《Apocalypse: I Can Level Up Everything》 Chapter 1 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio ¡°Phoenix Universal: According to the observations of the Scientific Institute, the solar flare would cause Earth to enter an age of crisis in half a year.¡± ¡°Nature Magazine: The eruption of the solar flare would cause Earth to enter a second Ice Age.¡± ¡°Global News: Will the eruption of the solar flare create an unending inferno or cause the world to be covered in snow and ice? Six months later, humanity will face its greatest test of survival.¡± The web was in a complete uproar from these consecutive pieces of news. Every major media corporation in the world was competing to report the news. All of the problems were centered around the eruption of the solar flare. Every country in the world began preparing for countermeasures as soon as the news spread. The word ¡°Shelter¡± became a popular search term. Every internet forum in the world started to post methods for building one¡¯s shelter. Property prices plummeted and houses became the most worthless of items. Every country in the world started investing heavily in the construction of shelters. Aside from the official shelters, there were also some built by corporations, as well as personal shelters. Regardless if Earth would enter an Ice Age or face rising temperatures, there was no doubt that the surface of Earth would no longer be suitable for human life after the solar flare erupts in six months and everyone shifted their sights underground. ¡­ In an unassuming area of Jiang City, Wu Peng opened his eyes and looked around in disbelief. He could not calm himself down for the longest time. Wu Peng¡¯s surroundings, as well as the influx of memories in his mind, made him conscious that he had crossed over to a world that was about to be hit with a doomsday scenario. ¡°Solar flare? Ice Age? Global warming? I can¡¯t be that unlucky, can I? I have to face such a large test the moment I cross over to this world?¡± Sometime later, Wu Peng accepted this reality, as that was all he could do in the face of such a situation, and came to the decision to build a shelter for himself soon after. He started his search online for the items necessary to build a shelter. Wu Peng put all of his efforts into building his shelter in the following days. He sold everything that he could, those items became his capital. ¡­ Five months later, Wu Peng had built his shelter in an underground area at the outskirts of Jiang City. Wu Peng smiled when he saw the shelter that he meticulously built. Even though the shelter looked simple and was not as well-equipped as the official shelters, it was fitted with everything he needed. He could at least ensure that he had all the necessities for his day to day survival. Of course, Wu Peng was not the only one who had built a personal shelter. That was why he did not attract anyone else¡¯s attention. Just as Wu Peng was prepared to return to the surface to purchase items such as daily necessities and seeds, a sudden noise made him stop in his tracks. ¡°Ding. Detection that the host has completed his shelter. Mechanical System activated.¡± Wu Peng was elated when he came to his senses. System. As a person who had crossed over to this world, he was naturally familiar with the system. Wu Peng accessed the attribute interface of his shelter. [Personal Shelter] Owner: Wu Peng Area: 300 m2 Completion Level: 100% Facilities: Bedroom, Washroom, Kitchen, Crop Nursery, Power Generation Room¡­ ¡°Ding. Congratulations for obtaining your beginning points: 10 points.¡± The reappearance of the system notification made Wu Peng freeze. ¡°Points? What can I use them for?¡± Wu Peng instinctively asked in his mind. ¡°Your actions allow you to obtain points. Your points will be calculated and refreshed every day at 00:00 hours. You can use these points to upgrade anything in your shelter.¡± Wu Peng reached an understanding when he heard these words. He instinctively looked around him. At the same time, in his field of vision, he noticed that he could access the attributes of many items and upgrade them. The refrigerator, lights, sofa, as well as the living room that he was standing in. He could access the attributes of these items to check on their condition and how they could be upgraded. [Refrigerator]: Can be upgraded to a high-end, luxury refrigerator. Upgrade Aspect: Capacity (10), Quality (10), Energy Expenditure (10) [Main Hall] Upgrade Aspect: Area (500), Luxury Style (600). ¡­ [Sofa] ¡­ [Lights] ¡­ Any equipment that could be upgraded came with its relevant attribute statistics, the direction he could upgrade them toward, as well as the points he needed to upgrade them. He now had 10 points. After thinking about it, Wu Peng decided to test out the effects of the system to see if it was as miraculous as it made itself out to be. Wu Peng walked to the fridge and reached out to tap on the option for expanding its capacity and his 10 points disappeared in the next second. In place of the points, the fridge in front of Wu Peng suddenly started to contort. After the fridge returned to normal, its capacity had become double what it was before. [Large-Volume Refrigerator]: Can be upgraded to a high-end, luxury refrigerator. ¡°This Mechanical System is so miraculous. If I can accumulate points, wouldn¡¯t my shelter be¡­¡± Wu Peng let out an insuppressible smile when he thought about the possibilities. Even though he did not know how the system worked, he knew that he no longer had to fear any calamity if the Mechanical System existed. After he stayed for a moment in the shelter and realized that there was nothing much more he could learn about the Mechanical System at the moment, Wu Peng returned to the surface to purchase a few seeds and fruits. There was still a month before the eruption of the solar flare. Wu Peng wanted to purchase everything that he needed during this time. ¡­ The next day. Wu Peng instinctively said to himself the moment he opened his eyes, ¡°Have the points been updated?¡± ¡°It was updated at midnight,¡± the Mechanical System reported. A screen appeared before Wu Peng¡¯s eyes after the Mechanical System spoke. [2021, November 30th] ¡°Completed building the shelter, Points +30. Upgraded the refrigerator and increased its capacity, Points +1. Went out to purchase seeds and food, Points +1. Published a comment on the Internet and helped an Internet user, Points +2. You gained a total of 55 points. Remaining Points: 55 points.¡± The well-defined categories made Wu Peng very aware of what kinds of actions he needed to do to earn points. He was able to judge from the breakdown and the details of the points he got from the previous day that he could even earn points by eating and sleeping. Even though the points he gained from that was relatively less, he could at least guarantee an income of points the next day. He would be able to obtain points even if he stayed in the shelter for a prolonged period of time after the eruption of the solar flare. After he looked through his items and found that there was nothing in desperate need of upgrading, Wu Peng decided to not waste the points. Instead, he headed out of the shelter to purchase the materials he needed. As time passed, the prices of the various resources started to skyrocket. There was high demand but next to no supply. Wu Peng could only examine his shelter for what he really needed and purchase a few pieces of material. Most of the people had already moved into their shelters. Even though there was still a month before the eruption of the solar flare, most of the shops in the city had shut down. Chapter 2 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio On the 15th of November, there was half a month left before the eruption of the solar flare. There were only a few people left in the city. Other than these people, all that was left were several extreme vehicles that traversed through the land to deliver resources. ¡­ On the 19th of November, there was nobody left in the streets. ¡­ On the 23rd of November, every country in the world delivered a notice that the solar flare had completely erupted, and a super ion storm was engulfing the solar system. Earth was in a precarious situation. ¡­ On the 25th of November, the super ion storm descended onto Earth. A boundless aurora appeared in the sky. It was colorful and eye-catching. As time passed, the light of the aurora became increasingly bright, and the entire sky was enveloped by its colorful radiance. Beauty was often accompanied by endless danger. Shrouded by the aurora, the temperature of the globe plummeted several degrees, and the air filled with radiation. Wu Peng sat in his shelter and turned on his satellite television to watch the report of the aurora. In the following days, the aurora replaced sunlight. The radiation on the surface of the globe would slowly increase as the aurora shrouded the sky. Wu Peng did not force anything since he could not head out and stayed within the shelter all the while. Until three days later when a major headline appeared on the Internet titled, ¡°Warning! A super meteor is crashing toward Earth at an accelerated rate.¡± Wu Peng shuddered when he saw the news that had just appeared. According to the initial estimates, the meteor would crash into Earth in two days. He did not expect there to be such a change. However, all of the countries in the world had come up with a countermeasure for these kinds of situations by intercepting the meteor. If they allowed the meteor to crash into Earth in its entirety, at least half of the world¡¯s living creatures would be exterminated, and the human race might go extinct. This meant that they needed to smash the meteor into fragments to reduce the overall impact and lessen the possible casualties. Even though every country in the world was prepared for this, smashing the meteor into pieces would generate a large number of fragments that would fall randomly. Whether or not they could resist the impact of these fragments was also a problem. Wu Peng could not help but knit his brows after he finished reading the report and started to worry. He had built his shelter himself and was sure of exactly how sturdy it was. He knew that his shelter would not be able to resist the impact of the meteor if it was to land anywhere near his shelter. Even though he had never encountered the situation of a meteoric impact, he judged that the impact of the falling meteor would be immensely large based on how seriously the various countries viewed the situation. This meant that it was better for him to make a plan early. ¡°Upgrade the walls of the shelter!¡± After deliberating for a while, Wu Peng immediately decided before he stood up and walked toward the wall. [Shelter Protection] [Can be upgraded. Increase shock absorption capabilities. Increase anti-radiation capabilities.] [Upgrade Aspect: Level One Iron Protection (300)] In the next second, Wu Peng decided on the upgrade. He had accumulated a good amount of points over the days even though he could not head out. Even so, he had amassed 950 points over the past few days. He had enough to upgrade the defense systems of the shelter to that of an Iron Protection. As Wu Peng made his decision, the walls of the shelter began to change. Soon, the upgrading of the shelter was complete, and it had become studier and more stable than before. Wu Peng could not help but be amazed when he saw the miraculous scene. At the same time, he felt more at ease. [Shelter Protection] [Can be upgraded. Increase shock absorption capabilities. Increase anti-radiation capabilities.] [Upgrade Aspect: Level Two Iron Protection (500)] Wu Peng thought for a while when he looked at the number of points required to upgrade the defenses of the shelter again and chose not to continue upgrading the shelter. Instead, he decided to keep the few points as a reserve in case any accidents occurred. He knew that he would still have time to upgrade his shelter if a meteor was truly going to land somewhere near the shelter. He had seen it just now. The upgrading of the shelter¡¯s defense systems was instantaneous. ¡­ Over the next few days, Wu Peng did not limit himself to his shelter. He occasionally put on protective gear and headed out to have a look while he amassed a few more points. During this time, he also set up a tower at the door of his shelter that could automatically release arrows and attack his enemies. No one knew what the situation in the future would be like, and he needed to guarantee his safety. This day, after Wu Peng woke up, he wanted to put on his protective gear and head out to have a look just like he always did. However, he heard the news that came from the television. ¡°The plan to shatter the meteor had started!