Opening Move - Landing in First Place

Zhang Yang arrived at the warehouse interface.

Zhang Yang looked at the pieces of junk he had just brought back from the Silent Forest and felt there was no need to organize them at all.

Just let them pile up in the warehouse for now.

Zhang Yang thought to himself, his consciousness casually tapping on the items within the warehouse.

"Huh?"

Zhang Yang discovered that among the available options, one stood out particularly sharply—"Withdraw"?

"Withdraw?"

Zhang Yang selected several collectibles in succession and found that every item had this "Withdraw" option.

"Does 'Withdraw' mean to extract them into the real world?"

Zhang Yang decided to run an experiment.

He specifically chose the lowest-value "Copper Soul Coin" as his test subject.

He tapped "Withdraw," and the next moment, an utterly ordinary Copper Soul Coin appeared in Zhang Yang's hand.

"It really can be extracted."

After fiddling with it briefly, Zhang Yang discovered a problem: he had no way to put this Copper Soul Coin back into the warehouse.

It couldn't be put back into the warehouse, but a new function had appeared.

"Top-up?"

Seeing this sole option, a cunning look appeared on Zhang Yang's face.

Right, that makes sense.

How could a Tencent game not have a "Top-up" option?

Now that the top-up option had appeared, it finally felt authentic.

Zhang Yang clicked directly on top-up.

System, let me top up 1 Copper Soul Coin first and see what happens.

Then, Zhang Yang saw the Haf Coin count in the top right corner change from 0 to 1.

"Hiss~"

Zhang Yang gasped.

So, this top-up option converts things into Haf Coin.

Who would do that?

In the game, 1 Haf Coin is worth nothing; a pack of Angxing Crispy Noodles that Zhang Yang wouldn't even bother to pick up costs 980 Haf Coin.

However, in the world of Douluo Continent, 2 Copper Soul Coins can buy a cheap boxed meal with two meat dishes, two vegetable dishes, and two large steamed buns.

Zhang Yang would have to be senile to choose to convert Copper Soul Coins into Haf Coin.

Since Copper Soul Coins didn't work, Zhang Yang experimented with Gold Soul Coins, Silver Soul Coins, and other collectibles.

In the end, Zhang Yang concluded that the personal warehouse was one-way; it could only withdraw items, not take them back.

Reaching this conclusion, Zhang Yang sighed helplessly.

It was a pity; with the system set up this way, it cut off many of the ways Zhang Yang could have played.

After exploring the functions of his golden finger a bit more, Zhang Yang checked the time. Seeing it was still early, he decided to start another round.

Zhang Yang selected "Pre-deployment Preparation" and entered the map selection interface.

Currently, only two maps were available.

"Gold-Iron Mountain Range-Normal" and "Heding City Academy-Normal" modes.

"Gold-Iron Mountain Range-Normal: Established by extracting a partial zone of the Gold-Iron Mountain Range, suitable for levels 1-3."

"Heding City Academy-Normal: Established by extracting the Heding City Junior Soul Master Academy and its surrounding area, suitable for levels 1-3."

Zhang Yang thought for a moment and chose to play "Heding City Academy-Normal" first.

After all, he had just come out of a forest map and wanted to see what the difference was between a city map and a forest map.

"Commence operation."

Entering the loadout interface, Zhang Yang decided to wear a standard set into the map.

The standard set is a pre-configured suit provided by the system, which includes firearms, ammunition, armor, equipment, medical supplies, and everything else needed for combat.

For someone like Zhang Yang, who had no money and an empty warehouse, the standard set provided a certain chance for a comeback and ensured he wouldn't be at too much of a disadvantage in battle.

The standard set came in three styles.

Balanced, Firepower, and Survival.

The difference between the three lay in the level of the armor and the amount of health and mana potions provided.

For instance, the Balanced Set included a level 1 helmet, level 2 armor, and two slots for potions—one red and one blue.

The Firepower Set consists of a Level 1 helmet, Level 1 armor, and two slots of soul power recovery potions. There are no health potions, focusing entirely on the thrill of extreme combat.

As for the Survival Set, it provides a Level 2 helmet, armor, and two slots of health potions, with no soul power recovery items.

