Lords of the Heavens

Chapter 198 The Choice Between Staying and Leaving
"Boom!"

Amidst the deafening crash, the center of the ruined town gradually quieted down again. From beginning to end, Li Wei never saw the so-called four-star mutated rat king. This was undoubtedly a powerful mutated creature with a huge body size, but which retained the habits of a rat.

It was clearly very powerful, but also very timid. If Li Guilin, Li Qiao, and Li Yue hadn't hunted down too many of its offspring today, and even ventured into the center of the town to dig, this mutated rat king probably wouldn't have launched an attack.

And so Li Guilin and his son Li Qiao died.

Li Yue happened to be returning to the temporary camp with the carcass of the mutated rat she had killed, which is how she narrowly escaped death. It was truly a stroke of great luck.

Next, Li Wei waited outside the town for a full half hour without daring to move, making sure that the mutated rat king really wouldn't come out, before tiptoeing back to the temporary camp.

Here, Liang Yuzhi and Li Yue, whose faces were as pale as paper, saw him as if he were their savior, and they wanted to hug him and cry.

In the past, they had been to the chaotic killing battlefield before. In fact, they were all genuine three-star lords. Who hadn't carried out more than five conscription missions? In addition, there were various title missions, gold farming missions, and all sorts of things they had encountered. They deserved the title of veteran players.

But damn it, this exploration mission just doesn't follow any rules!

The four-star Rat King, that's a boss! They've been causing so much trouble before, but this boss wouldn't come out. It only launched a surprise attack after some conditions were met.

"Xiaowei, Xiaowei, what do we do now? Your second uncle, your younger brother, waaaaah..."

Liang Yuzhi suppressed her sobs, revealing her true feelings, because she was truly afraid.

"Brother, is it not safe for us here? Should we leave before it gets dark?" Li Yue was also terrified; she was really scared to death.

"Don't panic, don't cry, Second Aunt, Little Sister, the problem shouldn't be that serious. We can't go hunting mutated rats anymore, it's a trap. We'll stay here tonight, you guys rest first, I'll go down and take a look."

Li Wei comforted them softly. It was already past five in the afternoon, early spring, and the sun was about to set. After dark, who knew what dangers might lurk in this unfamiliar night? So they could only stay here for the time being and make plans for tomorrow.

Regardless of its purpose, the two women managed to calm down temporarily, while Li Wei took advantage of the daylight to climb from the fourth floor to the third floor to check the passageway between the first and second floors.

Not bad. Although the first floor is still well-connected, the staircase leading to the second floor is completely blocked by a bunch of concrete blocks. It's so well-blocked that it has a certain architectural aesthetic.

It's a pity about the craftsman Li Qiao.

The staircase from the second to the third floor was also blocked, so unless the mutated rat king turned into a tank, it should be impossible to break through this building.

Because Li Wei observed carefully and studied diligently, he was basically able to determine that the huge hole on the third floor was not made by the mutated rat king, which would require its body to be as big as a truck.

But in reality, its size—well, Li Wei stared at the dark hole in the center of the town, estimating it to be about ten meters in diameter, but that was caused by a collapse.

After all, Li Guilin and Li Qiao died from a sneak attack...

Next, before it got dark, Li Wei checked the third, fourth, and fifth floors, and even the rooftop, and found that everything was fine for the time being.

In addition, the rooftop is quite large, about an acre in size, and the waterproof layer and the protective walls around the edges are basically intact.

So, should we plant some crops here?
This thought flashed through Li Wei's mind, because he couldn't think of anywhere else he could find a place with such a well-preserved main structure, mostly made of reinforced concrete, after leaving this town.

Although the mutated rat king in the center of the town was a major threat, Li Wei was basically certain that unless the magical radiation source erupted, like a blood moon rising, the mutated rat king would not go berserk.

Besides, I don't believe we can't kill it after six months.

However, farming waits for no one, and now is the perfect time for planting. If we don't plant now, it will affect our food security for the whole year.

But then another problem arises: if the farmland is cultivated outside the town, then we can expect it to be ravaged by mutated rats.

Go ahead and kill them; killing too many will attract the mutated rat king.

If we don't kill them, it's like giving the mutated rats a donut.

With that thought in mind, Li Wei no longer hesitated. He would not leave this place; he would plant wheat on the rooftop of the building.

However, this requires solving three problems.

First, how do we get enough soil up here?

Second, what about irrigation water? Are we just going to rely on the weather?

Third, we have to consider the building's load-bearing capacity. In reality, one acre can only grow three-tenths of an acre, and wheat has a very developed root system that requires at least 30 to 40 centimeters of soil. This is simply ridiculous...

If we follow the traditional planting method, one mu of land on the rooftop can only be planted with one or two fen of land. If there is plenty of rain, the yield can reach about 150 jin.
None of them seem reliable.

