Night of the Apocalypse

Inside the red coffin, Shen Qiu listened to the sounds from the outside for a while. Not hearing anything approaching, he let out a sigh of relief and spoke in a low voice.

“I have a question. The kerosene street lamps and the lamps in the room are both lit, which clearly means that these monsters are maintaining them. Do you think these monsters might still retain some awareness?”

“I’m not too sure about that either. They might retain some consciousness, or they could simply be holding onto certain habits from their past lives. After all, every time I’ve encountered them, it’s usually been a fight to the death with no communication.”

Yun Xiaoxi thought for a moment but couldn’t clarify further.

“Ugh, what kind of place is this?”

Shen Qiu expressed his deep feelings.

“The information we have is very limited, but based on the current situation, we can still make some judgments. This city is constantly shrouded in a very pungent industrial waste gas, which indicates that it is not a purely primitive civilization. However, judging from the architectural style and the related facilities, the technological civilization doesn’t seem very advanced; it might even be a bit skewed.”

“That makes sense. How do you think the indigenous people here ended up looking like this?”

“I’m not sure what exactly happened to them, but judging from the age of their clothing, the mutation of the indigenous people in this world should not have happened more than twenty years ago.”

“Yeah.”

Shen Qiu quickly thought about this in his mind. The time of the fall for this world was somewhat similar to that of the mechanical ruins city he had previously experienced.

Was this a coincidence, or was there some connection?

“Mr. Shen Qiu, are you tired?”

Yun Xiaoxi then asked.

“Tired? Of course I am. Just look at what I’m wearing, and you’ll know I was forced into this overlap. It’s ridiculous; I just got pulled in without warning.”

Shen Qiu also felt a bit helpless.

“We can take advantage of hiding in the red coffin and get a good sleep. If nothing unexpected happens, it should still be relatively safe here,” Yun Xiaoxi suggested.

“Alright, then let’s hurry up and sleep for a bit.”

Upon hearing this, Shen Qiu agreed.

To be honest, he had just been discharged from the hospital, and his body hadn’t fully recovered yet. Now he had also been up all night.

“Okay, good night.”

Yun Xiaoxi said softly and then closed her eyes.

A few minutes later, before Shen Qiu could fall asleep, he heard Yun Xiaoxi’s breathing becoming slightly heavier.

Shen Qiu had a strange expression as he looked at Yun Xiaoxi, who was wearing a fox mask, not knowing how to describe her. He even felt a bit curious about wanting to take off her mask and see what was underneath.

However, after thinking about it, he realized that it would be very impolite to just take someone’s mask off without permission.

After confirming that there was no danger, Shen Qiu slowly closed his eyes.

He didn’t know how long had passed, but the gray foggy city gradually began to brighten.

Although the sunlight couldn’t penetrate the gray mist, daytime had finally arrived.

Shen Qiu woke up in a daze, and when he opened his eyes, he was greeted by the sight of Yun Xiaoxi looking at him with blinking eyes.

He was slightly taken aback and then asked, “Is it noon already?”

“Not yet, the bell hasn’t rung. Let’s wait a bit longer,” Yun Xiaoxi replied softly.

Shen Qiu patiently waited quietly, but after lying on his side for a long time, he felt his body stiffening.

Although he felt stiff, Shen Qiu still endured and refrained from moving.

Time continued to pass.

Finally, the muffled sound of the bell rang out again, and both Shen Qiu and Yun Xiaoxi, hiding inside the red coffin, could clearly hear it.

“The bell has rung!”

Shen Qiu let out a long breath.

“Let’s wait a moment until those monsters have mostly returned before we come out,” Yun Xiaoxi said cautiously.

“Okay!”

Shen Qiu felt that what Yun Xiaoxi said made a lot of sense, so he agreed.

After about ten minutes, Yun Xiaoxi saw that it was about time, so she gently pushed open the red coffin and climbed out.

Shen Qiu followed suit, climbing out of the red coffin as well.

“Ah!”

Yun Xiaoxi suddenly let out a scream, as if she had been startled.

Shen Qiu’s heart also tightened instinctively, and he immediately drew his mechanical knife, scanning the surroundings.

However, everything in the room appeared normal, and besides the corpse on the floor, there was nothing unusual.

Feeling very puzzled, Shen Qiu asked, “What’s wrong?”

“You… you’re not wearing any NK?”

Yun Xiaoxi’s neck turned red as she said in a flustered manner.

Shen Qiu looked down and immediately realized what happened. When he climbed out earlier, his movements were too large, and he had run out without it.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I really am sorry!”

“It’s fine.”

Yun Xiaoxi turned her head and replied awkwardly.

“I’ll hang up my clothes.”

Shen Qiu pulled out a complete set of combat gear that he had stuffed into his backpack and draped it over the coffin.

He then took out two packs of compressed biscuits from his backpack, handing one to Yun Xiaoxi.

“Here you go.”

“Thank you!”

Yun Xiaoxi accepted it gratefully.

“It’s nothing. Let’s stay here a bit longer. It’s still early before dark, and going out too soon makes it easy to get targeted.”

Shen Qiu walked over to the window and took a quick peek outside.

The street outside had returned to calm, with most of the monsters going back to their buildings.

“Okay.”

Yun Xiaoxi nodded in response.

As dusk approached, Shen Qiu and Yun Xiaoxi navigated through the narrow alleys.

Shen Qiu asked Yun Xiaoxi, “Can’t you find some more help?”

“No way. The overlapping worlds are random. Right now, we can’t figure out the rules, so we can’t bring anyone in. If I go out, I won’t be able to come back in next time.”

“How did those people from the Gray Alliance come in together?”

“They probably came in as a group from a certain area. If they are holding hands, there’s almost a hundred percent chance they overlapped in the same zone. And overlapping events happen every night.”

Yun Xiaoxi briefly explained the situation to Shen Qiu.

“Hmm, I understand.”

After hearing Yun Xiaoxi’s words, Shen Qiu thought for a moment and realized it was quite similar to his own speculation.

As they continued walking, Yun Xiaoxi suddenly stopped at the exit of the alley.

Shen Qiu almost bumped into her and then asked in confusion, “What’s wrong?”

Yun Xiaoxi happily extended her hand and pointed ahead.

“Great! There’s an overlap ahead; it’s the exit!”

“Seriously? Is our luck this good?”

Shen Qiu was somewhat astonished. He looked ahead and indeed saw shadows overlapping across the street as they exited the alley.

“Quick, let’s go!”

Yun Xiaoxi urged Shen Qiu.

“Aren’t you coming?”

Shen Qiu looked at Yun Xiaoxi, somewhat moved. He hadn’t expected her to stay true to her words! Even when facing the exit, she showed no hesitation or doubt.

“No, I’m not going. Some things still need to be done, goodbye!”

Yun Xiaoxi said as she waved goodbye to Shen Qiu and turned to leave.

“Wait.”

Shen Qiu felt a bit reluctant seeing Yun Xiaoxi about to leave, so he called out to her.

“What is it? Is there something else?”

Yun Xiaoxi stopped and looked at Shen Qiu in confusion.