Day Six, Crisis and Gift

Day 6 of the wasteland.

Bang! Bang... Crash...

As Yu Yuan smashed apart the quick-drying cement and exposed the sewer exit again, he tossed the huge rock in his arms onto the ground.

"Misstep. Back then, I only thought about sealing the exit as tightly as possible. Why hadn't I thought to get a hammer?"

It was only when Yu Yuan had prepared to break the seal that he realized this.

The only melee weapon he had left was the Kukri. Everything else was either a firearm, a folding hand crossbow, or a bow.

He simply had no tool capable of breaking quick-drying cement. He did have an adjustable wrench and a pipe wrench, but both tools were too small. After trying twice, his hands had gone numb from the vibrations, while the cement had only suffered superficial damage.

In the end, he had no choice but to use two large rocks to get the job done.

After clearing the exit, Yu Yuan saw that although the typhoon had passed, water was still rushing through the sewers. However, it looked like he would be able to go down in a few hours, once the accumulated water had drained away.

A smile appeared at the corner of Yu Yuan's mouth. Just as he was about to return to the Hideout, his gaze suddenly froze, as though he had spotted something.

A few seconds later, a corpse, swollen and pale from soaking in the rainwater, drifted downstream with the current.

The corpse was horribly mutilated. Something had bitten off half its head from the crown, and its brain had either fallen out or been eaten, leaving the inside completely hollow.

Its neck and shoulder blades had also been gnawed halfway through, while its arms and thighs were mangled beyond recognition.

Yu Yuan narrowed his eyes as he watched the corpse slowly vanish from sight, countless thoughts flashing through his mind.

That corpse had clearly not fallen into the sewers from the surface. It had belonged to one of the scavengers or survivors hiding in the sewers.

Yu Yuan had suspected as much long ago.

Judging by the state of the corpse, it had been dead for only two or three days. But what could have gnawed it into such a state?

The first thing that came to Yu Yuan's mind was the investigation report he had seen at the East City Water Affairs Center.

With that thought, he immediately returned to the Hideout, found the report on the magazine rack, and read it again.

Miemie trotted over to Yu Yuan, took a few glances, then walked to the hay-covered corner Yu Yuan had specially prepared for it and lay down.

Several minutes later, Yu Yuan let out a long breath, his eyes flickering uncertainly.

Although there were many forks in the direction the corpse had drifted from, they were all close to 15th Block.

And 15th Block was adjacent to 10th Block, the very district where the Giant Rat mentioned in the investigation report had been discovered.

Approximate layout of the fifteen blocks in East City, Green Forest City

"Could that rat really still be alive? Could it have even moved from 10th Block into 15th Block, or perhaps even District 13?"

If so, that would be troublesome.

Although Yu Yuan desperately did not want to think that way, reality lay right before him, and his personality would not allow him to avoid it.

Whether that creature was a Giant Rat or not, it posed an enormous threat to his safety.

The sewers would be his primary route and battlefield for traveling to other blocks in the future. With such an unstable factor lurking there, he could hardly sit still.

A vicious glint flashed through his eyes.

After glancing once more at Miemie lying on the ground, he got up and walked to a door. Beyond it was a small room of roughly two square meters, where all his supplies were neatly stored.

This was the Level 1 [Warehouse] he had built during the two days he spent sheltering from the typhoon. It was only two square meters in size, but those two square meters had been added separately and did not occupy any of the Hideout's original space.

Though it was not large, it at least gave all his supplies somewhere to be stored.

He swept his gaze across the row of weapons by the wall. After some thought, he took out the FN FAL Assault Rifle, along with its magazines and ammunition.

—Caliber is truth!

That was the principle Yu Yuan followed, and it was why he had not chosen the MP5.

Although the MP5, as a submachine gun, had a high rate of fire, Yu Yuan was not even sure whether its 9×19mm pistol rounds could penetrate the creature's fur. After all, this was the Wasteland World. It would not be surprising for the creatures here to have mutated somewhat.

Although he had no idea exactly how huge that rat was, all living things were equal before large calibers.

Under 7.62×51mm rounds, as long as it was a carbon-based lifeform, there was nothing he could not kill.

If you encounter ads asking, "Are you a real person?" there is no need to pay attention to them. Just close them. Do not scan any codes or send text messages!

This rifle—or rather, every firearm in the Warehouse—had been carefully cleaned and maintained by Yu Yuan over the past two days. The cost was merely one bottle of gun oil worth 1,000 Survival Points.

He just had not expected the weapons he had only just maintained to see use so soon.

He loaded all the bullets into the magazines. There were three magazines in total, each holding twenty rounds. Sixty bullets altogether should be enough.

If those sixty bullets still could not kill that rat, Yu Yuan figured he would be dead anyway.

Afterward, he prepared three M64 Grenades as well, just in case.

He also took out the M500 Revolver. Its .500-caliber rounds would be his final safeguard.

Another half day passed before the bottom of the sewers finally became visible. A layer of mud and sand covered the ground, carrying a foul, rotten stench. Though the ground was still quite wet, Yu Yuan tested it himself and found that it would not impede movement.

He was also preparing to head out to inspect the damage from the typhoon and search for materials to upgrade the Hideout.

Construction on the Hideout had already been delayed by two days because of the typhoon. The Beginner Protection Period would end in another twenty-four days, so he had to make up for those lost two days.

Returning to the Hideout, Yu Yuan opened the virtual interface—the Fate Card.

"Now that I can leave, it's time to choose my Fate Gift."

Yu Yuan looked at the Fate Card page with yearning shining in his eyes.

Over the past two days, he had wondered what items this Fate Gift would offer. At last, he could uncover the answer.

The moment Yu Yuan formed the thought of drawing a Fate Card,

that familiar line of text appeared again.

—Proverb: All gifts bestowed by fate have long since had their price marked in secret.

The words quickly transformed into three options.

[Choose one of the following three Fate Gifts as fate's gift to you.]

Yu Yuan took a deep breath.

"It's here!"

—Stylish Coat Rack

Function: Each day, one randomly selected article of clothing in a suitable size will appear. There is a chance for high-quality clothing to appear.

—Resource Recycling Trash Can

Function: Each day, garbage placed in the bin will be converted into random resources. There is a chance for double resources or special resources to appear.

—Bountiful Produce Basket

Function: Each day, one kind of fresh fruit or vegetable will appear at random. There is a chance for high-quality food to appear.

"This..."

As Yu Yuan looked at the three Fate Gift options, he experienced indecision for the first time.

This was too hard to choose.

He wanted them all!

The clothes he was wearing were practically crusted with grime. Although he had collected some clothing before, either the sizes were wrong or the cuts did not fit. He could not exactly wear a fashionable trench coat while crawling through sewers!

The season was wrong, too!

Resources—what he lacked most right now were resources. He was practically going crazy thinking about them.

Vegetables—he desperately needed vegetables. He had been in the Wasteland World for six days. Food was not lacking; it was either canned beef, military rations, or biscuits, and he had a cup of High-Energy Sheep Milk every day.

But he lacked vegetables!

He had not gone to the bathroom in days. He was constipated.

A pained expression immediately appeared on Yu Yuan's face. He irritably scratched at his hair. He wanted them all so badly!

Taking a deep breath, Yu Yuan suppressed the irritation in his heart and forcibly calmed himself down.

His gaze shifted back and forth between the three options. He pushed aside his personal preferences and desires, considering them entirely from the perspective of his current survival and development.

In the end, his gaze settled on...