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“Watch out!”
The Big Brother standing across from Su Xiao instinctively reached out and pulled her toward him.
Bang—!
To his dismay, the shelf behind him toppled toward them as well.
Just as the two Alliance workers thought their end had come, the earthquake stopped.
When they opened their eyes again, the girl in front of them had raised both slender arms, lifting a shelf weighing hundreds of pounds high above her head.
The scene left the two men completely stunned.
“What are you waiting for? Go!” Su Xiao frowned.
One of them snapped out of it and nudged his companion. “Let’s move!”
“But… she—”
Before the other could finish his sentence, he was dragged away.
Once they were gone, Su Xiao casually tossed the shelf aside. What had weighed hundreds of pounds felt almost weightless in her hands, yet when it hit the ground, it landed with a resounding clang.
The strength granted by this apocalyptic serum was beyond what any normal human could hope to control.
Still, all the pharmaceuticals were gone. She could only return to the cellar. Checking the time—it was 1:00 a.m.
Could it be… the earthquakes occurred on the hour?
As for the magnitude—
Su Xiao pulled out her phone. No signal. The map and messaging apps wouldn’t connect either.
During the day, she’d been able to catch faint signals from nearby infrastructure—enough to check maps, news, or send messages. But now, nothing.
It seemed the earthquake had been intended to destroy above-ground signal sources.
No use dwelling on it. Su Xiao opened the Exchange Center.
Yu Yu: “Sorry, girl! I had something to do just now and missed your message. Do you still need it? I’ve traded for a barrel of gasoline for you.”
Su Xiao received a barrel of gasoline.
She immediately delivered the mattress to Yu Yu: “The supermarket storage here has been requisitioned by the Alliance, all the supplies cleared out. This thing is pretty much the only one nobody wanted at this point. I managed to grab a few medical supplies this morning—iodine swabs, rubbing alcohol, band-aids, and gauze. They’re enough to disinfect wounds, but they won’t stop an infection from spreading, and there’s not much of them. Do you want them?”
Yu Yu: “That would be great. Did you feel the earthquake just now? I was out scavenging and it hit out of nowhere. Then my phone lost signal. I can’t reach my Father or Mother. I was hoping to gather supplies for the safehouse and find them soon, but now… after this quake, I fear the worst. The second day brought an earthquake… who knows what the third will bring.”
Su Xiao didn’t know either. She started taking stock of the supplies in her cellar.
[Level 1 Safehouse (Owner: Su Xiao)]
[Storage Space: 7/9]
(Doomsday Resources: Bottled Water ×3, Milk ×1, Potato Chips ×2, Chocolate Bars ×2, Iron Ingots ×26, Wooden Planks ×23, Cloth ×15, Plastic ×19, Gasoline ×2, Greenhouse Blueprints, Electric Propeller Blueprints)
[Facilities: Weapon Bench ×1]
[Used Blueprints: Ring-Titanium Battery]
[Warehouse: 9/10]
(Including: Level 1 Red Chest ×1, Level 1 Blue Chest ×2, Level 1 White Chest ×8, Level 1 Black Chest ×4, Level 2 Fire Axe, Level 3 Green Chest, Level 1 Hammer, Level 1 Hoe, Purple Chest ×3)
[Oxygen Duration: 23h55m21s (Stored Oxygen: 1h)]
[Indoor Temperature: 17°C]
Every time she left the cellar, the oxygen timer would reset.
Also, aside from the purple chests, all others showed their respective levels—which meant purple chests couldn’t be upgraded.
As for why she hadn’t opened the white or black chests yet, there were two reasons: first, she wasn’t lacking food at the moment; second, those chests looked like they could be combined into higher-tier ones, though she hadn’t yet discovered how to do that.
The green chest, however—no matter if someone claimed to be one of those “green Easter egg” players, she wouldn’t let them open it. They had no items of equal value to offer as collateral.
So Su Xiao opened the Level 3 green chest herself.
[Doomblossom (Seed)]
Description: Can be planted in a greenhouse and cultivated with blood. Once in full bloom, it produces a Doomblossom juvenile capable of parasitizing human hosts. Ranked #13 among doomsday flora.
A flicker of surprise crossed Su Xiao’s eyes.
She remembered that the plant owned by Turtle Hermit was ranked somewhere in the 80s—and it could only parasitize once fully matured. But this Doomblossom could do so even in its juvenile stage.
Ranked 13… Was that because it came from a Level 3 chest?
If so, maybe she should raise that willow tree.
Then again, if she waited too long, it might become too strong to control—or worse, someone else’s meal. Best to harvest early and enjoy the benefits.
Without hesitation, Su Xiao used the greenhouse blueprint.
[“Small Greenhouse” Requirements: Iron Ingots ×4, Plastic ×8, Doomsoil ×4, Occupies 1 Safehouse Space]
She had enough plastic and iron ingots—but what was Doomsoil?
Could it be a material only found in higher-level chests?
She thought for a moment, then messaged Yu Yu: Have you found any Doomsoil?
Yu Yu was still awake: Nope. Wait—do you have a plant?
Yeah.
I haven’t found any either. No one’s said where it comes from. Let’s figure it out together tomorrow. I’m heading to bed soon—I’m exhausted. You wouldn’t believe the day I had. Oh right, do you still have a purple chest? Let me open one for you before I sleep!
Nope. You go rest.
She couldn’t exactly say she’d found three purple chests in one go.
The Exchange Center had grown quiet—it was already 1:30 a.m. After a long day of scavenging and fighting off zombie creatures, Su Xiao was worn out.
She tidied her sofa bed and collapsed onto it, drifting off almost immediately.
Half-asleep, she heard a system notification—
[It’s 8:00 a.m. The sun is up. Doomsday resources have refreshed. Some chests are now discontinued—missed yesterday means missed forever. New dangers are creeping in. Survive well today.]
[Infection Level: 28%]
Su Xiao’s eyes flew open.
Resources had refreshed—but her infection level had mysteriously increased.
This was serious.
She quickly opened the Exchange Center and messaged her contacts—Yu Yu and Turtle Hermit.
Sure enough, both were already alarmed by the update.
Turtle Hermit: Damn it! My infection level is at 78%! I’ve got a fever too. Am I gonna die? Brother, do you have any fever medicine?
Yu Yu: I was at 32% yesterday. Now it’s 42% after just one night. Looks like everyone’s infection level went up. Still no medicine to cure infection. And I’ve come down with a fever too—maybe it’s from yesterday’s wound.
Su Xiao touched her own forehead—dizzy and burning.
She might have a fever too. Was it because of her injury?
She peeled off the bandage from her leg.
The bite wound from the dog had already scabbed over, but the skin around it was purplish, as though some kind of toxin was spreading through her bloodstream. It likely had everything to do with her fever.
Her mind felt sluggish, like she’d been hit with a weakness debuff.
Maybe it was time to look for medicinal supplies.
Back in the Exchange Center, someone else had posted:
“Does anyone have fever medicine? I’ve got a fever—and so does my son. I can trade blueprints, weapons, and food for it!”