Chapter 5: Gas Station and Radio

【Akk Steel Pipe Softening Water】was startled after seeing the ID clearly and first sent a string of useless chatter.

"Whoa! Big boss! A big boss with a title who also got the first kill! Mom, I've seen a living celebrity!"

Cheng Shuili looked at the message from the other side, twitched the corner of her mouth, and replied directly.

【Wu Ya Zuo Fei Ji】: "Getting to business, how many fragments?"

【Akk Steel Pipe Softening Water】: "Big boss, I have two fragments and want to trade for some food... Does that work for you?"

Cheng Shuili frowned; two fragments were a bit few, but better than nothing.

【Wu Ya Zuo Fei Ji】: "What do you want to trade for?"

The other party seemed to have prepared in advance, replying very quickly.

【Akk Steel Pipe Softening Water】: "Look, I've got two fragments; I had to open two boxes to get them! If you're being generous, give me a self‑heating hot pot or a self‑heating rice, either works—I'm really craving."

Cheng Shuili let out a cold laugh; nowadays self‑heating hot pots and self‑heating rice are legendary, even epic‑level items.

This guy wants to trade away with just two fragments?

She glanced at the food in her hand; besides the self‑heating hot pot and rice, she also had ten bags of pre‑made dishes.

These need to be heated before eating; Cheng Shuili wasn't sure if pre‑made dishes could be eaten raw without poisoning, but if she were starving, who would care?

【Wu Ya Zuo Fei Ji】: "One pack of pre‑made dishes, fish‑flavored shredded pork, for your two fragments."

The other side replied almost instantly: "Deal! Thanks, big boss!"

Quickly, the trade interface popped up; Cheng Shuili placed the pre‑made dishes on it, and the other side placed two Vehicle Upgrade Material Fragments.

After confirming everything was correct, the trade completed.

Cheng Shuili's inventory now contained six fragments, still four short of the ten‑fragment goal.

She closed the trade window, quickly finished her lunch, and a bit of canned yellow peach remained; Cheng Shuili couldn't bear to throw it away, so she sealed the lid and saved it to continue eating tonight.

Today's target was still 10 kilometers away.

Cheng Shuili squinted at the endless road, furrowed her brows, and after a moment shook her head.

Forget it, just keep moving forward.

Cheng Shuili kept driving the shopping cart forward, while keeping an eye on the chat channel and the supply boxes by the roadside.

Not long after, another wooden supply box appeared ahead. Cheng Shuili stopped the cart, skillfully opened the box, and this time found a 500‑ml functional drink and two meat buns inside.

"Not bad."

Cheng Shuili packed the items away, got back on the shopping cart, and continued onward.

Far ahead was a huge mass of pitch‑black stuff; Cheng Shuili squinted, looked closely again, but couldn't make out what it was.

Still too far, Cheng Shuili sighed, resignedly kept turning the shopping cart's handle.

After a short walk, the system's alert sound rang out.

【Today's target has been reached; please control the distance traveled to ensure the daily goal can be met! Find new energy sources before the current one runs out!】

Cheng Shuili raised an eyebrow and ignored the message outright; where there's a car, there's a road, and her power level was 1000%; if she had to worry about power, everyone else would be stranded.

As the distance closed, the outline of that mass became clearer; an old sign still glowed, bearing three scarlet characters: "Jia You Zhan".

Cheng Shuili stopped the shopping cart and stood at the Jia You Zhan to observe carefully.

The Jia You Zhan was small, consisting of a single‑story building and two fuel pumps. The exterior walls were peeling, windows shattered, the pumps rusted, clearly abandoned for a long time.

But in this Road Survival Game, any building meant possible supplies.

Cheng Shuili furrowed her brows, turned around, and pulled the baseball bat from the cart's basket.

The shopping cart's advertisement noise abruptly stopped, leaving only the wind's creak through the broken sign.

"Half price everywhere... half price everywhere..." The cart's horn blared twice more, then fell completely silent.

"Shut up." Cheng Shuili patted the cart's handrail; the broken cart's busted horn seemed to sputter at the worst times.

She walked slowly toward the Jia You Zhan, the baseball bat gripped tightly in her hand.

The system panel suddenly popped up a prompt:

【Abandoned Jia You Zhan detected; interior may contain supply boxes and hazards, please explore cautiously.】

Cheng Shuili raised an eyebrow; today was the first day, so the danger probability should be low. She pushed open the wobbling glass door, and dust fluttered down.

Inside the Jia You Zhan was cleaner than imagined; shelves had collapsed, dust covered a thick layer, but no obvious damage marks were seen. Most striking were three wooden supply boxes in the corner, neatly arranged together.

"Three boxes?" Cheng Shuili's eyes lit up, and she hurried over.

【Detected 3 wooden supply boxes. Open all?】

The system prompt differed slightly from before.

Cheng Shuili didn't choose immediately; instead she circled the Jia You Zhan, confirmed no hidden threats, then returned to the boxes.

At this moment the boxes changed; the wooden boxes themselves stayed the same, but Cheng Shuili could see the outlines of their contents through the surfaces.

"X‑ray vision," Cheng Shuili muttered softly.

This is also a common game bug—clipping, X‑ray. In short, she could now see what was inside the boxes.

The first box contained five bottles of water, unclear whether they were drinks or mineral water, and Cheng Shuili opened the box outright.

Inside were five 500‑ml bottles of mineral water—quite nice.

The second box looked like a fuel drum, also supplies; Cheng Shuili opened it again, obtaining 5 L of gasoline and a Vehicle Upgrade Material Fragment.

She lifted the corner of her mouth and looked at the last box.

The outline inside was complex, crooked lines sketching a huge figure—a monster.

No need to open it.

Cheng Shuili tucked the baseball bat under her arm, first carried the items back to the cart and stored them, then re‑entered to search carefully once more.

Found nothing.

When she was about to leave, a corner of her vision caught something behind the checkout counter. She walked over and found a hidden small metal box, its surface covered in dust, almost fused with the wall; Cheng Shuili had to pull it away to see a tiny handle.

You almost tricked me.

Cheng Shuili muttered to herself, pinched the handle and opened the box; inside lay quietly an old-fashioned radio and two batteries.

【Old-fashioned Radio】

【Description: Can receive broadcasts on specific channels, perhaps containing useful information】

Cheng Shuili installed the batteries and turned on the radio.

After a burst of harsh electrical static, a choppy voice came through: "Welcome…zz…survivors…zz…this is…merchant…zz…Jiao Yi Zhan…zz…every day…at three p. m. …open…zz…coordinates…"

The voice suddenly cut off; no matter how the frequency was tuned, only static remained.

Cheng Shuili glanced at the system time; it was 2:40 p. m.

This was news worth noting, so Cheng Shuili kicked the items into her pocket, checked the Jia You Zhan again carefully to make sure no supplies were missing, then set off again with the shopping cart.