¡± The television showed an image of many missiles charging up into the sky and piercing through the clouds. There were several hundred¡­ no, several thousand¡­ no, tens of thousands of these missiles¡­ The countries of the world had used tens of thousands of guided missiles to deal with the meteor that was crashing into Earth. Sparks flared in the atmosphere as the shrapnel of the meteor was sent flying in all directions. ¡­ Sometime later, the location where a few of these pieces of shrapnel would land had been determined. Coincidentally, one of these meteors would crash into the city Wu Peng was in. He immediately cursed in frustration when he saw the report on the television. ¡°System, continue to upgrade the shelter¡¯s defensive systems,¡± Wu Peng immediately ordered. In the blink of an eye, the walls of the shelter transformed and became a silver-white color. He had spent a total of 800 points to make the shelter had completely changed. However, Wu Peng did not have much time to think. The meteor was arriving, he would have to sustain an immense impact when it landed. Even though the shelter had been upgraded, the tremors of the impact would be unavoidable. It was best for him to be prepared for that. Wu Peng quickly completed his preparations, fastened himself to the wall, and quietly awaited the arrival of the meteor. Time felt incredibly arduous. Even though Wu Peng was mentally prepared, he could not stop his thoughts from straying. Suddenly, he heard a deafening crash that was followed by a tremor that was horrifying without parallel. The lights of the shelter were instantly extinguished and Wu Peng lost consciousness under the immense impact of the meteor. ¡­ Sometime later, Wu Peng felt an unending cold assault him. He felt as though he had fallen into a cavern of ice. He instinctively opened his eyes, but all he could see was darkness. However, a smile formed on his face the next second when he realized that he had resisted the impact of the meteor and all was fine now. However, there was no electricity in the shelter. Previously, the power of the shelter had been supplied from outside. Without a doubt, the external power supply was not able to resist the impact of the meteor. He had expected that it would be damaged. Fortunately, he had prepared a variety of generators beforehand to deal with this unique situation. He groped around in the darkness and arrived at his storeroom. After a few maneuvers, the light finally returned to the shelter. Because of the upgrades in the shelter¡¯s defense systems, most of the items in the shelter had not been severely damaged. As Wu Peng¡¯s gaze landed on the generator once again, a bold thought appeared in his mind. [Manual Generator] [Can be upgraded. Supply a more convenient source of power, as well as a greater amount of power.] Chapter 3 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio [Manual Generator] [Can be upgraded. Supply a more convenient source of power, as well as a greater amount of power.] [Upgrade Aspect: Diesel Generator (100), Petrol Generator (100), Biofuel Generator (200)] ¡°During such a situation, a biofuel generator is undoubtedly more reliable. However, I don¡¯t have that many points at the moment. I should wait a few days before I get it,¡± Wu Peng muttered to himself after he looked at the options. He had amassed 950 points during this time but had spent 800 points to upgrade the defense systems of the shelter that left him with only 150 points in his hands. In such an environment, to exchange those points for a diesel or petrol generator would undoubtedly become a hindrance. It was more reliable for him to get the biofuel generator. In Wu Peng¡¯s understanding of generators, biofuel generators were split into many other varieties. These generators could convert biogas or trash into power. He would be able to sustain his use of energy if he exchanged his points for the biofuel generator. After he decided that he needed to amass points for the biofuel generator, Wu Peng did not continue to mull over the decision. Instead, he started to investigate the other parts of the shelter. He had to admit that upgrading the shelter was a very wise decision. At the very least, most of the items in the shelter were not damaged after sustaining the impact of the meteor. After he tidied the shelter up, Wu Peng had the thought to head out to have a look. Even though he knew that the meteor would bring about a large amount of intense radiation, he still put on his anti-radiation gear, driven by his immense curiosity, and was prepared to walk out of the shelter. However, he immediately dismissed that thought when he arrived at the door and saw the melted, deformed door. The door at the outermost section of the shelter was made out of pure steel. What kind of temperatures were there to make the door melt and become this deformed? Without a doubt, he would not be able to walk outside with his simple anti-radiation gear. Wu Peng returned to the shelter and opened up the attributes of his anti-radiation gear. [Anti-Radiation Gear] [Can be upgraded. The suit can be upgraded to better resist pressure, and better resist the extreme cold or extreme heat in the environment.] Upgrade Aspect: Level One Alloyed Battle Gear (300) ¡°¡­¡± Wu Peng could not help but knit his brows when he saw the attributes of the anti-radiation gear. It required 300 points for an initial upgrade. The points it would need in the future would be hefty. It seemed like he had to find a way to earn more points. He could not do anything with his meager 150 points. Wu Peng suppressed the curiosity in his heart and could only continue to do things within the shelter. ¡­ The next day, Wu Peng opened the system and checked out the points he gained after he woke up out of habit. ¡°Crash of the meteor. The era of catastrophe has descended. Points +500.¡± ¡°Hit by the meteor and sustained a certain amount of impact. Points +200.¡± ¡°Woke up successfully. The shelter has regained its order. Points +100.¡± ¡°Points Remaining: 950 Points.¡± Wu Peng was elated when he saw the points he gained, he did not expect to gain almost a thousand points in one day. He chose to upgrade the generator and anti-radiation gear without hesitation. ¡°Points -500.¡± As his generator got upgraded, he no longer had to effortfully activate the generator manually to supply power and create a power reserve. Now that he had upgraded his generator to a biofuel generator, all he had to do was put in the material it required. Now that he had upgraded his protective gear, he decided to try to head out of the shelter once again. This time, he was able to open the door of the shelter. However, the waves of immense heat that assaulted his protective gear from outside once again caused him to dismiss the thought of scouting the outside world. ¡­ Half a month passed in a flash. Wu Peng amassed a large number of points in these two weeks. He once again upgraded his generator, protective gear, and crop nursery. What surprised Wu Peng was the great news that the time needed to grow crops became shorter after he upgraded the crop nursery. Furthermore, now that the outside world had two weeks to cool down, the temperature outside the shelter had dropped by several degrees. This day, Wu Peng could no longer suppress the curiosity in his heart. He put on his Level Two Alloyed Battle Gear and walked out of the shelter. The upgraded Alloyed Battle Gear allowed Wu Peng to walk freely in the outside world and kept him from being assaulted by the heatwaves. The sounds of wind blew past his ears and brought up a wave of dust and debris. At the same time, everything in Wu Peng¡¯s line of sight was dirt and rubble. The plants that had been here had vanished, and the city had become a wasteland. He occasionally came across buildings that were still standing, but the wind and debris had ravaged them. The satellite signal receiver that was used for communication had been destroyed by the impact of the meteor. He did not know when the signal and the Internet would be restored. Without his connection to the Internet, Wu Peng would not be able to come into contact with the outside world. However, the satellite signal receiver was not something he could fix alone. He had to wait for the officials to come to examine and repair the facility. He continued to roam around the city. Just as he was about to turn back and return to his shelter, he suddenly heard something not far away from him. A few human figures that wore defensive gear that was interwoven with red and blue held a piece of equipment and they seemed to be looking for something. They were obviously law enforcers. Wu Peng immediately recognized who they were after he saw the protective gear they wore and made a detour to avoid them and returned to his shelter. ¡­ In the crop nursery, Wu Peng looked at the wheat in the nursing pod that was about to enter maturity and had a smile on his face. The wheat, which normally needed three to four months to mature, only needed one month in the nursery of the shelter. This had undoubtedly solved the greatest problem regarding his survival. As he thought about that, Wu Peng tapped open the attributes of the crop nursery. [Beginner Crop Nursery] [Can be upgraded. Increase the area of the nursery and accelerate the growth of the crops.] [Upgrade Aspect: Intermediate Nursery (1000)] His current crop nursery had an area of 100 square meters. The area of the nursery would double if he upgraded it to become an intermediate nursery. However, it required a large number of points. He was alone at this moment and did not need to upgrade the nursery. A growth cycle of one month and a space of 100 square meters was enough to supply him with the food he needed. It would even give him a surplus of rations. Wu Peng did not continue to stay in the nursery. Instead, he went to the living room and sat down. However, because the satellite signal receiver had been damaged, he could not use either the satellite television or the satellite Internet. He could not watch any programs or access the web. Wu Peng sat for a while and felt extremely bored. He decided to head to the workstation and build a few toys. Wu Peng had intentionally installed a 3D printer in the workstation intending to make it convenient for him to create a few items. However, he froze when he saw the upgrading attributes of the 3D printer. [3D Printer] [Can be upgraded. Create a variety of hot weapons.] [Upgrade Aspect: Weapon Production Station (500)] ¡°Upgrade!¡± Wu Peng said after a moment of deliberation. In an instant, the 3D printer transformed into a three to four-meter-long, silver-white production station. There was an operating pod in the middle of the production station. Wu Peng entered the operating pod and was completely shocked by what appeared in his line of sight. There were options for a variety of weapons on the screen of the operating pod. Behind these options were the points required to produce them. However, what sparked Wu Peng¡¯s curiosity was that some of the options were duller than the rest, perhaps because they had not been unlocked yet. Chapter 4 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Wu Peng casually flipped through a few weapons and was completely clueless about the names of some of the weapons. Judging from the pictures, he felt that the weapons looked technologically advanced and that they would have extraordinary power. ¡°I can¡¯t produce them at the moment. I must have not completed some prerequisite condition.¡± Wu Peng murmured to himself as he rubbed his chin. He still did not have a weapon that he was comfortable using, which was dangerous in a post-apocalyptic world. Fortunately, there were still no monsters that had appeared in the outside world. Wu Peng flipped the weapon production interface to the very first page and finally saw a few weapons that he could produce. [Dagger: requires five points and could be upgraded to become a Refined Steel Dagger]. This was a necessity for survival. It was short, small, and easy to carry. ¡°Produce!¡± When Wu Peng finished speaking, a black dagger appeared on the silver-white production station. He grabbed it and played with it for a moment before he strapped the dagger on his right thigh. Once again, he tapped the weapon production interface, and his gaze landed on the hot weapons. The M1911 Handgun had an 11.43mm caliber and required 50 points. It could be fitted with other parts in the future. This gun was a classic among handguns. It had average power, but it was enough for self-defense for the time being. The bullets it used required copper to produce, and he could create 10 rounds with one point. ¡°Produce!¡± A ray of white light flashed on the production station and a handgun appeared. Wu Peng picked up the handgun and deftly took it apart before he put it back together again and loaded the 50 bullets it came with into the clip. Now that he had both a dagger and a handgun, Wu Peng thought for a moment before he found the Military Tactical Vest option in the production station and spent 50 points to produce it. Once the Military Tactical Vest was produced, he put it on and equipped both the clip and the handgun onto the vest. Wu Peng had also wanted to produce a rifle but found it too eye-catching when he thought about it. He might get into trouble if a law enforcer or a bandit saw him. Additionally, he did not have very much copper left. His reserves could not hold up to the copper required for the bullets. With these weapons as a form of self-defense, Wu Peng decided to scout around in the outside world. He might be able to find other survivors. With the existence of the Mechanical System, Wu Peng did not have to worry about survival for the time being. It would be better if he could help more people. He put on his protective gear, went to the surface, took out his binoculars, and looked around. He had already scouted the one-kilometer area around him many times and noticed his surroundings were dead silent. He saw a giant black stone mountain in the distance that was left behind after the impact of the meteor. To think that the meteor would leave behind such a large mountain after such an intense impact, it was imaginable just how large the meteor was when it had just crashed into the area. Wu Peng was able to resist the impact with his shelter, but that might not be the case for the other civilians and their shelters. Perhaps, there were no longer any survivors in the city other than those in the official shelters. Wu Peng¡¯s heart became overcome with emotion when he thought about that. He scouted his surroundings for some time and only managed to pick up the remains of a few cars. He carried the fragments back to the shelter. He was able to turn the scrap steel into steel blocks just by placing them into the production station. ¡°Recycled scrap steel. Points +20.