"4,150 survival points. Another step closer to ten thousand."
Zeng Shen closed his status panel, left the abandoned hospital, and headed toward the park's back gate, ready to return to his small apartment.
Several quiet, secluded alleys lay along the way home.
Normally, Zeng Shen would avoid crowded places and take those alleys.
But this time...
He planned to go where the crowds were.
First, he wanted to explore how survival points were earned.
Second, he wanted to use the information provided by the system to learn something about the world after the coming catastrophe.
Evening fell.
The setting sun shone on the park plaza, where a group of middle-aged women were cheerfully dancing.
[Warning! You are about to approach a group of enslaved humans. They have been stripped of their divinity and reduced to cheap labor for a deity. Your presence may provoke the hostility of this tier-three fire deity. You may even be enslaved, stripped of your divinity, and reduced to an ordinary human.]
Watching the women dance so cheerfully, Zeng Shen quietly walked past them.
[The host advanced with caution and courage without provoking the hostility of the fire deity in the plaza. Survival points +1,000.]
Leaving through the park's main gate and passing an empty alley entrance, Zeng Shen arrived at a shopping street.
Instantly, frantic, urgent warnings rang out in his mind, while panel after panel bearing bright red warning text shook incessantly before his eyes.
[Warning! Warning! You are about to enter an abandoned and dangerous shopping street occupied by a group of terrifying, vicious mutant beasts. Several depraved and dangerous deities are hunting here with their slaves. Please leave immediately.]
He ignored the shaking virtual panels.
Zeng Shen leisurely bought some dog food, cat food, cat litter, a cat dish, a cat house, and a doghouse, along with fruit and everyday supplies, before leaving the shopping street.
[The host displayed extraordinary audacity, brazenly plundering supplies from other deities on a shopping street fraught with danger and emerging unscathed. Survival points +1,000.]
"..."
I paid for it, okay?
[Warning! Numerous mutant beasts occupy this sidewalk, and other deities are hunting here. Host, please leave immediately.]
A sidewalk. An intersection.
When the light turned green, Zeng Shen quietly crossed with a cat and a dog in his arms.
[The host calmly crossed a sidewalk occupied by mutant beasts without disturbing the other powerful deities lingering here. Survival points +1,000.]
Good Fortune Residential Complex.
[Warning! Warning! This apartment building is extremely dangerous. It is occupied by a tier-three curse deity and their followers. Given the current strength of the host and his believers, you are no match for them. Please lead your followers and mount away immediately to avoid being captured, cursed, and enslaved.]
Room 902, on the apartment building's ninth and top floor.
Looking at the shaking virtual panel before him, Zeng Shen expressionlessly reached out, opened the door, and stepped into his small apartment.
The little apartment had one bedroom, a living room, a kitchen, and a bathroom.
It got plenty of natural light.
As soon as he got home, Zeng Shen picked up the little black cat and white dog, tossed them into the bathtub, squeezed out some foaming wash, and subjected them to a thorough scrubbing.
The cat and dog, who had never been in water before, cried out in fright and splashed about as they struggled.
Zeng Shen showed no mercy, however. After washing them, he blasted them with a hair dryer.
Before long...
The two little fellows looked completely different.
The little black cat's large, emerald eyes sparkled with extraordinary intelligence. The jet-black fur on his back shone and felt wonderfully soft and smooth.
As for the little white chow chow, he certainly deserved the title of lion king of the dog world. A beautiful, fringelike mane of white fur encircled his neck, giving him a majestic appearance, while his large, dark, almond-shaped eyes were deep and full of spirit.
"How did a dog of such a fine breed end up a stray while he was still so young?"
Muttering to himself, Zeng Shen carried the freshly cleaned cat and dog out of the bathroom, set them on the couch, and said to them:
"Xiao Hei, Xiao Bai, this is your home now. From now on, we're family."
Xiao Hei was the name Zeng Shen had given the little black cat, while Xiao Bai was the name he had given the little chow chow.
As though they understood Zeng Shen, the little black cat and white dog each answered him.
"Meow~"
"Woof~"
"Haha, you two play on the couch for a bit. I'll get your houses set up."
As Zeng Shen spoke, he willed the two wooden houses that required assembly out of his inventory slots.
Then he began assembling them. Once finished, he placed the cat house and doghouse beside the couch.
"All done. From now on, you two will sleep here."
Zeng Shen pointed at the two houses and turned to address the cat and dog on the couch.
"Meow~" "Woof~"
Grrr.
After all that work, Zeng Shen was hungry too. He made himself a simple meal, ate, and sat down at his laptop. Opening the system diary, he sifted through its entries to draw some conclusions and theories about the world after the coming catastrophe.
1. When the catastrophe began, humans and other creatures would have somewhat different starting points. Humans would become divine beings and could eventually become deities through faith. Other creatures would either become mutant beasts or awaken their intelligence, becoming highly sought-after intelligent races.
2. Humans could plunder divine energy from intelligent races, mutant beasts, and even other humans to strengthen themselves. They could also enslave and control others, forcing them to do anything, such as productive labor or even bearing offspring. Conversely, intelligent races and mutant beasts could also plunder humans' divine energy and even enslave them.
3. To become a powerful deity, believers and pets with exceptional potential, as well as resources, were all essential.
4. Opening a divine domain required at least a million faith points...
As he thought, Zeng Shen typed his theories about the post-catastrophe world into a document.
Aside from that...
He also summarized what he had just learned about farming survival points.
For now, gaining followers and pets awarded the most survival points, but those were clearly one-time rewards.
Meanwhile, earning the favor of powerful mutant beasts, followers, or even their deities, or safely escaping their encirclement...
Those seemed potentially repeatable, allowing him to keep earning survival points...
As for whether his theories were correct...
Zeng Shen planned to test them the next morning.
After all, he needed ten thousand survival points to activate the prize wheel.
Then he could spend survival points to draw the resources needed to nurture his believers, putting him a hundred million steps ahead when the age of universal godhood arrived.
After deciding on tomorrow's goal, Zeng Shen renamed the document "Novel Setting Notes," closed his laptop, stretched, and tiredly lay down on his bed to rest.
Early the next morning, the sun shone brightly.
[April 2, 2122. Your believers have contributed 20 faith points to you.]
Zeng Shen opened the system diary and glanced at it, then carried Xiao Hei in his left arm and Xiao Bai in his right as he walked out of the apartment.
The next second...
A system notification rang out in his mind.
[The host displayed the confidence born of great skill, resting safely for an entire night in an apartment building occupied by a powerful curse deity and their followers. Survival points +1,000.]
"..."