Chapter 9

Recap

After looking at the general pollution situation in the country, Ji Xinghai directly chose to purify H Province.

There is no other reason. H Province has a large area and a lot of arable land. The annual grain production accounts for 11% of the country, and it is the national granary.

Food is the first necessity for people. Food is the basis of survival, so purifying it has the highest cost-effectiveness.

The messy bangs covered Ji Xinghai’s eyes. This world seems to be very bad, but everyone is working hard for their own “home.”.

At least they still have a home.

It’s really enviable.

___

“Hurry, hurry, hurry!”

It was nine o’clock in the evening, which was one o’clock in the afternoon when the exam was held. Researchers from various grain production bases in H Province suddenly rushed out of the research institute with their large and small instruments.

Ordinary people couldn’t sleep either. They walked out of their homes and walked in the dark fields with lanterns.

“Speed! This is related to this year’s grain production.”

The most serious experts couldn’t control their grinning mouths.

Soil, water quality, air, and all other natural factors related to grain production had to be re-tested. They had to make sure that the situation was changing for the better, and they couldn’t wait a minute or a second.

In fact, these people could feel the difference as soon as they came out. The wind became softer, and they wouldn’t feel difficulty breathing even if they took off the respirator. There was no uncomfortable, irritating smell in the air.

Looking up, the starry sky seemed clearer and brighter, as if a layer of gray had been removed.

“The pollution level of the entire province has been downgraded, and some land that was originally unusable can now be used. This year, we can produce more and better quality food!” The head of the base standing in the field looked up at the long-lost starry sky. His heart warmed.

They were given such a big surprise on the first day of the game. Their student are not just any random student, but a carefully selected god!

[The sky in the liberated area is bright, and the people in the liberated area like it.]

The viewers in Ninth State have already sung in the live broadcast room.

As one of the representatives of the two major camps, several countries headed by Ninth State implement a unified distribution and supply system, which is the ticket supply system that was implemented in the era of material scarcity. Of course, it is improved according to specific conditions.

On the premise of ensuring the basic survival of citizens as much as possible, everyone will receive different material distributions according to age, type of work, and work situation. If they are sick or pregnant, there will be additional subsidies.

So if the grain production in H Province can be restored, ordinary people like them may have a few more taels of natural grain in their household registration every month.
Don’t underestimate the extra ounces. Most people’s staple food is starch, synthesized from carbon dioxide. Natural food is used for entertaining guests or celebrating festivals. A few more ounces can be an extra meal.

Who wouldn’t be happy about such a good thing that benefits every household?

Of course, the happiest people are the people of H Province.

Every household has balconies, yards, and other places that can be used to grow fruits and vegetables and raise small livestock such as quails and chickens. This province-wide purification did not bypass them, so many people were surprised to find that the soil they dug and the water they stored met the “pollution-free” standard.

This means that their family vegetable gardens can produce pollution-free fruits and vegetables.

So the people of H Province were excited. How could the nutritional medicines and vitamin supplement tablets distributed by the state be as good as real fruits and vegetables?

At worst, they could use their extra ounces to exchange for other things in the free market set up by the government, which is also a source of income.

The outside world is still excited, but unboxing is a thing of the past for Ji Xinghai. After the choice was confirmed, the red color representing the pollution level of province H turned into a lightly polluted orange in an instant, the map disappeared, the brass treasure chest also disappeared, and the hunter’s hut returned to reality from the online game world.

Ji Xinghai didn’t feel much; life was too long, and some of his emotions were almost worn out in the repeated crossings.

As an outsider who would die sooner or later and with a high probability of sudden death, only strong stimulation would make him feel “happy” and “busy.”.

He was going to go down the mountain, where there must be a huge “surprise.”.

Surprises in this kind of environment are often accompanied by risks, and he may not die well. “Not dying well” is a relief to him.

‘But let’s fill my stomach first.’

Ji Xinghai bent down to look through the earthenware jars. There were many good things in the hunter’s hut: white rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and various seasonings—enough to make a full and nutritious lunch.

