Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Snow Mountain Town (15) — We’re Not Leaving Empty-Handed!

For players who had made it into Snow Mountain Town, the canning factory was undeniably a hotspot.

It was marked on the town map, making its location common knowledge. After countless waves of players had already visited, the factory’s details were no longer a secret.

This was a small-scale canning plant with only two production lines. Its primary raw materials were sourced from nearby farms and ranches. One line was dedicated to mass-producing canned livestock and poultry meat, operating around the clock. The other was a flexible line, producing canned fruits or concentrated vegetable soups depending on the season and specific circumstances.

Regardless of the product type, all of them were the most urgently needed foods for the players. Fruit, vegetables, and meat were exponentially harder to obtain than other survival supplies. At this point, even processed juices were on the verge of expiration. Only canned goods could satisfy the players’ desperate craving for vegetables and meat.

Standing before the somewhat dilapidated factory gates, Sweet and Sour Fish had already steeled herself. She knew it was time for her to make her move.

The group piled out of the car. Sweet and Sour Fish scanned the area, noting that while the canning factory was small, it was fully equipped with a production plant, a warehouse, cold storage, and employee dorms.

“My skill can’t cover this whole area in one go,” she announced. “I’ll need at least two passes, and there’s a two-hour cooldown in between.”

Two hours was a wait they could manage. Everyone agreed she should use her skill first to pinpoint the exact location of the supplies. Sweet and Sour Fish found a good vantage point, planted her feet, and activated the skill tied to her Treasure Hunter Talent. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

[ Player Sweet and Sour Fish has used the skill [I Figured Nobody Would Want This Stuff]. Displaying resource types and locations within range. Cooldown: 2 hours. ]

A 2D map materialized before her eyes, covered in countless colored markers that only she could decipher.

Sweet and Sour Fish’s brow furrowed. The scan showed an abundance of metal resources within the factory, but the food they desperately needed was so sparse it was almost nonexistent. The markers indicating resource density were pitifully small.

She carefully cross-referenced the map with the factory’s layout, confirming that the few remaining food markers were all located inside the employee dorms.

She sighed and broke the bad news to the group.

Though they’d known the canning factory had been picked clean and the odds of finding anything good were slim, seeing the bare shelves in person was still a crushing blow.

As the rest of the team slumped in disappointment—looking even more miserable than when they’d encountered the Blood Terracotta on the road—Lingling Eight raised his voice. “Hey, don’t lose heart! We’ve only scouted half the place. Who knows what’s waiting in the other half? Besides, we’re short on other supplies too. Let’s get in there and search!”

He was right, she thought. It’s too soon to give up. We have to search the place ourselves. After all the trouble we went through to get here, it would be a waste to leave empty-handed. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

With their spirits lifted, the group headed toward the warehouse.

Inside, several forklifts, pallet jacks, and flatbed carts were scattered about, alongside sturdy, double-decker steel shelving units that lined the walls.

The shelves were completely empty now—not a single can of food had been left behind. The only things that could be considered supplies were stacked in a corner: empty tin cans, cardboard boxes, and rolls of heat-shrink wrap.

A few Shadow Ghost corpses lay sprawled on the floor. Judging by their condition, they had been dead for some time.

The heat-shrink wrap used in the canning factory came in massive rolls. Jiang Qibai stepped forward and tore off a generous length. Judging by the amount she now held, it should be enough. She sliced through the plastic with her dagger, rolled it up, and stowed it into her Spatial Bracelet.

Seeing this, Luan Qi Ba Jiao asked, “What are you doing with all that plastic wrap?”

“Sealing the windows. It’ll keep the cold out this winter,” Jiang Qibai explained concisely.

Back in the day, when window quality was poor, many families would cover their windows with plastic sheeting in the winter. Before plastic wrap was even available, they used newspapers and paste. Once the gaps were sealed, the indoor temperature would rise significantly. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Before Jiang Qibai’s Safehouse had been upgraded, it wasn’t just the windows—the whole place was practically a wind tunnel. If she’d had a roll of plastic wrap back then, she could have wrapped the entire Safehouse in it.

“Oh!” Luan Qi Ba Jiao exclaimed, looking like he’d just learned something new.

The others, hearing this, quickly stepped forward to tear off their own sections of plastic wrap. Most of them were Dungeon newcomers, and their Safehouses were just as rudimentary as Jiang Qibai’s had been. Xiao Yang, who hadn’t even finished paying off his mortgage, only thought of the plastic wrap’s usefulness after the reminder.

After leaving the warehouse, the group entered the factory. The stench inside was unbearable. When the incident occurred, the assembly line had apparently still been running; chunks of meat were scattered everywhere, now liquefied into pools of dark, foul-smelling organic matter.

Some of the liquefied meat had already dried, but the stench lingered, refusing to dissipate. Despite having prepared for this—even wearing double masks—everyone’s faces turned a sickly shade of green from the overpowering odor.

