But why during the day?!
A chill ran down his spine.
Before he could ponder the question, Chu Guang abruptly lifted the barrel of his gun and shouted as he pulled the trigger.
"Scatter!"
Bang—!
Flames ejected from the muzzle.
However, the distance was too great, and the bullet did not hit its target, merely leaving a deep bullet hole in the wall behind the Crawler.
Enraged by the splintering stones and shrapnel, the Crawler bit off the leg bone held in its mouth, its bloody maw emitting a piercing howl.
"Awoo!"
The players were so frightened by the display that they stood frozen beside the cart, their feet as if glued to the ground.
Damn it!
This was way more shocking than any Looter!
"How many times do I have to say it? Scatter from beside the cart!" Chu Guang yelled, his hands not stopping as he rapidly cycled the bolt to continue firing, sending out several more bullets.
Thanks to the hunting experience he had accumulated over the days, although he wasn't a marksman who could hit whatever he targeted, at least his reloading actions had become much smoother than when he first handled a gun.
The Crawler's four arms moved swiftly, and it quickly dashed through a nearby window.
At that moment, two players finally reacted, hurriedly lifting their guns and aiming nervously.
"Manager, we won't go anywhere!"
"No, no wrong! We swear to defend—"
"I told you guys to get away from the food!"
Watching the two bumbling fools stuttering their lines, Chu Guang was tempted to kick their asses.
However, now was clearly not the time for that.
He could feel danger rapidly approaching.
Crawlers were different from Eaters.
Although both were products of mutated fungi, the latter resembled mindless zombies that retained only the instinct to feed, feared sunlight, and had combat power that was even inferior to mutated hyenas.
But the former was different; these creatures were almost indistinguishable from "living" organisms—they didn't rely on instinct to hunt but used their brains.
Not only did they think tactically, but they would also pursue targets lost from their sight. Sunlight frightened them, but it didn't limit their movements.
Who the hell had provoked this thing!
A drop of cold sweat slid down Chu Guang's forehead as his eyes rapidly scanned the concrete buildings along the street, his nerves taut to the breaking point.
Left?
Or right—
Catching a glimpse of a fleeting shadow from the corner of his eye, Chu Guang swiftly turned his barrel, pointing it at the second floor of a shop on the right side of the street.
At almost the same time, the loathsome Crawler, waving its four arms, fiercely charged toward him.
Bang—!
His index finger on the trigger moved on its own.
In a flash, the bullet fortuitously struck the Crawler's shoulder.
Black blood splattered everywhere.
The Crawler let out a painful wail and tumbled to the ground.
Although a beat slow, the two players eventually reacted, hastily lifting their 5mm pipe rifles to fire.
However, since both guns were inferior models without rifling and because neither player had any shooting experience, the two bangs of gunfire amounted to nothing.
Not even a whisker was touched.
The gunshot wound on its shoulder did not stop the Crawler, instead enraging it further, and it rushed towards what it perceived as the biggest threat.
Death arrived like the wind.
Chu Guang, who had just finished reloading, almost instinctively let go of the pipe rifle in his hands, drawing the steel pipe he wore on his back like a spear, and held it horizontally in front of him to block the gaping bloody maw lunging at him.
The steel pipe creaked under the strain, as Chu Guang clenched his teeth, every muscle in his body tensed to its limit.
However, 9 points of strength, though extraordinary for a human, was still slightly inferior in the face of a Variant like the Crawler.
Despite Chu Guang's all-out effort, he gradually felt himself losing control over his footing, as the ground-crawling Variant forcefully pushed him backward with brute strength, slamming him hard against a bus marooned in the middle of the road.
Boom—!
The completely rusted car shell cracked and dented as Chu Guang felt an instant loss of sensation in his back.
However, this also ignited his instinct to survive.
"Damn!"
His eyes gradually reddened, glaring at the approaching sharp fangs.
Suddenly, Chu Guang felt a force surging out from his swollen blood vessels, actually managing to halt the large mouth advancing towards him, even slightly pushing it back.
Perhaps sensing a hint of danger from the prey before it, the Crawler suddenly raised its forearms, intending to grab the prey's shoulders and completely tear him apart!
However, in that lightning-fast moment, two gunshots followed. One bullet hit the bus, and another struck the Crawler's shoulder blade.
"Ow—!"
The Crawler, hit in the back, let out a miserable wail.
