Vehicle Upgrade

A familiar ID appeared in her private messages.

【Strawberry Hard Candy】: Big shot, are you still collecting shards? I have two on hand. I'll trade them for gasoline, any amount is fine! I have no use for this stuff, and I'd rather give it to you than to other miscellaneous idiots. Maybe I can latch onto your thigh and ride your coattails.

That was direct.

Cheng Shuili wasn't one to dawdle. Since she happened to have a 5L barrel of gasoline on hand, she initiated the trade immediately.

【You have initiated a trade request with player Strawberry Hard Candy. Waiting for the other party to process...】

The trade request was accepted quickly, and Cheng Shuili traded 5L of gasoline for two vehicle upgrade material shards.

She now had nine shards; only one more was needed for the upgrade.

"Looks like I'll be able to upgrade the vehicle tonight," Cheng Shuili said, closing the system panel with satisfaction as she popped the last piece of canned peach into her mouth.

【Florida】: Big shot, just let me know if you need anything. I'm not like those idiots. We can negotiate any trade or cooperation.

"Player 【Strawberry Hard Candy】 has requested to add you as a friend."

Cheng Shuili thought for a moment and clicked accept.

This person likely chose a pickup truck or a van. In any case, they needed gasoline.

Since gasoline was useless to Cheng Shuili, this was a decent deal.

Long-term partner +1.

Cheng Shuili looked at her supplies on the system page and began browsing the trading hall.

【Panda】: Two rolls of toilet paper for a meal and a day's worth of water.

That was basically trying to pull a fast one. While it was true that Cheng Shuili had plenty of supplies, she wasn't a sucker.

【7.21】: 100g of Longjing tea! Trading for 500ml of water!

【Cup of Iced Americano】: One vehicle upgrade material shard for water. At least five 500ml bottles!

Five bottles?

Cheng Shuili glanced at her supplies. She had five bottles of mineral water left—enough, but it was too much of a loss.

She hung around for a while longer. By now, most people had realized the importance of the shards, and no matter how hungry they were, they wouldn't trade them away.

With no other choice, Cheng Shuili opened the chat box with 【Cup of Iced Americano】.

【Angry Crow Takes Flight】: Would two bottles work?

【Cup of Iced Americano】 replied quickly, as if waiting in the chat box the whole time.

【Cup of Iced Americano】: Deal, deal, deal! Damn, I almost thought I wouldn't be able to trade it off. Nobody was paying any attention to me.

【Player Cup of Iced Americano has initiated a trade request. Do you accept?】

Cheng Shuili clicked accept and finally gathered all ten pieces!

Cheng Shuili placed the ten vehicle upgrade material shards together, and a new item immediately appeared: Vehicle Upgrade Material.

The system then displayed a new page.

Electric Shopping Cart Upgrade Options:

Vehicle Upgrade Material x1, Iron Block x5, Iron Nail x20, Insulation Material x1, Thermal Insulation Material x1, Plastic x2, Rubber x1.

Vehicle Upgrade Material x1, vehicle upgrade core x1.

Cheng Shuili stared blankly at the six materials required for the first option. Only then did she realize why the vehicle upgrade core was of legendary quality.

If the vehicle upgrade core could talk, it would definitely be saying: "Haters, are you barking yet?"

Cheng Shuili decisively chose the second option.

A blinding white light suddenly enveloped her electric shopping cart.

Cheng Shuili had to squint, vaguely seeing the outline of the shopping cart deforming and expanding within the light. Ten seconds later, the light dissipated, and a brand-new vehicle appeared before her.

"This..." Cheng Shuili's mouth hung open.

The formerly crude shopping cart had completely transformed. The chassis had doubled in length, the rear half had become an enclosed cabin, and a windshield had been added to the front driver's seat!

The most ridiculous part was that the "Lejiajia Supermarket 50% Off Everything" stickers on the body had all turned into embossed gold lettering, sparkling in the twilight.

However...

As Cheng Shuili's excitement faded, she realized that damned broken speaker, which kept repeating "50% off everything," was still there.

"Congratulations to player Cheng Shuili for achieving the first vehicle upgrade. You have earned the title 【First Step of the Journey】. Would you like to make a server-wide announcement?"

"As the first player on the server to upgrade their vehicle, you are rewarded with a silver chest x1."

Announcement.

Cheng Shuili clicked confirm. The effect of this title was mediocre, only adding three points to stamina.

Cheng Shuili didn't bother changing it.

The golden announcement spread across all zones.

【Congratulations to player Angry Crow Takes Flight for achieving the first server-wide vehicle upgrade. All survivors, keep up the effort!】

Another silver chest!

【Silver chest (High probability of obtaining rare items, extremely low probability of obtaining legendary items)】

Unfortunately, the bug didn't trigger again. Cheng Shuili wasn't greedy; she grinned and opened the chest.

"Congratulations on obtaining vehicle upgrade core x1 【Legendary】, Strength Potion x1 【Rare】, Agility Potion x1 【Rare】, Stamina Potion x1 【Rare】, Konjac Snack x10 packs 【Golden Legendary】."

Konjac snack?

Golden Legendary?

Cheng Shuili: "...?"

Is it really that abstract?

Cheng Shuili picked up the bag of red snacks, feeling a mix of amusement and disbelief. "How is this a 'Golden Legendary'..."

But when she checked the item description, her eyes lit up immediately:

【Konjac Snack x10 packs (Golden Legendary)】

【Description: After consumption, all attributes +5 for three hours. No cooldown, effects can stack. Note: Excessive consumption may lead to diarrhea.】

"It stacks! Good stuff!"

Cheng Shuili quickly put the ten packs of snacks away, then turned her attention to the other items. She carefully tucked away the vehicle upgrade core; having just used one, getting another was excellent.

As for the three potions, Cheng Shuili checked their descriptions carefully. They were all essentially the same, named after the attribute they boosted, and each provided three points upon consumption.

Cheng Shuili didn't hesitate; she uncorked all three bottles and downed them.

The taste wasn't bad—one strawberry, one cantaloupe, and one watermelon. It was just like drinking fresh fruit juice.

Cheng Shuili smacked her lips, feeling a bit unsatisfied.

After drinking them, the empty bottles simply vanished.

Cheng Shuili shook her head. She had hoped to keep them as water containers.

Her luck had been quite good this time. A smile hung on Cheng Shuili's face. It was hard to say if she had truly defied fate after dying once, but in her past life, she always hit the pity pull on gacha games, and even then, she'd lose the 50/50...

Here, she could open a chest and get a 【Legendary】 every time. Cheng Shuili couldn't help but bounce twice. Awesome!

The night breeze picked up, and the sky turned dim.

Cheng Shuili wrapped her coat tighter and climbed into the new cabin of the shopping cart.

The space inside was even more spacious than she had imagined. On the left was a sofa that could unfold into a single bed; on the right were storage cabinets and a small operating table, with a simple sink to the side.

What surprised her most was an LED light with adjustable brightness on the ceiling of the cabin. It was battery-powered and used standard AA batteries.

Could this be the original LED light from the shopping cart? Cheng Shuili poked her head out to check. It really was.

The well-equipped facilities scared Cheng Shuili into immediately opening her personal panel. She breathed a sigh of relief only after seeing the battery level in the vehicle section was still there. She didn't want to end up like 【Strawberry Hard Candy】, giving away everything just for gasoline.

Then her eyes widened slightly. The battery level had actually reset back to 1000%!

Cheng Shuili: "!"

That was reckless. The battery reset after the upgrade.

Looks like next time, she should drain the battery completely before upgrading.