Chen Yuan stood silently in the alley, his brow slightly furrowed. He stroked Tiedan's gently warming head and muttered to himself, "I need to find a different energy source. These combustion pellets are useful, but they're not going to be enough."
He could easily imagine that if faced with a large horde of zombies, his three robot dogs wouldn't last long.
Shaking his head, he turned and walked back home.
Inside his apartment, he deployed the tent and began scrolling through the Apocalypse Store's blueprints. Upgrading the dogs required finding a suitable energy source, one that also matched their own upgrade paths. The two had to be complementary to achieve the effect he desired.
Nano-biochemical fuel cells... High-density nuclear fuel cells...
All sorts of battery options were displayed before him. The best one was undoubtedly the high-density nuclear fuel cell. With that, Tiedan would basically never need refueling. Of course, there was an even more powerful option: a Vibranium Arc Reactor. But the materials required for that were things Chen Yuan had never even heard of, let alone knew how to obtain.
Even so, for now, his only choice was the nano-biochemical fuel cell. This battery didn't store a large amount of energy itself; instead, it acted more like a generator, continuously burning biochemical fuel inside and expelling the byproducts of the electrode reaction.
However, the materials required for this were also numerous. Besides common things like carbon, it also needed precious metals like nickel, platinum, and palladium, as well as things he didn't understand, like polymer electrolyte ion-exchange membranes.
Chen Yuan scratched his head. It didn't matter that he didn't recognize these things; Tiedan would. The critical question was, where could he get these materials?
Hmm...
"The Materials Research Institute would definitely have them!"
The limited knowledge stored in his brain told him that a place like that would be full of good stuff. And in this apocalypse, with all production having ground to a halt, the materials would just be lying there, unwanted.
So, what was the problem now?
Right. He had no map and no GPS. And he had no memory of where this institute was located. In the past, he could have just used his phone's navigation. But now that his phone was a brick and the app companies were long gone, the benefits of the information age were completely cut off.
"Troublesome..."
He frowned in frustration, his finger continuing to swipe across the screen.
「Wearable Map System. Can be integrated into the thermostatic suit's goggles. Features navigation and marking functions.」
Seeing this, a slight smile touched the corners of Chen Yuan's lips. The required materials were relatively simple: just a single computer chip.
And he had those! More than twenty of them!
He took a computer motherboard from a nearby cabinet and pried off the chip. The blueprint didn't specify the model or performance, so he just tossed it into the insertion port. Then, he took off his own goggles and threw them in as well. After pressing the red button, he waited quietly for the upgrade.
...
Ten minutes later, the robotic arm on the production platform began to move. A pair of goggles, almost identical to his previous ones, appeared. Looking closely, he saw a fly-sized black circular button on the left frame.
Chen Yuan put them on. He pressed the button with his index finger, and a map appeared in his left field of vision. What's more, as he moved his eyes, the map moved with him. He was immediately impressed by the high-tech feel of this thing.
He read the instruction manual and understood how to use it. Moving his eyes was equivalent to swiping a finger on a phone screen, and different blink counts and frequencies corresponded to different operations. The map also worked with voice control, allowing for quick navigation and location marking.
Chen Yuan played with it for a while, thoroughly satisfied.
When he zoomed out the map, he discovered a blinking red dot.
"What's this?"
He focused his eyes on the blinking dot, then blinked again. A prompt box appeared.
「Tracker One Live Location」
Seeing this explanation, it dawned on him. The tracker he had given to Jiang Nan was directly marked on his map. He glanced back at Tiedan. Did this mean all three of his robot dogs had this map system? Yes, most likely. After all, they were all products of the store; it was likely their technology was compatible.
If that was the case, he could sit at home and give his robot dogs commands, sending them wherever he wanted. If used well, this map would be an incredible convenience!
He packed up the tent again. This time, when he went out, his destination was clear: the Materials Research Institute, twenty kilometers away. The navigation was already set; he just needed to follow the planned route.
However, twenty kilometers, never mind in this environment, would have been a hellishly long walk even in the old world. He conservatively estimated that the round trip would take three days. But if he didn't solve the fuel problem, he felt his safety wasn't guaranteed.
Standing at the door, he looked back at his apartment. Thank goodness for the portable tent; otherwise, he wouldn't have felt at ease leaving for such a long trip.
He locked the door and left with his three robot dogs. The bloodstains in the alley had been covered by fresh snow, and even the lingering smell of blood in the air had been blown away, as if nothing had ever happened.
Tieqiong and Tieniu cleared the path ahead, while Chen Yuan and Tiedan followed behind. It was already three in the afternoon. The sky was gradually dimming, and a fierce wind blew against his face, waking him up considerably.
He followed the main road straight ahead. After walking for nearly three hours, he arrived in another community district. Traveling at night was still not safe enough. Chen Yuan decided to find a place to rest.
His eyes scanned the map. Not far from his current location was a commercial district with many office buildings. Hmm, office buildings have plenty of materials, too. Chen Yuan decided to go and check it out. The advantage of having the tent was that he could throw materials directly inside, saving him from running back and forth. This was a huge time-saver.
As he continued forward, the streets gradually widened. Perhaps it was the oppressive, gloomy sky, but the skyscrapers, hundreds of meters tall, seemed to pierce the clouds.
"Hengfeng Tower..."
Chen Yuan looked at the three-dimensional characters on the side of the building, now covered in snow, and stepped inside. He could spend the night in his tent, so he just needed to find a sealed, safe place.
The main entrance of the office building had long been buried in snow. After his robot dogs cleared a path, he saw the shattered revolving glass doors. The five-story-high lobby was completely filled with snow. The lobby would do in a pinch, but Chen Yuan felt it would be safer to go up a few floors. The elevators were out, so he had to take the stairs.
Thump, thump, thump...
The sound of his footsteps echoed in the stairwell. The robot dogs' lights illuminated the path from bottom to top. He finally stopped after climbing to the tenth floor. The fire door leading to the inner corridor was shut tight. He tried to turn the L-shaped handle. With two sharp cracks, the door didn't budge.
"Looks like this floor is relatively safe..."
The door was clearly locked from the inside. If that was the case, no zombies should have been able to get in.
"Tiedan, break the door."
「Roger.」
Tiedan took two steps forward and extended its offensive mechanical arm. The sharp drill bit pressed against the lock. With just a few simple rotations, it pierced straight through.
Pulling open the fire door, Chen Yuan stepped into the inner corridor. His feet landed on a soft carpet, making no sound. The entire corridor was a rectangular loop, with a solid wall on one side and frosted glass partitions on the other. After walking a full circle, he arrived at the elevator lobby. This entire floor was occupied by a single company, and its main entrance was right in front of him.
"Limei Technology..."
Chen Yuan looked at the embossed art-style characters on the wall next to the door. He sniffed the air and could still smell the faint scent of cosmetics. It seemed to be a beauty company.
His gaze passed through the glass. He could see a pink-painted reception screen. He gently knocked on the glass door, which produced a dull thud. Hmm, this is tempered glass...
He wasn't planning on violently breaking this large pane of glass. After all, when he slept at night, it would serve as a layer of protection.
At Chen Yuan's command, Tieqiong extended its industrial mechanical arm. The pincer at the end wedged into the tiny gap between the doors. Then, the pincers forced the two large tempered glass doors apart, creating a gap just wide enough for one person to squeeze through.
"Tieniu, you can't fit. Stand guard at the entrance."
「Roger.」
Then, Chen Yuan entered with Tiedan and Tieqiong. After bypassing the reception screen, the searchlights illuminated the entire office area.
「Master, moving object detected.」
Chen Yuan: ???
"What?!"