Chapter 3  : Drinking Water Crisis! First Upgrade!

“I’ll be damned. It’s actually plausible.”

Su Mo breathed a sigh of relief when he read the second option provided by the system.

??

Ignoring the sarcastic remarks, Su Mo’s face was filled with excitement.

Water wells in the city might be rare, but many places in the countryside were still using primitive wells even in 2022.

Before choosing a site for common wells, it was important to note the topography of the terrain. It was best to choose a low-lying area where water could gather before drilling a well using modern tools.

However, now that Su Mo had the Survival System, all he needed to do was build a rough model of the item and his survival points would take care of the rest.

He found a new ray of hope!

Su Mo began studying the option for upgrading the water well. If he upgraded it without providing any input himself, it would cost him 130 survival points. With the current efficiency of earning 5 survival points a day, it would take at least five more days to collect enough survival points.

By then, he would have died of thirst a long time ago.

Sitting around and waiting to hit the target amount of survival points was undoubtedly a foolish option!

Su Mo laughed and thought of a plan.

“I can provide materials for the upgrade…”

Su Mo tapped on upgrade option two with his mind and quickly received the list of two of the materials needed for the upgrade that he could currently provide—10 units of stones and 6 units of plant fiber.

Su Mo picked up his stone axe and felt like he was brimming with energy as he trotted out through the shelter’s main door and began collecting supplies.

He stripped off tree leaves and picked up stones.

Once he had finally gathered enough resources half an hour later, Su Mo returned to the shelter once more. Now, the required survival points for the upgrade had dropped to 75.

Option two, selected!

The green glow emerged from under Su Mo’s feet, gradually integrating with the pit. From his field of vision, the pit grew deeper and deeper, and even the wooden bucket disappeared from sight along with the terrain as it slipped further down.

Several units of plant fiber that had been used to create hemp rope began extending downward together with the wooden bucket.

The piles of rocks on the ground disappeared at a rapid rate.

As the supplies were all consumed, there was a loud snap, and the green glow returned to Su Mo’s body once again.

He cast his gaze on the water well and a brand new attribute emerged.

[Miniature Well Water Extractor (Normal)]

Current efficiency: 2000ml/day

First upgrade option: upgrade the well material, increase the sealing and water purification functions to improve water quality. Survival points required for upgrade (200).

Second upgrade option: Dig a deeper pit to increase the efficiency of water extraction. Survival points required for upgrade (300).

Comment: Essential for survival in the wilderness!

Noting the two liters daily output of water displayed on the well panel, Su Mo was delighted and he began calculating in his heart.

If no strenuous exercise was involved, he would be able to sustain himself with only about 300ml of water per day. Even if he needed to go out for some hard labor, he would need at most a liter of water.

The scientific theory that recommended a person to drink at least 2 liters of water per day was too extravagant for the post-apocalyptic world.

There were a large number of people who did not drink that much water each day even in the era of civilization. There was no way anyone would come to the post-apocalyptic world hoping to maintain perfect health.

Drinking water crisis was averted!

Next up, he needed to solve the food crisis.

After thinking about it, Su Mo pulled up the trading panel. Sure enough, the empty panel was now full of items.

[Seller: Luo Feng]

[Trade item: 1 iron block]

[Required item: 100ml pure water]

[Remark: Don’t send me a private message telling me that I am asking for too much. I had to dig for more than an hour under the blazing sun for this.]

…

[Seller: Su Yu]

[Trade item: 200g bread]

[Required item: 1 copper block]

[Remark: If you don’t want to starve to death then hurry up and hand over your copper. I will not entertain you once the time is up.]

…

[Seller: Han Li]

[Trade item: 500g of mutant desert coyote meat]

[Required item: 300ml pure water]

[Remark: Exchange fresh coyote meat with fresh water. It’s still fresh. Hurry up if you want it.]

…

[Seller: Wang Fugui]

[Trade item: 100ml thirst-quenching liquid]

[Required item: Private message me if you have anything to offer.]

[Comment: Motherf*cker, your so-called thirst-quenching liquid is actually urine. Why don’t you quench your thirst with this?]

[Comment: You cheated 10 units of wood out of me. You’d better not let me catch you.]

…

Urine?

Su Mo was caught between laughter and tears when he read the words thirst-quenching liquid written there.

It seemed that there was such a loophole in the trading system. It was no wonder that the seller did not state clearly what sort of liquid it was.

Everyone had only just transmigrated. No one would want to drink urine even if they were dying of thirst!

After a few minutes of observation.

