Survivors!

Intermittent short-cycle sleep.

Thanks to the feline biological trait brought by the Equipment [Lynx], Merlin rested very well even with only shallow sleep for one night.

Throughout the night, his ears would twitch slightly from time to time, or his eyes would half-open and half-close intermittently, maintaining basic capture of his surroundings.

The next day.

Merlin didn't get up early, nor did he wake Yol and the others. He waited until his spirit and stamina were fully recovered before picking up his pocket watch to check the time.

Nine-thirty in the morning.

Merlin's eyes were fixed on the cave ceiling, watching strands of bright light seep in from the cracks above.

The environment inside the cave was a bit damp, which was unavoidable as they couldn't start a fire here.

Looking at the cave environment, he turned his head to glance at Yol's pretty face, which was very close, and felt a sense of unreality.

With a thought, a translucent, azure Equipment interface appeared before Merlin's eyes.

[Equipment Slot]

Merlin looked at the two magical [Equipment] he had equipped, sensing the power of the Equipment that truly existed within his body.

Only then did the lingering sense of unreality in Merlin's heart gradually disappear.

"I've truly arrived in this fantastical world of [ONE PIECE]."

At this moment, he looked at the Synchronization Value displayed in his [Equipment].

[Synchronization Value: 1%]

Both were still at one percent.

He thought to himself:

"It seems that simply living another day doesn't grant an increase. Perhaps it requires my own training and Cultivation?"

Synchronization, synchronization, the literal meaning is very simple and easy to understand.

Having read many web novels in his previous life, Merlin had some unique ideas.

He moved his right arm slightly, the slight movement waking Yol beside him.

Her eyes opened, and when she calmly looked at him at close range, Yol's eyes were a little dazed. "Laplace?"

"Mhm! Call me Merlin."

Merlin spoke calmly. Yol's mouth parted, her hazy consciousness clearing completely.

She also realized their current predicament, and at the same time, noticed that she was tightly hugging Merlin's right arm with both of hers.

A subtle flicker flashed in Yol's eyes, but she pretended nothing was wrong, let go, sat up, and softly asked Merlin:

"What time is it?"

Merlin also sat up, stretching his slightly numb arm. His gaze shifted slightly. "Nine-thirty in the morning. Oh, my left cheek feels a bit prickly. See if some insect bit me."

The light was dim, so Yol leaned in to examine him closely.

Merlin observed that there was no unusual glint in her eyes.

"No? There's no mark of any bite on your face."

Merlin breathed a sigh of relief. Of course not, but the Equipment interface before his eyes still existed.

"It seems only I can see it, which is good. I won't have to be so careful in the future."

Merlin smiled upon seeing this, "Maybe I was just imagining it."

Yol was a bit confused, but a flicker of curiosity crossed her eyes as she looked at Merlin:

"There's some grayish-black dirt on your face, do you want me to wipe it off for you?"

Merlin shook his head and stood up, glancing at the cave entrance. "No need, it can serve as camouflage.

I'll go check the surroundings up there. You wake up Lami, there's dry food, you guys eat, don't wait for me."

With that, Merlin put on his dagger, took a Grenade, climbed up, moved the stones aside, and crawled out of the rockery.

He looked at the villa, which was already half-collapsed and unrecognizable from the fire, with only wisps of black smoke still drifting into the sky.

Merlin crouched quietly on the ground, listening, vigilant of his surroundings.

After ten seconds, he detected no movement around him.

Merlin walked to the base of the wall, climbed over it, and patrolled the area in a circle.

Everywhere bore the marks of being burned by fire and ravaged by bombs.

Before long, Merlin arrived near the hospital, a thoughtful expression in his eyes. He hadn't seen many bodies along the way.

"Were they evacuated collectively?"

There were some tire tracks on the ground. Merlin climbed onto the roof of a building, looked around, and then saw plumes of smoke rising from several locations on the outskirts of the city.

He headed straight for them.

On the rooftop of a building in front of a port, Merlin lay prone, gazing at the mountain of corpses surrounded by raging flames in the open space in the distance.

A thick, burnt, foul odor filled the air around them.

