The gunshots outside the warehouse had echoed sporadically before finally falling silent. But the brief disturbance, like a stone tossed into a calm lake, had shattered the fragile, warm atmosphere they had just built.
Chen Shouzhou's brow furrowed. He knew that the handful of cans and supplies in the warehouse wouldn't last long. Zhao Tie's ambush last night had also served as a wake-up call: the defenses of his "five-star safe house" were no better than paper.
To survive—and to survive well—they had to take the initiative and find more resources.
At dawn, as the first light broke, the stench from the charred corpses outside the warehouse grew more potent. Chen Shouzhou decided they could no longer sit and wait for death.
He pulled a tattered city map from the basement warehouse and spread it on the table. The map was covered in dust and creases, but the text in most areas was still legible. He traced his finger across it, finally stopping on a red circle.
"Hualian Supermarket," he said to Su Wan'er, pointing at the location. "It's about three kilometers from here, a large chain supermarket. It must have been chaos there when the virus broke out, but after all this time, there might still be some treasures left."
Su Wan'er looked at the map and nodded. She understood that living off their current stock was a dead end. She picked up her notepad and wrote: "Dangerous. Supermarkets were crowded areas. There could be many mutants."
"I know," Chen Shouzhou grinned, revealing a set of pearly whites. "But fortune favors the bold, right? Besides, with me, the 'human treasure detector,' we'll target only the good stuff. High efficiency, low risk. Don't worry, I wouldn't let anything happen to my chief medical officer."
His "human treasure detector," of course, was his [Resource Appraisal] skill.
Seeing his confident expression, Su Wan'er eventually agreed. She silently began to organize her first-aid kit. From a pile of discarded medical equipment, she found an empty syringe and fashioned it into a simple sprayer, filling it with high-concentration alcohol for self-defense and disinfection in critical moments.
Meanwhile, Chen Shouzhou clumsily stitched together two simple backpacks from scraps of cloth. He packed their few remaining cans and a flask of water, then tucked his "guardian treasure"—the rusty wrench—into his belt.
"Xiao Hei, guard the house!" he said, patting the black dog's head. Xiao Hei let out an intelligent "woof" and dutifully lay down at the entrance.
Before they left, Chen Shouzhou reminded Su Wan'er, "Stick close to me. Don't wander off, and don't touch anything randomly. Remember, your life is now a precious asset of this safe house. Very valuable."
Su Wan'er rolled her eyes at him but nodded obediently.
One behind the other, they cautiously stepped out of the warehouse and set off on their treasure hunt.
The landscape along the way was deathly still. Abandoned cars lay strewn across the road like rusted iron coffins. The shattered windows of shops were empty. When the wind blew, it rustled newspapers and plastic bags on the ground, creating a soft shh-shh sound like the whisper of death.
After about a kilometer, as they were cutting through an alley, a sudden noise came from behind a dumpster.
They stopped immediately, staring warily.
A burly, disheveled middle-aged man poked his head out from behind the dumpster. He was holding a sharpened steel pipe, his face a mask of caution.
"Easy, friend," Chen Shouzhou immediately raised his hands, putting on what he hoped was a friendly smile. "We're just passing through, looking for some food."
The man sized them up. Seeing one was scrawny and the other a woman, they didn't seem like much of a threat, and he relaxed slightly. He carried a huge canvas bag on his back, clearly another scavenger.
"Where are you headed?" the man asked in a gruff voice.
"Hualian Supermarket," Chen Shouzhou answered honestly. "Heard there's a lot of stuff there."
The man paused, then let out a sneer. "Just the two of you? Going there to die? That place has been picked clean by several groups. All that's left are bone-gnawing zombies."
"That's not necessarily true," Chen Shouzhou said with a mysterious smile. "I'm a lucky guy. I always find things others leave behind. How about this, friend? Let's go to the supermarket together. Strength in numbers. Whatever we find, we split seventy-thirty. You get seventy, I get thirty."
The man, Da Liu, was a seasoned veteran of these ruins, used to working alone. But Chen Shouzhou's offer was tempting. This kid looked a bit goofy, but his eyes held a sharp intelligence. Plus, he had a woman who looked like a doctor with him. Maybe they really had a trick up their sleeve.
"Fifty-fifty," Da Liu said, holding up five thick fingers.
"Deal!" Chen Shouzhou agreed without hesitation.
And so, their two-person team expanded into a temporary three-person alliance.
With the veteran Da Liu leading the way, they bypassed several known danger zones and quickly reached the Hualian Supermarket.
The entrance was a wreck. The glass doors were shattered, and the interior was dim, reeking of decay. Several desiccated zombie corpses lay near the entrance, clear evidence of past battles.
"Split up, move fast," Da Liu whispered, clearly familiar with the place.
"Wait," Chen Shouzhou stopped him. "Trust me. Let's go straight to the storage area on the second floor. Most people can't find it. There might be good stuff there."
He knew this, of course, from the results of a quick scan with his [Resource Appraisal] skill.
