Humans Shrunk 100 Times

Chapter 82: Outbound Team

At this moment, Chen Mu was already in agreement with Tang Jing's explanation, saying, "So, when we were in the cafeteria last time, Zhao Xiaoyan noticed the cockroach and showed a frightened expression, which gave us the opportunity to escape."

Tang Jing replied, "Exactly. That's also why you were able to open the parachute in 0.2 seconds and use the shield to protect yourself in a life-threatening situation."

Only now did Chen Mu realize that what Tang Jing was talking about was the same thing he had been wondering about all this time.

But this question remained unverifiable.

What Tang Jing said was merely the most reasonable explanation so far, and the truth, perhaps, wouldn't be known for a long time.

However, one thing could be confirmed.

The role of psychic power is not only limited to the use of abilities.

...

Soon after that, Du Jiajia finished her visit to the observation deck and rushed down in a hurry.

Her first sentence after coming down was, "Can we build an elevator?"

It has to be said that humans are truly gifted in finding ways to be lazy.

This suggestion was immediately accepted by everyone, and they began to discuss it seriously.

"When Chen Mu can make pulleys, the elevator won't be a problem," Tang Jing said.

"To make it simpler, we can use a basket, tie it to a rope, and then transport people up and down," someone suggested.

"That probably won't work. Our current weight would make the basket unstable, and even a slight breeze would cause significant swaying. Such a simple lifting device won't be feasible."

"What should we do then?"

"We can set up four pillars as tracks, and on each corner of the lift platform, make four holes to fit the pillars in."

"Isn't that an elevator?"

"You can think of it that way," Tang Jing smiled. "But the most troublesome part would be the counterweight. It's quite challenging to implement in practice. Let me think about it and come up with a feasible plan."

"If only we hadn't built the stairs, which wasted so much of Chen Mu's time," Du Jiajia sighed.

Tang Jing chuckled and said, "Stairs are also necessary. Otherwise, if the lifting equipment malfunctions, people can't just wait until it's fixed to come down. Have you ever seen a tall building with elevators but no stairs?"

The principle of the lift was not complicated, but without electricity, it was quite troublesome to operate. Constant adjustments to the counterweight were needed to achieve the up-and-down effect.

These matters had always been a headache for Tang Jing.

...

After the completion of the observation deck, Chen Mu could focus his energy on sealing the door gaps.

At the moment, the main purpose of standing guard was to deal with that elusive little cat.

The irresponsible owner of the cat obviously didn't care much about its behavior, letting it wander outside freely.

During the daytime, Chen Mu would work under the door gaps.

Meanwhile, one person stayed on the observation deck, and another on the ground. If any danger approached, the person above would immediately relay the information to the one below, who would then warn Chen Mu to retreat.

Currently, the way of transmitting messages was quite primitive, simply by throwing stones downward.

However, it was evident that the stones that humans could move would not create much noise even when thrown from such a height, not enough to startle Chen Mu or people nearby.

Therefore, it was necessary to arrange someone below, always paying attention to the movements above.

This crude method was a temporary measure of helplessness.

Moreover, due to poor visibility at night, standing guard was almost meaningless, so no one was assigned to guard duty during the night, except for Wei Dalei and Chen Mu, who clearly had more important tasks. The rest of the team, including Dong Junwei and Tang Jing, took turns to stand guard.

On the first day, Zhao Xiaoyan, who was the last one to visit the observation deck, volunteered to take the first shift of guard duty, and the person below was Qian Fei.

It wasn't until this moment that they finally got to see what the little cat looked like.

According to Zhao Xiaoyan's later account, it was an orange cat, indeed a little kitten, only two or three months old. Every time it came, it would meow at the door or poke the gap, play by itself for about ten minutes, and then retreat to the nearby bushes.

This left everyone feeling a bit troubled.

Who doesn't like cats?

From Zhao Xiaoyan's face, which was filled with a melting expression, it was evident that even after shrinking, her fondness for cats had not diminished.

However, dealing with such a stubborn cat also gave people a headache.

For now, it was only affecting Chen Mu's progress with the iron fence installation, with only 35 out of the planned 125 bars installed on the first day, falling far short of expectations.

During dinner that evening, Chen Mu mentioned this to Dong Junwei and the others.

The others didn't seem to care much about the speed of the construction progress.

Chen Mu was no longer involved in the three meals a day, all of which were now handled solely by Du Jiajia, with Zhao Xiaoyan assisting at most.

Although the variety of food was not extensive, Du Jiajia always came up with creative ways to make alternative dishes. However, with limited resources, there couldn't be much variation in taste.

Human desires are boundless, especially for students from the "big foodie" nation. Every meal they had before the disaster now torments their souls like a nightmare.

Tonight's dinner was relatively simple. Du Jiajia imitated the style of Western cuisine, cooking each dish separately and putting them on a plate.

As they were finishing the meal, Chen Mu asked Du Jiajia, "How long can our food last?"

"We still have quite a lot of flour from last time, and combined with the rice we had before, it should last us about a month without any problems. If we start saving a bit now, everyone can manage for two months without an issue."

"No need to save for now. After all the work we've done, it would be ridiculous if we couldn't even fill our stomachs."

"But what about a month from now?"

"My idea is, after we finish sealing the door gaps, we will continue to go out foraging. I suggest forming an outbound team dedicated to external affairs, not just for food, but also because we still lack many materials if we want to continue developing."

Suddenly, Zhu Hao chuckled and said, "So, my initial name for the post-apocalyptic super mobile squad can finally come into play?"

"Don't use that name. I doubt anyone would be willing to join the outbound team with such a name."

"Haha."

"For the matters concerning the outbound team, Chen Mu, it's up to you to decide," Dong Junwei said. "And you can choose the members as well."

"Okay."

Chen Mu nodded as if he had already considered it and said without hesitation, "I tentatively decide on four people: me, He Ying, Sun Yuan, and Chang Junyan."

"Don't we need Da Lei?" Dong Junwei asked, puzzled.

Chen Mu stopped Wei Dalei, who was about to speak, and explained, "Although Da Lei's abilities are well-suited for combat, his main approach to dealing with danger outside is still to avoid and escape. His strength isn't as useful in that situation. On the other hand, we need him to guard the base."

"But what about Chang Junyan?" Dong Junwei hesitated.

At that moment, Chang Junyan had just finished eating and was merrily scratching his arm. As the saying goes, "After a meal, scratching an itch is better than seeing a deity."

He vaguely heard his name being mentioned, so he looked up with a puzzled expression and asked, "Are you calling me?"

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