A Wolf Ahead, a Tiger Behind

Cracked highways, collapsed and broken streetlights, overturned and wrecked vehicles scattered everywhere, dense chunks of rubble strewn across the ground. In the distance, a billboard hung at an angle, swaying precariously as if it would fall completely at any moment. The windows of most of these reinforced concrete buildings had shattered, and a large quantity of banknotes lay scattered outside a nearby bank.

Desolation, ruin, despair—the air was filled with the sense that the world had ended and every living thing in it had died.

Lu Ren merely swept his gaze around warily. Once he confirmed there were no monsters, he began walking close to the walls.

As for Li Shu, Lu Ren did not pay her much attention. As long as she hid properly in a place like this, surviving seven days would not be too demanding.

He proceeded without incident until he reached a storefront bearing the sign of a convenience store, where he finally stopped. Throughout the entire journey, Lu Ren had not made the slightest loud sound.

It was best for everything to be carried out in silence. Whether there was a sudden strange noise nearby or any other development, Lu Ren would be able to notice it immediately.

Carefully stepping over the shattered glass at the entrance, he entered the store. What met his eyes were collapsed shelves and all kinds of food and drinks scattered across the floor.

Lu Ren did not even spare them a second look. Judging by the thickness of the dust accumulated in this convenience store, they had long passed their expiration dates. The food and drinks had spoiled and rotted, and most of their packaging had already torn open. At a glance, he could see plenty of mold.

After only a cursory glance, Lu Ren turned his attention to items that could be preserved for long periods.

In the real world, many canned goods made during World War II were still circulating on the market, with expiration dates claiming they would not spoil for two or three hundred years.

Yet after making a round of the store, Lu Ren found no trace of canned food at all. Meanwhile, many goods were missing from the mostly intact shelves along the walls.

Lu Ren raised an eyebrow, a guess already forming in his mind.

It seemed that even after the apocalypse, there were still traces of human activity.

That realization gave him a slight shock. It appeared this world was not as simple as he had imagined.

Human vitality was truly tenacious.

After sighing inwardly, Lu Ren confirmed there were no useful supplies here before leaving the convenience store.

However, the moment he stepped outside, Lu Ren froze. His expression turned grave as he stared toward the center of the street.

A bull with bluish-gray skin stood there. Yet this bull was absurdly powerful and massive.

It was at least three and a half meters tall, perhaps even four meters. Excluding its tail, it measured between seven and eight meters in length. Muscles knotted and bulged all over its body, while its thick, long horns glinted with a metallic chill. Its crimson eyes abruptly turned and locked onto Lu Ren as he emerged from the convenience store.

This was a living tank weighing dozens of tons!

Without a second thought, he spun around and rushed back into the convenience store. When he had searched the place earlier, he had found a door in the back leading to the alley behind the building.

"Moo!!!"

A deep yet incredibly thunderous roar erupted from the monstrous bull's mouth. Visible ripples spread through the air around its muzzle under the force of its powerful lungs.

Dust filled the sky. Even Lu Ren, more than twenty meters away and charging into the convenience store, felt his mind go blank from the rumbling sound. Then sudden tinnitus instantly threw him off balance and sent him crashing to the ground. When the human cochlea suffered such intense stimulation, a person with relatively weak Physique could lose their balance.

Relatively weak Physique...

Lu Ren cursed furiously in his heart.

"Ding, because you suffered a sonic attack from a Giant Mutant Bull, your Physique Proficiency passively increased by +1."

"Ding, because you suffered a sonic attack from a Giant Mutant Bull, your Physique Proficiency..."

Thud thud thud thud!!

Heavy footsteps and the sound of earth and stone spraying through the air rapidly drew closer. Lu Ren did not dare delay for even a moment. After struggling desperately on the ground for several seconds, he finally got to his feet and clutched his ears as he grabbed the convenience store's rear door.

Rumble!

A massive impact shattered the convenience store's front entrance. Two enormous, thick horns sank deeply into the wall, carving out terrifying gashes.

The entire seven-story building shook violently from the ferocious collision.

Suppressing the dizziness crashing over his head, Lu Ren opened the inner door and quickly left the convenience store, entering the back alley.

He staggered several steps, braced himself against the wall beside him, and took several deep breaths before gradually recovering. Glancing back at the building that was slowly beginning to collapse, Lu Ren did not hesitate in the slightest and swiftly fled the area.

He traveled at high speed for roughly half an hour before entering a seemingly intact office building. He ran up to the third floor, casually forced open the door to an office area, and finally let out a breath of relief.

Taking on that monstrous bull now would be no different from seeking death. A single moo had robbed him of his fighting ability. If he took a direct hit from that thing, he would probably be crushed into a puddle of flesh instantly.

Giant Mutant Bull.

Lu Ren cursed inwardly. He now knew where the enormous holes in the skyscrapers throughout the city had come from.

Just as he got up to leave, his gaze suddenly sharpened. A sign stood at the entrance to the third floor.

Haizhou City Experimental Center, Human Resources Department.

The corner of Lu Ren's eye twitched. Could this fucking place be where that newly discovered super particle, the Hua Particle, was located?!

Lu Ren suddenly felt as though the ground beneath his feet was scorching hot.

Leaving this place immediately was the right move. Only brain-dead movie protagonists would keep exploring.

Wasn't it better to just stay alive honestly?

Lu Ren did not hesitate any longer and hurried downstairs. Yet when he reached the corner of the next floor down, he abruptly stopped, his face turning extremely ugly.

At some point, the Giant Mutant Bull had begun wandering around the lobby below. Its nostrils kept twitching as it sniffed the air.

Lu Ren did not hesitate at all. He turned and leaped back upstairs, sprinted all the way to the edge of the second floor, and jumped directly out of a window. At his current physical condition, he could roll on the ground to offset the impact from a height of five meters.

"Fuck?!"

As Lu Ren hung in midair and saw the scene below, he could not help cursing aloud. The Blindfolded Monster stood ramrod straight on the ground, holding a woman who looked utterly unable to resist. Judging by her clothing, she appeared to be a female high school student. It looked as though the monster was carrying her into the building.

Lu Ren rolled across the ground, his movements not slowing in the slightest. He sprang to his feet and dashed forward wildly, intending to get away from the freak dressed like Blind Monk as quickly as possible.

But when it rained, it poured. That "blind man" was extraordinarily sensitive to sound. The instant Lu Ren landed, it noticed his presence. Its previously relaxed, leisurely posture tensed in an instant. It tossed the vacant-eyed girl aside, then twisted around and charged at Lu Ren.

When the girl saw Lu Ren leap down from the second floor, the despair in her eyes abruptly brightened. Yet when she saw the "blind man"'s back, that flicker of light immediately faded.