Chapter 25: The House

Driven by the pressing security concerns at hand, Chen Mu reluctantly suggested establishing some defense measures, but he only had a vague concept and no mature ideas.

However, he didn't expect that Tang Jing had already come up with a plan.

Yesterday, Chen Mu saw her squatting on the ground, drawing something. At that time, he thought it was just some idle doodling. But now, looking closely, these scattered patterns turned out to be precise drawings with dimensional data marked on them.

Of course, calling them "drawings" might be a bit exaggerated.

They were not that meticulous.

But even with Chen Mu's eyes as an ordinary high school student, he could roughly understand.

"You started drawing these yesterday?"

"Yes. As I said before, I had a few ideas; I just needed your cooperation."

"These... are measurements for the parts?" Chen Mu pointed to one of the giant patterns with dimensions indicated.

"Yes."

"I don't quite get it."

"I have two main ideas. First, we seal the gaps in the door and leave a passage for people and trolleys to enter and exit. It remains closed most of the time but can be opened when needed. Second, we directly build a few rooms inside the space."

"Rooms?"

Chen Mu could understand the idea of sealing the door gap; he had even thought about it himself.

However, in the end, he gave up on it. The door of this storage room was about one meter wide, and the gap was only one centimeter high. With Chen Mu's current abilities, completing such a massive project would take an indefinite amount of time.

There was another idea to use ready-made items like chopsticks to block the gap, and with Wei Dalei's strength, moving things would not be a problem.

But later, they discovered that this approach wouldn't work either.

Stainless steel chopsticks were round and had different sizes at both ends. Even if Chen Mu used his ability to reshape them, it would still be a significant project, and even after doing that, it wouldn't achieve a perfect fit.

However, the idea of building rooms inside the space had never occurred to Chen Mu.

Tang Jing said, "That's right, I personally don't agree with sealing the gap. It indeed can completely prevent larger animals like rats, snakes, and centipedes from entering, but the disadvantages are apparent. Firstly, it would take a very long time to accomplish, and secondly, small insects like cockroaches and ants can still easily get in even without gaps. So, the cost-effectiveness of this approach is relatively low."

"But can we really build houses?"

"That will depend on you," Tang Jing smiled.

"If I had that ability, I would have already built myself a luxurious mansion long ago," Chen Mu replied.

At present, Chen Mu's ability to control objects was limited. Even if we disregard speed and mental energy consumption, he could only handle things equivalent to about half his own weight. While there had been significant progress since the first day, he was still far from reaching the level of "building a house."

Tang Jing smiled and said, "If it were just you alone, it would indeed be unrealistic, but we have so many people."

"Huh?" Chen Mu was puzzled.

"You always think about creating an entire house in one go, but have you ever considered that we can break it down into parts and work on them separately?"

"Break it down?"

"Yes. A house is nothing more than four walls and a ceiling, with doors and windows added. Structurally, it's quite simple. You can just make each part step by step and then assemble them. Wouldn't that be much simpler?"

"Um..." Chen Mu hesitated.

"Let me ask you, if you were to make a plastic board that's as tall as a person and as wide as two people, how long would it take?"

Chen Mu pondered for a moment and said, "It's larger than the base of a trolley, but if there are no other intricate requirements, it would probably take a few minutes."

"Congratulations, you've already made one wall," Tang Jing praised him with a thumbs-up.

"Huh?"

"All we need now is a temporary hiding place and a safe space to sleep at night. We're not really planning to build a luxury mansion. Perhaps the term 'house' is a bit misleading. You can think of it as a container or even... a coffin."

"A... coffin?"

"Yes, a coffin that can accommodate four or five people. We can sleep inside it at night and hide in it when there's danger. At least we won't have to live in fear every day without a place to hide," Tang Jing explained.

"I understand what you mean."

"Of course, there are some other details to consider, like ventilation. It's summer now, and even if it's not too hot at night, several people crowded in an enclosed space won't be comfortable. Also, the house must be secured to the ground; otherwise, some large creature might just swallow us along with the house."

One couldn't help but admit that Tang Jing's idea was feasible.

It was currently the most cost-effective solution.

Chen Mu gathered everyone together and explained Tang Jing's idea.

Having a place to sleep peacefully at night naturally received no objections.

However, Dong Junwei seemed a bit hesitant and asked Chen Mu, "Can your ability support so much material?"

"If it's just plastic, it shouldn't be a problem."

Chen Mu estimated the scale of the entire project and his own ability limit, then added, "If necessary, we can do it in two days. It's better than doing nothing at all."

Dong Junwei nodded, "Do you need me to do something?"

Tang Jing smiled, "Of course, Squad Leader, you are also a major workforce."

Chen Mu and Dong Junwei exchanged glances, both feeling that they had been clearly assigned tasks.

...

Tang Jing's idea was already well-thought-out, but problems arose during the actual implementation.

The difficulty wasn't significant, but time was not enough.

Starting from around three in the afternoon until it was dark, they hadn't even seen the rudimentary form of the house.

The initial work was all centered around Chen Mu, and the others couldn't help much for the time being.

Even if it was just a wall without any decorative elements, it was challenging to make it neat and precise due to its large size. When creating the base of the trolley, it looked crooked and uneven because it didn't require much accuracy.

However, a house couldn't be like that.

For Chen Mu, making a plastic board of a similar size was not difficult, as he said, it would take a few minutes. But meeting Tang Jing's requirements was more challenging.

If the margin of error was too large, the house wouldn't fit together during construction, rendering it pointless.

As a result, most of his time was spent on fixing and adjusting.

By the time they finished building the four walls, it was already completely dark. Moreover, after the intense battle during the day, Chen Mu had exhausted both his physical and mental energy, so he had to put the work aside for the day and continue tomorrow.

...

At the same time, Dong Junwei wasn't idle either.

Besides heating the iron blocks for Du Jiajia to make flatbreads, she also tried some experiments with other materials.

However, the materials they could find were very limited.

Apart from steel and stone, they only had cotton thread, wood, and plastic to try.

Naturally, the first thing she thought of was plastic.

With Chen Mu's help, she created a plastic ball the size of a fist. Holding it in her hand, just like before, she closed her eyes and slowly infused it with mental energy.

The next moment, the plastic ball emitted a bright light.