Thanks to being able to borrow Ben Mao's power, it was much easier to take the weapons hidden in the neighborhood.
Raymond bundled all the weapons together using a bed sheet, making a huge package. After packing, he thought one sheet might be too thin and could tear halfway, so he wrapped another layer of duvet cover around it.
Satisfied after testing it, he picked up the bundle and left the room with Ben Mao.
However, before leaving the neighborhood, he made a trip back to his home.
Looking at his home, now reduced to rubble, Raymond felt a bit emotional.
This place held his memories, from both before and after the apocalypse. Now, everything was gone.
In the bedroom, the black lion's body had disappeared, replaced by numerous fight marks and bloodstains scattered around, likely caused by other evolved creatures fighting over the black lion's flesh yesterday.
As for the guns buried in the rubble, they were unsurprisingly gone as well.
Raymond looked at his home with a sense of nostalgia, while Ben Mao dug out a charred old-fashioned radio from the devastated living room. It was a miracle that the thing wasn't completely burned.
Ben Mao wiped the body with its little paws, pressed a button, and then showed a disappointed look: "Meow..."
Although the old-fashioned radio wasn't completely burned, it was clearly no longer usable.
"Don't be depressed, look at this." Raymond walked over, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a tape.
It was the tape with no markings, the one with the recording of Li Shutong's "Farewell," Ben Mao's favorite song.
"Meow!!" Ben Mao immediately showed a look of surprise, then looked at Raymond in confusion, obviously not understanding how the tape remained intact in his hand.
"You're asking about this? Uh, well..."
Raymond looked a bit uncomfortable and said, "I found it by accident when I went up to take the black lion's heart yesterday while looking for the dagger, so I picked it up."
"Meow~ Meow~~~" Ben Mao was obviously very happy, affectionately rubbing against his pants.
Raymond mumbled, "I told you, it was an accident, I picked it up by chance!"
With one last look at the ruins of his home, Raymond went downstairs with Ben Mao and left the neighborhood.
Before coming here, he thought about finding another house in the neighborhood to stay in. However, his thoughts had changed now.
Because of the appearance of the M99!
He didn't want to be shot in the head while sleeping one day, nor did he want to worry about a sniper lurking outside while at home.
Moreover, he had to consider Ben Mao's safety too, right?
So, they had to find a place where sniping was impossible.
Raymond thought carefully and suddenly had an idea.
He remembered a place he had visited before, which was just right.
---
About an hour later, Raymond and Ben Mao arrived at their destination.
Along the way, they naturally encountered some evolved creatures and even saw from afar the scene of a giant ant colony transporting the corpses of their prey.
Half a fist-sized mutant ants were everywhere, densely packed like a black carpet, making his scalp tingle. He decisively fled.
Despite some twists and turns, the journey was generally smooth, so the experiences along the way are not worth detailing.
Raymond looked up at his destination: Hanghai International Hotel.
This 258-meter tall super high-rise five-star hotel was the tallest building in the city.
Half a year ago, he had come here out of boredom to commit suicide. Now, he was back.
This time, he was preparing to settle down.
Before the apocalypse, Hanghai Hotel was one of the city's landmark buildings. Anyone who saw it would describe it as "imposing," not only because it was indeed very luxurious and deserving of such praise, but also because there were no other high-rise buildings within a few kilometers, making it stand out.
This point happened to be convenient for Raymond now.
As long as he stayed in the hotel's top-floor room, he wouldn't have to worry about being sniped while sleeping. After all, there were no suitable sniping points around.
Entering the hotel, the giant chandelier in the lobby was still lit.
Half a year had passed since his last visit, and the place still had power, likely due to backup generators like wind or solar power.
This was undoubtedly a major reason why Raymond chose to come here.
In other places, he would have had to find a small generator to use, but here, he was spared that effort.
After searching the front desk and finding a key card for the top floor, Raymond took Ben Mao into the elevator and went straight there.
Swiping the card, entering the room, and inserting the card for power.
The room was spacious and comfortable, with fully furnished amenities, even including a refrigerator and a washing machine. But the most striking feature was the huge floor-to-ceiling window that replaced an entire wall facing outward.
Raymond pulled the curtains open, and instantly, the entire room became exceptionally bright.
He nodded in satisfaction.
This living environment was quite nice.
However, he still needed to go to the supermarket later to buy some daily necessities, like toothbrushes, toothpaste, and towels.
Raymond didn't like using the toiletries provided by the hotel.
Also, his clothes had been burned, and he was still wearing the ill-fitting ones he grabbed while fleeing yesterday, so he needed to find an opportunity to go to the mall and pick out some suitable clothes.
Oh, and he needed to find a vintage radio for Ben Mao.
As he pondered, Raymond suddenly froze.
He suddenly felt that this seemed off!
Why did it feel like a vacation trip?
This was the apocalypse! The apocalypse!! He was just sniped by an evolved creature with an M99!
Raymond felt a bit embarrassed.
However, despite the embarrassment, he thought his considerations weren't wrong.
Daily necessities and clothes were essential!
Just as people can't go without food, for Raymond, who was used to modern life, brushing his teeth, washing his face, and wearing clothes were also indispensable.
Or perhaps, although it was the apocalypse, Raymond hadn't fallen to the point where he only sought survival and not a decent life.
After roughly inspecting the room, he rolled up his sleeves and decided to clean up first.
A year without maintenance had left the room quite dusty, and for the foreseeable future, this would be their home.
Man and cat worked together to clean the place.
To be honest, watching a cat sweeping and wiping was indeed a novel experience.
After spending about an hour cleaning the entire room, Raymond lay wearily on the soft hotel bed. Coupled with not sleeping well last night, drowsiness instantly overwhelmed him.
