Future Ambitions, Time Stop Operation!

"Huh?"

Staring at the flashing system prompt on the panel, Cheng Ye was momentarily dumbfounded.

He had merely thought of mending his backpack, and the action function, like the considerate Doubao Laoye and Teacher DS, had directly expanded and supplemented his idea into a complete action plan.

Of course, this expansion mode also inherited the AI's nonsensical ramblings, occasionally going haywire!

The first two items were within the reasonable scope of mending a backpack, but the third item, "Replace material with Xingfu Alloy," what the heck was that?

What was Xingfu Alloy?

The floor Cheng Ye was standing on was merely the lowest grade of the super-quality alloys in Xingfu City, named Isolation Alloy.

But even at its lowest grade, it could already resist the corrosion and attacks of most Infected.

Just like the Rotten Vine he had just eliminated, it struggled desperately in its final moments, yet it couldn't leave even half a trace on the fence made of Isolation Alloy.

Above Isolation Alloy, there were three more levels: Protection Alloy, Safety Alloy, and Immunity Alloy, and only then came the highest grade, Xingfu Alloy.

Among all the industrial products sold externally in Xingfu City, if we were to talk about the best-selling products, Xingfu Alloy would definitely rank in the top three.

Why?

The answer was simple. The focus of the survival stage was offense; how to clear out the surrounding Infected was the primary problem. However, in the development stage, the focus immediately shifted to defense.

Owning a safe house made of Xingfu Alloy meant that even if faced with a 'Disaster' level Infected Tide, one could hide inside and weather it without any pressure.

It was just a pity that the production of Xingfu Alloy was extremely low, destined to be in a state of long-term short supply.

Those procurement teams from distant Sanctuary Cities often had to pay several times the price to qualify for delivery.

"1g of Extraordinary Ore costs 50 Contribution Points, and Xingfu Alloy is much more valuable than ordinary Extraordinary Ore. To gather enough for a backpack would cost at least tens of thousands of Contribution Points."

Actually, it couldn't be calculated like that, because purchasing strategic materials like Xingfu Alloy required bartering.

But even using the most crude calculation method, it was still an astronomical price.

"Could it be because my action objective was too vague?"

Cheng Ye pondered, and a sudden inspiration struck him.

Since the action wouldn't fail to provide direction just because the objective was vague, wouldn't that mean he could perform similar operations even without understanding the structure of a Charging Pile?

"If I had a sewing skill, I could unlock Direction Two."

"Then even if I can't modify the Charging Pile now, as long as I find an electrical skill, I can unlock an action direction?"

Once this thought emerged, it immediately took root and sprouted in Cheng Ye's mind.

It also instantly opened up countless new avenues of thought for him.

Ever since he obtained the Collector, the pressure to survive had made him focus entirely on collecting combat skills. He had never considered seeking out knowledge-based skills.

And now, the emergence of the 'Action' function provided a place for these skills to be utilized.

To use a very apt analogy:

Knowledge-based skills were like the driver, Action was the vehicle, and Cheng Ye himself was the navigator.

With a driver and a navigator, they could reach the destination sooner or later.

But without a driver, even with a vehicle and a navigator, they could only stay put.

"That's right, the essence of the Action function is to help me skip the time spent traveling to the destination."

"As long as I have enough Action Points, I alone can become an army, and I can achieve results that hundreds or even thousands of people could achieve!"

Thinking of this, Cheng Ye no longer hesitated and decided to go to the Charging Pile first to verify this idea.

After all, no one was queuing at Quarantine Zone A right now.

Of course, he still had to be cautious.

After going out, he first found Raven and Owl. "We should have a Sewing Kit in the Quarantine Area, right? My backpack seems to have a few holes in it. Can you help me find one? I'll sew it up while no one's around."

"Yes, my lord!"

Raven nodded in agreement and added, "We also have materials for sewing, like canvas, Artificial Leather, and some patches to cover the mends. What kind do you need, my lord?"

"If it's convenient, bring some of each. I'll see which one is suitable later."

"Understood!"

While Raven went to get the Sewing Kit and Owl went to get the Artificial Leather, Cheng Ye quickly went to the garage, his gaze locking onto the Charging Pile.

Still following the instructions for the backpack, in order to encourage the Collector's independent thinking, he did not set a specific action target. Instead, he silently recited the vague thought of 'avoiding charging monitoring'.

The panel flashed slightly, displaying pleasing information that completely verified Cheng Ye's guess.

[Standard DC Fast Charging Pile (lv.1)]

[Description]: A standard charging pile with a modular design, equipped with a 100kW charging module, supporting common charging protocols. The casing has undergone special protective treatment, capable of resisting dust and rain intrusion, with built-in overvoltage, overcurrent, and monitoring protection devices.

[Action Directions]:

1. Unlock charging permission (Use protocol vulnerabilities to forge legitimate user identity and obtain temporary charging permission; Note: This charging process will be recorded by the system.)