Zhang Yang looked them over and naturally chose the Balanced Set.

The Level 2 armor offers a certain degree of protection, the health potions increase the margin for error, and the mana potions provide sustainability—it was just right for Zhang Yang.

With the standard set selected, the interface jumped back to the assembly screen, and Zhang Yang equipped the Pure Silver Ring.

With 9 slots in the secure container, 5 in the pockets, 6 in the chest rig, and 15 in the backpack, he had a total of 35 slots of storage space.

Even if he didn't find any gold-tier collectibles, it would be enough for Zhang Yang to extract with hundreds of thousands in loot.

Let's go!

Just like in the tutorial, a helicopter brought Zhang Yang into the map. After fast-roping down, Zhang Yang appeared at a corner of the map.

Opening his personal terminal, Zhang Yang quickly studied the map.

"Heding City Junior Soul Master Academy?"

"West City Commercial Street?"

"Hotel Street?"

Three of the city's more famous building complexes, along with some ordinary houses, made up the "Heller City Academy - Normal" map.

Zhang Yang located his spawn point right next to the main gate of the Heding City Junior Soul Master Academy.

"I suppose this counts as the number one spawn position for the Soul Master Academy."

The M14 flashed into his hands, and Zhang Yang gripped the M14, rushing toward the nearby Soul Master Academy gate.

Since he was at the number one spawn, was there even a need to think about where to go?

The archway of the Junior Soul Master Academy was twenty meters wide and over ten meters high; one of the tall iron gates beneath it was already open, leaving a path for people to enter and exit.

Zhang Yang entered through the gate, and his first sight was the smooth, exquisite paved path of the Soul Master Academy, the dense trees lining both sides of the road, and the towering main building at the end of the path.

Although he had lived in this world for six years, Zhang Yang still marveled at the architectural style of this world.

It could be summed up in one word.

Big.

As long as a building had anything to do with Soul Masters, it had to be built exceptionally large and luxurious.

It was as if only in this way could the noble status of Soul Masters in this world be displayed.

Withdrawing his gaze, Zhang Yang looked at the side of the gate.

On both sides outside the gate, splayed walls made of stone had been built, and inside the gate, corresponding to the splayed walls, was a peaked-roof building with a side entrance.

This must be the gatehouse guard room.

Zhang Yang entered with his weapon raised and found his guess was correct.

Inside the room, apart from a small door leading to a breakroom, there were two desks covered in files and a row of metal lockers against the wall.

Lockers?

Zhang Yang's eyes lit up.

In Delta Force, lockers were considered mid-tier containers; even if you were doing a knife run, you would still open them, because lockers really did spawn good loot.

Who would have thought that as soon as the locker door opened, a massive Resuscitation Ventilator would be stuffed into the bottom space, providing a sense of salvation.

Zhang Yang hurried forward, probed with his consciousness, and then, as his body moved laterally, the doors of the four lockers were opened one after another.

Green, Apple, value 2441.

White, Claw Hammer, value 3726.

White, Local Tabloid, value 1886.

White, Box of Nails, value 2811.

White, Utility Knife, value 2321.

White, Boxed Candles, value 2305.

"..."

Who took a dump in the locker?

Zhang Yang left the gatehouse with a look on his face as if he'd just eaten excrement.

With drop rates like this, it really lived up to being a "Normal" map.

Since the gatehouse didn't drop anything, the next stop was the main building.

Just as Zhang Yang darted out of the gatehouse and onto the paved path, a loud shout rang out in his ears.

"Oi, who goes there?"

Zhang Yang whipped his head around and saw a young man standing on the nearby lawn, wearing coarse hemp clothes, with an average build and a hooligan-like expression.

Is this... a grunt?

Zhang Yang guessed.

Because according to standard map design, even two adjacent respawn points shouldn't be this close to one another.

Zhang Yang ducked behind a tree, his figure completely obscured by the thick trunk.

Soon, the young man arrived near the tree where Zhang Yang was hiding.

Perhaps sensing that Zhang Yang was nearby, the young man began to shout.

"Get out here!"

"This isn't a place for the likes of you."

"Do you even know where you are?"

"Come on, let's spar."

Zhang Yang was speechless. This grunt sure has a loose tongue.