Cold-Faced Man

Hah!

Lu Ren let out a low roar, twisted around, and actually wrenched the monster's head clean off. A torrent of brown blood sprayed from the wound.

Thud!

Watching the monster collapse to the ground without another movement, Lu Ren ignored the barrage of system prompts in his mind announcing increased proficiency. He dropped onto the floor, nearly spent, gasping for breath.

The battle had lasted less than a minute, yet the intense focus and all-out attacks had drained an enormous amount of his stamina, leaving him utterly exhausted.

Those movie fights that went on for hundreds of exchanges were definitely fake. Combat under such total concentration and extreme mental focus consumed a tremendous amount of energy.

Looking at the firelight against the pitch-black darkness outside the window, Lu Ren caught his breath, slowly rose to his feet, and walked over to the Blade Bamboo monster.

He shone his phone's flashlight onto the corpse. After sizing it up, Lu Ren bent down and forcibly tore the monster's two bone blades free along with strips of metal.

The sight sent chills down the spines of the survivors. Not only was he unafraid of the monster, he was manhandling its corpse from top to bottom!

After wiping them down a little, he found that the hilts were entirely made of hard bone. They could be called natural weapons.

They were also quite handy to use. The long blades resembled straight sabers, but were sharpened on both sides. They were extremely sharp and of moderate length, roughly three feet long.

Even though they were double-edged blades, Basic Swordsmanship still classified them as swords. At the very least, using Basic Swordsmanship with them felt exceptionally smooth.

Lu Ren was extremely satisfied. Leaving aside everything else, the monster had at least given him two weapons. In an environment like this, that greatly increased his chances of survival.

They were a little like starter equipment handed out in an RPG.

Complaining inwardly, Lu Ren removed the remaining blade in the same manner. Once he confirmed there was nothing else useful on the monster, he walked out of the office carrying both blades.

Glancing at Li Shu, who was still standing blankly at the doorway with a chair in hand, Lu Ren casually asked, "What are you standing here for?"

Li Shu stared at Lu Ren in utter shock. The image of him fighting a monster barehanded was still as vivid in her mind as if it had happened right before her eyes.

Too violent. Too shocking!

He was like the male lead in a movie—swift and powerful, highly skilled in combat, utterly fearless even when facing such an alien monster.

She felt a little damp... tears of fright had welled up at the corners of her eyes.

Someone like this was frighteningly calm and decisive. Even when he had attacked Chen Jin, there had not been the slightest flicker of emotion on his face. He seemed like a cold-blooded machine.

Li Shu felt a chill run through her entire body.

"I-I came over to see if there was anything I could help with," Li Shu stammered.

Lu Ren gave her a surprised look, then calmly said, "You would only be coming here to die. I wouldn't even have the spare energy to save you."

Though Lu Ren had phrased it politely, Li Shu understood what he meant. If she rashly rushed in, Lu Ren would absolutely stand by coldly and offer no help whatsoever.

He was a formidable person, and he seemed to have no unusual reaction at all to the sudden environmental changes in this place.

It was as if... he had experienced something like this before?!

Lu Ren paid no attention whatsoever to the change in Li Shu's expression. After experiencing his first encounter with another dimension, he knew that no matter how kind a person might be in reality, once life and death were involved, once they had endured suffering and torment and extreme hunger, the ugliness in their hearts would be magnified without limit.

At the very least, in this Otherworld Wasteland that seemed to have been dormant for decades, if they found no food and could not obtain enough to sustain themselves, then the dozens of people here would likely reenact what had happened in the Silent Forest. In the later stages, with no food at all, the few people driven mad by hunger had looked at everyone with green-eyed stares.

As Lu Ren carefully sharpened the two sharp bone blades in his hands, Li Shu cautiously asked, "Big brother, have you experienced something like this before?"

At this point, Wang Chengliang and Zhao Hui were nowhere to be seen. It was unknown whether they were dead or had hidden somewhere. In this enormous office area, only Lu Ren and Li Shu remained.

Hearing her cautious question and seeing her submissive demeanor, Lu Ren glanced at Li Shu.

She was quite observant. Who knew what she did in real life, being so beautiful and capable?

He did not answer. Once he confirmed that the strange swords were connected to the Blade Bamboo's bones and formed completely natural hilts, Lu Ren stood up and said, "You'd better find somewhere to hide. As long as you can hold out for seven days."

Li Shu accurately caught the crucial detail in Lu Ren's words.

"You know this place?"

"I don't."

After that, no matter how she pressed him, Lu Ren said nothing. He walked straight past Li Shu, preparing to head up another floor.

Chen Jin, Feng Zicheng, and Ren Zhoucheng had been killed in gruesome ways, and the stench of blood assaulted his nose.

If there were still monsters in this place, there was a high chance they would be drawn over by the heavy smell.

In short, this was not a place to linger.

Watching Lu Ren's departing back, Li Shu could not help asking in a low voice, "Where are you going?"

Lu Ren gave no response. With one sword tucked at his waist and another in his hand, he took the stairs two at a time. His phone's flashlight was still on.

When his vision could not make out the surroundings, the deadly threats lurking in the darkness were far more dangerous than those in an environment with a light source.

After inspecting the floor and finding nothing unusual, Lu Ren still did not dare let down his guard.

Who knew whether a monster might crawl out from some dark corner? Lu Ren still had no idea where the Greasy Freak and the monster called Blade Bamboo had come from.

As usual, he found a room in the middle with access on all sides. Using some scattered items from the office area, he set up a simple warning mechanism before dropping onto a soft sofa covered in dust.

After remaining silent for a while and confirming that warning devices had been placed along all the routes in and out, Lu Ren finally wearily closed the door to the office, which was surrounded by tempered glass.

He turned off his phone's flashlight. Looking at the little battery it had left, Lu Ren could only silently shut it down and tuck it into his backpack.

His mind had relaxed, and more than half his physical strength had been drained. He practically fell asleep the moment he lay down, still gripping the longsword tightly in his hand. Lying slightly on his side ensured that if he woke with a start, he could exert force immediately.

Lu Ren was highly vigilant. At the slightest disturbance, he would definitely react at once.

There was no further movement throughout the night. Utterly exhausted, Lu Ren gradually fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning, daylight had fully broken. Only when the gray sunlight shone onto Lu Ren's face did he slowly wake up.

Lu Ren sat up abruptly and swept his gaze around the room. His eyes paused briefly at the doorway. Only after confirming there was no threat did he stand, unlock the door, and pull it open.