Clash

Wiping the rainwater from his mask, Su Mo pretended to shake his head and glanced over again.

This time, he saw it clearly! They were human footprints! They weren't mine! Two thoughts flashed through Su Mo's mind. His brows furrowed, and his expression darkened.

There was someone near the shelter!

Over the past two days, Su Mo had also dreamed of someone living near the shelter. Everyone would work together to build a harmonious home.

However, when actual human traces appeared near the shelter—

At that moment, Su Mo felt only one thing: unease!

He didn't know where this person was hiding, nor did he know what they wanted.

The apocalypse! Humans were their own worst enemies!

"If you stockpile food but not guns, your home becomes a granary. If you stockpile guns but not food, everywhere becomes a granary!" Under such an extreme disaster, it was perfectly normal for people to go crazy over resources.

At that moment, Su Mo stopped lingering, opened the shelter door, and slipped inside.

The rain curtain descended over the plains once more, beginning to erase every trace Su Mo had left behind.

Standing in a corner of the shelter, Su Mo spread his arms and waited for his raincoat to air-dry before gradually taking it off.

The torrential rain blocked out scents. That was also why Oreo hadn't given any warning.

After days of carelessness, suddenly discovering signs of other humans made Su Mo break into a cold sweat when he thought it over carefully.

"I just saw a message saying that Wasteland Wanderers have been attacking ordinary civilians everywhere. I didn't expect them to come after me."

"No wonder. My drainage channel is far too conspicuous out here in the wilderness. I don't know whether this person saw me upgrading the drainage facilities yesterday."

"No. I can't just sit here and wait to die."

Sitting on the stool, Su Mo took a deep breath to suppress his unease. His gaze hardened.

"Oreo, come here."

He called over Oreo, who was snoring away in the corner, and rubbed the dog's soft, fluffy head.

"Use your Sixth Sense and see if there are any dangers nearby."

Oreo understood the command. It lay on the ground, raised its ears, and began listening carefully.

A full minute or two passed.

The silly grin that had been on Oreo's face vanished. It began sniffing around on the floor before finally giving a low bark toward the southwest corner of the base.

"You mean there's danger in that direction?"

When he saw Oreo nod its furry head, Su Mo quickly recalled what he had seen in the southwest.

That was where the base's drainage channel lay, with a small lake accumulated behind it.

Farther away was a forest of shrubs. The greenery was extremely lush. The more Su Mo recalled what he had seen, the more he viewed the scene from an outsider's perspective, searching for anything out of place.

Black!

A patch of black! Su Mo suddenly remembered the blackness in the forest. It was different from the color of the trees, and without a warning, he definitely wouldn't have paid it any attention.

Now that he was on guard, he immediately spotted the anomaly.

That shadow was probably about a hundred meters from me. I didn't see him, but he definitely saw me.

Damn it!

Slapping his thigh, Su Mo instinctively wanted to put on his equipment and go out for a little "friendly exchange."

This person had definitely discovered that he was alone.

He could build a stable underground shelter and possess drainage facilities on such a massive scale.

"I'm probably just a fat little lamb in someone else's eyes now, waiting to be slaughtered!"

Taking the crossbow from his inventory, Su Mo gave a self-mocking smile.

The surface of the pitch-black crossbow seemed to radiate killing intent. As the light reflected off it, it revealed a dark gleam.

"I never thought the first creature this crossbow would face would be one of my own kind."

"If you don't provoke me, I'll let you off. But if you dare come here..."

Su Mo stood up and rubbed his brow. He walked to the bedside and placed the crossbow on the Bedside Table.

There was about a meter between the left side of the bed and the stone wall.

He summoned the crafting interface.

Iron Pickaxe (Ordinary): Iron Block 2/2, Wood 1/1

Materials satisfied.

He selected Iron Pickaxe.

Confirm crafting! Record: Iron Block -2, Wood -2. Record: Iron Pickaxe (Ordinary) successfully crafted.

An ordinary-looking but extremely practical Iron Pickaxe appeared in Su Mo's hand.

After giving it a few swings, Su Mo began striking the stone wall beside the bed with all his strength.

It was difficult to dig from the outside in, but easy from the inside out.

In no time, the previously smooth stone surface was chipped open. As time passed, the opening gradually became a hole half a person's height.

Su Mo silently recited "Survival System" and stared into the hole.

