"Red cards..."
Qin Ziwen stood up and walked to the window, gazing toward the mountainside.
The Crowned Eagle could fly, but along this journey, it had been attacked by three types of animals: the bats in the mountain cave, the colony of black birds in the forest, and the giant birds circling in the sky.
On the ground, within that dense forest sea, how many more dangers were lurking?
"Splash, splash..."
Heavy rain began falling outside the window.
Bean-sized raindrops pelted against the glass.
Heaven and earth connected, countless silver threads stretching between them, blurring the scenery.
"Bang."
He closed the window.
His arm, withdrawn from outside, was soaked by the rain.
Qin Ziwen worried anxiously: "Such heavy rain, I hope nothing unexpected happens."
Qin Ziwu asked: "There's a river right beside us, and we're located in a valley. Big brother, do you think there won't be a flash flood?"
"Don't jinx it." Qin Ziwen walked to the balcony. Previously, from here he could see a corner of the river below the slope through the wall.
But now the downpour was so heavy that visibility had drastically decreased.
He turned and went to the expanded space behind the bathroom.
The heavy rain outside didn't penetrate the gray canopy to fall into this expanded space.
Only the light overhead had turned gray, matching the outside world.
Inside the blacksmith shop, Li Tieshan was breaking iron ore into pieces, then grinding some fragments into powder, boiling them at high temperature to remove impurities and extract iron powder.
The crimson firelight illuminated his face.
Li Tieshan used tongs to grip the flattened iron pot, hammering, folding it, then sprinkling iron powder into the seams before placing it into the furnace for high-temperature firing.
This kind of work—sweaty, primitive, and rugged—always carried a unique charm.
When forging iron, Li Tieshan seemed like a different person—focused, silent, like refined iron that had been hammered thousands of times.
"Sir!" Li Tieshan noticed Qin Ziwen, who had entered unnoticed, and his face once again wore that simple, honest smile.
Qin Ziwen asked: "How's the progress going?"
Mentioning his specialty, Li Tieshan's spirits lifted: "Reporting to you, sir, the materials for this kitchen knife and iron pot are quite good. I plan to use the kitchen knife as the core, wrap it with the iron pot, then sprinkle iron powder. This should create a suitable spearhead. It's just that if the spear shaft were made of pure iron, it might be too heavy and take longer. If we use wood, we don't have suitable shaft material yet."
"No problem, you focus on making the spearhead first. I'll figure out the shaft later... Try forging with wrought iron first, don't make it too thick, and you can use a hollow center."
"Yes."
Night fell, and the rain outside showed no intention of stopping.
At the garage entrance, a group of people held umbrellas while filling emergency flood bags at the entryway.
The water flowing into the garage entrance slowed significantly and was eventually completely blocked.
Huang Tao looked up at the heavy rain, "I hope this rain stops by tonight, otherwise we'll really be in trouble."
"Beep beep."
A horn sounded from below the garage.
A driver stuck his head out, "Why is it blocked ahead?"
Huang Tao stepped forward to explain: "We placed flood bags."
"What if the flood bags don't hold? Then my car will become water-damaged."
"These flood bags are useless! If a real flood comes, they'll just get washed away. It's safer if I park outside on higher ground. Move this aside." Another car owner shouted from behind.
Huang Tao had no choice but to move the flood bags aside.
Car after car drove through the heavy rain. Fortunately, many trees and bushes around the residential complex had been cut down over the past few days, making the roads somewhat clearer.
Residents competed to park their cars on the higher slopes. Some cars with low ground clearance struggled to climb the wild slopes in the forest and had no choice but to remain below.
Amid the heavy rain, the residential complex actually became lively.
"Bang bang bang."
Deng Guang called from outside the door: "Old Qin, we parked our car on the hillside. If you have a car, try to park it outside. The garage could easily flood."
Qin Ziwen opened the door. Outside, Deng Guang's hair was dripping wet.
Qin Ziwen reminded him: "Go back and dry off the rainwater, warm yourself by the fire, don't catch a cold."
"Alright, I've stored some firewood at home. Do you have enough firewood here?"
"Enough, I still have some." Qin Ziwen nodded. With a coal mine at home, fuel was definitely not lacking.
Deng Guang nodded: "Good, let's go remind the neighbors in our building. Our complex is in a low-lying area. If there really is a flash flood or something, the garage will be the first to suffer."
Qin Ziwen thought for a moment, "Alright, let's go together."
The two teamed up and went from the tenth floor downward, reminding each neighbor.
Some neighbors, upon realizing the situation, quickly thanked them and went downstairs to move their cars.
But other neighbors didn't take it seriously, believing the rain wouldn't last long and that it wasn't worth the trouble to go out in such heavy rain.
Night fell, and rain continued outside the window.
Accompanied by the sound of rain outside, Qin Ziwen gradually fell asleep.
"You have successfully survived safely in the wilderness for the thirteenth day. You successfully ambushed and killed someone with malicious intentions, harvested a door-opening tool, and raised livestock in the beast cage. Comprehensive score: 83 points"
"You received rewards: [Enhancement Card] Human Constitution Enhancement Card (1 Star), Powerful Animal Trap Blueprint1, [Expansion Card] Blank Expansion Card (Micro)1, Solar Panel*1"
After waking up, Qin Ziwen immediately checked the daily settlement.
His attention went directly to the enhancement card.
He silently thought about retrieving it.
A jade-green card appeared in his palm.
The card's front featured a muscle pattern.
When holding the card, Qin Ziwen understood its purpose in his mind.
This card could designate any human unit, including but not limited to recruited units for use.
This card was a single-use card. After use, it would enhance the target unit's physical fitness to 1-star standard. This card could enhance up to 5-star constitution but couldn't break normal physiological limits.
Suddenly, the Home's little glowing ball appeared before him, and a stream of information entered his mind through the light sphere.
Qin Ziwen understood what these star ratings meant.
In the Home's evaluation standards, normal human physical fitness was divided from low to high into 1 to 5 stars.
5 stars represented the peak limit of normal adult humans.
Qin Ziwen asked the Home: "Then what star am I now?"
The Home provided feedback: Corresponding function module not activated. Please obtain the corresponding function card.
Qin Ziwen frowned, "Function card..."
What kind of card was this? Another type of card he had never seen before.
Five stars represented the peak of normal humans, and Qin Ziwen felt he still had considerable distance from that goal.
So without hesitation, he used the card on himself.
The enhancement card transformed into green light that merged into his entire body.
He felt his heart beating strongly, like a transformed engine.
Blood flowed through his vessels, every inch of his muscles cheering as if they had undergone prolonged training, yet completing all changes in the blink of an eye.
Accompanied by a long exhalation of impurities.
Qin Ziwen clenched his fist, walked to the "bird nest" and picked up the Crowned Eagle. The sleepy-eyed eagle was easily lifted, still dazed and not fully aware.
Holding the Crowned Eagle with one hand, he effortlessly performed several lifting motions. His strength had indeed increased significantly.
Previously, holding it with one hand felt somewhat heavy, but now it felt much easier.
......