The vegetable issue was resolved, and immediately after that came the defense issue of the villa.
After the recent ambush, Waldo developed a strong sense of crisis. He planned to take this opportunity to upgrade the automated defense system before the meteor shower arrived.
Fortunately, he had already acquired the Laser Defense Device and the Automated Gatling Machine Gun. These two items may not have shown their usefulness in the hands of others temporarily, but they were just the icing on the cake for Waldo.
The first step was to adapt these two items to the automated defense system. However, it seemed that many survivors, including the police station, had not obtained them yet. Waldo was the only one who had them.
Since upgrading the automated defense system required a day of cooldown, Waldo had not performed the upgrade until now. After all, constant outings to collect supplies required vigilance against invading survivors during this cooldown period.
As a result, there was indeed an invasion by survivors. Although the automated defense system was not in the cooldown period, it made Waldo realize that the current system was somewhat outdated.
Nowadays, survivors had an abundance of firearms, which sprouted up like mushrooms after the rain. Handguns had become a common weapon.
Facing this situation, Waldo's automated defense system was still equipped with crossbows and matchlocks, which seemed magical.
Moreover, Waldo discovered that even when there were invading survivors, he was wearing combat gear and holding an UMP9 submachine gun, while Alanna and Helen assisted with handguns.
It seemed that the mediocre defense measures of the automated defense system were unnecessary. It had to be upgraded!
This matter could no longer be delayed.
Taking advantage of the lingering shock from annihilating the group of survivors led by Fox and Iron Arm, it was the perfect opportunity for an upgrade.
Waldo opened the refuge's smart assistant.
The refuge assistant provided by the system appeared in Waldo's personal interface, with a mechanical female voice asking crisply, "Respected master, do you need any assistance?"
Waldo opened the status bar of the fortification walls and clicked on "Add Material for Upgrade."
"Fortification Wall Upgrade: Do you want to inject materials for the upgrade?"
Waldo continued to click and added S-Alloy.
The system prompted, "Respected master, S-Alloy material is special. If you want to upgrade the fortification walls with a large quantity of S-Alloy, there is a possibility of failure. Do you want to continue?"
Without hesitation, Waldo clicked "Yes."
Materials required for fortification wall upgrade:
S-Alloy (249/50)
Upgrade failed!
Waldo was stunned.
He looked at the red box that popped up on the system, showing that the fortification wall upgrade had failed, and he had also lost fifty pieces of S-Alloy from his backpack.
Waldo took a sharp intake of breath. He couldn't believe that his attempt to upgrade the fortification wall had actually failed!
He clicked on the refuge's smart assistant and asked, "Assistant, what is the success rate for upgrading the fortification wall?"
The smart assistant promptly replied, "Respected master, I'm sorry, but the upgrade success rate cannot be disclosed. If you fail, please try again."
Waldo gritted his teeth and cursed the system as a dishonest merchant.
"You've got to be kidding me! S-Alloy is already in short supply, and you managed to give me a failed upgrade without even mentioning the success rate! Is this some trick you learned from a certain penguin company?!"
The smart assistant did not reply since it was not truly fully intelligent and could only respond to preset questions.
Waldo clicked the upgrade button again, refusing to accept the failure.
"I don't believe it. If I failed the first time, can I really fail the second time? Let's do it!"
"Fortification wall upgrade failed!"
Waldo looked at his backpack, realizing that he was now fifty pieces of S-Alloy short.
It felt like he had thrown his efforts down the drain. Nothing had happened, yet something had already happened.
Waldo clenched his lips tightly.
There's no way a gambling addict keeps losing forever!
"Fortification wall upgrade succeeded! S-Alloy wall upgrade completed!"
He succeeded!
Waldo couldn't help but vigorously nod his head, muttering a few curses before exhaling a sigh of relief.
No more gambling.
With the completion of the S-Alloy wall upgrade, the original fortification walls were now covered inside and out with S-Alloy. Under the sunlight, it didn't appear ostentatious but absorbed the light, retaining its original matte silver texture.
Fortunately, everything was worth it.
That's what Waldo could console himself with.
He then asked the smart assistant, "Assistant, do all future S-Alloy equipment upgrades have a chance of failure?"
The smart assistant, still in its gentle mechanical female voice, replied, "Respected master, S-Alloy equipment upgrades do not have a chance of failure. The fortification wall failed due to the enormous resource consumption, so there was a possibility of failure. However, you can also choose a guaranteed upgrade."
Waldo was puzzled.
He had never heard of a guaranteed upgrade before.
What is a guaranteed upgrade?
The smart assistant then listed the guaranteed materials for fortification wall upgrades.
Waldo couldn't help but exclaim, "Well done!"
The guaranteed upgrade for the fortification wall only required 120 pieces of S-Alloy.
He had spent 150 pieces to succeed.
He felt like he couldn't even recognize the way home anymore.
Helpless against being tricked by the system, Waldo muttered to himself.
"Alright, I got it. You can go now."
The smart assistant responded, "Understood, master."
Waldo adjusted his frustrated state and proceeded to upgrade the automated defense system.
Compared to the fortification wall, this upgrade would be much easier.
He opened the panel of the automated defense system and clicked the upgrade button.
"Do you want to upgrade the automated defense system?"
"Yes."
"Please add the upgrade equipment for the automated defense system."
An upgrade window popped up, displaying several pieces of equipment that could be used for this upgrade.
Waldo quickly glanced at them, feeling a burning excitement for the opportunity to continue upgrading the automated defense system in the future.
If all these various pieces of equipment could be fully equipped and upgraded onto the automated defense system, it would truly become an impregnable fortress.
Waldo found the "Laser Defense Device" and the "Automated Gatling Machine Gun" and clicked to add these two pieces of equipment he already possessed.
Upgrade!
"Automated defense system upgrade successful! Cooldown: 23 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds!"