Chapter 44: A Milestone! Back to the Electric Age

“Good lord, the byproduct of system optimization is sick, don’t you think? Humans will have great progress in technology if this can be reverse-engineered to find out ways to optimize the battery and the motor.”

As Su Mo put the crossbow on the table, he stared curiously at the upgraded electrical crossbow.

There was no ideal solution for the battery problem before everyone passed through the wasteland.

Major factories were frantically installing electrical cores in batteries and thinking of ways to shorten the time the batteries needed to charge.

However, the amount of charge a battery could hold was proportional to its size and weight. The bigger the amount of charge, the larger its size and the heavier it weighed. No one was making a conscious effort in developing smaller batteries that could hold larger amounts of charge.

Of course, even if technology recovered to its heyday, it would take tens of years before they could figure out how to replicate the shocking result they had seen in the modified system.

For its color palette, the crossbow was crafted in ebony and black.

Its weight had also upgraded from its previous four kg to roughly around nine kg.

It was heavy and elicited feelings of security.

“Thankfully, the system came with a charger. If not, I would have to think of some way to get a USB charger from the trading channel.”

Su Mo did not know if he should laugh or cry after he picked up the wire from the ground and took a good look at it.

The 120 Watt fast-charging charger that it had come with was more than enough for a 2W mAh battery.

It was a steal, considering the 220 survival points they had now!

After a careful look at the crossbow’s structure, Su Mo had a general idea of how it should be used.

One had to trigger the switch on the electrical device before using it, and it would automatically enable its self-test function after three seconds of steady electrical flow.

By this time, the winder would begin working by automatically pushing a crossbow arrow up from the magazine.

At the same time, the safety valve on the trigger would automatically fall. Now, one could begin shooting as normal.

The way the electric winder worked was simple. It imitated the way a human would wind their crossbow. The motor would provide the force needed to pull the crossbow arrow up from the magazine and achieve its goal of becoming winded.

“Of course, there’s no power. Seems like I was given a charger so that I would go charge it!”

Although Su Mo sounded like he was grumbling after he pressed on the trigger twice, he could not suppress the joy creeping onto his face.

They had generators and fuel in the base now. Electricity was something they were not short of.

Once the design for Huaxia Shelter was finalized, they could begin attempting to add a couple of wires and install the broken lightbulbs they had brought back home today to test out.

Puff puff!

When they released the air and connected the starter, the generator began huffing and shaking as the amount of electricity generated shown on the dashboard increased.

“Awoo!”

Oreo, who was flopped on the ground and lamenting the loss of its fluffy tail to the fire, was scared.

It lay on the ground and glared at the television!

“Don’t worry, this is a good thing. You must make sure you protect this if anyone enters the base in the future!”

Su Mo comforted Oreo before turning to the storage room and taking out the power strip they had found with the television before.

The light of the indicator on the power strip turned red after getting connected to the generator.

At that moment, Su Mo was so excited that tears glimmered in his eyes.

“What great progress civilization has made! I, Su Mo, never thought that I would one day walk before billions of people and thank the ancestors of the Su family for their blessings.”

Not only would achieving electrical energy signal the fulfillment of one’s basic needs and entertainment needs but it was also a symbol of capability and a synonym of the word ‘safety’.

He hurriedly brought the two power sources over, first connecting the 400 AH lithium iron phosphate battery with its specialized charging cable.

Only a while later did Su Mo connect the electric crossbow to the power source as he had to ensure there was nothing wrong with the supply first.

In the darkened shelter, two red lights flashed and were accompanied by the humming sounds of the generator as they charged.

There had never been a moment this tranquil after his arrival in this post-apocalyptic world.

Su Mo lay in bed with his eyes shut as he listened to the familiar noises before gradually slipping into sleep.

In his dreams, a sudden image appeared before his eyes from the dark.

It was a hot summer day on an evening with no electricity.

Old men were engaged in vicious ‘fights’ while sitting at chess boards in front of their doorsteps, while children who were enjoying a long-awaited break from homework laughed as they dashed through the alleyway with their toys. The adults had also taken a break from their hectic work to sit under the shade of their doors as they occasionally glanced at their kids and yelled.

“Baby, run slower! Don’t… Look, you’ve fallen!”

There was a fast food restaurant at the roadside that took advantage of this opportunity to push their generator out into the open and cook up dish after dish of fragrant vegetables, attracting customers from the roadside.

A plate of cold vegetables paired with spinach noodles. A mouthful of noodles with garlic and some fragrant, crispy steamed pork that had just the right amount of fat and lean meat…

The wonderful smell of watermelon, and the disgusting smell of drain water…

“Woof woof woof!”

The sound of Oreo barking!

“You b*tch, I had just started dreaming things and you managed to spoil everything before I could even be sentimental. How dare you! (Emoticon.Jpg)”

Su Mo opened his eyes wryly as he gazed at Oreo, who seemed to be facing a huge enemy. The mischievous grin disappeared from his face.

“Is someone here?”

“Woof!”

“F*ck, they came so quickly. They must have a dog’s nose!”

When Su Mo noticed that Oreo had begun shaking and its eyes were bloodshot, he immediately jumped over to the generator.

A normal generator needed to be braked slowly before it could be shut down. First, he needed to turn off the circuit breaker and cut off electrical access so that the diesel engine would slow down from its high speed. The ignition switch would then be turned off after the machine had slowed down for three to five minutes. This method helped preserve the machine for longer.

However, there was no time for Su Mo to make any preparations now!

Enemies! They were incoming!

The generator did not show how long it had been working. Su Mo could only make simple calculations by comparing the amount of oil that had been in the machine at the start and end.

One hour and forty-four minutes.

It was the number he got after making some simple calculations. Two-hour charging time might not be enough for a 20 AH crossbow (20 mAh), but it would be enough to fight off an intruder’s attack.

He immediately flipped the circuit breaker and turned the ignition switch to the bottom. The booming diesel generator stopped operating.

The noise from the shelter vanished and got replaced by silence. He could even hear his own breathing.

Su Mo hurried over to the stone door and pressed his ear to it, trying his best to catch what was going on outside.

As expected…

Bursts of barking that sounded emotional and different from that of an ordinary canine traveled continuously toward them.

“Damn it, looks like these kobolds are pretty smart if they can manage to find me here. I suppose I’ll never find peace if I don’t leave them behind today!”

The enemy was right at their door, but it was different from the bandits last time. This time, they did not have the help of a live stream to help spy on the terrain.

However…

Su Mo’s gaze landed on a black box placed in the corner of the storage room.

That was…

A giant television he had brought back from the ruins!

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