¡± The notification from the system rang out. Wu Peng nodded, as that was within his expectations. Otherwise, he would not have wasted the effort of carrying the steel back to the shelter. His stomach let out a rumble of protest. It had been six hours since his last meal. He headed to the nursery where the wheat was about to mature. He would no longer have to exchange his points for canned food after he harvested his first batch of wheat. He might be able to grow a few vegetables to improve the quality of his rations. He felt as though his sense of taste was about to degrade after consuming canned food every day. However, he still had to rely on canned food today. He arrived in front of his refrigerator and tapped open the food interface of the system. One can of food required one point. Wu Peng obtained two cans of food and opened the fridge door. He took out the cans and pried them open with his dagger before finishing its contents in a few gulps and placed the empty cans back in the fridge. The system was rather stingy. It prevented Wu Peng from recycling the cans as a way to obtain materials. He had to place the cans back into the fridge for recycling; otherwise, he would no longer be able to purchase the canned food in the future. Wu Peng laid on his bed and looked at the ceiling feeling extremely bored. Humans are social animals and would develop mental disorders if they did not interact with other humans for an extended period of time. He could participate in forums on the Internet or watch television in the past to pass the time. Now that the satellite signal receiver was damaged, Wu Peng had completely lost contact with the outside world. He fell asleep unknowingly. ¡­ The next day, the system reminded him of the points he gained on time. Wu Peng consumed some canned food before he put on his protective gear and scouted the surface again. Unfortunately, he did not encounter any living person. Instead, all he found were a few remains. ¡°I¡¯ll be happy if I encounter even an animal,¡± Wu Peng muttered to himself. ¡­ Half a month passed like that, and Wu Peng had amassed 1,000 points. Wu Peng was punctual as if he was reporting to work every day as he scouted the surface after he woke up. Unfortunately, he did not come across any living creatures, and he still could not connect to the satellite signal. The isolation had started to gnaw on Wu Peng¡¯s spirit. The only thing he found solace in was that the wheat in his nursery had finally matured. He looked at the yellow wheat and let out a smile that had been gone from his face for a long time before he harvested the wheat and placed it on the production station. He then used two points to dehusk and process the wheat that turned it into powdery, white flour. He finally saw flour once again. Wu Peng had a tear in the corner of his eye. He carefully placed the wheat into a bag and then the bag into the fridge. He then chose to produce buns and heard a wave of activity within the fridge, opening the door after the noise had stopped. The flour in the bag had been transformed into individual plain buns. ¡°Gulp!¡± Wu Peng let out a strange cry of excitement. He picked up a plain bun, bit down hard into it, and felt a wave of sweetness on his tongue. This was the first time Wu Peng felt a plain bun be this delicious. He polished off three plain buns in one sitting. Wu Peng laid down on his bed and felt satisfied with his meal. ¡°Successfully created plain buns. Points +20.¡± The notification of the system rang out. This made Wu Peng feel even more comfortable; he was able to earn points even while he ate his buns. It was like hitting two birds with one stone. He slept comfortably. ¡­ A new day arrived. After eating, Wu Peng routinely put on his protective gear and headed to the surface. This time, he carried five plain buns with him and was prepared to scout a longer distance. He took out his binoculars and surveyed the surroundings before he decided to advance toward the black stone mountain. Ever since ancient times, otherworldly meteorites have always made for great crafting materials. He might be able to unlock a few high-level items if he managed to get a few pieces of the meteorite back into his shelter. He walked for about an hour and saw four human figures in the distance. It had been more than half a month since he saw another living person. Wu Peng felt a little agitated. However, as a way of caution, he still took out his binoculars to observe these people from a distance. He saw the four people crowded around the base of the satellite signal receiver, and one of them was maneuvering around a device in his hand. ¡°Are they trying to repair the signal receiver?¡± he asked himself quietly. This idea made Wu Peng even more excited. Chapter 5 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio To Wu Peng, the days without the Internet were no different from being imprisoned. The satellite signal receiver had been destroyed by the impact of the meteor and he had wanted to repair it. However, he ultimately gave up after he researched the matter closely and realized that a professional was needed for a matter like this. Currently, there was a small team of people here to repair the satellite signal receiver. Wu Peng kept his binoculars and walked toward the repair team with large strides. The team did not notice him even after he walked over to their side. ¡°Cough, cough! Hello, everyone!¡± Wu Peng gave the four people a simple greeting. However, his voice became low and soft after it passed through his protective gear. He doubled his volume and tried again, ¡°Hello, everyone!¡± The four of them were still concentrating on the gadget in their hands and did not hear Wu Peng at all. Left without a choice, Wu Peng reached out and patted on one of their shoulders, ¡°Hello!¡± The person had focused all of his attention on the repair gadget and was nearly shocked out of his wits when Wu Peng suddenly patted on him. ¡°Oh, God!¡± Followed by a shrill scream, the three other people from the repair team also became alarmed and turned their heads to look at the same time. They saw a tall, bulky figure standing behind them the moment they turned their heads. As the section of the protective gear that was near their eyes was made out of a non-transparent material, they could not see what Wu Peng looked like. They only felt that the man in front of them was terrifying, and his figure made them feel waves of pressure. They had only felt this way when they faced a law enforcer. However, the clothing of the man in front of them was not something a law enforcer wore. That meant they might have encountered a bandit. In a post-apocalyptic world, everyone was trying their best to survive. It was common to see people take advantage of their physical assets to rob people or pillage other shelters. If this was an ordinary day, the repair team would have guards follow them while they were out on their mission. However, this area had been hit by a meteor. In theory, no one should have been able to survive aside from the people in the official shelters and so no guards had been assigned to follow the repair team during today¡¯s mission. Who could have guessed that someone had survived and that they would so coincidentally encounter him today? Even though the leader of the team was also a clerk, he still stood up and put his team behind him as the leader. He forcefully stabilized his emotions, then said with a loud voice, ¡°Who are you? We are repairmen and do not have any resources on us!¡± Wu Peng saw that the other party was cautious of him and immediately recognized that there was a misunderstanding. He waved his hands in a hurry and said, ¡°Don¡¯t be misunderstood! I¡¯m not a bandit!¡± Unfortunately, the protective capability of Wu Peng¡¯s protective gear was too good. His voice that came out of the protective gear became so soft that it was indiscernible. The small team of four looked at Wu Peng flailing his arms around and was completely clueless about what he was trying to express. Wu Peng sweated under the effort, yet the team of people in front of him still looked completely lost. He really wanted to take off his protective gear to communicate better. Fortunately, the leader of the team was the first to calm down. He came to Wu Peng¡¯s side and patted on his shoulder, and gave a thumbs up that meant, ¡°Are you a good person?¡± Wu Peng quickly patted on his chest and returned a thumbs up. ¡°I am a good person!¡± The leader deliberated for a moment and decided to believe Wu Peng. After all, if the other party was really a bandit, he would not waste this much time trying to communicate with them. He turned around and got a team member to take out a wireless communication device and handed the device over to Wu Peng. Wu Peng quickly pulled open a slit on his protective gear and hung the wireless communication device over his ear. He heard the voice of a middle-aged man ring out beside his ear, ¡°Hello! I¡¯m Qin Ming, the leader of the repair team of the third web grid.¡± ¡°Leader Qin, my name is Wu Peng. I am a survivor who is based nearby.¡± The rest of the three people greeted Wu Peng respectively. The people of the team were very curious about Wu Peng as he had managed to resist the impact of the meteor with the shelter he had built alone. Even an official shelter had many casualties from the impact of the meteor. Wu Peng did not wish to reveal the existence of the Mechanical System and thus attributed his survival to good luck. ¡°Leader Qin, you talked about the third web grid just now. What does that mean?¡± Wu Peng did not wish for the conversation to stop at him and quickly changed the topic. Qin Ming gave him a general explanation. As doomsday approached, a large number of elites had headed into the various shelters set up by the government. There were a total of 34 official shelters in the country and each official shelter was given a corresponding alphabet. Each shelter was further split into ten web grids based on the alphabet they were assigned. Where Qin Ming and the rest of the group were at was the third web grid of Shelter J. ¡°Leader Qin, can this satellite signal receiver be repaired?¡± Wu Peng asked the question that he was most concerned about. ¡°Sigh! I scrutinized it just now. Most of the other areas of the satellite receiver can be fixed, but we are lacking a signal conversion chip.¡± ¡°Do you not have it in your shelter?¡± Wu Peng¡¯s tone was a little anxious. Qin Ming slowly sat down, ¡°We do have some chips, but they can¡¯t be used here.¡± He pointed toward the faraway black stone mountain as he spoke, ¡°That stone mountain has generated a gigantic magnetic interference. An ordinary chip will be rendered useless here.¡± ¡°Do you mean that there¡¯s no other way?!¡± Wu Peng became a little frustrated. He would be completely cut off from the outside world if the signal receiver could not be fixed. Qin Ming slipped into silence. The third web grid would also lose contact with the outside world if they could not fix the signal receiver. Once they lost contact, they might be abandoned by the shelter and everyone would eventually die after they ran out of resources. The atmosphere instantly became dead silent. A moment later, a member of the team suddenly broke the silence, ¡°Leader! Would it work if we created a chip out of the same material of that stone mountain?¡± As he asked that, he took out a fist-sized, pitch-black stone from within his bag. Qin Ming quickly fetched over the stone, ¡°That¡¯s a fragment of the meteor? It might be worth a try if we can do some precision work on it. But there is no such precise equipment in the third web grid.¡± Wu Peng had a thought when he heard that, ¡°Leader Qin, what must the stone be processed into? I can give it a try!¡± Qin Ming shook his head hard, ¡°There are not many of those kinds of equipment in the country.¡± Wu Peng did not wish to explain too much. He grabbed the fragment of the meteorite and said, ¡°Please give me the processing blueprints!¡± Seeing how determined Wu Peng¡¯s attitude was, Qin Ming decided to seize every opportunity he could and handed Wu Peng a handheld computer. ¡°There¡¯s the blueprint you require inside.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s meet here tomorrow afternoon!¡± Wu Peng left quickly after he said that. The team of four looked at each other as they saw Wu Peng¡¯s leaving figure and prayed that Wu Peng would bring them good news at the same time. Wu Peng could not care about his starving stomach after he returned to the shelter. He connected the handheld computer to the production station and opened up the blueprints. ¡°Received a precision processing blueprint. Points +20.¡± Wu Peng did not have the time to be happy even though he obtained some points as he quickly placed the fragment of the meteorite on the production station. Chapter 6 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Wu Peng opened the operating pod and found the option to appraise the ore in the selections. The production station then flashed with white light which scanned the fragment of the meteorite from top to bottom. Ten seconds later, the screen of the operating pod displayed the results of the analysis of the meteorite fragment. The Otherworld Meteorite Steel came from Centaurus. The paragraph was followed by a string of dry, incomprehensible chemistry jargon. Wu Peng immediately loaded the precision blueprints and selected to process the ore. He did not expect it to require 20 points and instantly used the points he gained just then. However, Wu Peng did not feel too bad about it. After all, it was more important to repair the satellite signal receiver. The production station released a string of rumbles before it let out a ray of incandescent white light. Wu Peng quickly turned his head to the side. The white light only dissipated a few seconds later. When he looked at the production station again, the meteorite fragment had been processed to become a half-transparent, semicircular thin board. However, he had merely completed the first step. Wu Peng loaded a new piece of the blueprint, and the system once again rewarded him with 20 points. Wu Peng continued processing the meteorite fragment without stopping. This time, the production cost him 30 points. He felt the pinch on that one. When the production was completed once again, the initial semicircular piece had become a rectangular chip that was about the size of a thumb. However, this was not the end of the process, as he still needed to load in the third blueprint and do the final etching on the rectangular chip. ¡°It¡¯s no wonder that Qin Ming said that I would not be able to accomplish the task. It¡¯s so difficult to produce such a small chip.