Infinite Days

2/100.

Li Ke placed two more Frame Blocks, then gave each one a single whack with his stone axe.

36/100.

36/100.

Perfectly fair, no difference at all.

The only difference was that the datafied Frame Block showed no change, while the real-world Frame Block had already lost most of its mass.

"It seems this system has double standards. I wonder which rule the zombies follow."

Li Ke wasn't sure, but he had a hunch—those zombies might be like him. If they encountered a real-world object, they'd follow real-world logic; if they encountered a datafied object, they'd follow data logic.

If that was the case, there were plenty of loopholes to exploit.

Li Ke stepped directly onto the datafied wooden frame. Even though its durability had dropped by more than half, no matter how much he jumped and bounced on it, nothing happened.

But the real-world one was different. The moment he set foot on it, the already half-cracked plywood snapped. Forget jumping—Li Ke nearly fell off!

"I think I understand what you're testing."

Erina Nakiri watched Li Ke jump down from the Frame Block and nodded.

"You want to build a stronghold, don't you?"

Her eyes sparkled.

"Exactly. But the two of us building a sturdy house on our own is a bit unrealistic. With these things, though, we can dig trenches and put together a reliable shelter. And we should be able to fix that RV, so if worst comes to worst, we can drive away."

Li Ke nodded. If the stone axe was this powerful, what about the Stone Shovel? The Iron Shovel and Iron Axe?

And if he remembered correctly...

Li Ke looked at the axe in his hand. The next moment, it appeared directly in his inventory, marked with a green "4."

He took it out, swung it at another tree, and the tree's durability dropped by a hundred and sixty-six points!

Most importantly, the description on those Frame Blocks mentioned they could change shape, while the stone axe could directly repair and upgrade items!

It was practically a universal tool!

And with this system, the two of them wouldn't even need to find a way to open doors when looting houses. Just one axe swing at the wooden wall, and they'd be in!

"That... sounds amazing..."

Erina Nakiri imagined the scene Li Ke described—the two of them building a solid, reliable house together. No matter how dangerous it was outside, they could live safely inside their own home.

That kind of life was way better than this constant anxiety!

"Then after we visit the merchant, let's hurry back and get started! Li Ke!"

A smile spread across Erina Nakiri's face. She grabbed Li Ke's hand and quickly ran toward the store, which wasn't far away.

Li Ke smiled too.

Given the strength and behavior of the zombies he'd seen so far, as long as the two of them didn't mess around at night, there shouldn't be any accidents or danger!

Unless this world had even more dangerous zombies!

And he'd noticed something—in his crafting menu, there was an item called a Hose Machine Gun. The materials were simple: just six wood, two glue, and four iron pipes!

If he could craft that, and the two of them found a mountain to dig a cave into, what zombie could possibly kill him?

How could any zombie kill him?!

Impossible!

None!

Doesn't exist!

Unless these zombies could attack from range and produce explosions stronger than TNT?

A joyful smile spread across Li Ke's face.

Of course, he still had to stay cautious. In a game world, anything was possible. But that didn't stop him from looking forward to the future with such a bright mood.

Carrying this joy, Li Ke walked into the store. He looked at the still-disheveled young woman behind the counter, swallowed instinctively, but quickly opened her inventory and sold all nineteen Gold Bars he'd found to her.

In an instant, his Duke Casino Tokens shot up to a staggering 2400!

Then, Li Ke bought all the honey!

Seeing the seven bottles of honey in his inventory, Li Ke finally felt completely at ease.

Only then did he have the time to look at the other items.

And then, the high prices immediately turned him away.

Li Ke had to face the fact that he was poor.

Chapter 8: Scorching Heat

Because of his poverty, Li Ke had to sell some of the things he'd specifically brought along.

Things like a toaster, small portable items—he'd grabbed a few to see if they could fetch any money from this merchant.

But Li Ke was disappointed, because the things he had brought over were only worth about ten Duke Casino Tokens in total—there was simply no value in hauling them.

However, unexpectedly, pebbles were still worth something; ten pebbles could actually sell for money.

"So this game is like MC—mining and chopping wood are both necessary?"

Li Ke nodded. It was just manual labor, after all! With the system stone axe in hand, he could just dig away! What was there to fear about that?

"It looks like we can't buy anything."

Erina Nakiri also opened the merchant's inventory, then immediately closed it.

Because she understood clearly that in their destitute state, they couldn't afford anything inside.

"It seems we still need to do some serious scavenging."

Li Ke nodded, a plan instantly forming in his mind.

"Then tonight we'll go back and set up our base a bit, and tomorrow morning we'll spend gathering food, while the afternoon will be for chopping wood and mining stone to stock up on our Duke Casino Tokens and improve our defenses."

Li Ke laid out the plan directly, and Erina Nakiri didn't object. It was almost dark now, and once night fell, the zombies' mobility would become terrifying. Although she could fight zombies now, she had no intention of battling ones that sprinted like Bolt.

But thinking about going back, a smile crept onto Erina Nakiri's face.

"Today, I can show you my cooking skills!"

Remembering the seasonings she had collected, Erina Nakiri couldn't help but smile. Even though Spam wouldn't taste great no matter how it was cooked, they had managed to get some peas and Chicken Cans this time. With those seasonings, she was confident she could make Li Ke a fine pot of stew!

And she could eat without feeling so disgusted, since honey was now a strategic resource and couldn't be consumed casually.

"Of course! I'm really looking forward to your food!"

