Li Lanlan and Song Qing knew a little about Tang Mo's family background.
Besides, even though they were on good terms, none of them had the habit of prying, so no one grew suspicious.
Tang Mo was willing to offer reminders and help where she could, but she couldn't tell anyone the truth about a trump card that concerned their future survival.
The days passed uneventfully. Although the students were trapped on campus, they had teachers and classmates around them. They could still get online to contact their families, so it wasn't exactly lonely.
The food was a bit lacking, but it was just enough to fill their stomachs. After a while, they got used to it and didn't think much of it. A person's ability to adapt is always stronger than they imagine.
On the 32nd day after the Great Famine officially began, the government formally released the ID Watch, manufactured with the support of 5D virtual technology. These watches would clearly record every individual's physical condition and vital signs, making it easier for the government to conduct population censuses and disseminate information.
From then on, people could receive all major news and announcements directly on their ID Watches.
You could even create a contact list on it and make real-time, holographic video calls with family and friends. The convenience was far beyond what a cell phone could offer.
Of course, these were just the most basic functions. In the future, the Alliance would also provide real-time updates to a power-ranking leaderboard, allowing every powerful individual to become an Alliance hero and a role model for countless others.
However, the two functions Tang Mo liked most and found the most practical were something else entirely.
The first was the map function. In the later stages of the apocalypse, the earth's surface had been severely damaged. Buildings had collapsed, and towering ancient trees and strange plants had sprung up everywhere.
As a result, even in your own hometown, you couldn't be sure if a right turn and an 800-meter walk from your doorstep would lead to the old convenience store or to a crystal-clear lake that had suddenly appeared.
This was when the ID Watch's map became crucial. With satellites no longer operational, all maps were pieced together little by little, updated in real-time based on missions issued by the Alliance or explorations by individual survivors.
They were so detailed you could see with perfect clarity where dangers lurked and where abnormal treasures had been discovered.
The second function was the treasure identification feature. You just had to place the watch in front of a treasure you wanted to appraise and activate the identification feature, and a special beam of light would shine on the object.
The resulting information would be displayed on the watch's screen, showing what attribute the abnormal treasure possessed and how many attribute points it was worth, all at a glance.
Of course, this was only possible because abnormal treasures contained a special substance that could be detected. The watch couldn't appraise anything else.
For now, however, Tang Mo's two favorite features were only displayed as icons; they hadn't been activated yet. There was no text underneath them, so anyone unfamiliar with them would have no idea what the two small symbols represented.
In her past life, the officials hadn't released any information about abnormal treasures until two months after the apocalypse began.
Right after she arrived at the school, she had gone to the mountain behind campus where the Spiritual Power Mushroom was originally found. She hadn't seen any mushrooms growing, so she figured the official timeline was probably accurate.
Once an ID Watch was bound, it locked directly onto the person's wrist. It was impossible to remove with external force; you had to go to a special government facility and have it taken off with a specific smart tool. Its powerful waterproof, shockproof, and damage-resistant functions were a given, which prevented a lot of potential problems.
Tang Mo was all too familiar with this watch. In fact, she had felt quite strange these past few days without one.
The government clearly went to great lengths to ensure every single person received a watch. They implemented several measures to this end, including requiring people to scan their ID to receive their food rations.
The government hadn't given up on those trapped in the fog, either. They sent helicopters to drop large batches of the watches down to them.
The fog bank was extremely high, making helicopter rescues too risky; the rescued would inevitably come into contact with the fog and be endangered. However, dropping things down—especially watches that were shockproof, waterproof, and solid as a rock—was no problem at all.
"If they have the energy to drop watches, you'd think they could drop some food, too. Seriously," Li Lanlan complained as she bent over to pick one up.
"Maybe they will in a few days," Tang Mo said, adjusting the watch in her hand. She wasn't just guessing. 'In another two months, when we've exhausted all our resources, some people at the school won't be able to sit still any longer.'
T University was one of the top universities, after all. There was no shortage of people with powerful backgrounds among its administrators, teachers, and students. With the entire globe now in a state of famine, people on the outside could barely fend for themselves, let alone have officials manage those trapped in the fog.
But power is always a useful thing. There will always be exceptions.
The watches had barely been distributed when the school's food stores plunged into crisis.
They didn't have much food to begin with, and despite everyone conserving as much as possible, a month of meals had left their supplies nearly depleted. The school administrators were worried sick. They held meetings with An Yang and the other student leaders for several days before finally deciding to cut the meal supply from two a day to just one.
The school didn't offer much of an explanation for the announcement, and it didn't cause much of a stir among the students.
People just grumbled a bit amongst themselves before accepting it with resignation. Perhaps everyone had already prepared themselves psychologically. The food wasn't infinite; they were bound to run out eventually. It was just a matter of whether it happened a day sooner or a day later.
Fortunately, it wasn't all bad news. Everyone soon discovered that the previously blank "personal status" section on their watches had started displaying information!