74: Chapter 74 D-grade water purifier and E-grade bone-patterned leather armor

"Brother Ze, didn't you still have a D-rank upgrade stone? Where are you planning to use it?" Fatty's mouth was stuffed with food, his cheeks bulging, making his speech slurred.

Reminded by Fatty, Chen Ze suddenly remembered that among last night's rewards, there was still one D-rank upgrade stone and one E-rank upgrade stone he hadn't had time to use.

He put down his chopsticks, pondered for a moment, and quickly made up his mind.

"Let's use the D-rank upgrade stone on our e-rank water purifier first. Water is a necessity; we have to drink it every day. After upgrading, it will not only increase the attribute bonuses from the purified water but also strengthen its healing effects."

"That's definitely worth it. Since Xingzhe Sun's injuries haven't healed yet, with the D-rank water purifier, it should recover faster!"

Wang Yalan nodded in agreement.

[Ding! Do you want to use the upgrade stone on the e-rank water purifier?]

Chen Ze clicked confirm without hesitation.

[Ding! The e-rank water purifier has been successfully upgraded to D-rank!]

Item Name: D-rank Water Purifier.

Item Description: Can filter ordinary water into D-rank purified water. Drinking one liter per day increases three-dimensional attributes by 2 points!

Filtration Efficiency: 10 liters per day.

"The strengthening effect and filtration efficiency have both doubled!"

Chen Ze took a deep breath and exclaimed.

"Choosing to upgrade the water purifier was definitely the right move!"

"Good heavens, zero cost and it produces 10 liters a day?"

As Fatty spoke, he started counting on his fingers.

"An e-grade red jujube only adds one point to all attributes, and we sell them for 220 survival coins each. The D-rank purified water bonus is two points, so wouldn't one liter be worth over four or five hundred survival coins?"

"Ten full liters a day... My god, doesn't that mean we're getting four or five thousand survival coins for free every day?"

The more Fatty talked, the more excited he got, slapping the table so hard he almost knocked over the soup bowl in front of him.

"Damn! This thing is basically a goose that lays golden eggs!"

Chen Ze nodded.

"Mhm, the water purifier is indeed powerful. This upgrade was a huge win!"

There was still one E-rank upgrade stone left. After thinking it over, Chen Ze decided to use it on his F-rank armor.

He hadn't had the habit of wearing armor before, mainly because he found it cumbersome and not breathable.

But zombies were getting stronger every day, and there was the threat of Mutated Beast. An extra layer of protection might just save his life.

[Ding! Do you want to use the E-rank upgrade stone on the F-rank leather armor?]

"Confirm!"

"Hum~!"

After a brilliant flash of light, the F-rank leather armor completely changed!

The originally dull, hard, and inferior animal hide lost its dark color. Its surface now had a delicate matte finish, the rough burrs had completely melted away, and the seams fit together tightly.

Not only that, but polished beast bone armor plates were embedded on the chest, lower back, and knees of the leather armor. Compared to before, it was like night and day.

Chen Ze reached out to touch it, and the information for the leather armor immediately appeared.

[Item Information: E-rank Bone-Pattern Leather Armor.]

[Item Description: Armor sewn from E-rank animal hide and beast bones. It can not only withstand attacks from monsters of the same rank but also has the effect of insulating against external temperatures.]

Chen Ze barely looked at the previous introduction, focusing all his attention on the last sentence.

"No way? It can insulate against external temperatures?"

Without a second thought, he immediately put the upgraded Bone-Pattern Leather Armor on, and a gentle sensation of being enveloped instantly swept over his whole body.

The uncomfortable feeling of being unable to breathe from wearing the old leather armor completely vanished. The breathable texture channeled away the heat from his body. Even though the temperature in the room was high, he felt cool and refreshed, with not a hint of stuffiness.

"Wow! System products are truly high quality!"

Seeing Chen Ze get such awesome armor, Fatty was incredibly envious.

"Brother Ze, is it really as good as you say? Should I upgrade one too?"

"I suggest you upgrade your weapon instead!"

Wang Yalan said with a smile.

"Brother Ze's weapon has already reached D-rank, which is why he upgraded his armor. Your three-dimensional attributes are already low; it would be embarrassing if you couldn't even break through a zombie's defense later!"

Upon hearing this, Fatty immediately became unhappy.

"My three-dimensional attributes are bad? Are you kidding? I'm an expert who has broken through to E-rank!"

"E-rank? You leveled up?"

Chen Ze asked.

"Yeah! I leveled up yesterday, second place in the whole district! I was even rewarded with two E-rank beast cores. My total attributes are now a full 29 points!"

Fatty said with a smug look on his face.

"29 points?"

Wang Yalan looked surprised.

Chen Ze had long since given Fatty the beast cores needed for leveling up. After his breakthrough, he ate e-grade red jujube, Mutated Beast meat, and e-rank purified water, which added a total of 5 points to his overall attributes. Adding the contract bonus with Chen Ze, all his attributes combined did indeed reach 29 points!

Chen Ze thought about it, and it was indeed the case.

When Fatty first met him, his total attributes weren't even 15 points. In just one short day, he had already become one of the top people in the entire district.

"You kid, you've only just gotten a little stronger, and your tail is already sticking up to the sky, isn't it?"

Chen Ze teased with a smile.

"Hehe, how could that be!"

Fatty scratched the back of his head and said with a grin.

"I'm just lucky to be Brother Ze's subordinate. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't even have leftovers to eat by now!"

Fatty was indeed right. For anyone else, with Chen Ze's massive supply of attribute-boosting food, growing stronger would be inevitable.

But then again, it really wasn't Fatty who first made Chen Ze consider recruiting subordinates.

"40-year-old uncle with two kids" — he remembered this ID very clearly.

The reason was simple: that person's Fortress was shaped like a giant durian, and his talent was an even rarer recoil-damage talent, which fit perfectly with his current needs.

The Blockhouse now had the S-rank talent Tycoons Armor, which could continuously stack the Fortress's durability, maxing out its defensive foundation.

If he could add a layer of recoil damage, wouldn't he just need to sit and drink tea while the attacking zombies killed themselves by bouncing off?

Just thinking about it made Chen Ze feel incredibly thrilled.

Just then, a situation that even Chen Ze felt was somewhat unreal suddenly occurred.

That ID he hadn't contacted in a long time suddenly started shaking—the other party had sent a private message!

40-year-old uncle with two kids: "Big Brother Li Yunlong, are you there? I... our Fortress might not be able to hold on! Could... could you please help us!"

40-year-old uncle with two kids: "I know my request is excessive, but... but I can't just watch the children die like this. I beg you, as long as you are willing to help, I am willing to agree to any demand!"

Judging from the content of the message, the other party might have reached the end of their rope, and in desperation, they were trying anything as a last resort to seek Chen Ze's help.

Shanghai Li Yunlong: "Brother, what happened over there? Are other survivors attacking you?"

The moment the message was sent, the other party replied instantly.

40-year-old uncle with two kids: "Big Brother Li Yunlong, you really replied! We are being attacked by Mutated Beast, there are so many of them. Can you please help us!"