Drunk and Sated, Refining Saltpeter

"Little ones, don't rush, let me first take stock of today's harvest~"

After playing with the clingy Big and Little Spark for a while, I put the two chicks on the ground and called Oreo over to play with me.

Su Mo walked to the supply room and began taking things out.

First, there were large chunks of saltpeter that had already filled the Storage Space.

These saltpeter stones were of extremely high purity and required virtually no secondary processing; they could be crushed and used directly. Any warmonger who saw them would exclaim that destiny was on their side.

Looking at the storage room, which was already filled with sulfur, Su Mo could only place the saltpeter in the secondary bedroom for the time being.

Saltpeter doesn't smell as strong as sulfur, especially natural Saltpeter Mine. Apart from a faint bitter taste, it's hard to tell the other flavors.

"These saltpeter stones weigh at least three to five hundred pounds in total. I won't even need to go and rob a second time anytime soon."

Su Mo stacked all the Saltpeter Mine together and nodded in satisfaction.

The joy of these squirrels, hoarding vast amounts of supplies, is simply unimaginable.

With just a little bit of charcoal mixed in the right proportions, you can create the perfect propellant – Black Powder.

"As for food, this 15kg bag of rice will solve our immediate problem!"

"And these two cans of food, eat them sparingly, they should last a month without any problem!"

Taking out the survival supplies he had gathered, Su Mo picked up a bag of rice and walked towards the stove.

These days, it's either bread soup or biscuit paste. At first, one or two meals of these two things are fine, but eating too much of them can really make you nauseous.

Upon seeing the rice, Su Mo's stomach immediately began to rumble, and acidic fluid began to well up in his mouth.

An average person's meal consists of about 2 liang (100 grams) of rice, which is a little over 1 liang (50 grams) of rice. One jin (500 grams) of rice can last for about three days.

Of course, for Su Mo, who is now starving and whose strength is increasing rapidly, he needs at least 3 or even 4 liang (150-200 grams) of food per meal to feel full.

"That's strange. Am I really that lucky? I opened a single Copper Treasure Chest and got enough rice for one person to eat for more than a month. Logically speaking, everyone shouldn't be short of food in the early stages."

As Su Mo poured out some Psionic Water, he washed rice while his mind wandered, contemplating a problem.

With this drop rate, if I'm lucky enough to get two bags of rice, I can eat them sparingly for two or three months without any problem.

But obviously...

There are still too many people who lack food, and some have even been reduced to eating tree bark and soil.

"The actual sample size is too small to make a judgment. It's possible that I'm just lucky and always manage to get good items."

Putting this currently unsolvable problem aside, Su Mo put the rinsed rice into the already lit Earthen Pot and sat quietly in front of the stove to wait.

No rice cooker? No problem! Use the most traditional Earthen Pot and the most traditional steaming method. The steamed rice will have a wood-fired aroma and be even more fragrant! First, cook the rice in the pot until the inside is firm but the core is almost soft. Then, place a wooden lid over the water line in the pot, spread the rice evenly on the wooden lid, and cover the pot.

About ten minutes later, Su Mo smelled the increasingly fragrant aroma of cooked rice coming from the pot and could no longer suppress his smile.

In this civilized world, what's a bowl of rice? At a buffet, even if you order ten or twenty bowls, they'll let you eat as much as you want.

But upon arriving in the precarious wasteland, and smelling this odor, even Su Mo, who remained unfazed in the face of hundreds of kobolds, felt tears welling up in his eyes.

The aroma, so glutinous it made your flesh tighten and so fragrant it made your scalp tingle, grew stronger and stronger as the steam rose.

Oreo, who was still playing with the Big and Little Spark, was completely stunned when he smelled it!

Oreo, who was originally handsome, suddenly became dazed, staring intently at the wisps of white steam rising around the Earthen Pot.

The two chickens, whose sense of smell was relatively poor, also smelled the aroma of rice after a brief reaction.

Poor wasteland creatures, they've never even smelled such a delicacy before!

The food recipes etched into the genes of Oreo and Big and Little Spark don't contain the word "rice" at all.

In front of the Earthen Pot, even the Oreo followed suit, sitting in a row like the Big and Little Spark, their eyes burning with anticipation for Su Mo's feeding.

However, this was not yet the limit of the three children's taste tolerance! As Su Mo moved the Earthen Pot of rice to the side to cool down, brushed oil on another Earthen Pot and started to heat it up, a smell of oil also entered the pot.

