It was dusk.
Qin Shilei and Zhang Xiaoli returned to the convenience store.
Lighting candles, they counted their gains.
In total, they acquired 67 gray crystal cores and 38 spatial rings.
Among these, Zhang Xiaoli had personally killed six zombies and extracted the crystal cores from their heads.
The trading system sold 39 crystal cores again.
This convenience store was truly a money tree.
However, the speed of sales had slowed down.
Moreover, there wasn't much food left in the convenience store; what remained were mostly daily necessities and study supplies.
This indicated that those who could kill zombies were gradually finding their own sources of food.
Considering Zhang Xiaoli's hard work in extracting crystal cores, he gave her ten. Combined with her own six, she had a total of 16.
After absorption, Qin Shilei's experience became: 114/180.
Besides the crystal cores, the string of spatial rings they collected was the biggest haul of the afternoon.
The spatial rings of the students killed by zombies had been left behind.
After eating the cured meat rice that Zhang Xiaoli had cooked, Qin Shilei hid in the attic and activated the "Devour" attribute of his own spatial ring.
The large string of spatial rings gradually diminished, but Qin Shilei showed no hint of a smile.
Normal spatial ring: Capacity 1.39 cubic meters.
A red light flashed, and another low-grade spatial ring was devoured.
Prime spatial ring: Capacity 100 cubic meters. [The system worked extremely hard to obtain such a prime ring; you should be overjoyed, young man!]
Qin Shilei stared at the ring, examining it repeatedly, and confirmed it wasn't 1.00 cubic meter.
He burst into laughter, "Nice!"
"Brother Qin, what has made you so happy?" Zhang Xiaoli asked from below.
"Thinking about spending the night alone with a beautiful woman like you makes me very happy," Qin Shilei casually replied.
"Brother Qin, you're just joking." Zhang Xiaoli knew well that his gaze towards her had always been calm.
Qin Shilei continued to expand the ring.
Until only three spatial rings remained, and nothing further surprised him.
Prime spatial ring: Capacity 100.86 cubic meters.
The numbers were quite familiar, so he decided to leave it at that for now.
Qin Shilei descended from the attic and tossed the remaining three spatial rings to Zhang Xiaoli.
"Pack some things too, so you have some reserves if we get separated."
Each person's standard spatial ring had a capacity of 0.1 cubic meters, equivalent to 100 liters.
Though it didn't seem like much, it was actually quite substantial.
If Zhang Xiaoli were to fill her four spatial rings with food, it wouldn't be enough.
She packed about a backpack's worth of food, then casually added some daily necessities.
She even tried to put in a gas stove and gas canisters. (The space inside a spatial ring could deform freely.)
"I can cook for you then," Zhang Xiaoli explained.
What a clever young girl!
After she finished packing, Qin Shilei walked around the convenience store.
The convenience store became instantly empty, not even the shelves remained.
"Brother Qin, how did your spatial ring get so big?" Zhang Xiaoli asked in surprise.
"It's a secret. You're not allowed to tell anyone."
Qin Shilei decided to let her know some of his secrets.
"I swear, I won't tell anyone anything about you. If I break this vow, may I never find a boyfriend in my life," Zhang Xiaoli vowed earnestly.
"Alright, it's too late at night to go out killing zombies, let's get some exercise."
Qin Shilei drew his Seven Star Sword and practiced in the empty convenience store.
"Uh!"
After a moment of stunned silence, Zhang Xiaoli also picked up a cleaver and swung it around haphazardly.
After practicing for four hours, Qin Shilei felt as if he had a slight grasp of sword intent, yet also none at all.
As it neared midnight, Qin Shilei used his remaining two refresh chances on himself.
The attributes he obtained were far inferior to those from One Punch Man, not worth using the fixed daily refresh.
The next morning, he woke up to find two loaves of bread left unsold on the trading system's shelves.
This indicated that people with crystal cores no longer needed, or were unwilling to exchange for, food.
While Zhang Xiaoli was making porridge, Qin Shilei browsed the trading system, hoping to find something useful.
He bought a large number of outdoor survival items such as ropes, grappling hooks, tents, and assault jackets, and stored them in his spatial ring.
Having a large-capacity spatial ring was indeed convenient.
The owner of this store must have been a lucky person, probably staying in an outdoor supply shop.
There were also items like machetes and compound bows.
However, the seller asked for 30 crystal cores upfront.
This immediately dispelled his idea of buying them and using them to refresh attributes.
After some thought, he still spent 2 crystal cores to buy 50 arrows.
"To avoid any further complications, I'll go and retrieve that silver treasure chest today," Qin Shilei said while drinking his porridge.
"There are two full batteries for the mini-drone. I'll help you scout," Zhang Xiaoli replied, looking up.
After breakfast, the two of them fought their way through and arrived at dormitory 808 in Building Seven.
Building Seven was the innermost dormitory building on campus.
Standing on the balcony behind the dormitory and looking forward,
not far beyond the wall was a small lake spanning several mu.
Behind the small lake was a cliff three to four hundred meters high, and beyond the cliff stretched endless forests.
Nourished by the night's rain, the trees looked lush and vibrant, a refreshing sight.
Zhang Xiaoli pointed towards the upper right corner of the cliff and said, "The treasure chest is at that location."
Just then, a giant eagle flew up from there. It circled the small lake a few times before swiftly heading towards the forest behind.
"So big, so fast!" Qin Shilei's eyes showed a hint of astonishment.
"It's strange, this eagle seems even bigger than the one from two days ago."
Zhang Xiaoli turned her head and advised, "Brother Qin, maybe we should skip the treasure chest for now."
"You go ahead and launch the drone to check the situation," Qin Shilei was unwilling to give up on the rare silver treasure chest.
The eagle had already flown far away, presenting a perfect opportunity for a more thorough investigation.
The drone flew along the small path leading up the mountain, all the way to the top of the cliff. Along the way, they only saw small animals, and no immediate danger was detected.
As they neared the cliff, they realized how steep it was, with several sections almost at a ninety-degree angle.
Descending about 50 meters along the cliff face, a treasure chest emitting a silvery-white glow appeared on the screen.
The camera then panned to the cave.
They discovered that the entire cave was less than two meters deep.
A nearly completed giant nest occupied almost the entire cave.
"Fly inside, see if there are any eggs?" Qin Shilei said with a whimsical thought.
Zhang Xiaoli immediately controlled the drone to fly inside.
The nest was empty.
"Brother Qin, your dream of a pet is shattered," Zhang Xiaoli chuckled lightly.
"What I gain is my fortune, what I lose is my fate," Qin Shilei said with a shrug.
"Whoosh!"
Suddenly, a loud eagle cry echoed.
"Quick, fly towards the forest on the right," Qin Shilei reminded her.