He used the water in the water tank to wash the pot, basin, bowl, knife, and cut two pine branches to make chopsticks. At this time, the adventurous students have reached the foot of the mountain. There is a small plain at the foot of the mountain, surrounded by mountains. The village can be seen from afar. In the middle of the village, there is a relatively high and large flat cylindrical building.

This is an “earth building,”  a collective building that has both residential and defensive functions.

The one who walked the farthest was federal student Jason, a retired soldier of the Navy SEALs and an extreme survival game fanatic. He is now hungry, but he can still bear it, and he is close to the village.

He wants to get close to the strange building, which looks like an oriental castle.

[Go, Jason!] [You are the champion!]

[Become the champion, and come back and you’ll be allowed to enter the “Garden of Eden”!]

The federal people outside the field cheered for him. Jason does not hear these voices, his journey has been smooth sailing all the way and he has lost his alertness to danger.

So when he realized that something was wrong, he was already too close to the village.

No.

Danger!

Jason suddenly turned his head and ducked into the grass, but outside the village were cultivated fields and wastelands overgrown with weeds, an open area where he couldn’t easily hide with his size.

The viewers didn’t react. They hadn’t seen the enemy that should have appeared yet, but they heard the sound of gunfire from the bunker-like building in the center of the village.

“Damn! Sniper!” Jason’s voice was drowned in the gunfire.

Gunfire?

For the quiet mountain area, this sound was too different and too loud. Even Ji Xinghai, who was staying in the hunter’s cabin, heard it. But he didn’t run out to see; he worked on his own. Those students who were also preparing to go down the mountain were shocked.

“Artillery? Does the enemy have artillery? And maybe more than one?” The deterrence from the artillery defeated some of their ambitions, and their outstretched feet were retracted again.

The other side has artillery, and they only have blunt tools. In this case, it is more appropriate to stay in the forest.
“Damn it! Damn it!”

Jason rolled and crawled into the dense grass. He dragged his injured leg and crawled for a long time. There was the sound of gunfire behind him. He was only a mortal holding farm tools, and now he was shot in the leg. While the other was a sniper hiding in the fortress and shooting from high to low. Jason’s ending was predictable.

“He was too arrogant. He took the risk without collecting enough information.”

The people in the Ninth State Command looked at their own student. This one was really patient. There was constant gunfire outside, but he was still calmly making lunch.

Ji Xinghai was quick and clean. He quickly washed the pots and pans, took out a handful of rice, washed it clean, put it in a ceramic bowl, and threw it into the pot to steam. Then he dragged a small wooden stake and squatted beside the water tank to clean the dried mushrooms.
The dried mushroom wanted to run away, but it was seriously injured and couldn’t run away. Finally, it stopped pretending to be dead and looked at him with tears in its eyes: “Don’t eat me; I can help you.”

Ji Xinghai was cold, ruthless, and unmoved. He broke it apart bit by bit and washed it piece by piece. He believed in his instinct. This thing was useful to him.

The dried mushroom was quickly broken into pieces and added into a pot of ingredients. There was a basket of eggs, salt, vegetable oil, and so on next to the earthen stove. It was just right for a plate of fried rice with dried mushrooms.

[Ah, what is Brother Hai going to do?]

[Are you going to eat black crown mushrooms?]

[!!!! That’s a level 3 abnormal creature, brother!] [It’s not good to eat it, brother!]

Ji Xinghai’s actions scared the people in the live broadcast room and made them acknowledge him on the spot, and they didn’t even care about the joy of just harvesting a piece of pure land.
It is not uncommon to say that there are warriors who dare to face fear in the years since the anomaly appeared, but most of the people who eat abnormal creatures will go crazy, stupid, violent, etc. Only a very few are safe and sound.

They dare not bet that Ji Xinghai is the one in a million “immunes.”.

However, their student in the instance world can’t hear the shouts of the general public. He slowly cleaned the dried fungus fragments, washed them, took them out, and waited for the rice to steam while drying them.

