The boundless black night devours everything in the desert.
A faint firelight seeps through the cracks of the shelter, emitting a very weak glow.
Mutated creatures, exceedingly active, emerge from hidden places everywhere, wandering the desert.
Birds fly over the stone shelter with pointed tops, large gray moths flutter at the cracks, carrion beetles use their forelimbs to dig through soil buried with bones, and herds of Mutant Sheep prey on unicorn rabbits grazing on the wild grass...
The night is as wild as the past few days!
Inside the shelter in the central area of the desert, Lin Yue is sound asleep.
The sense of security from the stone shelter is just as reliable as his instincts.
Some mutated creatures ram into the stone walls with their bodies, only to find it's completely ineffective, causing them to bloody their heads instead.
Despite Bai being awakened and chirping continuously, Lin Yue, exhausted from a day of combat and searching, fell into deep sleep.
Eventually, Bai also got accustomed to the incessant sounds of the walls being struck, and fell asleep in a bowl.
However, in this Otherworld, not many people can sleep as soundly as Lin Yue.
The vast majority are facing great challenges from thirst, hunger, and threats from mutated creatures.
For them, sleep at night is even considered a luxury!
...
Another night passed.
Lin Yue stretched and yawned as he got up.
He's been feeling a faint ache in his left arm.
Upon bringing his arm closer to the torchlight, he discovered a large bruise!
Yesterday, while wearing wooden armor in the Secret Realm, he was hit several times by large rats inside. At the time, due to excitement, he didn't pay attention,
After returning, he was busy digging traps, tidying the shelter, and then went to the market to sell Du Ping's Shelter Design Map...
He doesn't even know how he fell asleep.
"Not bad, luckily there are no small cuts, otherwise..." Looking at it, Lin Yue felt he was quite careless.
He wasn't too bothered even when the wooden armor shattered; now recalling the fight, it truly was a bit thrilling.
Still, he managed to endure it.
Bai slept soundly in the bowl, and Lin Yue did not disturb it. He used the last few pieces of wood to make a new set of wooden armor, put it on, and equipped a small shield and Iron Spear before opening the stone door.
The sun had yet to rise, and a faint mist hung in the air.
Lin Yue felt that this fifth morning seemed cooler than before.
Outside wasn't quiet; he heard the grunting sounds from behind the house.
Carefully walking over, he was pleasantly surprised to find two Mutant Sheep lying in the trap he had dug yesterday!
Moreover, they were bleeding profusely, clearly breathing their last breaths.
His Iron Spear easily pierced their throats, ending their lives and obtaining two Copper Treasure Chests.
"Traps are quite useful, aren't they," he smiled, once again obtaining two pieces of sheepskin, 20 kilograms of mutton, and four tusks.
After tidying these up, Lin Yue started making something new on the other side.
The system's determination for design maps is that as long as you can make something generally similar, you'll obtain the design map.
Previously, the ladder and this trap were judged this way.
In light of this, Lin Yue decided to create something new and see if he could be judged for a design map.
The materials taken out of the Secret Realm yesterday were cube-shaped, which inspired Lin Yue.
He took out four units of stones and arranged them into a square shape.
No response.
How about adding another layer?
[You've obtained the design map for a Stone Stove]
Indeed!
[Stone Stove: Stones X4]
He made another stove with a hole on one side, discovering its size fit the iron pot perfectly, quite a match.
Putting some dry grass under the stone stove, he lit it with matches!
Boiling water in the pot, he dumped two packets of instant noodle veggies and sauce into it.
Soon, as the aroma wafted, Lin Yue's stomach growled.
On his shoulder, Bai unknowingly climbed up, sniffing the aroma from the pot intently.
"Bai, do you want a bite as well?"
"Chirp!"
Lin Yue stroked its little head, picked out a new pair of chopsticks from the box, grabbed some noodles, cooled them down, and offered them to Bai.
Bai seemed naturally adept at eating noodles, chomping off the noodles and slurping them into its stomach.
"Chirp~" After this bite, it even wanted more.
"Good heavens, who would've thought, lizards love instant noodles?" Lin Yue laughed.
This time he took Bai's bowl, put some cooled noodles in it, and set it aside for Bai to eat, while he ate directly from the pot.
In no time, both man and pet were satisfied to the point of burping.
Lin Yue had originally planned on making the Shelter Design Map right after eating, but who'd have thought cooking instant noodles brought such a peculiar joy.
Having eaten to his heart's content, it was time to focus on crucial tasks.
He packed away the stove, iron pot, and wooden chopsticks, then looked at the Shelter Design Map in the inventory.
"Use!"
However, as Lin Yue's voice fell, the familiar white light did not appear, instead, the system's voice sounded.
[Shelter Design Map, please choose a construction category]
[1. Standalone construction, allows the shelter to be placed above or underground in any terrain]
[2. Merge construction, can merge with the existing shelter to expand the shelter area]
Standalone construction, merge construction?
He assessed the limitations of the current shelter.
The primary issue was too little space, but both construction directions could solve this.
The secondary issue… safety!
Lin Yue looked at the description of the current shelter, finding the durability dropped by 22 points over one night.
He didn't need to guess; he knew it was the work of nocturnal mutated creatures.
Even stone shelters aren't entirely safe.
Furthermore, though snow disaster is one thing, what if the next disaster is a major earthquake? Can this shelter withstand it?
Between the two options, the second one would expand the area, which Lin Yue considered eliminating.
A larger area means less warmth.
He hasn't prepared for the snow disaster, and blindly expanding shelter space would lead to unfavorable conditions.
The first option suggests building either a warehouse or a basement.
A warehouse can't serve as a basement, but a basement can be used as a warehouse.
"Then I'll choose to construct an underground shelter!"
[Please select shelter material]
This is quite complex.
He checked the materials he currently possessed.
Wood X4, Stone X72, Iron Block X25, Copper Ingot X43, Coal X22.
[Building a stone underground shelter requires 45 stones in total]
[Please choose construction location]
"Below the existing shelter!"
A shimmer of white light flashed.
Lin Yue walked into the shelter, finding a dark hole beneath the table, upon looking closely, there was actually a stone staircase leading downward!