Waldo’s current stamina consumption is extremely high. If he doesn’t get food replenishment soon, he fears he won’t be able to hold on for much longer. Intense feelings of crisis fill Waldo’s mind.

However, the contents of the chest are random, and Waldo is uncertain if he’ll get any food at all. Even if he does, there’s no guarantee it’ll be enough to sustain him, let alone support him for a day, especially considering he has Tristan with him.

At this moment, Waldo truly realizes the difficulty of survival. For most challengers in this world, lasting a day is already commendable, let alone a hundred days—far too challenging!

Waldo shakes his head in disbelief. Firstly, the monsters in this world are generally very powerful, making challengers no match for them.

Stepping out of the safe house could mean being instantly killed by these monsters. However, if one doesn’t leave the safe house, obtaining food is impossible, and starvation awaits within half a day.

Therefore, this assessment is cruel and challenging. Initially, perhaps nobody cared much about this assessment task, thinking it was a simple matter of surviving for a hundred days. But now, things have likely changed. The difficulty of survival seems to have exceeded the expectations of many.

Hope lies in the form of food. With this thought, Waldo doesn’t hesitate and opens the chest.

"Open!"

[Congratulations to challenger Waldo for killing the monster. Reward: Level 1 chest, random supplies.]

[Congratulations to challenger Waldo for obtaining 50kg of food!]

Food! It’s really food!

Waldo’s eyes light up, and he’s overjoyed. What he lacks right now is undoubtedly food. Waldo is on the verge of screaming. 50kg of food is undoubtedly a substantial quantity.

It’s important to note that the food obtained from the chest is not ordinary fruits, vegetables, or meat—these are extraordinary. Even with Waldo and Tristan’s appetites, it wouldn’t be enough for a single meal.

The food in the chest contains an extremely abundant amount of energy, somewhat similar to energy blocks. Just a tiny bit, equivalent to the size of a little finger, can sustain a normal person for three days. However, for challengers like Waldo, a much larger quantity is required.

After eating a small piece and feeling the abundant energy it contains, Waldo makes a rough calculation.

Considering his energy consumption rate, he needs 5kg of food per day, while Tristan requires 3kg. At this rate, the food he obtained is enough for them to survive for six days—an impressive result. If he opens a few more chests, they might easily get through a month.

Thinking about Tristan’s apparent high food consumption, Waldo considers it somewhat wasteful. If he were the only one using the food, he could endure for a longer period.

While contemplating this, Waldo glances at Tristan with a malicious look. However, he quickly dismisses the thought:

"No, I can’t kill Tristan now. Keeping him around to do chores and assist in exploring the safe house is still valuable. Besides, the system hasn’t opened the communication channel for challengers yet, and who knows when it will. If I kill Tristan, I’ll be all alone in this world, and that would be boring. In the long run, it might mess with my psyche."

Waldo’s initial murderous intent quickly subsides. Unbeknownst to him, Tristan notices Waldo’s gaze and is frightened. He immediately kneels down and pleads for mercy.

"Master, spare my life! I have no ulterior motives and will never betray you!"

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

As he speaks, he keeps kowtowing. His forehead soon starts bleeding, and his face reflects extreme fear. Seeing this, Waldo coldly chuckles, becoming even more wary of Tristan.

Tristan’s rapid transformation from the beginning is quite suspicious. Accepting him as the master so easily suggests he’s someone adaptable, and such individuals often need to be approached with caution because they usually have clear goals in mind.

Like a venomous snake, although Tristan has now submitted, Waldo is confident that once given the chance, Tristan would undoubtedly turn against him, delivering a fatal blow. However, Waldo isn’t too concerned because his strength is undeniable and can crush any conspiracy.

"Rest assured, I won’t kill you," Waldo shakes his head, then shares some of the food with Tristan. Seeing the food, Tristan’s eyes light up, and he eagerly devours it, expressing his gratitude and repeatedly nodding in understanding when Waldo speaks.

"The chest you found earlier was your reward. If you want to survive, listen to me, understood?"

"Understood, understood!" Tristan nods repeatedly, thanking Waldo. He was incredibly hungry, and in this world, energy consumption is rapid. Without Waldo’s provision of food, he would likely starve in a few hours.

Having temporarily addressed the issue of obtaining food, Waldo’s next priority is to have Tristan clean up the monster corpses outside the safe house under his supervision.

The monster’s enormous body almost fills the entire corridor, oozing black blood and emitting a nauseating stench. It’s undoubtedly a difficult and repulsive task. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Waldo refrains from doing the dirty work and lets Tristan handle it all. The benefits of having Tristan in his service become evident at this moment.

While handling the corpses, Tristan makes a new discovery. In the monster’s head, there is a fist-sized crystal emitting a purple glow. At first glance, it appears extraordinary.

"Source stones," Waldo’s eyes light up upon seeing the crystal. The energy emanating from it is similar to Source stones, but there’s a significant difference. This fist-sized crystal contains energy many times greater than regular Source stones.

"This is Source stones! However, it’s an extremely high-quality one, much stronger than the Source stones I encountered in the trial world!" Waldo estimates that this particular Source stone could be exchanged for at least a hundred thousand evolution points.

However, Waldo refrains from making an immediate exchange, as evolution points have limited use for him now.

After killing the three main gods of the underwater world and receiving contributions from millions of survivors worldwide, Waldo’s evolution points have exceeded hundreds of thousands, sufficient to upgrade all his abilities to their maximum level.

Considering the high grade of this Source stone, Waldo decides to keep it for future use. He then stashes the Source stone into his backpack.