¡± Wu Peng reflected on Qin Ming¡¯s words. He had barely managed to produce the chip even with the help of the Mechanical System. Finally, Wu Peng spent a total of 80 points to successfully produce the chip. He carefully placed the thumb-sized chip on his palm and a radiant smile spread across his face knowing that he could finally set down the heavy stone on his heart. Wu Peng also felt a gnawing hunger. As he was happy today, he decided to splurge on his meal and exchanged for a can of sardines with three points. He ate a plain bun between his bites of sardine and almost let out a squeal of comfort. After he satisfied his hunger, he laid on his bed and fell into a deep slumber not long after. ¡­ Early the next day, Wu Peng was awakened by the system¡¯s notifications about the points he gained. He tidied up the area and placed the chip he made into a box before he walked quickly toward the direction of the satellite signal receiver. Qin Ming and the rest of the team were already there when Wu Peng arrived. The repair team did not think that Wu Peng would be able to process the ore and produce the chip alone. However, they still harbored a sliver of hope and waited here for him. The team saw Wu Peng arrive with a determined and confident stride, and they could not help but feel excited. ¡°Leader Qin! Luckily, I did not let you down. I¡¯ve brought the chip!¡± Wu Peng said as he took out the box that the chip was placed in and handed it to Qin Ming. The members of the team quickly huddled around and stared intently at the little box. Qin Ming was also a little excited as his hands started to tremble slightly. He opened the box after he collected himself and saw a thumb-sized, rectangular chip appear before his eyes. Qin Ming quickly took out his magnifying glass and examined the myriad of etchings on the chip closely. ¡°This is too beautiful! Its precision is beyond precision!¡± The rest of the team also exclaimed at the same time. They had seen many chips in their day, and they could tell how good the etchings on a chip were with a mere glance. ¡°Would an item that I spent 80 points on be bad?¡± Wu Peng thought to himself. He rushed, ¡°Leader Qin, stop savoring it so slowly. Hurry and try it out to see if it can be used!¡± Qin Ming quickly got a member of the team to take out some installation devices and started the installation process. The four members of the team knew exactly what they had to do and worked perfectly with each other. They installed and set up the chip in less than ten minutes. Qin Ming took out a handheld computer and tried to connect to the satellite signal while everyone held their breath as they awaited the results. A few seconds later, a person appeared on the screen of the handheld computer. It was the host of the news channel. ¡°Bravo! We succeeded!¡± The group let out a wave of cheer and surrounded Wu Peng to give him a group hug. Qin Ming could not hide his excitement, ¡°I thank you on behalf of everyone in the third web grid!¡± Wu Peng also laughed happily. He could finally watch television and access the web. After everyone calmed themselves down, Qin Ming extended his hand toward Wu Peng, ¡°Wu Peng! I sincerely invite you to join the third web grid. With you around, we would definitely be able to survive in this apocalypse!¡± The rest of the members quickly supported the idea. They knew that a person who was able to produce a chip on his own would definitely be valuable during the apocalypse. If the people who survived in the shelters of the other web grids knew about Wu Peng, they would also be competing to pull him over to their side. Wu Peng naturally knew what their intentions were. Unfortunately, he could not bring along the production station as well as his other devices. Furthermore, there are many people in the official shelters. It would not be good for him if he accidentally revealed the existence of the Mechanical System. He might be captured and be researched, or he might be subjected to work all day long. These threats led Wu Peng to find an excuse to reject Qin Ming¡¯s invitation. Qin Ming knew that talented people often had their quirks and did not overly force the matter. They exchanged contact information before bidding their goodbyes and leaving the area. Wu Peng returned to his little den and quickly turned on his television and computer and found that the signal he received was great. He could happily surf the web again. He turned his computer on and accessed the major forums after a long hiatus. The damage to various lands had been massive following the impact of the meteors, and an official shelter had lost contact. Everyone in the outside world guessed that these people had met with misfortune. Wu Peng let out a sigh. His current strength was too insignificant, and he would not be able to help more people. On the television, the news constantly updated the current number of survivors and the latest death toll. Influenced by these pieces of news, the great feeling he got from repairing the signal receiver slowly became heavy again. After a simple meal, Wu Peng fell asleep with a mixture of messy thoughts. ¡­ It was a new day. A notification from the system rang out, ¡°Survival points +10. Helped the repair team fix the satellite signal receiver. Points +50.¡± ¡°Plus 50 points?!¡± Wu Peng sat up abruptly and quickly looked through the journal of the points he gained. The journal clearly stated that he had received the points as a reward for fixing the satellite receiver. Wu Peng slipped into deep thought, ¡°I only got 20 points for obtaining a new blueprint, yet I managed to get 50 points for fixing the satellite receiver?¡± He wanted to be clear about the system¡¯s rules behind the point rewards, as this was extremely important for his future survival. According to his analysis, he was able to obtain 50 points this time because of multiple factors. Firstly, repairing the satellite signal receiver was an extremely important task, making the point rewards greater. And secondly, it might also be because he helped the repair team that he obtained a higher point reward. As he thought about it, Wu Peng felt that the first idea was more accurate. After all, fixing the satellite signal receiver was a relatively more important task. Chapter 7 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Now that the satellite signal had been connected once again, Wu Peng continued to live his routine lifestyle. He would head to the surface and look around to see if he could gather any materials after he woke up and ate in the morning. He would return to his little den in the afternoon to watch the news. He would also visit the forums and have a chat with the survivors who were also on the forums. The crops in the beginner crop nursery were growing well. Unfortunately, he had not managed to find any new seeds and could only grow batch after batch of wheat. Wu Peng missed eating fragrant rice and vibrant, green vegetables. Even though he could exchange for canned vegetables with his points, the taste of those vegetables left more to be desired. If someone looked at the vegetables not knowing what they were, they would definitely mistake them for a pile of rotten rags. ¡­ A week passed like that. Wu Peng turned on his computer and accessed the forum after he finished his meal, just like always. This was the time of the day when he was the happiest. The current largest forum on the Internet was called ¡°Rising Sun¡±. It was meant to be filled with hope and the desire to live, just like the rising sun, even though it sounded a little ridiculous in their apocalyptic environment. However, it also displayed humanity¡¯s optimism toward life. The reason for the continued survival of human civilization all this while was that they never gave up on the rising sun in their hearts no matter how tough or torturous the situation became. There were a large number of survivors uploading their pictures and videos on the Rising Sun forum every day. Wu Peng also learned about information regarding the other shelters through these photos and videos. Under such a situation, the people who could access the Internet were mostly made up of people in official shelters. However, there were a few civilian survival experts who were also living decent lives. For example, there was a person called ¡°Brother Fei¡±. He was like Wu Peng, a survival expert who made it in this world alone. Judging from the posts he published, he might have gone through military service in the past, and he would often show off various survival techniques on the Internet. This sparked Wu Peng¡¯s competitive spirit, as he was an expert in survival techniques as well. Wu Peng was confident that he would be able to survive even without the Mechanical System, only his life would not be as comfortable as it is now. He also set up an account by the nickname of ¡°Dapeng¡± on the forum and started to post survival tips and small life hacks. What he did not expect was for his posts to become highly popular the moment he posted them. That was because compared to Brother Fei, who was posting his tips as a subtle boast, Wu Peng¡¯s posts were closer to the common man and multiple survivors sought help from him. Wu Peng had quite a bit of free time that he could kill time this way. He patiently answered a variety of questions. Normally, he would be able to solve most problems as long as they were not particularly complicated. As he became more and more famous, he received an increasing number of questions. Wu Peng¡¯s once-free nights became the busiest time of his day. Wu Peng was shocked when he noticed something after he helped the survivors solve a problem, he would receive points as a reward from the system. Even though most of the problems he solved only gave him two to five points, the feeling of doing a good deed while he earned points in the process made Wu Peng feel extremely good. ¡­ A few days passed like that, and Wu Peng decided to stop going up to the surface. He started to access the forums and answer everybody¡¯s questions from the moment he woke up. By now, he had become famous within the Rising Sun forum. There would even be a notice that alerted users when he had entered the forum. ¡°Dapeng is here! I¡¯ve waited for such a long time!¡± ¡°Brother Peng! You¡¯ve finally returned.¡± ¡°Hello, Brother Peng!¡± Wu Peng looked at the string of greetings in the chatroom of the forum and felt extremely proud. ¡°Good morning, all you Baby Gophers. Have all of you eaten?¡± Baby Gophers was a ridiculous way to address the survivors in the Rising Sun forum. That was because everyone was living underground, yet had to emerge to the surface to look for resources from time to time and act like gophers and thus, the nickname was born. The question of whether or not they had eaten had become a true question of concern. In this apocalyptic world, they might not have enough for their next meal. Being able to eat meant that life could continue. Wu Peng had just sent his message when a string of ¡°I¡¯ve eaten!¡± and ¡°I just ate!¡± appeared under his message. Wu Peng had a smile on his face, and he felt a wave of vitality within those words. After a series of formalities, the users of the forum started to tell Wu Peng about the problems they had encountered. One of the questions posed by a user attracted Wu Peng¡¯s attention. ¡°Brother Peng, I saw a strange creature when I went to the surface yesterday. It looked like a rat but was as large as a wolf! It had no fur and looked incredibly grotesque.¡± Wu Peng immediately typed a response, he wanted to follow up on the question. However, it showed that he had no access to the Internet. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Wu Peng knitted his brows, quickly turned on his television, and saw that it was not working either. Wu Peng felt that something bad was about to happen. Could it be that there was a problem with the satellite signal receiver again? Thinking about this, Wu Peng immediately moved and prepared to head to the surface to investigate the situation. He had just stood up when the signal returned to normal. ¡°It might have been a fluctuation in the signal.¡± Wu Peng muttered to himself and sat down by the side of his computer once again and continued to send the message. In the end, that user had gone offline as he thought that Wu Peng had left after going offline. Wu Peng gently knitted his brows and committed this matter into his heart. Mutated creatures would definitely appear in the post-apocalyptic world. Even though he had not encountered these creatures, for the time being, he had to collect information beforehand to not be at a loss for what to do when he suddenly encountered them in the future. He addressed a few of the problems the users of the forum faced. Night came in the blink of an eye. Wu Peng was going to rest for a moment before making dinner but his attention was drawn by Qin Ming giving him a call. This was the first time Qin Ming had tried to contact him since they parted ways. Wu Peng accepted the call in a hurry, ¡°Leader Qin? Why did you suddenly have time to contact me?¡± On the other side, Qin Ming¡¯s tone was a little sullen, ¡°Wu Peng, how¡¯s the signal in your shelter these past two days?¡± ¡°The signal got broken once during the day. I think that it should be a signal fluctuation.¡± ¡°I¡­¡± Qin Ming had just uttered a word when the signal got interrupted. This time, Wu Peng waited for nearly an hour before he regained his connection with the extremely unstable signal. He quickly gave Qin Ming a call. The voice on the other side was choppy and full of static. However, what their conversation generally entailed was that the repair team would head over to the satellite signal receiver tomorrow to have a look. After the call ended, Wu Peng thought for a moment and decided that he was also going to investigate the receiver tomorrow. ¡­ Early the next day, Wu Peng rushed toward the satellite signal receiver after he ate a simple breakfast. When he arrived, he saw that Qin Ming and the others had reached there before him. After they greeted each other, Qin Ming expressed that he found no abnormalities after his investigation. ¡°However, there¡¯s definitely a problem with the signal these two days. What do you think the situation is?¡± Wu Peng was not a professional in the matter and had to ask Qin Ming about the situation. Qin Ming deliberated for a moment and said, ¡°According to my experience, it might be caused by wild beasts.¡± Chapter 8 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio ¡°Wild beasts?