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Turtle Hermit said, “You scared me half to death! I almost thought you—”
He didn’t finish the sentence, but Su Xiao already knew what he was about to say.
This fool would rather believe she might have died than even suspect she could’ve tricked him out of that yellow treasure chest!
Though their friendship wasn’t deep, given their long-term cooperation, there was still some camaraderie between them.
Su Xiao gently reminded him, “Actually, you could hold on to some treasure chests and only open them when resources are really low. I’m not that easy to kill off.”
It was probably when a certain type of basic treasure chest reached a quantity of ninety-nine that the system triggered a suggestion prompt.
And right now, Su Xiao was sure she was the only one who knew about this, because no one else had the ability to stockpile that many treasure chests. Which meant this information could be traded for something truly valuable.
Unfortunately, Turtle Hermit didn’t pick up on the deeper meaning. “It’s the apocalypse. Anything could happen. Who knows—maybe tomorrow the zombies will crawl out of the ground. Seriously.”
Su Xiao said, “…And you’re not even worried the chests might be combinable into high-level ones? You’re opening them way too fast.”
Turtle Hermit gasped, “Crap, you’re right! I totally forgot!”
Su Xiao shook her head.
She’d wait until tomorrow to share this information in the communication center. That way, people would come to her for it. It would also prevent the info from being resold, maximizing her own benefit.
The longer she waited, the faster resources would refresh, and the more chests others would have. Which meant a higher chance they’d realize this on their own. She had to act before that.
For now, she could use her current stash of mid-grade medical supplies to trade for items like tools, gasoline, or circuit boards.
The only thing she hadn’t yet figured out how to upgrade was the Level 1 blue treasure chest. She had no idea what would come out of it post-upgrade.
She was just about to search the communication center when a prompt sounded in her ears—
[Your safehouse upgrade plan has been finalized. Based on your submitted preferences, we’ve modified the following features:]
[Original plan: Upon upgrade, each survivor’s bound safehouse would include a teleportation portal allowing access to any other safehouse. Storage capacity and secure channels would be shared across all safehouses, and safehouses could be placed anywhere.]
[Based on your concerns about potential loss of your safehouse after placement, we’ve changed the safehouse’s entry to a “Dimensional Doorknob.”]
[Dimensional Doorknob is a mental key that appears only in response to your conscious command. No other survivor can see it.]
[Your bound Safehouse No. 1 has a fixed-location trait and cannot move with you. After you leave, the doorknob will remain in its original location. To prevent losing track of your safehouse, your Smart Assistant, Xiao Mo, has been upgraded with location-tracking. Even after leaving, you can summon Xiao Mo to help locate the safehouse.]
[Your bound Safehouse No. 2 is a water-based safehouse. Due to its core design, it can only be summoned at a shoreline. Apart from this restriction, it functions identically to Safehouse No. 3. After leaving either, the doorknob will follow you, and Xiao Mo can be summoned to place it.]
[Thank you for your strong support during the public beta of Apocalypse Game. If you have further suggestions, please share them with Xiao Mo.]
Su Xiao: …
What a robber’s game.
They called it “strong support” when it was mandatory participation.
Even though she had submitted a preference form, core features wouldn’t be changed. As a game programmer herself, Su Xiao understood this perfectly.
It’s like how players complain that some support classes deal too little damage and are hard to play, but developers wouldn’t suddenly make healers output as much DPS as fighters.
Same with safehouses.
Cellar-type safehouses had high concealment and could be moved freely, but couldn’t be carried on one’s person.
Animal safehouses turned into companions that followed you. Car or boat safehouses turned into toys when inactive—they could be carried but required a huge amount of energy to move or were uncontrollable in terms of direction.
Even as the first player to upgrade her safehouse, Su Xiao couldn’t change these fundamental mechanics.
Now, though, the safehouse’s entrance had become a Dimensional Doorknob visible only to her. That alone guaranteed her a level of security others didn’t have. That was a privilege. One had to know when to be content.
It was nearly 6 o’clock. Su Xiao checked her coordinates and relocated her cellar to the spot she had previously met 1349.
As soon as she opened the cellar, she froze.
The ruins had been replaced by a helicopter—and several armed personnel stood around it. The logo on the helicopter clearly marked it as belonging to the Alliance.
“There she is!”
1349, who had been patiently waiting, immediately spotted Su Xiao.
Clang—
Without hesitation, Su Xiao slammed the cellar door shut.
The middle-aged man aboard the helicopter frowned deeply. “What’s going on, 1349?”
The woman lowered her head, thinking for a moment. “Maybe… she’s just very cautious. Afraid we might hurt her.”
Players who owned safehouses were often like that—preferring to survive alone in the apocalypse rather than risk contact with others.
Still, the way Su Xiao had immediately slammed the door…
It was just like a foraging hamster spotting a cat—immediately retreating into its burrow.
A bit funny, really.
The woman thought for a moment, then turned and said, “Commander, you all should fall back. I’ll finish the mission.”
“Alright.”
The middle-aged man gave her a look, then closed the cabin door. The helicopter lifted off quickly.
Su Xiao had returned to her safehouse not because she was panicked, but because the gap in the doorway might have exposed her to gunfire. She wasn’t taking that chance.
But the sight of the helicopter made something clear—the Alliance wasn’t useless in the apocalypse. They’d come prepared.
After thinking for a few minutes, Su Xiao moved her cellar about fifty meters to the side before opening it again.
This time, only 1349 stood outside.
She spotted Su Xiao at once and quickly said, “It’s just me. I won’t harm you.”
“Put the equipment down. I’ll come get it.”
1349 placed the device on the ground and immediately backed away from it, raising both hands to show she was unarmed.
“This device can connect directly to satellites. It gives you the clearest real-time maps and navigation. As long as the satellites are operational, the map won’t fail. The charger’s outfitted with a solar panel—it starts charging at 50,000 lux.”
As she spoke, a cool sensation landed on Su Xiao’s face.
She touched it—
Rain. A light drizzle.
While Su Xiao retrieved the equipment, 1349 used the opportunity to explain.
“I haven’t hurt any innocent people, and I didn’t fight other survivors for their safehouses. That man was a traitor to the Alliance.”
Su Xiao looked up at her calmly.
Seeing that Su Xiao still showed no intention of tossing out her safehouse, 1349 continued, her voice sincere.
“We really need a safehouse. You already have one—it’s not essential for you, right? But in our hands, it could save more lives. If you have other conditions, just tell us—we’ll do everything we can to meet them.”