Train Survival: You're really trying to survive!

Su Li and the others first found a place to settle Sun Lili, who was still unconscious.

The only reliable people Zu Li could think of were the relevant personnel of the Blue Star government.

With Zheng Hongyuan's help, they found a place to stay.

The train was uninhabitable during its renovation, so the explorers have a significant need for accommodation. To meet this need, the Blue Star government has officially operated many hotels, providing food and lodging services for the explorers.

After registering at the hotel using the handbook, Zuli noticed that the hotel used a handwritten note system for registration.

[The shop assistant must be a Blue Star human who gave up her player identity.] Su Li glanced at the shop assistant; there were no traces of magical energy on her, so she must have been one of the worst off players.

For players like this, giving up their identities is a good thing. At least they don't have to risk their lives and can still do some logistical work for the Blue Star civilization.

After registration was completed, the pretty receptionist said with a smile, "Explorer, if you have nothing to do, you can participate in Blue Star City's New Year's activities."

Hearing this, Su Li was taken aback. "New Year? It's already New Year's?"

Su Li calculated the time. The game started at the end of June, just after the college entrance examination results were released. More than 160 days, a little over 5 months, had passed since the game started. According to the calendar on Earth, that would be early December.

The waiter noticed Su Li's confusion and explained, "It's like this, according to the number of days, we entered this world on June 25th, so today should be early December. It's almost New Year's Day. Coincidentally, we recently had a bumper harvest, so we're celebrating the New Year early."

"We are no longer on Blue Star. This Blue Star City has no seasons, and the calendar on Blue Star is only of commemorative significance. The Blue Star government has decided that three days from now will be designated as the New Year, the first year of Blue Star, January 1st. From now on, each year will have 360 ​​days, and each month will have 30 days."

Su Li said "Oh," and added, "So it's decided? It's a bit strange. We won't be able to joke about celebrating birthdays every four years in a leap year anymore."

Then Su Li suddenly realized something, "By the way, little brother and little sister, haven't they grown a year older?"

Ivan nodded. "Yes, my age on my panel is already 13."

Sun Keke nodded in agreement.

"Only 160 days? It feels like so much longer." Song Mingyu sighed.

"There have been so many thrilling things that it feels like time is passing slowly," Su Li added. "Now that you mention it, more than 120 days have passed since the grain was planted, so it should indeed be ripe by now."

The waiter said, "Actually, this is the second batch of ripe grain. The first batch was ripened in just one month at a huge cost by the Blue Star government, who used many tools to accelerate its ripening."

"Blue Star City had already started a rationing system before the first batch of food arrived. We went hungry for two weeks before we ate the first batch of food." The beautiful waitress said this with a tone full of lingering fear. "When I was trying to lose weight, I ate purple sweet potatoes and red sweet potatoes, treating them as nutritious diet meals. I was wondering at the time why my parents didn't like to eat sweet potatoes, even though they were so delicious."

"Then after a month of eating sweet potatoes as the staple food and the stems and leaves as vegetables, you started to get acid reflux and fart every day and then you behaved yourself, right?" Su Li chimed in.

The waiter smiled sheepishly, "Yes. But at least we survived."

Su Li agreed in her heart. There's a saying: rice and wheat in good times, potatoes in bad times, and sweet potatoes in desperate times.

After saying goodbye to the waiter, Song Mingyu didn't want to go out, so she stayed behind to look after Sun Lili. The remaining four people left the hotel, intending to explore.

After the waiter's reminder, Su Li realized that Blue Star City did indeed have a New Year's atmosphere.

Near the temple, there are mostly functional buildings provided by the system for explorers, and not many residents. Once you leave the explorer area of ​​the temple factory and enter the residential area, you can immediately feel the difference in atmosphere.

In Zurich's words, it's become even more popular.

You can see all kinds of vendors on the street, selling mostly snacks, couplets, "Fu" characters, Christmas trees, fortune-telling, and all kinds of customs, both familiar and unfamiliar, you can see them here.

As they walked, Su Li and Sophia formed one group, while Ivan and Sun Keke formed another, and the two groups separated.

Ivan and his friends preferred excitement and went to see the lion dance, while Zurich preferred food and headed straight for the snack street.

Su Li bought a candied hawthorn from a street vendor next door and chatted with the vendor while eating it.

"Boss, your candied hawthorns taste great! Are they actually hawthorn berries?"

The shopkeeper smiled proudly, "These are fruits I collected in a previous world. They taste a bit like hawthorn, so I used them to make candied hawthorn skewers. Just for fun."

"Wow, your skills are pretty good." Su Li watched the boss's movements, which were very practiced.

"Before I started playing the game, I sold snacks. I could make candied hawthorn, jianbing guozi, and roasted gluten. I just can't make them now because of limited ingredients. Otherwise, I would let you try them all."

Su Li bought a few more skewers and kept them all for later, to give to the two little ones and his second wife when he got back.

While she was eating, someone suddenly patted her on the shoulder. Su Li turned around and saw that it was an acquaintance.

The person who came was Liu Wenbin, who was originally sixth on the list, and fifth after Li Fan's suicide.

This is a real big shot! Su Li quickly greeted him, "General Liu, you're out having fun too?"

"Yeah, Zheng Hongyuan asked me to borrow some members from the team before, saying you went missing in the dungeon world. I didn't expect to see you here. It's so good to see you're alright." Liu Wenbin casually bought a candied hawthorn.

He was a low-key person, and the surrounding residents did not know him, treating him only as an ordinary explorer.

The three of them, carrying food, came to the side. Liu Wenbin pointed to the bustling scene outside with his candied hawthorn and asked, "How does it feel?"

"The Blue Star government is doing a great job; it has a real sense of life. It feels like we're truly alive," Su Li remarked.

Liu Wenbin smiled and said, "It will be even better in a couple of days. We have already transported the Radiant Butterfly over. Once the fusion is complete, our world fragment will have sunlight. At that time, we will no longer need to consume resources for sunlight, and we will have more resources to upgrade our technology."

Looking at the couplet sellers over there, Liu Wenbin slowly said, "The situation in Blue Star City isn't very good right now. We can only afford to eat. Many daily necessities are in short supply. Most residents don't even have a few sets of spare clothes. Paper, soap, and other products are all produced by copying, and the quantities are extremely limited. We haven't done enough."

“But things are getting better. Let’s take it slow and not rush,” Su Li said with a smile, trying to reassure her.

“Yes, but we plan to develop the military industry first,” Liu Wenbin said. “Let’s set up some factories and mass-produce weapons, armor, firearms and ammunition. Survival first, then prosperity. If the Blue Star government wants to develop, it can’t keep relying on the military to collect materials from outside. Establishing good trading relationships with many players is the right way.”

"The items created by the system consume a lot of materials. The Blue Star government makes them and sells them to players. Players get more materials, and the Blue Star government also gets survival coins and materials. It's a win-win situation."

“Cheaper weapons, cheaper armor, and cheaper medicines… The Blue Star government is pushing these things with all its might, cultivating all kinds of skilled workers. In the future, the explorers at the bottom will live better and better.”

Hearing this, Su Li also felt a longing for it. Even their small team didn't have enough potions.

However, Su Li quickly came to her senses. For these fast-moving explorers, by the time the Blue Star government had trained enough professional life practitioners, the potions they produced might not be able to keep up with Su Li and her group's pace.

The best way to reliably obtain high-level items is to cultivate them yourself.