2: Chapter 2 Looting the Box

Fortunately, I had already downloaded many post-apocalyptic novels and TV series. Despite my anxiety, I forced myself to keep reading the novels.

Six hours later, a notification finally appeared again!

[A large number of First-order Zombies are approaching, please stay safe!]

Sure enough, in less than ten minutes, there was a loud pounding on the door, accompanied by many screams from outside.

Mu Cheng didn't even need to think to know it must be a zombie army!

"We'll see in seven days!" Mu Cheng continued reading his novel.

He didn't care at all what it was like outside. Finally, seven days later... Mu Cheng prepared some bottled water, food, and a rather expensive kitchen knife, packing them all into his backpack.

He opened the door of the presidential suite; the lack of any notification proved that it was perfectly safe.

Damn it, the thirty-second floor. Going up and down is going to be exhausting!

By the time Mu Cheng reached the twentieth floor, he began to complain.

But he had no choice. Treasure chests had already fallen from the sky, and he needed to seize the initiative to increase his strength.

Even if the building were taller, he would still have to climb... Of course, the main reason was that after the seven-day 'Great Cleansing', it would be relatively safe for a period of time.

Even if there were still some First-order Zombies, they had almost no combat power during the day. Anyone with a bit of skill could easily deal with them.

It took a full ten minutes. At this moment, the streets were deathly quiet, with not a single soul in sight.

Although there were zombies wandering around, Mu Cheng did not disturb them; instead, he took a detour!

This was the only way. Before having enough strength, killing a zombie and accidentally stirring up a whole nest would be a huge trouble.

Clearly, that would not be a wise choice!

Shortly after Mu Cheng left the Xinhua Hotel, a notification suddenly popped up.

[One thousand meters ahead at the Ningcheng University Stadium: top-grade treasure chest *1, First-order Zombies *30.]

This luck is insane! Am I starting at the peak? Well, I like it.

The more Mu Cheng thought about it, the more excited he became. However, with the experience of his past life, he didn't let his guard down for a moment.

One thousand meters wasn't very far. In about ten minutes, Mu Cheng arrived at the Ningcheng University Stadium.

The stadium was open-air, and in the center sat that top-grade treasure chest. It was shimmering gold and about the size of a 28-inch suitcase.

There were over a dozen university dormitory buildings around. Perhaps it was because the school's elevation was high, or perhaps it was because college students were supposedly capable of anything!

After three days of heavy rain and seven days of the zombie 'Great Cleansing', there were still many survivors!

Along the way, Mu Cheng also noticed many Basic Treasure Chests had been opened. It wasn't hard to guess that students must have opened them.

However, a group of zombies was lying asleep in the stadium. Ninety-nine percent of the students at Ningcheng University were girls, and they were particularly timid.

So, no one dared to approach the top-grade treasure chest in the stadium!

Eh? These guys actually don't attack people?

Mu Cheng looked at the sleeping zombies and cautiously approached the treasure chest with his kitchen knife in hand.

Sure enough, the zombies didn't attack him, and he didn't go looking for trouble either.

He began to search for items inside the top-grade treasure chest.

The first item he pulled out...

[High-Tech Rice Ball Box: Contains twenty rice balls. Eating one will stave off hunger, but they have no flavor.]

A High-Tech Rice Ball Box? A top-grade treasure chest allows you to pull out items up to ten times (it's not always ten, but ten is the maximum).

Of course, for any treasure chest, the higher the sequence of the item pulled, the rarer it is.

Since the first pull gave him a High-Tech Rice Ball Box—something a Low-tier Chest would definitely yield—the chances of getting something good in the subsequent pulls seemed slim.

"Is this luck... a bit poor? At least give me a High-Tech Tent!" Mu Cheng complained, though his mouth was the only thing doing so.

His body, however, wasn't so honest and continued to reach in, quickly pulling out a water cup.

[High-Tech Water Cup: Can be used to drink natural water, but water cannot be poured out of the cup.]

"High-Tech Water Cup? Isn't this a bit much?"

Mu Cheng refused to believe his bad luck and kept searching, only to find another one.

[High-Tech Backpack: Can hold 100kg of items; it feels weightless when worn.]

"The Survival Trio? Is this luck... a bit too 'African'?" Mu Cheng himself was dumbfounded.

The so-called Survival Trio consisted of the rice ball box, the water cup, and the backpack.

Though common, they were still high-tech items!

"I don't believe it." Mu Cheng continued to reach into the chest.

[black gold blade]

"Finally, something decent. So heavy!" Mu Cheng almost couldn't lift it.

After all, the weight of the black gold blade reached a staggering two hundred catties!

He had no choice but to toss it aside and keep searching!

[storage ring: Can store 500kg. Once worn, it automatically binds to the owner and disappears upon death.]

500kg? Are you treating me like a beggar? Although Mu Cheng had never owned a top-grade treasure chest before, he remembered clearly.

The storage weight one could get from them ranged from 500kg to 50,000kg.

"Better than nothing." Mu Cheng put on the storage ring.

In the blink of an eye, the storage ring vanished. Having seen much of the world, he naturally wasn't surprised.

This storage ring was somewhat like the spatial rings in fantasy novels, but it measured the mass of items rather than storage volume.

