Starting with a Cellar Safe House - Chapter 4

[Level 1 Safe House (Owner: Su Xiao)]

[Space: 0/10]

[Warehouse: 0/10]

[Oxygen Duration: 22h58min38s]

[Indoor Temperature: 21°C]

The information was brief, not particularly useful, but it did show the Oxygen Duration.

Reflecting on the message Little Ali had sent earlier, it seemed the verification question was likely meant to confirm whether someone knew about the existence of the Xiao Mo system, indicating they had bound a Safe House.

Su Xiao had calmed down by now and chose not to join Little Ali’s group. Although it seemed that all the survivors entering the group had Safe Houses, which should prevent disputes over them, there was still the risk that someone might try to help others obtain Safe Houses, which could be dangerous.

She put her phone aside to conserve energy and focus, eating two marinated eggs and drinking a bottle of milk from her bag. The tension eased, and her mind cleared a bit.

Wait, if Safe Houses exist, could there be another disaster after these eight hours? She couldn’t just sit and wait; the cellar was mobile, and she needed to act.

She recalled the survivor who had taken refuge in the underground supermarket. Large supermarkets often restock, especially those with underground warehouses. She wondered if she could maneuver the cellar to reach the supermarket’s underground warehouse.

Pulling out her phone, she opened the map and set the location to the city’s largest supermarket. After confirming the direction, Su Xiao gripped the control handle again.

After more than thirty minutes, Su Xiao finally mastered the control techniques, smoothly maneuvering the cellar to avoid other Safe Houses and inaccessible areas, while constantly checking the ground situation.

When the cellar door was in a disaster zone, touching it would trigger a prompt: [Currently, wind force outside the Safe House reaches level 20, in disaster-level Hurricane, unable to open the door.]

If the cellar door was in a safe area, the prompt would change to: [Within 50 meters outside the Safe House, there are/no other survivors.]

If there were people, Su Xiao wouldn’t go out. Only when there was no one would she peek outside.

Finally, Su Xiao managed to park the cellar in the supermarket’s underground warehouse area, which was even harder than parallel parking.

As the city’s largest and most comprehensive supermarket, it opened from 10:30 AM to midnight, with fresh produce discounts starting at 8 PM. The goods were sold in large quantities, enough for Su Xiao to eat for half a month, offering great value.

The Hurricane began around 8 AM, so there shouldn’t be any staff in the supermarket now.

Touching the exit, the prompt confirmed: [No other survivors within 50 meters of the exit.]

Feeling reassured, Su Xiao went out immediately.

[You have left the Safe House. The cellar Safe House cannot be moved after you leave. Remember the entrance location. The Safe House’s resource channel will be stored as a tattoo on your left palm. Touching resources with your left palm can store them in the Safe House. Natural resources can occupy up to 80% of the Safe House’s space. Do not exceed this limit.]

A burning sensation spread across her arm, and a black square mark appeared on Su Xiao’s left palm.

Without hesitation, she turned on her phone’s flashlight and quickly searched the underground warehouse for resources.

The large supermarket’s warehouse was clearly divided into sections: living area, toiletries, frozen food, snacks, and beverages. Su Xiao prioritized water, as it was essential for survival.

As soon as her left hand touched the water, a resource prompt appeared:

[Natural resource, valid for 7 days]

It had a validity period? Su Xiao quickly checked everything.

Indeed, all food items were labeled as natural resources with a 7-day validity.

Furniture had no validity but did have durability, which would decrease to zero and become unusable.

Bedding, mattresses, clothes, and other textiles had no validity and could be used long-term but lacked apocalypse resistance attributes.

Daily necessities and appliances were consumables, usable until depleted.

If food had no validity, she would have used 9 square meters of the cellar’s 10 to stockpile food, even if it meant sleeping on food and water!

This information curbed Su Xiao’s impulse to hoard food. She decided to stockpile daily necessities and consumable electronics.

Furniture was not considered due to its large space requirement and durability, which would eventually lead to the same fate as food.

She threw dozens of boxes of water and her preferred instant hot pot, instant noodles, and snacks into the cellar, enough to last two months, triggering a prompt.

[Space: 1/10]

Then Su Xiao went to the furniture section and selected a foldable sofa bed, 2 meters long, 1 meter wide, 0.5 meters high, with a double layer that could be pulled out, suitable for sitting and sleeping.

She also picked a small table for dining convenience.

These two pieces of furniture together occupied 2/10 of the space.

Next, she went to the appliance section and scavenged a bunch of consumable electronics, fuel, and daily necessities. These items took up space, but they were in cardboard boxes, and Su Xiao didn’t have time to unpack them, so she stored them in the Safe House as they were.

Passing the dark underwear section, she noticed a flash of white light in the corner.

Su Xiao gripped the baseball bat she had taken from the sports section and cautiously approached. Turning the corner, she saw a strange box resembling a pirate treasure chest from a game, emitting white light with a label above it:

[Level 1 treasure chest]

Su Xiao reached out.

The treasure chest could be stored in the Safe House or opened on the spot. The first treasure chest was definitely worth opening to see what it contained.

There wasn’t much surprise; inside was a bottle of mineral water and a chocolate bar.

However, the prompt that followed startled Su Xiao.

[Detected as the first survivor to open a white treasure chest in the apocalypse, triggering a treasure chest Easter egg. From now on, every treasure chest you find in the apocalypse will yield double rewards.]

There was an Easter egg!

But Su Xiao had no time to celebrate, as this message indicated that “every day” could be part of the apocalypse.

The food in the treasure chest doubled and had no validity. After storing two bottles of water and two chocolate bars in the cellar, the treasure chest vanished, and the Safe House’s warehouse space showed a change.

[Warehouse: 2/10 (500ml drinking water2, chocolate bar2)]

Natural resources occupied space without attributes, and food had validity.

The resources from the treasure chest occupied the Safe House’s warehouse, allowing stacking.

Thus, the real storage goal was the apocalypse resources from treasure chests!

Su Xiao immediately set out again, wandering the vast underground warehouse until she nearly got lost, but she couldn’t find a second treasure chest even after filling the cellar space to 80%.

It seemed treasure chests weren’t easy to find, but the cellar was mobile, so she planned to search for treasure chests elsewhere.