Surviving the Long Night: Starting from the Gas Station and Infinite Upgrades

Chapter 3 Online Shopping, Closing the Gap and Nightfall

The reinforced wooden door was sufficient to handle all the nighttime attacks from the previous incarnation's memory, but the creatures of the night don't only use doors.

The gas station was in disrepair, with holes in the walls that allowed small nocturnal creatures to squeeze in.

Most small nocturnal creatures pose little threat; in a one-on-one situation, a trained adult can handle them with their bare hands.

However, the weaker the nocturnal creature, the more likely it is to stick together; small nocturnal creatures usually appear in groups.

Since the original owner didn't want to live anymore, he naturally had no interest in collecting materials to repair the hole. The wooden planks he had found earlier were left over from a long time ago. Lu Sheng could only try to get through the night first.

The gas station is located in an abandoned transportation hub that once included a bus station, a train station, and an underground railway. It was a large transportation hub in its heyday, but now it is just a ruin.

However, from the perspective of collecting materials, this ruin is also a treasure chest containing many resources. Lu Sheng plans to go to the ruins tomorrow to find some materials to repair the warehouse walls.

Today, reinforced gates and pistols are his only weapons.

After entering what he wanted on the online shopping page, a large number of products were pushed to his eyes. Lu Sheng didn't have time to study them carefully, so he directly filtered for nearby products that could be delivered quickly.

After the page was refreshed based on the filter criteria, the prices of the products that appeared were significantly higher than those on the previous page.

He placed his first order: a box of fifty rounds, with a free quick-load loader, for 150 credits, plus 50 credits for express delivery, delivered by drone.

The shipping cost accounted for a quarter of the total. In his previous life, Lu Sheng would have called it robbery, but now he placed the order without hesitation.

After confirming the address, an obligation notification interface pops up, stating that if the drone encounters an accident en route, the buyer will bear the loss, and can purchase insurance for an additional ten credits.

Meanwhile, if there are signs of flying nocturnal creatures on the return route after delivery, the drone will wait at the delivery location until dawn before returning. During this period, if the drone is damaged, the insurance will not cover it, and all losses will be borne by the buyer.

The notice made Lu Sheng's blood pressure rise a bit, but due to the circumstances, he had no choice but to sign it. The logistics status then changed to "packing in progress" and was expected to be delivered in half an hour.

Lu Sheng glanced outside; the sun had sunk three-quarters of the way below the horizon, and the long night was about to begin.

Taking advantage of the last bit of time, he checked the food, the battery box, the gasoline generator as a precaution, and other equipment. During this time, he discovered that the equipment in the gas station could be upgraded, just like the wooden door.

"Small battery storage box, upgrade consumes one unit of steel."

"Gasoline generator, consumes one unit of steel to upgrade."

"Refueling warehouse: Consumes 10 units of steel and 10 units of wood for repair and reinforcement. Upgrades are available after repairs are complete."

……

Lu Sheng roughly understood how to use his system. By concentrating on an item, he could see the upgrade requirements. If the item was damaged, it needed to be repaired and reinforced before it could be upgraded.

The materials needed for the upgrade fall into two main categories: wood and steel. Both can be found in the ruins of the transportation station, but there's no time for that today.

Repairing, reinforcing, and upgrading are different. Repairing and reinforcing can only fix things and make them stronger, while upgrading can be done in three directions.

For example, small batteries can be equipped with larger storage capacity, higher output power, or faster energy storage speed.

This magical power is similar to the cheat codes that Lu Sheng saw in novels in his previous life, and also similar to the construction-type awakeners in his previous life's memories.

But the directions are slightly different.

Construction-type Awakeners can be roughly divided into two categories. One category focuses on "construction" and can consume building materials to quickly build structures. Many city defense works are made by them.

Another type focuses on "manufacturing," which can consume materials to quickly create machinery, similar to slapping a pile of steel and a tank rising from the ground.

Lu Sheng's abilities cannot achieve these things, but he can upgrade on the existing foundation, and the scope is wider. Except for himself, he can upgrade everything within his sight.

"Perhaps this is my awakened ability? Just because my predecessor couldn't do it doesn't mean I can't."

Lu Sheng came up with an explanation for his abilities that aligned with his worldview.

In the final moments before sunset, Lu Sheng tried to block up any gaps he could by using heavy objects such as shelves, boxes, and sandbags.

I don't expect everything to be useful, but anything that can reduce stress is a good thing.

In the era of long nights, night falls quickly. As soon as the sun sets, the sky darkens at a visible speed. Lu Sheng turns on the light, stares at the data terminal, and wishes he could add two flamethrowers to the drone.

The drones have begun delivering goods, but delivery is expected to take another 15 minutes.

In the quarter hour after dark, too many things can change.

"Ugh!"

Suddenly, a car horn sounded outside the warehouse. Lu Sheng was incredulous. His predecessor hadn't encountered a single customer all month, but he had just arrived and already had two.

"Waaah! Waaah!"

The car horns grew closer and louder with each blast, accompanied by the sound of car engines, as if they had already arrived at the warehouse entrance.

Lu Sheng hesitated, wondering whether to open the door. Even if he gave the other person gas, they would most likely choose to spend the night at the gas station.

He didn't have any rooms available for guests, so the other person had to stay with him in the gas station warehouse. The long night was already dangerous enough, and he didn't want to add any more complications.

"Bang! Bang!"

Someone was knocking on the door.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The man knocked even louder, clearly having seen the lights in the gas station and becoming certain that someone was inside.

"Boss, let me stay here for one night, 500 credits."

It was a woman's voice outside the door, and it sounded urgent.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

"One thousand credits!"

"Five thousand! That's all the money I have on me!"

Lu Sheng grew tired of hearing it, thought for a moment, and then offered the other party a way out:

"I won't let you in. If you really don't want to leave, drive east and go down the small road east of the gas station. You'll soon see an abandoned convenience store."

The walls inside are still relatively intact, but the main gate is gone. Block the entrance with your car, don't turn on the lights or make any noise. Whether you can survive the night is up to you.

If you dare to try anything funny and sneak in, or ram the door with your car, I'll shoot you dead!

The knocking stopped, and then Lu Sheng heard a voice from outside the door:

"Thanks."

Then came the sound of the car restarting.

Lu Sheng didn't let his guard down. He only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw through the hole in the east wall of the warehouse that the other party had driven the car past as he had instructed.

"Bang!"

The sudden crash startled him; it sounded like a cannonball hitting the gate. If it were a gate before repairs and reinforcements, it would have been smashed with a hole.

The voice was definitely not human. The moment Lu Sheng came to his senses, he realized that the creature of the night had arrived.

Looking at the terminal screen again, the drone is expected to arrive in ten minutes.