¡± This conclusion surprised Wu Peng slightly. Qin Ming nodded gently, ¡°You might not know this, but several species of wild beasts have very acute senses. The satellite signals might be like a sharp noise in their ears that might incite their frustration and make them come here to cause destruction.¡± Wu Peng had a clearer understanding when he heard Qin Ming¡¯s explanation. There were several unique animals in the natural world. For example, bats could sense and release ultrasonic waves. Several species of snake could sense infrared rays. ¡°Since that is the case, I¡¯ll camp here at night to see what exactly is causing trouble.¡± Wu Peng immediately decided to find out what the creature that was causing the trouble was. He did not care about which creature dared to touch his satellite signal but asking him to not access the Internet was akin to asking him to wait for his death. Qin Ming chuckled when he heard that, ¡°You need not be so restless, Brother Wu. We have the same plan. After all, the satellite signal is directly connected to the lives of the residents of the third web grid.¡± Wu Peng was relieved when he heard that Qin Ming and the rest of the team had planned to stay here for the night. Compared to him, Qin Ming and the rest of the team had a greater need for the signal. ¡°Then you guys can guard the area tonight. I¡¯ll take over tomorrow night.¡± Wu Peng was not a pushy person. He immediately bade goodbye to the team. When he returned to his little den, Wu Peng suddenly remembered the mutated wild beast that the user of the forum had told him during the day. A shred of worry rose in his heart. He quickly gave Qin Ming a call to remind him about that. Qin Ming said that it was not a problem. They had brought weapons with them this time. They should not have a problem defending themselves. After dinner, Wu Peng followed his routine and accessed the forum to read the posts. In the end, the signal was once again cut off less than an hour after he accessed the Internet. Wu Peng felt that the situation was strange. Qin Ming and the rest of his team should be guarding the area. He should not have lost signal with the four of them guarding tonight. Now that there was no signal, he could not establish contact with Qin Ming even if he wanted to. Wu Peng had an unreasonable fear in his heart and kept having the feeling that something bad had happened. He immediately put on his tactical vest and equipped his dagger and M1911 before he put on his protective gear and went to the surface. This was the first time Wu Peng had come to the surface at night after the apocalypse. His surroundings were dead silent, and the moon in the sky had vanished. As no one lived in the city above ground, the surroundings became pitch-black the moment night fell. Fortunately, Wu Peng had prepared an HID flashlight that could shine several hundred meters into the distance. It was extremely difficult to traverse the area at night. He was at least five times slower than he was during the day. He had to constantly be cautious about tripping over rocks or debris. He took out his compass and adjusted his route. Wu Peng inched toward the satellite signal receiver in the darkness. He had walked for nearly an hour and thought that he was almost there. It was then he heard a gunshot break the silence from far away. Wu Peng was startled by the sudden gunshot, and he knew that something was wrong. He quickly pulled out his M1911 and cocked it. He did not care if he would trip or not and sprinted in the direction of the signal receiver. After the first gunshot was heard, Wu Peng heard another string of gunfire. Based on his experience, Wu Peng judged that the sound had come from a semi-automatic rifle. He prayed to himself that it was the gun of Qin Ming and his team. If the gunshots had come from the enemy¡¯s gun, it was probable that the team had already been met with misfortune. The gunshots stopped completely after Wu Peng ran forward for five minutes. That meant that the battle was over. ¡°You must be alive!¡± This was the first time Wu Peng felt so flustered. The figures of Qin Ming and the three other members of the team flashed past his mind. Even though he had only met them a few times, he had already become friends with them. Additionally, without Qin Ming and the rest of the team, there was no way that the satellite signal receiver could be fixed. Under the light of his HID flashlight, Wu Peng saw the familiar receiver. He shone his flashlight around the receiver and what he saw made his heart sink slowly. He saw four familiar figures lying on the ground, none of them moved. Wu Peng sprinted over and charged forward like he was flying. The scene in front of his eyes pained his heart greatly. All four members of the repair team had met with misfortune. All of their bodies were riddled with bullet holes, and their blood had dyed their protective gear red. Wu Peng fought back the grief in his heart and dragged their corpses together to form a row. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, all of you! I came too late!¡± He gave the repair team members¡¯ corpses a deep bow. He thought about how to bring their corpses back to his shelter to bury them. He suddenly felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand. He did not have time to think before he pounced and fell forward to the ground. Following that, he heard a gunshot come from behind him. The bullet pierced through the air as it flew past the top of Wu Peng¡¯s head. The person who tried to ambush Wu Peng saw that he had preemptively dodged the attack and thought that his location had been exposed. He secretly cursed his misfortune and decisively chose to escape. On the other side, Wu Peng did not hesitate after he avoided the bullet and continued to roll on the ground. Even though he looked extremely haggard and ridiculous, experts of the situation knew that what he was doing made sense. He rolled for a moment and heard that there was no follow-up gunfire. Wu Peng shifted his body and hid behind the satellite signal receiver. He made use of his cover and cautiously peeked half his head out to look at the direction where the gunshot came from. Wu Peng did not know that the other party had left. He, who had always been cautious, was not in a hurry to charge out of his cover. He slowly moved half his body out from behind the receiver after he waited for half an hour. He only judged that the other party had left after he was not attacked for a full minute. ¡°Sss! The enemy immediately escaped after missing his first shot. It looks like he is an extremely cautious person.¡± According to Wu Peng¡¯s experience, he was not afraid of an enemy who came at him with baring fangs and a strong spirit. These people usually had all looks but no substance and could only scare an ordinary person. It was enemies like the one he had just encountered, people who immediately vanished after they failed in their ambush, that was truly difficult to deal with. Judging from the other party¡¯s actions, Wu Peng knew that he was not an ordinary bandit. Why did he have his sights on the repair team? Wu Peng¡¯s thoughts immediately changed when he thought about that question. He quickly arrived by the side of the satellite signal receiver and picked up the HID flashlight on the ground, and began to search the area closely. After a series of searches, he realized that the core installation of the satellite signal receiver had been taken by someone. Within the core, the installation was the chip that he had spent 80 points to produce. Judging from the situation, the other party must have come for the core installation of the signal receiver. However, what use was just snatching the core installation away? Could the other party also have a satellite signal receiver? He could not address the questions in his heart. Additionally, he was in a very dangerous location. The mysterious enemy might head back at any time and launch a surprise attack on him. Wu Peng looked at the corpses of the repair team on the ground and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry you guys, I can¡¯t bury you right now.¡± He did not know if there were any enemies nearby, and he knew that he could not move the corpses of the repair team for burial. Wu Peng suppressed the grief in his heart and turned off the HID flashlight. He secretly left the scene and was prepared to come tomorrow during the day to move the corpses of the repair team. He cautiously paid attention to any movement in his surroundings along his way back to the shelter and finally returned safely. Chapter 9 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Wu Peng took three full hours to return to his shelter. He bolted the steel door shut when he returned to his familiar little den. All he felt was his body overcome with fatigue. He took off his protective gear and immediately slumped onto his bed. When he closed his eyes, all he saw were the corpses of the repair team that were covered in their own blood. He then thought back to the time he first saw Qin Ming. Wu Peng¡¯s eyes became red. ¡°I¡¯ll definitely find your murderer!¡± Wu Peng reached out and fiercely punched the bed. He felt a wave of pain spread through his fist. It made him feel a little better. The night passed and a new day began. The system, as per usual, reminded Wu Peng of the points he gained. Wu Peng sat up and rubbed his red eyes. This was the first time he had not been able to sleep since he came to this post-apocalyptic world. He washed himself up and quickly ate breakfast. Wu Peng wanted to head over to the satellite signal receiver immediately. He wanted to put the corpses of the repair team to rest properly before they were damaged by wild beasts. However, Wu Peng hesitated just as he was about to head out of his shelter. If the enemy from yesterday night was lying in an ambush near the corpses, he would not be a match for the other party just with the tiny handgun he had. Additionally, he would be digging his own grave if the other party called on their partners. However, Wu Peng was not a coward. He instantly decided to make himself an automatic rifle to increase his firepower. He had recently obtained points after he helped the users in the online forums giving Wu Peng the funds to invest a little more of his points on weapons. He opened up the operating pod of the production station and selected the page for weapon production. He found a few familiar models in the rifle section. The AK-47 was an automatic assault rifle developed by Kalashnikov. Even though it was outdated by modern standards, it had a simple design and was very practical. It could do battle under any kind of condition and was easy to strip down and maintain. There were rarely any problems such as a blocked barrel. There were also other automatic rifles like the notorious M4A1. However, Wu Peng did not give them much consideration simply because those rifles were more difficult to maintain. Additionally, in this post-apocalyptic world, the outside environment was abnormally complicated. A rifle like the AK-47 was a little more reliable. More importantly, it did not cost as many points. Wu Peng pressed a button to produce the weapon. A ray of white light flashed on the production station and a brand-new AK-47 appeared before his eyes. He picked up the gun and expertly stripped it down before quickly putting it back together again. He adjusted the aim of the gun and nodded with satisfaction. However, the original magazine clip of this rifle is very ordinary, with a capacity of only 30 bullets. He would not be able to suppress his enemies with firepower if he encountered an ambush of multiple enemies. Wu Peng once again tapped open the operating interface of the production station, entered the page where the AK-47 had been, and found the selection to modify the gun. There were several options he could choose from to modify the gun. He could equip a dagger under the barrel of the gun, add an electronic aim on the sights of the rifle, and even put on a hanging grenade launcher. However, these options were all rather expensive. Wu Peng did not have the heart to choose those for the time being. He chose to only modify the magazine clip of the AK-47. A ray of white light flashed, and three round magazine clips that could hold 90 bullets each appeared on the production station. Wu Peng tapped on the bullet production interface and chose the 7.62-caliber bullets, and instantly produced 200 of them. This completely depleted his already waning supply of copper. However, when he considered that this was to protect his life, he felt that these investments were worth it. With the firepower of the rifle as self-defense, Wu Peng thought to upgrade his military tactical vest. He greatly enhanced his tactical vest by upgrading it to Kevlar which greatly boosted its bulletproof capabilities. Unfortunately, he could not put on a bulletproof helmet as he needed to wear his protective gear. Wu Peng headed to the surface after he finished putting on all his gear. He first took out his binoculars and surveyed the surroundings before he started to head toward the signal receiver after he ascertained that he was not being watched. As he was afraid of encountering an enemy ambush, Wu Peng traveled much more slowly. He stopped to observe his surroundings every hundred meters as he walked. When he was finally 300 meters away from his destination, he saw that there were a few figures near the satellite receiver. As the magnification of his binoculars was not high, Wu Peng could not see what they looked like clearly. However, he could faintly make out that they were holding weapons. ¡°That bunch of bastards is really waiting for me!¡± Wu Peng clenched his teeth in fury. A surge of heat rushed up to his head. He immediately crawled on the ground and set up his gun. He wanted to surprise his enemies with his attack. However, he ultimately gave up after he spent some time aiming at the group. He did not have the confidence that he could hit them in one shot. Wu Peng would have upgraded his sights if he knew that the other party would expose themselves out in the open this arrogantly. ¡°Why don¡¯t I head back and produce a sniper rifle?