Doomsday Traveler

Chapter 355 Good Dog

After going up the mountain, Luo Ping and the others transferred all the supplies to their vehicle and handed the water buckets and carrying poles to Lu Xi'an.

As for the rattan box, Lao Shu took it for the time being. He said he wanted to study it carefully to see if he could figure out the intricacies and make a new one.

Even if we can't make something that sturdy, we can make something similar, repair it if it breaks, or make it all over again, that's fine too.

Lu Xi'an felt that the main thing was to figure out how to make the rattan box sturdy, which would actually make the job easier.

The one they have in their hands is also coated with resin after it's made and then left to dry to increase its strength and prevent mosquitoes.

Once the old tree can figure out the structure of the box, the rest will be easy. It's just a matter of finding a suitable tree, getting some sap and resin, applying it, and processing it.

Lu Xi'an handed the wicker box to the old tree, telling him to study it carefully. He would also join in the discussion with the old tree when he had time.

This box looks difficult to make, but its structure is actually not that complicated. If you study it carefully, you can make a scaled-down version even if you can't make a replica.

Lu Xi'an thought that if things went well, she would make a smaller rattan box. In places where they needed to explore on foot, she and Yao Wei could each carry a box and get a lot more supplies.

As a result, after he joined, Yao Wei and Luo Ping also joined.

Once Luo Ping joined in, Chai Xin, Liu Hua, and Tang Er also came to join the fun.

A group of people studied the rattan box for a long time. Some of them understood, but others still didn't. They argued endlessly about the details, each with their own opinion. One said that this was wrong and that should be done, while another said that that was wrong and that should be done.

However, since they lacked suitable materials to make the boxes, they could only talk back to each other.

At this point, neither Luo Ping nor Lu Xi'an had any authority, while Lao Shu's views were likely to gain more support.

After all, he was an old farmer who had lived through the old world, and he was experienced in many things. He also played a great guiding role in the construction of the 923 Institute base.

Therefore, in some matters, his authority is actually greater than Luo Ping's.

Lu Xi'an felt this was good. These people from the base weren't entirely superstitious about strength. Even Old Tree, the weakest among them, could become a leader because of his special talents in certain areas.

This is the organizational form of a healthy group.

During the discussion, Yao Wei suddenly suggested, "Why don't we let Gouzi take a look?"

Everyone suddenly froze and looked at Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei.

Lu Xi'an slapped his forehead: "Oh right, how could I forget about the dog?"

So Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei got into the RV, opened the door, and the others could see them from inside.

Luo Ping and the others then crowded around the car door to look inside.

Chai Xin also got into the car and sat in the passenger seat.

Lu Xi'an brought up the rattan box as well and asked Gouzi, "Gouzi, take a look at this rattan box. Can you analyze its structure and materials?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the dog's synthesized voice came through the RV's speakers: "The scanning component can only be activated after the RV is detached."

Lu Xi'an said, "Then you can come out first, and explain back in the car after you've looked at it. Hmm... Dog, can't you connect to a computer? If you can analyze the images, you could also help draw them into blueprints, right?"

The robot replied: "Command received. Mechanical Dog 02 will complete the analysis through the scanning and calculation system and complete the drawing using computer software. Please start your computer and wait."

Lu Xi'an immediately jumped from the middle to the back garage, turned on his laptop, and connected the data cable to the RV.

The dog popped out from the front control panel of the RV, transformed into its dog form, and began scanning.

Everyone looked at the dog and the rattan box with serious expressions.

Luo Ping first looked at Gouzi, then at Lu Xi'an, and suddenly said, "Brother, Gouzi is protesting. He says his name is Mechanical Dog 02."

Lu Xi'an said, "Is that so?"

Luo Ping said, "Definitely, I can tell there's emotion in the dog's voice."

Old Tree was very skeptical: "How did you discern the emotions in that machine's voice?"

Luo Ping rolled his eyes at Lao Shu and said disdainfully, "You don't understand. Lao Shu, your observation skills aren't sharp enough. You can't tell. I can tell, Gouzi is emotional."

The old tree looked somewhat bewildered and asked Chai Xin, "Did you figure it out?"

Chai Xin shook his head and said, "I didn't recognize it. Maybe I'm just slow to catch it."

Old Tree then asked Liu Hua and Tang Er, "Did you two figure it out?"

Liu Hua and Tang Er hesitated for a moment, but after exchanging a glance, they both shook their heads.

The old tree looked at Luo Ping again: "Look, look."

Luo Ping rolled his eyes again, too lazy to pay attention to Lao Shu, and said to Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei, "Anyway, I can definitely tell. Big brother and big sister, you can see for yourselves."

Lu Xi'an thought for a moment and said, "In that case, let's do it the way Luo Ping suggested. Dog... well, Mechanical Dog 02 is one of us after all, and we do need to take care of Mechanical Dog 20's feelings."

