Chapter 141: The City Ruins Amidst the Sandstorm

Zhou Shu was utterly exasperated. A massive sandstorm filled the sky, reducing visibility to a miserable degree.

To keep the blowing sand out of his eyes, he had to squint, peering through the narrow slits of his eyelashes.

This seemed to be a highway, though he could not actually see the road itself; he only guessed it was one because of the skeletal remains of several cars scattered about.

There was no decent shelter from the fierce gale and sand, so he simply found a windbreak formed by two rocks, dragged a car carcass over to block the opening, and reduced the biting force of the wind just a little.

Then, he closed his eyes.

At the same time, his query was answered by the Hunter.

Hunter: [Please refrain from cursing just yet. This virtual battlefield is guaranteed to satisfy you.]

As Zhou Shu’s attributes grew steadily higher, the Hunter system had also become increasingly responsive and intelligent.

Ever since Zhou Shu’s storage of source energy broke through the 100-unit mark, the Hunter had even prompted him to use 50 units of source energy to perform a comprehensive maintenance and upgrade of the system.

This maintenance eliminated the hidden danger of the Hunter crashing at any moment. After all, as a dilapidated system, it was a miracle that it ran at all; longevity was simply out of the question.

Previously, the Hunter would never have dared to make such a suggestion because Zhou Shu could never accumulate 50 units of energy in the first place, let alone afford to spend it.

Crash or no crash, they had just made do with it.

It would run until it broke down completely.

This time, however, Zhou Shu had suddenly acquired hundreds of units of energy. Seizing the moment while Zhou Shu was in high spirits, the Hunter had ventured the suggestion.

In truth, it was a very practical issue, so Zhou Shu had agreed immediately.

As for the upgrade, Zhou Shu agreed to it as well after receiving a detailed explanation.

The Hunter had been observing a new civilization for a long time, recording massive amounts of data and materials. Due to Zhou Shu’s unique nature, an "upgrade option" that should never have existed had somehow manifested.

When Zhou Shu heard that the Hunter might evolve into something akin to the core intelligence of the Super Soldier Headquarters, he grew extremely interested. Furthermore, since he was currently "not short on cash," he readily gave his consent.

He never expected that the upgrade would result in this.

However, upon hearing the Hunter's explanation, a thoughtful expression crossed his face: "What do you mean by that?"

There was no point in opening his mouth to speak out loud right now; asking directly in his mind was far better. After all, the air was choked with dust and sand; opening his mouth meant eating a mouthful of dirt.

Hunter: [Because the high-tier scientific technologies and attribute combat enhancement plans you desire are all present within this virtual battlefield, ranging seamlessly from low to high tiers. Although the environment here is somewhat desolate, it is guaranteed not to cause your instant death upon entry.]

Zhou Shu did not care about the latter part of the statement. He had long lost count of how many times he had died in the virtual battlefield; virtual death was nothing to make a fuss about.

The preceding information was entirely different—that was what truly mattered to him.

"I won't need to go to headquarters to break through my attribute limits? I can do it right here?" Zhou Shu asked with pleasant surprise.

[Yes. Through data analysis, 8.99 is not your attribute ceiling; it is simply that your current attributes are already so high that ordinary exercise is no longer sufficient to increase them. Fortunately, you previously had me analyze many ancient cultivation scriptures. Through calculations, these will serve as the new growth scheme for your attributes and combat power. Within this virtual battlefield, you will obtain the upgrade plan.]

Good grief, this virtual battlefield was that overpowered?

Since it was related to ancient cultivation scriptures, could this virtual battlefield have been created using a Xianxia film as its blueprint?

No wonder creating this virtual world required 20 units of source energy; it had been invested right here.

He was intensely curious: what exactly was the blueprint?

Yet this time, the Hunter deliberately kept him in suspense, telling Zhou Shu to guess for himself, repeating only: [Guaranteed to satisfy you.]

Heh, things really are different after an upgrade.

*You always manage to pull some new tricks out of your sleeve.jpg*

Since this world was related to ancient cultivation scriptures, yet there were automobiles present here, it definitely was not a traditional Xianxia world.

Could it be that he had watched modern or doomsday-themed immortal cultivation movies and television dramas?

Or was it based on some specific work he had watched before?

It was hard to guess. He would just have to walk around and see for himself. With that thought, he began to check his attribute panel.

If this world was going to allow him to continue increasing his attributes and combat power, there would undoubtedly be high-tier combat forces present, so he had to carefully inspect his survival safeguards.