The sharp teeth biting onto the metal pipe reflexively loosened, and its head jerked backward, losing balance and control over its prey.
"Ah ah ah! Die!"
Tossing aside the gun in his hand, Fang Chang picked up the 9mm steel pipe rifle that Chu Guang had earlier discarded and charged forward, howling.
Marksmanship is bad?
Then shoot at close range!
Bang—!
The trigger pulled, fire burst out, and black blood exploded on the Crawler's back.
This shot was still not fatal, but it was enough.
Seizing the opportunity, Chu Guang raised the steel pipe, which was now bent into a V-shape, and violently thrust the pointed end into the Crawler's neck.
Once.
Twice.
Three times!
Then, he exerted all his strength and stirred.
Black blood gushed out like a faucet turned on, shooting skywards, drenching Chu Guang.
The Crawler let out a dry howl, flailing its arms, struggling as it staggered backward and finally fell heavily to the ground, twisting and convulsing a few times before it stopped moving.
Leaning on the bus, Chu Guang breathed heavily, lifted his arm to wipe the black blood from his face, and spat on the ground.
"Thanks."
Watching the blood-soaked Manager, both players were immensely shocked.
So strong!
If it had been them, they wouldn't have been able to last even a round against the Crawler, let alone exchange blows; they would have been dead already.
"No worries... Let me help you up."
Fang Chang was the first to recover.
Seeing that the scenario seemed to be over, he immediately stepped forward to help the Manager up but saw the Manager raise his hand to stop him.
"No need, I'll rest for a while..."
Chu Guang, gasping for breath, glanced at his arm, bulging with veins as if he could see the blood vessels pulsing beneath the muscle.
Was this the potential hidden within his gene sequence...
When he had been pushed to the brink earlier, he had felt an immense strength surge from his arms, allowing him to match the Crawler.
It was hard to describe the sensation he had felt just now.
Gently clutching his sore fists, Chu Guang decided to get a checkup after returning.
He wanted to know what exactly had happened to his body just then.
At that moment, Night Ten, carrying a gun, also came over.
"Mr. Manager, should we rest for a while in the shops nearby? The street is too open, I'm worried it might be dangerous..."
"Indeed, with all the gunfire just now, anyone nearby must have heard," Fang Chang added from the side.
In reality, Chu Guang wanted to say that any survivor who heard the Crawler's howling would stay far away, not daring to even glance in this direction.
But his muscles felt so sore as if they were damaged, and he indeed needed some time to recuperate.
"That sounds good... Fang Chang, help me to the restaurant across the street. Night Ten, drag our cart to the door."
Night Ten nodded vigorously.
"Alright! By the way, do we need to recover the body of the Crawler?"
Chu Guang shook his head.
"No need."
"You can't eat its meat."
The nervous system of the Crawler had been completely eroded by mutated fungi, each inch of its cells containing enough neurotoxins to be lethal.
Strictly speaking, the black blood drenching him was also poisonous, but talking about toxicity without dose is nonsensical — as long as you don't foolishly take a few sips, there generally wouldn't be a problem.
Moreover, he did have a constitution score of 7, his recovery ability, resistance to abnormal status, and immunity were about 140% of a normal adult male's, he wasn't that susceptible to poisoning in the first place.
Speaking of which, it's uncertain whether this Crawler counts as a mammal or if it could be thrown into the Active Substance Extractor for recycling.
If the generator could be fixed, it might be worth a try.
However...
Glancing at the cart filled to the brim with food, Chu Guang silently sighed in his heart.
What a pity.
There was no more carrying capacity.
He certainly couldn't stack the body on top of the food they needed to eat...
...
Night Ten sprinted towards the direction of the cart.
Chu Guang, with one hand on Fang Chang's shoulder, limped toward the restaurant across the street corner.
However, as the two passed through the open doorway of the shop, ready to find a place to sit and rest for a while, they suddenly noticed a person leaning against the bar of the restaurant.
It was a red-haired woman.
Her spirited face was pale from blood loss, her thin eyebrows tightly furrowed, and beads of sweat the size of beans were visible on her forehead.
What was fatal was below—her entire right leg beneath the knee was gone, the wound only crudely bandaged with a torn half-sleeve and some straps.
Well, well.
So it was you who had drawn the hatred.
However, not having fainted from this, she must be quite tough.
Chu Guang had finally understood where the human leg that the Crawler was carrying in its mouth had come from.
"A new NPC!"
