My Computer Leads to an Instance Dungeon-Chapter 57: Equipment, A Full-Scale Upgrade

Fang Zhen picked up a square glass bottle from in front of him and got to work.

He had bought these glass bottles from a nearby scrap yard.

Making a Molotov Cocktail might seem simple, but there are many technical details to consider. The choice of bottle is one of them.

Many glass bottles on the market are made of soda-lime glass. This type of glass is sturdy, durable, and somewhat elastic. While it’s a good choice for liquor bottles, it’s not ideal for a firebomb.

Some glass medicine vials are even made of borosilicate glass, which is tougher and more resistant to corrosion and heat.

Since Fang Zhen was making Molotov Cocktails, he obviously had to avoid these two materials.

It would be pretty embarrassing to throw a firebomb only for it not to shatter because the glass was too high-quality.

He chose liquor bottles made of plain glass—ordinary glass with no other elements mixed in, which made it more fragile.

Fang Zhen also deliberately chose square-shaped bottles.

Such bottles sacrificed a bit of volume, but according to both common sense and physics, a round bottle disperses impact forces more evenly. An angular object, however, concentrates force at its corners, making it more likely to break.

Fang Zhen had gone to the scrap yard and spent 50 yuan. After a good while of rummaging, he found five glass bottles that perfectly suited his needs. These were the four clean, square bottles now in front of him.

Fang Zhen had field-tested one at the dump, shattering it. The experiment proved that this type of square bottle would break instantly on a hard surface like a rock, avoiding the embarrassing scenario where it failed to shatter because it was too well-made.

Fang Zhen picked up a square bottle and pulled out about two dozen cork and rubber stoppers from his backpack.

He had gotten the corks from the owner of a nearby wine shop he frequented.

After a few tries, Fang Zhen found over a dozen that fit the bottle mouths perfectly.

He took a square glass bottle, grabbed a funnel, and opened a small metal can of spare gasoline. Inserting the funnel into the bottle’s mouth, he began to pour the gasoline in.

The smell of gasoline immediately filled the room.

Fang Zhen stopped after filling the bottle about halfway with gasoline. He set down the small metal fuel can, went to the kitchen, and returned with a bag of white sugar.

He tore open the packaging. Inside was fine, soft white sugar.

Fang Zhen pinched a bit and tasted it. ’Soft sweetness. Yep, that’s the one.’

Fang Zhen slowly and gradually sprinkled the fine white sugar into the bottle.

The "cocktail" part of Molotov Cocktail is fitting; just like a real one, you can mix in all sorts of ingredients.

Mixing in sugar, motor oil, lubricant, rosin, asphalt, styrofoam, or even white phosphorus could produce special effects and increase its potency.

Since this was his first time making them, Fang Zhen didn’t add anything too potent. He especially avoided white phosphorus, mainly due to the risk of spontaneous combustion.

Adding sugar would make the flames stick to their target.

After Fang Zhen added the sugar, the bottle was about sixty percent full.

’That should be enough.’ Fang Zhen stopped filling it.

You couldn’t fill it too full. This was mainly to prevent leaks and make it easier to throw. Plus, the extra air inside would create a better explosive effect when the bottle shattered.

Filling it to about sixty percent of its capacity increased the amount of liquid without affecting the throw, ensuring a good burn.

However, the seal had to be extra tight to prevent any spills.

After doing all this, Fang Zhen used an electric drill to make a hole in the cork. He threaded a strip of cloth through it, adjusted it, and then sealed it with electrical tape.

To guarantee an airtight seal, Fang Zhen had also bought a hot glue gun, which he used for a second layer of sealant.

He followed this with another series of careful steps.

Half an hour later, four Molotov Cocktails sat before Fang Zhen.

Gazing at the fruits of his half-hour of labor—four perfectly prepared Molotov Cocktails—Fang Zhen let out a chuckle.

’This’ll be enough to make the Kobolds in the mine really suffer.’

Four bottles should be plenty; he might not even use them all. So, Fang Zhen didn’t make any more.

Fang Zhen wrapped the cloth wicks in clear tape to keep the fuel from evaporating too quickly; he could just rip it off when he needed them. With that done, he set the four cocktails aside.

He began testing the Night Vision Goggles and thermal imager.

Fang Zhen had bought both items directly from an outdoor supply store.

The prices at the physical store were a bit higher than online, but the advantage was getting the gear in his hands immediately after paying, with no waiting.

