After leaving the teaching building, Zhang Yang made his way to the academy cafeteria without a hitch.
He pushed open the cafeteria doors and swept his gaze back and forth across the interior.
The academy cafeteria was a two-story building, with a solid-wood staircase to the right of the entrance.
Before Zhang Yang lay the student dining area and the budget cafeteria for students.
He entered the spacious dining area and looked over the rows of solid-wood tables.
Scattered across them were a few dirty plates, along with little snacks the students had bought from the shop.
There weren't many items to collect, and they weren't worth much, either.
After searching the entire first floor, Zhang Yang hadn't picked up a single thing. The items that had respawned out in the open were simply too unappetizing.
What a dump.
It really lived up to its reputation as a regular-mode open-area dense respawn point. It didn't give you a single good thing; its main purpose was just to set the mood.
Fortunately, the second floor of the academy restaurant offered Zhang Yang some comfort.
According to academy regulations, the second floor of the academy restaurant was reserved for faculty and staff.
Most of those who ate upstairs were academy teachers and senior administrators.
As a result, the second floor was decorated far more lavishly than the first.
The food went from mass-cooked meals to made-to-order stir-fries, with ingredients that were considerably more expensive.
In game terms, the open-area drop rate on the second floor was higher than on the first.
On the first floor, the most expensive item that had respawned out in the open was green purified water.
On the second floor, Zhang Yang found blue effervescent tablets and canned food.
He also found a "Heding City Specialty Flask" in the restaurant.
A purple 1×2. Now that was a good find.
For a regular-difficulty map, that was already a pretty decent drop rate.
After scouring the second floor, checking the restaurant, private rooms, and kitchen, Zhang Yang returned to the first floor and entered its kitchen.
In a corner of the first-floor kitchen stood a door with a sensor lock. This was the room opened by the "Academy Restaurant Storage Room" keycard he had just found.
Standing in front of the door, Zhang Yang chose to interact with it. A beep sounded, and the door cracked open.
The "Academy Restaurant Storage Room," which had originally had 20 durability, was now down to 19.
"A keycard that costs 26,000 a run. Let's hope it gives me something good."
Thinking this, Zhang Yang pushed open the door and entered the locked room.
As its name suggested, the academy restaurant storage room was where the restaurant kept its backup ingredients.
The storage room was spacious and divided into several compartments, with different types of ingredients stored separately.
Ingredients that needed to be kept dry were placed on wooden pallets, each a meter long and wide, to keep them off the damp floor.
Lightweight seasonings and some expensive ingredients were stored separately on uniform iron racks.
On those racks, Zhang Yang spotted three open-area respawn points.
"Green, purified water, value: 2,052."
"Blue, military canned rations, value: 15,056."
"Blue, low-grade fuel, value: 12,912."
Fifteen thousand for a single slot. Tasty.
He stowed the two Small Blues in his backpack, then casually opened a box-shaped container.
The search interface popped up. The 1×1 shadow magnifier spun two and a half times, then a flash of golden light burst across the screen.
"Gold, solid fuel, value: 68,903."
One Small Gold. Not bad. That paid for the keycard.
Zhang Yang couldn't help grinning as he quickly shoved the solid fuel into his secure container.
The second container was a drawer. Zhang Yang reached inside, and golden light flashed again.
"Gold, Nutritious Porridge Can, value: 59,704."
"Blue, hunting matches, value: 10,960."
Another Small Gold.
Zhang Yang's grin widened.
And with two Small Golds from just two containers, it was hard not to read something into the drop rate.
"Is the drop rate in these keycard rooms really this special?"
The last container was a safe inside one of the compartments.
Zhang Yang interacted with it. Five check marks filled the empty spaces, and the search interface appeared.
The 1×1 and 1×2 slots were searched one after the other.
"Ding!"
"Red, Premium Peace Apple, value: 128,888."
"Ah!"
Zhang Yang's eyes went wide.
Before he could react, the shadow in the 1×2 slot flashed red, too.
"Red, Olivia Champagne, value: 340,710."
"Ah!!!"
For the first time, Zhang Yang hesitated while looting a safe.
Two small reds in a row from the big safe in a regular-difficulty map's keycard room.
Was the drop rate really this absurd in his first match on a new account?
Or was there something special about the drop rate in this keycard room?
That was what Zhang Yang wondered.
By now, his nine-slot secure container was full.
It held a keycard in one slot, a pocket watch in another, three one-slot Small Golds, a two-slot map, and two one-slot Small Purples worth over ten thousand each.
To maximize value, Zhang Yang should have moved the two-slot gold map and one of the one-slot purple collectibles out of his secure container.
The gold map took up a 1×2 space but was worth only 10,759. It was the kind of junk that felt like a waste of space even in a backpack.
But Zhang Yang had always suspected there was something special about the thing.
So he left it where it was. Instead, he moved the two one-slot purple collectibles from the safe, along with the least valuable gold collectible, the Nutritious Porridge Can, into his backpack to make room for the Peace Apple and Champagne.
Zhang Yang put the Peace Apple and Champagne into his secure container, safely securing them. Their item descriptions popped up.
"Red, Premium Peace Apple"
"Value: 128,888"
"Household Item"
"0.6 kg, 1×1 slot"
"A special apple prepared by the people of the Douluo Continent to pray for peace. Eating it might bring you good luck."
"Red Collectible Special Effect: An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Slightly improves the player's physical attributes when consumed."
"Note: There is no limit to how many of this collectible can be consumed. It will disappear after use."
"Red, Olivia Champagne"
"Value: 340,710"
"Household Item"
"0.8 kg, 1×2 slots"
"A sparkling wine produced in the Heaven Dou Empire, renowned for its distinctive flavor and bubbles. Often served at important celebrations and festivals."
"Red Collectible Special Effect: Alcohol clouds the minds of enemies. On urban maps, enemies have a chance to become drunk."
After seeing the special effects of the two red collectibles, Zhang Yang rubbed his chin.
The effects of both red collectibles were pretty good.
The Peace Apple went without saying. Improving Zhang Yang's physical attributes meant raising the maximum age of the Soul Rings he could absorb.
The Champagne's special effect alone was worth considering.
It was easy to imagine that once he reached a higher level, the bots on the map would no longer be ordinary people who had Martial Souls but no Soul Power.
It was the same principle as bots wearing level-two armor on the Valley map and level-four armor on the Forbidden Space Station map.
When that time came, even with the M14's strength, taking them down would still take some effort.
But if they were drunk, Zhang Yang could save himself a lot of trouble.
To put it bluntly, the Peace Apple was top-tier, while the Champagne was a cut above the rest.
Additionally, [Collector] progress +2.
Before you continue