Chapter 18: Team Score 900? That's Not Much After All
On the personal information panel, there was indeed an option called [Team]. Upon opening it, two sections appeared above: one for [Team Members], the other for [Team Rankings].
At that moment, a team had already appeared on the rankings, likely belonging to that person from earlier. However, it only had a single member, with a score of 139.
Lin Mu stroked his chin, pondering what that score represented. Was it for material resources, or something else? After thinking for a moment, he decided to form a team himself.
[Please enter a team name.]
He chose one at random, then was given the option to add a password. Of course, he added one—how could he not? After creating the team, his own entry appeared at the top of the team rankings, taking first place with an impressive 914 points.
He glanced at the scoring explanation and finally understood. Each vehicle level added 20 points, each vehicle core level 50 points, basic materials 1 point, blueprints 10 points, and permanent blueprints 20 points...
“There are truly a lot of ways to earn points. By this calculation, my 900 or so points make sense.”
He closed the panel absentmindedly. Teams were something Lin Mu really didn’t need.
The vehicle rolled forward slowly. As darkness fell, he drew ever closer to the resource box’s location.
Lin Mu couldn’t help but complain, “If it weren’t for that idiot who activated the mist, I could have gotten at least one more batch of resource boxes today.”
The more he thought about it, the more annoyed he felt. Still, who could have predicted there’d be something like that inside? He checked the regional chat—81,223! Over four thousand people were gone, a testament to how deadly that mist was.
Wait!
He suddenly remembered he still hadn’t eaten the snake gall bladder.
He opened his backpack, eyed the gall bladder, and swallowed hard. He genuinely found it hard to stomach—he actually had to swallow it raw! And the thing was nearly the size of his fist! Could his throat even handle something that big?
Lin Mu took out the snake gall, drew a deep breath. It’s just swallowing, what’s there to be afraid of?
He opened his mouth, stuffed the entire gall bladder inside, and sucked hard...
It burst!
Bitter juices streamed down his throat, a warm current spreading through his body. But now he dared not move a muscle. If any of it touched his tongue, he’d probably cry.
When the last of the bile had drained away, he cautiously removed the gall skin, but still managed to get a little on himself.
Lin Mu’s face twisted with agony, tears streaming from the bitterness. He quickly grabbed a bottle of soda and gulped it down.
“Whew, that’s better. How can this stuff be even more bitter than bitter melon?”
He swore to himself that he’d never eat snake gall again—not for anything. This stuff wasn’t meant for people.
He didn’t throw away the gall skin just yet, instead opening his personal info to check.
[Name: Lin Mu]
[ID: 9527L-LM002837]
[Attributes: Strength: 9, Constitution: 15, Agility: 8]
[Physical Status: Health: 100, Energy: 68, Hydration: 92]
His constitution had indeed gone up by five points—no doubt about it.
So long as it worked, that’s all he cared about. Lin Mu promptly tossed the gall skin into the recycling space. He didn’t want to see that skin ever again.
Nine-thirty.
The first box appeared—a silver chest.
“Hey, not bad—starting with a silver chest!”
[Congratulations on opening a Silver Resource Box: received 5x 100g bread, 20L gasoline, 1x universal medicine]
Another new item.
[Universal Medicine]: Cures any disease, increases health by 20 points.
Lin Mu stroked his chin. There had to be some limit to this thing.
He asked the panel directly, “If I lost an arm, would taking this medicine make it grow back?”
[...No.]
Perhaps finding Lin Mu’s question absurd, the panel elaborated:
[Physical disabilities present at entry will be automatically restored, but disabilities resulting from injuries here will not regenerate. Additionally, maximum health will be reduced proportionally to the loss. Please proceed with caution.]
Damn, that’s impressive—restoring lost parts? Incredible.
He continued searching for supplies.
[Congratulations on opening a Silver Resource Box: received 5x glass, 20L gasoline, 2x electronic components]
[Congratulations on opening a Silver Resource Box: received 2x universal materials, 20L gasoline, 1x repeating crossbow blueprint]
[...]
Every box along the way contained gasoline, and he hadn’t encountered a single beast.
Lin Mu scratched his head. Could it be all the beasts had already been dealt with earlier this morning?
At last, the final box appeared before him. Lin Mu swallowed, his eyes shining.
“Now this is a find!”
A mystery box sat in the middle of the road—the blind box resource chest he’d only encountered once before.
Bang! Bang!
Damn! Not again!
Lin Mu hurriedly smashed open the box with his axe. This time, there was only a single orb of light, which he quickly activated.
A metal box dropped to the ground.
He stashed it in his backpack at once and sped away in his vehicle.
Through the rearview mirror, Lin Mu glimpsed a pair of blood-red eyes staring at him.
“Scared me half to death! What the hell was that?”
He only relaxed once the eyes vanished into the mist.
He opened his backpack and looked at the metal box.
[Vehicle Modification Box]: Use with the appropriate materials to modify your vehicle once.
“...”
What use was this?
He already possessed the SSS-level Infinite Modification skill—did he really need something like this? What a waste.
He tried to use it.
[Front-end Metal Mesh Protection Device]: 10x iron ingot, 2x silver ingot, 2x copper ingot.
[Confirm?]
It was a targeted modification. Not bad, actually—he hadn’t yet triggered that option with his modification skill. No point in keeping it, so he used it right away.
Confirm.
A thick metal mesh instantly covered the front of his vehicle, further enhancing its defenses.
...
Midnight. The mist dispersed, snow reappeared on both sides of the highway, and a round moon shone in the sky.
Lin Mu parked his car, took out a KFC family bucket, and made do with a quick meal.
He refueled the stove, and the temperature inside the vehicle rose again.
“Ahh, this is the good stuff.”
Though the air conditioner provided enough heat, after running for a while it left his throat parched—nowhere near as pleasant as the warmth of a real fire.
He opened the trading hub, put water and meat up for exchange, and continued trading for miscellaneous items.
He also acquired several new blueprints, including the USP pistol blueprint, which he immediately upgraded to a permanent blueprint.
“Heh, my self-defense capabilities just shot up a notch.”
After eating his fill, Lin Mu wasn’t in a hurry to sleep.
He opened the regional chat, adjusted his posture, and prepared to see if there was any useful information to be gleaned.