"Huh?"

Staring at the flashing information prompt on the panel, Cheng Ye was momentarily dumbfounded.

He had merely come up with the idea of patching his backpack, and the action function, like a considerate beanbag lord, DS teacher, directly expanded and supplemented the idea into a complete action plan.

Of course, this derivative model also inherited the AI's nonsense, suddenly going berserk!

The first two points were still within the reasonable scope of patching the backpack, but what the hell is the third point, "replace material with Happiness Alloy"?

What is Happiness Alloy?

The floor under Cheng Ye's feet was made of the lowest grade of Super Alloy in Happiness City, called Isolation Alloy.

But even at the lowest grade, it could resist the corrosion and attacks of most Infected Bodies.

Just like the Rotting Vine that was dealt with earlier, struggling desperately before dying, it didn't leave a single trace on the fence made of Isolation Alloy.

Above Isolation Alloy, there are three higher levels: Protective Alloy, Safety Alloy, and Immune Alloy, with Happiness Alloy being the highest level.

Looking at all the industrial products sold by Happiness City, Happiness Alloy can definitely rank in the top three when it comes to the best-selling products.

Why?

The answer is simple: in the survival phase, the focus is on offense—how to clear out the surrounding Infected Bodies is the primary issue. When it comes to the development phase, the focus immediately shifts to defense.

Having a safe house made of Happiness Alloy allows you to hide without pressure, even in a 'disaster'-level infection wave.

Unfortunately, the production of Happiness Alloy is so low that it's destined to be in short supply for a long time.

Those purchasing teams from Shelter City often have to pay several times the price to get the qualification to purchase.

"1g of Extraordinary Ore costs 50 Contribution Points, Happiness Alloy is much more precious than ordinary Extraordinary Ore. To gather enough for a backpack, it would take at least tens of thousands of Contribution Points..."

In actuality, it can't be calculated this way, because purchasing strategic materials like Happiness Alloy must be done through barter.

But even with the roughest calculation method, it is still a sky-high price.

"Could it be that my action goal was too vague?"

Cheng Ye pondered, suddenly having a flash of inspiration.

Since the action won't just not provide direction due to a vague goal, doesn't it mean that even if I don't understand the structure of the charging station, I can perform similar operations?

"If I had sewing skills, I could unlock Direction 2?"

"Then even if I can't change the charging station now, as long as I find a skill in electrical work, I can unlock the action direction?"

This thought, once it emerged, immediately took root and sprouted in Cheng Ye's mind.

It instantly opened countless new avenues for him.

Since acquiring the Collector, the pressure of survival had driven him to focus solely on collecting combat skills, never considering that he could also seek knowledge-based skills.

And now, the emergence of the 'Action' function is providing a platform for these skills to be put to use.

A very appropriate analogy would be this:

Knowledge-based skills are like the driver, action is the vehicle, and Cheng Ye himself is the navigator.

With a driver and a navigator, you can reach the destination sooner or later.

But without a driver, even with a vehicle and a navigator, you can only remain in place.

"Yes, the essence of the Action function is to help me skip the time taken to reach the destination."

"As long as I have enough Action Points, I alone can form an army, achieving results that hundreds or even thousands of people could achieve!"

With that thought, Cheng Ye immediately stopped hesitating and decided to go to the charging station to verify this idea.

In any case, there was no queue in Quarantine Zone A at the moment.

Of course, one should always remain vigilant.

After going out, he first found Raven and Owl, "We should have sewing kits in our quarantine area, right? My backpack seems to have a few holes; could you help me find some so I can patch it up while there's no one around?"

"Certainly, sir!"

Raven nodded in agreement and added, "We also have materials for sewing, like canvas, artificial leather, and some patches to cover up. Which type do you need, sir?"

"If it's convenient, bring a bit of everything, and I'll see which is suitable later."

"Understood!"

As Raven went to find the sewing kit and Owl got the leather, Cheng Ye quickly made his way to the garage, focusing his gaze on the charging station.

Following the backpack instructions, to divert the Collector's self-thinking, he didn't set a specific action goal but instead mentally muttered the vague notion of 'bypassing charging monitoring.'

The panel flashed slightly and popped up with delightful information, thoroughly confirming Cheng Ye's speculation.

[Standard DC Fast Charging Station (Lv.1)]

[Description]: A standard charging station with a modular design, equipped with a 100kW charging module, supporting common charging protocols. The housing has undergone special protective treatment to withstand dust and rain, with built-in over-voltage, over-current, and monitoring protection devices.

