Gray Light Particle

(PS: The first wave of recommendations finally arrived on September 10th. I've been exposed for 10 days, and now I have to endure it for two more days... This new book period is too tough.)

"...So that's why gunpowder fails and electricity can't be generated."

Ang excitedly found Lu Yuanming, who was preparing to lead his team out. He fiddled with some coils and magnets in his hand, along with some parts he had scavenged from who knows where. He said, "Because this is the Dark Matter World, its fundamental particles are entirely different from those in the material world. Therefore, any human technology involving chemistry or electricity and above is completely ineffective in this Afterlife. We need to re-measure the elements of this world, create a new periodic table, and re-establish the various physical constants and physical laws of the Afterlife. Only then can we recreate gunpowder, electricity, computers, vehicles... and everything else."

Lu Yuanming asked curiously, "But there's electricity in the vault?"

Ang replied dejectedly, "That's what puzzles me. I asked, and the vault's power seems to be supplied by underground cables. I don't know where these cables lead, so I can't figure out why there's electricity."

Lu Yuanming asked even more curiously, "Why not go down and check? Follow the cables!"

Ang shook his head and spread his hands. "There's no basement further down, nor are there any structures like utility shafts. The cables are buried deep beneath the rebar and concrete. There's nothing I can do. We'll just have to wait for someone from the bank's higher management to come down and ask them."

This was just a minor interlude for Lu Yuanming. Afterward, he took Charlie and his subordinate, Peter, along with two newly recruited youths who had reportedly participated in the USA's militia organization. This was the entire force of the organization at the moment, and their target was the supermarket where the Super Giant Spider was lurking.

This was the only known location of a Super Giant Monster that Lu Yuanming was aware of.

Two days prior, when Peter was leading a team on a routine exploration and scavenging mission, he had seen the spider, which had retreated into the supermarket, reappear at the entrance once again. This meant that those spiders were likely entering an active state again.

Ever since Lu Yuanming was forcibly returned to his Original Body, these spiders had all hidden inside the supermarket, making it impossible to enter. The interior space was not suitable for long-range firearm attacks, and the spiders could easily climb onto walls or ceilings, making them impossible to guard against. Therefore, Lu Yuanming had never considered going in to kill the spiders.

But now that the spiders had entered an active state again, it was highly probable that they could lure out the Super Giant Spider by simply killing spiders at the supermarket entrance. And now, with the FGM-148 anti-tank missile, a powerful weapon, Lu Yuanming was confident he could blast this Super Giant Monster to death.

He was very curious how many White Light Particles such a Giant Monster could bring him.

Twenty-two days had passed since they arrived in the Afterlife, and it was the twentieth day since Alfred had reorganized the group. During this period, Lu Yuanming had consumed another fifteen Colorless Light Particles, all of which had been converted into potatoes. The remaining four Colorless Light Particles had all been exchanged for bullets. Under Alfred's leadership, almost all members of the organization had begun day and night cultivation of the potatoes. If it weren't for the need for bullets to clear out monsters, Alfred might have demanded all of them be converted into potatoes. According to him, there was never enough food.

And during these twenty days, Lu Yuanming had continuously led his team to eliminate all surrounding monsters. Up to the day he set out for the spider supermarket, he had led his team to kill eight Giant Man-faced Dogs, sixteen Bat Monsters, and three Mermaid Monsters. All of them were terrifying and grotesque creatures that possessed certain human limbs but were not beings from reality.

These monsters had provided Lu Yuanming with a large amount of White Light Particles, exceeding more than three times the amount obtained from killing the previous spider. However, he didn't feel that bloated sensation after absorbing these White Light Particles, perhaps because he had become stronger. This meant he could absorb even more White Light Particles. And since the supermarket spider had reappeared, Lu Yuanming naturally set his sights on the Giant Spider.

Of the two Giant Monsters that had appeared so far, one Giant Man-faced Dog was missing, and the other was this Giant Spider.

When Lu Yuanming and his men arrived outside the supermarket, they indeed saw three spiders scattered across the parking lot. Most of them were lurking, but their massive size made lurking pointless. Lu Yuanming immediately charged forward, carrying a Steel Spike and a steel shield made from a Thick Steel Plate.

