found himself a bit funny again. After all, he was someone with a system, and being so happy over a bowl of instant noodles was truly a bit pathetic.
But it didn't matter. Chen Zhuo believed that with the system's help, he would have absolutely enough time to adapt here and create the happy Wasteland life the system spoke of.
Dismissing these thoughts, he looked out the window; it was already starting to get dark.
He dismissed the idea of continuing to go out to chop trees and mine. Yesterday was pure stubbornness, wanting to save time and gather more resources.
But after today's series of events with the wild boar, Chen Zhuo felt it was better to lie low when it got dark.
"Daytime is fine; I can see things clearly and know the monster's rank through the system."
"At night, I can't see anything. If a blue or higher-ranked monster pops out, even if my weapon can damage it, I can't withstand its attacks."
He immediately decided that evenings would either be spent repairing the Shelter or looking for worthwhile trades in the trading market.
He first opened the regional chat channel and glanced at it.
As expected, most of it was still filled with various cries of anguish and pleas for help.
Besides that, to huddle together for warmth, some people were already reporting their locations on the map. Although the people in the regional channel were all within a not-too-distant range, none of them had a map; they merely described their surroundings.
Chen Zhuo was somewhat dismissive of this situation.
Unless they were close friends or relatives, or people with official backgrounds, it was unlikely that they would waste time looking for cooperation in such a time-sensitive environment where they couldn't even eat their fill.
After all, according to the Wasteland Survival Encyclopedia in his backpack, each Survivor's initial teleportation point was at least 15 kilometers apart.
Even if you had excellent stamina and could run continuously, 15 kilometers would take at least two hours. Not to mention, you wouldn't know the other person's exact location and could only rely on vague descriptions to find them, which would multiply the journey.
Furthermore, even if cooperation succeeded, it was more likely that your Shelter would gain another mouth to feed, not to mention the risk of exposing your location to those who might kill and steal.