Su Cheng’s eyes widened, and joy surged through his heart.
He hadn’t expected that even he was one of the lucky ones favored by the heavens, not just tossed here carelessly to wait for death.
With a single thought, the Encyclopedia opened.
The screen, with its blank page and search bar, looked just like an intelligent AI program.
He glanced at the row of words at the bottom, then typed in “Extreme Winter.”
Just a few seconds later, the blank page quickly provided an answer.
Extreme Winter: According to the data, this is an exceptionally harsh season for all living beings. It occurs in a cycle once every seven years. Not only are temperatures extremely low, but blizzards, hailstorms, torrential rain, and other extreme weather are also frequent. It is dozens of times worse than an ordinary winter. During this period, several days of Polar Night may also occur from time to time. Without adequate preparation in advance, entire races could be wiped out.
After reading the description, Su Cheng’s mouth twitched a few times. With weather this harsh, on top of the Polar Night, even people in the modern world would have a hard time dealing with it.
Fortunately, at least we have padded coats and pants, air conditioning and underfloor heating, high-rise buildings, and plenty of food, so things wouldn’t get too bad.
But what did this group of Beast-eared Girls have? Barely any clothes, shelters that offered no protection from the wind, and not enough food. Those alone would already be a disaster, wouldn’t they?
It was truly hard to imagine how they had managed to survive before.
Still, they were the original inhabitants, after all, and had at least a strong capacity to adapt. Otherwise, these groups would have died out long ago.
By contrast, Su Cheng was almost certain that, given his current circumstances, he’d be the first to go meet God when Extreme Winter arrived.
Damn.
Now he really had to get his act together.
For the sake of his own life.
Looking at the pitch-black Tent, Su Cheng gradually found his direction.
It was late autumn, and the chill had already set in.
The temperature difference between day and night was greater than he’d expected. Gusts of chilly autumn wind blew in without warning, making Su Cheng’s hair stand on end and sending a violent shiver through him. His legs, sticking out of the Tent, were cold and trembling too.
He drew in a breath of cold air and reluctantly sat back up.
How was he supposed to sleep like this?
Why hadn’t these people started a fire yet? Su Cheng frowned, then looked outside the Tent.
The moonlight was bright, its silvery glow bathing the Camp and making it seem even more desolate. In the Tent across from him, two Cat-eared Girls had appeared at some point. They lay quietly in their shelter, with only their heads poking out, staring at him with bright, intent eyes.
In a nearby Tent, the Wolf-eared Girl was the same, curled up with her little head poking out of the Tent, her eyes sparkling.
Though they wore the same thin Beast-hide Dresses, the Beast-eared Girls didn’t seem to mind the cold night wind.
Su Cheng clicked his tongue. Fine, he was the useless one.
After all, you couldn’t compare a human’s constitution with that of a Beast-eared Girl!
He remembered the cats and dogs he’d had before. They’d all been like this, hardly seeming to mind the cold.
But he was human. If he slept like this until morning, he’d probably freeze into an idiot.
If you want something done, do it yourself.
Su Cheng made up his mind: he would start a fire himself.
Having been educated in the modern world, he naturally knew how to start a fire outdoors; he’d just never tried it. So aside from knowing that you could take a stick and rub it hard between your hands, he had no idea about the finer details.
Besides, he was a well-rounded young man from the computer science department. Who would go out of their way to learn that sort of thing? He had no interest in wilderness survival.
As for the more efficient fire-starting methods developed later, he’d only ever heard of them.
But with the Encyclopedia, none of that was a problem.
Soon, Su Cheng had all the information he needed about Fire Drilling, including the hand-drill and bow-drill methods.
Of course, with the tools and materials available now, Su Cheng could only try Fire Drilling. It was the least efficient method, but its materials were the easiest to prepare.
He got right to it. Su Cheng stood up and dashed outside under the puzzled gazes of the three Beast-eared Girls. He rummaged through a pile of dry firewood nearby, using the identify-by-image function to quickly find a few good pieces of Poplar Wood and birch.
Poplar Wood was a softwood with a loose grain, making it ideal for the fireboard. By contrast, the wood used for the spindle needed to be fairly hard to prevent it from wearing down too quickly, so birch was a good choice.
Using hardwood to drill into softwood would also make the friction more effective.
Besides that, he needed to find some dry grass and fine fluff to help the fire catch.
Su Cheng hurried over to the hay pile again and searched around by moonlight.
The three Beast-eared Girls’ eyes followed Su Cheng back and forth as he brought back some Firewood, then handful after handful of Dry Grass and leaves, tossing it all onto a patch of scorched earth.
After that, Su Cheng walked right up to them and asked,
“Do you have a Bone Knife? Lend it to me.”
The two Cat-eared Girls blinked at him blankly. They had no idea why he wanted a Bone Knife at a time like this, but they still went into the Tent and brought one out.
“What are you doing?” one of the Cat-eared Girls asked curiously.
“Starting a fire.”
Su Cheng took the Bone Knife and tested its sharpness with his hand. “I don’t know when you’re going to start a fire. You don’t seem to be cold, but I can’t handle it. I’m cold.”
At that, the two Cat-eared Girls exchanged a glance, their eyes drooping.
(￢_￢)
What nonsense was this man talking about? Who said they weren’t cold?
And what had he just said—starting a fire?
Meow?!
The two Cat-eared Girls instantly straightened up, their eyes shining.
Su Cheng had barely returned to his spot and crouched down to get ready when he heard a rush of wind. Carried on it was the Beast-eared Girls’ distinctive scent, which rushed into his nostrils in an instant.
It wasn’t just the two Cat-eared Girls; even the Wolf-eared Girl hurried over. The three surrounded Su Cheng, staring without blinking, their clear eyes shining so brightly it was startling.
Su Cheng rubbed his nose. There wasn’t really any fragrance, but somehow it smelled pretty nice.
“Are you going to start a fire?” one of the Cat-eared Girls asked again, as if to make sure.
“Yeah.”
Su Cheng nodded and said casually, “You three can block the wind for me while you’re at it.”
Then he followed the instructions in the Encyclopedia and began preparing the Poplar Wood—that is, making the fireboard. Since the Poplar Wood he’d found was already split, breaking it apart gave him plenty of pieces close to board-shaped, making them much easier to work with.
Next, Su Cheng took the Bone Knife and cut a V-shaped notch into the edge of the Wooden Board. He also found some dry leaves to put underneath it.
Next came the spindle. Ideally, it should be fairly long and about as thick as a finger. Su Cheng found the most suitable piece and trimmed it slightly with the Bone Knife, turning it into a straight stick.
Then Su Cheng took the stick and pressed it hard into the notch on the fireboard, drilling out a small round hole. With that, all the preparations were complete.