Starting Off Survival With A Small Treehouse

Chapter 757: Chapter 480: Don’t Go to the 3rd Floor Without a Reason (5,300 Words)

”Mmmm...” Keke lay beside the basin of ice radiating a chilling air, letting out a comfortable murmur.

Xu Xin rested for a minute before getting up and heading to the bathroom.

He needed to use the automatic water pump to draw water.

In half an hour, the pool below him would dry up completely because the lake water level would drop below the tank.

Seizing this opportunity, he needed to collect as much water as possible.

Having made some wooden basins and barrels for water storage, he immediately began storing water.

There was no telling how long this heatwave would last, so it’s better to store as much as possible.

Half an hour passed, and the pump could no longer draw any water from the pool below.

He looked out the window. Below, the pool he had dug and the channel leading to the lake had entirely dried up, revealing the slightly damp ground.

Then, under his watch, under the fierce sunlight, the damp ground began to lose water at a visible rate, from dark-colored loam, gradually turning pale, and then starting to crack!

The once damp pool bottom cracked into a fragmented pit within half a minute.

He turned his gaze to the lake beside the treehouse.

The lake’s area had significantly reduced.

The original shallow area was now completely exposed.

The lake bottom, much like the pool bottom on his side, showed cracks under the scorching sun!

Aquatic plants that originally thrived there were quickly withering.

These plants survived the cold winter, yet they were defeated by the extreme heat.

...It’s ridiculous.

The sunlight was far too blistering!

He opened the window.

A wave of heat rushed in, causing him to frown and squint.

Fine beads of sweat immediately appeared on his forehead.

”This temperature...”

He quickly closed the window.

...At that moment of opening the window, he felt as if he were opening a furnace in the midst of smelting!

It must have already exceeded forty degrees!

It was probably around forty-five degrees!

He immediately contacted Li Wenxi.

”What’s up?” Li Wenxi’s voice sounded normal, accompanied by constant sounds of excavation.

”You’re still in the mine cave, aren’t you hot?” Xu Xin asked.

”Not hot at all, this mine cave seems to be a good place to cool off.” Li Wenxi explained, ”We haven’t even used the extracted niter for cooling, yet the temperature in the cave has remained in the twenties.”

Apparently, that niter cave could be considered a natural spot for summer refuge.

”Haha, they all don’t want to go back since it’s much hotter in the treehouse than here.” Li Wenxi chuckled.

”Cooling off there is indeed a good idea,” Xu Xin agreed, then asked, ”How much have you mined?”

”Hmm... I haven’t counted. Yajun! How much have we mined?” Li Wenxi directly asked Li Yajun, who was responsible for handling the mined niter.

”The mining rate here isn’t high; most of what we extracted are ordinary stones, with only a small portion being niter. So far, we’ve only mined about a thousand pieces of green-grade niter and... seven pieces of blue-grade niter.”

Li Yajun’s voice reached Xu Xin’s ears, causing him some surprise.

That’s not a slow pace, a thousand pieces in an hour.

Of course, this was with more than a dozen people mining together over nearly an hour.

Considering individual efficiency, it was indeed quite ordinary.

”Sigh... the efficiency is so low!” Li Wenxi slightly lowered her wristwatch-holding hand, looking at her somewhat surprised, ”My previous mining speed didn’t seem this slow, right?”

”Previously, you were mining in the richest area,” Li Yajun said with a hint of helplessness, ”It happened to be the best mining spot, all niter there.”

She pointed to the deepest part of the cave: ”But that niter area has been nearly exhausted by you; other sections are just sparse niter, mostly ordinary stones.”

”I see...” Li Wenxi nodded thoughtfully.

Listening through the watch, Xu Xin also slightly frowned.

Li Wenxi’s ability was to detect metal ores, but niter was not a metal ore, so she probably did not know how much niter remained in the cave.

”Your niter cave isn’t nearly depleted, is it?” Xu Xin asked.

If that’s the case, perhaps they should reconsider offering help to others.

After all, niter was a precious resource, used as raw material for explosives and as a type of consumable; explosives were their strongest means against invading enemies.

Until they found the next niter cave, this cave was their entire supply.

”I don’t know.” Li Wenxi’s voice carried hidden worry, ”Let’s keep mining, as niter is always needed; I’ll check the situation first.”

”Alright. For now, let’s not sell the niter to others.”

”Mhm!”

Hanging up, Xu Xin sighed.

Getting through today, those people should be fine, right?

He himself had no issues.

His treehouse was very cool.

Even... a bit chilly.

The treehouse walls’ insulation was too strong, preventing temperature transfer inside and outside, and that piece of blue-grade niter kept emitting a continuous cold air.