Interactive Fiction: The Right Choice After Unemployment

Chapter 143 Exploitation
Option 11.1 55.5%, Option 33.3 [-]%, Option [-] [-]%.

……

【Option [-]】

【Damage trap】

……

damage trap.

This alchemical artifact slowly burns captured plants, causing them to slowly wither and die.

Most importantly, the seeds will be left behind.

"...As long as the population is enough, everything is not a problem."

Zheng Zhuo made up his mind.

……

Water, wheat flour, rhizome slime, lime powder, thorns, wood glue, plant ash, barbed wire, and steel.

With the complexity of the formula, the content is also increasing.It took Zheng Zhuo a lot of time to throw them all into the crucible.

And miraculously, even with so much lost—among them plenty of lime powder, wheat flour, and steel—the crucible didn’t make any sound of reaching the limit of its capacity.

The flame is lit.The familiar throbbing and white smoke.

A whole set of 【Injury Traps】was made.It is divided into several groups, connected together, all spread out enough to cover the entire periphery of the wall.

Of course, the necessary sacrifice for making this amount is that [lime powder] is all used up.

Zheng Zhuo thought about it roughly.He decided to arrange the exterior of the wall into a structure of [combined wall] - [damage trap] - [wind chime].

The damage trap is placed just below the wind chime.In this way, some strange plants attracted by the bell can be trapped in place, and then slowly corrode.

You or the strange plants you domesticate can collect seeds in this process.

"Has the town also started to embark on the road of semi-automation?"

Zheng Zhuo thought with relief.

It can both prevent invasion and capture the population.With the population, the town will also be lively, and the things that can be done per unit time will be greatly increased.

"good stuff."

[Damage Trap] will be the second major technological leap after [Sliding Track].

……

Zheng Zhuo fell asleep, and then got up in the early morning.All morning, his time was spent on weeding and installing 【Injury Traps】.

The structure of these traps is quite complicated, and they are difficult to install.For a moment, Zheng Zhuo had the urge to call [loofah flower] and [snake vine] to help.

But he quickly suppressed the urge.

The reason is simple: if the hard-earned plants are accidentally caught by traps, something big will happen.

Work continued until noon.However, Zheng Zhuo only had a short rest.

He couldn't sit still—there was a lot to do.

For example, he now has a lot of ideas for equipment upgrades.

The first is the [motor oil] brought back by loofah flower yesterday.

With this thing, the stove in [Blacksmith Shop] can be completely repaired.

Zheng Zhuo acted immediately.Moving the crucible took some time.After some fiddling, the parts were reinstalled and the furnace was back up and running.

Zheng Zhuo looked at the burning hearth, and baked some [vanilla biscuits] in it.

"tasty."

He rated it very highly.

Of course, the use of the stove is not limited to this.

Now, he can do more firing operations.

As for who will be in charge of the firing...

"..."

Zheng Zhuo sat at the door of the blacksmith shop.He looked at the loofah flowers passing by.

"..."

The loofah flower felt scared.It kept shaking its head and left quickly.

"Can't you try harder? I think you are an amazing plant that can overcome the fear deep in your genes."

Zheng Zhuo tried to persuade Loofah Flower and Snake Vine using words.

"..."

It's strange that their hearing is getting worse at this time.

"Oh, this is also for the development of our town—"

"...(Shushasha)..."

"..."

After several failed attempts to communicate, Zheng Zhuo reluctantly gave up the proposal.

"no way."

It seems that the work related to firing has to be done by oneself.

In the afternoon, he stayed in the blacksmith shop for simple steelmaking.

[Steel] More and more.After getting this material, Zheng Zhuo immediately used the crucible to improve the 【Weeding Saw】.

Now it is 【Weeding Hacksaw】.Higher performance, more powerful lethality.

Zheng Zhuo also used the newly obtained [motor oil] to make 3 [broken bombs].

This thing can't compete with [Explosive Bomb] in lethality.However, it can handle some situations that the weeding hacksaw can't handle-such as the need to smash and burn large pieces.

good.Everything is on track.

