The diary ended there.
After closing it, Qin Ze felt a little heavy-hearted.
The screen on the right wall showed the shelter's dormitory area.
Skeletons lay quietly on the beds, their hands either resting at their sides or folded across their lower abdomens.
It was clear they had all been at peace before they died.
Just like that, more than ten thousand lives were gone.
For the first time, Qin Ze realized just how fragile life could be.
According to the diary, exotic beasts were no longer a threat in this world.
In their place were creatures called Mutated Ones.
Their origins were tied to something called the Alpha Reagent.
And the Alpha Reagent had been developed by the diary's owner, the administrator of Shelter No. 10.
Faced with the threat of the Mutated Ones, the people of this world had split into two factions.
The conservatives and the resistance.
The conservatives had all taken refuge in shelters.
There were ten shelters in all, but by now, every one of them had long since fallen.
The resistance, also known as the Resistance Army, lived in a place called Sky Island.
He wondered how the Resistance Army on Sky Island was doing now.
And whether they had defeated the Mutated Ones outside.
There was one other thing Qin Ze couldn't figure out.
Why had there been another version of him in this world?
A wrist-worn microcomputer sat on one corner of the desk.
The thing looked awfully familiar.
"A Pip-Boy?"
Qin Ze picked up the Pip-Boy and strapped it to his wrist.
He switched it on.
A line of fiery text slowly appeared on the screen.
"Welcome to Vault-Tec. Vault-Tec is dedicated to serving you."
The corner of Qin Ze's mouth twitched.
The sense of déjà vu was growing stronger.
"Please begin identity verification. Enter fingerprints, iris scan..."
Following the startup prompts, Qin Ze went through a series of tedious procedures.
This Pip-Boy seemed to be new, never used before.
"Identity verification complete. Authority over Shelter No. 10 has been transferred from the previous administrator, Professor Lin Siyao, to the only human in the shelter-Qin Ze."
Qin Ze was astonished.
"I'm the administrator just like that?"
Wasn't that a little too hasty?
Through the administrator terminal on his wrist, Qin Ze discovered that he could control the entire shelter, right down to opening and closing every door.
The terminal also had a user interface.
It displayed the user's current physical metrics.
These included heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, and even qi and blood.
[Qi and blood: 896]
He had grown a little stronger again.
This thing was pretty good; he could use it as a portable qi and blood tester.
"Bring up the information on the Alpha Reagent."
Qin Ze wanted to see what the Alpha Reagent actually was.
But a line of red text popped up on the terminal.
[All information on the Alpha Reagent and Reverse Alpha Reagent has been sealed] [No one except Professor Lin Siyao is authorized to view it]
Qin Ze's hopes of uncovering the truth came to nothing.
After wandering around the shelter, he soon found the armory doors.
"Let's see what treasures future technology has in store!"
Qin Ze rubbed his hands together eagerly.
Click-
The armory doors slowly opened.
At the sight inside, Qin Ze froze.
The armory, some two hundred square meters in size, was completely empty. There was even enough room to gallop a horse.
"The shelter's weapons stockpile was completely exhausted by the assault teams."
The terminal brought up the records of weapons taken from the armory.
Back then, the shelter's residents had formed several suicide squads to fight for a sliver of hope.
It was precisely because their weapons had run out and the Mutated Ones were still eyeing them hungrily from outside the doors that the shelter's residents had ultimately chosen to end their own lives.
Several black equipment cases remained in a corner.
Curious, Qin Ze went over and rummaged through them.
The first few cases were all empty, but in the last one, Qin Ze found a very cool black handgun.
It was a size larger than the ordinary handguns he knew, with a wider muzzle.
The handgun was a single piece, and its magazine could not be removed.
"Who was bored enough to put a toy gun in the armory?"
Qin Ze was a little disappointed.
Just then, a message popped up on the terminal.
[Martial Artifact: Dragon Might Improved Hand Cannon] [Manufacturer: Demon City Martial Equipment Research Institute] [Description: Absorbs qi and blood to unleash powerful shots. The more qi and blood supplied, the more powerful the shot] [Note: As the last generation of Martial Artifacts in this world, the Dragon Might Improved embodies the wisdom of every researcher at the Demon City Martial Equipment Research Institute. It contains many surprises and little Easter eggs, and its power must not be underestimated]
"Martial Artifact!"
Qin Ze's imperial countenance lit up with delight.
He hadn't expected to actually stumble upon a treasure.
Martial Artifacts are weapons exclusive to martial artists, capable of all sorts of marvelous functions when used with qi and blood.
Because of the special materials involved, Martial Artifacts are produced in very limited quantities, and their prices are far beyond the means of ordinary martial artists.
Qin Ze had only ever seen one Martial Artifact.
The magic tablet in Number Three's hand.
He had been drooling over that divine artifact of social death for ages.
He would have to find a way to get one someday.
After putting the hand cannon away, Qin Ze walked to the shelter's main door, ready to go out and explore the world beyond.
"Open the shelter door?"
Shelter No. 10 had a front door and a back door.
The front door was in the eastern residential area, which had already been occupied by the Mutated Ones.
Qin Ze was taking the back door.
"Open it."
Rumble-
The giant gear marked with a large "10" began to turn slowly.
As the gear continued to turn, the alloy door, five meters tall and half a meter thick, slid open bit by bit.
At that moment, the shelter, sealed away for who knew how many years, welcomed its first ray of sunlight.
Qin Ze took a deep breath and cautiously stepped out of the shelter. Fortunately, there were no Mutated Ones nearby.
Looking around, his first impression was one of desolation.
Endless desolation.
The land was severely desertified, and there was hardly a trace of green in sight.
Gazing into the distance, Qin Ze saw a cluster of crooked buildings.
Their walls were cracked all over, and withered yellow plants grew stubbornly from the gaps.
The scene before him was like the end of the world.
"I'll check out the city first."
If he could find a few more Martial Artifacts, he'd really take off.
Bang!
Qin Ze pushed off hard with both feet and raced toward the city.
Clang~
At the edge of the city, a fierce gust of wind blew a badly decayed billboard to Qin Ze's feet.
The painted words on it were still faintly legible.
Welcome to Jiang City.
"This is Jiang City?"
Qin Ze frowned deeply.
He couldn't see a single familiar trace in the abandoned city.
Whoosh-
Just as Qin Ze was about to venture deeper into the city, a piercing rush of air suddenly sounded overhead.
A giant aircraft came wobbling in from the distance, trailing black smoke.
Once it reached the air above the city, it dropped one black oval object after another from its underside.
A series of explosions immediately erupted in the city center.
Small mushroom clouds blossomed from the ground, and several buildings that had already been tottering were reduced to rubble.
Even though Qin Ze was on the very outskirts of the city, the shock wave from the explosions still knocked him head over heels.
Having completed its bombing run, the aircraft began to head back the way it had come.
Bang!
Just after it flew out of the city, the aircraft's tail suddenly exploded, and it plunged headfirst toward the ground not far away.
"Is that the Resistance Army from Sky Island?"
To investigate the truth (wealth) of this world, Qin Ze was still hesitating over whether to make contact with the local natives.
The aircraft had crashed only a few hundred meters away.
Since he was already here, Qin Ze decided to go take a look.