While traveling, he also cut down a few scattered trees by the roadside with an iron axe, and by evening, there were already 35 pieces of wood in his backpack.
As he continued forward, the vegetation nearby became denser, as if the place he had been teleported to earlier was a special area.
Not only had the vegetation increased here, but the dust floating in the sky had also significantly decreased.
Continuing onward, Chen Zhuo finally found the most satisfactory Shelter placement he had seen so far.
What greeted his eyes were several continuous hills, and as the afterglow of the setting sun fell, the mountains were dyed with a golden halo, giving Chen Zhuo a strong sense of dissonance in the Wasteland World.
Just a few kilometers away, it was a scene of apocalypse, yet here, a feeling of tranquility and peace emanated.
However, Chen Zhuo didn't have extra time to lament; judging by the sun's current position, it should be around 6 PM, and he didn't know what dangers might arise when it truly got dark, after all, this was merely a planet that resembled Blue Star, not Blue Star itself.
Walking towards the foot of the mountains, he meandered around and finally decided to place the Shelter's territory keystone at the foot of the mountains where two hills converged.
“Do you want to place it?” the survival system screen displayed.
“Yes.”
With Chen Zhuo's command, a 3x3x3 wooden house appeared in his line of sight, with a faint blue light, visible only to Chen Zhuo, swirling around its exterior.
Chen Zhuo looked at the nascent Shelter at the junction of the two mountain feet, and no matter how he looked at it, he was dissatisfied; he always felt it wasn't safe enough.
“I came all this way to find this place, wasn't it because I thought a Shelter built near the mountain could naturally defend against danger from one side? But if I think about it carefully, isn't the safest place underground or directly inside the mountain?”
“What if this territory keystone could be placed inside a rock?”
Without further ado, Chen Zhuo retrieved the territory keystone he had placed on the ground and tried to put it into the foot of one of the mountains.
Like magic, a large section of sand and gravel at the foot of the mountain completely disappeared, replaced by a small wooden house that only exposed one wooden wall, emitting a faint blue light.
“It really works!”
Immediately, he felt a bit of regret; the various stones and sand that disappeared, replaced by the wooden house, did not enter Chen Zhuo's pocket but vanished without a trace.
“I thought I could exploit a bug.”
Putting aside his thoughts of getting something for nothing, Chen Zhuo carefully examined the small house he would rely on for survival.
From the outside, it looked like a square building, resembling a matchbox from a certain block world, with only a 1x2 door.
Pushing open the wooden door, the most striking feature in the 9-square-meter wooden house was a 2-meter-long wooden single bed, besides which there was only a small table and a backless stool.
“One can't say it's dilapidated, but it's certainly bare to the walls.”
Chen Zhuo sighed, but thinking of his golden finger, his heart immediately rejoiced; earlier, he had been focused on hurrying before dark, hastily claiming the newbie gift package and setting off, without having had a chance to properly research the specific functions of this golden finger.
Sitting on the hard wooden bed, he silently thought: “System!”
A blue screen appeared before his eyes.
“No matter how many times, I still can't get used to this feeling of a picture appearing in my mind yet being so real.”
The system screen was very simple, with only two options:
1. System Usage Instructions
2. Shop
Chen Zhuo carefully read the instructions.
【This system is the Wasteland Happiness Life System, designed to help the host survive better in the Wasteland.】
【happiness points are the main aid of this system, which can be directly used to construct buildings, upgrade buildings, or supplement materials needed for upgrading buildings. Most importantly, happiness points can be used to purchase various survival items in the system shop.】
【The system will issue happiness points based on the amount of happiness value received by the host daily.】
【Summon the system and focus your sight on an item to view its corresponding happiness value and various information.】
【Various fixed items such as furniture, buildings, pets, livestock, etc., will issue happiness points at a ratio of 10:1 based on their happiness value at 12:00 AM daily.】
【One-time items such as food, knowledge skill books, genetic potions, etc., will directly issue happiness points at a ratio of 1:1 after use.】
Chen Zhuo immediately focused his gaze on the furniture in front of him.
【Poor Quality Wooden Stool: Happiness Value: 2】
【Poor Quality Wooden Bed: Happiness Value: 5】
【Poor Quality Wooden Table: Happiness Value: 3】
【Poor Quality Small Wooden House: Happiness Value: 10】
“My current total happiness value is only 20, which translates to only 2 happiness points per day. It seems I need to speed up the Shelter's upgrade.”
He closed the instructions and opened the shop to check, finding that most of the various items inside were upwards of one hundred happiness points, not to mention items costing thousands of happiness points.
Especially the primary genetic potion, which made Chen Zhuo's eyes go wide, but its 200 happiness points made him hesitant; this was simply not something the current Chen Zhuo could afford, so he could only sheepishly close the shop interface.
Outside, it wasn't completely dark yet. Chen Zhuo got up, deciding to chop more wood while there was still time... About an hour and a half later, he pushed open the door and dragged his tired body to sit on the bed.
“Good luck, this time I not only chopped several trees but also caught a wild chicken.”
It was actually quite funny; strictly speaking, the chicken had come to him and Chen Zhuo had simply brought it back.
He had finished chopping trees and was about to return, but he was too hungry to bear it, having not eaten all day, so he took out bread from his backpack and ate it as he walked. Unexpectedly, a wild chicken suddenly darted out from the bushes, and it seemed not at all afraid of people, constantly circling at Chen Zhuo's feet.
With the thought that chickens lay eggs, Chen Zhuo tore off pieces of bread and fed them to the chicken, leading it all the way back to the wooden house.
Looking at the interior, which was no different from outside, perhaps even darker, Chen Zhuo gritted his teeth and bought the cheapest item in the system shop, a flint. As his happiness points dropped to 20, two fist-sized black stones appeared in his backpack.
Without hesitation, he took out the flint and a piece of wood and started a fire. Fearing that he might set the small wooden house on fire, Chen Zhuo specifically went outside to pick up a few stones to place under the wood, separating it from the wooden house floor to create a makeshift campfire.
The flames flickered gently, illuminating Chen Zhuo's delicate face and calm eyes. The firelight cast dancing shadows on his face, showing a deep sense of fatigue.
After starting the fire, he slumped onto the bed. Chen Zhuo opened his backpack, thinking about the day's harvest.
“In one day, with the tools provided by the system, I obtained 80 pieces of wood and a wild chicken.”
He clicked on the territory keystone's selection and construction option, seeing the 'Upgradeable' text displayed next to the wooden house, and Chen Zhuo confirmed the upgrade.
【Wood - 30】
【Poor Quality Wooden House --> Solid Wood House】
Then he turned his attention to the territory keystone; he hadn't forgotten that this keystone could also be upgraded.
territory keystone (Gold, Current Building Limit: Solid Wood Buildings, Territory Area Buff: 3x3x3 range, creature stamina recovery increased by 10%, building durability increased by 10%, Upgrade required: Wood X50)
Even the lowest level territory keystone buff was so powerful; what if it was upgraded a few more levels?
He immediately chose to upgrade.
【territory keystone --> territory keystone Lv1 (Gold, Current Building Limit: Refined Stone Buildings, Territory Area Buff: 3x4x3 range, creature stamina recovery increased by 15%, building durability increased by 15%, Upgrade required: Wood X100, Stone X50)】