The foul air, woven from blood and stench, hung heavily in the atmosphere.
Lin Yue leaned on the steel pipe stained with brain matter and blood. His chest rose and fell like a broken bellows, every breath igniting a burning pain throughout his body.
He had survived.
This fact only gained weight when his gaze fell upon the circle of dog corpses and the dark red ground beneath his feet.
"Well done, big guy."
He bent down and tiredly patted the basalt-like leg armor.
Xuanwu let out a low rumble in its throat, its massive head affectionately nudging him, as if seeking praise or offering comfort.
"What a pity."
Lin Yue felt a sense of regret when the energy displayed on the system panel settled at [92 / 100].
However, after continuous scavenging and high-intensity combat, he was already exhausted. Searching for a new hunting ground now would be no different from suicide.
"Hiss... These Mutated Dogs are truly vicious. If I had been even slightly slower back then, I might have died beneath their claws! But the immediate priority is to treat the wounds; getting infected would be a real problem."
Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his back, causing Lin Yue to involuntarily gasp.
He needed to quickly treat the wounds inflicted by the mutated beasts, or infection would be the real trouble.
After all, this world was in the middle of the apocalypse, and medicines like anti-inflammatories and antibiotics were not easy to find!
However, when he looked up at the gray sky, his heart inexplicably sank; the sense of oppression was heavier than ever.
The sky was unnaturally dark.
The desolate sky looked as if it had been splashed with thick ink; massive leaden clouds rolled, pressing low toward the ground, seeming ready to collapse at any moment.
In the air, besides the metallic smell of rust and dust, there was also a pungent, sour, and rotten odor.
"Is it going to rain?"
Lin Yue frowned deeply; the feeling of unease intensified.
He had seen rain before the apocalypse, but in this distorted world, what fell from the sky would certainly not be sweet dew.
Just as the thought surfaced, a drop of liquid the size of a bean quietly fell from the sky, splashing onto the back of his hand.
"Sizzle—!"
A soft sound, like hot oil splashing into cold water.
Immediately following, a searing, agonizing pain exploded!
He violently retracted his hand and looked down, his pupils constricting. The spot on the back of his hand struck by the raindrop was rapidly blackening and festering, emitting foul-smelling blue smoke, instantly forming a terrifying wound the size of a fingernail.
"Damn it! It's Acid Rain!"
Lin Yue's face was deathly pale.
He had heard Zhao Si mention that Hangzhou City had experienced rain a few times after the "Day of Heavenly Change," and each time it was a catastrophe.
The rainwater was highly corrosive and lethally poisonous to most life forms!
"Drip... Drip..."
Before he could recover, the second and third drops of rain fell in quick succession.
The sky seemed to have ripped open with countless holes; gray-green raindrops connected into lines, turning into a torrential downpour that poured down!
"Xuanwu, move! Back to that supermarket!"
The only thought in his mind was to find a sturdy shelter.
He flipped over and climbed onto Xuanwu's broad back, shouting the most urgent command with his consciousness.
"Roar!"
Xuanwu roared and took heavy strides, rushing toward the "Le Gou Sheng Huo" supermarket nearby.
"Sizzle crackle—"
The highly corrosive Acid Rain landed on Xuanwu's pitch-black shell, emitting white smoke and harsh sounds, yet leaving not a single mark.
The Talent Ability [Indestructible] made it completely fearless of this level of corrosion!
"Owooo—!!"
"Hiss hiss—!!"
From the shadows of the ruins on the street corner came the mournful roars of various mutated creatures.
Those monsters that couldn't escape were being dissolved alive in the face of this natural disaster.
Lin Yue lay prone on Xuanwu's back, listening to the continuous wails, his scalp tingling. He dared not look up, pressing his body tightly against the cold shell, as if this could make him safer.
"Thud!"
Xuanwu's enormous body stopped at the supermarket entrance, blocking the shattered doorway completely, like a moving city wall.
Lin Yue sighed in relief, leaped off the turtle's back, and slipped inside the supermarket. He leaned against a shelf, panting heavily, the cold sweat on his back having already soaked his clothes.
Looking out through the shattered glass door, all that remained between heaven and earth was a gray-green curtain of rain, submerging this world of death in despair.
He looked down at the wound on the back of his hand, which was still throbbing, and felt a wave of fear.
If he hadn't reacted quickly, he likely would have met the same fate as those monsters outside who were now reduced to nothing.
"Damn it... In this cursed place, danger really is everywhere."
Lin Yue took bottled water from his backpack and carefully washed the areas on the back of his hand and neck that had been splashed.
Only after rinsing with clean water did the burning pain slightly subside.
After an unknown amount of time, the screams outside gradually died down, and Lin Yue's tense nerves relaxed slightly.
Leaning against Xuanwu's thick leg, he took out the bottle of mineral water he had just scavenged from his backpack, twisted the cap open, and cautiously took a small sip, while simultaneously checking the situation outside.
It was a person!
Lin Yue's heart leaped, and he subconsciously tightened his grip on the baton.
Lin Yue squinted, staring intently at the figure.
The person was moving extremely slowly, every step seeming to cause immense pain.
Lin Yue noticed that the person was desperately protecting something in their arms—a rectangular toolbox shimmering with a metallic luster.
He used his entire body to shield the box, preferring to let the Acid Rain corrode his back rather than allow a single drop to land on it.
What was inside?
Lin Yue was full of doubt. What kind of item could make a person risk their life to protect it?
Finally, the person ran out of strength, lunged forward violently, and fell heavily into the muddy water. Where he fell was only about ten meters from Xuanwu at the supermarket entrance.
The person struggled, trying to get up, but only twitched twice in vain before becoming still, letting the lethal Acid Rain pour onto his back.
Only the hand clutching the toolbox did not let go.
Dead?
Or unconscious?
Lin Yue hid in the supermarket's shadow, his heart pounding uncontrollably.
Save?
Or not save?
The two thoughts fiercely tore at each other in his mind.
Rationality screamed: Don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong!
He was just an ordinary person struggling to survive in the apocalypse, not a saint.
"What the hell does it matter to me..."
Lin Yue squeezed out a few words with a dry throat, trying to convince himself.
He turned around, leaning his back against the shelf, refusing to look at the person.
Survival of the fittest—that was the rule of the apocalypse.
But... the face of Zhao Si, the young man whose leg was crushed but who pushed the map and half a pack of cigarettes toward him, and the mother in the convenience store who used her skeleton to shield her child even in death—they uncontrollably flashed before his eyes.
If he stood by and watched this person dissolve in the Acid Rain right in front of him, what difference would there be between him and those monsters?
If the "home" he wanted to build lacked even a shred of humanity, how would it be different from a cold tomb?
He clenched his fist tightly, his knuckles grinding.
He was trying to survive, not turn into a complete and utter beast!
"Damn it!"
He cursed under his breath, sounding like he was scolding his own cowardly self.
He spun around abruptly, looking once more at the figure lying prone in the rain curtain. In the apocalypse, he could be ruthless toward enemies, but he couldn't ignore the last remaining spark of humanity!
He would take this risk!
"Xuanwu!"
"Bring that person back to me!"