Estimated Action Points Consumption: Lock On (Prerequisite: Must possess related skills in Engineering or Programming)

2. Crack Charging Pile Authority (Bypass device encryption system, obtain administrator highest authority, can freely adjust charging parameters, modify backend data, unlock hidden functions, such as user settings, simulation debugging, etc.)

Estimated Action Points consumed: Lock On (Prerequisite: Must master Electrical and Engineering related skills)

[As all action directions are locked, the Collector cannot make a selection for now!]

"As expected, it really can be done like this."

A trace of shock flashed in Cheng Ye's eyes, his thoughts completely scattered.

Although he couldn't modify the fast charging pile yet, the information displayed showed him new possibilities, a new future!

For example, building a shelter!

If the Infected Tide arrives and the Buffer Zone is undefendable, they will inevitably have to leave to survive.

But before that, he was actually very confused.

Because relying on one person's ability alone, let alone building a temporary shelter in the City Ruins, even finding a safe place to stay in the wilderness would be as difficult as ascending to heaven.

But now, as long as he accumulates enough Action Points, he can achieve this goal without relying on anyone.

Even if he can't find a suitable location to build, he can still use his power to directly carve out a suitable space!

"Search, Action."

"The two functions are interconnected. The Charge Value that fails to be searched can be recovered by Action, and the abilities obtained can be used to expand influence through Action."

"Brilliant, brilliant!"

Cheng Ye's throat moved involuntarily, but at the same time, he felt a little confused.

The Civilization Collector was a relic left by Cheng Long, but did he not discover anything unusual about this thing from beginning to end?

Or was it that he specifically left this thing for his Previous Body?

"Sir, this is the Sewing Kit you wanted. If it's not enough, we can ask people outside the Epidemic Prevention Area to help find more."

Raven walked over from a distance, interrupting Cheng Ye's thoughts.

He took the Sewing Kit and opened it.

Inside, a soft cloth with a Blue Base White Flower pattern was spread out, neatly arranging ten Copper Needles of different specifications.

Below that were several clumps of Three-strand Thick Thread, which were very different from ordinary ones. The woven texture looked very tight.

Although it felt a bit rough to the touch, in the overall environment of the Wasteland, durability was the primary consideration.

"Sir, these are the Suturing Materials you requested."

The Owl handed him a bag, inside were the canvas and artificial leather commonly found in the buffer zone.

This is enough.

Cheng Ye didn't intend to turn a simple backpack into a Mobile Fortress; he just needed it to be sturdy and durable.

"Well done, I'm very satisfied!"

After praising the two, Cheng Ye took the materials and returned to the quarantine zone to sit down, planning to test the modification effect of Action Points on the backpack first.

The panel reopened, and as expected, the action direction had changed.

[1. Basic Optimization (Mend.), Estimated Action Points Consumption: 1 (Sufficient materials and tools obtained, Point consumption reduced)]

"It seems the minimum point requirement for an action is 1, it won't go any lower."

He still had four points, and Cheng Ye didn't begrudge them.

First, he used the Defense Communicator to activate the stopwatch function, then used his Thought to click confirm.

He was a little curious about how the Collector actually accelerated this process, and what happened next did not disappoint him.

Whoosh.

A faint sound occurred.

Everything around seemed to slow down, time itself seemed to be frozen, ceasing its flow.

Cheng Ye was stunned to find himself losing control of his body, only able to watch as his hands moved, grabbing the sewing kit and canvas from the table, and starting to mend the hole in the backpack.

Skilled like a machine, his hands were initially visible, but after a few seconds, they suddenly became blurs. The thread spool beside him spun like a top, and in the blink of an eye, it transformed into fine stitches on the backpack.

Thump.

It felt like a few seconds, yet it also felt like an hour.

This strange experience of the world's flow slowing down, akin to a Stand User activating Time Stop, felt both unfamiliar and novel to Cheng Ye!

"How much time has passed?"

He grabbed the Defense Communicator and checked. Including the moment he was stunned, the reading was only 4 seconds.

This meant the acceleration process should have only lasted an instant before it was completed.

And the backpack on the table?

His gaze fell upon it. Although Cheng Ye had prepared himself mentally, he was still unavoidably shocked.

He ran his fingertips over the surface of the bag. The previously torn area was perfectly mended with canvas, the stitches were as fine as if made by a machine, and a black Flower Decal was applied to conceal the traces.

Flipping the backpack over, the canvas on the inside was actually lined with artificial leather, and the pockets had several reinforced compartments sewn in. This not only made the backpack more practical but also indirectly strengthened the central load-bearing skeleton.

"Is this really something I could sew?"

ps: Thank you all so much for the monthly tickets and for clicking in for follow-up reading every day. Inspector has already climbed to fifth on the Sci-Fi New Book List and within the top sixty on the New Book Overall List. The future is bright!

ps2: I hope everyone can click in to read the latest chapter every day. The coming week is the most crucial time, and follow-up reading is desperately needed!!! Thank you, my esteemed readers!!!

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