Strength increase by 10%.
What kind of black technology is this?
But then again, should this be considered candy or a stimulant?
Chu Guang didn't know the ingredients, and there was no production date or ingredient list on the outer packaging.
"The effect lasts for 10 hours."
A 10% boost seemed pretty decent, and at critical moments, even a small amount of extra strength could turn the tide of battle.
But eating a lollipop right before a fight...
It didn't quite fit with his tough-guy image, similar to that of Ancestor Wu Y.
Plus, when it would take effect was anyone's guess.
After thinking it over, Chu Guang decided to keep it for now.
Having an extra ace up his sleeve was never a bad thing.
...
The next morning.
Players logged in as scheduled.
Although they were dead tired from their day jobs in the real world, they swept away their fatigue once online, each one full of energy, lively and spirited.
Old White's cement kiln had completely dried.
He and Wild Wind made a trip to the construction site on the map, using a handcart to haul back several tens of kilograms of limestone, then went to the river to get several large buckets of clay and sand, and began the first trial firing of silicate cement, grunting all along.
In fact, the formula for ordinary silicate cement was publicly accessible online.
Simply put, it involved crushing limestone and mixing it with clay and iron filings in specific proportions, then heating it in a specially made kiln to 1450 degrees Celsius for calcination.
The cement clinker produced this way, when mixed with sand and water, could be used to prepare the cement mortar needed for construction.
With the help of some professional websites, even the specific material ratios for different types of cement could be found, based on construction requirements.
As long as one did their homework before logging into the game, it was far easier than starting from scratch in ancient times.
Considering it was his first time making this stuff, Old White chose the simplest formula. The requirements for materials weren't too stringent, which means with the current conditions at the refuge outpost, he could just manage it.
Leveraging his "natural strength," he swung a hammer to break the stones he'd collected at the construction site as small as possible, then mixed them with the clay and the iron filings restored from charcoal, and put them all into the just-completed kiln.
The charcoal was lit.
Blue smoke gently rose.
Fang Chang was enthusiastically lending a hand nearby, twisting branches tied to a clay disk—it was a simple blower made from a water pipe, tree bark, and cotton thread that could blow a large amount of air into the kiln, making the charcoal burn fiercer.
"How are we supposed to determine the temperature inside the kiln?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know???"
"What else? Do you have an industrial thermometer? Just keep your mouth shut and pump the blower harder! Ah... it would be great if we could get a generator."
...
Old White rubbed his chin and sighed while Fang Chang stood beside somewhat speechlessly.
This guy.
Ever since becoming the "construction team leader," he really started to act more like a contractor.
While twisting the branches, he was also slacking off a bit, wondering where on earth Wild Wind and Night Ten had gone...
In fact, not just them, but as the Manager, Chu Guang didn't know either.
Although he could confirm if players were online or offline, as well as their general direction and proximity through the system, he couldn't fully grasp their exact coordinates.
At least not for now.
But as Chu Guang was pondering what those two players were up to, he saw them walking towards him, carrying buckets.
"Where did you go?"
In response to the Manager's inquiry, Wild Wind answered truthfully.
"Near the mutated leech nest."
Chu Guang frowned.
"Didn't I tell you not to go there?"
"We didn't go in; we just set traps near the nest... Look, these are the young of mutated leeches."
Wild Wind hadn't spoken yet, and seeing the Manager's displeased expression, Night Ten, afraid to drop in favor, quickly placed the plastic bucket he was holding on the ground to explain.
Chu Guang glanced into the bucket and saw some glass bottles containing palm-sized larvae.
Their postures twisted as they stretched their deformed mouthparts, entwined with each other, and wriggled in a mess, much like the tentacles in those comics.
"Interesting... How did you do it?"
He had never heard of anybody catching these things back when he was on Bet Street.
Although mutated insects were rich in protein, they also had a high parasite content, and those parasites couldn't be killed by just boiling them for a while.
Moreover, these creatures had a unique living environment and seldom acted alone; their combat power was hard to assess, and few survivors took an interest in them.
"Blood! We used animal blood to lure them into the baited glass bottles. The larger leeches couldn't squeeze in, but the smaller ones did and couldn't get out!"
Night Ten spoke excitedly while Wild Wind added a few more details on the side.
"These mutated leeches probably forage at night and retreat back to their nest during the day. Except for some bottles that were crushed, these little guys all remained inside. I was just giving it a try; I didn't expect it to work so well."
Chu Guang stroked his chin and nodded.
"I see... That is indeed a good idea."
No wonder Wild Wind had asked him for some game meat yesterday; was it intended to be used as bait for catching mutated leech offspring?
But then...
"... What do you plan to do with these things?"
Chu Guang looked at Wild Wind and continued asking.
"I'm not sure about the leeches, but mutated leeches are definitely inedible."
"I didn't intend to study how to eat them; I plan to use them for fishing."
"Fishing?"
"Yes," Wild Wind nodded, slightly excited, "When exploring the lakeshore earlier, I saw some big black birds fishing on the lake! Since there are fish in the lake, we can totally obtain food by fishing!"
What a brilliant idea!
After hearing Wild Wind's words, Chu Guang's eyes instantly lit up.
Actually, he had tried fishing before; after all, compared to hunting, fishing posed much less risk.
However, his fishing skills were indescribably lacking; it was hard enough to catch anything with professional fishing gear and bait, let alone without them.
In fact, it wasn't entirely his fault; if fish were so easy to catch, why wouldn't survivors settle by the lake?
The fish in Rhombus Lake were also mutants, what survivors referred to as Variants.
After several unsuccessful attempts and losing the fishing gear he had painstakingly made, Chu Guang also gave up.
"Do you know how to fish?"
Faced with the Manager's inquiry, Wild Wind paused and then said.
"No... but I looked it up online; there are those fishing traps. I intend to try making a few."
Although he wasn't sure if the NPC could understand what "looked it up online" meant, since there had been no reaction from the NPC during their previous discussions about real-life issues, it probably meant that the program was set to automatically ignore such content, so Wild Wind simply spoke openly.
Chu Guang was thrilled internally, yet he nodded calmly.
"Alright, since you know how to catch fish, I'll leave this task to you!"
Following the order, Wild Wind and Night Ten immediately ran off to make traps.
Fishing is much more interesting than moving bricks or chopping trees!
Chu Guang watched them gather some tree branches and plastic ropes from somewhere and start tinkering near the corner of the wall.
He didn't bother them; Chu Guang was now focused on figuring out how to use the purchased tobacco leaves to smoke meat.
Yesterday, following the method of the Bet Street survivors, he had crushed the tobacco leaves, wrapped them around the meat, and then slowly roasted it over a fire, allowing the tar rich in ketone alcohol compounds from the leaves to seep into the fat layer of the meat, killing parasites and microorganisms...
But somehow, it seemed to smell a bit foul?
"That shouldn't be right..."
He picked up a piece of hind leg meat and sniffed it, frowning.
Normally, the meat smoked this way should have a nicotine scent with a burnt-yellow fat gloss on the surface.
However, the piece of hind leg meat in his hand was noticeably dark red, cooked on the outside but raw on the inside, and subtly exuded a rotten stench.
"Could it be the method was wrong?"