Font Size:
No access.
Su Xiao took out her frustration on the Turtle Hermit. “Very good. Next time you want me to open a food treasure chest, the service fee doubles.”
Turtle Hermit: “???”
Turtle Hermit: “Come on, Brother! Are you serious?!”
Turtle Hermit: “What did I even say to offend you?!”
Su Xiao didn’t reply.
Once the safehouse upgrade plan was released, the Turtle Hermit would realize she was Safehouse Owner No. 1.
Still, she had to admit—he’d provided some crucial information.
First, three safehouses were the maximum. Once they were bound, a fourth couldn’t be added.
Second, an exclusive safehouse couldn’t be released, even if its survivor died.
That meant snatching safehouses was a survival strategy only for lower-tier survivors. The next phase of the game was clearly pushing advanced players toward cooperative development.
After wrapping up the conversation, Su Xiao contacted Yu Yu.
Yu Yu had messaged her hoping she could open a few materials treasure chests to select exclusive resources. Coincidentally, Su Xiao also needed her help to open two purple treasure chests.
For the materials chests, Su Xiao charged a commission.
For every two black chests, she took one unit of materials.
Yu Yu handed over eight black chests, which earned Su Xiao eight iron ingots and four wooden planks. Yu Yu then handed over a blueprint for “Indoor Lighting Fixtures” as collateral—and the moment Su Xiao saw the blueprint, she was sold.
It wasn’t exactly a necessity…
But having to use a desk lamp in the cellar every day was making her feel like she’d go blind! Just because it’s the apocalypse doesn’t mean eye care goes out the window. If she lost her sight, no matter how many skills she had, it would all be over.
She sent over the purple chests.
Moments later, Yu Yu messaged her in a flurry: “Girl, what kind of insane luck do you have?! Waaaah, I want your blueprint soooo bad!”
Su Xiao was puzzled.
Yu Yu sent over the blueprint details—
[Blueprint: Washroom Facility] x2
Description: Includes vanity mirror + toilet + standing rainfall showerhead + hot and cold water tank. Space required: 6.
That was seriously intense.
It was Su Xiao’s first time seeing a blueprint that required 6 units of space.
That implied the materials were far from basic—definitely not something she could cobble together on a whim.
Still, for someone like her, who didn’t have washroom facilities in any of her three safehouses, this was an incredible find.
In her mind, Su Xiao was already planning where to install the washroom.
It had to be in the cellar. The cellar was opaque. The sports car and the fishing boat, on the other hand, made her feel like she was showering with the door wide open.
Honestly—
Yu Yu was battling with her own conscience.
If she were a little more ruthless, she could’ve forcibly taken the blueprint, twisted Su Xiao’s arm into a one-sided trade.
Unfortunately, the other party was a double-egg treasure chest survivor. And this wasn’t a one-time deal.
If she dared pull something like that, Su Xiao would block her for life. No more treasure chest openings for her.
Fair exchange only works when both sides have equal power.
Su Xiao immediately used the blueprint.
“Washroom Facility” requires: Waterproof film boards x40, Alloy x20, Composite Glass x10, Water Energy. Consumes 6 safehouse space.
Su Xiao: …
She hadn’t seen any of these materials before.
Apparently, they only came from high-tier treasure chests.
So she messaged Yu Yu: “Girl, I know you really want it, but I can promise you—you haven’t even seen these materials before. Even if we traded, you wouldn’t be able to build it. I don’t want to scam you. If you find out how to upgrade treasure chests, then maybe you’ll be able to open high-tier chests that contain the right materials.”
Truthfully, she’d opened quite a few blueprints already, but none were usable.
Because the materials… simply didn’t exist in her inventory.
Yu Yu had noticed too—except for purple treasure chests, all the others showed levels. But no one had figured out how to upgrade them yet.
Yu Yu messaged back: “What if the method to upgrade treasure chests is hidden in the purple treasure chests?”
Su Xiao replied, “I don’t know.”
Green treasure chests could be upgraded when doomsday beasts devoured survivors, but the others had no such mechanism.
Purple chests were unlocked via information—but didn’t display any levels. From Turtle Hermit’s mouth, she had also learned that using the wrong weapons on abandoned buildings or tools would only return the prompt: [Your action seems to have made no change.]
Meaning, the doomsday beasts only guarded the doomsday plants.
Yu Yu: “Wait, I saw someone in the communication center offering to synthesize low-tier chests into high-tier ones.”
Su Xiao froze. But she hadn’t seen any such message in her communication feed. Maybe the information refreshes differently for each user. After all, with over ten million survivors now, resource trading posts were everywhere.
Yu Yu: “Seriously. He even showed me a Level 2 green treasure chest!”
Su Xiao: “???”
If she hadn’t witnessed with her own eyes that doomsday beasts had to eat survivors to level up the chest, she might’ve believed it.
She wanted to warn Yu Yu not to trust that—but it was too late.
Yu Yu: “I’m so mad! I told him to show me a white one on the spot. He said he only had two white food chests and needed one more. So I gave him one—and he blocked me right after! Total scam, total scam!”
Su Xiao: “…Well, at least it was just one white food chest.”
Yu Yu: “Of course I wouldn’t be dumb enough to trade a blueprint or materials chest. The guy’s a jerk—but he’s hot.”
Su Xiao: “??? Wait, he sent you a photo?!”
Wasn’t this the apocalypse safehouse communication center? You could send photos now? Was the doomsday game actually trying to encourage survivors to fall in love online—to help preserve the human species?
Yu Yu: “…No! I mean his ID is ‘ThisGuyIsTrashButHot.’”
Su Xiao: “~”
Still, it was all very strange. She’d opened a ton of blueprints, but the materials clearly couldn’t be found in Level 1 chests.
From what she’d seen, even black treasure chests seemed to be limited. Other than that temporary challenge that appeared the previous night, she hadn’t seen any more.
Now people were starting to offer blueprint trades for resources.
Safehouse Owner 1993203: “Blueprint for ‘Seated Toilet’—trading for 10 days’ worth of food supplies.”
Safehouse Owner 22384950: “Blueprint for ‘Temperature-Controlled AC’—trading for 15 days of food.”
Safehouse Owner 91283014: “Blueprint for ‘Air Purifier’—trading for gasoline or batteries.”
…
The most absurd one Su Xiao saw was a blueprint for a “Fitness Facility.”
Someone couldn’t help but comment: “What the hell kind of junk blueprint is this?! It’s the apocalypse! Who has the energy to work out?! I didn’t even go to the gym before—why would I care about my health now?!”
Something wasn’t right.
These blueprints made no sense.
None of them were survival necessities for a coming apocalypse.
But when something feels off—there’s always a reason.
And considering how materials to match these blueprints were nowhere to be found, it strongly suggested the whole setup was suspicious.
She recalled yesterday’s green treasure chests already being discontinued. It wasn’t hard to guess that blueprint chests might get discontinued next.
But these seemingly useless blueprints…
Su Xiao reviewed the descriptions of the blueprints she’d already used, searching for a pattern.
Then, she noticed something odd.