The moment the 250g packet of Fuling Pickled Mustard Tuber was poured into the Earthen Pot, a rich aroma of sour, sweet, and spicy flavors burst forth, overpowering the taste of the rice.

Three to five seconds later, Su Mo picked up the wooden lid next to him, poured all the rice into it, and began to stir-fry.

Whoosh! Whoosh! As Su Mo moved upwards, the three little ones' eyes immediately followed suit, frantically glancing upwards! As Su Mo moved downwards, the three little ones immediately lowered their heads, some even practically lying on the ground!

From beginning to end, the Earthen Pot connected the four people, young and old, in the shelter.

Finally, once all the rice was soaked in the juice of the pickled vegetables, a fragrant aroma, so strong that it would make anyone else in the apocalypse faint, wafted out.

"Alright! Time to eat!"

The moment Oreo said "okay," its two little hind legs quickly rubbed and slipped on the ground, activating its four-wheel drive.

With lightning speed, it ran over and carried its food bowl to Su Mo.

The Big and Little Spark imitated it quite well, nodding repeatedly, indicating to Su Mo that he should just put them on the ground and make sure they would all be eaten!

Seeing how hungry the three little ones looked, Su Mo decided not to keep them in suspense.

First, scoop out three large spoonfuls of Oreo, then scoop out a small spoonful for the Big and Little Spark, and pour the rest into your own bowl.

The next moment, with a series of loud clattering sounds, only the sound of ravenous eating remained in the shelter.

Every now and then, a cough would break out, caused by eating too fast.

Su Mo ate almost a pound of rice all by himself, along with three or four hundred milliliters of Psionic Water.

This isn't a wasteland survival trip at all! This kind of life is just short of having three big "food article" stickers stuck to Su Mo's head! After pouring all the remaining rice crusts from the pot into the Oreo bowl, Su Mo got up and went back to the Supply Room.

This time, what they brought out was canned yellow peaches!

Easily unscrew the can, pick out a piece of fruit with chopsticks and put it in your mouth, and a wonderfully delicious fruity aroma bursts forth.

Biting into the flesh of a yellow peach, a few drops of peach acid quickly secrete from the split flesh, filling the entire mouth with fragrance.

Enjoying a slice of fruit, and seeing the three little ones' expectant eyes, Su Mo took out another slice and gave it to Oreo, bit off half a slice and gave it to Big and Little Spark, and swallowed the remaining half.

Looking regretfully at the remaining yellow peaches, Su Mo simply turned his head away, tightened the lid of the can, and put it back in the Supply Room.

At this stage, canned food is a strategic resource; eating it is not a luxury, but a real indulgence! Just one segment of fruit a day can provide a sufficient supply of vitamins.

These two cans should last at least a month without any problems!

At this moment, Su Mo finally understood the meaning of the saying, "With food in hand, one has nothing to fear."

"So today's task is to try to purify some saltpeter. If that's enough, we'll have exceeded the target!"

After a hearty meal and drinks, it was time to get to work. Su Mo didn't rest and immediately moved a small piece of Saltpeter Mine onto the workbench.

"Although the purity is good, if it can be refined, we should try to refine it further. Perhaps the 'material' we can blend after reaching excellent quality will be even more potent!"

Back in the Energy Room, he connected the generator, turned on the workbench, and waited for the self-test to complete before Su Mo put on his "Iron Arm."

The refining of Saltpeter Mine is very simple. It only requires crushing it, then putting it into water and heating it. After boiling, it can be finely filtered.

With a heavy heart, Su Mo added the Psionic Water and began preparing the solution.

Take out a spare wooden basin, and use the hammer in your right hand to break the whitish Saltpeter Mine into small pieces, then slowly grind it into a fine powder.

Pull over the experimental table, slowly slide the saltpeter powder along the tube arm into the Psionic Water until it is two-thirds full, then close the opening and start heating.

As the flame of the resistance torch bursts forth, the temperature inside the distillation tube begins to rise rapidly.

Once the temperature is controlled and maintained at 80 degrees Celsius, stop heating, and Su Mo will begin filtering out the insoluble impurities.

Shake the remaining filtrate, place it in the middle of the workbench, Su Mo patiently wait for the filtrate to cool down.

When the temperature returned to 20 degrees Celsius, the precipitated substance was filtered again, and a little bit of pure white powder crystals began to condense in the beaker.

The next moment, Su Mo impatiently called out to the system to look at the saltpeter powder.

I'm stunned! It'll be available on Sanjiang tomorrow! April 1st! I'll post my Sanjiang thoughts tomorrow! Thank you all for your support!