48 Hours a Day

Zhang Heng and the others spent the whole afternoon completing the investigation of the pilot. Unfortunately, there was still no hint of the main mission being triggered.

The falling of the night saw the town of Pripyat fall completely silent.

It was hard to imagine that just a few hours ago, there were still tens of thousands of people living here. Now, the city had become empty. Other than the team of experts in charge of disaster relief and the militia, there was no one else. All the shops and public facilities were basically closed and even pipes were no longer supplying water.

Before the operation in the afternoon, Zhang Heng found a militia uniform for Besnova. The five of them were now wearing uniforms and driving a military vehicle. At first glance, they looked no different from the other militia in the city.

As they drove past a residential building, they heard gunshots coming from there.

Zhang Heng knew that the militia was shooting the pets that their owners had left behind in the town.

Although it sounded cruel, the pets had also absorbed a fatal amount of radioactive particles just like humans. The radioactive dust fell on their fur and moved around with them, making them a mobile source of radiation. If left unchecked, they might even carry the radiation further away. The radiation poisoning might even make them go crazy, just like the mad Coconut.

Coconut was human after all, but she was also a player who had experienced many dungeons meaning she still had a strong sense of self-control. In comparison, the cats and dogs would become uncontrollable after exposure to such extent of radiation. After the residents of the town evacuated, the militia began to clean up these potential safety hazards.

Accompanied by the sound of gunshots, the cats and dogs that were previously alive and kicking dropped to the ground one after another. The militia dragged the corpses onto the car and waited for them to be sent to a specific location to be buried. In order to prevent the radiation from their bodies from contaminating the land, their graves would have to be completely sealed with cement.

General Zhang Heng drove to the front of a supermarket. In the early morning of the 26th, they had swept through the goods in Pripyat, but at that time, they did not expect the main mission to be so difficult to complete. Only taking about three days’ worth of food and water, they then gave a portion to the doctors and maintenance workers and they sorely needed to replenish their supplies now.

However, when the five of them entered the supermarket, they found that most of the goods on the shelves were still in their original positions, except for the food that was missing.

The young man in uniform shone his flashlight on the empty food shelves. “Someone came here before us.”

“Those militias and the experts and committee members who are staying at the Pripyat Hotel… they all need to eat, so the food here should have been packed away by them in advance,” Kui said.

“If that’s the case, doesn’t that mean we won’t be finding any food in other supermarkets as well?” Mouse asked anxiously.

Now that the water supply had been cut, the entire city was completely paralyzed, meaning they needed to solve the problem of food and drinking water on their own. The food which they collected the last time would only last them a day or so, and even if they ate sparingly, they would probably last two more days at best. After that, they would probably go hungry.

It was only then that the players realized the seriousness of the problem. Pripyat had not only lost people, but also its basic social security. Water and electricity were things usually ignored, and it was probably only after losing them that people began to realize how precious they were.

Fortunately, Zhang Heng spoke up, “It’s fine. The residents of the evacuated the town in a hurry, so they didn’t take much with them. There should be a lot of food in their fridges and kitchens. The militia probably didn’t touch those things. As usual, try to pick processed food with sealed bags. If you can eat the food in the fridge, then eat it.”

“I saw an apartment building when I came here earlier. It’s not far from the supermarket. We can go there to look for food,” Master Kui suggested. “Let’s split up. It’ll be more efficient. We’ll gather in front of the supermarket in an hour.”

Hearing that, everyone agreed. They divided the area according to the floor and split up to search.

Zhang Heng also entered a house through the window. It was clear that the owner had left in a hurry, having no time to put the plates back on the shelves, and there were still a lot of clothes left on the sofa and on the bed. He then opened the fridge. Inside, he found an unopened bag of sausages and two boxes of canned meat. Unfortunately, there was only one bottle of beer, and half of it had been drunk.

Finding an empty bag from the cabinet, he threw in the bag of sausages and the two boxes of canned meat and headed to the second apartment.

One hour was not enough for the players to thoroughly search the entire apartment building, especially considering that not everyone had a special lock-picking tool like Zhang Heng did. It took a lot of time to break down doors.

Nonetheless, despite all that, the players had more or less gained something after one round.

Zhang Heng stuffed the bags in his hands to the brim and had no choice but to take two new bags. Furthermore, he had accidentally gained five points during the search, probably because he had received a bag of snacks most popular among the local under-12 youths.

When the group gathered, they counted the items they had obtained. The results were quite encouraging. Conservatively, this batch of food could last them for another four to five days. It could be considered a preliminary solution to the food and water crisis they faced.

The young man coughed as he moved the half box of milk he had found into the car.

Zhang Heng noticed that his arm seemed to be a little swollen.

“How do you feel now?”

“Just like that.” The young man remained as heartless as ever. “Didn’t the doctor say that we’ve all been exposed to lethal radiation? Therefore, our health will definitely deteriorate. Furthermore, this city is filled with radiation now. We can’t avoid it even if we wanted to.”

“Then why didn’t you leave this place with the doctor and the others before? Didn’t you support the maintenance worker’s opinion back then?” Zhang Heng asked.

“Because compared to them, I trust you more. Idol, I believe that I will definitely survive this dungeon with you.” The young man’s confidence in Zhang Heng was even greater than Zhang Heng’s confidence in himself. He proclaimed with certainty, “You can even defeat an agent war dungeon. There’s no reason you’d be finding a daily dungeon too difficult.”

However, this time, Zhang Heng was unusually silent. He patted the young man’s shoulder. “Rest early tonight. There are still lots of things to be done tomorrow.”