【Akk Steel Pipe Softened Water】 was startled after seeing the ID and first sent a string of useless nonsense.
"Whoa! Big shot! A big shot with a title and a first kill! Mom, I'm seeing a real-life celebrity!"
Cheng Shuili's mouth twitched as she looked at the message. She replied directly.
【Angry Crow Takes Flight】: Let's get to business. How many shards?
【Akk Steel Pipe Softened Water】: Boss, I have two shards. I want to trade for some food... Is that okay?"
Cheng Shuili frowned. Two shards were a bit few, but better than nothing.
【Angry Crow Takes Flight】: What do you want to trade for?
The other party seemed prepared, as the reply came quickly.
【Akk Steel Pipe Softened Water】: Look, these are two shards! I had to open two crates to get them! You should make it worth my while, right? Give me a self-heating mini hotpot or a box of self-heating rice. I'm really craving some.
Cheng Shuili sneered. Currently, self-heating mini hotpot and self-heating rice were legendary, even epic-tier items.
This person wanted to take them for just two shards?
She looked at the food she had on hand. Besides the hotpots and rice, she also had ten bags of prepared meals.
These needed to be heated to eat. Cheng Shuili wasn't sure if eating a prepared meal directly would cause poisoning, but if someone was starving, who would care about that?
【Angry Crow Takes Flight】: One pack of prepared meal, fish-flavored shredded pork, for your two shards.
The other party replied almost instantly: "Deal! Thank you, boss!"
Soon, the trade interface popped up. Cheng Shuili placed the prepared meal on it, and the other party placed two vehicle upgrade material shards.
After confirming everything was correct, the trade was completed.
Cheng Shuili now had six shards in her inventory, leaving her four short of the goal of ten.
She closed the trade interface and quickly finished her lunch. There were still some canned peaches left; Cheng Shuili couldn't bring herself to throw them away, so she capped the jar and put it away, planning to continue eating them in the evening.
She was still ten kilometers short of today's goal.
Cheng Shuili narrowed her eyes, looking at the endless highway with a frown, then shook her head after a moment.
Whatever, she just had to keep moving forward.
Cheng Shuili continued driving the shopping cart forward, keeping an eye on both the chat channel and the supply crates by the roadside.
Before long, another wooden supply crate appeared ahead. Cheng Shuili stopped the cart and skillfully opened the box. This time, it contained a 500ml functional drink and two meat buns.
"Not bad."
Cheng Shuili put the items away, got back on the shopping cart, and continued forward.
In the distance ahead, there was a large, dark mass. Cheng Shuili narrowed her eyes and looked repeatedly, but she couldn't tell what it was.
It was still too far away. Cheng Shuili sighed and resignedly continued twisting the shopping cart's handle.
After a short while, the system notification rang.
【Today's goal has been reached. Please control your travel distance to ensure you can complete the daily goals! Try to find new energy sources before your current energy is depleted!】
Cheng Shuili raised an eyebrow and ignored the message. There was always a way when the time came. Her battery was at 1000%. If she needed to worry about power, everyone else would be dead on the road.
As the distance closed, the silhouette of the mass gradually became clear. An old sign was still glowing, displaying three crimson words: "Gas Station."
Cheng Shuili stopped the shopping cart and stood at the gas station to observe carefully.
The gas station wasn't large, consisting of a single-story building and two fuel pumps. The building's outer walls were peeling, the windows were broken, and the pumps were rusted, clearly having been abandoned for a long time.
But in this Highway Survival Game, any building meant the possibility of supplies.
Cheng Shuili turned around with a frown and pulled the baseball bat out of the cart's basket.
The shopping cart's advertisement voice stopped abruptly, leaving only the sound of the wind blowing against the broken sign with a "creak."
"50% off everything... 50% off..." The shopping cart's speaker suddenly blared twice more before falling completely silent.
"Shut up, you." Cheng Shuili patted the shopping cart's handle. This broken car's speaker always seemed to act up at the most inconvenient times.
She walked slowly toward the gas station, the baseball bat gripped tightly in her hand.
The system panel suddenly popped up with a prompt:
【Abandoned gas station discovered. There may be supply crates and danger inside. Please explore with caution.】
Cheng Shuili raised an eyebrow. Today was only the first day; the probability of danger should be low. She pushed open the swaying glass door, and dust fell in showers.
The interior of the gas station was tidier than expected. The shelves had collapsed and were covered in a thick layer of dust, but there were no obvious signs of destruction. Most notably, three wooden supply crates were neatly lined up in the corner.
"Three boxes?" Cheng Shuili's eyes lit up, and she walked over quickly.
【Wooden supply crate ×3 discovered. Open all?】
The system prompt was slightly different from before.
Cheng Shuili didn't choose immediately. Instead, she circled the gas station first to confirm there were no hidden threats before returning to the boxes.
At that moment, the boxes changed. The wooden exterior remained the same, but Cheng Shuili could see the outlines of the items inside through the surface of the crates.
"It's clipping," Cheng Shuili murmured to herself.
This was a common type of BUG in games—clipping and X-ray vision. In short, she could now see what was inside the boxes.
Inside the first box were five bottles of liquid. She couldn't tell if they were drinks or mineral water, so she opened the box directly.
Inside were five 500ml bottles of mineral water. Very good.
The second box looked like it held a bucket of fuel, which was also a supply. Cheng Shuili opened it again, obtaining a 5L bucket of gasoline and another vehicle upgrade material shard.
She curled her lips into a smile and looked at the last box.
The outline inside was complicated. Slanted, jagged lines sketched out a large figure—it was a monster.
No need to open that one.
Cheng Shuili tucked the baseball bat under her arm, carried the items back to the shopping cart to store them, and then came back in to search thoroughly one more time.
She found nothing else.
Just as she was about to leave, she caught a glimpse of something behind the checkout counter. Walking over to look, she found a hidden small metal box. Its surface was covered in dust, making it blend almost perfectly with the wall. Only after Cheng Shuili picked it up and turned it around could she see a small handle.
"Almost fooled me."
Cheng Shuili murmured as she gripped the handle and opened the box. Inside lay an old-fashioned radio and a battery.
【Old-fashioned Radio】
【Description: Can receive broadcasts from specific channels. Perhaps you can hear useful information.】
Cheng Shuili installed the battery and turned on the radio.
After a burst of harsh static, intermittent voices came through: "Welcome... bzzzt... survivors... bzzzt... this is... the merchant... bzzzt... Trading Post... bzzzt... during the novice protection period... every day... at three in the afternoon... open... bzzzt... coordinates..."
The voice suddenly cut off. No matter how she adjusted the frequency, there was only static.
Cheng Shuili checked the system time; it was now 2:40 PM.
This was news worth paying attention to. Cheng Shuili shoved the items into her pocket, checked the gas station one last time to ensure no supplies were missed, and then drove away in the shopping cart.
Rate on N.U.
