More Blueprints, an Ambush

Yu Yuan stared at the open safe as a system notification sounded in his ears.

A rush of pure exhilaration filled his mind.

"So locks have grades too. Ordinary security doors must be Common Grade, while a safe like this is Excellent Grade. There should be Rare Grade locks and even higher ones after that."

"Looks like Lockpicking has more potential than I thought."

His thoughts raced as he looked inside the safe.

The gold bars caught his eye first.

The safe had two shelves.

On the lower shelf lay three gold bars, two bundles of cash, a Glock 17 with a holster, and a box of twenty 9×19mm FMJ rounds.

On the upper shelf sat two Blueprints and a folder.

Yu Yuan eagerly picked up the Glock 17, unable to hide the delight in his eyes.

As Glock's most iconic model, it was one he knew well.

It had a standard seventeen-round magazine, already fully loaded.

The gun was in excellent condition, too. The heavily worn M1911A1 he carried couldn't compare.

He chambered a round, slid the gun into its holster, and strapped it to his waist.

Then he turned to the Blueprints and the folder, full of anticipation.

Sure enough, the moment he touched them, system notifications sounded in his ears.

[Ding... High-value supplies discovered!]

[New Optimization Path for Hideout facilities discovered. Add this Optimization Path to the Water Collector construction list?]

[Ding... High-value supplies discovered!]

[New Optimization Path for Hideout facilities discovered. Add this Optimization Path to the Bathroom, Security, and wall construction lists?]

"Two Rare Blueprints and four Optimization Paths!"

Yu Yuan's eyes widened. He hurriedly raised the Blueprints for a closer look.

[Water Services Center Proposal for Protecting Urban Homes Against Sewage and Seepage]

Quality: Excellent

Description: Optimizes the Hideout's sewage treatment path, adding waterproofing, seepage protection, and wastewater recycling paths to the Bathroom, Security, and walls.

Effect: Gives the Hideout Excellent Grade waterproofing and seepage protection. Hideout water consumption -20%.

[Proposal on the Feasibility of Desalination for Household Water Use]

Quality: Excellent

Description: Optimizes the Hideout's Water Collector path, adding a seawater desalination route.

Effect: Desalination rate can reach 45%. Also yields a special resource—sea salt, pure sea salt.

Though the two Blueprints were only Excellent Grade, Yu Yuan was thoroughly pleased with their effects.

The second one, in particular, could even produce sea salt while desalinating seawater.

Salt wasn't scarce for Yu Yuan. Plenty of people on Taotao Cave were already selling all kinds of it—well salt, lake salt, rock salt, and more.

Some even sold sea salt. But this was another way to obtain resources, and who would turn that down?

As the two Blueprints disappeared, the Optimization Paths were added.

Yu Yuan turned to the last document. When he read its title, his heart gave a jolt, and the joy he had just felt gave way to unease.

[Investigation Report on an Abnormal Creature in the Sewer]

Quality: Bronze

For several days, sewer maintenance workers in the 10th Block have repeatedly reported sightings of an abnormally large creature. An investigation confirmed traces of a large animal. Analysis of fur samples left at the scene suggests it is a rodent, but no specimen has been captured.

Our sewage testing personnel subsequently examined wastewater from the area where the creature had been active and found trace amounts of a hormone-catalyzing agent, which may be connected to its abnormal condition.

A joint investigation by our department and the East City District Police Headquarters confirmed that the hormone-catalyzing agent was an unknown drug dumped into a sewage pipe, causing the sewer rats to mutate.

Efforts to capture the Giant Rat are ongoing. Using traces found in the wastewater, the East City District Police Headquarters located the room where the drug was dumped and forced entry to make an arrest on public safety grounds.

The room had long been abandoned. Investigators found signs of a religious ritual there. Tests on the bathtub detected a high concentration of the hormone-catalyzing agent, matching the substance found in the wastewater and confirming the room as its original source.

Deputy Director Hogg of Police Headquarters stated that he would continue to oversee the case and ensure that threats to public safety were prevented.

Sewers, rats, mutations...

"Why do those words sound so strangely familiar together?"

Yu Yuan suddenly slapped his forehead and grinned.

"Damn, don't tell me there are four turtles too!"

He hurriedly read the investigation report again before finally breathing a sigh of relief.

But his brow soon furrowed.

The rest didn't matter to him. What mattered was whether they had ever caught that rat.

If it had been called a Giant Rat even before the Wasteland descended, it had to be at least a meter long.

The thought of a rat like that appearing in front of him...

It made his skin crawl, especially when he imagined its long whiskers, four yellow-enameled incisors, and thick, bare tail whipping back and forth.

Every hair on his body stood on end. His scalp tingled, and he couldn't help shivering.

He would rather face Refugees than a creature that repulsed him so completely.

At the bottom of the document were the sewer locations where the mutated rat had been sighted, along with the location of the room where the religious ritual had taken place.

He immediately scanned them with his Positioning Watch.

Five red points of light appeared on the Virtual Map.

One marked an apartment building in the 9th Block. The other four were all within the sewers of the 10th Block.

Only then did Yu Yuan relax.

The route he had taken to the 7th Block led in the opposite direction from the 10th Block.

"Hope I don't run into that thing."

It was almost twelve thirty in the afternoon. Unlocking the safe had taken far too long.

He had to get back to the Hideout as soon as possible.

He packed all the valuable supplies into his backpack, stuffed the less important ones into the safe, and locked it again.

Yu Yuan locked the metal door to the director's office as well, bringing his exploration of the Water Services Center to an end.

He needed to return to the Hideout quickly.

"I'm still short on construction materials for the Hideout. I'll have to find more tonight..."

Still planning his next move, he left the Water Services Center and approached the sewer manhole cover. Then his steps faltered, and he darted sideways.

The thread he had placed in the gap of the manhole cover was gone!

Whoosh—

An arrow skimmed past his head as he dodged.

Two figures burst from a nearby corner, one wielding a homemade sledgehammer and the other a spear. They charged at Yu Yuan.

Whoosh—

Another arrow flew toward him, but he had already ducked behind a trash can, and it missed.

The two attackers were now less than five meters away. A ruthless glint flashed in Yu Yuan's eyes.

He drew his M1911A1 and aimed at them.

"Shit, he's got a gun—" Fear flashed in one attacker's eyes before he could finish.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!