His stomach churned, and Merlin swallowed, suppressing the nausea rising in his heart.

A hint of sarcasm flickered in his eyes, "They still know to burn the bodies to prevent an epidemic, huh?"

Thinking about the soldiers he'd seen earlier, patrolling the city in small teams of six, clearing out survivors, he murmured:

"They're really trying to wipe everyone out!"

On the way back, Merlin found two one-liter canteens in some shops that hadn't been affected by the fire and filled them with clean drinking water.

Avoiding the patrolling personnel on the road, Merlin returned to the cave. The two of them were already packed. Merlin handed over the canteens.

"Drink some water! We'll be leaving soon."

Yol took one, and she and Lami replenished their fluids.

Merlin, meanwhile, began equipping grenades, loading seven. He gave five to Yol. The katana and rifle were for Yol to equip.

Once everything was ready.

The three of them set off together.

The outskirts north of the city.

Merlin, Yol, and Lami lay hidden behind a half-collapsed wall.

About three hundred meters away, in an alley, intense gunfire erupted.

A group of Frevanz survivors and foreign soldiers were engaged in a fierce firefight.

A spark ignited in Merlin's eyes, "As expected, this country is full of lead bullets. These people won't be wiped out overnight that easily."

Beside him, Yol's eyes became excited, and she looked at Merlin.

"Should we join them and resist together?"

Merlin shook his head.

"Go inform them. I'll take a detour and flank them from behind. Once there's chaos, I doubt anyone still alive would be an idiot."

Seeing the worry in Yol's eyes, Merlin shook his head, "Listen to me."

With that, Merlin crouched and sprinted to the side. Yol pursed her lips, watching Merlin disappear, her gaze suddenly firming. She looked at the surrounding ruins where she could hide, then at Lami.

"You hide here first. We'll find you after we're done."

Lami nodded obediently and crawled into the gap beneath a wall that had collapsed at a right angle.

Yol glanced at Lami, ensuring she was hidden, then took a deep breath. Holding her gun, she crouched and ran towards the survivors.

Soon, Yol found one of their leaders and negotiated with them.

Moreover, this leader was an "acquaintance" Yol had met a few times before.

Merlin, with the empty backpack strapped to his chest, circled around to flank them. He climbed onto the roof of a two-story building and peered over the edge at the enemy soldiers from the neighboring country hiding in the ruins below, engaged in combat.

There were twelve of them in total.

A grenade lay in front of him.

In his right hand, he held a grenade with the safety lever depressed. With a soft click, Merlin pulled the pin, counted to two, and then hurled it fiercely into a group below.

Immediately after, he tossed another grenade to another group in the same manner.

BOOM!

BOOM BOOM!!!

The grenades exploded amidst the enemy soldiers.

Two unfortunate soldiers had their grenades detonated along with the others.

Instantly, the gunfire on this side ceased.

The enemy soldiers were thrown back by the sudden explosion, and miserable screams erupted one after another.

At the same time, the survivors' gunfire also stopped. Merlin leaped from the rooftop and sprinted towards an enemy soldier who hadn't been affected by the blast.

His dagger ruthlessly pierced the soldier's neck. He pulled out the dagger without hesitation and quickly charged towards another soldier dazed by the explosion.

A swift move of his hand.

Another soldier fell.

Soon, Merlin finished off the remaining two soldiers, who were only slightly affected by the blast, about three meters away.

Then, he put an end to all the remaining soldiers severely wounded by the grenades.

Merlin glanced at the survivors running towards them and began to clear the battlefield.

Gathered all the grenades from the soldiers' waists and stuffed them into the backpack on his chest.

A total of seventeen grenades were collected.

A few seconds later, the fourteen survivors came over together, looking at Merlin with approval. Yol quickly walked to Merlin's side, and seeing that he was unharmed, her expression relaxed.

At this moment, Merlin, with his right hand behind his back, held a grenade in his right hand and looked at the person who was clearly the leader among the group of people three meters away.

A middle-aged man with a resolute face, two meters tall, short black hair, but with bloodshot eyes.

Merlin's gaze held a hint of caution:

"What should I call you, brother?"