Chapter 3: The Stone War God

After traveling 30 kilometers, Yu Jiang spotted something in a pile of grass and hurriedly stepped out of the vehicle to check.

It was a wooden crate. Opening it yielded a battery, which could be used for her tricycle, replenishing 50% of its power. She didn't let the crate go to waste either, breaking it down into wooden strips.

Yu Jiang took the opportunity to search the surrounding area and, to her surprise, found two palm-sized dry-land mushrooms under some low shrubs. She recognized the species, but since this was a game, the system provided no prompts. To be safe, she retrieved a pair of disposable gloves left over from the fried chicken she had eaten the day before. Donning the gloves, she carefully picked the two mushrooms, wrapped them in the gloves, and tucked them into her inventory.

Shortly after, she discovered a patch of blue-capped mushrooms nearby. They were crystalline and translucent, clearly poisonous at a glance. She collected them with her disposable gloves as well; poisonous mushrooms were resources, too.

Moving on, she found another type of mushroom on the grass on the other side of the road—puffballs. Yu Jiang grew excited. These were traditional medicinal herbs! Once matured, the spore powder inside could stop bleeding, reduce inflammation, soothe sore throats, and clear the lungs.

【Player has obtained 'Puffball' *1. A basic material for crafting medicine, or can be used directly.】

So, it wasn't that there were no prompts for gathering fungi; it was just that some resources didn't provide information on their uses, requiring players to explore for themselves, like the dry-land mushrooms and poisonous ones she had just collected.

Yu Jiang then proceeded to conduct a carpet search of the surroundings, and through her persistence, she managed to collect two more puffballs. As she prepared to dig up a third, a familiar roar echoed behind her. It was an 'Infected'—a zombie!

Yu Jiang glanced back in a rush. She didn't run away; instead, she sped up her hand movements. Her inability to walk away from resources had struck again. Fortune favors the bold—what she dug up was hers to keep!

"Hurry up, hands!"

Seeing the distance indicator above the zombie’s head drop to under five meters, Yu Jiang reflexively threw a rock. It struck the creature's head, but only carved out a crater, revealing black, filthy blood and a foul stench. The zombie’s 15 health points only dropped by one.

Seeing that she couldn't kill it, Yu Jiang grabbed the puffballs and scrambled toward her tricycle. She hadn’t pulled the key out, so she hopped on and accelerated without even waiting to close the door. The zombie was tenacious, its fingers clawing at the side of the vehicle, leaving three deep scratches.

【Vehicle attacked by 'Infected', durability -2%!】

Yu Jiang increased her speed again. The zombie let go with one hand but kept the other firmly gripped on the vehicle, its head thrusting forward, trying to force its way inside.

It had scratched her car, and worse, it had cost her 10 health points! Yu Jiang gritted her teeth, grabbed the sharpest rock at hand, leaned over, and struck down with all her might.

*Bang!*

The rock embedded itself into the zombie's skull, and it finally fell off. As the rear wheel rolled over it, the tricycle nearly flipped, but Yu Jiang managed to stabilize it by adjusting her steering. It was that impact from the wheel that drove the rock deeper into the zombie’s skull, killing it.

【Congratulations to the player for being the first to discover and collect medicinal herbs (7/7). Hidden task completed. Rewards: Primary Traditional Medicine Powder Crafting Scroll *2, Primary Medicine Furnace, Achievement 'Level 1 Apothecary'.】

【Player has killed an 'Infected' for the first time. Reward: Attack +2, Crystal Coins +100.】

【Achievement 'Stone War God': Your combat power is low, but you are unexpectedly tough. Grants Defense +2.】

Yu Jiang took a few deep breaths; it was too thrilling. But it was worth it—this was a wealthy zombie. The medicinal powder should be quite valuable, too! She looked at her pharmaceutical abilities; she just needed to drag the scrolls to her personal profile page and click to use them.

Hallucinogenic Powder: Causes a dizziness effect for up to 5 seconds. The higher the target's defense, the weaker the effect.

