Bang!
Chen Xu's left hand firmly grasped the gun's grip. With the assistance of the mechanical arm, he felt no recoil at the shoulder.
At that moment, he wasn't focused on this; his body was somewhat stiff from the lingering fear.
He held the shooting posture, watching the green-clothed woman fall to the ground, feeling his entire back drenched in sweat.
Too close.
Just now, if he hadn't raised the gun barrel slightly in the instant before firing, she would have been shot in the head.
Normally, he wouldn't have been so reckless. It was just that in such a dangerous environment he became a bit paranoid, instinctively mistaking the green figure for another green-skinned gorilla, almost causing a tragedy.
Fortunately, the bullet flew over her head; she was merely frightened and fell.
Why wear green clothes in this situation?
While feeling the aftershock, he couldn't help but complain. His gaze met hers, his heart skipped a beat.
Her face didn't show fear; rather, it seemed more like rage, her eyes sharp and commanding.
A strange feeling surged in Chen Xu's heart. He instinctively felt this woman was not simple.
"Are you okay?"
He finally remembered to put the gun away while asking as gently as possible, "I thought you were a monster just now, that's why I shot. Sorry, did I scare you?"
As he spoke, he extended his hand, wanting to help her up as a sign of goodwill.
The woman in green didn't take his hand. She supported herself against the wall to stand up, patting the dust off her skirt.
Seeing her concerned about the dirt on her clothes, Chen Xu found it even stranger.
Think about it, a woman wakes up to find her city turned into ruins and then encounters a man shooting at her, escaping death. Yet, her first reaction is to clean her skirt?
No matter how one looks, such a reaction isn't quite normal.
After a few pats, she noticed a muddy imprint still on the skirt, ignored it, and looked at Chen Xu. Her gaze swept over the oddly shaped exoskeleton mechanical arm and asked, "Where is this place?"
Chen Xu frowned slightly. He didn't like her tone, casual yet with an overbearing demeanor, to which he was sensitive.
This might be a woman even more difficult to handle than Luo Xiyun.
That was his first impression of her.
Luckily, she wasn't just a pretty face, matching the stunning appearance during their brief daytime encounter.
In an instant, many thoughts flashed through his mind, and he said, "I don't know."
Her eyes flickered slightly, and she asked again, "Who are you?"
Chen Xu responded with a question, "And you?"
The woman was silent for two seconds and said, "My name is Xia Jinse."
"Chen Xu."
Chen Xu had intended to shake hands with her, but recalling how she preferred to stand up by herself, he abandoned the idea and said, "You must have, like me, inexplicably arrived in this world."
"How do you know?" Xia Jinse asked.
"The clothes you're wearing don't match this place," Chen Xu said. "From my own experience, I could guess."
Xia Jinse looked at the gun in his hand.
Chen Xu explained, "These things were picked up. There's a battle site over there, but everyone was dead."
"Was the gunshot just now your doing?" she asked again.
"I encountered a monster, something like a green-skinned gorilla, and shot it dead. That's why when you appeared, I instinctively fired—the color was too similar."
Chen Xu explained the reason he fired and then asked her, "What are your plans next?"
Xia Jinse's delicate brows furrowed deeply. After a while, she slowly said, "Survive."
Chen Xu said, "If you don't mind, let's team up. With two people, we can look out for each other and have a better chance of surviving in this dangerous world."
Xia Jinse was silent for a moment and then asked, "Can you take me to see that battle site?"
Chen Xu knew she didn't trust him and wasn't angry. If she immediately agreed, it wouldn't be normal. After all, they were strangers without any foundation of trust and would naturally be highly guarded.
He looked up at the sky, still a gray haze, unchanged since he woke up. Without seeing the sun, he couldn't tell the time.
By feeling, from waking up to now, it should have been about an hour.
The two left the rooftop and headed downstairs.
...
Xia Jinse led the way, with Chen Xu following. The entire way, neither of them spoke.
Although, the first time he encountered a green-skinned gorilla, Chen Xu was almost scared to wet his pants. But after personally shooting it dead with a gun, he gained some courage.
The green-skinned gorilla looked ferocious but wasn't as terrifying as imagined. It was also flesh and blood and could be killed with a handgun, let alone a rifle. Even at close range, he had the exoskeleton mechanical arm, which could easily smash it.
As long as he was careful not to be ambushed.
So, to gain Xia Jinse's trust, he decided to take a risk and return to the scene.
When they arrived, Chen Xu watched Xia Jinse carefully examine the entire battlefield, human corpses, monster bodies, even the bullet marks on the walls, leaving nothing unchecked.
Honestly, he considered investigating here, especially the monster bodies. But he was anxious to find Xia Jinse, so he abandoned the idea.
Ten minutes later, Xia Jinse stood up from beside the last monster's corpse and said, "We need to take those water supplies. Without clean drinking water, we won't last long."
Chen Xu nodded, agreeing with her assessment. Earlier, he had observed from the rooftop—they had destroyed the city thoroughly, with no water sources in sight.
"It's a pity that transport truck is severely damaged." Xia Jinse said with some regret. Without transportation, moving that much water was no small task.
"Leave it to me." Chen Xu flexed the exoskeleton mechanical arm wrapping his left hand and said, "I think we should still stay at that building tonight. I've checked; there are a few decent rooms there. Staying there means we won't worry about being suddenly attacked by monsters."
Xia Jinse nodded in agreement.
Afterward, they carried a barrel of water back to the building, found a room on the third floor, and cleaned it up.
After a while of work, both were hungry, so Chen Xu opened a pack of compressed biscuits to share with her, sitting and eating.
Xia Jinse took a bite of the biscuit, frowned, and suddenly said, "I agree to form a team. But you have to promise me one condition."