Fang Zhen was in a hurry, so the extra cost didn’t matter. He went straight to an outdoor supply store and bought them on the spot.

Fang Zhen didn’t skimp, either. He bought the most expensive models in the store: the Night Vision Goggles cost 3,200 yuan, while the head-mounted thermal imager was 12,899 yuan.

The two devices are easily confused by name, but they are actually vastly different pieces of equipment that work on entirely different principles.

Night Vision Goggles work by capturing faint ambient light, amplifying it with an intensifier, and utilizing infrared light. They work fine for something like hunting in the wild, where there’s usually some faint natural light. In pure darkness with no light source, however, Night Vision Goggles are not very effective.

A thermal imager is far more advanced. It creates an image by capturing the heat energy emitted by a target, making it possible to see targets even in complete darkness.

Initially, Fang Zhen had planned to just get the top-tier option and buy only the thermal imager.

After a moment’s thought, however, he realized there was a blind spot in his plan.

He was planning to use Molotov Cocktails to burn the Kobolds. Once he did that, the thermal imager would be overwhelmed. The environment would be flooded with high temperatures, rendering the device basically useless.

Realizing this, Fang Zhen decided to buy a pair of Night Vision Goggles as a backup. Worst-case scenario, he’d just have to switch between the two.

Both the Night Vision Goggles and the thermal imager Fang Zhen bought were head-mounted for convenience.

He picked up the Night Vision Goggles, put them on, and turned off the lights in his room. Then he walked over to the window, opened it, and peered outside from the side.

It was almost nine o’clock. Looking outside through the Night Vision Goggles, everything was perfectly clear.

After watching for a moment, Fang Zhen took off the Night Vision Helmet and switched to the thermal imager.

Putting on the thermal imager, Fang Zhen looked outside again.

The thermal imager had several display modes: white-hot, black-hot, red, and rainbow. Fang Zhen switched it to white-hot.

The world in his vision became black and white. The background was black, while the people walking sparsely outside appeared as moving white figures.

He watched for a bit, feeling quite satisfied.

He lifted his head and looked at the building across the way.

He couldn’t see a thing.

Fang Zhen chuckled. ’Heh.’

That was to be expected. Thermal imaging relies on capturing infrared signals. Trying to get a clear thermal reading of the building opposite, from dozens of meters away and through glass, wasn’t going to be easy.

’Probably for the best,’ he thought. ’If I saw some sort of "male-female superposition" through the thermal lens, it’d burn my eyes.’

Fang Zhen finished testing his gear and was mostly satisfied.

He felt he was still missing one piece of advanced defensive equipment, though.

His riot suit had excellent anti-stab and anti-slash capabilities, but it wasn’t quite suitable for the mine. Many of the Kobolds were miners who used pickaxes, which dealt blunt-force damage.

Plus, the riot suit couldn’t stop Crossbow Arrows.

Fang Zhen had considered Plate Armor, but he realized it wouldn’t work.

You could buy Chain Armor and Plate Armor online, but for one, getting a custom fit would take time, and he was running out of it.

More importantly, both Plate Armor and Chain Armor were too heavy. They would weigh him down and hinder his mobility.

In a dungeon like the Redstone Town Mine, one of Fang Zhen’s main advantages was his agility. He had long legs and was fast. If he really couldn’t win, he could toss his spear, abandon the Dragon Gall Crossbow, and just run for it with his flashlight. The Kobolds probably wouldn’t be able to catch him.

But if he wore heavy armor, forget the weight—his mobility would be shot. He wouldn’t be able to run, forcing him to stand his ground and fight head-on.

Besides, there was another important factor.

There were spellcasters among the Kobolds!

According to the information he had, it wasn’t clear what kind of Magic the Kobold spellcasters used or how powerful it was, but he guessed they probably used some form of fire Magic.

Even setting aside the issues of weight, mobility, and customization time, if he wore Plate Armor and ran into a spellcaster, he wouldn’t be able to run away, and it would be difficult to even fight back.

A fire Magic spell hits him while he’s wearing Plate Armor... wouldn’t that just turn him into a can of cooked meat?

The moment he realized this, Fang Zhen abandoned the idea of heavy armor. Instead, he ordered an asbestos suit online, just to be safe. It was currently in transit.

But Fang Zhen wasn’t neglecting his defense, either.

He had thought of a way to get around the weight restrictions while still boosting his defense.

But it was a method he couldn’t put into practice tonight. He would have to try it tomorrow.