Chapter 4: So Many Dead Again? But There Was No Danger Here

After Lin Mu had traveled a few more kilometers, he collected another four boxes, but for some distance afterward, he didn’t encounter any more. He glanced at the odometer; the boxes he’d found before had appeared every kilometer. That meant the next time he came across a box, it should be the same.

“Looking at it this way, resource boxes don’t seem all that hard to get.” He looked at the various boxes piled on the backseat and passenger seat. These empty boxes—couldn’t they be put to some use? It felt wasteful to simply throw them away. Lin Mu checked his backpack; the materials needed for vehicle upgrades were still far from sufficient. He had only two iron ingots left after using up two, four pieces of wood, and one piece of glass. At this rate, he figured he could gather everything by tomorrow.

He adjusted his posture and casually opened the regional channel. Lin Mu’s gaze immediately fell upon the number at the top—99633.

Hiss! More people had died?

There was clearly no real danger here, Lin Mu thought, puzzled. He’d opened ten boxes and only encountered danger once. If you just ran straight to the vehicle, how could you possibly die? He clearly forgot that he had never left his car from the start, not even to pick up boxes—he simply opened a door.

“Hey big brothers~ could someone give me some water~ I can send you stockings~”
“Get lost, you freak! Don’t trust this guy, he’s just some hairy dude.”
“Hahaha, I just shot a wolf with my pistol and got a bunch of wolf meat.”
Lin Mu’s pupils contracted when he read this—someone had a pistol? Was that even reasonable?

“Impressive, unlike me—I only managed to get a KFC family bucket.”
“By the way, how much gas does everyone have left? I just drove 100 kilometers and my 20 liters are gone. There’s no gasoline in any of the boxes. If I don’t find more soon, I’ll have to stop.”
“...”

Lin Mu rubbed his chin; come to think of it, he hadn’t found any gasoline either. Mostly it was water and food, and very few materials. Did that mean they gave out more food early on?

Thinking this, he opened the trading hall. Compared to before, there was much more stuff listed. As he expected, most people were selling food and water, with pitifully few materials. It seemed it was impossible to get materials here.

Lin Mu closed the interface and stared ahead. Honestly, whether he watched or not didn’t matter; the car could only go so fast. No matter how hard he pressed the accelerator, it was capped at sixty. Not a bit more.

Just as Lin Mu was feeling bored, a flash of light gleamed in the middle of the road.

It’s here!

He quickly checked the odometer—99 kilometers. So, a resource box appeared every 100 kilometers, one per kilometer? For now, it seemed to be the case.

As he drew closer, his suspicions were confirmed, and a smile spread across Lin Mu’s face. He extended his sharp axe and smashed it against the resource box.

Crack—

Lin Mu hurriedly opened the panel.

[Congratulations on opening the wooden resource box, you have obtained 10L gasoline x1.]

He raised his eyebrows—gasoline, how lucky. He hadn’t expected to find gasoline in the very first box. It seemed he didn’t need to worry about running out of fuel after all.

Lin Mu checked his remaining gasoline—it was still plentiful.

“Let’s hope luck stays with me,” Lin Mu rubbed his hands together. He collected the box and stowed it in the car.

Staring at the pile of boxes, Lin Mu hesitated; should he throw them away? They couldn’t even fit in his backpack—perhaps they were useless after all.

But…

He remembered the silver and gold boxes, which he’d bitten to check their authenticity—they were real, and didn’t seem fake.

Lin Mu glanced again at the boxes behind him.

“Better keep them for now. If needed, I can toss the wooden and black iron boxes first.”

Just as Lin Mu had predicted, every kilometer there was another box. The contents, however, were not quite what he expected—still bread and water, and even some canned food. But he managed to collect quite a bit of iron and wood.

At the kilometer ahead, Lin Mu encountered the seventh box. This one was different—it had a question mark painted on its surface.

He stared at the box, not driving any closer. A message appeared before his eyes.

[Mystery Box]
[A resource box that tests your luck]

Was he really this lucky? He’d actually come across a mystery box!

Lin Mu was thrilled: “Let me get a Gatling gun—if not that, an AWM will do, and if not, even an M718 would be fine…”

He pressed his palms together and maneuvered his axe toward the box.

Thump!

Crack—

Three glowing spheres appeared before Lin Mu.

He was at a loss—what did this mean? He quickly opened the book to ask.

[Anything can appear in a mystery resource box. There will be at least one glowing sphere, up to five. Each sphere represents something—could be a resource, could be danger. Be prepared.]

Lin Mu swallowed hard.

There could be danger—should he open it? Couldn’t whatever it is appear outside, not inside the car?

“Hey, will whatever comes out of these spheres appear inside the car or outside?” he asked.

[…]

Perhaps his question was strange; the words in the book took a long time to respond.

[They will appear within one meter around the mystery box outside the car.]

Upon reading this, Lin Mu felt reassured. As long as nothing entered the car, he’d be safe.

“Please, let it be something useful, not dangerous—I beg you!!”

He plunged his hand into the first sphere.

The sphere flashed back toward the mystery box, and a piece of parchment fell to the ground.

He touched it with his axe, and it appeared in his backpack.

[Blueprint for Small Pure Water Collector]: Can collect 100ml of water per hour.

Excellent! Though it was only 100ml, it was enough for him alone.

Having found something good, Lin Mu felt even happier. He hurriedly plunged his hand into the middle sphere—when the sphere landed near the box, something spilled out.

Hiss!

“Who else could be this lucky!!”

He swiftly used his axe to stow the item into his spatial backpack.

A whole box of soda!

He quickly pulled it out—a whole unopened crate.

He pried out a bottle.

Pop—

Gulp, gulp, gulp—

The fizzy sensation filled his mouth, the prickly taste was wonderful.

Refreshing~

Compared to the blueprint, this wasn’t quite as useful, but for Lin Mu, it was still a treasure. Besides, it was a whole case—twenty-four bottles, perfect for quenching thirst and cravings.

His eyes sparkled as he looked at the final sphere; even if it was something dangerous, he didn't mind. With the first two, he’d already profited.

As the sphere burst, Lin Mu’s eyes widened.

“A treasure, truly a treasure!”