Chapter 67: Risking It All for Others

Fortunately, in this area, there are plenty of both trees and stones.

Although clay is scarce, Lin Yifan has already asked others; as long as he digs down about half a meter underground, the soil he digs up counts as clay.

So if he has enough time now, it is possible to gather the missing materials for those who have not yet upgraded their shelters to level two.

However, this is not easy; upgrading a level‑one shelter to level two requires, besides the level‑two shelter blueprint, 50 units of wood, 50 units of stone, and 30 units of clay.

As for the blueprint, it is actually not lacking; starting from day 3, the white treasure chest can drop the level‑two shelter blueprint.

So now most people already have the blueprint ready, but gathering the materials is not that easy.

Because those survivors who have not yet upgraded their shelters to level two are mostly the elderly, weak, sick, or disabled; they simply lack the ability to chop trees or strike stones, let alone dig clay.

Thus, although only a little material is needed, many people cannot actually upgrade their shelters to level two.

Lin Yifan took a deep breath, faced the freshly forged great axe, and began chopping trees quickly.

Needless to say, the black‑iron grade lives up to its name; it is far beyond what ordinary weapons can compare to.

Previously, when he used an axe, cutting down a tree took at least three to five minutes; even though his physical strength was boosted by the free attribute, he had strengthened considerably, but felling a tree still required at least two minutes.

But now, it takes only two swings, and a tree falls!

Moreover, it makes no difference what kind of tree; even a relatively hard pine tree basically needs only three blows.

Chopping down a tree yields at least three units of wood; a slightly harder pine tree can even yield six units.

The only pity is that he did not harvest a critical hit today; otherwise, the speed could have been even faster!

Lin Yifan held his breath and chopped nonstop; in just 40 minutes he actually produced a full 20,000 units of basic wood.

Lin Yifan looked at the piles of wood, his hands trembling; even though his physical strength had reached the excellent grade, such high‑intensity logging still consumed too much.

He found a piece of wood to sit on, took a deep breath, and then began sending a message to Chen Yunuo:

"20,000 units of basic wood—is that enough?"

At this moment, Chen Yunuo was still continuously gathering mugwort and mint; Lin Yifan had previously published the formula for strong mosquito repellent.

Therefore, everyone in the district knows these two items are used to make mosquito repellent, so whenever someone comes across them, they also collect them.

However, Lin Yifan has never purchased these two materials on the market; the ingredients for his basic mosquito repellent are all grown by himself using good‑quality cultivation soil.

This also means that most people's mugwort and mint have no use.

The Heaven and Earth Society, on the other hand, has purchased these two materials, but aside from their own members, others basically distrust them, so they have not handed over their materials.

Consequently, Chen Yunuo's collection has gone fairly smoothly; supported by the huge population base, she has also gathered quite a lot, enough to make another three or five hundred batches.

She had originally intended to give this batch of materials to Lin Yifan, but she did not expect him to approach her first.

But when she saw Lin Yifan's message, she couldn't help rubbing her eyes, almost thinking she was seeing things.

She sent a message, her face full of disbelief:

"20,000 units of basic wood? Are you serious?"

Lin Yifan had no time to explain; he directly initiated the trade.

However, a moment after initiating the trade, he canceled it.

Because 20,000 units of wood left in the wild would be fine, but if Chen Yunuo piled such a large amount inside her shelter, it would probably burst her level‑two shelter.

And Chen Yunuo only believed it was real after seeing the trade message.

She sent a message, her face full of shock:

"How did you manage that?"

Even if it were someone he trusted completely, Lin Yifan could not reveal his details, so he gave a vague answer:

"Don't worry about this; I got lucky obtaining it. I'll trade this batch of materials to you in installments—take them and distribute them to those in need first."

"Later there will also be a batch of stone and clay; however, stone and clay are relatively harder to obtain. Check how much everyone still has, especially those unwilling to donate, and try to purchase their supplies first."

"If you don't have enough supplies to purchase, you can go find your close friend and have her ask another of my teammates, who has plenty of meat."

Lin Yifan really had no alternative; wood was fine—his great axe let him chop trees quickly—but stone and clay were different.

In the nearby area, the amount of stone is inherently scarce; there is indeed a place that has some, but getting there would take about ten minutes, and even if he went all out, he couldn't gather that much stone in such a short time.

Having said that, he proceeded to trade 1,000 units of wood over.

Chen Yunuo also traded the mugwort and mint to him; Lin Yifan did not refuse, quickly processed all the herbs into strong mosquito repellent, and then traded it back.

Chen Yunuo did not know how Lin Yifan managed to obtain so much wood in such a short time.

But since he was unwilling to say, she dared not ask further; as for stone and clay, she was not particularly worried and sent a message lightly:

"The shortage of stone and clay is not too great; for most ordinary people, picking up stones is less costly than chopping trees, and as for clay, the required amount is already small, plus recent rain has made it easier to obtain."

"The shortfall for these two is probably only about five to six hundred units, so you don't need to rush."

Being short by only five to six hundred units relieved Lin Yifan.

If stone also required 20,000 units, he would truly have no solution.

Now that only a little is missing, it's not difficult!

Lin Yifan did not delay; after getting up, he quickly began gathering stones. Although stones are relatively scarce in this area, there are still plenty in the forest.

Lin Yifan spent about an hour collecting roughly 600 units of stone, then another hour gathering about 500 units of clay.

After trading all the materials to Chen Yunuo, he collapsed straight onto the ground.

At that moment the rain grew heavier, large raindrops hitting Lin Yifan's face, causing a faint sting.

But he was utterly exhausted!

Therefore, even so, he lay down and rested for ten‑odd minutes before finally recovering.

However, when he saw the contribution value skyrocketing, he felt immensely relieved!

Although he fought desperately for three hours, he accumulated over 20,000 contribution points—enough to exchange for many things!

For example, the synthesis room blueprint he most wanted; if he could successfully open the survival shop tomorrow, he would obtain that blueprint.

Moreover, ceramic, glass, and lacquer tree sap are also available in the survival shop; if he can redeem them, he can build his bathroom.

As soon as he thought that he would soon have a clean and tidy bathroom, Lin Yifan's fatigue felt considerably relieved.

However, just as he was about to get up and prepare to go home, he suddenly heard a rustling footstep sound from not far away!

His whole body tensed instantly, and he cautiously turned his head to look toward where the sound came from.

But what he saw was…… a person!