Night had just fallen, and the temperature outside suddenly plunged to freezing. Chen Luo did not linger outdoors; instead, he proactively retreated into his temporary shelter and skillfully cast 「Stone Wall」 to tightly seal the only entryway. He lightly tapped the stone wall with the back of his hand to confirm that the structure was sufficiently solid and secure. Only then did his tense nerves completely relax. With a quick thought, he summoned the system store interface.
Holding the 350 Ether Crystal he had just obtained from trading, the heavy, tangible feeling made him feel extremely pleasant. Although the dazzling shelves were packed with all kinds of radiant high-tier equipment and powerful skill books, Chen Luo didn't even bother to glance at them. He slid his focus straight to the daily necessities section, deciding to methodically purchase the most basic survival supplies. For him right now, godly weapons were certainly important, but in these desolate ruins, prioritizing the improvement of his quality of life and ensuring his mental state stayed sharp was his top strategic priority.
— "Ding! Congratulations to player for purchasing 「Kitchen Tool Bundle」 x2, 「Potatoes」 x10, 「1.5L Drinking Water」 x1, and 「Kitchen Seasoning Combo」 x1. Total cost: 150 Ether Crystal. Current account balance: 200 Ether Crystal."
Skillfully retrieving the purchased supplies from his system inventory, Chen Luo walked quickly to the old stove in the corner of the room. He bent down to clear away the leftover embers, threw in a few dry sticks he had picked up, and struck a flint to light a fire. In just a few moments, a warm orange flame danced merrily inside the hearth, crackling softly. He sat cross-legged beside the fire, using the rising heat to warm his cold, stiff hands while holding the round, plump potatoes under running water to carefully wash away the dirt clinging to their skins.
Although in his past life as a professional booster he had been a pure hunter who did nothing but grind through dungeons for commissions, Chen Luo always held a deep-rooted principle: only food prepared with his own hands was completely safe to eat. Having spent years cooking for himself, his culinary skills were solidly grounded. Today, however, he wanted to try something different. Reaching into his backpack, Chen Luo pulled out the heavy Book of Alvibion Knowledge and immersed his consciousness directly into the chapter titled 「Cooking, Delicacies, and Life」 to rapidly search for various potato recipes.
His eyes skimmed through list after list of recipes, continually comparing them against the materials currently in his inventory. After a careful and deliberate weighing of options, a relaxed smile touched the corners of his lips as he made his decision: tonight’s dinner would be a classic street food extremely popular among the commoners of the Grass Kingdom—「Creamy Mushroom Potato Puree」.
He chose this dish simply because of its overwhelming popularity. An extremely ordinary and cheap staple like the potato, when transformed by the delicate craftsmanship of the Grass Kingdom natives, could burst forth with an astonishingly exquisite flavor. Since the opportunity was right in front of him, he naturally wanted to verify its magic firsthand.
No sooner said than done. As if performing a magic trick, Chen Luo pulled out a coarse cloth apron from nowhere and tied it tightly around his waist, exuding the crisp, efficient air of a professional chef. He first buried the cleaned potatoes directly into the warm embers beneath the stove, letting the lingering low heat slowly bake them through to the core. Next, he turned to wash several fresh wild mushrooms, skewered them along with a few slices of dried hard meat onto bamboo sticks, and laid them evenly across a grilling rack.
As the charcoal heat roasted them, rich fat sizzled enticingly on the surface, releasing a savory aroma—a blend of grilled meat and wild mushrooms—that instantly filled the enclosed room. Chen Luo pinched a few grains of coarse salt and sprinkled them evenly over the skewers, then used a wooden stick to roll the deeply buried potatoes out from the ash heap. The outer skins were slightly charred and steaming hot, but once the soot-blackened outer layer was peeled away, it revealed golden, soft, and fluffy flesh that emitted a rich, grain-like fragrance right into his nostrils.
Taking advantage of the piping heat, he quickly opened the 「Kitchen Seasoning Combo」, selected a small block of rich cheese, a drizzle of glistening olive oil, and a few pinches of fragrant dried herbs, tossing them into a small iron pot to simmer over low heat. In moments, the cream cheese sauce inside the pot thickened into a smooth, velvety consistency, bubbling softly.
Chen Luo carefully blew away the fine dust lingering on the potato's surface and placed it neatly into a simple wooden bowl. Drawing a sharp dagger, he precisely carved a deep cross-shaped slit right into the center of the potato, stuffed the golden, aromatic grilled mushrooms and dried meat into the fissure, and smoothly pulled out the skewers. Finally, he lifted the small iron pot and slowly poured the thick, piping-hot, milky cheese sauce over the slit, completely cloaking the potato. With that, a traditional delicacy packed with authentic Grass Kingdom flavor was complete. Although limited ingredients kept it from matching the perfection of the original Grass Kingdom version, being able to enjoy such a warm, comforting meal in this ruined apocalypse was a massive blessing in itself.
After devouring his dinner like a whirlwind, Chen Luo leaned comfortably back against the cold wall, letting out a long, satisfied burp. At this moment, he felt a genuine reverence for the vast depth of knowledge contained within the Book of Alvibion Knowledge. He never expected that a street snack so common in the Grass Kingdom could pack such an explosive layer of flavor. No wonder the natives there considered it an indispensable daily item and consumed it in staggering quantities every day. If a truncated version lacking ingredients tasted this incredible, how sublime would the authentic, complete version taste if he ever got the chance to try it in the Grass Kingdom?