[Action Direction]:

1. Unlock Charging Permission (Utilize protocol vulnerabilities to forge a legitimate user identity and obtain temporary charging permission; Note: This charging process will be recorded by the system.)

Estimated Action Points Consumption: Locked (Prerequisite: Mastery of engineering or programming-related skills required)

2. Crack Charging Station Permissions (Bypass the device encryption system to gain administrator-level permissions, freely adjust charging parameters, modify backend data, and unlock hidden features such as user settings and simulation debugging)

Estimated Action Points Consumption: Locked (Prerequisite: Mastery of electrical or engineering-related skills required)

[Due to all action directions being locked, the Collector cannot make a choice for now!]

...

"Indeed, it really can be like this..."

Cheng Ye's eyes flashed with a hint of shock, his thoughts fully dispersing.

Although he currently couldn't modify the fast charging stations, the information displayed revealed a brand new possibility, a brand new future to him!

For instance... the construction of shelters!

If the infection wave arrives and the Buffer Zone becomes indefensible, leaving would be inevitable for survival.

But before this, he was actually very confused.

Because relying on just one person's ability, let alone building a temporary shelter in the city ruins or the wilderness, even finding a safe place to stay would be near impossible.

But now, as long as he accumulates enough Action Points, he doesn't need to rely on anyone else to achieve this goal.

Even if he cannot find a suitable place to build, he can perform powerful actions to carve out an appropriate space!

"Search, action..."

"The two functions are interconnected, the charging value from failed searches can be reclaimed by actions, and the abilities gained can be used to expand influence through actions."

"Brilliant, truly brilliant!"

Cheng Ye's throat moved unconsciously, but at the same time, he felt a bit puzzled.

The Civilization Collector was a relic left by Cheng Long, but hadn't he discovered any anomalies in this thing from the beginning?

Or perhaps... was it intentionally left to the former self?

"Sir, the sewing kit you wanted, if it's insufficient, we can ask people outside the epidemic prevention zone to help look for more."

Raven approached from afar, interrupting Cheng Ye's train of thought.

Took the sewing kit and opened it.

Inside was a piece of soft cloth with a blue background and white flowers, neatly arranged with ten copper needles of different sizes.

Beneath were several skeins of unusual three-strand thick threads, the weaving pattern looking very tight.

Though somewhat rough to the touch, in the Wasteland environment, durability was the primary consideration.

"Sir, these are the sewing materials you requested."

Owl handed over a bag containing common canvas and artificial leather from the Buffer Zone.

This was sufficient.

Cheng Ye didn't intend to turn an ordinary backpack into a moving fortress, just durable and practical.

"Well done, I'm very satisfied!"

Praising the two, Cheng Ye carried the materials back to the isolation zone, sat down, and planned to first test the effect of the Action Point modifications on the backpack.

The panel reopened, and predictably, the action directions had changed.

[1. Basic optimization (Repair...), expected Action Point expenditure: 1 (Sufficient materials and tools obtained, point expenditure reduced)]

"It seems the minimum point requirement for an action is 1, it won't drop any lower."

With four points left, Cheng Ye didn't mind.

First, he used Defense Communication to activate the stopwatch function, then mentally confirmed.

He was curious about how the Collector accelerated this process, and what happened next did not disappoint him.

Swoosh.

A barely audible sound appeared.

Everything around seemed to slow down, time appeared to be frozen, stopped flowing.

Cheng Ye was shocked to find he lost control of his body, could only watch as his hands moved, grabbing the sewing kit and canvas from the table, starting to repair the backpack's hole.

Like a machine with adept handiwork, at first, the speed of his hands was still visible, but after a few seconds, they suddenly turned into afterimages, the nearby thread spinning like a gyroscope, in a flash becoming fine stitches on the backpack.

Thud.

It seemed like a few seconds passed, or maybe an hour.

The experience of the world slowing down, like a stand user activating time stop, made Cheng Ye feel both unfamiliar and novel!

"How much time passed?"

Grabbing Defense Communication for a look, including a moment of distraction, the reading showed only 4 seconds had passed.

This meant the acceleration process must have completed in an instant.

And the backpack on the table?

Gazing at it, even though Cheng Ye was mentally prepared, he couldn't avoid the shock.

Fingers brushed over the backpack surface, where the original hole was precisely mended with canvas, the stitching finely done as if by a machine, with black floral appliqués masking the repairs.

Turning the backpack over, the inside canvas was actually lined with artificial leather, and a few extra reinforced compartments with thread were in the pockets, making the backpack more practical, even indirectly strengthening the central support structure.

"Is this really something I can sew?"

...

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