The upgraded kitchen and bathroom were impressive. The bathroom, true to its name, now boasted a separate shower stall, a toilet, and a sink. With the addition of a washing machine, it would be practically identical to his pre-apocalypse apartment.
The kitchen had also undergone a significant expansion. The cramped countertop was now a spacious two-meter workstation, complete with a stockpot, a frying pan, and the ever-reliable hot plate. The water heater remained conveniently located nearby. Both facilities had not only received performance boosts but also offered new status effects:
[Stress Resistance]
Description: Increases the survivor's ability to cope with the pressures of the apocalypse.
Effects:
· Reduces the chance of shock from pain.
· Lessens tremors and shaking caused by pain.
· Mitigates fear and despair caused by stressful situations.]
---
[Immunity]
Description: Affects susceptibility to diseases and treatment effectiveness.
Effects:
· Reduces the chance of infection and illness.
· Lessens the negative effects of stimulants, food, and drinks.
· Reduces the effects of toxins.
· Increases the duration of painkillers.
---
[Metabolism]
Description: A healthy metabolism improves the effects of food and drink.
Effects:
· Enhances the positive effects of food and drink.
· Reduces stamina and water consumption.
These new effects were a welcome addition. Sickness and injury were constant threats in the apocalypse. A simple cold could be a death sentence without proper medication. And the psychological toll of survival, especially in the city, was immense. While wilderness survivors only had to worry about the elements, city survivors faced the constant threat of refugee attacks.
He noticed a new "Crafting" button below the kitchen and bathroom descriptions. He clicked on the kitchen button. A new menu appeared:
[Emergency Water] x2
Requires: Silicone Tube, 500ml Water, Duct Tape x1
Crafting Time: 5 minutes
---
[Kvass] x2
Requires: Bottled Water x2, Rye Bread x4
Crafting Time: 10 minutes
…
Several other food and drink options were listed. So, this is where I craft food and drinks. He now understood why he needed a Level 2 kitchen to use the Mutton Stew recipe.
He checked the bathroom crafting menu. It was even more impressive, a veritable mini-factory. He could craft soap from lye, salt, and sausage, toilet paper from paper, and sterile bandages from regular bandages and vodka. There were also recipes for splints, hoses, backpacks, body armor, aramid cloth, ripstop fabric… The list went on.
He realized the crafting system allowed him to convert low-value items into more useful resources. A thought struck him. He could use the blizzard as an opportunity to collect cheap materials and craft them into valuable items, selling them for a profit. He doubted many other survivors had unlocked the crafting system yet. This could be his niche. A sustainable source of income, unlike his one-time weapon and food trades. As long as no one else had a higher-level crafting facility, he could corner the market.
He quickly tempered his excitement. He didn't have enough materials for mass production. His current supplies were enough for personal use, but not for large-scale trading.
I might have to risk another scavenging run. He hadn't planned on leaving the hideout, but this opportunity was too good to pass up.
I'll worry about that later. Time to check out that recipe.
He retrieved the Nourishing Mutton Stew recipe. It was now active. He used it. A new recipe appeared in the kitchen crafting menu.
[Nourishing Mutton Stew] x2
Type: Recipe
Effects:
· Removes: Cold (120 minutes, 25% chance of permanent removal)
· Adds: Invigorated (30 minutes)
· +10 Immunity (60 minutes)
· +70 Hunger
· +60 Thirst
Requires: Lamb 500g, Water 1000g, Goji Berries x1, Red Dates x1, Pepper x1, Salt x1
Optional Ingredients (choose one for additional effects): Ginseng x1, Angelica x1, Astragalus x1, Codonopsis x1
Crafting Time: 15 minutes]
This is going to be huge!
[Cold]
Type: Debuff
Description: A common cold caused by exposure to cold temperatures.
Effect 1: -50% Carrying Capacity, -60% Stamina, +60% Water Consumption, -40% Movement Speed
Effect 2: Blurred vision due to pain, +80% chance of shivering and tremors, 20% chance of developing Fever.]
---
[Invigorated]
Type: Buff
Description: A feeling of warmth and energy.
Effect 1: Provides immunity to cold in cold environments.
Effect 2: -30% Stamina consumption in warm environments; Converts to Heatstroke in hot environments.
This is it! Thomas was ecstatic. This soup was a lifesaver, literally. He had to capitalize on this.
He contacted Sandy, the survivor he'd traded with for wool and blankets.
City - Thomas: Hello! You still there?
Plains - Sandy: ??? You want more wool blankets?
City - Thomas: Not this time. You have lamb, right? What's the price?
Sandy, gnawing on a lamb rib in her underground hideout, frowned. He's from the city. Shouldn't he have plenty of food? What does he need lamb for?
She replied. She had plenty of lamb to spare.
Plains - Sandy: Got lamb. Two units of lamb for a pistol or 50 rounds of ammo, or equivalent.
City - Thomas: [Frowning emoji] That expensive now?
Plains - Sandy: Blizzard's coming. Everyone knows lamb keeps you warm. And it's food!
City - Thomas: Discount for bulk orders?
Plains - Sandy: Uh…how much are we talking? If you have medicine, I might be able to lower the price.
Thomas assessed his storage situation. The storage room was full of food. The three suitcases held valuables and equipment. The fuel and wood were stacked in a corner. The only remaining space was the floor in the central area. It was cold enough now that the meat wouldn't spoil quickly. And once the temperature dropped further, he could store it outside, under the watchful eye of his mental map.
I need more storage containers.
City - Thomas: 500 units of lamb. How much medicine? Or I can trade food. [Images of 35 food items] [Images of 20 medical items]
Sandy, sipping goat's milk, choked when she saw the images. She stared at the screen, incredulous.
Plains - Sandy: You have all of this?
City - Thomas: Yes. Food or medicine. But keep in mind, your lamb is raw. My food and medicine are ready to use, with special effects. So, be reasonable with your price. If it's too high, I'll find another supplier.
Sandy knew he was right. Plenty of survivors had lamb, but no one else was offering this variety of food and medicine. Especially those canned meats and fish. And…vegetable cans! She'd been living on lamb and goat's milk for days. The thought of vegetables made her mouth water.
She sent him a list of her desired items, mostly canned vegetables and fruits, canned fish, crackers, bread, and drinks. For medicine, she wanted antibiotics, painkillers, bandages, and wound care supplies. The trade would deplete half of Thomas's food supply and a third of his medicine.
But the payoff was substantial. Eleven butchered lambs now lay on the floor of his hideout. Each lamb weighed around 45 pounds. After removing the bones, he'd have around 30 pounds of meat per lamb, totaling 330 pounds. Each pound of lamb yielded two servings of soup. That was 660 servings.
He'd traded less than 80 units of food and medicine for this. This is insane profit.
I need more lamb! He was confident that more than half of the remaining 90,000 survivors wouldn't survive the blizzard. That was a market of 45,000 potential customers. And he could corner the market.
His kitchen's production capacity was a bottleneck, though. Two servings every fifteen minutes. Eight servings per hour. 192 servings per day. With five days until the blizzard, he could only make 960 servings.
I need five more lambs to reach that target.
He contacted Sandy again, but she only had one more lamb available. She'd have more tomorrow. He downplayed his need for so much lamb, then contacted other survivors, trading for the remaining ingredients: red dates, goji berries, pepper, ginseng, and angelica. These were cheap, thankfully. A few cans of food netted him a large supply.
Time to make some soup. He placed the ingredients in the kitchen and opened the crafting menu, his eyes gleaming with anticipation.
Craft Nourishing Mutton Stew!