¡± Wu Peng was confident that he could kill the people in front of him if he had a sniper rifle. Just as he was hesitating, he saw the other party start to drag the corpses of the repair team away. ¡°F*ck!¡± Wu Peng cursed softly. He could not tolerate the other party taking the corpses away. There was no time left for him to hesitate. He hugged his rifle and started to charge toward the other party. After a short sprint forward, Wu Peng arrived less than 100 meters from the other party. To prevent himself from being exposed, he pounced forward and crawled on the ground. He then propped up his gun and aimed at one of the people who dragged the corpses away. He was just about to open fire when he suddenly noticed how familiar the clothes of the other party looked. Red and blue intertwined. Those were the uniforms of the law enforcers. Wu Peng felt cold sweat drip down his back. Fortunately, he had run closer to the other party. He would have been in deep trouble if he recklessly opened fire just now. Law enforcers were the absolute organization of violence in this post-apocalyptic world. They had the right to fire at will. They could immediately launch an attack as long as they determined the target to be dangerous. An ordinary person would go out of their way to avoid them when they saw them from far away, much less attack them. After he calmed himself down, Wu Peng thought that he was being dumb just then. The enemy he faced yesterday had been extremely cautious. How could he be this showy during the day? It was natural that the law enforcers would be here at the scene after the repair team met with misfortune. It looked like there was no longer a need for him to be here. Now that he had thought it through, Wu Peng decided to secretly sneak away. He did not wish to have anything to do with the law enforcers. Unfortunately, things didn¡¯t go as planned. Wu Peng had just turned around and wanted to retreat when he got spotted by the law enforcer that crawled on the top of the satellite signal receiver. ¡°I noticed an unidentified person in the southwest direction! He has a weapon in hand!¡± The law enforcers immediately became alert when they received the news. All of their weapons were pointed toward Wu Peng. Wu Peng felt a chill down his spine. He knew that he was being aimed at. ¡°D*mn it, I really am unlucky!¡± Wu Peng could not help but curse. However, he did not slow his stride. He wanted to continue to escape. He heard a string of bullets pierce through the air behind him. A few bullets brushed past Wu Peng¡¯s body and hit the ground around him, and sent some dirt and debris flying. Wu Peng let out a frustrated smile. He turned around and raised the rifle in his hand high up into the air and tossed it to the side. The law enforcers did not continue to attack when they saw that Wu Peng had no intention of continuing to escape and had tossed his weapon to the side. Chapter 10 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio The leader of the group of law enforcers pointed toward Wu Peng from far away, ¡°Bring him over!¡± Immediately, two law enforcers charged toward Wu Peng. They arrived behind Wu Peng and one of the law enforcers kicked him in his thigh. Wu Peng instantly knelt on the ground. The other law enforcer took out a strand of silver thread and tied Wu Peng¡¯s arms behind his back. The thread was made out of durable material. The more the person being tied struggled, the tighter the thread would coil around them before it eventually sliced the human body apart. The two law enforcers escorted Wu Peng over to the satellite receiver. The leader of the group observed Wu Peng from head to toe, and waved toward the other law enforcers. The rest of the group worked together with each other well. They continued to load the corpses onto a six-wheeled armored vehicle. After the corpses were loaded onto the vehicle, Wu Peng was also stuffed into the car. After they entered the car, one of the law enforcers took out a black burlap sack and put it over Wu Peng¡¯s head before he gave Wu Peng¡¯s stomach a fierce kick. Wu Peng fought back the urge to curse at the person. This was the first time he was being taken advantage of since he came to this post-apocalyptic world. The vehicle started up, and the carriage was extremely silent along the way. Wu Peng could not see what was happening outside. All he knew was that the path had been extremely turbulent before finally and gradually smoothing out. The car came to a stop some ten minutes later. The carriage of the car was opened, and in the darkness, Wu Peng felt a forceful, powerful hand drag him out of the car. Two people grabbed tightly on his shoulders and escorted him into a room. ¡°Sit here properly! We¡¯ll immediately execute you if you dare to move or shout recklessly!¡± After the raspy voice of a man finished giving the order, someone pressed Wu Peng into a chair before they left the room. Wu Peng did not know how long had passed since he first sat in the chair. No one appeared in the room for a while, it was as if the world had forgotten about him. However, Wu Peng was not restless. He was not guilty, and there was nothing he had to fear. Sometime later, he heard a mocking voice, ¡°You have quite the persistence, not bad!¡± As he still had the black bag over his head, Wu Peng could not see the person who spoke. He could only determine that the person was a young male from his voice. However, he did not respond. He continued to maintain his silence. ¡°So he¡¯s a mute. It looks like we won¡¯t be able to obtain any information from him. Let¡¯s drag him outside and execute him.¡± The person¡¯s voice suddenly became very sinister. ¡°Hehe.¡± Wu Peng let out a cold laugh but continued to remain silent. The person became frustrated by Wu Peng¡¯s attitude, and he slammed onto the table fiercely. Wu Peng heard a loud thud. ¡°Do you think it¡¯s useful for you to act cool? I¡¯ll give you ten seconds to admit to your crimes. Otherwise, we¡¯ll execute you immediately!¡± Wu Peng continued to remain silent with a cold smile. The person finally became infuriated. Wu Peng heard the crisp ring of a gun being cocked and felt something slam fiercely onto his head. ¡°That was a warning! If you don¡¯t honestly admit to your crimes, it¡¯ll be a bullet that will hit your head!¡± Wu Peng let out a sigh, ¡°Sigh, why did the law enforcers send such a newbie? Get your superior over and we¡¯ll talk.¡± ¡°D*mn you!¡± That person became completely infuriated. He had only joined the law enforcers not long ago and was most afraid of someone calling him a newbie. In his anger, he pointed the barrel of the gun toward Wu Peng¡¯s head and was prepared to pull the trigger. ¡°Stop!¡± A cold voice of a woman rang out through the broadcast. ¡°Number 842, put down your weapon and leave the room!¡± The woman¡¯s icy-cold voice issued another order. Wu Peng heard the man pant intensely before he quickly left the room. ¡°Newbie,¡± Wu Peng muttered to himself. After another wave of silence, he heard the door of the room open again. The icy-cold voice of the woman from the broadcast appeared beside his ear, ¡°I¡¯m the superior here. What do you want to say?¡± ¡°Take my protective gear off for me first. It¡¯s so stuffy that I¡¯m about to die.¡± ¡°Sure, but you have to exchange for it with your name. What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°You sure live up to your reputation as the superior. My name is Wu Peng,¡± he said with a chuckle. ¡°Remove his protective gear.¡± A law enforcer took the bag off his head and then quickly removed Wu Peng¡¯s protective suit. He finally saw light once again. Wu Peng stretched his rigid neck and rapidly observed his surroundings. The room had an area of about ten square meters, the walls and ceiling were painted pitch-black, and in front of him was a long table made out of alloyed metal. A woman who looked about 25 years old sat on the other side of the table. She had short hair, an oval face, and a pair of almond-shaped eyes. The corners of her eyes were slightly lifted, and she looked rather suave with her thick brows. She had a tall, sharp nose, and thin lips under her sword-like philtrum. Her lips were currently slightly pursed. The law enforcer uniform that she wore made her look even suaver. Wu Peng could not judge her general height as she was sitting down, but she should not be too short as she could meet Wu Peng¡¯s eyes at eye-level. Wu Peng became a little dazed when he saw this face as a memory suddenly flooded his mind. ¡°Have you seen enough? Can you start explaining things?¡± Faced with the other party¡¯s cold interrogation, Wu Peng twisted his body on the chair and tried his best to sit up straight. ¡°Of course. However, can you tell me your name before we start the interrogation?¡± Wu Peng had just said this when he felt a fierce slap behind his head. He turned around to see a law enforcer looking at him with an unfriendly gaze. Wu Peng was not unhappy that he got hit. He said with a smile, ¡°He must be carrying a torch for you.¡± The chest of the law enforcer rose. He raised his hand and was about to hit Wu Peng again. ¡°You should leave.¡± The lady gave a cold order. The law enforcer shot Wu Peng a fierce glare, then left the room angrily. ¡°My name is Ye Wei and I am the captain of the law enforcement unit. What else do you want to ask?¡± Wu Peng had a smile on his face, ¡°Ye Wei? That¡¯s a good name! You can ask me whatever questions you have. I¡¯ll tell you everything I know!¡± Wu Peng¡¯s sudden cooperation made Ye Wei a little surprised. According to her observation, he possessed strong counter-interrogation skills. Just being able to keep calm in a situation where he could not see anything was something that not everyone could do. He continued to remain calm and collected under Number 842¡¯s threats. Based on Ye Wei¡¯s past experiences, he must have been trained professionally in the past and must be a valuable witness. Otherwise, she would not have wasted this much time talking nonsense with Wu Peng. However, she would not pass up on the opportunity if Wu Peng was willing to cooperate with her honestly. ¡°Wu Peng! Where did you take the core installation of the satellite signal receiver after you killed the four members of the repair team?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are talking about,¡± Wu Peng looked blankly at Ye Wei. Ye Wei knitted her brows slightly. This person would not confess that easily. ¡°Mister Wu Peng, I hope that you would cooperate with me honestly. I can guarantee your safety as long as you hand over the core installation,¡± she said calmly and coldly. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are talking about,¡± Wu Peng repeated. Chapter 11 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio The interrogation reached an impasse. Wu Peng answered every question with ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are talking about.¡± He neither resisted nor cooperated with the interrogation. If this was any other time, Ye Wei would have used her tactics on him. However, using corporal punishment on a trained person like Wu Peng might result in the opposite effect. The core installation was of utmost importance. Ye Wei did not want to make any mistakes. ¡°Wu Peng, can you explain why you brought weapons to the satellite signal receiver?¡± Ye Wei asked. ¡°I was happily surfing the web when the signal suddenly stopped. I naturally had to head over to take a look,¡± Wu Peng answered calmly. ¡°Then can you explain where you got those weapons?¡± Ye Wei countered. ¡°I made them myself,¡± Wu Peng answered. ¡°It is such an old-style rifle, yet it looked like it was factory new after our tests. Could there be an arms factory in your house?¡± Ye Wei asked, pushing him in a corner with her latest question. ¡°Uhhh¡­¡± Ye Wei was elated when she saw Wu Peng at a loss for words for the first time. She had finally found a breakthrough point. ¡°The gear you are wearing is all rather professional military equipment. You must not be just a simple hobbyist. There must definitely be an organization backing you,¡± Ye Wei said, steering the conversation. Wu Peng once again slopped into silence, and Ye Wei knew that she had pushed the other party to a dead end. ¡°As long as you tell me about the organization backing you as well as where the core installation is, I can guarantee that your life will be safe,¡± Ye Wei said as she tried to make a deal with Wu Peng. Ye Wei stood up, bent over, and put her face near Wu Peng¡¯s as she stared at him intently with her almond-shaped eyes. Wu Peng looked at Ye Wei, confused. He suddenly laughed heartily when they locked eyes for a few seconds. ¡°You look extremely alluring when you are serious. I¡¯ll stop joking with you. Release the restraints on my arms and get me something to eat while you are at it,¡± Wu Peng said with a cheeky smile. Ye Wei was a little confused by his sudden change in attitude. However, based on her experience interrogating criminals, the criminal usually was prepared to spill the beans when they voiced their requests, so she immediately ordered her subordinates to prepare some food. Wu Peng moved his rather numb arms around and gulped down the food that he was served while he cursed at how bad it tasted. Ye Wei felt a wave of heat rise up to her head when she saw how cynical Wu Peng was. However, she collected herself and silently waited for Wu Peng to finish. ¡°Can you give me an explanation now?¡± Wu Peng licked his lips and savored the last of the food. He looked around, puckered his lips, and complained, ¡°You didn¡¯t even give me any napkins.¡± He wiped his mouth clean with his hands. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you the truth because you are quite smart and beautiful. The leader of the repair team, Leader Qin, is my friend.¡± ¡°Nonsense!¡± Ye Wei could no longer control her emotions and slammed her palm fiercely onto the table. ¡°I thought that you were born with an inexpressive face. So it turns out that you can get angry,¡± Wu Peng said with a sigh. Ye Wei picked up her communication device when she heard Wu Peng¡¯s flippant words, ¡°Men! Punish him!