Chapter 26: Light Bulb

Regarding the experiment with the plastic ball, the reaction was far stronger than that of the previous metal and stone.

Dong Junwei also felt it; upon opening her eyes, she saw a blinding light and instinctively flung the plastic ball away.

The plastic ball, like a light bulb, rolled gurgling across the ground for a distance, but the light did not diminish at all.

Chen Mu stepped forward, touched the plastic ball, found it not hot, and carefully picked it up.

At this moment, the plastic ball was entirely transparent and glowing, emitting a light with a hint of orange-yellow that illuminated everyone's faces clearly.

If one had to describe it.

It is essentially a light bulb.

"So, plastic emits light?"

"As far as we can see, that's correct."

"The class leader's ability is really strong."

"It's mainly very practical."

"So, we have a light for illumination at night?"

……

As far as we can tell, Dong Junwei's ability is indeed very interesting; the key is that it perfectly solves the various problems at hand.

When we couldn't cook rice, we had an iron plate grill;

When we needed to fight, we had explosives;

When there was no lighting at night, we had a light bulb.

If Chen Mu solved the craftsmanship, then Dong Junwei satisfied the power source.

Combined, given time, we could completely reshape most of industrial civilization.

Chen Mu turned his head to look at Tang Jing, and indeed saw this female academic goddess with a face full of excitement and enthusiasm, even a hint of madness; he guessed she was starting to plan some big project again.

"I just don't know how long it can keep glowing."

"We'll know if we test it tonight; also, we temporarily can't turn on the light." Tang Jing said after a moment of silence.

"Why?"

"The light will attract various moths and small insects; although they mostly eat vegetation, if they bump into us it's unbearable."

"That's true."

"Then isn't it meaningless?"

"How could it be? Once we build proper houses and villas, or when winter comes, it will definitely be useful."

"A villa? Is that possible?" Zhao Xiao Yan asked weakly.

"How could it be impossible? Not to mention villas, given sufficient time to develop, I could build you skyscrapers, cars, airplanes, factories… everything humans once had, we hope to possess again…"

Everyone watched Tang Jing speak louder and louder, and they all began to indulge in fantasies, but among those present, obviously no one could associate a light bulb and an iron plate grill with an entire industrial civilization; they merely felt that the usually steady Tang Jing rarely showed such excitement and fervor.

Tang Jing probably also realized she was a bit out of composure, quickly regained her calm, and smiled: "In any case, our life will keep getting better."

Everyone believes this, or rather, they hold a strong hope for it.

"So, what should we do with this light bulb now?" Du Jia Jia asked.

"Let's find something to wrap it up."

"No need." Chen Mu said, stuffing the plastic ball under the towel.

The light instantly dissipated, but beneath the towel a faint glow seeped out, making the mattress everyone had slept on for two days unusually atmospheric.

……

The next morning, after Chen Mu got up and returned from the public toilet, he immediately began working on building the house.

Everyone was still asleep.

Chen Mu glanced at Tang Jing, whose breathing was even at the other end of the towel, didn't wake her, and, following the diagram on the ground, slowly began processing the plastic sheets.

However, as soon as he got started, Chen Mu was surprisingly delighted.

Because his mental power had increased by a large amount compared to yesterday, even more than the total of the previous few days combined.

Why is that?

Chen Mu thought it over; aside from the greater intensity of his ability usage yesterday, the biggest reason was that he had fought a tough battle.

Could it be that the mental power gain from battle is more effective than ordinary ability use?

If that's truly the case, does it mean I should also go out and seek some stimulation?

He was thinking wildly in his heart, but his handiwork didn't stop; instead, efficiency rose, and the amount of work that took him several hours yesterday was completed in about half an hour today.

By this point, all the major materials needed for the two houses were finished.

"You…… you're done?"

Chen Mu had just stopped his hands when he heard Tang Jing's slightly surprised voice from behind.

"With just yesterday's experience, I said before that after doing it once, my speed could be much faster." Chen Mu did not mention his sudden increase in mental power.

"Looks like we'll have a house to stay in tonight."

Although they now have a storage room that shelters from wind and rain, in feeling it's no different from camping outdoors, not even having a tent.

At night, wind blew in from beneath the door crack, bringing a slight chill; fortunately the temperature isn't low now, and with the towel as a mattress, even without a blanket or similar cover, there's no risk of getting cold.

Soon, everyone got up one after another.

The toilet is rather simple, so most of the time everyone takes turns using it; fortunately there aren't many people yet, so there's no big problem.

Breakfast was still Du Jia Jia's rice cakes.

Every day we eat the same thing, prepared the same way, without salt or oil, merely to guarantee survival.

To be honest, even Chen Mu has grown tired of it.

But for now, there really is nothing else to eat.

Moreover, thinking about it, the people outside who are still alive might not even be able to get this; thinking of those three people from yesterday...

Happiness comes from comparison.

At least their lives are getting better and better.

By noon, two plastic huts sprang up from the ground.

Of course, for now it's just a shell; there are still many other things that need to be processed.

But the nine people stood in front of the matchbox-sized house, chatting and laughing, feeling an indescribable sense of ease.

Next came relatively more detailed work.

First, they needed to anchor the house to the ground; for Chen Mu this wasn't difficult—just making a few clamps on the ground, since the house itself was light, so securing it wasn't troublesome.

But the biggest problem was the door.

To make a door that could be opened and closed at any time, yet block outside intrusion, and also be tightly sealed, was indeed not that easy.

Especially the linking and fixing bracket between the door and the wall required a high degree of precision.

Although Chen Mu's psychic power had increased greatly, boosting the speed and weight he could control, precision was not something psychic power could fully solve.

Take the simplest example: the Peppa Pig he's made so far is still horribly ugly.

In this regard, not only does it require psychic power support, but it also tests a bit of imagination and control.

The bracket was eventually made, but after installing it, the door wouldn't shut tightly; Chen Mu and Tang Jing tried several times, all ending in failure.

Perhaps after a few more tries, they would eventually succeed.

But Chen Mu's psychic power consumption had become excessive at this point, so he had to stop and rest.

For such fine detailing of small objects, it was obviously more mentally taxing than large-scale changes.

"Let's leave it at that for today; we'll talk more tomorrow. Actually, this is already pretty good."

Although there was no door, after everyone crawled into the house they were still overjoyed.

The enclosed environment could provide a sense of psychological security; that night they could probably sleep soundly.