Food

Lu Yuanming ran with the little boy in his arms, between the two adults. As he ran, he carefully examined the pistol in his hand.

He had fired four light bullets in total, and the muzzle of the pistol was already showing signs of melting.

That made sense, though. The pistol had been designed to fire bullets, not energy orbs or anything like that.

Those light orbs were incredibly powerful and generated intense heat in an instant. A pistol simply couldn't withstand them. The only reason it had merely started to melt was probably that the orbs fired so quickly. Otherwise, the first shot might have made it explode.

Lu Yuanming studied the melted areas and made a rough estimate: the pistol could fire three or four more light bullets at most.

(But each light bullet requires a Colorless Light Particle. There's one bullet left in the magazine, and I have four Colorless Light Particles. That means I can fire only five more light bullets at most. Even if every shot is a headshot, I can kill only five Man-faced Dogs...)

The thought weighed heavily on Lu Yuanming's heart.

He had also noticed something else: after absorbing the White Light Particles left behind by the two dead monsters, he didn't feel that his soul had grown stronger.

(Could it be that I have to return to my body before I can get stronger?)

As he'd thought, there were too many mysteries left unsolved. For the moment, Lu Yuanming could do nothing about them.

As the three adults ran, both children wailed. Their cries were piercing, and the Tall Thin Man shouted over his shoulder, "Shut up, FXXX! Cry again and I'll leave you here!"

The fat man's face twisted with anger, but he said nothing. Lu Yuanming pointed his pistol directly at the Tall Thin Man.

The Tall Thin Man immediately raised his hands. "Hey, buddy, relax. I was just trying to scare them. Their crying will attract monsters, and that'll put all of us in danger."

Lu Yuanming sneered. "The monsters are already here. Whether they cry or not won't change that. Now shut up and keep running!"

"Yeah, yeah." The Tall Thin Man knew when to back down. He immediately ran on, saying, "Melon Bank is just ahead. We..."

As he spoke, Lu Yuanming saw three people run out of a battered bank building ahead: a man and two women. They hurried toward his group. As soon as they reached them, the women took the children from the fat man and Lu Yuanming. While comforting them, the two women headed toward the bank.

The remaining man wore a bank security guard's uniform and carried a weapon that looked like a rifle or a shotgun. Lu Yuanming couldn't tell what kind it was, but it was clearly much more powerful than a pistol.

(That's right!)

Lu Yuanming's heart stirred. Suddenly, he realized how foolish he'd been.

Colorless Light Particles changed according to the thoughts in his mind. He'd already used them to create Fresh Water and food, and he'd tested them enough to know that it was an equivalent exchange. He couldn't simply wish for any amount of food and have it appear.

Yet when he used a Colorless Light Particle to create bullets, he'd made only one!

No wonder it was so powerful—it had practically become a handheld cannon. He should have used one Colorless Light Particle to create at least ten bullets. He could even have made shotgun shells. That would reduce the power of each shot while giving him far more ammunition. That was clearly the best way to use them!

As Lu Yuanming's sudden realization gave way to regret, he followed the man and two women into the battered bank.

Standing in the bank lobby, they saw more than ten Man-faced Dogs in the distance down the street. At the rear of the pack was the biggest one of all. Its body was at least three times the size of the others. It still had a human upper body and a dog's lower body, but it was at least ten meters long, and its torso, arms, and claws were all more than three times larger than those of the other Man-faced Dogs. It was a true behemoth!

Everyone stared at it in horror, but no one dared waste another moment. They followed the man and two women deeper into the bank.

They entered through the staff corridor and crossed a long hallway. At the far end was a staircase leading down. The security guard ran ahead, leading them quickly down the stairs. At the bottom stood an intact metal wall, unbroken, with a huge round metal door set into it.

The woman carrying the little boy immediately went to the security panel beside the metal door and pressed a series of buttons. Then came a fingerprint scan and a retinal scan. During the process, they heard impacts and running footsteps from above. The Tall Thin Man shrieked, "Hurry up! Come on!"

Just then, the metal door began to open slowly. No one waited for it to swing all the way open; they squeezed inside at once. Once everyone was through, the woman hurried to press something on the inner wall. The metal door, still not fully open, immediately slid shut with a bang, completely sealing them off from the outside.

Only then did everyone let out a deep breath. The Tall Thin Man simply collapsed onto the floor, looking as though nothing could get him back on his feet.

Lu Yuanming began studying his surroundings.

This was the bank's inner vault. Shredded dollar bills were piled everywhere, but there was no gold. The space was fairly large, and seven people were already inside—men and women, including a child and a pregnant woman. Clearly, the vault had taken in a group of people before Lu Yuanming and the others arrived.

What puzzled Lu Yuanming was that the vault had lights. That meant it had electricity.