However, the principle was the same; as long as it was in his hand or touched, he could store or retrieve items based on his will.

Mu Cheng put the black gold blade and his backpack into it...

He reached in again.

[black gold dagger]

"I refuse to believe there's nothing better." Mu Cheng was determined to defy his luck.

He stored the black gold dagger and continued.

[Storage Stone: Can add 500kg; once stored, it can be directly stacked onto the storage ring.]

He searched again and found another [Storage Stone: Can add 2,000kg; once stored, it can be directly stacked onto the storage ring.]

"Please, give me something good!" Mu Cheng didn't hesitate. After putting away the Storage Stone, he reached in once more.

It was a test tube about a dozen centimeters long, containing a blue liquid.

[first-order modification potion: Can modify the body.]

"A first-order modification potion, my luck is truly something." Mu Cheng, of course, drank it immediately.

A first-order modification potion could double one's strength, speed, and stamina!

While not the best, it was better than nothing. He picked it up and downed it in one gulp.

A top-grade treasure chest shouldn't be like this! Or could it be that it yields what is needed based on one's current strength?

The more Mu Cheng thought about it, the more he felt something was off.

Treasure chests weren't like Traders; they were one-time use items that would disappear. Especially top-grade treasure chests—three months into the apocalypse, they would be basically impossible to find!

"Since I've already started, let's continue!" Mu Cheng didn't overthink it and kept searching the chest.

Finally, he had a stroke of 'European' luck.

[Fire Element Ability Card: Upon fusion, awakens a Fire Element Ability.]

"Finally, something good. Let's keep going."

Mu Cheng wanted to keep searching, but the chest was empty. He had no choice but to fuse the ability card first to boost his strength.

Since he already knew the method for fusion, it was actually quite simple: just drip a drop of his own blood onto it.

Soon, the palm-sized card bit by bit fused into Mu Cheng's body. The fusion was complete in less than ten minutes.

"Is this the Fire Element Ability? Truly miraculous." Mu Cheng condensed a ball of blue flame in his right hand.

In his previous life, he had never awakened an ability. He had no choice; by the time he had some strength, it was already the fifth year of the apocalypse.

By then, treasure chests were gone, and Traders were monopolized by powerful families and forces. Naturally, awakening ability cards cost an astronomical price.

"Whoa! What's going on?" Fortunately, Mu Cheng had been keeping an eye on the surrounding zombies, otherwise he would have definitely been successfully ambushed.

Although he managed to dodge just in time, the zombies had now completely surrounded him.

Is it because of the ability awakening? What exactly is hidden behind the apocalypse?

Mu Cheng had thought about this question in his past life, but right now he didn't have much time to think. He took out his black gold blade and became extremely cautious.

After his body was modified, his strength, stamina, and speed were already double that of an average person. The two-hundred-catty black gold blade in Mu Cheng's hand...

...felt like a toy, with no effort required at all!

With a swing of his blade!

Mu Cheng had the combat experience from his past life's memories, plus he knew the zombies' weakness was their heads.

With one strike, a zombie's head was severed. Black blood sprayed all over the ground, and some got on him as well.

The thirty zombies were easily dealt with by Mu Cheng in less than five minutes!

Mu Cheng didn't hesitate; he used the black gold blade to start digging into the zombies' heads. He dug through ten zombie heads in a row.

He finally dug out a grey crystal.

It was about the size of a thumb, silver-grey and crystal clear, and one could clearly see a surge of energy flowing inside.

"This luck is something else. A thirty percent drop rate, and it took me ten tries to get one." Mu Cheng's mental state almost collapsed.

It made him not want to continue digging, but to become stronger, he kept at it.

The lowest-level grey crystals would become a universal currency in the future, and they could also restore energy and stamina, somewhat similar to spiritual energy in novels.

To upgrade ability levels, what was needed were strange crystals to buy ability potions from Traders.

Having made such a big commotion, the students inside Ningcheng University... naturally noticed.

Although many still believed a rescue team would come, some smart ones had already recognized the reality.

To survive, they could only rely on others!

"Um... can you take me with you? I don't want to stay here." A voice suddenly came.

Mu Cheng stood up and turned around to see a girl who looked quite familiar.

But he just couldn't place her!

She was wearing a rather worn light blue dress, with jet-black hair cascading over her shoulders. Her face, which was as beautiful as a celestial being's, was a bit dirty.

Right now, she was trembling all over.

A female college student, looking about twenty years old. It was normal to be afraid after seeing such a scene.

"What's your name?" Mu Cheng felt she looked familiar but couldn't remember, so he asked first.

The female student answered hesitantly, "Lu... Lu Yuxuan. Please, take me away from here!"

[As long as he can take me away from this place, as long as he can let me live, I'll do anything he wants.]

Upon hearing her inner thoughts, Mu Cheng finally remembered the name Lu Yuxuan.

"Lu Yuxuan, one of the top ten powerhouses in the future New Ningcheng, and also the famous campus belle of Ningcheng University."

"As expected of a dance major, what long legs."

Mu Cheng was tempted, and a desire to conquer her sprouted in him; he really wanted to just pin her to the ground!

However, in the end, reason triumphed over desire, and he controlled his bestial impulses.