Without time for deeper thought, Chi Zheng rushed back to the door and swiftly dealt with the mutated rats blocking the entrance.
He closed the door securely and reinforced it with heavy objects before finally looking at the iron structure in the courtyard.
Oh, no, it wasn’t an iron shed; it was actually a street stall cart.
“It looks just like the one we rented last month when we went to the Harvest Festival in Datian Village…”
Lin Xia circled the cart, reaching out to tug on the door handle.
“Look, the broken lock is exactly the same.”
“Mm.”
Chi Zheng nodded.
“188 credits.”
He was referring to the rental fee. The original price had been 200 credits, but Lin Xia had firmly bargained it down by 12, simply because the cart’s door wouldn’t lock.
“So how did this cart end up in our yard?”
He noticed the wounds on Chi Zheng and frowned.
“Let me help you treat your wounds first.”
The two returned inside.
The house Lin Xia rented was a dilapidated, single-story bungalow. There was only one proper room, containing a bunk bed for them to sleep on. Because it was right next to the waste treatment plant, there were no neighbors nearby. The landlord had illegally occupied a large courtyard, where Lin Xia planted some melons and vegetables to save a significant amount on living expenses.
At the moment, Chi Zheng took off his tattered undershirt, and Lin Xia helped him clean his wounds.
The television was still on, and the anchor was continuing to broadcast emergency news.
——”The 24 hours following contamination are a golden observation period. If your family members are unfortunately contaminated, please leave the contaminated individuals promptly and find a new shelter. If you have been contaminated but have not turned into blood-mud, congratulations, you have likely awakened a new ability…”
The two fell silent for a moment before Lin Xia finally spoke.
“How long… has this been going on?”
Chi Zheng lowered his head and remained silent.
Lin Xia was getting irritated and asked again.
“Are you still going to deny it? I saw with my own eyes that you poked the brains of those mutated rats out. Is this the superpower you awakened?”
Hm? Was he talking about that?
Chi Zheng looked up, nodded vaguely, and appeared not very willing to talk about it.
When Lin Xia was bandaging him, he saw a wound on Chi Zheng’s shoulder and, assuming it was an injury from the mutated rats, touched it lightly.
“Does it hurt?”
Chi Zheng shivered and shook his head.
“It doesn’t hurt.”
He paused.
“But my clothes are ruined.”
He wanted to say that the parasitic limbs had burst through his clothes. Previously, these things grew slowly, and he would clean them out periodically. But in the last few days, perhaps affected by the particle storm, they had grown wildly, frequently piercing through his clothes; they were simply impossible to defend against.
However, he swallowed the words before they left his lips.
He didn’t want Xia Xia to discover that he had, in fact, been different from a normal human for a very long time.
“It’s come to this; who cares about clothes?”
Lin Xia sighed, then suddenly remembered something and poked him.
“Then before, when I was contaminated, why did you insist so firmly that there was no cataclysm?”
“When you went out to buy medicine, did you run into a mud monster?”
Chi Zheng nodded; he never lied to Lin Xia about unimportant things.
“I can protect you.”
He emphasized.
“Even if you mutated, I’ve observed that mud monsters can still eat.”
He was prepared to raise Lin Xia the mud monster.
Lin Xia was torn between laughter and tears, but his heart felt warm.
He understood Chi Zheng’s meaning, because he would have made the same choice.
For two people who relied on each other, neither party was a “half” that could be abandoned. So, even when he discovered that Chi Zheng had been scratched by a mud monster, his only thought was to help him treat the wound, not to keep his distance.
“Then what’s the deal with the street stall cart in the yard?”
“The stall cart?”
Chi Zheng shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Hearing him say that, Lin Xia was surprised.
“You didn’t drag it back?”
“No.”
Chi Zheng thought for a moment.
“It appeared suddenly when you were being attacked by the crow. There was nothing in the yard before that.”
“Maybe it’s your newly awakened ability?”
A new ability? A street stall cart?
Lin Xia didn’t believe it.
He crouched by the door again, carefully observing the cart in the yard.
The cart was as dilapidated as he remembered. Because of the previous attack by the mutated crow, a large hole had been smashed in the cart glass, making it look even more worthless.
If his superpower had awakened into this, then it was surely a tragedy…
“Try to recall it.”
Chi Zheng offered a proactive suggestion.
“Recall it?”
Lin Xia scratched his head.
“How do I recall it?”
Chi Zheng didn’t know how to recall it either. His own abilities didn’t stem from the contamination, so he didn’t know how human superpowers were activated.
Fortunately, Lin Xia was quite talented. After holding his head and thinking for a while, the cart suddenly vanished, only to reappear in a different spot.
“I think I understand a little now.”
Lin Xia clapped his hands and slipped along the wall toward the cart. Sure enough, the moment he stepped into the vehicle, information suddenly appeared in his mind out of nowhere.
——Street Stall Cart (Initial Version) User Manual
This is an ordinary street stall cart, representing your deepest obsession in your subconscious. Made of thin iron sheet, Defense: 10. Can only withstand 2 attacks from Level 1 mutated beasts or zombies. Glass is ordinary tempered glass, Defense: 5. Can withstand 1 attack from a Level 1 mutated beast or Level 1 zombie.