The security guard held out his hand to Lu Yuanming. "John Elson. I saw you brought the children with you instead of leaving them behind. You're heroes."

Lu Yuanming shook John's hand. "Lu Yuanming. I didn't think it through at the time, but I figured I could at least protect one more person."

The two women began soothing the crying boy and girl. The children had been crying the whole time, but they hadn't done anything else to hinder the group, so they'd been quite well-behaved. Now, as the women spoke gently to them, they gradually quieted down.

At that moment, the Tall Thin Man sprang to his feet. "Everyone, does anyone know what the hell this place is?!"

There were twelve adults and three children in the vault. The children aside, when the Tall Thin Man asked his question, the security guard, who had been about to talk with Lu Yuanming, the two women who had been comforting the children, and the other six adults in the vault all fell silent.

Lu Yuanming answered bluntly, "I died. I was killed by something falling from a great height. But it was caused by a supernatural event. Something like a ghost or a curse killed me."

Once Lu Yuanming had broken the ice, the others began describing how they'd died. John and one of the women comforting the children, for example, had both worked at the bank. John had been a security guard, and the woman had been some kind of manager. They'd died in supernatural events, just like the others, who had either encountered monsters or been hit by stray bullets or run over by cars during monster-related incidents.

They all remembered dying, and they'd all seen their own corpses. Then an immense force had dragged them here, to this world after death.

The Tall Thin Man still wasn't convinced. "But this is New York! Shouldn't the afterlife be some kind of underworld? Why is the world after death New York City? Were we abducted by aliens, or is this some government conspiracy, like a lab leak?"

Everyone began talking over one another. Just then, the whole vault shook violently, and a tremendous roar rang out from the metal walls. Everyone fell silent and stared at the metal walls. The roaring and shaking continued, again and again, for at least ten minutes before gradually stopping. At last, there was complete silence.

Only then did everyone's pounding hearts settle. There was no doubt about it: the Man-faced Dogs couldn't break through the vault walls. Not even the ten-meter-long Man-faced Dog King could do it.

Among the adults who had stayed in the vault, a frail young man with glasses said, "Those monsters are just Flesh and Blood Bodies. Unless they have Supernatural Power, how could they possibly break through this alloy? Everyone, we were just caught off guard. Those monsters aren't as powerful as we thought!"

The Tall Thin Man immediately retorted, "If you're so sure, go out there and fight one instead of mouthing off from back here! We killed two monsters to save the children. If they're not that powerful, why don't you go kill one?"

The frail young man's face flushed. The Tall Thin Man was about to keep going, but Lu Yuanming reached out to stop him. The Tall Thin Man fell silent at once. Lu Yuanming said, "He's right. These monsters really aren't that strong. Judging by their size, speed, and attack methods, they're about as dangerous as tigers or lions. The difference is that tigers and lions aren't so aggressive, and they're unlikely to hunt in groups of more than ten. The only exception is the largest Man-faced Dog. It's far bigger than any land animal alive today; you could say its strength is on the level of a dinosaur. But it's still just physically powerful. The fact that it couldn't break into this vault says everything."

The frail young man immediately jumped up and ran over to Lu Yuanming, holding out his hand. "Ang Adrian, sir, you're right. These monsters really aren't so frightening. They no longer have the Supernatural Power they had in the Living World. They're not impervious to bullets, and they don't have curses or anything like that. They're just wild beasts and predators with different appearances. We can kill them!"

Lu Yuanming shook Ang's hand, then gave a bitter smile. "But here's the real problem: we can't use firearms. You all know that, right?"

John gave the gun in his hand a little shake. "Right. The gunpowder in the bullets has all changed. The guns don't work. With just our bare hands, we can't fight those monsters."

Ang immediately slumped down, crouching on the floor. "God, is this our punishment? Could the Day of Apocalypse be coming?"

At that moment, the Tall Thin Man suddenly pointed at Lu Yuanming. "Wait, his pistol can fire! No, that's not a pistol. It's some terrifying, futuristic weapon! He shot a Spherical Lightning bolt! That's how we killed those two monsters!"

Lu Yuanming's brow twitched as he looked at the Tall Thin Man. The man had already instinctively hidden behind someone else, but he kept talking about Lu Yuanming's miraculous pistol and the power of the Spherical Lightning.

Everyone turned to look at Lu Yuanming. Thoughts flashed through his mind, but he calmly removed the pistol's magazine and pinched a Colorless Light Particle between his fingers. Holding up the hand that gripped the particle, he asked, "Can you see what I'm holding?"

Everyone looked confused. John, meanwhile, casually moved in front of the others, while Ang instinctively took several steps back.

"You're all hungry and thirsty, right?"

After confirming once again that they couldn't see the Colorless Light Particle, Lu Yuanming slapped his hand against the floor.

The next moment, a small bottle of Mineral Water and a long loaf of bread appeared on the ground.