Starting with a Cellar Safe House - Chapter 5

The cellar was filled to 8/10 of its space, leaving Su Xiao with just a narrow, cramped passageway. Even the sofa was piled high with supplies.

Su Xiao felt a twinge of regret. She should have packed less; now it was a hassle to clear out.

She pondered for a moment and asked, “Xiao Mo, can you help me clear some space?”

Xiao Mo replied, “Do you want to clear all natural resources from the Safe House?”

Su Xiao said, “No… not all of them.”

Xiao Mo hesitated for a moment before responding, “Are you referring to the ‘clear trash’ function? Once activated, any resources the owner touches will be directly cleared.”

It could do that?

Su Xiao instinctively said, “Thank you, Xiao Mo.”

She didn’t expect a response from the AI, but after a moment, Xiao Mo replied, “You’re welcome. It’s my honor to assist you.”

A broadcast sounded in her ear-

“This is an announcement only audible to survivors who have bound a Safe House.”

“The current binding rate of Safe Houses has reached 50%. Xiao Mo has opened the Survivor Communication Center for everyone. You can enter the center to communicate and exchange resources by issuing a command.”

“The apocalypse treasure chests have descended upon the Blue Planet. Only survivors who have bound a Safe House can see them. The chests contain game resources from the apocalypse game, which are timeless and have special attributes. The first survivor to open a chest of each color can trigger a special Easter egg.”

“The current Hurricane Disaster will last for seven days. Survivors, please strive to stay alive.”

The broadcast ended, and Su Xiao furrowed her brow.

The information from this broadcast was not simple.

The Hurricane Disaster would last seven days, implying that other disasters might follow.

Moreover, with 50% of Safe Houses already bound, the reminder seemed to indicate that the number of Safe Houses was dwindling.

After pondering for a moment, she issued a command: “Xiao Mo, open the Survivor Communication Center.”

In the communication center, she could view her personal information: ID number 6883649, owner.

The ID was also her default nickname.

It was a simple text communication channel, and people were already speaking.

But it was mostly trivial comments like “Are you all okay?” and “What’s it like outside?”

By clicking on a nickname, private communication and item trading were possible. There was a trade description indicating that both parties must review and confirm the trade items for a successful exchange, ensuring a double-lock mechanism to prevent deceit.

Su Xiao didn’t see anyone sharing useful information or exchange requests, so she closed the communication center.

She wanted to find treasure chests, but with the hurricane outside, she could only venture into underground malls, warehouses, and parking lots.

Fortunately, there was no shortage of underground structures nearby.

After spending two hours searching through four underground parking lots, blocked by collapsed buildings with no exits, she found six white treasure chests.

The white treasure chests invariably contained food, with a standard offering of one bottle of water and one food item.

But Su Xiao had the white treasure chest Easter egg, which doubled the contents the moment she opened the chest.

Additionally, if she chose not to open a chest, she could directly store it in the Safe House.

Had she not spent two hours finding only white treasure chests, Su Xiao might have thought they were the only kind in the world. Fortunately, in the fourth underground garage, she discovered a different red treasure chest and opened it immediately. Inside was an axe, but it didn’t trigger the Easter egg.

It wasn’t surprising, given the time that had passed. Surely other survivors were also hoarding supplies.

“Level 1 Fire Axe”

“Description: It’s a bit heavy, but very sharp. Ordinary survivors can’t withstand it. It can also be used to deal with some strange things in the apocalypse.”

Holding the axe, she noticed information appearing on the Maserati parked not far from her.

“This car seems a bit different. Maybe you should try attacking it; something might happen.”

Whack!

Su Xiao immediately gripped the axe and approached.

A fresh Maserati, the exclusive ride of a domineering CEO in novels, was about to be reduced to scrap by her!

She swung the axe at the car.

She expected that even with an axe, her strength wouldn’t allow her to cut deeply into the car.

But to her surprise, the car was as fragile as cardboard before the axe, breaking with a single swing.

With the second swing, the car turned into a heap of scrap metal, seemingly disintegrating more with each strike.

The third swing reduced the car to iron powder, revealing a purple treasure chest on the ground.

Su Xiao’s face lit up with joy, and she opened it immediately, finding a purple scroll inside.

There was no Easter egg prompt, as someone else had already obtained a red weapon and seen the attack prompt. Naturally, someone had also attacked the buildings with information before her.

She stored the purple scroll in the Safe House, only to receive a message-

“Warehouse capacity insufficient, unable to store in Safe House. Please use directly or store in the Safe House before using.”

The warehouse capacity was full?

Su Xiao used it immediately.

“To craft a ‘Weapon Stand,’ you need: Iron Block 0/4, Plank: 0/8, consuming 1 Safe House space.”

Iron blocks and planks? Where were those from?

“The hurricane has stopped. Congratulations to all survivors for making it through. The next four hours will be a disaster-free safe period. Survivors can go out to search for supplies.”

It was precisely 4 PM, meaning the safe period would last until 8 PM. What unsafe event would occur after 8 PM?

Currently, Su Xiao’s cellar was packed because she had opened seven white treasure chests, but the contents varied.

Now she had six bottles of mineral water, two bottles of white peach soda, two bottles of milk, and four bottles of cola.

In addition to chocolate bars, there were potato chips, chocolate cake, and other snacks. Only similar types of food and water could stack; otherwise, they occupied separate warehouse slots.

With the warehouse slots full, the Safe House’s resource channel couldn’t be used. Even if she found a treasure chest, she couldn’t take it unless she cleared some warehouse capacity.

But taking supplies out of the warehouse would occupy space, and her space was also full. To take them out, she would have to discard excess natural resources.

Su Xiao thought for a moment and opened the Survivor Communication Center.

There were many more messages now, and most survivors had already opened treasure chests-

Owner 1820384: “1 square meter Safe House expansion tool for a weapon.”

Owner 28495: “Two units of food resources for any Level 1 Weapon.”

Owner 1083745: “Three white treasure chests for any Level 1 Weapon.”

Owner 2934734: “Offering 1 unit of oxygen tank, looking to exchange for three days’ worth of water and food.”

…

Su Xiao glanced through and noticed that most were seeking weapons, indicating they knew weapons were needed to see special resource prompts.

Only the one offering an oxygen tank caught her interest.