After he finished speaking, he asked the dog, "Is everything alright, Mechanical Dog 02?"

The dog seemed to have finished scanning the wicker crate, silently returned to the control panel, changed the crate's shape, and merged into the RV. Then, the synthesized voice came from the RV's speakers again:
"Please continue to refer to this machine as 'Dog.' Mechanical Dog 02 is how this machine refers to itself. I find it difficult to adapt to your use of this term."

Luo Ping: "..." Lu Xi'an: "..."

Everyone burst out laughing. They hadn't expected the mechanical dog to have this side to it; it was quite interesting.

So Lu Xi'an said, "Okay, Gouzi, continue. Can you provide a drawing?"

The dog said, "Scan complete. It will take time to analyze and call up the software for drawing. Please wait."

Seeing that things were looking promising, Lu Xi'an and the others waited patiently. After a while, Gouzi finally spoke: "The drawing is complete. Please view it on the computer."

Lu Xi'an and the others immediately moved to the back garage to take a look. They saw that the drawing software on the computer screen was already open, and the disassembly drawings of the rattan box, as well as the production, assembly and material analysis instructions, were all available and easy to understand.

Looking at the diagrams on the computer, Lu Xi'an felt as if he were looking at assembly instructions for building toys like Lego from his previous life. Every diagram and every step was clear at a glance.

Unfortunately, the dog could only provide blueprints, not materials.

But that's enough. From now on, I can find the materials myself according to the blueprints. As long as I find all the materials, I can make the boxes according to the blueprints without any problems.

"Great! This is good!"

Luo Ping was full of praise. As he spoke, he took out his notebook and continued to exclaim, "To think it could do something like this! What a great dog! What a great dog!"

After taking out his notebook, he took out his pen, opened the pen cap, and started writing and drawing in the notebook.

While sketching, he would occasionally glance up at the laptop screen; what he was doing was self-evident.

The old tree was right next to Luo Ping. Seeing this, it went over to take a look and then said disdainfully, "You should just give up. Who are you trying to show this to?"

Luo Ping said, "It's alright, just draw it first, and take it back when you're done. Someone will be able to understand it."

"After all, we've seen the original image, so we can use this to regain some inspiration and memories."

The old tree said, "You really don't know what kind of monstrosity you've drawn. Forget it, give it to me, I'll draw it."

Luo Ping looked at the old tree, not quite trusting it: "You? Can you do it?"

"At least I'm better than you."

As he spoke, Lao Shu snatched the notebook from Lao Shu's hand. Luo Ping didn't argue, and instead shoved the pen into Lao Shu's hand as well.

Old Shu drew with a "swish, swish, swish," and everyone crowded around to watch. Then Luo Ping returned a disdainful look: "You're not much better, you just wasted a piece of my paper."

The old tree hummed, "You've wasted far more." Then it handed the notebook back to Luo Ping and stopped drawing.

Lu Xi'an suddenly remembered something, found something, and plugged it in.

"what is this?"

Everyone who saw this was curious, and Luo Ping asked.

"The camera. We found it on that big ship on the East Island; we'd forgotten about it before."

Lu Xi'an answered.

Luo Ping's eyes widened. "What, brother? Are you going to give this camera to us?"

They had all seen cameras in TV shows and movies. Although the one Lu Xi'an was holding looked a little different from the one in the videos, they could still understand it after Lu Xi'an named it.

As for the old trees, needless to say.

This old man also acts as a video narrator at the base. When others watch the videos, if there's anything they don't understand, they can ask the old man.

Lu Xi'an laughed and said, "You wish! I was just watching you paint when I suddenly remembered that we could take pictures with a camera."

"Once it's fully charged, let's take some group photos."

Everyone applauded.

Lu Xi'an then took the pen and notebook from Luo Ping and said, "As for this, I'll draw it."

Everyone made way for Lu Xi'an to sit down, and he began to transcribe the drawings from his laptop one by one.

They didn't dare to disturb Lu Xi'an, so they just watched silently.

Yao Wei blinked as she watched Lu Xi'an's focused expression, thinking that Lu Xi'an looked extremely handsome like this.

I wonder if Lu Xi'an could draw himself? What would he look like when he draws himself?
As Yao Wei looked at the book, she suddenly started having random thoughts.

After Lu Xi'an finished drawing, Luo Ping took the notebook and couldn't help but praise it again.

When Lu Xi'an heard Luo Ping's agreement, he couldn't help but think of Luo Ping's previous comment, "Good dog."

By this time, the waterproof camera's battery had charged considerably. Lu Xi'an unplugged it, took the camera, got out of the car, and said, "Let's go take some pictures."

The group immediately came out, hesitant and confused, watching Lu Xi'an fiddling with the camera, not knowing what to do.

They've never had their picture taken before.

(End of this chapter)