As he sat on the rooftop lost in thought, he saw Li Yue sneak up like a thief, her eyes still gleaming with the shock of surviving a close call. "Brother, are you hungry? I have some food here."

As they were talking, Li Yue handed Li Wei two white bread rolls and a bottle of water. Wait, was it free?
Li Wei was slightly surprised, but he didn't show it. He just put on a brave face, forced a smile, and handed another piece of white bread to Li Yue.

"I'm not too hungry yet, let's eat together."

"Ah."

Li Yue nodded obediently and sat down next to Li Wei, just like a frightened kitten... Damn it, are you trying to pull this? I'm not a newbie, this trick won't work on me.

Li Wei thought to himself that this was the standard teaching method for building intimacy and affection between characters in the story, and he had already experienced it firsthand with Hathaway.

Actually, this method is easy to deal with; it's the kind of tactic that's harmless once you understand what's going on.

So Li Wei didn't mind getting a white bread to eat.

Seriously, given the family's current situation, I'm afraid we'll really have to eat rat jerky next.

He could eat, but he really didn't want to.

Li Wei quietly finished a white bread and shared a bottle of water, which was enough to fill him up about 20% of his capacity.

It's worth mentioning that the family already has a lot of dried rat meat, so Li Yue's idea of ​​donating more food would be counterproductive.

“Brother, I think this building is actually pretty good. I vaguely saw the shadow of that mutated rat king today. It was only about the size of a cow. As long as we block the first and second floors, it can’t get up here. Besides, I guess it can’t shake the foundation of this building.”

At this moment, Li Yue suddenly spoke softly, "Hey, you're pretty calm."

"Hmm, little sister, your brain works much better than before. That's right, I think so too."

Li Wei smiled slightly and casually ruffled her hair. He knew how to boost her intimacy and affection.

"elder brother!"

Li Yue feigned anger for a moment, then immediately fell into a long silence. She was probably also struggling with whether to continue the sibling affection act, since mutually boosting intimacy and affection was the most boring thing.

Because NG usually only occurs on one side, if everyone's feelings for each other are about the same, then two negatives make a positive.

A full few minutes later, just as a cool night breeze was blowing and Li Wei was about to take off his lice-infested clothes and drape them over her, Li Yue finally yawned.

"Brother, why don't you go to sleep first? I'll keep watch for the first half of the night."

"No need, little sister, you and second aunt are both tired after a long day. I've had nothing to do all day. You two go to sleep first, don't worry about me. Go on, don't do anything silly!"

Li Wei delivered his lines with utter 'doting' affection. In the darkness, one could see that Li Yue's expression showed a hint of physical discomfort. In the end, she could only hum in response and flee.

Hahaha!
But in the blink of an eye, my second aunt Liang Yuzhi silently climbed up to the rooftop. What does that mean? Is she trying to exploit my bug here?
But Liang Yuzhi quickly took out a dozen things that looked like tarpaulins.

"Xiaowei, come help me out. This is a tarpaulin to catch rainwater and dew. We're running low on water, we need to think of a way to get it. By the way, did you see any rivers near the town today?"

"No." Li Wei shook his head, but inwardly he admired her. His second aunt was really well-prepared. He hadn't thought about this at all, because he knew that someone else would. Was this considered cheating?
After helping Liang Yuzhi set up the huge dew collector, a line of information appeared on the screen.

[Family member Liang Yuzhi donated a one-star quality dew filter and collector to the family. Based on the family's current environment and situation, she received a 50% bonus on the donation, earning her 15 family contribution points, bringing her current total to 57.]

Wow, speaking of which, Li Yue's family contribution has reached 71 points, and this is only the first day of the month! This is really exciting.

“Xiaowei, I think we can stay here longer. As long as we can find a way to kill that mutated rat king, this town will be a great camp. We can even grow crops on the rooftop. If we tidy this up, we can have at least an acre of land, which will definitely be enough to support our family.”

Wow, great minds think alike!

"Second Aunt, that's what I think too, but I probably can't plant an acre. At most, it'll be two or three fen. Any more and the roof will collapse."

Li Wei quickly said, but Liang Yuzhi, who clearly hadn't thought about this question, was stunned for a moment.

"That's still not enough. Sigh, I'm getting old, and I can't think as well as you young people. Xiaowei, what do you think we should do? That big rat outside is not to be trifled with. Xiaoyue said it's as big as a cow. Your uncle and your brother, two lively and energetic people, got stuck in it and couldn't move. They had their heads bitten off in one bite. Waaah! My poor child, he's never even been married! Why is his life so miserable!"

Liang Yuzhi burst into tears again, which ironically fit the plot logic perfectly.

(End of this chapter)