Chapter 30: Treehouse Renovation Contract

Although the terrifying crocodile in the stream did not do anything to him, he still approached it with reverence, putting the silver treasure chest into his backpack and moving away from the riverbank.

"That crocodile, like Coco, doesn't show up on the map and also doesn't attack me. Could it be that they don't appear because they're not hostile units?"

Xu Xin stroked Coco's fluffy head. Coco let out a soft "yin" sound and nuzzled his palm.

"Perhaps the red dots on the map only show enemies that are hostile to me and will actively attack me, while creatures like the crocodile and Coco are automatically classified as friendly or neutral units and not displayed, similar to the birds and insects in the jungle."

Having figured this out, Xu Xin's impression of the big fellow in the stream changed. This big guy had allowed him to obtain a silver treasure chest without much effort, although the scare he received was indeed not small.

It wasn't until he was three or four hundred meters away from the riverbank that Xu Xin took the silver treasure chest out of his backpack.

The silver treasure chest before him was a size larger than the previous bronze chest, entirely bright silver in color. Its appearance was not much different from the bronze chest except for the color, only with an additional keyhole in the middle.

Xu Xin took out the silver key, aligned it with the keyhole and inserted it. With a gentle twist, a mechanical sensation transmitted through his hand holding the key. A crisp "click" sounded from the chest as the lock opened.

Xu Xin still cautiously moved behind the chest before lifting its lid.

Fortunately, what he had worried about still didn't happen.

"Hm? Why are there so few items?"

Inside the silver chest were only a thin piece of paper, a golden compass, and a golden key.

Xu Xin picked up the paper.

[Tree House Modification Contract (Blue): After using this contract, unlock the tree house modification option, allowing interior renovation of the tree house and installation of weapons and defensive components on the exterior.]

"Wow!" Xu Xin's eyes lit up.

Being able to install weapons and defensive components on the tree house! This was turning the tree house into a fortress! If he could truly fully arm the tree house into a fortress, would he be able to kill that terrifying giant anaconda in the lake one day?

Moreover, he could finally renovate the interior. Sleeping in a 100-square-meter empty room without any functions every day was rather uncomfortable. Even with such a large tree house, he still had to go down to bathe and handle physiological needs, which was too troublesome.

With this contract, he could renovate bedrooms and bathrooms at home, truly turning the tree house into a home.

Without hesitation, Xu Xin directly used the contract.

The contract crumbled in his hand, melting into his palm. At this moment, he clearly felt his spirit being invigorated, a warm current flowing throughout his body. Xu Xin even felt that his strength had increased somewhat.

"Can this contract also enhance my own abilities?" Xu Xin clenched his fist and lifted the silver chest from the ground. Indeed, the silver chest felt much lighter to him compared to before.

After the bear paw, Xu Xin had once again increased his strength. In this world full of dangers, one's own abilities were the most important, after all, that mysterious voice wouldn't allow this group of survivors to stay in the tree house without going out forever.

He picked up the golden compass and golden key from the chest, pulled out the curious Coco who had jumped into the chest and was clawing at its inner walls, and put the empty silver chest back into his backpack. After all, as long as this world's technology points could be increased sufficiently, silver and the previously obtained copper were essential materials for some electronics, which could be of great use in the future.

The silver chest was very heavy. Even after putting it in the backpack, the remaining 20% of its weight still somewhat affected Xu Xin's movement. By now, it should be close to the agreed time of 7 pm with Li Wenxi. He hoped the beautiful girl hadn't run into any trouble.

The compass would also be most effective when used at the tree house's location.

"Let's go back and take a look, come on Coco."

"Yin!" Coco jumped onto Xu Xin's shoulder.

Xu Xin returned to the stream's edge. The terrifying crocodile had completely hidden itself in the water. Due to the fast flow of the stream, the water had already returned to its original clarity, and the bottom of the stream had resumed its original appearance.

Xu Xin looked towards the bottom of the water. The bottom was sparsely covered with some pebbles, and the skin of that crocodile was also slightly exposed.

Of course, if Xu Xin hadn't seen this crocodile emerge from the water, he would never have thought that the uneven black bottom of the small stream was actually a giant crocodile nearly twenty meters long.

"Brother Crocodile, thank you. Next time I pass by, I'll bring you something good to eat!" Xu Xin cupped his hands towards the bottom of the stream. The flowing stream water formed a small whirlpool, as if responding to his words.

My goodness, it really responded!

Xu Xin's curiosity about this giant crocodile instantly overwhelmed his fear. He even found this big crocodile somewhat cute.

However, now was not the time to waste time. After cupping his hands towards the stream water once more, Xu Xin turned and left. Coco on his shoulder waved its paws and called out "yin yin" to bid farewell towards Xu Xin's back.

This little fellow, wasn't it baring its teeth at the crocodile just now?

Man and panda once again set off on the road back to the tree house.

Upon returning to the tree house, the first thing Xu Xin did was check his newly unlocked function.

On the screen, another option appeared, [Tree House Modification].

After clicking into it, there were so many items in the crafting list that Xu Xin couldn't take them all in at once.

Wooden partition walls, wooden doors, wooden cabinets, wooden windows, various components for the tree house interior were all listed.

[Wooden Partition Wall (Green): A partition wall that can be built inside the tree house, with some soundproofing effect. Requires Round Wood (Green) *5]

[Wooden Door (Green): A door that can be built inside the tree house, with some soundproofing effect. Requires Round Wood (Green) *2]

[Small Stone Stove (Green): A simple stove for cooking food, not very good at controlling heat. Requires Stone (Green) *10]

There were many other ordinary facilities for the interior.

These newly appeared interior decorations for the tree house actually required the new materials Xu Xin had obtained from the bronze chest!

And sure enough, there was a stove that could cook food.

After this event was over, Xu Xin could reorganize the interior of the tree house.

He then looked at the weapons and defensive components for the exterior. At this time, there was only one type of weapon in the list.

[Automatic Heavy Crossbow (Green): An automatic crossbow that can be installed on the outer wall of the tree house, capable of automatically attacking hostile units. Requires Fine Wood (Green) *10, Beast Tendon (Green) *2]

[Heavy Crossbow Bolt (Green): Heavy and sharp arrows that can pierce through beasts' bodies with their own weight, but have a short range due to their heaviness. Can be reused. Requires Fine Wood (Green) *2, Stone (Green) *1]

[Tree House Wooden Armor (Green): Armor installed on the tree trunk of the tree house, can effectively reduce damage to the tree house from beast attacks. Requires Round Wood (Green) *2]

The weapons installed on the exterior of the tree house also required new materials, fine wood obtained from cutting birch trees, and round wood obtained from cutting pine trees.

It seemed he needed to plant the two types of seeds he had as soon as possible.

With the tree house having weapons that could attack automatically and stronger defensive capabilities, he would have a better chance of survival when the next beast tide came. He might even be able to kill beasts and obtain materials while standing inside the tree house, without having to risk his life like last time when he killed the black bear.

However, this heavy crossbow also required beast tendons.