"Ah!"
Li Shu, still drowsy from sleep, let out a half scream and quickly lowered her voice, afraid to make a sound that might attract noise-sensitive monsters.
She hurriedly stood up and looked at Lu Ren who was holding a sharp weapon.
"You, you're awake!"
Lu Ren was noncommittal: "Why did you come to my door?"
As he spoke, he glanced around to ensure his alarm setup hadn't been tampered with, and only then did he quietly relax. Lu Ren was truly afraid that he would sleep like a dead pig and wouldn't react even if the alarms went off.
It seemed Li Shu was somewhat rational.
Then he said rather displeased, "Please keep your distance from me."
Upon hearing Lu Ren's rude words, Li Shu's eyes reddened. She bit her lip and didn't dare say anything more, quietly retreating to the side. If she really went up to act unreasonably, there was no guarantee Lu Ren wouldn't cut her down with a blade.
From last night until now, Lu Ren showed no so-called tenderness towards women, or rather he truly viewed men and women equally...
Damn equal treatment!
Lu Ren saw this but remained silent, letting Li Shu remain trapped in her own thoughts.
After rechecking his alert setup, Lu Ren turned his head and asked, "How did you get here?"
Li Shu understood what Lu Ren was asking and quickly replied, "I was very careful walking, not daring to make any noise. Even the flashlight on the phone was covered to prevent any bright light, so I noticed your setup."
There was one thing she didn't voice; upon seeing Lu Ren sleeping with a knife from a distance, she could only find a far-off place to huddle, afraid Lu Ren might imitate Cao the Thief and kill in his sleep...
Lu Ren nodded slightly and stopped speaking, moving to a broken window to look out at the gray scene.
Just like yesterday, the area was filled with shattered buildings, large holes created by giant impacts, and faintly visible white bones lying in the crevices of the ruins.
He took out a piece of high-calorie chocolate from his bag and ate it, then took a few sips of water to moisten his throat, glancing at Li Shu beside him, noticing her widening eyes staring at the chocolate in his hand, and stuffed it into his mouth.
"Your things should still be downstairs, go get them yourself. During the day it should be safe, but if you delay, those who survived might not share with you."
Seeing Lu Ren had no intention of sharing, Li Shu finally let go of that faint hope. This cold-blooded guy seemed truly to have been surviving in such an apocalypse for a long time.
Self-centered, completely lacking a spirit of unity.
Watching Li Shu cautiously move away, disappearing at the stairwell.
Lu Ren shook his head slightly. For those entering such an environment, maybe for the first couple of days one can achieve unity and mutual help, supporting each other, but over time, with no water or food.
It wouldn't take many days before a desire to drink each other's blood and eat each other's flesh would fill the body, all rationality and thought favoring the desire to survive.
Perhaps his thoughts were too absolute, but for someone who had been through such experiences, having the worst-case scenario in mind from the start helps in mental preparation.
Lu Ren didn't want to team up with anyone; rather than probe into the true nature of others, he'd prefer to be a lone wolf.
Suddenly, his gaze fell upon the magazine rack next to the bar, more accurately, the cover of a magazine on the rack.
"The newly discovered particle by Professor Chen Guohua has been named Hua Particle, and it appears to facilitate the opening of Alternate Space."
Lu Ren picked up the magazine and began to read it carefully.
"In 2046, Dr. Chen Guohua found and captured the Hua Particle using an ultra-long particle accelerator."
"In 2047, Dr. Chen Guohua led a team to successfully open a dimensional space channel at the underground experimental center in Haizhou City through high-energy impact compression on the Hua Particle. This was the most glorious moment in human history! Once exploration of the Alternate Space is completed, we will greatly alleviate Earth's resource depletion..."
"Ding, by reading fun facts from magazines about Alternate Space, you seem to have discovered clues to the truth behind the destruction of this Otherworld Ruins world, your Spiritual Proficiency +3"
Seeing this, Lu Ren couldn't help but look out through the broken window at the world outside. Was this world invaded by other-dimensional creatures because of scientific experiments?
There's a high probability that this is the case.
But how do you explain those obviously humanoid, flabby monsters and the Knife-blade Jointed monsters with bamboo-like shells all over their bodies?
Refined transformation products? And also that fellow blindfolded like the Blind Monk.
Despite being curious, Lu Ren still felt no urge to delve deeper. Surviving honestly for seven days was the true path.
Everything else was just a cloud, exploring was completely unnecessary.
Lu Ren opened his backpack and calculated; the energy-packed chocolate special supply from Tuli is only about as large as two fingers but contains enough energy to meet a person's daily needs, making it a great choice for many fitness enthusiasts or for replenishing after high-intensity long-term exercise.
One piece a day meant Lu Ren had six pieces in his backpack, enough to sustain him for seven days, and two bottles of 500ml mineral water, as long as there was no overly intense exercise, slow movement with no sweating, it would still suffice.
But it remained worrisome, especially if faced daily with these oddly shaped monsters, whose appearances seem worse than deformities, once trapped, he'd need to expend a great deal of energy to maneuver.
He needed to find more supplies, not just water, but food, and weapons as well.
If this world's extinction event occurred around 2047, then how much time has passed since? This obviously parallel world might have already lost all human life.
Lu Ren looked at the three-centimeter thick layer of dust amassed on the bar top, and couldn't help but sigh, at least ten years or more.
Humans are like this, facing the unknown with extremely vigorous exploratory desires, though accompanied by fear and excitement, every human advancement seems to be an inevitable path, but this world's people stepped on a mine.
No one knows what exactly these monsters relied on for survival, mutual slaughter perhaps.
Settling on his goal, Lu Ren used some simple tools found in the office area and a leather bag to craft an extremely crude belt, hanging the Exotic Swords on either side of his waist.
The Basic Swordsmanship skill isn't restricted to using a single sword; dual swords work too. It's just that a habitual right hand from a young age made Lu Ren feel the right-hand sword was more handy.
No longer minding Li Shu and others, not even in a storeroom on the second floor, Lu Ren glanced at Zhao Hui, who looked like a thief sneaking a peek down the corridor.
Facing her startled expression, Lu Ren ignored it entirely, quickly leaving the building.