Chapter 67 Patch: The Black Gold Ring

When Shen He, wearing a safety helmet, descended the stairs and passed by the security booth, the elderly guard who had been napping was suddenly awake, sitting there smoking a cigarette. From time to time, he fiddled with his radio, a freshly brewed cup of tea placed before him. The radio played the sound of Henan opera, his face filled with bliss.

Suddenly, the farm dog at his feet barked twice in Shen He's direction. The old man turned his gaze, his eyes immediately fixed on the white helmet atop Shen He's head. He hurriedly stepped out of the security booth, offering an awkward smile. "Oh! When did the boss arrive? How come I didn't see you?"

Shen He was momentarily taken aback, then quickly understood. The old man must have mistaken him for the site manager; apparently, he hadn’t met many leaders before. Otherwise, he wouldn’t assume anyone with a white helmet was in charge.

He took out a cigarette he had prepared in advance and handed it to the old man, speaking with earnest gravity, "You come here every day to guard the site. It’s truly hard work."

The old man glanced at the Bear Panda cigarette in his hand and immediately straightened his back. "It’s not hard at all."

Shen He nodded with a smile and went on his way.

The old man weighed the cigarette in his hand, grinning broadly. "Who would’ve thought? Just woke up and already got a surprise. That’s the kind of generosity you only see from the site manager."

...

Twenty minutes later.

Shen He drove to a park on the outskirts of the city, parking his car in one of the spaces outside. He strode directly inside.

According to the area map, the nearest treasure chest should be nearby, within the park, about a mile away.

Following the direction indicated on the map, he soon arrived near the chest. It was in a landscaped area of the park. He followed a winding path into the depths, finally discovering an unassuming wooden box beneath a tree.

Shen He approached, as always holding a dagger in one hand and opening the box with the other.

The moment the box opened, a plume of black smoke erupted. Shen He reacted instantly, retreating just as the smoke appeared. Once the smoke dissipated, he saw a black ring lying quietly inside.

More precisely, it was a black gold ring.

He stepped forward, poked it with the dagger to make sure nothing untoward happened, then picked it up.

Strange! There was a faint warmth to it.

[Survival Guide: Tsk, that useless fellow is pretty quick. I just filed a complaint about it, and it patched things up right away. Look, kid, this is the patch it made for itself.]

(Black Gold Ring: This item is permanent and cannot be dropped. It can store all items produced in the game.)

(Requirement: Mental attribute 10 points.)

Seeing this, Shen He's eyes lit up. Wasn’t this a storage ring? Though it was a pity it could only store items generated by the system, for him, that was more than enough.

He hadn’t expected the "Survival Guide" to be so sharp, however acerbic its tone. Apparently, it was only because it had filed a complaint that the system patched this in at the last minute. It sounded like boasting, but he had no proof otherwise.

No wonder the ring felt warm to the touch—it was freshly forged.

And since it was a permanent item that couldn’t be dropped, there would be no wear and tear. An excellent piece of equipment.

It required a certain mental attribute, but fortunately, he had leveled up quickly. Otherwise, he’d have nothing but tears for the empty ring.

Shen He slipped the black gold ring onto his finger. At once, he felt a slight sting, and then he seemed to see a void space, densely packed with slots—a bit like inventory in a game.

There were ninety-nine slots in total. The same item could be stacked in one slot. Clearly, the system had borrowed from familiar mechanics in making this.

He watched as the empty chest slowly vanished before his eyes, then used ten points to mark his next destination.

This time, it was still within the park, less than a mile away—quite close. And in the park, he could walk straight there.

As Shen He made his way through the park, he saw many families enjoying themselves—parents playing games with their children on the lawn, a heartwarming scene.

Soon, Shen He arrived at the next treasure chest’s location, beside a lake in the park. The chest sat at the water’s edge, but next to it were several large geese, resting nearby.

These geese couldn’t see the chest—only he could.

Shen He considered for a moment, then decided to walk straight over.

As he approached, one goose raised its head warily, slowly got up, spread its wings, lowered its neck, and struck a battle pose. The other geese followed suit, all glaring at Shen He.

He couldn’t help but recall childhood memories of being chased by the village geese. Those geese rarely met a good end—his own were slaughtered by his grandparents, stewed into a fragrant pot of goose meat.

But these weren’t his own geese; they belonged to the park and lived by the artificial lake. He couldn’t eat them—there’d be a fine.

Seeing the geese’s aggressive stance, Shen He bent to pick up a stone and threw it toward them.

Instantly, the geese reacted like activated NPCs, charging straight at him.

Seeing this, Shen He bolted, running a circuitous route before returning to the chest. Rubbing his hands together, he swiftly opened the box while the geese were still away.

Inside, there was only a single goose egg.

Shen He: "..."

(Delicious Goose Egg: This is a very tasty goose egg. No matter how you cook it, it will be delicious.)

That was it?

All right, all right—when he got home, he’d see just how delicious this goose egg really was.

He took the goose egg and slipped it into the black gold ring, then glanced at the geese charging again and ran off into the distance.

Thankfully, there weren’t many people around. Otherwise, being chased by geese would be humiliating.

After shaking off the geese, Shen He used another ten points to mark the next treasure chest.

Immediately, a glowing dot appeared on his area map, still within the park.

That surprised him. He hadn’t expected a third chest to spawn here, saving him quite a bit of effort.