Chapter 19: Acquaintances

"Police?" Fang Chong hesitated for a moment. Since the outbreak of the apocalypse, he seemed to have forgotten about the concept of police. Perhaps it was due to having the Maya system? Indeed, he had overlooked the police, the guardians of the public, during this time.

But as he thought about the Maya system, Fang Chong shook his head. The virus didn't discriminate; it wouldn't spare the police. Counting on the police to come and rescue? They might be struggling to save themselves.

"It's not the police who came. How could you end up here?" Seeing Fang Chong's expression, Song Ming realized there was a discrepancy between reality and his imagination. But how did Fang Chong end up here? That question lingered in his mind.

Knowing Fang Chong for quite some time, Song Ming remembered him as a typical otaku who rarely left home unless necessary.

"Too much to explain. The world has changed. Have you eaten anything in the past few days? Let's get out of here quickly." Fang Chong summed it up briefly. He had a decent impression of Song Ming, who appeared honest and could potentially become a reliable companion in this new world.

Though Fang Chong doesn't have much ambition, in the apocalypse, having someone trustworthy increases the hope for survival. Besides, Song Ming, being an ex-soldier and young with certain skills, shouldn't burden Fang Chong too much.

"Alright." Fang Chong, previously silent, now felt a wave of hunger talking about it. He nodded and proceeded, with Song Ming following him down.

"All the monsters are dead." Walking from the manager's office to the staircase, Song Ming, shocked by the scattered body remnants, was thankful for his empty stomach, fearing he would have vomited if not for days of hunger.

"Did you hear the commotion just now?" observing Song Ming's changing expression, Fang Chong gently shook his head. Given the circumstances, Song Ming's reaction was considered good.

"Yes, or else I would have opened the door when you knocked." Seeing Fang Chong's calm demeanor, Song Ming, with a hint of surprise in his eyes, asked, "Did you do all this?"

"It wasn't me who killed them; it was a mutated lizard." Fang Chong knew Song Ming's guess was influenced by the knife he tightly held.

"A lizard? Impossible! How could our manager's pet lizard possibly bite and kill so many monsters?" Song Ming, hearing about the lizard, immediately thought of the one kept in the manager's office. However, it had escaped when he sought refuge in there.

"You'll understand when you see its body later." Fang Chong wasn't surprised by Song Ming's reaction. Those who hadn't encountered mutated creatures wouldn't grasp their horror.

Soon, the two reached the fourth floor, and the mutated lizard's body lay ahead of Fang Chong and Song Ming.

"What kind of monster is this?" Song Ming, faced with the gruesome corpse, wore a look of astonishment.

"It's the mutated lizard I mentioned, though I've removed its scales." Fang Chong calmly explained.

"What?" Song Ming's eyes widened in disbelief.

"In this world, you can't judge things based on what you've learned before." Fang Chong lightly patted Song Ming's shoulder and, reaching the corner of the stairs, took an axe from the fire extinguisher box, handing it to Song Ming. "Be careful; danger is everywhere."

"Did you kill this monster?" Song Ming took the axe, his nerves still processing the situation.

"Yeah." Fang Chong had no intention of denying it in front of Song Ming. They had known each other for a while, and Fang Chong understood Song Ming's character—a straightforward guy.

"Help me carry the scales." While Song Ming was still in a daze, Fang Chong went to the fourth floor, brought the cleaned and dried scales, handed them to Song Ming, and went back in.

The fourth floor was a clothing store, and Fang Chong quickly found what he needed—strong silk threads to sew the mutated lizard's scales.

"Alright." Song Ming, who had already started suspecting that Fang Chong was not ordinary, now fully believed his words, carrying the scales, they descended the stairs.

...

"How about some food first?" After moving everything to the warehouse on the second floor, Fang Chong and Song Ming decided it was time for dinner.

Perhaps it's due to the disgust from what you saw earlier? Despite not eating much in the past four days, Song Ming still had no appetite for cookies and such. Only after Fang Chong's persuasion did he reluctantly drink a bottle of milk.

"Fang Chong, what has this world turned into?" Song Ming, watching Fang Chong devour cookies and bread, leaned against a bag of rice in the warehouse and asked.

"Zombies are rampant, and monsters are constantly emerging." Fang Chong, after taking a sip of water and feeling reasonably full, finally answered.

"Zombies?" Song Ming looked puzzled.

"Those walking dead." Fang Chong felt the need to explain thoroughly to Song Ming what the world had become.

"Did you kill all the zombies in these floors?" After hearing Fang Chong's description, Song Ming's eyes were full of astonishment, mixed with a lingering sense of despair.

"Yeah, to survive, it's either they die, or we perish." Fang Chong played with the knife in his hand; he had detached the mutated lizard's tail upon entering the warehouse.

"Starting tomorrow, you need to learn how to kill zombies too. Survival is about who's tougher." Seeing the changing expressions in Song Ming's eyes, Fang Chong knew he had to quickly get Song Ming to adapt. Having military experience, Song Ming's combat skills and physical fitness surpassed ordinary people. With his strong physique, he shouldn't be far behind Fang Chong. Caution was necessary, but safety wasn't a major concern, especially with Fang Chong's presence.

"Yeah." Song Ming saw the confidence in Fang Chong's eyes. With Fang Chong, who could kill zombies at his height of 1.7 meters, he felt even more secure being a strong guy at 1.8 meters.

"Then rest early; we can't leave this small warehouse at night." Fang Chong felt reassured about Song Ming now. Holding his knife, he walked towards a corner to sleep, accustomed to sleeping with the knife in hand.

"Okay." Understanding the reasons Fang Chong mentioned earlier, Song Ming knew he shouldn't go out at night.

Occasional roars from outside made his heart tremble, but after several days of not resting properly, he quickly fell into a deep sleep.

...........

"Maya System welcomes the host." Fang Chong leaned against the rice bag, pretending to fall asleep quickly. In reality, his consciousness had already entered the internal workings of the Maya System.

PS: please collect it, thank you!