Taotie Furnace

Regarding this request, 001 of course accepted it entirely!

It is the player's best auxiliary system—it is now, it will be in the future, and it always will be.

So, for Cheng Shuili to have it, it truly is a blessing cultivated over eight lifetimes!

001 thought to itself, and the electronic expression on its panel became proud.

Cheng Shuili knew it was bad the moment she saw that expression.

The 001 from before was a mechanical 001, but Cheng Shuili had always made it help filter orders, and after seeing so many harassing messages, 001 had also become strange.

This is definitely a work-related injury...

Even a system can suffer work-related injuries from being harassed too much.

Cheng Shuili said nothing; she suddenly slapped 001's panel. This certainly wouldn't cause any physical damage to a system, but the psychological trauma was definitely severe enough to leave a shadow!

001's panel swayed slightly from the slap, the proud expression on it instantly turning into a string of garbled code, followed by a "(╥﹏╥)" symbol blinking in grievance.

"Boss..." 001's electronic voice even carried a hint of a sob, "Systems need dignity too..."

"Dignity is for people," Cheng Shuili said expressionlessly, "You are just an auxiliary system, and one that is getting increasingly full of itself. If you make that face again, I'll format you next time."

The expression on 001's panel immediately changed to a standard happy face, and its voice returned to a mechanical, steady tone: "Understood, boss. All to-do list reminders have been recorded. Would you like to open the supply crates now?"

The threat was effective.

Cheng Shuili nodded in satisfaction and refocused her attention on those enticing crates and cards.

"You may go."

Cheng Shuili rubbed her hands together; she still didn't need system assistance to open supply crates.

She didn't rush to open the crates; instead, she opened her private chats and pinged Jiang Tang. She didn't need system assistance, but she did need her mascot's assistance!

【Liang Shanbo vs. Pig】: What's wrong, boss? I'm busy following Sister Zhuxing and Sister Ailin to screen the first batch of people.

She's busy?

Cheng Shuili had just wanted to say something, but a second message came through.

【Liang Shanbo vs. Pig】: Sister Xinxue also wanted me to accompany her yesterday, so I didn't get any sleep. I'm sleepy to death now.

Uh...

Cheng Shuili fell silent. She had originally assumed this mascot must be the most idle one, but looking at it now, she's actually the busiest one!

Everyone knows she has good luck, and being able to latch onto Angry Crow's thigh from the very beginning is also a display of strength!

With someone like this around, getting things done is sure to go smoothly.

Cheng Shuili didn't mention what she wanted to do. She comforted Jiang Tang a bit and told her to get back to work.

In that case, she would open the crates herself.

Cheng Shuili flipped open a Gold Supply Crate.

A prompt popped up. Cheng Shuili glanced at it; the items opened were mediocre.

She had expected the second Gold Supply Crate to be the same, but as she glanced over and prepared to toss the items into her warehouse, she suddenly saw two characters—"blueprint".

A new blueprint?

She paused and immediately searched for the item.

【Multifunctional Artisan Workshop Blueprint】

【Effect: Territory building blueprint! After construction, territory building time is halved, and required materials are halved! When damaged, the materials required to repair the building are halved!】

【Crafting Materials: wood x200, stone x150, iron ingot x50, low-level energy core x1】

Good stuff!

Cheng Shuili didn't care about the building time, but halving the required materials was far too useful!

Her mood grew excited. As her gaze shifted to the crafting materials column and she saw clearly what was needed, Cheng Shuili was stunned.

What on earth is all this?

I've never heard of any of these!

Where in this godforsaken place would there be wood and stone? And iron ingots? And what is this core thing?!

Cheng Shuili read it carefully again, and after confirming she hadn't misread it, she was completely speechless.

What is this?

She had only just started building her territory, not cleared out her assets!

The system had swapped out all the most basic materials; overnight, the high-level materials and energy stones in her warehouse had become useless! Who could take this?

If this were a game, Cheng Shuili would have quit by now.

But precisely because she couldn't quit, Cheng Shuili opened the faction page and searched it thoroughly again.

The system shouldn't pull such an outrageous stunt, right?

What about the exchange function? Or some other feature? No results.

Fine.

Then Cheng Shuili would just go to the regional channel and trade for some wood with others, wouldn't she?

Cheng Shuili searched through everything, but in the end, she only found materials for heating that had been available during the extreme cold; stone wasn't even mentioned by anyone.

She frowned, pondering where on earth these things were supposed to be obtained.

They couldn't be like energy stones and not released yet, could they?

That would be going too far!

Cheng Shuili tucked the blueprint away, filled with resentment, and casually opened a silver chest.

Not even one item worth mentioning was opened.

The remaining random card packs and material boxes were also just basic items, and that unreliable random special equipment draw voucher didn't create any miracles either.

Only one special equipment box remained.

Cheng Shuili sighed. She no longer hoped for anything good to come out of this one; it was probably just as much trash as the Schrödinger's can.

She lifted the lid, and a seven-colored beam of light shot into the sky!

It was this effect every single time. Having seen it so often, Cheng Shuili felt nothing. She waited patiently for the light to dissipate and looked into the box.

A palm-sized, quaintly shaped little bronze incense burner lay quietly at the bottom of the box.

Cheng Shuili paused and looked closely. Carved on the furnace body were intricate cloud patterns and an abstract beast head design. It seemed to be... patterns of a Taotie?

She lifted the item up gently. The small incense burner rattled with her movement, and from inside, there actually came the sound of crackling firewood.

Cheng Shuili checked the detailed information on the item.

【Taotie's Portable Decomposition Furnace (Unique)】

【Description: A strange object sealing a trace of the origin power of the gluttonous fierce beast. The holder can gain the "Decomposition and Transformation" ability, which can be used three times a day. It can decompose non-living substances put into it and transform them into specified items.】

Seeing the word "unique", Cheng Shuili knew she had definitely gotten her hands on something good this time!

She only had two unique pieces of special equipment now: one was the Abyss Ring, and the other was this newly opened one.

The greatness of the Abyss Ring needed no explanation, but she hadn't yet grasped the greatness of the Taotie's Portable Decomposition Furnace.

Cheng Shuili put away her wandering thoughts and examined the description seriously.

Decomposition and transformation?

Put something in, decompose it... and transform it into another thing?

Cheng Shuili's gaze remained fixed on those few lines of description. Her heart jumped, and she subconsciously held her breath.

An unbelievable, ecstatic thought struck her mind like lightning, making the hand holding the small incense burner tremble slightly.

What were the materials required for that blueprint just now?