Chapter 99 Nuclear Radiation 2

Chapter 99 Nuclear Radiation 2

Su Han continued reading, "Seal food tightly, avoid drinking seawater, and keep food in sealed containers."

"If you can, stick to underground spaces."

"Avoid getting rained on, cover up as much skin as possible, and wear headscarves, hats, gloves, boots, etc."

"Prolonged nuclear radiation exposure raises cancer risks. Our bodies have built-in defenses against cell mutations, but radiation screws them up big time, making it way more likely you'll get cancer."

"Generally, symptoms fall into four levels—

Mild damage might cause fatigue, discomfort, and loss of appetite.

Moderate damage shows up as dizziness, fatigue, nausea, and nonstop puking.

Severe damage means frequent vomiting, maybe diarrhea too. There's a 50% chance the patient will die within 30 days.

Extreme damage leads to repeated vomiting and diarrhea, shock—and you’re pretty much done for."

...

Su Han studied carefully, feeling like she'd gone back to school. The booklet was all highlights—like stuff that’ll be on the test!

After finishing, she wasn’t done yet, wishing she could read it a few more times to memorize everything.

The shopkeeper noticed her interest and seized the moment to pitch, "I’ve got town maps. Interested?"

"No thanks." Su Han stuffed the booklet into her backpack and left.

As she walked further, she realized the underground plaza had everything. To her left was a bakery, while to her right stood a water station. A sign clearly stated, "Lightly contaminated water—buyer beware."

Su Han browsed as she walked, searching for protective suits. Unfortunately, after visiting several shops, she found none. Still, she didn’t walk away empty-handed—she bought a hat, a silk scarf, and leather gloves.

She also grabbed several rolls of tape to seal off any exposed skin and purchased long-sleeved shirts and pants to cover every inch of herself.

Just as she was about to continue shopping, someone approached and whispered, "I’ve got protective suits. Got extra soap?"

Su Han paused but quickly recalled the booklet’s advice: "A good scrub with clean water washes off radiation gunk. Frequent handwashing and keeping clean are crucial."

"What’s your offer?" she countered.

"One suit for ten bars of soap!" The guy tried to rip her off.

But for Su Han, soap wasn’t scarce—protective gear was. So she nodded and said softly, "Deal. But I get to check it first."

At this, the man looked nervous. "No way! Hand over the soap first, then you get the suit. Otherwise, what if you run off with it?"

Su Han thought, *If I don’t inspect it, this dude’s gonna bail.*

"Is the suit damaged?" she asked casually.

The guy’s eye started twitching, barely controlling his expression. Then he took off in a huff. "Hmph! If you don’t want to trade, just say so. Why waste my time?"

Su Han immediately kicked him. *Scamming me and then playing the victim? Think I’m some kinda sucker?*

The guy ate the kick but said nothing, only booked it.

After scouring the place forever, Su Han still hadn’t found the two things she wanted most. One was a protective suit—just having it on would’ve been a relief. The other was iodine tablets, supposed to help if you’ve been exposed and taken daily afterward.

Unfortunately, after searching high and low, she couldn’t find any for sale.

Su Han pondered for a moment before entering a grocery store.

"Come, come, take a look! Fresh ginkgo leaf tea—works wonders for reducing radiation!" The shop owner, a woman, spoke rapidly, bubbling with enthusiasm.

"Ginkgo leaf tea helps reduce radiation?" Su Han pretended to be interested.

"*Of course!*" the shopkeeper replied proudly. "Long-term consumption of ginkgo leaf tea can effectively protect blood cell production. People who used to work in nuclear radiation environments often drank it."

Su Han realized with dismay that she had never paid much attention to this field before, making it impossible for her to tell whether the shopkeeper’s claims were true or not...

Thinking the customer wasn’t fond of tea, the shopkeeper switched to pushing other products. "How about some kelp? It also boosts radiation resistance!"

"Alright, I’ll take some kelp," Su Han replied, planning to make a tossed kelp salad.

"Great! How will you pay?" Thrilled to make a sale, the shopkeeper beamed. "Food or household goods are both acceptable."

"Food," Su Han answered.

After some negotiation, she exchanged three slightly contaminated black bread loaves for a large pack of kelp.

After testing the bread with a special scanner and confirming the contamination was minimal, the shopkeeper smiled in satisfaction.

"I’ll sit here for a bit," Su Han said, putting on a tired act as if she was exhausted from shopping.

"Feel free," the shopkeeper replied warmly.

Casually, as if letting slip small talk, Su Han mentioned, "My boss sent me to buy iodine tablets and a hazmat suit, but after searching everywhere, I couldn’t find anything. *Ugh*, I’ll probably get scolded when I go back."

She complained bitterly, looking totally put-out. "Can you believe it? It’s not like I didn’t try, but they’re nowhere to be found!"

Sympathetic, the shopkeeper comforted her, "Don’t beat yourself up. Working for someone these days isn’t easy."

"Is your boss just looking for an excuse to pick on you? In times like these, who would even trade hazmat suits or iodine tablets?"