He unhurriedly cleaned up the mess and wiped down all the kitchen tools. With his mood at an absolute peak, he walked up the wooden staircase to the second floor with light, buoyant steps. However, the very second his right foot stepped into the second-floor bedroom, his eyes suddenly narrowed. Right in the middle of the spacious room, out of nowhere, stood a rectangular metallic trunk made of an unknown metal, its surface carved with weird and complex topological patterns—a chest that had definitely not been there when he left the room this morning.
This eerie sight immediately reminded Chen Luo of the mystery gift pack he had received on his first day logging in. Without any hesitation, he calmly stepped over to the metallic chest, placed both hands firmly on the edges of the lid, and heaved it upward.
Whoosh!
As the lid opened, a blinding flash of silver-white light burst out from the gap like a physical wave, forcing Chen Luo to instinctively raise his arm to shield his eyes. Immediately after, an independent inventory interface glowing with a faint blue light expanded unannounced in midair. Looking closely, he saw an ancient leather-bound book dedicated to dragon species ecology titled The Safeguard Dragon Codex, along with numerous burlap sacks filled with all kinds of crop seeds, and several rolls of low-tier medical emergency supplies for basic injuries.
— "Ding! Congratulations to player for successfully opening your first 「Safe」. As the name implies, the 「Safe」 plays a vital role as one of the most core wilderness exploration and resource acquisition mechanisms within the underlying framework of 《Infinite Vocationist》. When player or future players venture into vast wilderness ruins, fallen cities, or various dangerous zones outside the protection of order, you can search for and open 「Safes」 scattered across the map to receive randomly generated supplies and rewards. The quality and rarity of the items inside are completely random; the higher an item's tier, the lower its spawn rate in the reward pool. Please note: a player's inherent 'Luck' attribute directly influences the drop rate of high-tier items when opening chests. System Tip: As long as the overall physical structure of the 「Safe」 is not completely destroyed, different explorers who encounter the same chest can open it independently to receive their own personal reward."
Just as expected. Not a trace of surprise appeared on Chen Luo's face; instead, a burning spark of excitement glinted in his dark eyes. He was all too familiar with this mechanic—it was essentially a brutal and uncompromising "free gacha" system inherent to the world of 《Infinite Vocationist》, far more ruthless than actual gambling.
The system claimed that as long as the chest remained intact, everyone had a chance to claim a piece of the pie. But that rule concealed a fatal prerequisite: the chest had to remain intact. Thinking like a veteran booster who had survived 11 years in his past life, Chen Luo realized he could use his current NPC status to sweep every 「Safe」 he encountered right into his personal inventory. Once he reached a safe location, he could open all the loot, then use an iron pickaxe to smash the chest's outer shell into scrap metal. That way, any trailblazers who came along later would be permanently deprived of that resource node! In the game history of his past life, it was precisely this type of extreme, selfish resource monopolization that plunged countless low-level solo players into despair early on. Just imagine: when top-tier guilds or regional lords deployed heavy forces to claim all the 「Safes」 in high-yield zones for themselves, how could ordinary players ever hope to turn their fortunes around?
Pulling his thoughts back, Chen Luo began carefully inspecting his loot. Aside from the ancient tome detailing specific creature species that sparked a little interest, the remaining crop seeds and basic medical supplies were no different from weeds on the side of the road to him right now. Just as he pulled out the ancient book intending to use the Book of Alvibion Knowledge to perform a systematic appraisal, the ancient book in his hands suddenly dissolved into a strand of warm light. Like a swallow returning to its nest, it plunged straight into the heavy cover of the Book of Alvibion Knowledge, swallowed up completely. The next second, at the bottom of the sub-directory 「Evolution Tech - Dragon Tech」 within the mythical tome, a bright red exclamation mark began to flash frantically.
Only at this moment did Chen Luo realize: the growth and functional completion of the Book of Alvibion Knowledge itself relied on absorbing external knowledge media to supplement its core database. Although it already contained massive amounts of high-level universal science and magic theory, when faced with niche native secrets or the evolutionary histories of exotic races unique to this realm, it still needed to consume physical materials to fill in the gaps and upgrade itself.
After closing the drained metallic safe and stashing it into his inventory, Chen Luo took three steps in two over to his bed and flopped onto the soft mattress face up. With his hands cradling the back of his head and his eyes gazing vacantly at the ceiling, he began quietly calculating his next moves. Today's events gave him a intense sense of crisis: time was running short, and he had to frantically amass resources and power at maximum speed. Otherwise, when the fourth calamity (the players) descended upon this wasteland a year from now, if he was still just a weak, background-less wandering NPC, the 11 years of precious survival experience he had accumulated in his past life would turn into a meaningless joke.
Early the next morning, before the first glimmers of dawn could peak over the horizon, a ghost-like black figure was already leaping across rooftops and ruined walls above the dead-silent industrial park. With every landing, the figure stayed no longer than ten minutes per building.
Without a doubt, this person was Chen Luo. He was taking advantage of these final precious hours before officially leaving this starter area to conduct a scorched-earth sweep of all remaining 「Safes」 in the neighborhood. Relying on his high Agility stats and his past-life knowledge of hidden spawn patterns, his figure swept through collapsed buildings like a storm, mechanically packing cold, metallic trunks into his system space. The stacked count of unopened 「Safes」 in his inventory skyrocketed at a terrifying rate.
After two full hours of relentless, high-intensity looting, Chen Luo flickered and landed steadily atop a high-voltage transmission tower. Narrowing his eyes, his sharp gaze slowly scanned the desolate landscape stretching for miles around him. Upon confirming that no metallic reflections remained within sight, a satisfied smirk finally touched his lips. Since there was nothing left here worth clinging to, it was time to set off into the wider, unknown world.