This is not a fantasy or Wuxia novel; this is pure science fiction, built solely on technology. Today’s recommendation votes were significantly lower than yesterday’s, which left me feeling quite down.

I worked on the outline all morning, and my update in the afternoon was delayed by two hours; I’ll make up for it with three updates tomorrow! If you have any recommendation votes, please cast one and give me some motivation.

…… A derelict area on the outskirts of Beijing City. Roar!

A mutated rat burst out from a narrow alley. "We’re finished..." Luo Yan stood at the mouth of the alley, watching the lightning-fast mutated rat, a wave of despair washing over him.

He closed his eyes, bracing himself to meet death. Just then— Bang!

A gunshot cracked through the silence of the towering buildings, piercing and exceptionally loud. Luo Yan snapped his eyes open in shock, immediately seeing the vicious mutated rat collapse onto the ground, its head blown apart.

It twitched slightly, clearly beyond saving. In the distance, the sound of footsteps approached.

Luo Yan turned his head in astonishment and saw a group of people slowly walking down the distant street—six in total. Leading them was a black-haired youth with a high nose bridge, eyebrows sharp as blades, and intensely deep eyes.

A silver earring adorned his left ear as he advanced with chilling indifference. The people behind him carried expressions of ease.

One man, utterly emotionless, casually held a cigarette in his mouth. Another, rather handsome, walked with his hands clasped behind his head, moving lazily.

A third was an exceptionally beautiful girl, laughing and chatting with a young man as they walked. Luo Yan was momentarily stunned.

Damn it! This was the street!

Zombies and monsters were everywhere, yet they walked so openly, so brazenly! It was then that Luo Yan keenly noticed that every single person in the group was carrying a silver handgun.

The lines were elegant, the design striking; the barrel was about the length of an infant’s arm, with metal wings sprouting from both sides, which, when extended, resembled a crossbow—incredibly cool. "Six people, and every one has a pistol!" Luo Yan gasped, then a wave of elation hit him.

He quickly dragged his weary body over to the six figures, stealing a glance at those stylish pistols. A flicker of greed appeared in his eyes, but it vanished just as quickly.

He bowed respectfully: "Thank you all for saving me. My name is Luo Yan, and I am eternally grateful." Ye Chen glanced at the man, nodded, and said nothing more, continuing forward.

Since leaving the Runic Civilization, the group of six had been tracking their way toward Beijing, killing numerous monsters along the route and rescuing quite a few people. Their main purpose for coming to Beijing was to enter the Base City and settle his sister down.

If he remembered correctly, in the later stages, this Base City in Beijing would become one of the most powerful on Earth; it certainly wouldn't collapse in the early days, so residing within its walls would be extremely safe. Furthermore, as soon as the Base City managed to excavate the first ruin from a prehistoric civilization and its artifacts were accepted by the populace, he could unearth all the minor relic civilizations he knew of and sell them on the market.

Under the influence of the virus, many ruinous civilizations hidden in other dimensions would gradually become visible. The spatial connection points, loosened by the virus, occasionally allowed lucky individuals to wander straight into a prehistoric civilization.

Of course, some ruin sites were not so easy to enter; one wrong step and one could be permanently interred within. After all, even the Level One relic civilization Ye Chen had subdued contained a deceitful "Intelligent System." If one entered a Level Two or higher relic, they would likely be instantly killed by a guardian beast.

Relic civilizations were categorized into ten levels, defined by the area of the ruin. The smallest, Level One, was only the size of a basketball court.

Level Two was the size of a stadium. Level Three was large enough to be a small village.

The top tier was almost as large as 80% of the Earth's surface area. "Masters," Luo Yan saw Ye Chen preparing to leave and quickly stepped in front of him, his face full of reverence, "Where are you going?

I'll follow you." Ye Chen responded indifferently, "We don't need idle hands." Luo Yan was speechless, tears streaming down his face. Most people would refuse politely, but who rejects someone so directly?

"If you take me in, I'll do anything—pour tea, carry water, wash clothes, cook food—just don't leave, hey, hey..." "Friend, begging is useless. If you want to survive, head to the Base City in the center of the city." "Good luck to you." Bai Long and the others waved their hands, following Ye Chen with easy smiles, leaving Luo Yan standing there alone.

Once Ye Chen’s group was some distance away, he snapped back to reality and quickly hurried after them. "Bastard!" Luo Yan’s eyes narrowed with venom, his teeth clenched.

"You arrogant bastards! I humbly begged, and you put on airs?

Damn it, when I become powerful one day, I will personally shoot every one of you!" "Oh?" Bai Long turned his head to look back, seeing Luo Yan trailing them from afar, and laughed, "This fellow has some persistence, actually following us." "Should we shake him off?" Yue Heng looked at Ye Chen. Ye Chen replied coolly, "No need to pay attention." Bai Long shrugged, and the group continued forward.