“I found a knife. Anyone want it?” Lingling Eight held his arm out as far as it could reach, his head turned sharply away as he fished a meat cleaver out of a pool of brown sludge.

Everyone else scrambled away.

“Alright then.” Lingling Eight tossed the knife back into the muck. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Holding their noses, the group searched the factory, but came up empty-handed.

Only Xiao Yang spotted the outlines of a dozen or so cans beneath one of the workstations. As he drew closer, the stench intensified. A closer look revealed that more than half the cans were severely bloated, looking as if they would explode at the slightest touch, releasing whatever biochemical weapon was trapped inside.

These were the rejects from the production line, discarded because of faulty seals. Naturally, they had all spoiled.

After their first unsuccessful search, the group disagreed on their next move. Lingling Eight and Xiao Yang had spotted the entrance to the cold storage while searching the factory building and wanted to try their luck inside. Sweet and Sour Fish, however, argued that the power had been out for so long that everything inside would have rotted. Going there would just be a waste of time.

Sometimes you just can’t give up until you see it with your own eyes.

Besides, there were very few Shadow Ghosts in the canning factory, and previous Players hadn’t reported any dangers inside. So, they decided to split up. Lingling Eight and Xiao Yang went to the cold storage, while Jiang Qibai, Luan Qi Ba Jiao, and Sweet and Sour Fish headed for the employee dorms, where supplies were already confirmed to be.

Jiang Qibai walked toward the dormitory building.

The canning factory was small, yet it employed over thirty people. Jiang Qibai had noticed earlier in the workshop that the production line wasn’t very automated—many tasks still required manual labor. Because the factory was in such a remote location, they’d built a dormitory for the staff. It was a small three-story building located behind the main plant, with the first floor also serving as the cafeteria. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

“We might run into a Shadow Ghost inside,” Sweet and Sour Fish warned.

Sure enough, as soon as they stepped through the door, they found the corpse of a Shadow Ghost.

The three of them wore grim expressions. They had pinned their hopes on the first-floor cafeteria, but it was clear someone else had gotten there first.

Before arriving at the canneries, they had already agreed that all food found would be shared and divided equally. Daily necessities, being less precious and often impossible to split, would go to whoever needed them.

“I refuse to believe there’s absolutely nothing left!” Luan Qi Ba Jiao rolled up his sleeves and dove headfirst into the cafeteria’s back kitchen. Jiang Qibai and Sweet and Sour Fish followed close behind.

After rummaging through every single cupboard, Luan Qi Ba Jiao dragged a dusty plastic bucket from a hidden corner. He took one look inside and immediately let out a shout.

Jiang Qibai and Sweet and Sour Fish, thinking he had encountered danger, rushed over only to see Luan Qi Ba Jiao standing up with the bucket in his arms, triumphantly flinging the lid open.

“Ta-da—Rice!” Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

The bucket, about 40 centimeters tall, was filled to the brim with rice. Judging by how much Luan Qi Ba Jiao struggled to lift it, there had to be at least 30 jin of rice inside.

The lid had a rubber seal, and the rice hadn’t changed color, meaning it hadn’t spoiled. This was their biggest find of the day, even if it only amounted to 6 jin per person after being split.

With nothing else of value left in the kitchen, the three headed upstairs.

Most of the dorm doors on the second floor had been smashed open, their interiors ransacked and left in complete disarray. The third floor, however, still had several intact locks. Just as Luan Qi Ba Jiao was about to smash one open, Sweet and Sour Fish raised her hand.

“Let me try.”

She pulled a piece of wire from one of her pockets, poked it into the lock, and jiggled it a few times. With a soft click, the door swung open.

Jiang Qibai and Luan Qi Ba Jiao looked at her with newfound respect.

Seizing the moment, Sweet and Sour Fish picked the locks of an entire row of doors. The three of them then split up, each slipping into a different dorm to scavenge for supplies. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

The dorms were designed for two people and were sparsely furnished. Aside from two single wooden-plank beds and two small wardrobes, the only piece of furniture was a square table in the center of the room.

But that didn’t stop the place from being a complete mess. Perhaps because the wardrobes were too small, five or six pairs of shoes were scattered on the floor, and worn clothes hung in layers from the bedposts, chair backs, and wardrobe doors. The floor and a simple shelf were also cluttered with various daily necessities.

Jiang Qibai found two hot water bottles, a pack of toilet paper, a sewing kit, seven packs of sanitary pads in different lengths, and a large jar of hand cream.

The hand cream looked like the cheap, bulk-sized kind, but it still made Jiang Qibai happy. When moving around outdoors in the cold, exposed skin easily cracked. The main ingredient in hand cream was glycerin, which could protect the skin when applied to the face and hands.

In the next few dorm rooms, she found another set of well-fitting thermal base layers, a pair of snow boots that fit her perfectly, two cotton-padded jackets, and a single-person electric blanket. Before leaving, she grabbed a handful of clothes hangers and stuffed them into her Spatial Bracelet.

