He opened the small hole that sealed in the smell, and the suppressed scent immediately drifted out, allowing Su Mo to identify its composition almost at once.
Gunpowder!
Or, more precisely—black powder! He carefully poured the black granules from the wooden stick onto the table, and an intensely pungent sulfuric smell wafted over.
"Kobolds actually need black powder to release their so-called fireball spell?"
Having suddenly learned this, Su Mo found it somewhat unbelievable.
Earlier, in Shelter Number Two, Warlock Kobold had first waved his wooden stick before releasing his fireball spell.
At the time, Su Mo had thought that this was either a spellcasting gesture or an attribute of the wooden stick.
He had never imagined that the kobold actually had to respect science just to cast a fireball. "So the thing the kobolds were looking for was black powder?"
Hearing Su Mo mutter to himself, Oreo hurriedly nodded from the side, indicating that Su Mo's understanding was exactly right.
The kobold tied up in front of the table seemed to resign himself after seeing Su Mo pour out the black powder, and continued babbling.
Su Mo ignored the exchange between Oreo and the kobold.
He opened the Game Panel, selected resource scanning, and checked the raw materials for black powder production under the resource options.
Record: A small Sulfur Mine was detected 465 meters southeast of the player's current location. Record: Today's uses 2/3
"Sure enough, what they came to find today was this kind of natural Sulfur Mine."
Su Mo's face showed neither joy nor sorrow as his thoughts gradually drifted into the distance.
Modern sulfur-extraction technology had undergone countless innovations. Sulfur compounds in petroleum could even be separated through atmospheric and vacuum distillation, catalytic cracking, hydrocracking, delayed coking, and other processes, turned into sulfur-containing wastewater, and then recovered from the wastewater to produce finished sulfur.
In ancient times, without such technology, there were two ways to produce sulfur. The first was to find a way to mine natural sulfur deposits like the one near the shelter.
The second was to smelt Pyrite and extract the sulfur within it.
The kobolds' ability to determine where to find sulfur deposits proved that they had already touched the edge of science.
It was highly likely that they already knew that after these substances were mixed in a certain proportion, they could form this enhanced gunpowder. Then, with the catalysis of magic, they could increase the power of their fireballs.
"Woof?"
While Su Mo was thinking, Oreo finished communicating with the kobold and came back.
Oreo pointed at the black powder Su Mo had poured out again, then pointed into the distance, and finally pointed at the kobold.
"You mean he's willing to take us to the place where the kobold tribe mines?"
Oreo nodded.
"I have a Sulfur Mine here. To make gunpowder, I'll also need enough Potassium Nitrate. Potassium Nitrate is the main component of saltpeter, so the kobold tribe may already have discovered a sizeable Saltpeter Mine."
"Should we go or not?"
Su Mo pondered. Black powder was absolutely indispensable for making Thermal Weapon ammunition.
If he could ultimately repair that small Thermal Weapon machine tool, ammunition materials would still be a major shortfall.
He glanced at the kobold, who was still rambling on, then decisively walked over and struck it with a Dizzying Fist.
"We definitely have to go. Leaving everything else aside, the treasure chests dropped by the kobolds alone will be quite a haul."
"Besides, we still have to investigate their lair. Otherwise, with it sitting nearby, it'll always be a Timed Bomb."
After pondering briefly, Su Mo made his decision.
By then, it was already getting late outside. After checking the area around the shelter, Su Mo walked over.
He checked the ropes around the kobold several more times, dragged it into the corner of the cavern, and instructed Oreo to keep an eye on it that night before returning to the small bed.
In the apocalypse, once darkness fell, people could basically only stay inside their shelters.
He pulled the light bulb over and switched it off. Listening to the generator's rumble, Su Mo gradually drifted into sleep.
Doomsday Calendar January 7th You repaired a generator, raising the level of technological civilization (Survival Points +10) You discovered an underground ruin (+5) While exploring an underground ruin, you encountered an enemy and decisively defeated it (Survival Points +10) You made your first electric weapon, greatly increasing your combat power (Survival Points +5) You effortlessly killed five kobolds and gained a great deal (Survival Points +5) You obtained a captive for the first time (Survival Points +5) Scanning the host's living environment. Evaluating Survival Points. You obtained 62 Survival Points today. Final settlement: Survival Points +102 Remaining Survival Points: 175
Morning brought not only good news from the system; Shen Ke's message in the Game Panel's private chat was also flashing.
Sitting at the head of the bed, Su Mo studied the kobold in the corner, which Oreo had disciplined into complete obedience, and could not help but sigh with relief.
It was his first time having a stranger spend the night in the shelter—and that stranger was a kobold at that.
He had slept poorly all night, afraid that the kobold might be a Crouching Tiger, waiting for its chance to strike, and burn down the shelter with a single fire that night.
Su Mo opened Shen Ke's message in the chat panel and read it carefully.
Shen Ke: Su Mo, my uncle has finished drawing your blueprint. Here's the trade link; just purchase it when you wake up. If there's anything about the blueprint you don't understand, you can ask me anytime.
Beneath the message was a trade item that only the two of them could see.
After paying two Disaster Points, light flashed, and the blueprint appeared in his Storage Space.
Leaning against the headboard, Su Mo opened Dead Man's Private Message, which he used to record his diary, and began writing with his mind.
"Today is Doomsday Calendar January 7th, the seventh day since I came to the wasteland. I suppose that makes it a week."
"If the civilized world is still continuing, it should be December 29. New Year's Day is only two days away!"
"Ugh, this time my little sister's birthday seems to fall on Little New Year. Looks like we won't be able to celebrate it. I wonder if Mom and Dad will celebrate the girl's birthday for her somewhere else."
"The base still has a decent amount of supplies, enough for Oreo and me to eat for half a month. But I used up quite a bit of flour yesterday. Looks like I can only make Oil Splash Noodles for two more meals, and I'll save those two meals for when my family arrives."
"I have almost twenty liters of Psionic Water left. The delivery fee for this thing through the trading system is extremely expensive right now. Since I want to open up more Storage Space, I'll save the points for now instead of trading it."
"The captured kobold is very obedient. Today, I plan to deal with the Sulfur Mine near the shelter and try to mine some of it. If I can later follow him to find a Saltpeter Mine, I may be able to make black powder. Then my safety will be fully assured!"
"Oh, right. The Vegetable Culture Medium today is still..."
"Wow! The garlic seeds seem to have sprouted, and so has the cabbage! I saw a bit of green poking out of the black soil. This is truly a day worth commemorating!"
He instinctively raised his head and immediately saw a tiny green sprout emerging from the culture medium bathed in sunlight.
The surprise of that green seemed like a gift from heaven, instantly driving away Su Mo's early-morning drowsiness.
After getting dressed, Su Mo quickly walked to the Culture Medium, squatted down, and examined it carefully.
Where the garlic seeds had been pressed down, a pointed little green shoot had already emerged.
In the city, hardly anyone planted garlic from garlic seeds. Everyone used garlic cloves buried in the soil instead—not only did they grow faster, but they also required little care.
Thus, this was Su Mo's first time seeing garlic seeds grow into something like this.
The cabbage on the other side was growing even more promisingly. It had a tiny green stem with two leaves on top, about the size of a fingernail.
It looked like a miniature cabbage, white and tender.
"This growth rate... it looks like I'll be able to harvest a batch of cabbage in less than a month!"
"That's nearly half the time!"
Before you continue