Da Liu was skeptical but followed him up to the second floor. Sure enough, the door to the warehouse was blocked by a pile of toppled shelves, making it look as though no one had entered. The three of them worked together to move the shelves and pry open the lock. A warehouse packed with goods was revealed before them.
Da Liu's eyes went wide. This was paradise!
[One full case of compressed biscuits. Condition: Pristine.]
[Ten cases of bottled purified water. Condition: Pristine.]
[One case of medical-grade alcohol. Condition: Sealed and intact.]
…
Using his skill, Chen Shouzhou quickly identified the most valuable supplies, and the three of them began frantically stuffing things into their backpacks.
Just as they were about to leave, fully loaded, a blood-curdling growl echoed from the deep shadows of the shelves.
The sound wasn't like a zombie's; it was more like some kind of beast.
The three of them froze, standing back-to-back, staring warily in the direction of the sound.
An unusually large white pet dog with eerie, glowing red eyes slowly emerged from behind a shelf. Patches of its fur were missing, revealing purplish-blue muscle underneath. Disgusting drool dripped from the corners of its mouth. Even more terrifying, several smaller zombie dogs followed behind it, moving in unison, clearly led by the white one.
"Dammit, it's a mutant dog!" Da Liu's face turned pale, sweat beading on his forehead. "These things are much tougher than zombies!"
Is its name Bai Bai (Whitey)? The random thought popped into Chen Shouzhou's head, and he immediately wanted to slap himself for his own stupidity. Ugh, is this really the time to be thinking about that?!
The mutant dog, which he had mentally dubbed "Bai Bai," seemed more interested in the food in their backpacks. It let out a low growl and lunged at Da Liu, who was closest.
Da Liu, an experienced fighter, immediately raised his steel pipe spear to block. But the mutant's strength and speed were far beyond his imagination. With a crack, the pipe was bitten and bent. Bai Bai's sharp claws raked across Da Liu's shoulder, leaving several gashes deep enough to show bone.
"Argh!" Da Liu cried out in pain, stumbling backward.
"Run!" Chen Shouzhou made a split-second decision. He pulled a can from his pack and hurled it at the mutant dog. It wasn't a weapon, but a jar of chili sauce he'd found earlier. The jar shattered, splashing spicy sauce all over Bai Bai's face.
The dog yelped in pain and fury, temporarily halting its attack.
Chen Shouzhou seized the precious moment, grabbing the stunned Su Wan'er and dashing towards the checkout counters, yelling to Da Liu, "This way!"
However, the smaller zombie dogs had already flanked them, cutting off Da Liu's escape route.
Chen Shouzhou and Su Wan'er took cover behind a sturdy checkout counter, temporarily safe. He peeked out and saw Da Liu surrounded by the pack of zombie dogs, new wounds appearing on his body as his blood stained the floor.
"Dammit!" Chen Shouhou punched the ground. He wasn't a saint, but he couldn't just watch a companion he'd just fought alongside be torn to shreds.
Thinking fast, he grabbed the wrench from his belt and started banging it against a metal shelf.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The piercing noise immediately drew the attention of the pack. They all turned to look at the source of the sound—at Chen Shouzhou.
"Da Liu! Run!" Chen Shouzhou roared with all his might.
While the dogs were distracted, Da Liu fought his way out of the encirclement, scrambling and crawling toward the warehouse exit.
Enraged by Chen Shouzhou's provocation, Bai Bai abandoned its pursuit of Da Liu. Instead, it led the pack in a snarling charge towards the checkout counter.
The sturdy counter began to shake violently under their assault. Chen Shouzhou knew it wouldn't hold for long.
"Dr. Su, hold on tight!" he growled. He shoved one side of the counter open, pulling Su Wan'er through the gap on the other side and sprinting for the supermarket's main entrance.
Finally, they escaped the supermarket, battered but alive. Looking back, they could still hear the furious roars of the mutant dog from within.
Not far from the supermarket, they found Da Liu, barely alive. He had lost too much blood, and the wound on his shoulder had already turned black, a clear sign of infection.
"I'm not… going to make it…" Da Liu pulled a blood-soaked notebook from his pocket and thrust it into Chen Shouzhou's hands. "In here… information about the nearby… black market… and a guy… named Old Scar… how to trade… help me… live on…"
Before he could finish, his head slumped to the side, and he was gone.
Chen Shouzhou stared silently at the notebook in his hands, his heart heavy.
The system's voice chose this inopportune moment to chime in: [Mission Complete: First expedition successful, resources acquired. Reward: 'Basic Defenses' crafting unlocked.]
He looked up. In the distance, a few ordinary zombies, drawn by the smell of blood, were shambling towards them.
Chen Shouzhou took a deep breath, tucked the notebook into his coat, and grabbed Su Wan'er's hand, his eyes filled with a new, steely resolve.
"Let's go. We're going home. Tonight, we're installing a real 'security door' on this house."