Li Ke completed the tasks quickly. Thanks to his increased stamina, he finished all four tasks in less than two hours.
Luckily, he also found a cement mixer among the ruins, though it was broken. He planned to see if he could repair it.
The rewards for the four tasks were quite good, even including something crucial for Li Ke:
A crucible.
Without this, he couldn't make steel ingots, and without steel ingots, he couldn't make reinforced concrete, so Li Ke was very happy.
The other three rewards didn't disappoint either, giving Li Ke two wrenches and twenty antibiotic tablets.
The antibiotics could significantly reduce infection levels, which was quite good, since the merchant had run out of honey.
However, Kiri and Tsunade's mining efficiency still quite surprised Li Ke.
"You guys are really fast."
Looking at the mine shaft, at least ten meters deep and nearly thirty meters long and wide, Li Ke was astonished, while Kiri, carrying a pickaxe and covered in mud, seemed unconcerned.
"You can chip off a cubic meter of soil in two strokes? I think that's rather slow. I don't know where you plan to build it, and I'm afraid we might hollow out the foundation."
Kiri casually took a sip of a beer. Li Ke didn't ask where she got the chilled beer, but Kiri couldn't help but pull at her shirt, letting her sweaty odor directly affect Li Ke's nostrils.
She was different from Erina. While Erina also had a sweaty smell after exercising, it was relatively faint.
Kiri was different. Before sweating, she was fine, but once she started sweating, a strong smell of salty fish appeared, along with a strong smell of gunpowder and machine oil.
Li Ke couldn't help but fan himself, glancing with disgust at Kiri's chest, which was also covered in mud and water droplets.
It had been alluring before, but not anymore.
"Hehehe!"
Kiri noticed the disgust on Li Ke's face and immediately leaped to his side, placing his head between her arms so he could smell her sweat.
Li Ke felt his head hit something soft, followed by a strong stench of sweat, pungent smoke, and alcohol. He could tolerate the others, but the alcohol stench was unbearable.
He quickly pulled away, but was still covered in dirt from Kiri's clothes. Luckily, he wasn't exactly clean to begin with.
Just as Li Ke was about to complain, he saw Tsunade emerge, also covered in dirt and looking displeased.
So he immediately changed his tune.
"I remember there are tailors at the shop, they don't cost much. I'll buy one later and make some new clothes for you."
"No need for that. We've been through much worse."
Kiri shook her head. The worst time for their resistance was when those bastards in Ghent bombed them for half a month straight. Forget about changing clothes, even their urine almost became war supplies. This is nothing compared to that.
"Besides, there should be some old clothes in those houses, right? We can just wear their clothes. After all, money should be saved for more useful things, and I can make clothes myself."
Kiri took out a Duke's Casino token, tossed it in her hand, and smiled.
"Don't underestimate kids raised in Ghent! From mechanics to embroidery and babysitting! Not to mention hand-made grenades, incendiary bombs, even Gatling guns—I, Kiri, can make them all! There's practically nothing I can't do!"
As she spoke, Kiri boldly patted her chest, making her breasts tremble.
"Uh..."
Li Ke's gaze shifted subtly, then he immediately remembered the cement mixer he had pushed back.
But then he immediately remembered something else, which was...
"You said you can make grenades?"
Li Ke stared intently at Kiri.
"Uh, yes, after all, supplies often don't arrive in time, so I need to make some grenades and such."
Kiri felt a little uncomfortable under Li Ke's gaze and quickly moved away.
"So what do you need?"
"Tin cans, gunpowder, and fuses—those are all necessary… Uh, you don't expect me to keep making hand grenades, do you? Forget it, that's impossible. You don't have enough materials here. At most, you can make some explosives or landmines. Making a usable hand grenade is out of the question. And there's no gasoline or engine oil here, so making incendiary bombs is out of the question."
Kiri shook her head. Li Ke had no tools whatsoever, not even the necessary parts, not even a lathe. How could she help?
With love?
"This…"
Li Ke's heart sank, but then he immediately thought of something.
"Hey Kiri."
He pointed to a gasoline drum.
"If we modify the drum and put explosives inside, could we turn it into a cannon?"
He vaguely remembered having something similar before.
"You mean..."
Kiri stopped mid-sentence, frozen in place. It didn't seem impossible, but she immediately shook her head.
"It seems like it's possible? But it's too dangerous, a barrel explosion is very easy. You don't have a welding torch or anything here, it's difficult for me too. But trying is still possible."
She spread her hands, quite helplessly.
"I see... Then I'll trouble you to make some landmines that can be detonated by firearms, Kiri. Otherwise, even if a fortress is built, I'll still feel uneasy."
Li Ke sighed. Kiri hadn't witnessed the zombie horde like him, so she couldn't share his fear, which he understood.
The system's features were good, but they had a problem: numerical representation.
The same attack could be blocked by a realistic wooden frame, but not by a numerical one. The system's wooden frame he had previously made was quickly destroyed by the zombies' attacks.
He was worried that even a concrete fortress would end up the same way, so he couldn't help but glance at the impenetrable wall.
If all else failed, he'd just build a suspended house, but not completely suspended; he'd leave a cliff-like island as a foothold and a route for escape in emergencies.
"Don't worry, this will work."
Kiri nodded. Safely used grenades were a bit troublesome, but this level was no problem.
"That's good. Let's continue mining then."
Checking the time, it was only around ten o'clock. Li Ke smiled, took out his pickaxe and shovel, and started mining with the two women.
The accumulation of ore gave Li Ke a sense of security. The ever-burning furnace continued to gather various materials. He went out to cut down some trees, put the mined iron back into the furnace to smelt, and began using all the iron resources to make steel ingots, a high-grade material.
The three of them worked until the afternoon before eating. Li Ke, having just replenished his energy, was full of vitality, while Kiri and Tsunade, being extraordinary, only ate a quick bite before continuing their work.
By 5 PM, all three were nearly exhausted. To ensure their safety later, Li Ke and the others prepared to training.
After eating and showering, Li Ke realized he had completely forgotten something:
Making a bed.
Fortunately, none of the three cared much about this, so they fell asleep in the tiny matchbox that Li Ke had built.
However…
In his drowsy state, Li Ke felt himself being coiled by a giant python. The air in his lungs was constantly dissipating, giving him a feeling of impending death.
Struggling to wake from his dream, he realized he wasn't being coiled by a giant python, but rather Kiri was holding his arm like a rag doll, his head buried in her chest.
Li Ke forcefully pushed Kiri away, gasping for breath to regain his normal breathing. But when Kiri woke up rubbing her eyes, and he was about to scold her, Kiri's voice instead whined.
"Aren't you tired?!"
Kiri looked at Li Ke with annoyance, and couldn't help but yawn.
"No! You were just hugging me and I almost suffocated!"
But Kiri just smirked. To her, this was nothing compared to sleeping.
"Ugh, that's it? You woke me up because of this? Give me a break! Wait until you've slept with me before waking me up!"
As she spoke, Kiri angrily wiped the drool from her mouth, gave Li Ke the middle finger with her drool-covered hand, and then fell asleep before Li Ke could react.
Li Ke didn't say anything; he simply lay down silently to continue sleeping. But less than twenty minutes later, he…
He heard Kiri grinding her teeth and snoring.
He took a deep breath and covered his ears.
But the next moment…
Tsunade's snoring also started.
And it was even louder than Kiri's.
Li Ke: "..."
He suddenly missed Erina again.