Since they had already discussed their plan, the others did not interfere. Instead, they began searching for suitable shooting positions from the surrounding high ground. The powerful FGM-148 anti-tank missile, in particular, was to be used by Peter, who had the best marksmanship, waiting to deliver a fatal blow to the Giant Spider once it emerged.

As Lu Yuanming approached within thirty meters of the spiders, the three spiders immediately sprang from their lurking, contracted state and lunged at Lu Yuanming with extreme speed.

This was not Lu Yuanming's first close-quarters combat. Over the past twenty days, he had fully understood and adapted to his body's greatly increased strength and reaction speed. He used two Rebars found by scavengers, twisted them into a Long Spike one and a half meters long, and cut a Round Shield with a diameter of one meter from a 1-centimeter-thick steel plate. Only he could wield this Long Spike and Round Shield with his current strength.

With these two implements, Lu Yuanming, with his current strength, speed, and reaction time, could face the encirclement of two Giant Man-faced Dogs without sustaining any injuries. Seeing the three spiders pounce, Lu Yuanming remained calm. He merely shifted his thoughts slightly, and the speed of the three spiders visibly decreased in his eyes. Without waiting for the spiders to get close, he lunged at the one nearest to him.

The spider's reaction speed was also extremely fast. As Lu Yuanming lunged, its forelimbs thrust straight out, and the sound of air being pierced could be heard at close range. At this moment, Lu Yuanming raised his Steel Shield to block. With two dull thuds, his arm trembled, but he held firm against a force that could easily overturn a normal adult male. Simultaneously, the Long Spike in his other hand thrust out, also with a sharp whistling sound, piercing directly into the spider's Mouthparts and completely penetrating its head.

At this point, the other two spiders had surrounded him. Lu Yuanming continued to block with his Steel Shield in one hand and thrust his Long Spike with the other. Although he didn't achieve a kill in an instant, he continuously inflicted damage on the two spiders while ensuring his own safety, causing pus to spray from their bodies.

These two spiders let out continuous shrieks, and gradually, the sounds of spiders shrieking began to echo from inside the supermarket. Then ten, twenty, thirty... at least fifty or so spiders crawled out of the supermarket.

Lu Yuanming immediately retreated while fighting, heading towards the ambush circle of the others behind him. It took less than ten seconds. As Charlie fired the first shot, the others joined in, and gunshots erupted. In an instant, the spiders began to die in droves, with over ten spiders shot dead within seconds.

Lu Yuanming watched the dense white light particles surge towards him, his heart filled with joy.

As Ang had said, these monsters, though seemingly powerful, were merely enhanced beasts. Faced with human firearms, slaughtering them was no harder than killing chickens, as long as humans were willing.

These spiders were stunned. In less than ten seconds, half of them were directly killed. The remaining spiders immediately began to flee in panic. In the end, fewer than ten spiders escaped into the supermarket. Lu Yuanming absorbed the white light particles from the death of over forty spiders, yet he still didn't feel bloated. This meant he could continue absorbing. However, he didn't dare pursue, simply standing still at a distance.

After waiting for more than ten seconds, a massive spider's howl indeed came from the supermarket. Spider forelimbs, over ten meters long, extended from the supermarket once more. The giant spider reappeared and charged towards Lu Yuanming with a roar.

Lu Yuanming stood his ground, holding his steel shield, unmoving. Although his heart pounded, he believed Peter could hit the behemoth.

Lu Yuanming didn't have to wait long. When the giant spider was still fifty meters away, a burning tail flame streaked across the sky, slamming directly into the giant spider's abdomen. Then, with a thunderous explosion, the churning flames and explosive shockwaves forced Lu Yuanming, fifty meters away, to brace himself with his steel shield. After the shockwaves subsided, Lu Yuanming saw a vast amount of white light particles surging towards him. Although it was only a tenth of the total, the amount of white light particles this time surpassed the combined total from all the previous spiders, the man-faced dogs, and other monsters. No, it was one or two times more than the sum.

In just a few seconds, Lu Yuanming felt a bloating sensation. As the white light particles continued to surge, the bloating sensation intensified. He felt the forced return to his original body state again. He only had time to shout, "I'm returning to my original body."

With that, Lu Yuanming reached the threshold of return. In the final moment of absorbing all the white light particles, he suddenly saw a mass of light, ten times larger than the white light particles and colorless light particles. This mass was neither white nor colorless, but gray.

The next second, Lu Yuanming fell into a pitch-black vegetative state.