[Hunter System (Simulated State)]

[User: Zhou Shu (Recruit)]

[Spirit: 9.27 (Limit)]

[Strength: 8.99 (Limit)]

[Agility: 8.99 (Limit)]

[Endurance: 8.99 (Limit)]

[Constitution: 8.99 (Limit)]

[Special Abilities: Bullet Time, Anomaly Sensing, Psychokinesis (Powerful 34%)]

[Weapon Application: Firearms Mastery (Proficient 66%), Powered Exoskeleton Operation (Proficient 45%)]

[Auxiliary Equipment: One Set of Elite Powered Exoskeleton Armor (Good Condition)]

[Source Essence: 298.62]

His spiritual attribute remained monstrous. Perhaps due to the gift from another world, his spiritual attribute had never stopped growing, though as his overall strength grew stronger, the rate of increase had slowed down.

Of course, it was also possible that the tier of the virtual battlefield could no longer keep pace with his level.

His most formidable and convenient long-range attack method right now was psychokinesis. After reaching the "Powerful" tier, his psychokinetic thrust had entered the "ton" bracket.

For every 10% increase within the Powerful tier, his psychokinetic thrust increased by 1 ton, bringing his current psychokinetic thrust to 3.4 tons.

This level of thrust was quite formidable, allowing him to fly faster and even perform aerial maneuvers.

To put it simply, his current flight speed had reached 700 kilometers per hour, comparable to a P-51 Mustang fighter plane.

As for aerial combat capabilities, he could carry a large bag of steel balls. Having already learned how to generate a magnetic field, he could entirely utilize them as an "electromagnetic rifle."

However, his life-magnetic field was not an active ability, but rather something that manifested automatically once his attributes reached a certain threshold. Therefore, its force was not extremely high—not quite matching the heavy machine guns of a P-51.

Naturally, its other functional uses were numerous and potent.

After all, psychokinesis could not roast food for him, but with the life-magnetic field, he could drink hot water and eat warm food no matter where he went—a matter of great importance for a native of Da Qin.

After reviewing his attributes, Zhou Shu felt that although the sandstorm outside had not completely dissipated, it had diminished significantly. He shook his limbs and opened his eyes.

The sandstorm had nearly vanished, and his field of vision finally expanded.

With a few quick bounds, he leaped onto a nearby rocky hill to survey the surroundings, discovering that this place was entirely a no-man's-land. Aside from sparse rock formations, there were vast stretches of wasteland, and the highway he had found simply cut straight through this uninhabited expanse.

Once the wind and sand died down even further, he shot straight up into the air, instantly elevating his perspective.

Flying in the sky allowed him to see much farther, but once he looked out into the distance, he realized there was no way he would make any substantial progress in the first few days, because this place might be an extraordinarily massive no-man's-land.

Even after flying up high, he could not spot a single building.

No wonder the Hunter had said he wouldn't die here—there was simply nothing here at all!

If an ordinary person were dropped here, they would probably fall into despair. Fortunately, he could fly, and his flight speed was not slow, allowing him to cover ground rapidly.

As long as he committed to a single direction, he would eventually find traces of human habitation.

Yet he still underestimated this place; a no-man's-land was quite dangerous in its own right.

The scarcity of food and water was one major hazard.

As someone with extremely formidable physical attributes, he could endure a long time without eating or drinking, but that was achieved by burning his own bodily reserves. If he truly went without energy replenishment for too long, he would become extremely weak—even a minor stumble could kill him.

In the real world, he could brute-force his way through using source energy, but this was a virtual battlefield meant for training, so source energy could not be utilized.

Another hazard was the sandstorm. The most absurd thing about this place was not that sandstorms struck several times a day, but that a single sandstorm would rage for days on end.

Whenever a sandstorm struck, his travel speed was severely hampered.

The sandstorms in this virtual battlefield were utterly ridiculous. Not only did they last for a long time, but their altitude was also absurd; Zhou Shu could fly several thousand meters into the sky and still fail to escape them.

Consequently, whenever a sandstorm blew up, Zhou Shu had no choice but to land.

As a result, after nearly a full week, he had barely managed to fly fifteen hundred kilometers!

Normally, this should have been a flight distance of two hours—or at most, half a day.

Because his current attributes could only sustain two hours of continuous flight, he had to land and rest after flying for two hours straight. During the rest period, he could walk forward or handle other minor tasks, but he could no longer maintain rapid travel or engage in full-intensity combat.

Flying more slowly was an option, but the baseline mileage wouldn't change much. It was far better to fly at top speed, land, walk on foot to "rest" for a few hours, and then take off again.

However, there were simply too many sandstorms here. Over the course of a week, he had only accumulated a little over two hours of actual flight time, while the rest of the time was spent in forced recuperation.

Though this span of over fifteen hundred kilometers was completely devoid of human presence, it had allowed him to discover quite a few things.

Violent tectonic movements must have occurred here, as he had witnessed numerous massive fissures and suddenly uplifted tracts of ground.

Furthermore, judging by the skeletal remains of abandoned vehicles along certain road sections, this situation had persisted for a very long time—spanning at least several decades.

