"...There isnât much left. A few days ago, fearing the beast tide attack, I turned almost all the nitrate into explosives and havenât replenished it yet." Li Wenxi was clearly also considering this issue. "If whatâs left is used to help District 188 resist the heatwave, Iâm afraid it wonât be enough... I didnât anticipate this would happen..."
She said with a slight hint of guilt.
"Who could have expected this problem," Xu Xin shook his head.
If it were him, he wouldnât have set aside ingredients for explosives to make ice in the freezing cold, below minus tens of degrees.
There was ice everywhere outside at the time. Who would have thought that in just a few days they would need nitrate to make ice!
At this moment, a notification rang in Xu Xinâs ear.
[Treehouse upgrade successful, obtained ability: Temperature Regulation.]
Great, with the ability to regulate temperature, at least the inside of his treehouse was secure.
Li Wenxi suddenly stood up: "No, I need to take them to the nitrate mine to replenish some nitrate! The temperature isnât too high yet, it will be too late if we wait any longer!"
"Hold on." Xu Xin pulled her back to sit down, "Iâll go with you later."
He opened the [Explorer] group. Everyone had been awakened by the heat and was discussing this issue.
Zhao Xiaochuan: "First the severe cold, now the scorching heat! Is this world crazy?"
Wen Guixin: "Fortunately, a few of us have the temperature regulation reward, so it shouldnât be too big of a problem. We can let others come to my treehouse to cool off, right?"
Qi Xuefei: "...The temperature is too high, the medicinal herbs canât grow. My herb supply might have to stop for a while."
Li Wenxi: "Donât worry, Sister Xuefei, Iâm planning to gather people to dig for nitrate, weâll use it to make ice and cool down!"
Wang Lei: "Right! Sister Wenxi can mine nitrate! That makes things so much easier! I was worried about what others would do, but as long as thereâs nitrate it shouldnât be a big problem."
Ji Chaoyang: "If itâs nitrate, everyone might not need much since it can be reused. Just dissolve it in the treehouse, then dry it outside and reuse it back and forth."
Wen Guixin: "Manual air conditioners, hand-operated outdoor units."
"Ah, Ji Chaoyang is right." Li Wenxi clapped her hands, "Iâve been so used to making explosives, I almost thought of nitrate as a consumable! This makes things a lot easier!"
"Hmm." Xu Xin nodded, "But regular green-grade nitrate has limited heat absorption capacity, maybe even many pieces can only maintain a small spaceâs temperature."
Li Wenxi stood up: "Anyway, nitrate is necessary, and the current stock of nitrate is too low, we must collect more while itâs not too hot!"
"...The nitrate mine shouldnât be hot, right?" Xu Xin suddenly asked.
"Itâs actually quite cool." Li Wenxi nodded and then laughed, "Actually, even if itâs hot, it doesnât matter much, just splash some water! Itâs mainly that the road there is uncomfortable, the nitrate mine is at least three kilometers from my treehouse, itâs unbearable to walk there in the heat!"
"Iâll go with you." Xu Xin stood up, "Iâll put a coordinate at the nitrate mine."
When supplies were ample before, he made five coordinates as spares.
Perfect timing to put them to use now.
"Oh, right!" Li Wenxiâs eyes lit up as she patted his arm, "Youâre so smart!"
For them before, coordinates were a scarce resource, but now theyâre just slightly expensive consumables.
After all, making coordinates uses blue-grade materials, which are not scarce for them now.
Setting a coordinate for a mine is acceptable.
This way, survivors mining wonât have to trek through the heat and can directly enter the cool mine.
"Youâre a bit silly." Xu Xin pinched her cheek and smiled, "Iâll go set the coordinate first, then you bring the others along. Whereâs the location of that mine?"
"Iâm not stupid!" Li Wenxi slapped away Xu Xinâs hand, "Iâll go with you. Itâs hard to explain in words."
Without further ado, Xu Xin immediately took Silver King out of the treehouse.
Keke, for the first time, seemed reluctant to go out, but Xu Xin still pulled her along.
Having this little guy by his side gave him peace of mind.
Stepping outside the treehouse, a wave of heat hit them.
"Wow...!" Feeling the heat, Li Wenxiâs face turned bitter.
The temperature difference inside and outside the house was huge!
Inside the house, with the influence of blue-grade nitrate, it was maintained around twenty-five degrees.
But outside...
It was now clearly over forty degrees!
The temperature had risen way too fast!
"Ugh..." Keke lay limp on Xu Xinâs shoulder, her limbs and big tail drooping, unwilling to move.
Silver King also seemed a bit languid.
Outside was overwhelmingly hot, making people feel faint!
The pool he had dug near the treehouse had a noticeable drop in water level in less than an hour!
This pool was connected to the lake, and if the poolâs water level was dropping, that means...
He looked toward the lake.
Clearly, water vapor was rising above the lake.
But...
The sky was cloudless, the azure sky impossibly bright.
No signs of rain at all.
"...Could there be a severe drought?" Xu Xinâs pupils slightly contracted.