In the late afternoon, Zheng Zhuo finished his training.He left the blacksmith shop and looked at the conditions of the loofah flowers and snake vines.

They collected a lot more and corroded a lot of steel.

However, the very critical lime is still not available.

"Um……"

Zheng Zhuo checked his belongings.

……

【Zheng Zhuo】

[Alchemy materials (a large amount): water, wooden sticks, white grass, wood glue, hard shell fragments, vines, plant ash, wide leaves, rhizome mucus, wheat flour, pig iron, thorns, sacks, steel]

[Alchemy materials (a small amount): engine oil, corrosive liquid, pig iron, steel]

[Alchemy products: filter, tea, weeding saw]

[Other items: a set of alchemy equipment, a short-barreled shotgun]

……

The stove was repaired, the loofah flowers were also corroded and harvested, [steel] changed from a rare material to a saturated material overnight.

Now, Zheng Zhuo is surrounded by piles of steel.

He used them to reinforce the weeding saw.But obviously, there is still a lot of weight left.

"This weight, can you consider... making a little [sliding track]?"

Zheng Zhuo stroked his chin, thinking.

The loofah flowers did not find any lime.Without the repellant powder, going further into the forest would take a lot of time.

However, is it possible to consider extending the [sliding track] to the forest?
In this way, he can slide along the sliding track towards the forest.The speed must be very fast, and it is very convenient to escape in case of danger.He can send loofah flowers to guard near the sliding track and clean up the plants that climbed the track.

But such a move would entail dangers.

No matter how you clean the loofah flowers, there is a limit.Zheng Zhuo cannot guarantee that no plants will invade the town along the sliding track.

The first few plants should be able to be captured by [Damage Trap].However, if the number increases and exceeds the load limit, it is hard to say.

Zheng Zhuo greeted the evening with hesitation.He didn't go deep into the forest that day, but simply trimmed the road he entered yesterday.

He decided to see the effect of [Damage Trap] before making any plans.

……

Another night.

When he woke up the next day, Zheng Zhuo got something better than he expected.

In the early morning, Zheng Zhuo went to check the wall and found that the [Damage Trap] was effective.It caught two enemy plants.

Most of the two enemy plants have been corroded by the damage trap, and they have lost their ability to move.

One is loofah flower.Zheng Zhuo easily cut it with the more handy weeding hacksaw.

He found a 【Seed】.

Now, he wants three loofah flowers.There are more and more loofah flowers, so that weeding around the stone wall can also be given to them.

There is also a [Impatiens].

When Zheng Zhuo discovered this, he was very surprised—this was the kind of plant that sprayed seeds in the field when he first came to the town.

However, it is almost invisible now.It was melted even more tragically, and he could only rely on [identification] to identify it.

Nan Wu San.

Zheng Zhuo split it open.

Unfortunately, he did not find the seed.but……

Zheng Zhuo found some black powder in its abdominal cavity.

……

【gunpowder】

……

[Appraisal] Zheng Zhuo was greatly shocked by the two short words on the interface.

He once looked up the synthesis route of [Bullet] on the "Alchemy Dictionary".Among them, the alchemy material he lacked was [Gunpowder].

Now, his【Short Barrel Shotgun】can be used.

Armed with [Weeding Hacksaw], [Explosive Bomb] and [Short-barreled Shotgun], Zheng Zhuo felt that it was time to try to go deep into the forest—try to deal with that giant monster plant that was patrolling.

But before that, he had to decide how to get in.

……

【problem】

[Next, how to enter the forest? 】

【Option [-]】

【Enter on foot】

Pros: The town won't be attacked for its actions
Cons: Requires at least two nights out
【Option [-]】

【Build a sliding track leading to the forest】

Pros: quick entry and exit
Disadvantage: Enemy plants may invade through this

【Option [-]】

【Waiting for the loofah flowers to find the lime】

Pros: the safest

Disadvantages: The waiting time is long, and it is unknown what the enemy will do during the waiting period
　After [Option 1], [Option 1] and [Option [-]], you can leave a message in the form of [this chapter says]. A message under [-] id counts as [-] vote.

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(End of this chapter)