Chapter 7: The Fishing Boat

Su Xiao thought for a moment and asked, “Aren’t white treasure chests the easiest to find?”

Gui Xianren replied, “I’m not sure. I’ve only found four chests in the desert—one white and three red. I heard about the other chest types from others.”

Su Xiao recalled something. “Did you find them during the hurricane disaster? Wasn’t the wind too strong?”

Gui Xianren responded, “That’s what you don’t know. In a tornado, the energy around the perimeter is strongest, but the eye of the storm is actually calm. I could see from the turtle that this desert happened to be in the storm’s eye, so I was able to search.”

Su Xiao suddenly understood.

So she had suffered from being in an underground cellar with no view of the outside.

She asked, “There are a lot of people in the exchange center looking for red chests. You could trade them for a good amount of supplies. Why haven’t you done that?”

It took a while before Gui Xianren replied, “Would you like to trade for information about weapons? But for this one, I’ll need you to tell me something I don’t already know.”

Information that could only be exchanged for other information—clearly, it was valuable.

And since they’d already collaborated more than once…

Su Xiao said, “Do you know how to obtain purple treasure chests?”

Gui Xianren: “No.”

Su Xiao sent over a portion of water and food to settle payment for his previous two answers before proceeding to the next trade. “Since you don’t know, then you go first.”

Looking at the food and water she sent over, Gui Xianren shamelessly gave up the information without hesitation. “The first time you have three Level 1 weapons in your inventory and enter the Safehouse system, it will prompt you that the three weapons can be combined into one Level 2 weapon. But you’ll need a Weapon Station to do that. I don’t know what a Weapon Station is yet.”

So that’s how it works.

Su Xiao’s eyes flashed.

This information was critical—she could even divide it into two key points.

First, low-level weapons could be synthesized into higher-level ones.

That meant weapons had tiers, and the existence of high-tier weapons implied there must be places or enemies that required them.

Second, three Level 1 weapons could be combined into one Level 2 weapon. Her Safehouse was currently displayed as Level 1—could Safehouses also be combined?

What about the red dots on the map that couldn’t be entered? Could those be unbound Safehouses?

Gui Xianren said, “Your turn. What’s your information?”

Su Xiao answered, “Purple chests contain blueprints. Once you obtain a weapon, you’ll start seeing special indicators on nearby vehicles. If you attack the vehicles, a purple chest will appear. The blueprint is for the Weapon Station.”

Gui Xianren: “Damn!”

He was stunned.

He had been the first to get a red weapon chest, even receiving a double-drop bonus.

But there weren’t any buildings nearby.

All he could see was endless sand—spotting even a sand hedgehog or a sand snake was rare.

That was also why he had been able to find red chests quickly. In the vast desert, the red chests stood out. The white ones, however, were easily overlooked under the blazing sun.

Now Su Xiao told him that purple chests contained blueprints—and they appeared only from vehicles?

Then didn’t that mean he’d never get a blueprint in the desert?

After some thought, he sent Su Xiao another message, but she didn’t respond. She was clearly no longer in the exchange center.

Indeed, Su Xiao had already left. After trading information with Gui Xianren, she freed up some space from the supplies she gave him and retrieved her doomsday resources from the warehouse, placing them to one side.

She was preparing to go out scavenging. This time, she didn’t plan on opening chests on the spot—she’d simply collect them.

She controlled the joystick, searching for the stationary red dots. But clearly, most of those had already been claimed. The chances of finding an unbound Safehouse were now slim.

Moreover, to bind a Safehouse, one had to stay inside for an hour.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang, like she had hit something. The joystick wouldn’t move forward anymore.

Ahead was a blue water zone. Yet her electronic map showed a red dot in that area, which meant there was a Safehouse on the river.

Su Xiao immediately left the cellar to investigate.

The moment she stepped out, the scene before her left her completely stunned.

The riverbank where her cellar had been located used to be one of the city’s most famous scenic spots.

Now, the beauty was gone. In the distance, skyscrapers had collapsed into ruins. Not a single living soul could be seen near the river.

No, that wasn’t quite right.

Su Xiao walked forward a few steps and saw a mangled body lying by the riverbank. Her heart skipped a beat.

Inside the underground warehouse, the Safehouse, the exchange center—even when chatting in phone groups—she had never truly felt how brutal the apocalypse was.

Not until now—when she saw them with her own eyes.

The dead.

So many of them.

People who had been lifted into the sky by the hurricane and then slammed back to the ground.

In the face of such a cataclysm, humans were indeed terribly fragile.

Su Xiao forced herself to calm down. According to the map, there was still a red dot on the river, probably an unbound Safehouse.

She carefully scanned the water’s surface and spotted an unusual small fishing boat with a canopy near the bank.

Given that a Level 20 hurricane had hit, a wooden fishing boat like that should’ve been destroyed long ago.

Yet here it was, intact.

As she approached, she spotted a silver doorknob on the boat’s hull.

Su Xiao didn’t hesitate any longer.

The fishing boat was about three meters from the riverbank—just within her swimming capabilities. She dove in and swam toward it.

The moment her hand touched the doorknob, Su Xiao vanished and reappeared, dripping wet, inside the small fishing boat—

[Congratulations. You have entered a Safehouse. Remain inside for 1 hour to bind this Safehouse. If you leave before the time is up, the timer will reset, and the Safehouse will remain open to other survivors.]

As expected.

A survivor could bind multiple Safehouses at once. So was this designed to encourage people to prepare multiple shelters? Or—just as she suspected—could three Safehouses be combined or upgraded like weapons?

But staying here for a full hour… that did feel like a waste of time.

Su Xiao examined the fishing boat carefully.

It was simple in design. A canopy over the middle of the boat provided shelter from sun and rain. The interior space was only about four to five square meters, but the view was wide open—she could clearly see the riverbank, an advantage the cellar lacked. Most importantly, this appeared to be a water-based Safehouse.

However, she couldn’t find any mechanism to control its movement.

Just then, a breeze swept by.

[Wind strength reached Level 2. Mobility enabled.]

Only then did a digital map and a manual control panel appear before her.

So this thing could only move when the wind blew!

Rare upon rare—like a grandmother’s treasured heirloom passed down generations!

She used the clear view from the boat to survey the riverbank.

Sure enough, she soon spotted a small red treasure chest not far away—less than 300 meters from the fishing boat. She immediately began steering the boat in its direction.

Gently sliding her hand along the control stick on the digital map, the fishing boat slowly began to move.

But soon, Su Xiao sensed something was off.