While Fang Chang was still marveling in surprise, Chu Guang had already snatched back his rifle from his hand and aimed it at the woman lying on the floor without hesitation.
"You'd better stay put... my injuries are light compared to yours."
The woman's hand had touched the handgun on the ground.
Seeing the dark muzzle already aimed at her, she resigned herself by pouting and pushed the handgun toward Chu Guang's feet, then simply closed her eyes.
"Is she an enemy?"
Noticing the Manager's actions, Fang Chang nervously confirmed the other's identity with him. However, in the latter's view, asking this question on the Wasteland was foolish in itself.
"I don't know."
And it doesn't matter.
Giving an ambiguous reply, Chu Guang gestured for him to help him sit down in a nearby chair. Then with a "click" cocking the rifle, he placed it on the table.
Hearing the sound of the bullet loading, the woman's eyebrows twitched violently, her tightly shut eyes filled with regret.
Who would have thought?
The gun in this guy's hand wasn't even loaded...
Despite the severe pain in her body, Chu Guang still managed to squeeze a pleasant expression on his face.
"Now we can have a chat."
The woman forced herself to remain composed, her expression calm as she spoke.
"What do you want to know?"
Chu Guang didn't beat around the bush, introduced himself first, and then got straight to the point.
"Chu Guang, your name?"
"Xia Yan."
"What are you?"
"A mercenary from Giant Stone City."
"Are you the only team member left?"
"Dead."
"Oh… how many died?"
Xia Yan's mouth twitched slightly as she gritted her teeth and said,
"Three... all except me are dead."
Chu Guang nodded, then looked towards Night Ten, who was dragging a cart in from the door, and said in Mandarin,
"Just leave the stuff at the door, don't drag it inside. Go around this area and see if you can find any corpses dressed like this lady here."
"If you find them, bring their equipment back."
Night Ten, confused, stared at the woman sitting paralyzed in front of the bar, wondering where this NPC had come from.
Damn!
Did I miss the plot again?
Watching the man who turned and left, Xia Yan's gaze flickered slightly. She neither understood the bird language Chu Guang spoke nor knew what he was doing.
"Right, I almost forgot to ask you, what's with the Crawler?" Chu Guang looked at Xia Yan, who had opened her eyes, and continued, "How did you guys provoke it?"
"It targeted us," Xia Yan didn't hide anything and admitted, "We were searching for the entrance to Shelter No.117, and then we encountered it… It chased us out all the way from the subway, we almost got wiped out."
The Crawler was indeed troublesome, especially in narrow terrains, even experienced veterans would find it tricky.
This was Chu Guang's first encounter with such a creature; he had only heard Old Charlie from Bet Street say before, if you see a four-armed monster, run as far as you can.
Thinking about it now, it's a good thing he didn't listen to the old man.
How could we possibly outrun this!
"Entrance to Shelter No.117? What's that?" Chu Guang asked curiously.
"Don't know, we only know it's located near the Line 7 New World Department Store in the North suburb of Qingquan City; there's something our employer wants inside."
Chu Guang nodded.
He didn't really care whether what this guy was saying was true or not, nor did he care at all. There might be some good stuff in Shelter No.117, but it wasn't worth the risk.
Just look at this guy's plight.
Even professionals got beaten up like this; who knows what other dangers are lurking there.
Right now, the priority is to develop and strengthen the outpost; Chu Guang didn't plan on creating unnecessary problems. Later, when he became stronger, why not just make it an instance and let the players figure it out?
Why risk his own neck?
Seeing that Chu Guang seemed uninterested, Xia Yan tentatively asked.
"Aren't you interested?"
"Why should I be?"
"I heard there's a power armor inside."
"Oh, you saw it? Show me the photos."
"…We don't have any."
Chu Guang gave a faint smile.
"Then wait until you have them before talking to me about this."
For him, chatting with this guy was just a way to kill time; by the time Night Ten finished licking his wounds and came back, he would probably have rested enough.
He would keep the handgun on the floor for her.
As for whether she could survive, that was no longer his concern.
"By the way, is your hair dyed or natural?"
Xia Yan paused.
The topic jumped too suddenly, and he didn't respond immediately.
"…Natural."
"Oh, the color is pretty nice, but you should wash your hair."
Xia Yan glared at him angrily.
"Are you mocking me?"
Chu Guang laughed, finding it quite amusing.
However, just as he was about to tease her a couple more times, a stern shout suddenly came from the doorway.
"Let her go!"