Luo Yan did not catch up but kept his distance behind Ye Chen’s group. Not long after, he spotted a horde of zombie-people surrounding Ye Chen and the others.

He was startled and quickly hid, peering out stealthily. When he saw the scene, his eyeballs nearly popped out.

The moment the terrifying horde of zombies rushed out, before they could even reach Ye Chen’s group, streams of white light erupted from the barrels of the guns held by Ye Chen’s party. Bang bang bang bang...

Over a hundred zombies fell to the ground. Luo Yan’s mouth fell slightly open, his face blank.

After a long moment, he managed to utter a single word: "...Damn!" "Yueyue, how many did you take down?" Bai Long casually holstered his pistol back into the leather armor at his waist, curious. "Yue your sister!" Yue Heng shot him a strange look.

"Nineteen!" "As expected of a demobilized soldier. I got six—just a little less than you..." "I got three..." Zhuge Fan’s face flushed deep red, and he lowered his head.

Ye Zhu patted his shoulder. "Me too, three.

About the same." Zhuge Fan looked at her, feeling her beautiful face so close, the faint fragrance wafting to his nose. His face reddened even more, and he awkwardly looked down.

Ye Zhu didn't think much of it and turned to Ye Chen, saying with a slight exasperation, "Brother, leave a few for us next time, will you? You kill too fast; we don't even have targets for practice." Ye Chen managed a wry smile.

"If I slowed down any more, they would have broken through. You guys shoot too slowly.

I was already holding back. If you need target practice, you can shoot the surrounding buildings." Everyone was left speechless.

Yue Heng felt extremely frustrated. He was, after all, an ex-serviceman who had won numerous awards in the military.

Although he had left the service later, his shooting skills were far from poor. He had expected that after acquiring energy-tech weaponry, he could truly shine and hold an important position on the team.

But reality proved otherwise. Ye Chen’s killing speed was four to five times faster than his, and his accuracy was one hundred percent—no matter how distant or large the target, it was always a single headshot!

This Light Source Gun had immense power; upon striking a zombie’s head, it utterly shattered it, leaving only a headless corpse. A standard pistol could only punch a bloody hole, having little effect on large monsters.

"What a monster, knows everything, utterly perverse," Yue Heng muttered to himself. The group continued forward...

Luo Yan followed behind, and witnessing Ye Chen’s team in action only solidified his determination to stay with them. Evening approached.

Ye Chen and his group arrived at a large building. It was now the third month of the apocalypse, and the building’s power system seemed to have failed, plunging it into darkness.

Ye Chen’s group dismantled beds and tables, using the wood as fuel for a fire. The party sliced up the carcasses of the monsters they had hunted, roasting the meat and sprinkling it with salt and various spices.

With their physical conditioning at this level, eating rice could no longer sustain them. They would need to consume hundreds of bowls in one sitting just to accumulate enough nutrients for their daily activities.

Only the meat from these monsters, rich in vital essence and packed with nutrients, could serve as a substitute for staple food. Luo Yan slowly approached from a distance.

He glanced at Ye Chen’s group, wanting to approach and strike up a conversation, but fearing rejection, he sat down not far away, quietly eating the dry rations he carried. Ye Zhu saw his pitiful state and, her heart softening, was about to call him over to join them, but Ye Chen stopped her with a look.

Seeing Ye Chen's coldness toward Luo Yan, the others wisely pretended not to notice his presence and resumed their banter. Midnight.

The group settled into sleep, the flames dancing on the dry kindling like demon's bloody eyes. In the distance, Luo Yan also slept near Ye Chen’s group.

However, after only two or three hours, his eyes snapped open. He rose slightly, secretly glancing at Ye Chen’s party, and whispered, "Hey?" "Hoo..." Bai Long and the others were sound asleep.

"Hey, monsters are attacking," Luo Yan said, a trace of anxiety in his voice. "Hoo..." The group remained deeply asleep, paying him no heed.

Luo Yan finally let out a breath of relief, then the corner of his mouth curled upward slightly, his eyes flashing with ferocity and greed, mixed with a hint of resentment. "Hmph, so what if you won't take me in?

What's the big deal? You're just relying on a few handguns!" He crept stealthily over to where Ye Chen’s group slept, looked at the pistol on Bai Long’s waist, sneered coldly, and reached out.

"Yi'er..." Bai Long suddenly murmured softly in his sleep. Luo Yan flinched violently, nearly jumping up, covered in a cold sweat, but after a moment of silence, hearing no commotion, he turned his head back—only to nearly choke with anger.

The man was talking in his sleep! Luo Yan was both furious and indignant.

He slowly reached out again, his fingers brushing against the Light Source Gun. The icy touch ignited a feverish desire in his eyes.

Little by little, he slowly pulled it free. Seeing that Bai Long still hadn't woken, he let out a contemptuous chuckle, stood up, and prepared to turn away.

"What are you doing?" Suddenly, a cold voice rang out from behind him.