Chapter 17 was a fruitful year, yielding excellent turret blueprints!

The library's main door was ajar, its hinges emitting a grating, rusty squeal.

Su Ze squeezed in sideways, a smell of rotting paper and dust assailing him.

This place was even more cavernous and chaotic than the classroom building.

Rows of tall bookshelves leaned at precarious angles, countless books strewn across the floor, trampled beyond recognition.

Several zombies wandered among the shelves. Hearing the noise, they slowly turned their heads, empty eye sockets

Hrrgh...

A low growl rumbled from Su Ze's throat. The zombies' movements paused briefly, then, as if nothing had happened, they resumed their aimless wandering.

He paid no mind to these

The situation was worse than in the classroom building.

Most of the visible supplies had a dull, ashen hue.

[Moldy Bread]

[Expired Ham Sausage]

[Oranges Covered in Fungal Spots]

The attribute descriptions for these items invariably carried negative effects like

Su Ze skimmed past them expressionlessly, not even interested in bending down to pick them up.

In the apocalypse, hunger was terrifying, but losing your combat ability because you ate something you shouldn't was the most foolish way to die.

Patiently, he navigated through the rows of shelves, using his long spear to poke aside piles of books and backpacks.

Perseverance paid off; he still managed to find some useful items.

[Acquired Compressed Biscuits*1]

[Acquired 500ml Drinking Water*2]

[Acquired Iron Material*5]

The haul was meager, but better than nothing.

Just as he was searching the second-floor reading area, inside an abandoned suitcase, he found a faintly glowing blueprint.

[Simple Toilet · Blueprint]

[Quality: Common]

[Description: A great invention to solve an urgent need, bidding farewell to the primitive life of relieving oneself anywhere.]

[Crafting Requirements: Wood material*20, Iron Material*5]

[Consumption: Each use consumes copper coins*1 for waste decomposition and purification.]

Su Ze raised an eyebrow.

A simple toilet?

And you have to pay to use it? And it's this expensive?

That meant killing one zombie only got you two trips to the toilet...

However, upon second thought, although this thing sounded ridiculous, it genuinely solved a major problem.

The Dormitory didn't have a bathroom.

It was still early days, and people could endure it for now, but as time went on, the issue of waste disposal would become extremely troublesome and disgusting.

He couldn't very well have three beautiful campus belles just... in the corner of the Dormitory...

The thought of that scene sent a shiver down Su Ze's spine.

"Forget it, it's better than nothing."

He muttered to himself, casually stowing the blueprint in his backpack.

Another half-hour passed. Su Ze had turned the library from the first to the fourth floor upside down.

Apart from a large amount of common materials and food, he hadn't even seen a single Superior quality item.

He couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed.

At the same time, a clear sense of hunger arose in his stomach. The continuous use of [Strange Language] and the long walk had also slightly lowered his Stamina.

He opened his backpack interface to glance at his gains.

Wood material, Iron Material, stone material, bandages, antibiotics, drinking water, compressed biscuits, bread,

along with two skill books and one blueprint.

They almost filled up all the backpack slots.

Completely identical items like compressed biscuits and drinking water could stack, not taking up additional slots.

But although both [Skill Book: Elementary Massage] and [Skill Book: Elementary Ear Cleaning] were skill books, because their names and effects were different, they each occupied one slot.

[Simple Toilet Blueprint] also took up one slot by itself.

If he added the long spear he had to carry with him at all times, his backpack space was already exhausted.

"It seems only completely identical items can stack..."

"Twelve slots are still somewhat insufficient."

Su Ze now had a clear understanding.

Although he had searched for so long and gathered a substantial amount of basic supplies,

apart from the backpack expansion card, he hadn't seen a single Superior quality item.

This made him somewhat frustrated.

"Forget it, head back first. In terms of the quantity of common supplies, it's still a big haul."

He'd been out for so long; he didn't know how things were at the Dormitory.

Go back, empty the backpack, upgrade the Dormitory door, then eat something to replenish Stamina before coming out to continue looting.

He didn't dare eat outside. What if having something in his mouth affected the effectiveness of [Strange Language]...

Wouldn't that be capsizing in a ditch?

By the way, kill eleven more zombies at the Dormitory entrance to gather a hundred copper coins and unlock the [Survival Mall].

Perhaps the mall would have new backpack expansion cards for sale.

Having made up his mind, Su Ze didn't linger any longer. Gripping his long spear, he turned and headed towards the library exit.

Just as he turned, the tip of the long spear trailing behind him inadvertently scraped against a forgotten, dusty, tattered backpack in the corner.

*Riiip—*

A soft sound of fabric tearing.

The already tattered backpack was ripped open with a larger gash. A scroll-like object rolled out from inside, emitting a faint fluorescent glow on the floor.

Su Ze's footsteps halted.

He slowly turned around, his gaze falling on the glowing scroll.

He walked over, used the spear tip to pick up the blueprint, and held it in his hand.

Unrolling it, lines of information appeared before his eyes.

[Linked Arrow Case · Blueprint]

[Quality: Superior]

[Level: Lv.1]

[Type: turret]

[Attack Power: 20]

[Rate of Fire: 1 shot/2 seconds]

[Attack Range: 2 meters]

[Special Effect: Combo (Each attack has a 15% chance to trigger a combo)]

[Ammunition Consumption: 4 copper coins*1/arrow]

[Construction Requirements: Wood material*60, Iron Material*80, Taut Elastic Rope*1]

[Upgrade Path: None / For more upgrade paths, please obtain higher-level blueprints of the same type;]

[Description: A sophisticated automatic defensive weapon that can automatically lock onto and attack enemies within its range.]

Su Ze's breath hitched for a moment the instant he saw this blueprint's attributes.

Superior quality!

Attack power 20!

This was so much stronger than fighting bare-handed!

Most crucially, it automatically locked on and attacked!

This meant he could have a 24/7 automatic defensive

And it would be a huge deterrent against other players with ill intentions!

Su Ze's heart began to beat uncontrollably faster.

His previous frustration and impatience vanished, replaced by an irrepressible excitement.

This trip out was worth it!

So damn worth it!

He immediately stored this precious blueprint in his backpack.

The only trouble was the [Taut Elastic Rope] listed in the construction materials.

He had never seen this item before, nor did he have it in his backpack.

Perhaps this was a rare material that required information or luck to find?

However, Su Ze wasn't anxious.

Food must be eaten bite by bite; the road must be walked step by step.

Obtaining this blueprint today was already an immense stroke of luck.

Suppressing the excitement in his heart, he took one last sweeping glance at the silent library. Without any further attachment, he turned and strode towards the exit.

Now, he had only one thought.

Return to the Dormitory!

Upgrade the door, replenish Stamina,

then gather enough copper coins and open the mall!