It is not ideal to use steamed rice just out of the pot to make fried rice. It’s best to use overnight rice, but the situation limits certain luxuries.

The flames on the pine branches in the stove licked the bottom of the pot. Ji Xinghai sat on the side and played with the watch he took from the R-country student.

There is no special button. After touching it, it still looks like an electronic watch.

How do I use this thing?

If it were before, he would have started to experiment with various methods, but considering that what he did might be watched by many people, Ji Xinghai still restrained himself.

Sometimes suppressing your own nature is also part of the fun of deception.
He put the confiscated watch aside and began to process the mushrooms he had collected before.

The sun shone on the hunter’s cabin, and the hound lay there, looking up from time to time. It was so peaceful and beautiful, no matter how you looked at it.

Washing vegetables, cooking, and adding firewood, the smoke from steaming rice drifted outside through the chimney, and the wind blew through the pine forest, bringing the song of the gurgling stream.

The scene was serene. Except for the Ninth State viewers, others found it boring and went to other students’ live broadcast rooms.

A random federal student had been confirmed dead, and the live broadcast room turned black.

But, fortunately, everyone was not particularly surprised. The characteristics of federal students are that they are either high-scoring bosses or die the earliest. They never take the normal approach.

However, his death changed the plans of many radical students to go down the mountain. Under the threat of long-range artillery, no one dared to step into the death flatland for the time being, and they had to retreat back to the forested mountain.

At the same time, the people who had set up temporary shelters on the mountain were also moving deeper into the mountains. If the enemy uses guns, then the best way to save yourself is to hide.
Modern people know not to stand in the way of bullets.

Hundreds of students have landed in the mountains, and they always bump into each other when they walk around. Everyone is very cautious, either avoiding each other or greeting each other from a distance. So far, no cooperation has been seen.

Maybe after a few exams, when they get to know each other a little, they will consider cooperation.

Some people and abnormal creatures also meet on a narrow road when they walk around.

Most of the time, one of them will be killed or injured.

Currently, more than a dozen countries have made appointments for abnormal natural disasters, all of which are from random students.

It is really difficult for ordinary people who have not received systematic training and have not opened up their talents to survive in this cruel world. Even if there are no abnormal creatures, the poisonous insects, snakes, ants, and wild beasts in the mountains and forests are enough to threaten survival.

Compared to these unfortunate people, the guy who was thrown into the cellar of the hunter’s cabin is too lucky.

There are also random students who are overconfident and can easily die. If the Ninth State student hadn’t killed the hunter, who knows if he would have been beheaded or turned into bacon?

[For stupid people, doing nothing is the greatest help.] [Just stay inside and eat the sweet potatoes on the ground when you are hungry.] The viewers in their country only have this expectation; just stay alive.

The federal viewers have now moved to Zhang Ziqing’s live broadcast room. Because there is only this one left, everyone pinches their noses and begrudgingly admits that he is a federal student.

In fact, Zhang Ziqing is also the type who takes the initiative to attack, which can be seen from the fact that he did not build a safe shelter at all. But he is much more cautious than Jason. 

He encountered the wooden bone man not long ago and took down this not-so-smart first-level abnormal creature at the cost of a scratch on his arm.

At the same time, he used his blowgun* to shoot a pheasant and obtain food.

*()

The Ninth State viewers passing by had mixed feelings. If this person had not defected, he and Ji Xinghai would have made Ninth State a sure win this time. But unfortunately, this person will only be an enemy, not a friend, in the future.

“He will probably act after dark.” A trainer who was responsible for training Zhang Ziqing said.

“Who? Zhang Ziqing?”

“Yeah.” He nodded and continued, “And I guess Ji Xinghai is the same. He has strong wits, and it is impossible for him not to see that the key to breaking the situation lies in going down the mountain. And night is the best opportunity to go down the mountain. They are very close and may meet.”

The headquarters suddenly became quiet. This is not good news.

___

T/N: Super curious about this Ji Xinghai… hmm… any guesses who or what he is?

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Update: The day after~

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