Primary Hemostatic Herbal Powder: Restores 10 HP and clears minor continuous bleeding or inflammation states.

Both powders had a 1-hour cooldown. Using the puffballs directly only restored 2 HP and stopped bleeding, but could not clear negative status effects. Overusing them would cause fatigue to spike, followed by a drop in health, and potentially even hallucinations. In her memory, puffballs weren't poisonous, so she feared these must have mutated.

She continued on. The mileage on the task bar slowly climbed. The panel showed 1:10 PM, with 12 kilometers left. Yu Jiang stopped to drink some water and eat a piece of bread. She wanted to eat instant noodles, but she had no water and no lighter, so she made do.

During the break, Yu Jiang kept an eye on the public chat, only reading the trade information without replying. It was still early; it would be better to trade later in the afternoon once everyone had made more progress and found more supplies.

Yu Jiang’s luck had been average in the morning—she had only seen one crate—but the afternoon was looking better. She had found two wooden crates after traveling only 5 kilometers.

【Player has obtained Waterproof Quick-dry Jacket *1, Clean Underwear *2.】

【Player has obtained Gasoline *2L, Compressed Biscuits *2, Canned Peas *1.】

However, even after completing the 50-kilometer task, she hadn't found a single bottle of water. She didn't want to travel a meter more than necessary; she only had one spare battery, so she had to conserve power.

With her fatigue at 50, Yu Jiang simply gathered resources on the spot, hoarding another batch of wood. She collected every visible low shrub and mushroom within a 2-kilometer radius. She planned to rest there for the night, so to save space inside the vehicle, she tied two bundles of wood to the roof.

After finishing these tasks, it was past 4:00 PM. The sky was gradually darkening, and more players were speaking in the chat.

Pure-Hearted Cockroach: 【Which brother or sister can trade some food? I’ve only found water along the way. I’m honestly defeated. One bottle of water for one can, or something else is fine too.】

Two-Eight Bar: 【I told you choosing human power was the way to go. I rode my bicycle 70 kilometers and found an extra crate! Only a human-powered perpetual motion machine can take the lead.】

【Damn, brother, you’re really a sugar beet. Your wheels must be sparking. You’ve got endless brute strength.】

"Truly impressive," Yu Jiang muttered to herself, then locked onto the next message.

X: 【Trading gasoline.】

Yu Jiang quickly sent a private message: "1"

X: "What do you want?"

"2 liters of gasoline in exchange for 2 sets of batteries, or weapons, or a lighter."

2 liters of gasoline = 50% capacity of a motorcycle, roughly 50 kilometers.
2 sets of batteries = 100% power for a tricycle, 80 kilometers.
Gasoline is more expensive than electricity—that’s reasonable, right?

Yu Jiang also sent a private message to Pure-Hearted Cockroach.

A few seconds later, X replied: "I don't have any extra weapons on hand for now, but I have one set of batteries. Is this okay? I’ll give it to you as soon as I find a weapon."

Yu Jiang hesitated. What if he didn't pay up after getting the gas? Whoever could get the first kill so quickly must have excellent mental fortitude and might not care about their reputation. But weapons were indeed hard to come by.

Yu Jiang thought for a moment. "Fine, add me as a friend first."

The other side thanked her: "I also have a solar panel and a sharpened wooden stick here. If you need them, consider it interest."

Yu Jiang happily agreed. Only a fool would turn down free items! As long as she had a portable converter, she could charge the tricycle with the solar panel!

Adding as a friend and initiating the trade took only a dozen seconds. The system's trade dialog box required both parties to place the items, confirm, and lock the deal; it was impossible to use fake goods.

After receiving the gasoline, Shi Xu glanced at the only friend in his list. Many people had messaged him that morning—some asking to be carried, others asking for motorcycle vehicle guides—but he hadn't added any of them.

This person was very efficient at gathering resources; perhaps they could reach a long-term trading agreement in the future.