Owner: Lin Xia (Cannot be replaced or abandoned)
Performance Parameters:
Insulation: Level 1, cold in winter and hot in summer.
Functions: One built-in gas stove, various basic seasonings; can cook simple food.
Storage Capacity: Level 1, can store a maximum of 500 catties of ingredients.
Load Capacity: Level 1, can carry 1 ton. Exceeding the maximum load will reduce durability. Please do not overload.
Durability: 70/100 (Mutated beasts damaged your windshield; please repair it as soon as possible).
Comfort: One chair.
Mobility: None. (But it has four wheels; you can pull it along.)
“Sigh, it’s talking nonsense; how could I possibly be obsessed with a street stall cart…”
Lin Xia looked embarrassed.
Although he did want a street stall cart, that was true! But not right now! What was the use of awakening such a ridiculous-looking superpower?
Just as he was feeling depressed, Alliance Channel 1 started broadcasting useless emergency notices again.
——”We advise citizens to proceed to their residential area’s survival base on their own. Public services below First-Tier Zones will cease operation in three days. All energy will be concentrated for the use of the survival bases. Specific coordinates are…”
Before it could finish broadcasting, the TV went black.
Chi Zheng walked out of the house and shook his head.
“The power is out.”
It wasn’t just their house; the whole city had lost power. Just as the notification said, residential areas below the First Tier had stopped public services, and the remaining energy was being supplied to the survival bases everywhere. This notice should have been released three days ago, but due to unknown reasons, Green Shell City, where Lin Xia lived, had only just received it.
“They could have at least reported the survival base coordinates before cutting the power…”
Lin Xia was speechless.
“It’s fine.”
Chi Zheng pressed his shoulder and pointed at the stall cart.
“We have electricity.”
Although the window had a hole gouged by the mutated crow, it didn’t affect the lighting function. An LED light on the top of the stall cart became the only source of light in the darkness.
Hey, it really does!
Lin Xia began flipping through the manual again and discovered that the lighting was provided according to the cart’s durability; as long as the durability didn’t hit zero, the cart could maintain basic lighting.
However, to add other electrical appliances, they needed to pay extra costs (energy). The universal energy source was the crystal cores of mutated organisms. Based on energy density, they were converted, with a reduction for conversion loss; the current conversion rate was 30%.
Therefore, to maintain the daily consumption of the cart, they needed to complete daily supply tasks to keep the various attributes of the stall cart above healthy values.
“The manual also says that when the cart upgrades, I have a chance to obtain extra points, which can be used to upgrade energy conversion efficiency. It’s currently Level 0, which is energy-waste garbage.”
Lin Xia analyzed as he read the manual.
“So, to unlock more functions, I need to complete specific tasks. For example, if I want to repair the glass broken by the mutated crow, I need to complete a repair task, or overwrite it directly through a stall cart upgrade task… Hmm, it seems I can project the task content…”
He then projected a full page of text onto the courtyard wall.
Repair Task: Please find materials similar to the original factory glass to replace it. Dimensions: 400cm120cm2cm. Ordinary explosion-proof glass. Upon replacement, the cart’s durability will return to 90.
“90?”
Chi Zheng pointed at the projected content.
“Why is there a 10-point loss even after changing the glass?”
“Because the basic structure was damaged…”
Lin Xia flipped through the manual frantically.
“Structural damage causes a drop in durability. This type of damage cannot be repaired through daily supply tasks, but it can be overwritten by upgrading.”
“What are the upgrade tasks?”
“Uh, there are a lot.”
Lin Xia projected the upgrade task page onto the wall. It was densely packed, covering an entire page, and color-coded by difficulty.
Upgrade Tasks:
(White Version – Ordinary Enhancement)
1. Store 100 catties of edible ingredients.
2. Use collected ingredients as raw materials, combine two recipes, and submit the finished product for review.
Reward: Stall Cart Defense +5, one chair, 10 liters of pure water.
(Yellow Version – Intermediate Enhancement)
1. Store 200 catties of ingredients.
2. Use collected ingredients as raw materials, combine 10 recipes; the recipes must perfectly consume all ingredients, with no remainder or waste. Prepare 10 portions of each recipe and submit for review.
Reward: Stall Cart Defense +20, one chair, one wooden bed, 20 liters of pure water. Audit rating must reach a passing grade.
(Orange Version – Advanced Enhancement)
1. Store 500 catties of edible ingredients.
2. Use collected ingredients as raw materials, combine 10 recipes, and submit each recipe’s finished product for review.
3. Audit rating must reach excellent.
4. Complete within a 24-hour time limit.
Reward: Stall Cart Defense +50, Insulation +1 level, one chair, one bed with a mattress, 50 liters of pure water.
(Red Reinforcement Task – Triggers after completing the Orange task)
Sell all finished products and obtain approval from over 50% of the diners. Time limit: 24 hours. Failure to complete the task requires paying a penalty equal to 2 times the price of the ingredients; if not paid in time, it will be deducted from the stall cart and the owner.
Reward: Add a power module to the stall cart. Current power coefficient is Level 1 (speed of an ordinary electric scooter). 60% of sales revenue belongs to the owner, can be exchanged for mall currency for shopping. Mall function unlocked.
There was so much information that both of them felt dizzy reading it.