North America Gunman Detective

Chapter 1537 - 824: Special Welcoming Ceremony (Part 2)

Outside the cabin, they've piled up a bonfire. Jimmy and Roland sit in front of it at night, chatting mainly about survival in this world: how to acquire meat, where to trade with others, and similar matters. For Roland, these are not issues. He goes out from time to time to purchase or exchange food, mainly vegetables and grains. As for meat, he relies on his own hunting.

Beside the camp is a well housed in a dedicated structure. The underground water can be drunk, but there's no guarantee it won't contain substances harmful to humans. Jimmy nodded slightly, thankful for his foresight—he has a portable water purifier in his outdoor survival backpack. Although it can't completely filter out harmful substances, it ensures the water from the well is a bit cleaner.

Roland has already cleaned up much of the surrounding ruins over the past few months. As long as there are no major accidents, this place is relatively safe.

Upon arriving at a new location, Jimmy surely needs to follow Roland's experiences. He's not here to conquer this world; he's scouting ahead for Nia. As long as it's safe and they can survive, that's already good.

In such a place, there's definitely no entertainment activities at night. After chatting for a while, Jimmy and Roland extinguish the fire and return to rest. Jimmy takes a sleeping bag from his backpack, unsure of the temperature, so he obediently crawls into the sleeping bag the first night to see how it feels.

"Boom," while deeply asleep, a violent shake jolts Jimmy awake immediately. "Roland…" he just calls out when Roland has already sat up and runs directly to the door.

Jimmy doesn't hesitate either, rolling onto the ground and scrambling out of the sleeping bag to run outside.

An earthquake has struck; the initial tremor just woke them up. Now standing outside under the faint light of a crescent moon, they don't dare return indoors, knowing that earthquakes are not singular events—aftershocks will certainly follow, varying only in intensity.

"Damn, is this how the world welcomes me?"

Jimmy stands beside Roland, looking around.

"Relax, it's just an earthquake."

Roland seems unworried. Since they've left the house, there's no roof overhead and the neighboring house's collapse wouldn't affect them. This ensures their safety.

Jimmy: "Are there frequent earthquakes here?"

Roland: "No, there haven't been any in the past few months, though I've experienced many earthquakes before. I've mentioned, this world is on the decline, and natural disasters and man-made calamities are understandable."

Jimmy is dumbfounded; he's never experienced such a moment of disaster. It's fortunate they're in a cabin near the door, making it easy to exit. An earthquake in a tall building would hardly allow escape.

Of course, earthquakes vary in size. During minor ones, they might not even notice.

This earthquake is small; there's no way to measure its magnitude, yet even the dilapidated neighboring houses haven't collapsed. Obviously, the earthquake isn't significant.

They waited for a long time with no aftershocks. Roland walks toward the house, "It should be safe now. Let's rest. We need to go out tomorrow."

Jimmy: "Well, let's still be careful. I'll sleep outside and get my sleeping bag."

Roland: "No need. I've experienced many earthquakes of this magnitude. Trust me."

Jimmy thought for a moment and followed Roland back to the room, yet he didn't sleep deeply this time, waking frequently and feeling worse for wear.

As dawn breaks, Jimmy gets up and checks the room, finding the furniture slightly shifted but not toppled. It's normal, with no major issues.

Roland watches Jimmy moving about the house without commenting, simply lying there observing Jimmy's busy endeavors.

Maybe due to his extensive experiences, Roland doesn't worry much about these things, as it's only a minor earthquake.

Jimmy opens the door and walks a circle outside, arriving at the transmission gateway location. He carefully checks the generator and circuits, relieved to find no apparent issues.

Only upon checking this time did Jimmy discover not only a generator here but also several large batteries connected to it, apparently providing standby power for the generator.

Checking here awhile longer, Roland, not seeing Jimmy return, comes out to find him observing the generator and batteries, then explains the setup to him.

These batteries and the generator are key devices for Roland's trips. Each time he's about to return to Earth, he sets the generator's shutdown and startup times, allowing him to synchronize the transmission gateways for fixed round trips.

It's indeed an effective plan; the only issue is not staying on Earth too long. If these batteries deplete and the generator can't start on schedule, they can't return to this fixed location but instead randomly appear elsewhere. Last time, Roland appeared about tens of kilometers away and had to trek back with supplies.

Jimmy is surprised, pondering how Roland devised this method. He always assumed Roland would start the generator upon return, keeping it running until he shut it down after returning. Indeed, when Roland returned yesterday, he immediately turned off the generator, prompting such thoughts in Jimmy.

Upon hearing Roland's plan, Jimmy realizes his thinking was flawed; running the generator for a month would require significant fuel, making nonstop operation impossible. Clearly, this approach is the most practical.

Roland isn't foolish. When considering frequent trips, he thought of a plan and discussed it with the store personnel while purchasing the generator, choosing a version with programmable start and stop times.

Jimmy still admires Roland, even if this plan isn't perfectly reliable. It's undoubtedly suitable for short stays while traveling between two worlds. After organizing supplies in the corner, they have breakfast and start surveying the area.

For Roland, this vicinity is quite safe. However, Jimmy needs further verification since Nia will eventually come here, and even little Liam might join in a few years. Transforming the ruins into a fixed base is essential, contingent on eliminating threats.

Luckily, the ruins seem sturdy. Clearing adjacent spaces might create a safe house.

After accompanying Jimmy on a round, Roland starts gathering his belongings: "Jimmy, wait here. I'm heading out to find someone; I'll return in a few days."

Jimmy nods: "By the way, how are you going out?"

Roland: "I'll head toward a nearby settlement. There's enough supplies here. Don't wander off; you might get lost."

Jimmy sees Roland leave, feeling uneasy watching him walk into the distance. Although there's no gas station here for cars, surely one doesn't have to walk?

Okay, next time back on Earth, they should prepare a few bicycles to bring along. Given the lack of roads here, mountain bikes might be ideal. He'll make a selection when he returns.

As for motorcycles, with limited fuel storage and nowhere else to refuel, they would likely only be viable for local trips.