"This diesel engine is good, but it's also quite loud. It'll be troublesome if I turn it on at night."

Su Mo felt his head hurt as he looked at the diesel engine that he was using to charge his batteries.

After repairing a light bulb he had scavenged from Shelter Number Two with two survival points, there was finally a stable source of light in the base.

The automated crossbow was also charging at another head of the engine.

The average engine would burn 210 to 240 grams of diesel when emitting 1 volt of light, but the real amount consumed was 0.3 liters.

After a brief calculation based on the amount of diesel stored at the base and the loss after conversion, it was concluded that 200 liters of diesel could emit almost 600 volts of light.

"It should be enough for now."

Su Mo nodded. He pulled on the free end of the thread that was fastened to the bulb until it was in front of the kobold, and summoned Oreo.

Somehow, Oreo was becoming less and less active. If it was not eating and playing around, it would lie down by the vegetable culture medium and space out, looking at the tiny entrance where light entered the cave.

Its small head was filled with many questions.

"Hmm… I'll wake it up soon, and you'll translate for us. That okay?"

"Bark?" Oreo tilted its head in question, like a human would.

"You'll tell this kobold what I said, and then when it answers you'll tell me what it's saying."

After a simple explanation, Oreo nodded, and a typically evil smirk surfaced on its face, telling Su Mo that it could do this task perfectly.

Ah, you could just tell me that you were going to interrogate it~

Oreo finally got it, Su Mo noticed. Su Mo helped the kobold up onto a stool, shoved a wooden stick beneath the rope tying it up, and forced it into a standing position.

"Hi, wake up!"

Su Mo patted the kobold's face twice. The kobold showed no reaction at all. Su Mo had gone too hard with his punches just now, probably.

Without losing his composure, Su Mo gave Oreo a look, which it immediately understood. It leapt to settle by the kobold's feet, opened its mouth, and sank its teeth on the flesh.

"Ah!"

"Ngh!"

A howl, like that of a wolf, erupted inside the cave. The kobold, which was feigning unconsciousness, almost keeled on the floor due to the sudden burst of pain.

"There's really something wrong with this guy, it seems! Oreo hasn't even bit down and it's already yowling."

Su Mo was more curious about the kobolds as a race as he watched the kobolds' performance.

Why did such a strange race even exist? And they were capable of making nuclear bombs, uh, grenades from scratch as well!

Su Mo smiled subtly as he looked at the anger on the kobold's face.

"Oreo, ask it, is he willing to submit?"

At his command, Oreo started to communicate with the kobold in its own language, a smirk on its face.

"Arf arf!"

"Bark!"

The kobold made a face. Su Mo and Oreo understood it immediately.

Disdain!

The kobold was disdainful at the thought of speaking with Oreo, a race that was lowlier than its own!

"Hmm, you're quite stubborn. Okay, nuff said! I have a complete set of Huaxia torture methods for you to choose from. Come on!"

"So you're insisting on keeping silent?"

The kobold raised its head higher. Su Mo did not hesitate. He stepped forward and punched the kobold in its belly.

Thud~ thrum~

Somehow, Su Mo felt like he had become stronger.

0.1 second after the kobold was punched in the stomach, tears streamed out of its eyes, and it cried out loud.

"Are you willing to submit?"

Getting no reaction, Su Mo landed another punch.

"Awoooooooo!"

After two consecutive punches, the kobold finally understood what it meant to bend down. If it was not tied up, it would probably kneel down and kowtow the next second.

Oreo, who was beside the kobold, raised its chin as well. Although it still had to look up at the kobold, its gaze was increasingly filled with disdain.

"Hmm? You dare glare at me?"

One punch!

Three was better than two, definitely. After this punch, the kobold no longer dared to show its disdain. It whimpered and nodded hurriedly, showing its acceptance of its current situation.

However, Su Mo landed another blow, rather unceremoniously.

"Sorry, I don't like the number three! I like the number four more!"

"Haha!"

Hearing Su Mo's words, Oreo laughed until it was short of breath. 

"Oreo, let it know what a f*cking surprise means!"

Su Mo finally felt vindicated at the sight of the kobold's twisted expression of pain.

The kobold looked honest, but it disdained Oreo from the bottom of its heart. Even its gaze was filled with disdain as he looked down at Oreo.

If normal methods did not work, then…

Su Mo chose to show the kobold what he was capable of before sending it to its death!

Luckily, the kobold became much more docile after four punches.

"Ask it why it came here and if it came to find me."

"Bark bark!"

"Bark bark!"

As Oreo and the kobold communicated with difficulty (it was as if one spoke in a dialect while the other in proper English), Su Mo could only wait at their side, covering his forehead with his palm. 

Oreo spent five minutes to convey one simple sentence.

"Bark?"

"Did you say that it's not here for me?"

Oreo shook its head. The kobold looked like it was telling the truth. 

Su Mo felt his head hurt. 

"What did it find in our bushes?"

Su Mo had assumed that the kobold had come following a trace, but it seemed like that was not the case.

"I'm too careful, probably…"

"Maybe the kobolds sent out a few teams to look for something and I happened to encounter one of them."

After some thought, Su Mo decided to wait for Oreo's report on the matter.

Their conversation was longer this time round, lasting about ten minutes. Oreo had barked so much its mouth was dry before it finally acquired some information.

"Bark…"

"Bark!"

Su Mo could not understand what Oreo was saying, and so the dog ran to their pile of stuff and dug out a wooden stick.

It was a tool the kobold had used to do magic!

"Is there something wrong with this stick? But the system can't detect anything about this stick."

Su Mo picked the stick up and looked it through carefully under the light bulb.

Back in Shelter Number Two, he had checked the magic wand the kobolds used to do magic.

Everyone had a secret wish to be a magician, including himself.

Unfortunately, there was nothing special with the stick, and one could not conjure fire balls with it. 

After Oreo's reminder, Su Mo examined it carefully again. This time round, he immediately found something out of sorts.

There was a small hole at the head of the stick, and it looked like it was sealed with wood. It did not look like something that had grown naturally.

He raised the stick to his nose and fanned his face with his palm, so that the smell of the stick could reach his nose.

"This smell…"

A familiar memory appeared in his mind.

Su Mo felt the stick all over and managed to find something similar to a button around the middle of the stick.

He pressed down on it gently, and the hole at the tip opened. The smell became thicker.

"Is this… Gunpowder?"