Chapter 41: Chapter 41: Simple Snake Soup

Translator: 549690339

“Clang-”

Song Jian viciously pulled the lever again, and the icons on the screen began to rotate…

Thanks for participating!

Thanks for participating!

Song Jian looked exasperated. “Damn it, I’ve played five times, and each game ends with ‘thanks for participating’! I’m losing my patience with this!”

“Am 1 really that unlucky? What the hell is the precise odds of this lousy game? I’d consider it fair even if it just coughed up a single piece of material! This slot machine is just one big dang hole!”

Song Jian hesitated, holding the last zombie core in his hand. He glanced at Li Ke’er, who was looking at him expectantly.

“To hell with it!” gritted Song Jian as he shoved the last zombie core into the coin slot.

“Now that we haven’t found any use for the zombie cores, throwing them away isn’t so bad,” Song Jian thought.

For the last time, the four icons on the slot machine began to spin rapidly. Without hesitation, Song Jian pulled the lever again, and the icons gradually slowed down.

Thanks

Thanks

For

Participating…

A fruit radiating a golden glow appeared on the last icon of the slot machine.

“You hit the jackpot, you hit the jackpot, Little Cheap Brother, you hit the jackpot!” screamed Li Ke’er excitedly.

“Congratulations, you’ve won an Attribute Fruit (Gold) which will automatically be stored in your inventory!” The neon lights around the slot machine flashed wildly, followed by jubilant music, while a few lines of large characters appeared on the screen.

“An Attribute Fruit? Of gold quality?” Joy spread across Song Jian’s face. Upon opening the inventory, he saw a fruit glowing with a faint golden light, lying securely inside.

Not even bothering to check its properties, Song Jian burst out in laughter, grabbed the fruit, and threw it into his mouth. The moment it entered his mouth, the fruit turned into a warm current that seeped into his body.

The warmth lasted for a while. Song Jian felt hot, as if he was sweating all over. His whole body overflowed with a sense of comfort, as though it had become somewhat more translucent. It was miraculous.

System: You’ve consumed an Attribute Fruit (Gold), all attributes increased by 1 point.

“All attributes increased by one? Really?” Surprised and delighted, Song Jian opened the attribute interface. Just as expected, each of his six attributes had indeed increased by one point.

“Little Cheap Brother, you seem… handsomer,” said Li Ke’er, her face flushing as she stared at Song Jian’s face.

“Really? Haha!” Song Jian, filled with an infectious excitement, exclaimed, “That was quite a stroke of luck!”

With all the zombie cores exhausted, the two of them reluctantly left the underground casino.

“Ke’er, the bar you chose is really nice. But if we want to establish a safe zone here, the amount of stones and lumber required would probably be astronomical,” pondered Song Jian aloud.

He had assessed the situation earlier. To convert this whole bar into a ‘system-recognized’ safe house would require several times more resources than his three-story villa. It would entail a significant time and energy investment.

“Indeed, I am kind of worried about that… sigh-” With a sigh, Ke’er displayed a gloomy countenance.

“All, you could actually opt to establish a safe house in a portion of the area first. After completing the task, you could then gradually extend it until the entire bar becomes part of your safe house,” suggested an idea Song Jian, after giving it some thought.

“Is that really feasible?” Li Ke’er lifted her head, her brows slightly knitted as if lost in deep thought.

Caught in a bout of laughter by Ke’er’s demeanor, Song Jian ruffled her hair and suggested, “Well, try it out. For example, you can start by turning the room where you store the safe into a safe house.”

“In that case, the process would be much simpler. We would only need more than two hundred units of lumber and stone material,” Li Ke’er estimated.

“Yes, for lumber, you don’t need to collect them yourself. You just need to focus on collecting the stones. 1’11 help you with the lumber. It will be quick,” Song Jian assured. “Also, don’t bother buying an ordinary pickaxe. Just get a Fine Iron Pickaxe. Its durability will last longer.”

Among the items sold in the bar counter includes a normal pickaxe and a Fine Iron Pickaxe. The price difference between them is merely three hundred Doomsday Coins. Moreover, the durability of a Fine Iron Pickaxe is just as good as a normal one, but the former’s durability decreases at a far slower rate. This means the number of stones that can be mined with a Fine Iron Pickaxe will definitely surpass that mined with a normal one.

“Really?” asked Li Ke’er, her eyes sparkling with the brightness of little stars. She had previously been saving money intending to purchase an axe alongside a pickaxe directly from the bar. But now, if she only purchases a Fine Iron Pickaxe, her Doomsday Coins would be more than enough.

“You just need to buy a Fine Iron Pickaxe, and then, I will take you to gather the materials. Let’s strive to build your safe house as soon as possible,” said Song Jian with a laugh.

“Little Cheap Brother, you are simply the best!” exclaimed Li Ke’er, springing to her feet in delight.

“But before that, I need to teach you cooking. We need to prepare some food,” added Song Jian.

Soon, they arrived at the restaurant. After picking and choosing from the abandoned store’s inventory, Song Jian began cooking some fried meat.

After cooking a piece of roast meat and handing the pan over to Li Ke’er, Song Jian found a big pot, filled it with water, and began cooking. He still had a piece of “Mutated Serpent Meat” in his belongings. It could increase the chance of comprehending a recipe. Song Jian intended to cook some snake soup and see whether he could learn a new recipe.

After the water was boiled, Song Jian threw the pieces of snake meat right into the pot and waited patiently.

In the game, resources seemed to scarce; he only had two bottles of the mineral water needed to boil the meat. If it weren’t for the bar’s trading system where mineral waters were sold, Song Jian wouldn’t want to cook snake soup at all.

After boiling for about ten minutes, a strong fragrance started to waft out from the pot. Once he added a bit of salt, he dished up the snake soup. It’s inexplicable how a large pot of water took only ten minutes to be boiled down into a bowl of soup, something that could never happen in reality.

System: You’ve cooked “simple snake soup.” Cooking skill experience points increased by 100.

System: You’ve comprehended the recipe for “simple snake soup.” Simple Snake Soup (White): Food. Effects: Upon consuming, hunger status is reduced by 50 points for thirty seconds. Consuming for more than forty-five seconds grants a “attack speed +2” status for thirty minutes.

Meanwhile, after burning two pieces of zombie meat, Li Ke’er managed to comprehend the fried meat recipe and consequently acquired the cooking skill.

Li Ke’er was overjoyed at the comprehension of the cooking skill, but when she smelled the enticing aroma of the snake soup, she couldn’t help but swallow her saliva. She eyed the fried meat in her hand, her eyebrows slightly knitted together. She turned and looked at Song Jian and suddenly broke into a charming smile.

She ran over to Song Jian, handed him the pan-fried meat, and eagerly said, “Little Cheap Brother, this is the first piece of pan-fried meat I’ve ever made. I want you to have it.”

Song Jian, who was about to taste the snake soup, paused. He glanced at Li Ke’er, who was staring unwaveringly at the snake soup, shook his head, and handed her the bowl of snake soup. He then took the pan-fried meat from her hands.

Watching Ke’er, who looked so delighted that her eyes curved into crescents, sipping the soup, Song Jian shook his head. Just as he was about to put the “pan-fried meat” into his inventory, he suddenly gave a start.

Looking at the attributes of the fried meat in his hand, Song Jian raised an eyebrow: “Are the attributes of this fried meat really this high?”