Chapter 54: 054 A Shot With a Raise of the Hand
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Bang!
Chen Xu’s hand never left the gun. When he discovered a green-skinned monster standing behind him, he was startled, raising his hand and firing a shot.
A burst of green blood splashed from the monster’s forehead.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!…
He continuously pulled the trigger until the bullets were empty, resulting in the faint sound of the pin striking nothing.
...
“Hu—hu—hu—”
His chest rose and fell violently. He looked at the monster, lying on the ground with its head nearly deformed, light green liquid gushing from the wound. Clearly, it was dead beyond revival.
“Shit, scared me to death.”
He said, gradually relaxing. Even his right hand was still trembling; he struggled to change the magazine.
He had never thought that he would perform so poorly when facing danger.
Moments ago, his mind went completely blank. Firing the gun was purely an instinctive reaction.
Fortunately, he had trained his shooting skills well, instinctively aiming at the head; otherwise, given the creature’s size, hitting the body might not have been fatal.
“Isn’t it just a green-skinned gorilla? What’s there to be afraid of?”
He felt a bit ashamed of his previous performance, shaking his still-trembling right hand in frustration.
The creature’s body shape and walking posture were somewhat gorilla-like, but its face was uglier, and its teeth looked much fiercer.
“Must leave here quickly. The gunshots just now likely attracted other monsters.”
He finally managed to reload his handgun. Without daring to stay any longer, he quickly searched the area and found the supplies he had exchanged before coming here.
Then, he looked at several large barrels of water, feeling troubled. Bullets, medicine, and compressed food were manageable due to their small size and could barely fit into a large backpack.
But the water was impossible. There were a thousand liters, packed in ten one-hundred-liter barrels, requiring at least a van to transport.
“Leave it here for now.”
Chen Xu didn’t hesitate long, gritting his teeth and taking whatever he could carry before leaving.
Wearing a half mechanical exoskeleton arm, his balance was slightly off, making him walk awkwardly. But at this point, he couldn’t afford to worry.
He didn’t go far, heading straight for the nearest surviving building with more than a dozen floors.
Those gunshots might have attracted not only monsters but also that woman. So he couldn’t go too far and risk missing her.
“Must find that woman before dark, then find a place to settle.”
He felt an urgency.
Unlike the last dream, this place had monsters, making it far more dangerous. That woman couldn’t exchange weapons to bring here either. Unarmed, she’d be dead if she encountered green-skinned gorillas.
If the companion he selected on the first day died, it would be extremely unfortunate.
Soon, he entered the building and started climbing the stairs.
He didn’t dare move too quickly, constantly observing the surroundings to ensure his own safety.
The building’s structure was mostly intact, though the walls were severely damaged. He couldn’t imagine what had happened here.
After about ten minutes, he reached the rooftop.
Confirming no potential danger on the rooftop, he holstered his handgun, switched to a rifle, and moved to the edge to look outwards.
“Nothing?”
He circled the rooftop, checking in all four directions, but found nothing, neither people nor monsters.
“Could she be hiding?”
He frowned. This was the tallest building nearby, offering an unobstructed view of the ground below.
However, there were still some low-level buildings below. It was highly possible she was hiding.
“Logically, she should be nearby.”
He thought, otherwise, the feature to bring a companion wouldn’t make sense.
Too far apart, how could they meet?
So, he was confident that the woman was in the vicinity.
“Was she scared by the gunshots?”
He realized the issue was convincing her he meant no harm after finding her.
Bringing in a stranger was troublesome too. Anyone suddenly thrown into a dangerous place would be wary of a stranger.
He sighed. Things truly weren’t perfectly balanced.
Bringing in someone he knew would make contact easier, but what if they developed feelings in the dream world? It’d be hard to deal with upon waking.
But with a stranger, contacting them was difficult.
Forget it, he’d see how things went.
He had never thought about bringing a male friend. Who’d want to spend half a year in a dream with a same-sex friend?
That would be too weird.
He thought for a moment and moved to the direction where he had first appeared, standing guard in what was likely her hiding area.
Now he needed to confirm where she was hiding.
…
Chen Xu set his exoskeletal arm to rest mode, conserving energy and saving effort.
Gazing at the ruins before him, a wave of melancholy filled his heart.
He couldn’t help recalling the last dream, when a twenty-day continuous rain submerged half the city, leaving him with a similar feeling.
As a member of humanity, watching modern civilization be destroyed was an indescribable sensation.
“Such a pity, all those money-making ideas I prepared are useless.”
He sighed regretfully.
After waking from the first dream, he went to a frequently visited forum to ask how to make money in similar situations.
It was there, for the first time, he learned about “Scratch-offs.”
Upon learning it was an official lottery issued by the state, he was pounding his chest over the missed opportunity.
If he had known earlier, he’d have already made a fortune. Buying a house or car was uncertain, but settling his family’s debts would’ve been easy.
Having missed that opportunity, he came fully prepared this time, determined to raid every lottery station if it were like the first dream.
Instead, he arrived at a damn wasteland.
And from various signs, it was likely not even Earth.
All those money-making plans were naturally thwarted.
Suddenly, he heard sounds from the stairway. His nerves tensed up, and he raised his weapon.
A green figure emerged from the stairs. Almost reflexively, he was about to pull the trigger. In the next instant, he finally saw it clearly, his pupils contracting.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out, and the green shadow fell.
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