The first cardboard box was packed with all sorts of basic materials.
Square-cut iron plates, boxes of Fine Steel Screws, a bag of Industrial Rivets... all good stuff, and all useful in the early stages.
He opened the second cardboard box next.
Compared with the jumble in the first box, the contents of the second were much more orderly.
There was nothing else inside, just neatly stacked layers of Simple Trigger Components.
A quick count revealed a full two hundred.
"With these two hundred trigger components, I can make another two hundred hand crossbows to sell."
"I'm taking it all."
Su Ye swept his hand, and his Storage Ring flashed. The two huge cardboard boxes vanished instantly.
Once he was done, Su Ye looked around the empty factory building. After making sure he had missed nothing, he turned and left.
Su Ye returned to his vehicle. Since he had acquired two more Function Modules, naturally, it was time for another upgrade.
[Ding! Sufficient upgrade materials detected. Would you like to upgrade the Tier Three Vehicle?]
"Yes."
[Please select an upgrade path.]
Just as before, three completely different upgrade paths appeared on the pale blue interface.
The first was the heavy armor path.
It strengthened armor and defense, sacrificing some speed for survivability.
The second was the balanced path.
It offered modest improvements to every stat, with no weaknesses but no outstanding strengths either.
The third was the speed path.
Extreme weight reduction and enhanced power would deliver lightning-fast speed and maximize mobility.
Su Ye's gaze swept swiftly over the three options, without a trace of hesitation.
Once again, he chose the third option, the speed path.
[Selection successful. Function Module: Rapid detected. Would you like to incorporate it into this upgrade?]
"Yes."
With a thought, Su Ye summoned the faintly glowing square metal module into his palm.
As he confirmed his choice, the [Function Module: Rapid] in his hand instantly turned into a dazzling streak of pure white light and flew into the vehicle before him.
[Integration successful. Vehicle upgrade commencing. Estimated time: fifteen minutes. Please wait patiently.]
The moment the announcement ended, white light enveloped the vehicle again.
Fifteen minutes was neither long nor short. Since he had time to kill, he might as well find something to do.
With a sweep of his hand, Su Ye took the workbench straight out of his Storage Ring. This was the perfect chance to turn the two hundred Simple Trigger Components he had just found in the factory into hand crossbows.
"Set production: Simple Double-Shot Hand Crossbow. Quantity: two hundred."
As soon as he gave the command, the workbench let out a low rumble and began production.
After setting up the production line, Su Ye opened the regional chat channel.
Although the chat channel was still lively today, it was no longer as chaotic as before.
"Guys, I just ran into a wild dog covered in pus-filled sores at an abandoned gas station beside the road. It was insanely fast, so be careful. Stabbing its belly with a spear works best."
"Thanks for sharing. I ran into a kind of bug that could burrow underground. Luckily, I reacted fast and ran it over. It dropped some water."
"Hahaha, I just opened a Tier One Supply Crate and got a Tier One Great Knife! Let's see what stupid monster dares mess with me now."
"Boss, please look out for me! I'm still starving. Can someone spare half a piece of bread? I'll call you Daddy."
After getting through their initial panic, these Fivefold Race players had begun to figure out the rules of survival.
Although some were still showing off or begging, more and more had started making a conscious effort to share information about the monsters along the highway.
Beep, beep, beep!
As Su Ye read the messages in the chat channel, an urgent private-message alert sounded.
To avoid being pestered by bored players or beggars, Su Ye had long since blocked private messages from strangers. Only people he had added as friends could message him.
At present, aside from Ling Yue and the other four wealthy big shots from the five races, there was only one person on his friends list.
Mo Yu.
Su Ye opened the private chat window. Sure enough, the message was from Mo Yu.
"Cousin, save me! I just ran into a monster. I fought for my life and managed to kill it, but I was badly injured too."
Su Ye frowned at the message.
What was this kid getting at?
Was he asking me for medicine because he'd run into trouble?
Although he had plenty of resources now and lacked neither food nor water, medicine was the one thing he really did not have.
In the early stages of the survival game, anything that could treat injuries was extremely valuable. Even if he had some, he would only keep it for himself.
Just as Su Ye was about to reply that there was nothing he could do, a trade request suddenly popped up on the screen.
[Player Mo Yu has initiated a trade with you. Trade item: Simple Bandage Blueprint ×1.]
Su Ye paused, then opened the trade details. The moment he saw the blueprint's attributes, his expression brightened.
[Simple Bandage Blueprint] [Type]: Consumable blueprint [Effect]: Allows the production of Simple Bandages. Using a Simple Bandage can quickly stop bleeding and slightly accelerate the healing of external injuries. [Description]: Essential medicine for surviving the apocalypse. Wrapping yourself in it might make you look like a mummy, but it really can snatch your life back from the jaws of death.
This was good stuff!
Before Su Ye could speak, another urgent message from Mo Yu popped up.
"Cousin, I'm giving you the blueprint for free. Could you please hurry and make me some bandages?"
"There's a huge gash in my thigh, and I'm bleeding pretty badly. If I don't stop it soon, I feel like I'm going to die."
The words betrayed an unmistakable weakness and desperation.
"No problem. Give me a moment. I'll make them right away."
Su Ye wasted no time on pleasantries. Mo Yu really was his number one lucky charm.
Previously, Mo Yu had given him the Simple Double-Shot Hand Crossbow blueprint, allowing him to earn a huge haul of supplies.
Now Mo Yu had delivered a bandage blueprint right to his door. These two items were absolute gold mines in the early stages of the game.
For those two items alone, he had to save Mo Yu.
Su Ye immediately accepted the trade, and the faintly glowing white blueprint appeared in his hand.
He turned at once, paused the workbench's hand crossbow production, and held the blueprint near its scanning area.
[New blueprint detected. Would you like to register this blueprint?]
"Yes!"
The blueprint instantly became a streak of light and merged into the workbench.
Su Ye eagerly opened the workbench's crafting interface. Sure enough, a new Medical Supplies option had appeared beside the weapons category, with the [Simple Bandage] icon glowing inside.
[Simple Bandage: Cloth ×2, Alcohol ×1]
"The material requirements are this low?"
Su Ye was delighted.
Cloth was not rare. He had plenty in his Storage Ring and had originally planned to use it to keep warm if he encountered extremely cold weather later.
Although alcohol was somewhat scarcer, he happened to have over a hundred bottles of Medical Alcohol. The big shots from the five races had traded them to him when buying hand crossbows earlier.
And a single bottle of Medical Alcohol was enough to make 100 Simple Bandages.
Before you continue