We Will... Return to Earth Alive!

Liam nodded, accepting Lily's terms. A bright smile suddenly bloomed on Lily's face, replacing her previously serious expression. "So, Mr. Liam," she began, a mischievous glint in her eyes, "now that the shelter trade is done, can I make a personal trade with you?"

Such a charming and playful expression on such a delicate face would make it difficult for anyone to refuse her request.

"Let's hear it," Liam replied with a slight smile, his expression calm and collected.

"I want to trade for one liter of M-energy water," Lily said. "In exchange, I can offer you electrical wires and a mechanical controller for writing control programs. Oh, and I can throw in some intel as well."

Liam was taken aback. He turned his head and realized that his video call had inadvertently exposed the generator behind him. He couldn't help but chuckle wryly. No wonder Lily had proposed the trade – she had accurately gauged his needs.

"Don't worry, I'll tell my uncle to include the circuit design in the blueprint when he's working on it," Lily added quickly, sensing Liam's hesitation.

One liter of M-energy water might seem incredibly precious to others, but they had no idea that Liam's shelter could produce seven liters a day. The information asymmetry gave him a huge advantage in trades.

Liam smiled faintly. "Alright, I'll trade. That's not a problem. As for the intel... what do you know about the ruins?"

He was curious about Liangfang Town. His ruin was different from all the others he had heard of; it was full of valuable items. He could gain unimaginable rewards just by clearing a single room.

Seeing Liam agree, Lily tucked her hair behind her ear and said calmly, "We've also organized teams to explore the ruins, so we do have some intel. But it's not worth much, everyone will find out eventually."

"Based on what we've gathered so far, there are three types of ruins," she continued. "The first is the Mist Ruins that everyone's been talking about in the chat channel. The environment inside varies greatly from person to person, but based on the information we've collected, it seems that this type of ruin mostly leads to prehistoric civilizations on Earth. We haven't explored them thoroughly yet, so I can't say for sure which ancient civilization it is."

"The second type of ruin is... well... think of it like buried treasure in those novels," Lily explained. "Humans might not be the first species exiled here to participate in this survival game. There might have been other species here before us. So, some of them couldn't survive the disasters, and their shelters were left behind, becoming these fixed ruins."

"As for the third type..." Lily paused, "we suspect that there are other civilizations merging with the wasteland world we're currently in. As for which civilization it is and what their purpose is, there's no definitive conclusion yet. We lack sufficient evidence and information. We can only wait for technology to recover and investigate slowly."

Lily explained in detail, clearly outlining the three types of ruins they had discovered so far. Liam silently recorded all the information using the private message function and nodded, signaling the completion of the trade.

"Alright! I'll go get the wires and the controller for you now." Lily beamed and stood up.

They said their goodbyes and ended the video call. Soon after, Lily's trade request arrived. After confirming everything was correct, Liam uploaded 1100 milliliters of M-energy water with a message:

"[Thank you for the intel and your observation skills. This extra 100ml is a personal gift from me to you. Survive! For everyone!]"

With a flash of light, the trade was complete.

In a small, nondescript room within the vast Sunrise Shelter, Lily gathered all the electrical wires and tossed them into the trade window.

"Now you can't say I'm just a girl who can only do paperwork!" she said with a silly grin.

She confirmed the trade and received the M-energy water. But when she saw the quantity and Liam's message, a wave of emotion washed over her. Tears welled up, blurring her vision and dampening her parched face.

Instead of wiping them away, she instinctively used her dry, cracked lips to catch the precious moisture. Then, she stopped crying, grabbed her umbrella, and rushed out, shouting, "Don't worry if you have a cold tonight, we've traded for M-energy water! Everyone gets a share before bed!"

The news of M-energy water brought a surge of hope. For minor ailments, even medicine wasn't as effective as the legendary M-energy water.

People in the camp, who were still working late into the night, looked up, their eyes filled with gratitude and relief. They didn't shout or cheer. From the first day they entered the shelter, the rule was clear: conserve energy, don't shout, don't cry. They didn't have enough food or water, but they had to... return to Earth alive!

"Looks like I really have been a bit too isolated. No one to talk to except a silly dog," Liam mused, looking at the pile of electrical wires on the floor. "Humans really are social creatures."

Oreo ran over, jumped onto the bed, and then jumped back down, his black and white face full of playful defiance.

"You silly dog, you don't like being called silly, do you? Take this!" Liam laughed, jumping down from the bed and chasing Oreo around the shelter.

His laughter echoed through the shelter. After a while, seeing Oreo still full of energy, Liam gave up and sat down on the stool, panting.

Oreo, seeing that Liam was no longer chasing him, barked playfully from afar.

"Don't worry, for you, for me, for my parents and sister, I will survive!" Liam declared, his gaze firm.

But as he looked at Oreo, a rare tenderness softened his eyes.

After resting for a while, he spread the map he had obtained on the table and carefully studied the location of the ruin.

"Based on what Lily said, this mark on the map should be where John and his group found the ruin," Liam deduced.

Their starting point seemed to be about twenty kilometers away from the ruin.

"If this 'three-way comb' symbol represents my base, then the ruin should be to my west... three and a half kilometers away!"

The markings on the map used primitive pictograms. Liam was thankful they were clear enough to understand.

"These 'X' marks must be the bases they raided. What a ruthless bunch..." Liam counted and was shocked to find that they had been robbing and killing all along their way. The red crosses on the map formed a straight line, totaling sixteen.

"Maybe they didn't know that destroying a safe house after someone died would drop the safe house core. But even if they did, it wouldn't be of use to them. Only placed safe houses can absorb those cores."

"Once I'm better equipped, maybe I can head west and see if those cores are still there," Liam thought, his eyes gleaming.

The day and night of acid rain had given him plenty of time to think. As an ordinary person without any specialized knowledge, all he could rely on in this apocalyptic world was his determination. He needed to actively seek information and take initiative to strengthen himself.

Looking at the treasure symbol on the map, Liam stood up and looked towards the west. "In two days, I'll see what you really are," he said with a determined glint in his eyes.