Read Novel Full Chapter 603.1
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The harvest was fruitful, and the green down jacket was very satisfied.
The internal organs of the two giant bears had already been simply processed. The fur of the giant bears was thick, warm and windproof. However, making this fur into individual fur coats would be time-consuming, labor-intensive, and a waste.
The thick layers of fat and fur were a natural barrier.
Except for the fishy smell inside, the bodies of the giant bears were undoubtedly the best windbreakers.
There were two giant beasts in total. It was feasible to divide people into two groups and put them inside the bellies of the giant beasts.
The coal could not be ignited and could only serve as decoration.
Although the true meaning of the totem on the wooden board was still unknown, it was definitely the key to solving the mystery of the cold in Goose Feather Mountain.
As for those iron plates, they could be pieced together to form a simple windbreak structure.
The green down jacket quickly sorted out his thoughts.
He directed the players to cooperate and placed the two giant beast corpses together.
Then they moved the steel plates, building a circle of metal plates around the giant beast corpses.
The coal had no immediate use, but it was not certain if it would be useful.
To prevent the coal from being buried by subsequent wind and snow, everyone agreed to let the green down jacket temporarily keep it.
The players worked intensively, racing against the setting sun.
After an hour of busy work, they finally completed it before it got completely dark.
The players all hid inside the heavy metal plates.
When night fell, the wind started to blow.
The howling wind and snow hit the steel plates, making a dense and slight “pat-pat” sound.
The bellies of the two giant beasts faced each other. Sixty-eight players were divided into two groups, each nestling their bodies into the thick fur of the giant beasts.
The temperature started to drop, but not to an unbearable degree.
At this time, the players still did not want to hide inside the bellies of the giant beasts, as the smell was really unpleasant.
-47 degrees.
-48 degrees.
-50 degrees…
The temperature dropped slowly. Having already experienced one night, the players were no longer panicked like last night.
The thick metal plates outside separated them from the wind and snow outside. Being in a relatively narrow space made the players feel much more at ease.
There once was a kindergarten.
This kindergarten had no high fences and no thick walls.
Beautiful flowers and trees were planted around the school building, and was equipped with various interesting play facilities.
They believed that in such a school, the children would not feel constrained. They would no longer need to look at the scenery outside through high fences. They would definitely play and frolic to their heart’s content.
However, the reality was the opposite. The children hid in the school building, not daring to come out.
Even when they came to the school square, they only dared to play in the area near the school building.
The principal was greatly puzzled, and thought that the children did not like the play facilities he had built for them.
He had clearly given the students the greatest freedom, but instead they felt even more constrained.
Later, someone suggested putting up walls and fences. The principal, though puzzled, complied.
When the walls and fences were installed, the previously restrained children all turned into wild horses, playing and frolicking with joy.
This was the “eggshell principle.”
To those children, the high fences and walls were not constraints but protective eggshells.
At this moment, these iron plates and giant beast corpses had become the players’ “eggshells.”
Compared to the vast unknown world, they were just mayflies in the sky and tiny grains of rice in the vast ocean, ready to be blown away and crushed at any moment.
Only within this small eggshell could they feel a sense of security.
The temperature was dropping, but it was still stable.
The system’s warning of a cold wave had not arrived.
The players hid in the narrow space, gaining a brief respite while anxiously awaiting the arrival of the cold wave.
“Has the only survivor of the six people yesterday recovered?” someone in the crowd asked.
“I have recovered, thank you all for your care.” A person raised their arm high above their head, moving through the dense crowd. There was a rustling sound of a down jacket fabric, and a person stumbled to the front of the crowd.
The person took off their hat, revealing a sharp face, “It’s me. I know you all want to know what happened to me yesterday. I will tell you everything I experienced.”
Last night, they had just rescued this person when the cold wave hit, and the disaster did not give everyone time to learn the truth. To protect this sole witness, he had been kept in the center of the crowd all night.
After a day of rest, the man seemed to have recovered.
His face was no longer as pale as paper but had a healthy flush.
“I… grr grr.” Just as he said the first word, an untimely sound of discord interrupted. The man rubbed his stomach awkwardly, “Sorry, I haven’t eaten for more than a day. I’m a bit hungry.”
This immediately resonated with many people.
Hungry, they were also very hungry.
Not only hungry but thirsty too.
Some players had food in their backpacks, but at temperatures of -40 to -50 degrees, the food froze into ice blocks as soon as it was taken out.
To fill their stomachs, they could only gnaw on the frozen food like chewing ice.
When thirsty, they ate snow to quench their thirst. Although it was tough, it met their physiological needs.
That was the case for players with food in their backpacks.
Some players had no food at all. The official website of the system in the players’ minds was connected to the points mall, where food and water could be purchased.
However, in copies, the mall button is gray. No matter how many mall points they had, they were useless.
To survive, they had to trade.
The first stage lasted four days, and the duration of the second stage was unknown.
In an environment of unknown duration, scarce resources, and harsh conditions, stockpiling supplies became something everyone was eager to do.
Cheap bread had become a rare commodity in the copy.
Trading a B-grade prop card for a piece of bread or a precious A-grade card for a slice of bacon.
In just one day, a stable trading system had formed.
The survivor’s stomach growled, but no one reached out to help this time.
This was a horror game copy; everyone here had survived countless deaths and there were not kind-hearted people.
There were no permanent friends or enemies, only permanent interests.
They protected him yesterday for precious information; today, they withheld food to protect their own resources.
Everything was driven by interests.
For the sake of interest, the teammate who fought alongside you a moment ago might become your enemy the next moment.
Although cruel and dark, this was reality.
The player seemed to have anticipated his fate. He smiled helplessly, rubbed his stomach, and sighed, “Forget it, I’ll start talking.”
Without food, he would starve to death.
Suddenly, a few pieces of hard bread appeared before him.
The survivor was stunned. He looked up along the bread and saw a player in a black and white panda down jacket standing in front of him, holding out the bread.
Seeing the survivor not taking the bread, the black glove shook it, “You don’t want to eat?”
The voice was somewhat muffled through the thick mask, but it still sounded pleasant.
The survivor took the bread grateful, not eating it immediately but putting it in his backpack.
Enduring the hunger, the survivor began to recount his experience.
As he recalled, his eyes gradually became unfocused, and a flash of fear crossed his face.
Swallowing hard, the man said in a solemn voice, “At first, seven of us landed in an expanse of white snow.”
“Seven people?” Someone interrupted his first sentence, “Weren’t you six? There were seven of you?”
The man nodded, “Yes, there were seven of us initially.”
“But one player was very fast. He seemed eager to reach the safe house quickly, so he soon outpaced us and left us behind. Though there were both fast and slow people among the rest of us, we stayed relatively close together.”
“After that player disappeared, it wasn’t long before we found his body ahead. We didn’t know what attacked him, but his body was covered in bite marks. He died a gruesome death.”
“The six of us felt the danger and hastened our pace in panic.”
“As we walked, a sudden blizzard hit us, and we lost our way in the storm.”
“Wait.” Another player interrupted the survivor’s story, pointing to their temple, “Don’t we all have maps in our minds? How could you get lost following the map?”