She also found some food. Aside from the spoiled items, the only things that had survived were instant noodles and various canned goods distributed by the cannery as employee benefits. Jiang Qibai had found a total of nine cans.

As she stepped out of the dorm room, she saw Luan Qi Ba Jiao walking toward her.

He handed her the bag he was carrying. Jiang Qibai looked down and saw it was filled with feminine hygiene products like pads and tampons. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

“I can’t use these. You and Sweet and Sour Fish can split them,” he said, glancing around. “Hey, where’s Sweet and Sour Fish?”

“Probably in one of the dorms,” Jiang Qibai guessed.

Just then, Sweet and Sour Fish appeared, coming up the outdoor stairs. She looked frustrated. The moment she saw them, she got straight to the point: “My skill cooldown just finished, so I went out to scout. But it turns out…”

She trailed off, but Jiang Qibai understood. It seemed the cannery had been picked clean by other Players.

“Bai Qi! Luan Qi Ba Jiao! Sweet and Sour Fish! Where are you guys?!” Lingling Eight and Xiao Yang’s voices echoed from downstairs.

The group headed down to meet them. Lingling Eight’s booming voice rang out as they arrived. “That cold storage is no place for humans! I feel like I’ve been marinated in the smell. We’ve made a huge sacrifice here.”

He dramatically lifted his shirt and took a sniff. “Bleh—”

Xiao Yang’s voice was far more excited. “If no one else had gone in, how would we have found this jackpot?!” Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

The two of them pulled several heavy bags from their Spatial Bracelets.

“Here, five-kilo bags of penne pasta. Five bags in total, one for each of us! I have no idea why a canning factory would even have penne.”

Jiang Qibai pulled out a can of beef and tomato penne, answering the question.

Between the rice found in the cafeteria kitchen, the canned goods from the employee dorms, and the penne from the cold storage, their haul wasn’t exactly a feast, but at least it wasn’t a waste of a trip.

So, when Sweet and Sour Fish said her newly acquired skill hadn’t detected any more supplies, everyone accepted it without complaint.

“We must have already stored the penne when you used your skill,” Xiao Yang explained, noticing Sweet and Sour Fish’s heavy expression. He assumed she was upset that her skill hadn’t been useful.

Sweet and Sour Fish wasn’t feeling down for that reason.

She was about to leave this Dungeon and wanted to hoard as many supplies as possible before her departure. Not all Dungeons were like Snow Mountain Town, with its modern preservation techniques that allowed food to be stored long-term. In some Dungeons, one might stumble upon a massive stash of food, only to watch it all rot because they couldn’t consume it fast enough, leaving them with nothing for a long time afterward. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

This was why Sweet and Sour Fish had been so eager to provide the vehicle and facilitate this trip to the cannery.

After scouring the cannery inside and out, the group divided their loot before preparing to head back. Each person received one bag of pasta. The rice was packed into the largest empty cans they found in the warehouse, totaling eleven cans. Each person got two cans, with one-fifth of a can left over.

Aside from the nine cans Jiang Qibai found, Sweet and Sour Fish and Luan Qi Ba Jiao found a combined fourteen cans. Because the cans varied in size and type, the distribution was uneven. Jiang Qibai ended up with four: one can of baked beans in tomato sauce, one can of vegetable soup, and two cans of beef.

As per their prior agreement, Sweet and Sour Fish had provided the vehicle and fuel, so everyone else had to give her some extra supplies as a transportation fee.

Some people paid on the spot. Lingling Eight, for example, handed Sweet and Sour Fish a bag of rice and a can of food. Others, unwilling to part with their loot from the trip, tried to negotiate different payments with her.

Jiang Qibai offered to give Sweet and Sour Fish some drinks, and she agreed. With the haul from the bar and the hotel, Jiang Qibai’s Safehouse had at least a hundred bottles of drinks—not counting the water and alcohol.

However, she had intentionally emptied her Spatial Bracelet before leaving, so she couldn’t produce any drinks right now. They would have to wait until they got back to the Safehouse.

Once everyone was in the car, Sweet and Sour Fish suddenly said, “I have another skill. It’s also for resource detection, and it has a huge range, but the accuracy of the resource locations will drop.” Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

The group went silent for a moment.

Xiao Yang instinctively checked the time. They absolutely had to get back to the town before dark.

Lingling Eight asked in surprise, “You’re going to use it here? In the middle of nowhere?”

“If the range is really that big, using it here isn’t a bad idea,” Luan Qi Ba Jiao chimed in. “There are farms and ranches nearby.”

With plenty of time to spare, everyone agreed to let Sweet and Sour Fish use her skill again.

[ Player Sweet and Sour Fish used the skill [It’s Not For Nothing], revealing the types and approximate locations of resources within a super large area. Cooldown: 3 days ]

“I found something!”

Sweet and Sour Fish’s voice rang out in excitement. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com