Chapter 214 - 96: Steel Blind Box (Part 2)
The big black cat had long harbored resentment toward Xiao Huihui, who had stolen its sweetheart. Finally cornering it, it hadn't expected the couple to be so harmonious, employing a mixed-doubles tactic. Soon it was being beaten into a retreat by Tizi's Cat Cat Fist and Xiao Huihui's wild boar chase.
But after all, this was a forest, with trees everywhere.
Seizing the opportunity, it leapt onto a trunk, claws clinging to the bark, climbing upward with ease.
Tizi pursued relentlessly behind the big black cat, but Xiao Huihui, hindered by its weight, could only trail behind, catching his wife's tailwind.
The agile big black cat fought with Tizi and its spouse for a while, evading most attacks, only losing a few tufts of fur, and quickly shook them off, using the connecting tree branches to escape.
Back on the ground, Tizi saw Xiao Huihui was hurt again, and like a caring mother, gently licked its fur, making Chen Zhou mentally shout—
"No, this is a twisted love!"
...
On June 25th, getting up early and lighting a fire in the kitchen to cook breakfast, Chen Zhou smiled contentedly at Tizi and Xiao Huihui snuggling together.
After filling his stomach, he strapped on a backpack and headed to the beach with his tools.
The food processing machine still needed the least technical part—the stone mill. This time, he planned to find two large stones near the beach, cut them into thick blocks, and then shave the edges bit by bit into hexagons or octagons for later use.
The barley and wheat matured later, just starting to bloom, so he still had plenty of time.
Moreover, besides cutting materials for the millstone, he planned to take a walk towards "Robinson's Residence," exploring Pigeon Cave and the traces of wild goats there.
Last time, he looked for bird eggs on the rocky slope and found nothing. After such a long time, he missed the taste of bird eggs, and if there were no eggs in Pigeon Cave, catching a few wild pigeons to make soup was an option.
As the saying goes, what's on the ground isn't as good as what's in the air, and what's in the air isn't as good as what's in the water.
His "poison tester" at home wasn't grown yet, so he still dared not eat unfamiliar fish. Regarding seafood, he would wait at least a month and a half before slowly exploring new dishes; poultry, on the other hand, could be handled.
For this trip, he brought this backpack specifically for the pigeons, getting up early to find time to search for Pigeon Cave.
...
Having experienced 17 mysterious rewards already, Chen Zhou felt no waves of emotion for this 18th reward.
He had long seen through it; the rewards during the challenge never contained anything extraordinary that could dramatically improve his quality of life.
Food, materials, tools, or nonsense little toys, expensive yet useless industrial goods, what else could the Space-Time Administration Bureau present?
Their means were exhausted; their creativity was depleted—
That's what Chen Zhou always thought.
Striding with a swagger, flailing about behind Lai Fu, like a madman just escaped from an asylum, he bounded to the wooden and stone wall, peeking at the center of the reward site.
"What the heck?
What is this thing?"
Thinking he wouldn't be surprised anymore, the moment he saw the reward, Chen Zhou lost his usual composure.
There in the sandy center lay a massive metal cube, about one meter square, lying on its side.
The cube was coated with a layer of gold paint, dazzling in the morning light.
The soft sand beneath it was indented, indicating the weighty metal cube.
At first glance, Chen Zhou thought the Space-Time Administration Bureau had a moment of generosity, gifting him a block of pure gold.
On closer inspection, the dream of fortune quickly shattered.
He soon recognized the distinct texture of gold-like chemical paint, feeling a wave of disappointment.
Nevertheless, he was still very curious about what this metal cube really was.
Spending time on forums and major video platforms, browsing countless videos and images, he had never seen something so peculiar before.
"Could it be some type of alien technology?"
With this thought, moving the surrounding wooden planks and stones aside, Chen Zhou approached the metal cube.
Examining it from every angle, only when he crouched down to look at the bottom part buried in the sand did he realize what it truly was—
It was a safe!
And it seemed to be a used safe.
The safe had six sides in total, five of which were very smooth, the paint on top unscathed.
Only the safe's door bore the marks of a ship's wheel-like combination lock, which had been used frequently, with a layer of gold paint worn off, revealing a silver-white base.
Removing his backpack, he hooked onto the downward-facing safe door and flipped it over to see the full appearance of the door.
It was a safe with a mechanical combination lock, covered with heavy steel plates, and it had a nine-digit dial lock.
Judging by the wear on the safe door, the owner frequently used this safe. Upon closer inspection, one could even see blurred fingerprints and hand sweat marks on the silver-white steel handle.
This safe was arguably the most unique reward Chen Zhou had received since the start of the challenge.
Firstly, it was the only "second-hand" out of the total 18 prizes, unlike the brand new factory items.
Secondly, the safe itself was akin to a "blind box," protecting and concealing its contents, unlike other prizes where a gentle tear would reveal what they were.
"Since it's used, is it empty inside, or does it contain the original owner's belongings?"
Placing the safe upright, Chen Zhou squatted before the door, squinting at the scrambled numbers.
"Is there a possibility that these numbers are the correct combination?
I'll give it a try first."
Knowing well that his idea was unpractical, Chen Zhou still wanted to test his luck, resetting the metal dial and grabbing the handle to yank it.
Not a budge.
"Why not try 888888888? Rich people like lucky numbers like this."
Adjusting the dial, he attempted again.
Failed once more.
"Could it be reset to factory settings? Try 123456789."
The third attempt also ended in failure.
Scratching his head, Chen Zhou muttered.
"Damn, the Space-Time Administration Bureau is really annoying, dropping a safe with a nine-digit code here for me to crack. It'd take forever to open it.
The mysterious reward is supposed to be a blind box, and now you give me a safe.
A blind box inside a blind box, playing Russian nesting dolls, huh!"
Randomly scrambling the numbers again, he made another attempt, only to fail just like the previous times, unable to open it.
"Damn it, my worst fear is this safe might be empty, and after all my efforts to open it, there's nothing inside.
With my understanding of this challenge, the odds of receiving an empty safe aren't just possible, they're high."
"Yet with this thing sitting right here, not opening it to see the contents with my own eyes, I won't be at peace!"
With such a massive super blind box before him, Chen Zhou couldn't suppress the desire to open it. For now, he put aside building the wooden and stone wall and cutting the millstone materials, focusing solely on trying the combination.
In the blink of an eye, the sun had risen from the sea, and the temperature on the beach was climbing.
Beneath a wide-brim hat, Chen Zhou was dizzy from all the numbers on the dial, his brain a jumbled mess of digits.
Suddenly, he slapped his forehead.
"Damn, I'm an idiot. Why not simply adjust this safe's position on the beach?
When the next mysterious reward descends, no matter how sturdy, it'll be cut open. Then the contents will be revealed, won't they?
No need to crouch here trying combinations one by one, that's a complete waste of time."
Realizing the correct solution, Chen Zhou immediately abandoned the complex dial, hooking the bottom of the safe and lifting it.
Despite being only about a meter square, the safe used many thick steel plates, making it extraordinarily heavy.
Upon first grasp, its unexpected weight nearly caused him to drop it on his foot.
He made a rough estimate, thinking this safe weighed roughly 120 pounds.
Standing up straight, he tried shaking the safe in his arms, hoping to determine by sound whether it contained any items.
Regrettably, perhaps due to the thick safe body, an internal soundproof layer, or lightweight or soft-edged items inside, he heard nothing.
Unwilling to believe the safe was truly empty, he laboriously took a few steps on the beach, leaving deep footprints, and set the safe beside the wooden and stone wall, planning to later embed it into the wall and cut it along with the wall.