Days in the Infinite

Li Ke worked through his tasks with remarkable speed. Thanks to his increased stamina, he managed to complete four missions in under two hours.

As luck would have it, he found a cement mixer amidst a pile of ruins. Although it was damaged, he planned to see if he could find a way to repair it.

The rewards from the four missions were equally satisfying. Among them was something crucial: a crucible.

Without a crucible, forging steel ingots would be impossible, and without steel ingots, reinforced concrete couldn't be made. Li Ke was thrilled.

The other three rewards were equally useful: two wrenches and twenty antibiotic tablets.

The antibiotics could significantly reduce infection levels, a welcome resource since the merchant no longer had honey for sale.

Still, Lady Kiri and Tsunade's mining efficiency left Li Ke utterly astounded.

"You two are unbelievably fast," he said, staring at the massive pit in front of him—at least ten meters deep and nearly thirty meters wide.

Covered in dirt, Lady Kiri rested her pickaxe on her shoulder. She took a sip of beer, her expression casual.

"Breaking a cubic meter of soil in two swings? I'd say it's pretty slow. My main concern is accidentally digging out the ground under wherever you're planning to build."

Li Ke didn't ask where Lady Kiri had gotten the ice-cold beer but winced as she pulled at the collar of her shirt, wafting the scent of sweat directly into his nose.

Unlike Erina, whose faint post-workout sweat was tolerable, Lady Kiri's odor was completely different. The smell of dried sweat was accompanied by strong hints of gunpowder and machine oil.

Li Ke instinctively waved his hand in front of his nose, grimacing as his gaze fell on her dirt-streaked chest, glistening with sweat. What had once been alluring was now… not so much.

Lady Kiri noticed his disgust immediately. Grinning, she suddenly leaped over and wrapped her arm around his head, pulling him into the crook of her arm.

"Take a good whiff!"

Li Ke's head collided with something soft, followed by an overwhelming assault on his senses—sweat, smoke, and beer. The smell of alcohol was the worst offender, making him recoil.

Quickly breaking free, he stumbled back, now just as dirt-covered as she was. Not that he'd been particularly clean to begin with.

He was about to complain when he spotted Tsunade emerging from the pit, equally covered in dirt and looking just as annoyed.

Deciding to change the subject, he said, "I saw a sewing station for sale in the shop earlier. It's not expensive. I could buy it and make you both some new clothes."

"No need," Lady Kiri replied, shaking her head. "I've been through far worse. Back when we were getting bombarded by those bastards in Ghent for two weeks straight, we didn't even have clean water, let alone fresh clothes. This? This is nothing."

She gestured toward the abandoned houses nearby.

"Besides, there should be old clothes in some of those places. We can just use those. No point wasting money on something so trivial. And clothes? I can make those myself."

She pulled a casino token from her pocket, tossing it casually in the air before catching it with a grin.

"Don't underestimate someone raised in Ghent! From fixing machines to embroidering fabric to raising kids—I can do it all! And don't even get me started on making grenades, Molotovs, or Gatling guns. You name it, I can make it!"

Lady Kiri emphasized her point by boldly slapping her chest, making it jiggle noticeably.

"Uh…" Li Ke's gaze shifted awkwardly, and he quickly remembered the cement mixer he'd brought back earlier.

Then another thought struck him.

"Wait—you said you can make grenades?"

Li Ke's eyes lit up as he turned to her.

"Well, yeah," Lady Kiri replied, growing slightly uneasy under his intense stare. She stepped back, trying to put some distance between them. "Back when supply lines were unreliable, we had to make our own grenades sometimes."

"What materials would you need?"

"Iron cans, gunpowder, and fuses, for starters. But don't get your hopes up. I'm not about to become your full-time grenade maker. That's not happening. Besides, your resources are too limited. At most, I could whip up some basic explosives or landmines. Good grenades? Forget it. And without gasoline or machine oil, making Molotovs is out of the question too."

Lady Kiri shook her head firmly. "You don't have any tools here, Li Ke. Forget about spare parts—you don't even have a lathe. How exactly am I supposed to help?"

With love?

Li Ke's spirits fell, but an idea soon sparked in his mind.

"Hey, Kiri," he said, pointing toward a gasoline barrel nearby. "If we modified that drum and loaded it with explosives, could it work as a cannon?"

He vaguely recalled hearing about similar contraptions before.

"You're suggesting…" Lady Kiri started, pausing mid-sentence. She froze for a moment, realizing it might actually be feasible. But then, she shook her head. "Well, it's possible in theory. But it's incredibly dangerous—very prone to exploding in the barrel. Without a welding torch or proper tools, it'd be a tough job. Still, I suppose we could give it a shot."

She spread her hands, her tone resigned.

"In that case, could you at least make some landmines that can be triggered by gunfire?" Li Ke asked, sighing. "Even if we manage to build a fortress, I won't feel secure otherwise."

He understood why Lady Kiri didn't share his fear of the zombie horde—she hadn't witnessed one firsthand. That made sense to him.

The system's resources were useful but came with a critical limitation: their numerical nature.

For instance, a wooden frame in reality could block the same attacks that the system's version couldn't. He'd seen firsthand how the wooden structures he'd crafted were rapidly broken under the zombies' assault.

He couldn't shake the worry that a concrete fortress might suffer the same fate. His eyes drifted toward the invincible wall in the distance.

If worst came to worst, he'd have to build a floating house—a structure partially supported by a cliff island, with an escape route for emergencies.

"Don't worry," Lady Kiri said confidently. "Grenades are tricky to make safe, but this? This is easy."

"Glad to hear it. Let's keep mining, then," Li Ke replied.

He glanced at the time—barely 10 a.m.—and pulled out his pickaxe and shovel, joining Kiri and Tsunade in their work.

The growing pile of ore gave Li Ke a sense of security. The furnace burned continuously, processing materials. During the day, he ventured out to chop wood and added the extracted iron to the fire, converting every bit into precious steel ingots.

The three of them worked tirelessly, stopping for a light lunch before getting back to work. Li Ke's boosted stats kept him energetic, while Lady Kiri and Tsunade, being far from ordinary humans, weren't bothered by the minimal break.

By 5 p.m., they were all physically drained. Prioritizing their safety, the group decided to rest for the night.

After dinner and a quick wash, Li Ke suddenly realized he'd completely forgotten one thing.

Beds.

Fortunately, none of them were too concerned. They settled down in the small "matchbox" house Li Ke had built and quickly fell asleep.

However…

In a half-conscious state, Li Ke felt like he was being constricted by a massive python. His lungs burned as air was forced out of them, and a sense of impending suffocation set in.

Struggling awake, he realized he wasn't being crushed by a snake. Instead, Kiri had wrapped her arms around him like he was a doll, her head buried against his chest.

Gasping for breath, he pried himself free, gulping in air to steady his breathing. Just as he was about to scold her, Kiri groggily opened her eyes and beat him to it.

"What's your problem?" she grumbled, stifling a yawn.

"You were smothering me!" Li Ke protested. "I could barely breathe!"

Kiri rolled her eyes, unimpressed. "Seriously? You woke me up for that? Call me when you rub up against me enough to finish—otherwise, let me sleep!"

She wiped the drool from her mouth with her hand, raised her middle finger lazily in his direction, and flopped back down to sleep before Li Ke could react.

Left speechless, Li Ke lay back down, resigning himself to sleep.

But barely twenty minutes later…

Kiri started grinding her teeth, the sound grating on his nerves.

Li Ke took a deep breath and covered his ears.

And then…

Tsunade's snoring joined in—louder than Kiri's.

Li Ke: "…"

At that moment, he found himself longing for Erina once again.