Chapter 4: Easter Egg

【Level 1 Safehouse (Owner: Su Xiao)】
【Space: 0/10】
【Warehouse: 0/10】
【Oxygen Supply Duration: 22h 58m 38s】
【Indoor Temperature: 21°C】

The information was brief and didn’t contain anything particularly useful, except for the visible oxygen supply duration.

Combining this with the message posted earlier by Little Ah Li in the group chat, Su Xiao deduced that the final verification question was likely designed to test whether someone knew about the existence of the “Xiao Mo” safehouse system—to determine if they’d successfully bound to a safehouse.

Now fully calm, Su Xiao decided not to join Little Ah Li’s group.

Although everyone in that group seemed to have found a safehouse, and on the surface, it looked like no one would be motivated to fight over resources, what if someone tried to help a survivor without a safehouse gain access to one? That could quickly turn dangerous.

Putting her phone aside to conserve energy and focus, she ate two marinated eggs and drank a bottle of milk from her bag. The food eased her tension a little, and her mind felt clearer.

Wait—if the safehouse existed, would another disaster strike in eight hours?

No, she couldn’t just sit around and wait to die. The cellar was mobile. She had to take action.

She thought of that survivor who had taken refuge in an underground supermarket. Supermarkets restock regularly, especially large ones, and almost all have underground storage areas. Maybe she could guide the cellar to one of those and scavenge supplies.

Pulling out her phone, she opened the map and set her destination to the city’s largest general supermarket. After confirming the direction, she gripped the control handle once again.

After more than thirty minutes, Su Xiao had finally mastered the technique. She could now smoothly maneuver the cellar around other safehouses and no-go zones, occasionally peeking out to assess the surface conditions.

If the environment outside the cellar was experiencing a disaster, touching the hatch would trigger the warning:
【Current wind speed outside safehouse: Level 20. Disaster-level hurricane. Door cannot be opened.】

If it was a safe area, the prompt would change to:
【Within 50 meters outside the safehouse: Survivors detected / No survivors detected】

If there were others nearby, Su Xiao wouldn’t go out.
If not, she would cautiously check the surroundings.

Eventually, she managed to park the cellar near the underground storage area of the supermarket. It was even harder than parallel parking.

This was the city’s largest and most comprehensive supermarket. It opened at 10:30 a.m. and stayed open until midnight. After 8 p.m., fresh produce went on discount. Everything was sold in large quantities—just one trip would be enough to feed her for half a month. Great value for money.

This morning’s hurricane had started around 8 a.m., so there likely weren’t any staff around now.

Touching the exit, the prompt confirmed:
【No survivors detected within 50 meters of the exit】

Reassured, Su Xiao stepped outside.

【You have exited the safehouse. The cellar safehouse cannot be moved once you leave. Remember the entrance location. The safehouse storage portal is now stored as a tattoo on your left palm. Touch materials with your left palm to store them in the safehouse. Natural resources can occupy up to 80% of the safehouse space. Do not exceed this limit.】

A burning sensation flared up on her forearm as a black square-shaped mark appeared on her left palm.

Without hesitation, she turned on her phone’s flashlight and quickly began scavenging the underground warehouse.

The large supermarket’s storage areas were clearly divided: personal care, frozen fresh food, snacks, beverages. Su Xiao made a beeline for the water—after all, water was the source of life.

As soon as her left hand touched the bottled water, a notification appeared:
【Natural Resource. Shelf Life: 7 Days】

A shelf life?

Su Xiao immediately began checking everything.

Sure enough, all food items were labeled as natural resources, with only seven days of shelf life.

Furniture had no expiration but came with durability ratings. Once durability reached zero, the item would break and become unusable.

Bedding, mattresses, clothes, and other textiles had no shelf life and could be used long-term but offered no resistance properties for the apocalypse.

Daily necessities and electronics were single-use items—once used, they became useless.

If food had no expiration, Su Xiao would’ve filled 9 out of the 10 square meters with it, sleeping on top of her food stash if she had to!

But the shelf life changed everything. She decided to prioritize daily necessities and consumable electronics.

Furniture was out of the question. It took up too much space and had durability ratings—once used up, it would vanish like food.

She dumped dozens of boxes of water, self-heating hot pots, instant noodles, and her favorite snacks into the cellar—enough food to last her two months—before a notification popped up:

【Space: 1/10】

Next, she went to the furniture section and picked out a foldable sofa bed. It was two meters long, one meter wide, and half a meter tall. It had two layers and could be extended—both a seat and a bed.

She also grabbed a small table to make mealtimes easier.

Just those two pieces of furniture brought the usage up to 2/10.

Afterward, she raided the appliances section, sweeping up a ton of consumable electronics, fuel, and daily-use items. They took up space, but all came in cardboard packaging. Su Xiao didn’t have time to unpack everything, so she just stored it all as-is.

As she passed the dimly lit lingerie section, a flash of white light caught her eye from a corner.

Gripping the baseball bat she’d picked up in the sports section, she cautiously approached. Rounding the corner, she saw a strange box glowing white like a pirate treasure chest from a video game. Above it floated a label:

【Level 1 Treasure Chest】

Su Xiao reached out her hand.

Treasure chests could be stored in the safehouse or opened on the spot. Since this was her first one, of course she had to open it.

No major surprises—inside was a bottle of mineral water and a chocolate bar.

But the voice in her ear caught her off guard:

【You are the first survivor in the apocalypse to open a white treasure chest. Easter Egg triggered. From now on, all white treasure chests you find in the apocalypse will grant double rewards.】

An Easter Egg?

Su Xiao didn’t even have time to celebrate. That one word—“from now on”—meant the apocalypse would continue day after day.

The food inside the chest was duplicated, and neither item had a shelf life. After placing the two bottles of water and two chocolate bars into the cellar, the chest vanished, and her safehouse warehouse panel updated:

【Warehouse: 2/10 (500ml Drinking Water x2, Chocolate Bar x2)】

So natural resources took up space, had no special properties, and came with expiration dates.

But treasure chest items used the warehouse, could be stacked, and had no shelf life.

Clearly, the truly valuable apocalypse supplies were those found in treasure chests!

Su Xiao sprang into action, roaming the massive underground warehouse until she nearly got lost. Even after filling 80% of her cellar, she hadn’t found a second treasure chest.

It seemed treasure chests weren’t that easy to find. But her cellar could move—she would simply go treasure hunting elsewhere.