Apocalypse: I Can See the HP Bar, Killing Monsters Drops Loot-Chapter 1510 - 630: Water Resource Crisis_2

To maintain such a large barrier, the amount of Crystal Cores consumed is terrifying. Doubling the consumption could lead to a series of chain reactions. Not to mention, the subsequent consumption might even increase...

"However, our situation at the base is still relatively good, at least we can block the high temperatures. Other places, like Red Maple Base, are not the same!"

"Their side is hotter than ours, already close to fifty degrees. Residents can’t stand the heat, with many suffering from heat stroke every day. Therefore, their base decided to use Mutated Plants to dig underground and temporarily reside there, after all, it’s cooler underground... But unexpectedly, the deeper they dug, the hotter it got! Even their Mutated Plants died from the heat!"

"Although it’s known that the center of the earth is hot, how could the temperature from the core reach here?"

"This abnormal situation has left Red Maple Base perplexed, and they dare not dig further. The more they dig, the hotter the base gets, with hot air blasting out of those underground tunnels! This has left the people of Red Maple Base in a state of panic..."

"Hand-cranked mechanical fans only blow out hot air! Some thought of making ice the old-fashioned way, which could perhaps blow cool air, but the efficiency of ice-making is too poor!"

"We even sponsored them with some Crystal Energy Ice Makers and Crystal Energy fans. By producing a lot of ice, the temperature inside the base was lowered a bit, temporarily relieving the residents’ anxiety. But while the consumption of the Crystal Energy fans is manageable, the Crystal Energy Ice Maker, which was urgently developed by the Hope Research Institute recently, is yet to be optimized and consumes a vast amount of Crystal Cores, even more exaggerated than our Crystal Energy Poison Tree. So their solutions are just treating the symptoms, not the cause, and Han Youlin and others are having headaches over this..."

"Especially since the temperature is still rising continuously, no one knows when it will end. If the temperature keeps rising, the consumption of the Crystal Energy Ice Maker will become even more terrifying, sadly there’s no second Crystal Energy Poison Tree..."

Gu Yun sighed deeply. He really wanted to help Red Maple Base, but he was powerless.

"The situation at Silver Serpent Base is somewhat better, they live in the mountains, much cooler, and with us, Changhe Base, backing them, there’s no major issue for now..."

"It turns out that underground is actually hot, the deeper, the hotter..."

Wang Tao murmured to himself, he had really not noticed this issue, as his battles always involved fire, he himself didn’t feel the heat, and others got used to being hot around Wang Tao, which may compound the heat issue... And if it is always hot underground, it would be problematic for others—

During snowfall, they could still hide underground barely surviving, but now they can’t even go underground, and there are so many zombies outside... They literally have nowhere to hide!

Wang Tao, as if struck by a thought, suddenly asked:

"What about below our base?" freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

The range protected by the barrier of the Crystal Energy Poison Tree... doesn’t include underground, right? Wang Tao really didn’t know about this.

Hearing Wang Tao’s question, Gu Yun felt somewhat helpless.

"Our situation... is much better than Red Maple Base, but still a bit troublesome."

"After hearing about the situation at Red Maple Base, we specifically dug underground, the barrier does provide some protection underground, although not as strong as above ground, but it’s still there, as long as we don’t actively destroy it... The barrier is weaker in protecting against surface elements, it can block the temperature, but not our active digging, once we reached a certain depth, we immediately felt a wave of heat hit us... This situation is exactly like what happened at Red Maple Base!"

"Naturally, we dared not dig any further, retreated quickly, and then saw that these waves of heat were blocked by the underground barrier, as if nothing had happened. But actually, when we reached the heat wave, the consumption of the Crystal Energy Poison Tree suddenly increased... In other words, as long as we don’t actively dig downward and damage it, the barrier can still protect us."

"But looking at the current situation, if the underground heat continues to increase, the consumption of the Crystal Energy Poison Tree on the barrier will also continue to increase. With the weak surface protection, it’s not impossible that one day we could fail to protect it..."

Gu Yun’s face grew more worried.

"...This is indeed a problem."

Wang Tao nodded.

However, the situation was a bit better than he thought, as there was at least a barrier underground.

But if the temperature keeps rising, the underground barrier might not be able to protect them anymore!

Wang Tao was ready to communicate with the Crystal Energy Poison Tree to see if there was any solution. But suddenly he thought of a serious problem and quickly asked:

"By the way, since it’s so hot underground, what about our water supply? Could there be a problem with the groundwater?"

"It’s good of you to think of that, it’s also a major concern of ours!"

Gu Yun praised him and then continued.

"Currently, we do have a slight problem with the water supply—the water we’re drawing up is no longer cool, but warm. But that’s not the key issue, as long as there is water. The main concern is, as the temperature continues to rise, could the underground water be evaporated? If the water evaporates, that would be a major problem, considering our wells are only so deep, and it gets hotter the deeper you go, maybe the water below has already evaporated... Nobody knows what’s really happening underground right now, but we’ve started preparing for it!"

"Previously, the melted snow all flowed into the rifts, right? I sent people to check, the water there is still there, and it doesn’t seem too hot! So we’ve been sending people to transport water from the rifts lately..."

"And our Crystal Energy Poison Tree, hasn’t it always been releasing toxic wastewater? The more it is used, the more Crystal Cores are consumed, and the more toxic wastewater it discharges... Initially, Hope Laboratory planned to utilize this toxic wastewater to develop a toxic water weapon to eradicate zombies. But by a twist of fate, although we didn’t create the weapon, we inadvertently developed a Crystal Energy Purifier that specifically purifies this kind of toxic wastewater!"

"During previous tests, it was found that using the Crystal Energy Purifier to purify the toxic wastewater consumed a lot of Crystal Cores, which obviously wasn’t cost-effective as water doesn’t cost money, so we didn’t put these machines into use. But now, the situation is different, water has become precious, these Crystal Energy Purifiers might be put to use after all!"

"Although, due to the large population in our base, the purified water is still not enough, it suffices for emergencies. That’s already enough; even if one day the water in the rifts also dries up, then we can rely on this purified water to get by..."

"Of course, if it really comes to that point, it would be a slow death. But at least it would preserve some hope... "

At this point, Gu Yun’s tone became somewhat melancholic.

"Speaking of which, not to mention our Changhe Base, even considering large bases like Red Maple Base and Silver Serpent Base, their situation is actually still relatively good. I recently got news that some of the smaller bases around Silver Serpent Base have already disbanded several times in just the past few days! Those small bases couldn’t withstand the turmoil, a slight risk might lead to the destruction of the base, they used to be able to hide underground when the heavy snow came, but now they can’t even hide underground..."

"Our Changhe Base still maintains the rule that people with high internal impurities cannot enter, after all, it’s our responsibility to look after these hundreds of thousands of people. But after some deliberation, the committee made an exception for Silver Serpent Base, after all, they are our compatriots, we can’t bear to see them being heated to death, thirsting to death... Of course, for safety, I have designated a special area in Silver Serpent Base, and Awakeners to attend, ensuring issues are resolved before they arise. Moreover, the ordinary people from Silver Serpent Base have all moved to our Changhe Base, leaving only the combat personnel, and any issue that arises can still be stopped in time..."