Night of the Apocalypse

In this situation, there would be a qualitative leap in Shen Qiu’s physical abilities. However, facing an enemy that he could not defeat was tantamount to seeking death. Therefore, as soon as Shen Qiu shook off the Cleaner and felt a little safer, his first instinct was to take out the emergency medication and consume it.

At this moment, the Cleaner emerged from the back door of the building. Its camera-like head scanned around before immediately locking onto the abandoned shoe ahead and pursuing it.

Two minutes later, the medication began to take effect, and Shen Qiu’s rising and falling chest gradually calmed down.

Then he pulled out his phone to check, only to find that there was no signal. He immediately turned off his phone to avoid any sudden noises.

Following that, he slowly stood up and went back to retrieve his shoe. After all, running without shoes would slow him down and increase the risk of injury. If his feet got hurt, it would be disastrous.

After doing all this, he cautiously made his way toward the narrow alley on the left. Before, he had been fleeing frantically with no choice as he was being chased, but now that the situation was not so urgent, he couldn’t act so recklessly.

Who knows if he would run into other enemies while running around?

Before long, Shen Qiu reached the corner of the alley. He cautiously poked his head out and saw a vast, intricate area of ruins ahead.

Some steel buildings were leaning against each other, having collided in the aftermath.

Numerous building remnants were stained with dark blood.

Shen Qiu’s expression changed continuously as he felt a deep shock; what kind of city was this? What unspeakable disaster had it endured?

Additionally, Shen Qiu felt a profound unease about how he had ended up here and how he could leave.

To be honest, if it were possible, Shen Qiu would definitely want to turn back and explore, searching for the truth and clues.

However, it was obvious that turning back now would mean death.

Shen Qiu took a deep breath, calming his racing heart. His immediate priority was to survive, and for that, he needed a weapon for self-defense.

With this in mind, Shen Qiu looked toward the ruined residential area ahead. From the scale and style of the buildings, he could immediately judge that this area was likely inhabited by relatively low-income residents.

The exploration value here probably wouldn’t be as high as those large buildings along the street.

But the danger level might not be any lower either, given the extremely complex terrain, which could easily conceal threats.

Moreover, the sky had already darkened from dusk to night, and visibility was continuously decreasing. Only the open areas under the moonlight offered slightly better visibility.

However, Shen Qiu had no choice. With so many people fleeing, they would undoubtedly make a lot of noise.

There were likely enemies everywhere along the streets.

Ultimately, he chose to move forward into the ruined residential area, taking light steps to avoid making any sound.

At this moment, distant gunfire echoed behind him. Unless something unexpected happened, it was likely those killing machines were slaughtering those who hadn’t managed to escape.

The sounds of slaughter cast a shadow over Shen Qiu’s heart.

He proceeded with increasing caution and soon reached the edge of the ruined residential area.

Shen Qiu quickly spotted a broken hollow steel pipe on the ground, the size of which was quite suitable. He didn’t hesitate to pick it up, using it as a weapon for self-defense.

He looked around and saw a relatively intact two-story house with its door wide open.

Shen Qiu’s eyes flickered as he held his breath and cautiously approached.

He carefully entered the house, which was filled with furniture lying haphazardly around. Much of it had been severely damaged, with many pieces violently torn apart.

Shen Qiu squinted his eyes, scanning the entire living room for anything valuable.

At that moment, he noticed a pile of books next to a collapsed bookshelf.

Shen Qiu walked over, slowly crouched down, and picked up a book to take a look. However, the text on the book resembled squiggles that he couldn’t understand at all.

He couldn’t make any judgments about what the book was about and couldn’t confirm its value.

After thinking it over several times, he ultimately decided to put the book back down.

He then moved toward the other rooms.

Shen Qiu went to the second floor and entered a bedroom, first scanning for any dead angles and hidden areas.

After confirming that no dangerous enemies were hiding in the corners and that everything was safe, he began to search the bedroom carefully.

He opened the drawer of the nightstand and found a large pile of odd and assorted items.

There were small electronic devices he couldn’t understand, some uniquely styled jewelry, several medicine bottles—some opened and some unopened—and at the very bottom of the drawer, a few moldy socks.

Shen Qiu picked up the small, square electronic device, explored it for a moment, found a few buttons, pressed one, and seeing no reaction, he put it back.

If nothing unexpected had occurred, it should have been out of battery.

As for the medicine bottles, Shen Qiu pondered for a moment and then decided to take a bottle that looked very exquisite and was unopened. It might be useful later on.

Of course, the main reason was that the bottle was small and lightweight, and it didn’t make any noise when shaken.

Keeping it in his pocket wouldn’t cause any issues; otherwise, he would have discarded it without hesitation.

Shen Qiu then rummaged through the closet, pushing aside the piles of clothing.

Searching through each piece of clothing, he surprisingly found quite a few items hidden in the pockets.

Among them were special banknotes and some gold jewelry, which should be the valuable possessions of this household.

Unfortunately, these held no value for Shen Qiu, and he unhesitatingly abandoned them as he left the bedroom to explore other rooms.

What he needed most now was a firearm; without weapons, he would find it extremely difficult to move forward.

After about ten minutes, Shen Qiu stood at the edge of a second-floor window, observing the situation outside.

He felt a bit down; after searching this house for half a day, he hadn’t found anything of value.

Taking a few deep breaths to adjust his mindset, he continued to gaze at the surrounding ruins of the residential area and quickly locked onto the next target for exploration. It was a four-story building that appeared to be quite upscale based on its exterior decoration, and he should be able to find something there.

However, the building was over a hundred meters away from Shen Qiu’s current position, and he needed to make his way over, which would require some effort.

After pondering for a few seconds, Shen Qiu left the house and started to make his way toward the residential building.

One step, two steps, three steps.

Shen Qiu moved like a mouse, carefully and quietly, glancing left and right.

Before long, he was getting closer to the building.

However, just at that moment, as Shen Qiu reached a corner and lifted his foot, he suddenly froze in place.

There, at the corner, lay a strange creature about three meters long, its skin covered in black spots with no hair at all. Its limbs ended in exceptionally sharp claws, and its ugly, chrysanthemum-like mouth gaped open, revealing seven or eight crimson tongues, while its blood-red eyes stared intently at Shen Qiu.

In that instant, Shen Qiu’s mind went blank, and he was filled with fear, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.

In his previous experiences, the fiercest creature he had encountered was a tiger. He had never seen anything like this monster before, and the fear of the unknown instantly jolted his nerves.

Shen Qiu turned and ran, and in an instant, the monster reacted, leaping to its feet and immediately chasing after him.

Compared to the mechanical cleaner, the creature pursuing Shen Qiu had greater explosive power and was much more agile.

In just a few seconds, it had caught up, its chrysanthemum-like mouth opening wide as those slimy, disgusting tongues shot out.

Sensing danger, Shen Qiu abruptly sidestepped and swung the hollow steel pipe he was holding with all his might.

As a result, the tongues that the creature had shot out wrapped around the swinging steel pipe and got pulled into its mouth.

Crack!

The hollow steel pipe snapped into three pieces and was expelled.

Although Shen Qiu had temporarily escaped disaster, it did not change his current dangerous situation.