Chapter Ninety-Three: 116,000 Points! Let’s Go Big!

Jiang Huan straightened up at once. Xie Congzhou remained impassive, and the two of them stood there with expressions so steadfast they seemed ready to throw themselves headlong into some great cause. No one dared to make a joke.

Once they came out of the opening, Xie Congzhou was the first to speak about the underground river and the snakes that hibernated there.

The moment the others heard there were snakes, their faces lit up.

With delight.

Snakes were meat, after all.

If they were caught and made into snake soup, or roasted, or even stirred into porridge, they would still be a proper dish with real flesh in it.

Seeing that Xie Congzhou had left the matter of the gold for her to explain, Jiang Huan raised the piece in her hand and said, “There’s a small mine inside. It yields gold, and we can slowly stockpile it and exchange it for supplies later. The amount may not be much, so we’ll need to discuss it together. For now, we should go down every couple of days, as long as we keep it from collapsing.”

The gold could be explained later. For the moment, everyone was far more interested in the snakes.

Jiang Huan had not expected that, with gold sitting right in front of them, everyone would still be eager for a few snakes. It saved her a great deal of breath.

The group followed her back into the pit, looking at her eagerly and waiting for orders. Ideally, she would assign them to catch snakes immediately.

Jiang Huan called Xie Congzhou over and asked him whether there were really only snakes below.

“Not many,” he said. “But the space is too cramped for too many people to go down. The snakes and insects are poisonous, so it would be better to send professionals.”

The Xie family happened to have just such people.

That gave Jiang Huan a solid plan. She laid down several arrangements.

First, after the water from the underground river was sampled, if it proved safe to boil and drink, then from now on that river water would be used for drinking. For daily use, they could melt ice.

Second, since it would be members of the Xie family going down to catch the snakes, the Xie family would receive a slightly larger share of the output.

Third, since the discovery of the gold had been made by everyone together, the goods exchanged for it would be shared by all as well. However, those who went down to dig each time would receive a little extra compensation, depending on whether they wanted gold or food and daily necessities.

Fourth, and lastly, nothing about this place was to be spread outside. It had to be protected carefully. Ideally, they should install a sealed gate and disguise it properly.

“I suggest we put up a few sheds over there for growing things or for other use, like a woodshed or something. That way the entrance won’t look so abrupt.”

“This gold needs to be refined into a workable form, doesn’t it? Otherwise, if people get their hands on such a huge nugget, how could they not be curious?” But as for where to get the mold and the extremely high heat required, that was another matter.

For the sake of a better life in the future, everyone offered their own opinions. Jiang Huan gathered them all together and gave her answer.

She first approved the construction of the woodshed, then took responsibility for the gold issue herself. “My little Xi may not know much about other things, but when it comes to tinkering with tools, he’s got some skill. Of course, I’ll also go to the base and look for tools for handling native gold. As for exchanging it, leave that to me too. I’ve got experience.”

The people from Building Six understood exactly what that meant and all laughed.

How could she not have experience? She could even exchange things for guns and ammunition, and she had several close friends at the base, some of them captains, some second-generation heirs.

The Xie family only learned the reason for the laughter after asking around: Jiang Huan had a habit of never returning empty-handed from an outing. In an instant, the way they looked at Xie Congzhou became even harder to describe.

With the underground pit at last having a plan, Jiang Huan finally slipped away and returned to her own room. Seeing that her younger brother was occupied at the far end with the picture album, she immediately called up everything she had earned that day to take a look.

One hundred and sixteen thousand points.

Without the slightest hesitation, she went big and selected ten large crates and ten medium crates.

She lined up the medium crates and opened them all.

Water purification tower: capable of treating one hundred tons of wastewater a day. The output meets the lowest standard for potable water.

Mobile house, ninety square meters: operable for walking, equipped with basic facilities, top speed five kilometers per hour.

Gas mask x10, replaceable filter canisters x100. Gas masks are personal protective equipment designed to shield the respiratory system, eyes, and face from toxic agents, biological warfare agents, bacteriological weapons, radioactive dust, and other harmful substances. The filter canister is the core component of a gas mask, and the filtering material inside directly determines its protective performance. With a hundred replacement units, its usability was greatly increased.

Black-canopied boat, a vessel made of new materials, five-ton load capacity, powerful propulsion, and generous usable space.

One ton of salmon.

Odor-removing spray, forest damp scent variant, six liters, capable of masking the lingering scent of any animal for five hours.

Odor-removing spray, Ocean Heart variant, six liters, capable of masking the lingering scent of any animal for five hours.

Temperature-regulating clothing, comfort version x2. For extreme weather, please use in combination with other items.

Jiang Huan took a look. The temperature-regulating clothing she had obtained before had come from a large crate; this version came from a medium crate, and it was essentially impossible for it to match the quality of the large-crate item. So-called comfort version meant the effect was several tiers lower. At best, one such garment could equal several thick padded coats, or it could lower body temperature by around twenty degrees naturally.

Volcanic eruption escape pod, resistant to temperatures of up to one thousand degrees. In a sealed environment, it provides two hundred and forty hours of oxygen. It holds only one person and has a load capacity of two hundred jin.

Marching camouflage color-changing cloth, five rolls. Each roll is three meters wide and fifty meters long. It can change its original color according to the surrounding environment, but if boiled in one hundred-degree water for three minutes, it loses effectiveness.

Looking at the final items that had come out of the medium crates, Jiang Huan was overjoyed.

She had never expected her luck to be this good, pulling out nothing but useful things, not a single dud.

“Younger brother!” she cried out, her breathing growing heavier by the second.

If he added in her brother’s own built-in lucky-koi fortune, wouldn’t they all soar even higher?

Jiang Huan leaned in. Seeing the blank look on her brother’s face, she forced herself to calm down and not seem too exaggerated.

“Keep reading your book. Let me hold your hand for a bit.”

Jiang Xi gave an “oh” and extended his hand. He really did go right on immersing himself in the picture book world, with not the slightest trace of curiosity.

After all, his sister would never harm him.

Jiang Huan took a deep breath and opened the ten large crates in one rush.

The very first one made her feel as though her heart had almost stopped.

An electromagnetic gun. As long as there was enough power, it could fire a million times. Anyone struck by it would be affected as though hit by a bullet; it had two modes, one to knock the target down and one to pierce through.

To knock down meant stripping the opponent of the ability to fight back. To pierce through meant creating a wound and trajectory just like a bullet. If aimed at a vital point, it could kill with a single shot.

Jiang Huan was radiant with delight. This thing was even more useful than a firearm!

What followed were all top-tier items, each better than the last, so much so that she nearly wanted to pound her chest and roar like King Kong.

Bulletproof set, complete with a puffed-cap-style helmet and rimless glasses, offering full protection for vital points.

Jiang Huan had only one bulletproof vest before, and at times it had overly restricted her brother’s freedom. Now that this existed, even bullets would not be able to penetrate it.

A miracle of fertile soil. It can turn any earth, sand, or gravel into the richest black soil imaginable. Plant melons and you get melons; plant beans and you get beans.

The farming blood in Jiang Huan’s veins ignited the instant this thing appeared.