Su Mo had a general overview of the market.

At this stage, there were already many bold and daring people out there; some had even killed several mutant creatures with the tools they had.

There were also some who relied on treasure chests they found in the desert to obtain food and tools.

However, water was still the object of the highest demand.

Basically, not many people had it listed for sale. Even if they offered the tiniest bit, it would be sold off within seconds.

After exiting the trading panel, Su Mo pulled up to the Regional Channel. This time, there were a lot more dry goods mentioned.

“As soon as you kill a mutant beast, you will get a treasure chest with all sorts of items in it. I just killed a mutant rabbit and received a treasure chest. There’s a bottle of water and a wrench in it.”

“You can find treasure chests in the wilderness too. Be careful not to mistake it for garbage.”

“Is there any kind soul out there that can spare me some food? I haven’t eaten anything for a whole day and I’m dying of thirst and hunger.”

Apart from the few people who laid on the ground refusing to move, the majority of the people were talking about searching for supplies.

At this stage, not many people would focus on developing their shelter. Basically, everyone was trying to stock up on enough supplies before the next disaster struck.

Su Mo observed for a moment and gained a little bit of knowledge.

As mentioned in the previous introduction, the wilderness was filled with both dangers and opportunities.

Every time a mutant was killed, a treasure chest would pop up as a reward. The contents in the chest were based entirely on luck and the mutant beast’s level.

There were also many treasure chests scattered in the wilderness that could be opened once they were found.

In short, at this novice stage, as long as one was willing to venture out and explore, they would not die of hunger and thirst immediately and would have a slim chance at survival.

As for the people who grew up living a comfortable life and only knew how to give orders and lost their survival instincts, they would probably be the first to be eliminated in this global survival race involving billions of humans.

Su Mo sat on the stairs of his shelter until the sun hanging in the middle of the sky eventually began to set, then he hauled up the wooden bucket with the help of the last remaining rays of light.

After five hours, the bucket had collected 400ml of water.

Next, Su Mo used another 4 units of wood to build another bucket, poured the well water into it to precipitate, then lowered the well water bucket into the pit again to continue the extraction.

Su Mo endured the thirst and opened up the trading panel, listing 200ml of water on it and started an auction.

[Seller: Su Mo]

[Trade item: 200ml underground mineral water]

[Required item: Any food item]

[Remark: Fresh underground water. I dug for an entire day only to collect this much. I only want food. The highest bidder wins.]

Su Mo had barely finished listing the water when the chat channel exploded instantly.

“Holy sh*t, someone listed water—freshly-dug water.”

“There’s water underground. Say no more, I will dig through the earth and get some water right away.”

“This is my first time hearing of someone digging out water. Most of the water listed on the trading channel today was retrieved from treasure chests, I can’t believe this guy is willing to trade it off.”

“He only wants food. I have 300g of bread. Can I exchange it for the water?”

The World Channel chatbox blew up.

Meanwhile, a group of people continued to send Su Mo private messages via the trading channel.

“Almighty Su Mo, can I exchange 20 units of wood for your water? Please be kind. I’m dying of thirst.”

“I have a hundred billion dollars in assets, give me this water and I will give you a billion bucks. I guarantee you will live a rich and prosperous life for the rest of your life.”

“Handsome Su Mo, I’m sooo thirsty. Can you give me some water, pretty please? If we meet in the future, I’ll do anything you want~”

“Hey man, 300g wolf meat + 200g bread for exchange? I want water.”

“...”

There were thousands of private messages pouring in. There were some foreigners as well, though the messages they sent had been translated into Chinese automatically.

Among these people, there were many famous celebrities, and even plutocrats and officials in the past life.

Some offered huge promises, some made threats, some even texted him privately to seduce him.

Su Mo ignored them all.

In five days, the first wave of disaster would come. In these uncertain times, everyone was equal.

God knows how many of them would survive after the disaster.

After contemplating for about ten minutes, Su Mo picked the one that seemed to have the highest offer at the moment and completed the transaction.

[Record]: You lost 200ml of water.

[Record]: You obtained 350g of bread, 200g of beef jerky, iron *1, lighter *1.

When the transaction was completed, half of the water in the wooden bucket vanished. In return, he received several items in his inventory.

After tallying his previous expenses, there were only four units of wood left in his inventory.

After compiling them, Su Mo used the four units of wood to create a wooden box and placed all of the things he had just traded in it.

He picked up the wooden water bucket and carefully drank half of the remaining water and went out again before the sky turned completely dark.