Access Passage

Description: An Access Passage that has not yet been completely opened

Upgrade paths: Safety Passage

Branches: Expand (5), Open (60), Material (40), Strength (200), Passage Door (40)

Introduction: "A cunning rabbit has three burrows! If you want to ambush me, you'll have to pay in blood."

Seeing the passage's attributes, the corners of Su Mo's mouth twitched into a faint smile.

Now that he had been exposed, rashly leaving through the main entrance would be no different from delivering himself to them.

If they had an ambush waiting, he might be turned into a pincushion the moment he opened the door.

Thanks to his wild imagination, Su Mo had thought of a clumsy way to open a second route to the underground base.

He relaxed his gaze, and the upgrade options vanished.

For now, he had not reached the point of total desperation or having no choice but to reveal his trump card.

Toward his fellow humans, Su Mo had always maintained a final boundary.

If others did not offend him, he would not offend them.

At the same time, he still held out hope that they would not have to cross blades, that they could encourage one another and make it through the apocalypse together.

Watching Oreo pace restlessly around the base, raising its ears to listen from time to time and occasionally lying on the ground to sniff furiously, Su Mo felt both heartache and pity.

"Good dog. Wake me if anything unusual happens. I'm going to sleep for a while."

He bought two pieces of Mutated Beast meat from the Trading Market and put them in Oreo's bowl. After adding some Psionic Water, Su Mo returned to bed and fell asleep fully clothed.

The daytime wasn't frightening.

Nighttime was when the bloody horns would sound.

He needed to remain in peak condition and stand watch at night, guarding against anyone sneaking in for an ambush.

The torrential rain continued pouring down, as if it intended to submerge the entire world and bring about its destruction.

Between heaven and earth, the rain drowned out every other sound.

"Chitter, chitter~"

Half-asleep, Su Mo dreamily imagined that today's incident had only been a false alarm. No one had come coveting the shelter, and no one had been plotting against him.

Gradually—

The sky outside began to darken. The sun started to set beyond the horizon, and darkness slowly encroached.

Under the shroud of night—

Someone came.

Five shadows furtively crawled up from the south of the shelter, the direction of the drainage channel.

Walking along the stone drainage channel, the five men muttered curses under their breath. "Damn it, that bastard's really lucky. Who knows where he got a blueprint like this. He's sleeping soundly in his shelter. Why don't I ever get that kind of luck?"

"Keep your voice down, Liu Ba. Don't fucking expose us."

"What the hell are you afraid of? He's just a young man who got lucky. If he dares come out, I'll be the first to cut him down."

The man called Liu Ba not only failed to restrain himself, but grew even more aggressive.

"But if he doesn't come out, there's nothing we can do!"

The short man on the far left, whose hair was combed into a rat-tail style, saw the situation clearly and pointed out the difficulty they currently faced.

Su Mo's shelter was too sturdy!

It was so sturdy that the first time the five men saw it, they were given a fright! Ancient, simple patterns were carved into the Stone Gate. It looked as though it had formed naturally, embedded in the soil.

The drainage channels winding down the hill were entirely made of stone. The sight had left the five men utterly shaken.

"Boss Huang, don't you think what we're doing is a little unethical? Why don't we knock and ask him to give us his supplies? We can go back to wandering afterward."

The man at the very back of the group was the Glasses Man. He studied his surroundings as he walked. His face looked refined, but the words coming out of his mouth were quite vicious.

"Four Eyes, when you hacked people to death before, your hands never even trembled. Why are you panicking now? Are you scared?"

"Liu Ba already scouted it out clearly today. There's only one weakling in this shelter. He lives here only because he got lucky. As long as we can make him open the door, this place will be ours once we get inside!"

Their leader, Boss Huang, sneered disdainfully. Combined with the half-person-high Wolf Tooth Club covered in spikes in his hand, his appearance was enough to make children stop crying at night.

"How many supplies can we get in a day by exhausting ourselves killing Mutated Beasts? Have you forgotten how many supplies we've gotten from robbing people these past two days? Use your brain and do the math!"

"Could this guy really be harder to kill than a Mutated Beast?"

Inside the shelter, Oreo had already woken Su Mo from his sleep.

Within two or three breaths, Su Mo was fully awake. He rolled out of bed.

He picked up the Psionic Water beside the bed and drained it in one gulp. Then he snatched up the crossbow, entering combat mode in an instant.