Before, I was never quite sure where the cheat system on me came from.
But this time, after opening an Island-class Ark from a blind box, Shi Xiaolei finally reached a conclusion, realizing the fact that his 'faulty hard drive had turned into a system'.
It wasn't just because the hard drive had the sandbox survival game "Ark: Survival Evolved" installed; the crucial point was that inside the Ark opened from the blind box, there were two artificially constructed survival bases.
Although a long time had passed, Shi Xiaolei recognized at a glance that the two survival bases, one large and one small, were precisely the accumulated assets he had spent a lot of time building when he played the game.
Filled with anticipation, he agonizingly passed the remaining time.
After returning home with 2B and Kanna, eating and drinking his fill, washing up, and coaxing the little girl to sleep, Shi Xiaolei finally found a gap and stealthily slipped into the Ark.
Worried that the Ark's appearance in the real world would be discovered by satellites, leading to many unnecessary troubles, and also fearing that this thing was too precious and might be damaged by meteors drifting in space, Shi Xiaolei did not extract it into the real world.
Instead, he chose to place it in a dimensional interlayer, a concept akin to a mirror space.
The most pressing concern was whether this thing could operate normally after being extracted, so Shi Xiaolei did not directly enter the 'map'.
Instead, he first went to the main control center, which is only seen when the game is completed.
Just like the two survival bases on the map, the Ark recorded all the data Shi Xiaolei had left behind.
As a player who had completed the game, Shi Xiaolei had in essence become the owner of this Ark, and it was precisely because of this identity that he could directly teleport to the main control center.
In other words, if it were a brand new Ark, or if he had carelessly deleted his save file, he would have had to collect the artifacts again and clear the final boss again, just like in the game, to reach this place.
Following the highly futuristic corridor, he arrived at the hall at the end.
At the control panel, which exuded a high-tech vibe, Shi Xiaolei instinctively tapped a few times and quickly confirmed the Ark's operational status.
"Huh?" Seeing the data presented in the table, Shi Xiaolei couldn't help but show a surprised expression.
Because there were no meteors or shooting stars in the dimensional interlayer, the Ark couldn't capture these external substances to decompose and accumulate resources.
Therefore, columns such as refreshing surface resources, cloning creatures, and dropping supplies all had red exclamation marks.
But conversely, because the dimensional interlayer was filled with various energy rays, whose intensity far exceeded the real world, the energy absorbed through functions similar to solar energy conversion was far higher than normal levels.
'So much energy with nowhere to use it, just lacking materials…'
After a moment of thought, Shi Xiaolei excitedly clenched his fists and danced with joy.
Materials, that was the simplest thing.
It could decompose meteors floating in space into basic elements, and then reassemble them into various creatures and resources.
Anyone could tell how undiscriminating this thing was just by thinking about it.
With such a large Earth as a backing, and with the portable space he gained after activating his barbarian bloodline as a transport medium, how could Shi Xiaolei, in his current situation, worry about not being able to supply the Ark with the necessary resources?
Sure enough, in less than half a minute, he had already come up with several ideas.
Acquiring raw ore from mining companies, partnering with construction material companies to purchase sand and stone, etc.—these were methods that cost money.
Collecting sand in the Sahara Desert, gathering seawater from the ocean, and collecting stones in desolate wilderness—these were methods that didn't cost money.
There were even ways to make money.
For example, registering a construction waste disposal company, collecting service fees while utilizing the collected construction waste.
If he wasn't squeamish, he could even set up a garbage disposal plant and bring back other types of garbage as well.
Anyway, with the Ark's decomposition capabilities, there was no difference between household waste and construction waste.
Having thought of a solution, looking at those several red exclamation marks, Shi Xiaolei didn't feel annoyed at all.
Instead, the more he looked, the cuter they seemed.
With this joyful mood, Shi Xiaolei left the main control center and, through the teleportation array, arrived beneath the green obelisk closest to the 'late-game base'.
The high-oxygen air, sufficient to support large dinosaurs, was completely free of pollution.
After a few light breaths, his body felt significantly lighter.
Tall trees grew all around, and the faint roars of dinosaurs could be heard.
This primitive and rugged charm also left one feeling restless for a long time.
He raised his hand to look up, and the towering green obelisk floated above his head.
The blue sky and white clouds simulated by the all-weather shield looked just like the real thing, completely unlike the pitch-black and infinitely deep view he had seen through the viewport in the main control center earlier.
Leaving the metal platform, a slightly soft sensation came from under his feet—that was the soil formed by accumulated and decomposed fallen leaves.
Standing still, he recalled his memories from playing the game.
A moment later, Shi Xiaolei remembered the path and confirmed the direction of his home.
He took out the only two pieces of equipment that increased running speed and put them on, then pulled out two wooden sticks.
He tapped an innocent passing Parasaur twice to activate the 'Frenzy' effect, then let out a 'Roar' to scare away nearby carnivorous dinosaurs, and then another loud shout to give himself a 'Combat Physique' buff to enhance stamina.
It sounds complicated, but it actually only took a few seconds.
He rushed out like a whirlwind, and in the blink of an eye, Shi Xiaolei had already run several hundred meters.
In the game, the size of each map varies.
Taking the 'Island' map as an example, the official data states it's only about 40 square kilometers.
Calculated, from north to south and east to west, it's just over 6 kilometers on each side.
However, this Ark opened from the blind box was clearly not that tiny.
Since it had materialized, it had to conform to physical rules, and perhaps to meet this condition, changes occurred.
Not only did the map change from square to circular, but its area also expanded from less than 40 square kilometers in the game to nearly a thousand square kilometers.
Even at Shi Xiaolei's full-buffed running speed, he still ran for a full two hours.
However, upon seeing his in-game base again, the slight resentment in his heart immediately vanished without a trace.
And the fatigue from the long journey was instantly forgotten.
Alright, the rough-looking stone house wasn't actually that appealing.
What truly excited him were the few pet dinosaurs that had survived after he completed the game.
"Yo~~! Long time no see, Big White~!"
He raised his arm and stroked the albino T-Rex's chin.
Feeling the warm breath exhaled from its nostrils, Shi Xiaolei didn't mind the strong fishy smell at all; instead, he laughed with great satisfaction.
"Roar~." The enormous T-Rex affectionately nudged Shi Xiaolei with its nose, then, like a puppy, it wagged its tail enthusiastically and excitedly.
"Hahahahahahaha~! Good boy, good boy~."