Over such a lengthy period, seeing no new cars or wreckage clearly indicated that this world had practically crashed, existing in a fundamental state of doomsday. Even if any survivors remained, they likely lacked the means for long-distance travel, which explained why he had not encountered a single living soul.

Yet after a week had passed, he finally caught a glimpse of dawn: while flying in the sky, he spotted urban ruins.

A fierce sandstorm was currently raging outside, but at least he could land and find a building to shelter inside.

This location was on the outskirts of the city, resembling a settlement or village. The time of abandonment appeared even longer than that of the vehicle wreckage he had seen previously—at least a century old.

Perhaps it was a village left behind after a planned relocation, rather than one abandoned in a panicked flight, because the houses were completely stripped of furniture, leaving only bare concrete skeletons.

Having gone without food or drink for a full week, he still found nothing edible or potable here.

In truth, that was not much of an issue. Thanks to his intermittent flight times being relatively short and his energy consumption not being excessively high, he could still endure it.

It was just that "battling" the sandstorm every day—effectively fighting nature and losing—made him feel somewhat frustrated.

Moreover, for seven consecutive days, let alone living people, he hadn't seen a single living creature.

The trees he encountered were all dead and withered, and the withered grass had long been blown away entirely or buried beneath the sand.

Zhou Shu stayed in this village for a few minutes. Realizing that a city lay right next door, where food and perhaps even living people might be found, he could no longer hold back.

Today, he had to reach those urban ruins. One way or another, he had to find either food or a living person! Kk

Disregarding the sandstorm entirely, he immediately set off in the direction of the city ruins.

Lacking wind-proof goggles, he could not keep his eyes open to watch the road, but three of his abilities allowed him to perceive the general terrain dozens of meters ahead: the minimap scanning, psychokinesis, and the life-magnetic field. Among them, the minimap consumed the least energy.

In reality, the magnetic field effect was the most suitable choice because it came naturally with his increased attributes and essentially consumed zero energy. However, the magnetic field here was deeply abnormal and exerted a heavy disruptive influence on his life-magnetic field, so he rarely expanded it outward, keeping it at most as a protective barrier immediately surrounding his body.

Depending solely on the minimap's scanning function, which consumed a tiny fraction of his mental energy, he set off into the sandstorm with his eyes closed.

As he drew closer to the city, the various outlines displayed on his minimap grew increasingly rich and detailed.

An increasing abundance of vehicle and building wreckage was nothing new, but he also began to encounter large numbers of human skeletal remains.

This deepened his profound understanding of this new virtual battlefield.

"The virtual battlefield created by the Hunter definitely contains monsters. If this world's doomsday wasn't caused by natural disasters, just how powerful must those monsters be?"

Musing over this question, he gradually walked into the urban area.

The urban district was not merely a landscape of architectural ruins; the terrain deformation was also remarkably exaggerated, with sections either sunken or violently uplifted.

Aside from these, several strange statues also piqued his curiosity.

They were all humanoid statues, and their numbers were absurdly high, making him wonder if he had somehow wandered into a statue square or an art exhibition zone.

Yet the next moment, something felt amiss, so he reluctantly pried his eyes open by a sliver to take a look.

He was shocked when he saw those statues, because he sensed that they were not statues at all—they had been transformed... from actual human beings.

"Humans turned into stone?!"

"Is the monster in this world Medusa?"

Surely it couldn't be that absurd?

He did not recall ever watching any film or television works with a worldview like this.

No, wait, he seemed to recall one—an animated series where the people in it turned into stone sculptures.

That anime seemed to be called *Dr. Stone* or something similar.

However, the world background of *Dr. Stone* shouldn't be like this, right? He remembered that plenty of trees could be seen there, and that world didn't have monsters either.

Suddenly, the sandstorm subsided significantly, and Zhou Shu's field of vision cleared instantly. He saw even more "human statues," along with even more dilapidated urban ruins.

And... the sound of human speech!

Without the interference of howling winds and the "rustle" of friction from blowing sand, Zhou Shu's acute hearing immediately captured the faint sound of human voices.

Whether it was because he hadn't seen humans for too long and was suffering from auditory hallucinations, the moment he heard human voices, his body reacted a step faster than his brain, surging forward.

His body was thoroughly honest; his explosive start directly caved in the ground beneath his feet, driving his speed to its absolute limit.

Before long, he caught sight of "new cars" and a large group of people dressed in black!

Along with the wreckage of a massive flying vessel that had crashed directly into the city.

And clearer snatches of conversation:

"Hurry, hurry, hurry! Load all the supplies onto the vehicles!"

"The sandstorm has abated; stop hiding and get moving!"

"This is only an intermittent lull in the sandstorm. A bigger one will hit shortly, move faster!"

"These items are too heavy! We don't have enough manpower, we can't carry this much!"

"You guys over there, go help them carry the supplies!"

"We are Uppers! Why should we still do coolie work if we have Dust people around?"