novelraw Chapter 17: Achievement Completed - The Back of the Block
Chapter 17: Achievement Completed - The Back of the Block
A mechanical prompt sounded in his ears. Instead of being overjoyed, Yu Yuan actually calmed down.
Staring blankly at the ranking information displayed on the virtual light screen, he deeply exhaled a turbid breath, a curve forming at the corner of his mouth.
"It seems... this step was right!"
The originally somewhat vague concept in his mind immediately became clear after his recent realization and the system's confirmation.
Yes!
Everyone knows the urban area is a treasure zone, so why do players avoid it?
There's only one answer: the Thugs.
Various Thug factions occupy the city blocks, making this place full of danger and difficult to move through.
But everything has two sides, and the city is no exception.
Just like everything has a shadow, what is the city's shadow?It's not the subway tunnels, not the basements and parking lots, but the most easily overlooked and despised sewers.
A city can exist without subways, without basements or parking lots.
But it absolutely cannot exist without sewers.
Everyone knows sewers are foul, filthy, and dark.
But this is the city's underbelly, an undeniable fact.
Now, with the Positioning Watch and the East City District Sewer Shelter System Master Plan, the situation has changed.
If the city surface is the world ruled by Thugs, then the city's underbelly has now granted Yu Yuan access.
Yu Yuan's thinking was clearer now than ever before.
What needed to be done next was to properly develop this virgin land of the sewers.
All the blueprints had been taken away, and there was no reason to stay in the archives room any longer.
However, the water service center could still be explored further.
Leaving the archives room, he followed the door signs past the Pipeline Maintenance Department, Sewage Supervision Office, and Water Quality Testing Room.
Without exception, all were in complete disarray, with garbage and dried bloodstains everywhere.
He didn't mind, searching room by room for valuable supplies.
Anti-theft door locks for upgrading security doors - he directly dismantled two sets from doors and stuffed them into his backpack.
He removed ten energy-saving light bulbs and listed them on Taotao Hole; these were supplies he would use later to upgrade Taotao Hole.
Notebooks, thermometers, water cups, tape measures, blankets... etc., he took whatever he could find.
These things that were worthless in the eyes of Thugs were all treasures that could be sold for money in Yu Yuan's eyes.
Without high-value supplies, being a scavenger wasn't bad either.
Weren't those veteran players constantly thinking about urban supplies?
Perfect - they had survival points, Yu Yuan had supplies, everyone was happy.
The somewhat damaged fabric sling bag was also brought out by him.
But it was mostly filled with miscellaneous items, until he came to the director's office. Looking at the metal door covered with footprints and signs of forced entry, yet still locked, he felt slight surprise before showing delight.
Pulling out his lock pick, it took only about ten seconds for the metal door to automatically pop open. Gripping his Kukri tightly, he entered the room and carefully closed the door.
Surveying the room, it still maintained its pre-wasteland appearance.
A thick layer of dust had accumulated on the surfaces, unfinished work could still be seen on the desk, and documents seemed to be waiting for approval.
Yu Yuan secretly guessed.
"Could it be that the wasteland's arrival happened right after they left work the previous day?"
But he had no interest in investigating the truth, only in supplies.
When passing by the break room's storage locker, the contents inside made his eyes light up.
Wow—
It was filled with various coffee beverages and biscuit snacks.
Not only vacuum-packed coffee beans, but also canned instant coffee, black coffee powder, and various coffee accompaniments like sugar cubes, condensed milk, cocoa powder, milk powder, etc.
Although the quantity of each category wasn't large, and some had passed their expiration dates, Yu Yuan didn't mind at all.
He could sell the expired ones to other players - they would definitely be popular.
He immediately emptied his backpack, prioritizing these beverages to pack inside.
Coffee's strategic position in the wasteland was similar to cigarettes.
Not only could it provide sufficient calories, but the caffeine in coffee could also uplift spirits, dispel fatigue, and have some effect on mental stability.
Taking it all back would definitely not be a loss.
The water heater and grinder were also listed by Yu Yuan on Taotao Hole.
Once he built a generator, these things would be key to improving his quality of life.
Taking a step back, even if he disassembled these items, the materials inside would be quite valuable.
Yu Yuan picked and chose within the room, constantly rotating and updating the supplies in his backpack and Taotao Hole. Only the most valuable things deserved to be packed into Yu Yuan's backpack.
Under the office desk, he found two more packs of Marlboro cigarettes and several bottles of premium alcohol.
Yu Yuan thought for a moment, then directly listed three packs of Marlboro cigarettes, each priced at 1000 survival points.
This price wasn't inflated; it was a reasonable price he estimated based on last night's transactions.
He also opened one pack to sell individually, listing them at a price of 2 cigarettes for 100 survival points.
Sure enough, in less than a minute, all the cigarettes were sold out.
He received 4000 survival points, directly spending 2000 points to upgrade Taotao Hole's permission level to level 2. The number of items that could be simultaneously listed increased from 15 to 25, and all the large items that were difficult to carry were listed.
He closed the virtual light screen.
In the end, only one safe remained unopened.
The safe was embedded in the office desk, and the complexity of its lock core exceeded his lock picking range. After working on it for over ten minutes, he still hadn't opened it.
Yu Yuan originally wanted to list the entire safe on Taotao Hole to unlock slowly later.
But it couldn't be listed at all, so he reluctantly gave up.
In the end, he could only brace himself, eat some of the biscuits he had just found, and continue his great lock picking undertaking.
With his previous experience with the Metal Cabinet in Wutong Apartments room 506, he was very attentive to these locked cabinets.
He had a premonition that he might get something good from inside this one.
The higher the lock picking difficulty, the more bountiful the potential rewards.
It was precisely by constantly brainwashing himself like this, brainwashing, and more brainwashing.
Two hours later, Yu Yuan's eyes were slightly lowered, his ears tilted slightly. While using the lock pick to feel the spring strength of the safe's lock core, he carefully listened for the subtle differences in the tumbler sounds.
"Click"
Yu Yuan's eyes suddenly snapped open, delight appearing in their depths.
—It's open!
The safe door quickly popped open, revealing its contents.
[Ding...]
[Successfully cracked Excellent-grade lock, Lock Picking skill gained substantial proficiency, skill level increased↑, current skill level is Excellent]