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be in such a rush, you can decide after I finish speaking,¡± Wu Peng quickly stopped her with a smile before he described the scene of when he first met Qin Ming and the rest of the repair team. He also explained in detail the last time he saw Qin Ming¡¯s team and how he got ambushed by the enemy. Ye Wei slipped into deep thought after she heard what Wu Peng said. The repair team always gave a clear report of their actions every time they went out on their missions. What they reported fit completely with the timing Wu Peng had told her about. ¡°You said that you encountered the enemy¡¯s ambush. Can you clearly describe the number of enemies and the weapons they were using?¡± Ye Wei asked, still deep in thought. ¡°The sky was too dark and I was too far away. I can¡¯t tell you the exact number, but they should have been using a semi-automatic rifle.¡± Wu Peng¡¯s statement was full of holes. Ye Wei could not determine if he was speaking the truth at that moment. Just as she was deliberating, a subordinate told her that the autopsy reports of the repair team¡¯s corpses were ready through her communication device. Based on the report, Qin Ming and the rest of the team had been killed by an S332 rifle. Currently, this rifle was only used by an organization called ¡°Viper.¡± It was not congruent with any of the weapons they found on Wu Peng. ¡°Could he really be innocent?¡± Ye Wei looked at Wu Peng¡¯s face. She felt unexplainably uncomfortable. ¡°Since it was not you who did it, why did you not tell the truth when you first entered the room?¡± Wu Peng propped his leg up and put his hands behind his head, ¡°That¡¯s because they are all brutes who only know how to use violence. It would have been useless no matter what I said. Only you are qualified after having passed the test. The truth should only be told to intelligent people. Can you let me go now?¡± he said as he stood up and stretched his body. Ye Wei looked at the rather smug Wu Peng. She suddenly lifted the corner of her lips, ¡°You are temporarily cleared of suspicion, but you still have to be within our surveillance radius.¡± She picked up her communication device after she said that and ordered, ¡°Men, install a tracking device on him.¡± Sometime later, two law enforcers entered the room. One of them was holding an injection device that looked like a handgun. The other law enforcer pressed Wu Peng down onto the table before he pressed the tip of the needle into his neck. Wu Peng nearly fainted from the pain as he glared at the law enforcer. The two law enforcers left the room immediately after they administered the injection. Ye Wei looked at the slightly haggard Wu Peng and said with a smile on her face, ¡°We injected a tracking device into your neck. Don¡¯t think about taking it out or trying to escape. The device can operate even without a satellite signal.¡± Ye Wei then pointed toward the door, ¡°You can leave now, but you have to be escorted by a member of my team.¡± Wu Peng rubbed his neck and quickly walked out of the room. Escorted by a law enforcer, Wu Peng once again returned to the side of the satellite signal receiver. The blood on the ground had not been completely buried by the dust and debris, and he felt as though he could still see Qin Ming in front of him. ¡°You made me go through so much trouble. How can I forgive you?¡± ¡­ Wu Peng ate something after he returned to his little den and started to do his research on the Internet. He had faintly heard the term ¡°Viper¡± from Ye Wei¡¯s communication device and immediately guessed that the term was a nickname for a person or an organization. Many phrases appeared on the Internet after he searched the term ¡°Viper.¡± After sieving through the results, he finally found a few clues. Viper was an extremely mysterious organization that influenced many industries including military work, pharmaceuticals, smuggling, etc. However, he could not find anything more specific on the Internet. Though, it was that Wu Peng could not find out more while in his shelter. Ye Wei might have access to more information using the law enforcement unit¡¯s network. ¡°I¡¯ll go look for the cold beauty tomorrow.¡± Wu Peng shut down his computer, and Ye Wei¡¯s face appeared in his mind. ¡­ On the other side, Ye Wei was also thinking about Wu Peng. She had always been confident in her abilities ever since she became the team captain. However, she realized that she had been led along by Wu Peng during their interrogation. He clearly could rile up her emotions and constantly gain the upper hand during the interrogation. An ordinary person would have peed their pants in fear when they were brought into the interrogation room. Wu Peng managed to remain calm from the very beginning and always voiced out his requests. That made Ye Wei develop a slight interest in him. She did not rest after she got off work. She turned on the specialized network of the law enforcers and started to dig up information about Wu Peng. It would have been fine if she had not searched for Wu Peng¡¯s information. She became more and more confused the more she tried to find out about him. Wu Peng seemed to have sprung out of a rock, as there was no past information about him at all. Chapter 12 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio This situation was near impossible. The internal network of the law enforcement unit possessed information about everyone in the country unless the person was born after the apocalypse. However, Wu Peng clearly did not fit those criteria. That meant that there were only two possibilities. The first was that Wu Peng was lying about his name and that ¡®Wu Peng¡¯ was not his real name, or the second was that Wu Peng¡¯s identity was extremely unique and that the information regarding his identity was highly confidential. No matter which of those options it was, it made Ye Wei¡¯s curiosity toward him grow even more. Fortunately, she had a tracking device installed on Wu Peng¡¯s body. This way, there was no way that he could escape out of Ye Wei¡¯s hands. ¡­ The day passed, a new day began. Wu Peng woke up early and headed toward the base of the law enforcers after he had breakfast. He successfully found his way to the base using his superhuman memory even though he had only been there once and was blindfolded during his first journey there. After the previous incident, Wu Peng had become a famous figure within the law enforcers¡¯ base. He embarrassed Number 842 and had a casual chat with Captain Wei before he left the base in an unrestrained manner. That was the first time something like that had happened in the base. After he got the law enforcer guarding the gate to notify Ye Wei of his arrival, Wu Peng entered the base as if he was stepping into his home. ¡°Mister Wu Peng, I did not notify you to come.¡± Ye Wei still looked icy-cold, though her eyes were a little red and swollen, as she only slept a little last night after she had been searching for information regarding Wu Peng. ¡°Don¡¯t be so uptight. Actually, you look even better when you smile,¡± Wu Peng said smugly. ¡°Please go back if you have nothing to do here,¡± Ye Wei turned to leave when Wu Peng quickly stopped her. ¡°Viper. How much do you know about them?¡± he asked her quickly. ¡°How did you know¡­¡± Ye Wei only realized that she had slipped up when she was in the middle of speaking. ¡°It¡¯s Viper. Captain Ye, would you be so kind as to share the information with me?¡± Wu Peng asked, wanting to know more. ¡°That¡¯s classified information and you are a suspect in the case. I have nothing to tell you.¡± Wu Peng knew that she would say that and immediately tossed out his bait. ¡°You must be anxious that the core installation is lost. However, while your subordinates are good at fighting wars and killing people, they are not very good at solving cases. You might as well team up with me if you want to find the core installation as soon as possible.¡± This sentence hit Ye Wei right at her weakest spot. She understood all too well just how useful her subordinates were in this matter. They were all like Li Kui. They could charge in the frontlines, but they were basically useless if the task required them to use their brains. After a moment¡¯s deliberation, Ye Wei accepted Wu Peng¡¯s suggestion. She brought him into her office and took out the information that regarded Viper. Wu Peng immediately flipped through the file and read it closely. However, his brows became knitted tighter and tighter the more he read about it. ¡°This information is not much more than what I read online.¡± Ye Wei sighed, ¡°Isn¡¯t that obvious? Would we still need you if we have detailed information about the organization?¡± The two of them slipped into momentary silence. Finally, Wu Peng spoke first, ¡°I¡¯ll go investigate at the scene again. Notify me if there are any developments. Viper is not only your enemy, they are also my enemy.¡± Ye Wei nodded in approval, and Wu Peng left the base of the law enforcers. Just like that, Wu Peng went over and looked for Ye Wei every day to discuss the progress of the case. Wu Peng had slowly amassed 2000 points. ¡­ Wu Peng arrived at the base of the law enforcers as usual and saw that Ye Wei had a stern expression. ¡°Follow me.¡± He followed Ye Wei into the surveillance room. The large screen in the surveillance room displayed all of the sectors in Jiang City. Currently, a large portion of the screen was dark. ¡°There are three satellite signal receivers in Jiang City. The one that Qin Ming¡¯s team was in charge of is damaged, and we lost the signal of another receiver just now.¡± Ye Wei explained. ¡°Viper took action again?¡± Wu Peng asked while he felt like he already knew the answer. ¡°It¡¯s very possible, but what¡¯s their purpose of snatching these receivers?¡± Ye Wei pondered. Right then, a member of the law enforcement unit sprinted into the room, ¡°Report! We have lost contact with one of the repair teams!¡± Ye Wei and Wu Peng looked at each other. The former immediately ordered the law enforcers to move out, but this time, Ye Wei was personally leading the team. Wu Peng signaled that he wanted to head there with them. Ye Wei hesitated for a moment before she agreed to his request. Wu Peng followed the law enforcement team¡¯s vehicle to the scene. He saw the corpses of four repairmen and two guards lying on the ground. Wu Peng charged forward and arrived in front of a corpse, and quickly investigated it. ¡°The bullet holes on this corpse are the same as those on Qin Ming and the rest!¡± Ye Wei ordered the team to move the corpses over to the vehicle while she took out her binoculars and observed the surroundings. She finally locked her gaze on a small hill in the distance, ¡°The enemy must have attacked from there.¡± She led the rest of the team over to the hill after she finished her sentence. Wu Peng did not follow her. Instead, he started to investigate the satellite receiver and confirmed that the core installation had been stolen. Sometime later, Ye Wei returned with her men. ¡°We didn¡¯t find anything. The battlefield was cleaned very thoroughly. They didn¡¯t even leave bullet shells behind.¡± Wu Peng let out a long breath. Viper¡¯s actions were all very well thought out. They did not leave any openings behind. However, this ignited the flame in Wu Peng¡¯s heart. A formidable opponent made all of these more meaningful. After they cleaned up the scene, Wu Peng, Ye Wei, and the rest of the team returned to the base. ¡°Now that it has come to this, I should have been cleared of all suspicion, right?¡± Ye Wei¡¯s expression turned dark and she remained silent when she heard Wu Peng¡¯s words. In her heart, Wu Peng was surrounded by a heavy, mysterious fog. If not for that she had more important matters to attend to, she would be the first one to capture Wu Peng and interrogate him thoroughly. Wu Peng shrugged when he saw that Ye Wei did not speak. He knew that she still did not trust him. After he returned to his little den, Wu Peng laid down on his bed and closed his eyes in thought. Why did Viper want to snatch the core installation? Even if they managed to steal the core installation, why did they have to kill the members of the repair team? Wu Peng suddenly had a stroke of inspiration. Could it be that they had understood everything in reverse? Viper¡¯s targets were not the core installation. Instead, it was to kill the repairmen. They only stole the core installation to divert their attention. What was Viper¡¯s motive for killing the members of the repair teams? Based on what Ye Wei had told him, Jiang City or Shelter J had a total of three satellite stations. Now, two of them were not operational. If they stole the core installation from the last station and killed the repair team there, then Jiang City would completely lose connection with the outside world. When that time comes, Jiang City would be an isolated entity. If the law enforcers did not receive aid from the outside world, Jiang City would fall under Viper¡¯s control after they ambushed the law enforcers. Even though this was only Wu Peng¡¯s guess, he could not rule out that possibility. Currently, the enemy was lurking in the shadows while Ye Wei was exposed. The situation would be extremely disadvantageous if this was to continue. They had to come up with a countermeasure as soon as possible. It would be best if they could keep their eyes on the last station without alerting their enemies. Thinking about the matter, Wu Peng once again headed over to the production station and opened the operating pod. He flipped through the catalog to see if there were any surveillance equipment like drones. However, he only found the option to produce weapons like guns after flipping through the entire catalog. ¡°It looks like I have to upgrade the weapon production station.