It turns out there are some things the system can't determine as design maps.
Just like the things that come out when Lin Yue uses a dagger to poke dozens of holes in a wooden plank.
"Okay, can't use it, looks like I need to think of other methods."
Lin Yue looked at the junk-like thing in his hand, frowned, and tossed it away.
It appears I'll have to figure something out, preferably find a multi-hole iron plate...
Wait a minute.
If it's a multi-hole iron plate, isn't there a place that might have one?
Lin Yue glanced toward the small forest, where the Ancient Secret Realm Gate still emitted fog.
"Puchi?" Bai, who had bounded onto Lin Yue's shoulder, seemed hungry and kept squeaking.
Lin Yue thought for a moment, took out mutant sheep meat, placed it on the plank, and cut it into small pieces with the dagger.
Bai was originally a mutated creature, so can it eat this mutant sheep meat?
Just as Lin Yue pondered this, he suddenly noticed that the pound of sheep meat he had cut had vanished!
Looking at Bai again, its belly had grown larger.
Good heavens, does this count as binge eating?
"Don't eat so fast, be careful you might get fat, haha." Lin Yue patted its little head; the little guy really brought him a lot of fun.
Since coming to this world, he had no one to talk to, and the people in the group were just strangers with simple purposes in conversing with him.
They wanted to trade the least amount of their items for the water in his hands, and to them, he's just a guy lucky enough to find a water source.
Bai appeared in his lonely world, seemingly awakening something that added smiles to his face.
After cutting the sheep meat into small chunks again and putting it into the inventory, it showed as "Sheep Meat Chunks."
These were Bai's rations, although the little creature clearly preferred cooked instant noodles, meat chunks were more convenient.
"Bai, want to go to the Secret Realm again?"
Bai suddenly rolled over and sat up: "Puchi?"
Lin Yue chuckled, looked at the inventory, and prepared to place all unnecessary items in the Shelter.
But he discovered there were two unopened Copper Treasure Chests.
These were from the two mutant sheep in the trap earlier this morning.
[You acquired Yarn Design Map X1]
[You acquired Iron Spear Design Map X1, Cans of Cola X2]
Ah, this.
Wool comes from sheep, fine sheep produce fine wool, and fine wool makes fine yarn?
Yarn Design Map, not bad.
But speaking of yarn, perhaps it can be used somewhere?
Lin Yue immediately clicked use.
[Yarn: Wool X1]
There's wool.
Lin Yue used the dagger to get a bunch from the inventory, and soon "Wool X4" appeared.
Then, make some yarn.
Hmm? Why does it sound a bit off?
Soon, Lin Yue had four fluffy balls of yarn in his hand.
Wow, pure wool, quite prickly.
Next is the item from another Copper Treasure Chest.
Iron Spear Design Map... I already had this, otherwise how did I make this Iron Spear?
If selling it, everyone has this thing, right?
Seems like I got a waste item?
This seems to be the first useless item from so many treasure chests.
"Why not use it directly, no idea where to throw it anyway." Thinking so, a flash of light appeared.
[Your Iron Spear Design Map has been upgraded!]
Oh wow?
Lin Yue thought he heard something wrong.
Wait, does this thing add upgrades? So, if I make one, will the Iron Spear be upgraded too?
[Iron Spear: Wood X4, Iron Block X6]
Wait, seems like making it requires more resources than before?
Try it?
[You acquired Fine Iron Spear X1]
[You lost Wood X4, Iron Block X6]
Fine! Quality has improved!
The Iron Spear before Lin Yue had changed quite a bit, the spearhead had grown larger, nearly double its previous size.
The spear tip was sharp, the blade was quite sharp, and the spear shaft was extraordinarily smooth.
Lin Yue picked up the Fine Iron Spear and slashed through the wild grass outside!
[You acquired Dry Grass X10]
[You acquired...]
Wow, without doing much, dry grass income was 30 units.
In the prairie, this thing is just a merciless grass cutter.
So, what if it's against mutated creatures?
Although Lin Yue thought this way, he didn't immediately go looking for trouble with those black dots in the distance.
Right now, the most pressing need is to make a vent, and for that, he needs to search the Secret Realm for materials.
Expecting treasure chests to provide such materials would be too difficult.
Checking the equipment again.
Wooden armor, small round shield, Fine Iron Spear, inventory emptied, leaving only materials, food, and water.
This time, Lin Yue didn't forget the lighter, and quickly used dry grass and wood to make two torches.
Bai perched on his shoulder, seemingly ready as well.
Lin Yue took a deep breath.
Though only a day had passed, now he had sharper, more convenient weapons, and Bai's abilities were stronger; finding something like a multi-hole iron plate shouldn't be a problem.
"Bai, stay cautious, let's go."
Lin Yue pushed open the Ancient Secret Realm Gate, and the fog enveloped him.
Inside, the endless fog spread, Lin Yue pulled out the yarn, tying one end to the boulder near the gate, wrapping it several times.
He lowered the yarn to the ground, stomped a block of wood, and unwound the yarn as he walked.
This is a good method he remembered from a story about exploring complex mazes or places like them.
Though yarn is more fragile than materials, it's much more convenient.
"Puchi!" As Lin Yue reached the side of the car from which he had taken the engine battery, Bai suddenly squeaked.
"What happened?" Lin Yue quickly turned around, looking in the direction Bai was pointing, ready for combat!
"Squeak squeak squeak..." A series of squeaking sounds rang out, and Lin Yue tightened his nerves!
Unexpectedly, as soon as they had entered, the big rats came to welcome them.
Lin Yue raised the wooden shield, retreating towards the ancient gate behind him as quickly as possible.
In case things went wrong, he could retreat through it directly.
Very soon, his back touched the ancient gate, and Lin Yue immediately noticed several gray rats approaching him!
Lin Yue crouched to lower his center of gravity, swiftly swung horizontally, followed by a series of squeals, and silence fell again.
Huh? Is that it?
Maintaining his combat posture, he looked ahead.
Six huge rats, sliced in two, lay dead, a chilling sight.
Mighty fine spear! It's sharpness is impressive!
Astonished by the weapon's upgraded power, he moved forward again.
According to memory, he proceeded toward a deeper direction.
Didn't take long before he found the building he'd visited last time.
Taking a deep breath, Lin Yue entered the room where he'd dealt with big rats before, and lit the torch.
This time, though Bai remained alert, he didn't sound any alarms.
Passed through the collapsed door, Lin Yue suddenly found a huge gap in the stairs ahead.
Crossing the gap, he encountered a wide street.
On either side of the street were ordinary shops, houses weren't tall, mostly two-story buildings, but they were generally collapsed.
However, the various English letters on shop signs indicated this wasn't Tang Country.
Maintaining a constant combat stance, Lin Yue searched each place.
Since he came here, he'd better take something useful or it would be for nothing.
But as he stood in front of a shop door, peering through dusty shards of glass, his eyes widened.
"There's actually this?" he exclaimed in surprise.