With a massive sum of 108 stones, Chen Zhuo clicked open the trade market to see what interesting things awaited his favor.
【Trade Item: Sewing Kit, Required Item: Wood】
【Trade Item: Small Medical Kit, Required Item: Stone】
【Trade Item: Fukada Sensei Photo Album, Required Item: Stone】
【Trade Item: Simple Stove Blueprint, Required Item: Stone】
【Trade Item: Wooden Ladder Blueprint, Required Item: Stone】
【Trade Item: Hunting Bow Blueprint, Required Item: Stone】
"These are all good things," he muttered. "Hmm? It seems like something strange snuck in."
Chen Zhuo didn't think much of it, slowly sifting through the pile of items.
He carefully weighed the value of each item, deciding which were most urgently needed and which could be considered later.
First, he turned his attention to the Sewing Kit and Small Medical Kit. These were basic survival supplies, crucial for daily maintenance and handling emergencies.
He quickly made the trades, exchanging 25 stones and 10 wood for these necessities.
Next, Chen Zhuo considered the Simple Stove Blueprint and Wooden Ladder Blueprint.
These blueprints would improve his quality of life and the functionality of his Shelter; in the long run, they were absolutely worth it.
He didn't hesitate to add them to his trade list.
As for the Hunting Bow Blueprint, Chen Zhuo felt it was very necessary. It could become an important tool for his early hunting and self-defense.
Although the iron sword provided by the system was quite powerful, it was, after all, a melee weapon, and there was still a risk of injury when encountering some fierce creatures.
The hunting bow, however, could perfectly compensate for these shortcomings.
He imagined himself being able to kill monsters from dozens of meters away, feeling much safer this way, at least until he got his hands on the gene potion he was so set on.
Finally, his gaze fell upon the Fukada Sensei Photo Album. This somewhat out-of-place item was decisively acquired by Chen Zhuo.
It wasn't that Chen Zhuo wanted to look at it; rather, to prevent these impure things from affecting the survival will of the vast number of Survivors, he resolutely bought it, determined to personally destroy (peek at) it.
Chen Zhuo spent ten minutes staring intently at the photo album with a critical eye, then fiercely tossed it into his backpack.
"What milky-white snow, girl!" Chen Zhuo cursed.
...All the trades together cost a total of 90 stones.
He could have haggled a bit more, but considering these might be life-saving funds for the traders, he let it go.
After all, saving a dozen or so stones wouldn't bring him a huge advantage.
This wasn't him having a burst of saintly compassion; primarily, Chen Zhuo felt that those who could offer blueprints and other good items for trade would be his potential clients in the future, so it was good to build some goodwill.
After all, everyone was currently stuck in their Shelters and couldn't go out; he had plenty of time to 'shear the sheep' in the coming days.
It was still raining acid outside, and to upgrade their stone houses, most people were trading items for stones.
Even those who had stone houses had mostly just built them, and their bags were empty of stones.
He, however, could continuously acquire stones, and he could take advantage of this time to gather all these good things into his possession.
Speaking of possession, the Survival Platform's backpack was completely insufficient.
So, Chen Zhuo temporarily piled his stone axe, stone pickaxe, instant noodles, and map on the table.
To save backpack space, he immediately used the 3 blueprints he bought.
"More and more things will surely come in later, so I need to start considering building a warehouse."
Early the next morning, Chen Zhuo, who had just finished breakfast and was preparing to start work, found the chat channel suddenly exploded.
"What should I do? My solid wood house can't hold up anymore; it's starting to leak."
"Only just found out? My solid wood house started leaking last night."
"Now we can only rob Peter to pay Paul. If you want to live, use the wood you have to repair your house."
"What's the use of repairing it? It won't last long at all."
"Well, it's better than you just dying, isn't it?"
"Do any of you still have spare wood? I've used all of mine. Can anyone lend me some wood to get through this? After the acid rain, I'll bring my cornerstone and join you."
"Lend? Kid, you're dreaming too big. I don't have any stones here, but I have plenty of wood. If you want some, bring out something good to trade," a burly-looking avatar popped up and said.
"Big brother, I still have half a piece of leftover bread. Do you think I could trade it for some wood?" Taking out half a piece of bread, this Survivor was clearly a bit humble.
"No wood, no food. Someone like you would just be a waste of resources if you survived. Go cool off somewhere else."
Seeing the clearly impoverished Survivor, the burly man ignored him.
Chen Zhuo scrolled up and saw countless similar messages, which were eventually pushed out of sight by other information, ending inconclusively.
He knew it wasn't that these Survivors were truly incapable, but rather that everyone's starting point was different, and thus their speed of gathering supplies varied.
But he only sighed; he couldn't bring himself to give things to strangers, after all, he was here to survive, not to do charity.
Such incidents would only become more frequent in the future. Offering help now would only drag himself into the same quagmire as them later.
Snapping back to reality and continuing his work... For the next 3 days, Chen Zhuo maintained this simple yet regular life.
During the day, he focused on excavation, each swing of his iron pickaxe seeming particularly powerful, as the returns for just a bit of effort were almost exponential.
In the evening, he would browse the trade market, keenly searching for valuable treasures, using the stones in his hand to exchange for useful supplies.
This routine continued for three days, and Chen Zhuo also acquired many of the other Survivors' prized possessions.
Although these items were at best of rare quality, they were plentiful and each had its own use.
However, these weren't the main point. The main point was that his happiness points finally surpassed one hundred today.
After upgrading his stone house to a precise stone house last time, the daily happiness points issued by the system had become 11 points. Coupled with two meals of pork every day for the past few days, he had accumulated so many happiness points without realizing it.
【Ding, congratulations Host, your happiness points have exceeded one hundred for the first time. System upgrade initiated.】
【...】
【Ding, upgrade successful. New function added: Shelter Evaluation.】
【This newly added function allows the Host to more intuitively understand various data of the Shelter and various buildings, and provide more optimal adjustment plans based on the data.】
"This function came at just the right time. My mountain Shelter is almost finished digging these past two days, so I can try out this function."
【Ding, received Advanced Gift Pack X1. Do you wish to open it?】
"Yes!"