Li Ke nodded with a smile. Erina Nakiri was a character from a gourmet anime, and he had been eagerly anticipating how delicious her cooking would be from the very start.

It was just that conditions had been limited before, and both of them had been afraid of the zombies, so they hadn't lit a fire.

But now that they knew about the zombie virus antidote, they didn't have to worry about that anymore.

"Mm! Look forward to it!"

Erina Nakiri smiled, and the two of them headed back together toward the RV.

On the way back, taking a detour, Li Ke spotted a gas station.

The gas station's dome was entirely made of steel bars, and the four pillars were solid iron columns. Li Ke looked at the perfectly flat roof and couldn't help but think.

And getting up there wouldn't be too troublesome—they could use wooden frames turned into ladders to climb up, then retract the wooden frames so the zombies couldn't reach them.

"If I built a defensive stronghold here, would it be safer than the RV?"

Li Ke filed the thought away but didn't voice it yet. In his heart, he still felt that a vehicle was more reliable.

So, he looked around and, sure enough, not far from the gas station, he saw a shop that was clearly an auto repair place. He thought it over and decided to explore it with Erina tomorrow to see if they could find wheels suitable for the RV.

Although the system's crafting menu included wheels, Li Ke wasn't sure if the system-made wheels would fit the RV's needs, so it was better to have two options ready.

The two quickly returned to the vicinity of the RV. After checking again for any zombies nearby, Li Ke and Erina washed their hands with the soap and bottled water they had found, then began preparing dinner.

Erina Nakiri skillfully set up a campfire, erected a crude worktable, and took out the kettle from the RV to use as a stew pot. The two of them sat by the fire, watching the setting sun as the food churned in the pot.

Li Ke had to admit that, in Erina Nakiri's hands, the cheap Spam and those seasonings of unknown age truly turned dross into gold. She effortlessly removed the cheap chemical flavors from the meat through stewing and seasoning, continuously refining and extracting the truly delicious parts.

In the past, she would never have made such "commoner food," because it couldn't satisfy her God's Tongue.

But now, smelling the chemical potions mixed in and the taste of the inferior ingredients, watching Li Ke, who was intently flipping through the crafting list, Erina Nakiri couldn't help but smile. The smells of the food became a little more bearable.

She looked toward the distant woods, where she had seen plenty of blueberries and flowers. She had gathered some while passing by, intending to use them as seasonings and for tea later.

But that wasn't what she was thinking about.

"If I could find seeds for potatoes, wheat, and corn, Li Ke and I could plant a big field here and live without worrying about food, right?"

The fact that there were only the two of them, the uncertainty of whether they could ever return, and her pursuit of ingredients as a chef made her thoughts drift in that direction.

Even though she still couldn't get used to this food, even though the smell still made her want to vomit because of her overly sensitive tongue, she still couldn't help but think about it.

The man who had been willing to save her that day was undoubtedly a good person, with a very good attitude, but he was just too ordinary—not handsome enough, only average-looking.

But it was this man...

who had pulled her out of that state of avoidance and fear.

Erina Nakiri was surprised herself. Just yesterday, she had been terrified and running, but today, she had personally chopped off the heads of over a dozen zombies.

"Maybe it's because Li Ke is so ordinary? Seeing someone so ordinary still manage to do it... I, who thought myself excellent..."

She couldn't help but think of the key reason: Li Ke's calm and resigned attitude, no matter how ordinary he seemed, had calmed her down as well.

"Live each day well? Honestly, 'live each day as if it's your last' is such a cliché—it's useless!"

Annoyed, Erina stirred the pot a couple of times, but the noise didn't wake Li Ke.

Because Li Ke was focused on browsing his crafting list.

"Even spiral drills, airplanes, and cars can be made... and this workbench..."

Li Ke looked at the materials needed to craft the workbench and couldn't help but frown.

The only way they could survive better in this world was through this system, but as things stood, without a workbench, it seemed they couldn't do any serious projects at all.

It could only make simple things, like fiber grass clothes and sandals, plus some bows and arrows, and stone tools and weapons.

Including things like stone spears.

But with a workbench, basically anything could be crafted.

There were also furnaces and such, and items like iron ingots were clearly meant to be made in these places.

The problem, however, was that both of these were locked.

Two unlock conditions: one was Senior Engineer, the other was a Blueprint.

Li Ke didn't know if both were needed to unlock them or just one, but without a doubt, since he hadn't even unlocked the skill system yet, he had no way to use either of these.

"So I'm stuck with the Iron Pipe Machine Gun?"

Li Ke pursed his lips. He didn't know how to unlock skills. His current guess was that he had to kill as many zombies as possible, but melee combat was too dangerous. If he used guns, without being able to mass-produce bullets via a furnace, then firearms weren't reliable either—he couldn't clear out zombies on a large scale.

"What a pain..."

Li Ke kept scrolling through the crafting menu and then spotted something.

"Gunpowder..."

Li Ke looked it over. Gunpowder had several crafting methods. For example, gunpowder made on a chemistry table was synthesized from one Coal Powder and one Nitrate Powder.

But if he crafted it by hand, he'd need double the materials to make one.

"So, even without a workbench, I can still synthesize gunpowder?"

Li Ke stared at the gunpowder, then at the bullets that required a workbench to craft, and a gradually wild grin spread across his face.

"Then why not just make my own landmines and Molotov Cocktails?"

If Li Ke remembered correctly, Molotov Cocktails were simple to make—just toss some liquid flammable material.

But ordinary gasoline and such weren't very lethal and were easy to put out.