"If he’s sending you out to find those, why not just ask you to pluck stars for him instead?"

Su Han sighed, "..."

So hazmat suits and iodine tablets were that rare?

With a pained expression, she asked pitifully, "Is there really no other way? My boss is rolling in it—a total big shot! If I can just find out where to get a hazmat suit and iodine tablets, I’ll be in the clear."

"Well, there is a way," the shopkeeper tipped her off. "Go straight ahead after leaving here, and there’s a pharmacy that sells iodine tablets. But the price? Most people can’t afford it."

"That’s fine!" Su Han said cheerfully. "As long as they have it, nothing else matters!"

To show her gratitude, she bought another half-kilogram of ginkgo leaf tea.

The shopkeeper was all smiles, her expression even friendlier.

Su Han took off like she was in a hurry. But after walking a short distance, she turned back. "One more thing—how do you open a shop down here? My boss might be interested."

"The entire mall is managed by a dedicated team. Pay goods as payment for rent, and you can set up shop. The management office is near the pharmacy—you can check it out while you’re there," the shopkeeper explained obligingly.

Su Han nodded half-understanding before asking another question. "How do I leave the underground plaza?"

Before the shopkeeper could answer, she gave an embarrassed laugh. "Someone brought me here, but we got separated. There are too many intersections—I can’t tell which way’s which."

The female boss patiently explained, "All survivor residences have staircases leading to the underground plaza. First-timers always get confused."

"You can exit through the main gate later and return directly to the street. But then you'd be completely exposed outside."

"The mall's business hours are from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Civilians aren't allowed in after hours. Those who overstay will be treated as trespassers."

Su Han looked down, thinking to herself that this made sense. She'd gotten some solid intel; the food was a small price to pay.

After politely saying goodbye, Su Han headed to the pharmacy.

Just as she arrived at her destination, she saw someone haggling with the pharmacy manager, trying to corner the market on iodine meds.

Su Han facepalmed, wondering when he'd ever quit his habit of clearing out pharmacies.

As she approached step by step, she noticed the two were going at it hot and heavy.

Zhong Rui tried to persuade the other party, arguing that merchandise is meant to be sold, so why not sell ten portions of iodine medicine at once?

The manager firmly insisted there's a three-per-customer limit, with no exceptions.

"If he's unwilling, let's not push him," Su Han tugged at her companion's sleeve.

Zhong Rui turned back in surprise, "What are you doing here? When did you arrive?"

"Just got here," Su Han replied casually.

The manager slowly exhaled, breaking into a relieved smile, and said gently, "Sorry, it's store policy. There's nothing I can do."

Unexpectedly, Su Han continued nonchalantly, "Why not hire a few people outside, pay them a small fee, and have each buy three portions? That would solve the problem without any argument."

The manager, "..."

One was trying to exploit advantages to persuade exceptions, while the other was cleverly using rules to maximize benefits—these two were made for each other!

Unfortunately, if they really went through with this plan, he would have no grounds to refuse.

Zhong Rui looked at his companion with admiration and approval, thinking this teammate really got him.

Before the manager could respond, Su Han added, "Since it's easy to find a couple of people to complete the transaction, why not just agree now? Recruiting people's a pain."

"The two of us want ten portions of iodine medicine—that's not too much to ask, right?" Zhong Rui muttered. If the manager still refused, he planned to immediately hire helpers outside.

Backed into a corner, the manager relented, "Fine, I'll get the medicine."

Su Han, however, was surprised, "Ten portions for two people? You're including me?"

"We're teammates, after all!" Zhong Rui declared matter-of-factly.

Su Han fell silent. Truth was, she was still on the fence about whether to cut her losses and leave the instance early...

This instance was bound to consume a massive amount of medicine, and she felt exchanging hard-won stockpiles for paltry XP wasn't worth it.

But now wasn’t the time to voice this. She could only give her teammate a thin smile in gratitude.

As they spoke, two armed men burst into the pharmacy, barking, "Robbery! Pack all the medicine into these bags!" They threw several sacks onto the floor.

Su Han froze. Honestly, she had never seen robbers looking so ragged.

One of them displayed the following attributes: "Satiety: 44%, Cleanliness: 41%, Stamina: 36%. Status: [Poor] (Moderate injuries)."

The other person's attributes displayed: "Satiety: 47%, Cleanliness: 44%, Stamina: 42%. Status: Fair, slight injuries."

Su Han couldn't help but think to herself, "They're basically half-dead already, yet still have the energy to rob people?"

Though she felt disdain, she understood perfectly well that in their condition, if they didn't force themselves to commit robbery, they'd probably just be sitting around waiting to die.

Author's note: Zhong Rui (all smug): She was so touched that I helped buy the medicine, she even smiled at me.

Su Han: Actually, I was planning to leave the Instance early and didn't need the iodine. Oh well, better not tell (crush his spirits) him.

**

Multiple-choice question: Which of the following foods can improve radiation resistance?

Su Han (frustrated): This wasn't in the study guide!