But just then, ding dong—!
The doorbell rang.
Never had Raymond found the sound of a doorbell so terrifying!
The pleasant sound was like a sudden clap of thunder in his ear, instantly dispelling all the drowsiness that had filled his body. A cold sweat ran down his back, and every hair on his body stood on end!
Damn it, what was ringing the doorbell?
Raymond sprang up from the bed like a carp leaping out of the water.
Ben Mao was staring intently at the door not far away, its body low to the ground, growling from its throat, its tail straight up, and its sharp claws faintly extending from its paws.
The sudden doorbell had also frightened Ben Mao.
From his observations over the past two days, Raymond had noticed that it was very unusual for the little monkey to sense Ben Mao from afar; other evolved creatures didn't have such abilities. Even Ben Mao, whose evolution seemed different from others, didn't possess such a capability. But why did Ben Mao, with its highly developed sensory organs, only notice the presence at the doorbell ringing?
Ding dong—! Ding dong—!
The doorbell rang again, twice in a row this time, probably because no one had opened the door.
Raymond frowned, gestured for Ben Mao to stay put, and walked towards the door.
He placed his eye close to the peephole, trying to see what was outside, but before he could make out anything, something suddenly swayed outside. It quickly magnified in his view and, in the blink of an eye, filled his entire field of vision!
Through the peephole, Raymond saw a large, distorted, blood-red eye staring directly at him…
Time seemed to slow down at that moment; a second of staring felt like it lasted several seconds.
Suppressing his wildly beating heart, Raymond slowly moved his eye away, closed his eyes, rubbed them lightly, and let out a short, spasmodic breath.
Damn it!
What was that? An eye? Right, it seemed like an eye distorted by the peephole's optics?
After calming down a bit, Raymond approached the peephole again.
This time, what he saw was normal, no longer the terrifying blood-red eye. But even so, the sight outside made his heart, which had just calmed down, race again.
It was it!
Why was it here?!
Several thoughts flashed through Raymond's mind, and finally, he decided to adopt the mindset of "If it's meant to be, it will be" and opened the door.
Outside the door, the long-eared rabbit yawned lazily and spoke, "I felt something watching me, so I looked back. Didn't expect to scare you."
It had a pair of deep, ruby-like blood-red eyes, which contrasted eerily with its snow-white fur.
Unlike the evolved beings he had encountered along the way, it wore clothes and was casually playing with a green bamboo stick, looking very bored.
Not tall or strong, it even appeared somewhat fragile. But undoubtedly, in this early stage of evolution, nothing was more bizarre than a creature with such a bored demeanor.
It was the "suspected special individual" Raymond had met that morning.
It spoke with clear articulation and fluent speech, much more so than the black lion, and its voice was surprisingly gentle and sweet—it was a female rabbit.
Of course, male or female didn't matter; after all, it was still a rabbit.
Raymond couldn't fathom its intentions, but seeing that it didn't seem to want to attack him, he felt a bit relieved.
Indeed, not all evolved creatures were like rabid dogs wanting to kill him. After gaining intelligence, they could think for themselves and were no longer just beasts.
"It did scare me," Raymond admitted.
As soon as he said that, he realized the implication in her words and was shocked, "You can see inside from outside?"
He had just used the peephole himself and knew it wasn't installed backward. In such a high-end hotel, there was no way it would have substandard equipment, which meant the rabbit could see inside with its naked eye from the outside?
Damn, that's creepy!
I need to remember to cover the peephole!
Seeing Raymond's reaction, the long-eared rabbit's originally bored expression paused slightly, and a barely noticeable hint of color flashed in its eyes. It lifted a paw, scratched its mouth, pondered for a moment, and asked:
"Do you… know who I am?"
Raymond was confused, "Who are you? Uh, are you famous?"
"I am the fifth…no, never mind, I am just a rabbit," the long-eared rabbit replied.
Raymond was speechless. Did she need to clarify she was a rabbit?
And was it his imagination, or did the rabbit's tone seem slightly more cheerful, lacking the initial "so bored" feeling?
At this moment, the long-eared rabbit said, "I came over to greet you as a neighbor."
Oh…wait, what?
"Neighbor? You mean the kind of neighbor I'm thinking of?" Raymond asked, stunned.
Did he randomly pick a room and end up next to this rabbit?
"I think so." The long-eared rabbit pointed to the room on the left, "Starting today, I'll be living there."
From today onwards…
It seemed this rabbit had followed them here and decided to stay once they settled in, without any attempt to conceal her intentions.
Raymond rubbed his forehead in frustration.
This situation was completely unexpected and not something he had anticipated. But if she wanted to live next door, he couldn't exactly force her to leave, could he?
This rabbit was so strange; fighting her wouldn't necessarily be easy.
As for the idea of "If I can't provoke her, I can at least avoid her," that wouldn't work either because there were very few places safe from M99 sniping. More importantly, wherever he and Ben Mao hid, she would likely follow.
She didn't even bother hiding her intentions; why would she care what he thought?
"Alright, let's hope we get along," Raymond said with a headache.
"That's not necessary," the long-eared rabbit replied casually.
Raymond: "…"
Another one whose ancestral grave I've disturbed?
"By the way, since we're neighbors now, can I ask you a question?" Raymond suddenly thought of something.
"Go ahead," the long-eared rabbit said.
"Have you ever obtained a meteorite shard?" Raymond asked directly.
"Meteorite?"
"The rock that fell from the sky about half a year ago."
The long-eared rabbit replied calmly, "Oh, I did get one."
"Oh." Raymond thought for a moment and then said, "I've finished asking. Goodbye."
With that, he closed the door.
Outside the door, the long-eared rabbit's lips twitched slightly, her lips curling up as she turned and entered the room next door.