Treasure Land (Seeking Collection)

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Gu Su, leading seven skeletons, walked along a weed-choked path towards a car abandoned for many years.

The moment his gaze swept over the car's body, he completely understood why these vehicles were left here, reduced to forgotten junk. Time had long since gnawed away at their value.

The car's body was completely encased in thick rust. The original paint had long since flaked off, leaving no trace of the underlying color, only a dull reddish-brown that felt rough and abrasive to the touch.

The once-thick sheet metal had become as thin as a cicada's wing under the constant erosion of wind, rain, and sun. Gu Su lightly poked it with his finger, and with a "hiss," a small hole appeared. His fingertip was coated with fine rust powder.

The rubber of the four wheels had long since aged and melted away in time, becoming pools of dark, sticky goo that held the car firmly to the ground, immovable even by wind and rain.

Tangled weeds had aggressively sprouted from the gaps in the car's hood and window frames. Their thick roots had not only burst through the car body in multiple places, leaving behind hideous cracks, but had also burrowed inside through the seams, corroding the once-precise parts into unrecognizable heaps of rusty scrap metal.

This was no longer a car; it was clearly a pile of decay with no recycling value, not even as good as gray-quality garbage.

Mindless beasts passing by would barely glance at it.

Even a cunning low-level monster like a goblin would find this wreck far less useful than a sharp stone picked up from the ground.

It couldn't be used as a weapon, nor could it provide shelter from the elements. Instead, it just took up space.

It was precisely because of this utter uselessness that these abandoned cars had lain here peacefully for so many years, not dismantled for scrap, nor cleared away as debris. They had simply rotted away amidst the weeds and rust, becoming part of this ruin.

"Trash."

Gu Su sneered softly at the pile of rusty car wreckage, his tone full of disdain.

But as soon as the words left his mouth, he couldn't help but curl his lips in self-mockery.

In his current impoverished state, he wasn't even as good as this junk.

He glanced at the skeletons lined up beside him. The beast bone clubs, dry branches, and sharpened stones clutched in their bony claws were so pathetic they were hard to look at.

Their combat power was likely worse than that of primitive humans who ate raw meat. If they encountered the goblin leader who could resurrect its kin, they wouldn't even be enough to fill its teeth.

"Even the most useless junk, if you rummage through it, you can find something usable," Gu Su muttered to himself.

He wasn't hoping to unearth any divine weapons or magical artifacts. As long as these broken things were even slightly better than the bone clubs in the skeletons' hands, his efforts wouldn't be in vain.

He immediately waved his hand at the skeletons, issuing an order: "Get to it, all of you! Turn over all these abandoned cars nearby. Don't miss a single nook or cranny!"

The seven skeletons immediately sprang into action. Their bony claws landed on the rusty car bodies, emitting a grating "creak, creak" sound.

Some worked together to flip over overturned cars, others crawled into the riddled interiors to search, and some squatted on the ground, digging through the gravel and weeds beneath the cars.

Gu Su wasn't idle either. He joined in personally, using a stone to smash open car doors and reaching under the mold-spotted seats to search.

After a flurry of activity, he actually managed to find quite a few treasures.

Several screws, rusted black but still sharp, were pried loose one by one and nailed onto thick branches, creating crude maces that whistled through the air when swung.

The rotten leather pulled from under the car seats was combined with stripped copper wire, forming makeshift chest and arm guards. Although their defensive capabilities were negligible, they could at least block a goblin's claws.

There was also a section of discarded car exhaust pipe, which he sharpened to an extreme with stones, turning it into a crude dagger. It felt heavy in his hand, much sturdier than a beast bone.

These items couldn't be considered formal equipment. The system hadn't even bothered to label them with stats; they were worse than gray-quality garbage.

But Gu Su was already quite satisfied.

He distributed the maces and daggers to the skeletons with the sturdiest frames and draped the tattered leather armor over them.

The originally pathetic bony frames, now armed, exuded a faint, decent killing aura. They finally didn't look like weaklings that could be crushed with a casual squeeze.

Gu Su didn't rush to deal with the remaining abandoned cars. He clearly understood the priorities.

Taking down the goblin nest and eliminating the leader who could resurrect its kind was the top priority for survival.

The scavenging he had just done had yielded all the usable sharp parts, tough fabrics, and metal tubing.

What remained was either sheet metal that crumbled to dust at a touch or rotten debris with no use value. Leaving them there wouldn't attract anyone's covetous gaze.

After all, in this wasteland, even goblins wouldn't spare these scraps a second look.

Once the goblin problem was resolved, he would have plenty of time to return and thoroughly dismantle these vehicles to collect more usable materials.

Compared to the time-consuming and labor-intensive process of cutting down trees or chiseling stones, these cars, though rotten, still retained their metal skeletons and were undoubtedly the most convenient and efficient source of materials.

Whether it was for the hard materials needed to repair the decaying fence or for parts to attempt to assemble the Earthbound Power System in the future, they could all be salvaged from these wrecked cars.

With that thought, Gu Su looked around at the seven skeletons beside him.

They remained in formation, the faint flames in their empty eye sockets flickering, their bony hands gripping the newly made crude weapons tightly, standing motionless by his side.

They were completely unaware that "dismantle abandoned cars and transport materials" had already been added to their future task list by Gu Su.

Gu Su cast one last glance at the abandoned cars lying in the weeds.

These future "material sources" had already become treasures waiting to be mined in his eyes.

He wasted no more time and turned, stepping back onto the narrow path that had been trodden out.

The formation had already been adjusted. It was still the reliable four-in-front, three-behind battle formation.

Four skeletons equipped with maces and leather armor led the way, their bony claws gripping their weapons, their steady steps parting the vines and weeds that blocked their path, acting as vanguards.

The other three skeletons guarded Gu Su's rear and flanks, their bony eyes vigilantly scanning the surrounding shadows, guarding against any sneak attacks that might emerge from the darkness.

Unlike his previous tension, Gu Su felt much more confident now.

The Skeleton Squad's equipment had been upgraded a level. They were no longer bare bone frames fighting empty-handed. Even facing that Goblin Chief, they might stand a chance.

With his confidence surging, he even had the leisure to observe the scenery along the way.

Trees lined both sides of the road, their canopies blocking out the sky. Thick roots cracked the ground, and emerald vines climbed up the tree trunks, tightly entwining distant buildings.

Through the gaps in the leaves, Gu Su could see several half-collapsed buildings. Plaster peeled off the walls, revealing mottled rebar and concrete within.

Various signs still hung on the building exteriors, but years of wind and sun had long since blurred the lettering. Only a few incomplete outlines could be vaguely discerned, resembling supermarket logos or restaurant signs.

Most of the building entrances were wide open, with shattered glass littering the ground. The floors inside were covered in waist-high weeds, clearly abandoned for who knew how many years.

But as Gu Su's gaze fell upon these dilapidated structures, a glint flashed in his eyes.

Supermarkets meant supplies. Restaurants might hide cookware or even fuel. Even ordinary residences could yield usable metal items. These places were all prime targets for his future scavenging.

Of course, all that would have to wait until the current trouble was resolved.