¡± Wu Peng loaded the option to upgrade the station and that required a whopping 1000 points to upgrade. Wu Peng fought back the pain and pressed on the option to upgrade the station. Chapter 13 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio ¡°Upgrading the weapon production station is complete. You can now produce a large variety of weapons,¡± the notification of the Mechanical System rang out. Wu Peng could not wait, and he accessed the operating pod once again. After the station was upgraded, there were several new items in the weapon production station. Other than being able to produce a larger variety of firearms, he could now also choose to produce detection devices, surveillance devices, and much more. Wu Peng accessed the tab with the detection devices. He was overwhelmed by the series of devices that appeared before him. The life detector could detect traces of life underground and had a radius of 50 meters that could be upgraded to increase its detection radius. Wu Peng immediately thought about the situations that the device would be useful in when he saw the device. It was rather useful in search and rescue missions, as well as to search for underground secret bases. The Metal Detector could detect a variety of underground ores that had metal content. It also had a radius of 50 meters and could be upgraded to increase its detection radius. Wu Peng did not have to think too much about this item. He had to get one in the future. Currently, Wu Peng sorely lacked a variety of ores. He would not mind having any amount of gold, silver, copper, steel, and lead. Just producing bullets required an exorbitant amount of copper. He would need a wealth of metals in the future if he produced even more advanced weapons. The Rare Element Detector could detect the ores of rare elements around him. It had a radius of 30 meters and could be upgraded to not only increase its detection radius but also expand the assortment of the elements it could detect. Wu Peng could not help but lick his lips when he saw this. Rare elements such as uranium, lithium, titanium, and radium would allow him to produce some great items. For example, uranium would turn into enriched uranium after it was refined. That was a core ingredient in nuclear weapons. As long as he continued to upgrade the weapon production station, he should be able to produce several small-scale nuclear missiles in the future. Wu Peng thought about what happened to the countries that possessed nuclear weapons after the apocalypse arrived. He wondered what happened to their nuclear weapons. They might have landed in the hands of bad people or some insane leader. The world would enter a terrifying nuclear winter once the nuclear bombs were detonated. That would be the cherry on top. However, these were things that he did not have to consider for the time being. After he scanned through the catalog, Wu Peng accessed the selection of surveillance devices. The thermal-imaging surveillance camera had a surveillance radius of a hundred meters. The armed surveillance camera could automatically detect friend from foe and attack any enemies it encountered if it was paired with the smart surveillance equipment. Wu Peng stroked his chin and thought to himself, ¡°These were all good items. Unfortunately, they are all too expensive. I¡¯ll have to install these around my shelter in the future.¡± He then accessed the selection of scouting drones. The mini scouting drone could perform scouting activities low in the air from a medium distance away. The bird scouting drone could engage in long-distance scouting activities, and it was equipped with a solar power charging system, which meant that it could stay in the air for a longer time. It was also silent, which greatly increased its stealth capabilities. The eagle eye invisible scouting drone could engage in ultra-long-distance scouting and was equipped with a high-speed solar power charging system. Its flying speed could reach 600 km/h. It was also coated with an anti-radar material and was incredibly silent. It would be imperceptible by enemies. Wu Peng would like to choose the Eagle Eye. However, he immediately dismissed that idea when he saw the price of the drone. The eagle eye invisible scouting drone cost 2,000 points. Currently, Wu Peng would not be able to afford that even if he sold everything he had. As for the mini scouting drone, Wu Peng also chose to forgo that even though it would only cost 500 points. The members of Viper were all extremely cautious. The benefits would not outweigh the losses if they accidentally noticed the drone and became alert. He weighed the situation and felt that the bird scouting drone was the most suitable choice. Wu Peng could just afford the 1,000 points it required. Its attributes were also rather balanced. After weighing the pros and cons repeatedly, Wu Peng decided on the bird scouting drone. After his points were depleted, a white flash of light shone on the weapon production station. A drone that was about the length of his forearm appeared on the station. Wu Peng carefully lifted the drone. It weighed around three kilograms and had a beautiful streamlined shape, which made it look like a bird from a distance. He flipped open the instruction manual that came with the drone and followed the instructions to install the application needed to operate the bird scouting drone on his phone. ¡°Oh, I just remembered that there¡¯s no satellite signal here. Can I still use this item?¡± Wu Peng murmured silently to himself. He had deliberated over which model of drone he should purchase but had completely forgotten about the issue of not having a signal. He tapped open the operating application on his phone and was surprised when he managed to connect it with the drone, and the image captured by the camera of the bird scouting drone appeared on the screen of his phone. He tapped on the drone gently, and it flew through the air. The drone did buzz constantly, but its volume was not loud. The bird flew straight up into the air from the station before suspending itself in midair. Wu Peng controlled the drone and got it to fly in all directions for some time. He gradually familiarized himself with how to operate the drone before he got it to land on the station. ¡°The items produced by the Mechanical System are all rather decent. Not only does it not need the Internet, but also there is no lag at all,¡± Wu Peng told himself. He now had increased respect for the Mechanical System. Even though he spent all his time with this mysterious system, he did not know much about it. However, it was useless for him to think about these things now. Currently, it was more important for him to expose Viper. Wu Peng had worked the entire day and was starving. He went to the beginner crop nursery and harvested a few bundles of wheat and made a dozen buns. Wu Peng let out a bitter smile when he saw the plain buns in his hands. Even though the buns were delicious, he could not stand it anymore after eating so many of them. It was time for him to make something else. However, seeds were extremely valuable in this post-apocalyptic world. There would often be bloody conflicts over a small bag of seeds. Wu Peng chewed on his bun, and Ye Wei¡¯s face suddenly appeared in his mind. ¡°That¡¯s right. How could I have forgotten to ask her about it? The law enforcers would definitely have seeds.¡± Thinking about this, Wu Peng gulped down the rest of his dinner before he comfortably went to sleep. ¡­ The sun rose and it was a new day. Wu Peng got up early and headed to the law enforcers¡¯ base. Ye Wei was in her office and stared blankly at her computer screen. No one knew what she was thinking. She did not even notice Wu Peng walk to her side. Wu Peng curiously stretched his neck over to have a look. He wanted to see what Ye Wei was looking at. In the end, Ye Wei saw a face suddenly appear in front of her and became startled. She went to stand up abruptly and caused their heads to hit each other and caused both of them to cry out in pain simultaneously. Ye Wei rubbed her forehead and glared at Wu Peng with an annoyed expression. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you knock before entering?¡± Wu Peng blinked and said with a smile, ¡°Then let me rub that for you.¡± Ye Wei immediately shifted her body and leaned backward. ¡°What do you want?¡± ¡°I analyzed the situation after I went back yesterday. Could Viper¡¯s goal be to isolate Jiang City so that they could take over the city?¡± Wu Peng asked. Ye Wei immediately nodded in agreement when she heard that. ¡°I was also thinking about that, so I sent a team of law enforcers to guard the last satellite signal station.¡± Chapter 14 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Wu Peng had a slight look of admiration. Even though Ye Wei was young, her thought processes were fast, streamlined, and logical. Jiang City would be in grave danger if any other law enforcer was in her position. Ye Wei¡¯s face became a little flushed when she felt Wu Peng¡¯s stare. None of her team members, no matter how old they were, dared to stare at her face like this. ¡°Do you have anything else? I still have many things to attend to.¡± Wu Peng naturally saw that she had become shy. He felt that it was funny. This cold beauty seemed to never have been in a relationship. Wu Peng¡¯s heart throbbed when he thought about finding a person he loved and living together in a post-apocalyptic world and how that would be the most romantic thing. However, he knew that now was not the time, as these things must be developed slowly. ¡°Actually, I came this time to ask for your help on something,¡± Wu Peng said. Ye Wei involuntarily froze when she heard that Wu Peng needed her help. Many guesses immediately surfaced in her mind. ¡°Tell me about it.¡± ¡°I would like you to give me some seeds, like those for rice, sorghum, corn, and a few vegetables. It would be even better if you can give me seeds of some fruits,¡± Wu Peng requested. ¡°Hold it right there! Are you asking for my help or extorting me? We only have four kinds of seeds at the base!¡± Ye Wei exclaimed in shock after she heard his request. This caught Wu Peng off guard. Based on his conjecture, it should be extremely easy for an organ of violence like the law enforcers unit to procure a few seeds. Other than an organization like Viper, which was actively fighting against the law enforcers, no one else dared to refuse the requests of the law enforcers. Ye Wei seemed to see through what Wu Peng was thinking. Ye Wei let out a cold grunt, ¡°I know what you are thinking. The methods employed by the law enforcers are simple and crude. After all, these desperate times call for desperate measures. However, we would never use our military might to bully others.¡± Wu Peng was not angry even though he got lectured by Ye Wei. Instead, in his heart, he approved of her even more. ¡°Then you could at least give me one or two seeds, right?¡± ¡°Pay attention to your identity. You are still a person under our surveillance. If you want the seeds, I can give your request some consideration if you help us retrieve the core installations,¡± Ye Wei said as she tried to make a deal with him. ¡°Alright, I guess I¡¯ll have to eat plain buns for a long time to come,¡± Wu Peng said before he left the base of the law enforcers, feeling a little dejected. He returned to his little den and sent out the Bird Scouting Drone, which made his life much more convenient. Not only could he use it to search for Viper¡¯s activity, but he could also investigate his surroundings to see if there were any materials he could salvage or if any dangers lurked nearby. In the future, he would no longer have to use his legs to scout the outside world. He controlled the Bird and scouted around the city. He would occasionally come across some people as they searched for materials above ground or law enforcers on patrol in the area. The outside world no longer had the vitality it had in the past. All it had left were countless broken buildings and ruins. Wu Peng remembered the prosperous scenes of the past and could not help but be overcome with emotion. The Bird had a solar power charging system and did not expend much energy during the day. Wu Peng controlled the drone and nearly scouted the entirety of Jiang City before it arrived at the last working satellite signal receiver in the city. Just as Ye Wei had said, ten law enforcers guarded the area around the station. Everyone was armed to the teeth. There was even a dedicated observer on the top of the station. Wu Peng wanted to test how stealthy the Bird really was. He flew the Bird closer to the law enforcers. He managed to make it 20 meters away from them before he got spotted by the observer at the top of the station. However, the observer seemed to think that the drone was a bird and shifted his gaze away after he gave it a few glances. ¡°This thing sure is stealthy. However, the law enforcers are not really alert,¡± Wu Peng cursed as he flew the Bird back to his shelter. ¡­ It was noon. Wu Peng hurried and charged the Bird so it could scout for an extended period of time during the long night. Come evening, the Bird had been fully charged. Wu Peng controlled the drone and flew it to the last operating satellite signal station. If his guess was correct, Viper would definitely take action during the next two days. Based on how Viper had operated in the past, they would definitely choose to attack during the night. The image of the satellite signal station and ten law enforcers standing guard appeared on his screen. He maneuvered the Bird and flew it around the area. He did not notice any abnormalities for the time being. Suddenly, he saw a black dot rapidly advance toward the area from far away. Wu Peng had a thought and immediately steered the Bird toward the dot. As it turned out, it was a law enforcers vehicle. The vehicle was equipped with a reflective film that made it impossible for Wu Pen to see how many people were inside. The vehicle stopped by the side of the station and three people got out. The uniform of the person leading the group was different from the rest of the law enforcers. ¡°Isn¡¯t that Ye Wei? Why did she personally head to the scene? Did she receive some kind of news?¡± Wu Peng thought for a moment before he decided to hurry over to have a look. He set the Bird on an automatic patrol mode. Wu Peng picked up his weapons and put on his protective gear before he headed over toward the satellite signal station. Ye Wei was a little shocked to see Wu Peng, ¡°Why did you come?¡± ¡°I had a hunch that something would happen today and thus came to help. It looks like we both had the same idea.¡± Wu Peng could not tell her about the Bird. Otherwise, he would be questioned about his possession of such an advanced scouting drone. Ye Wei heard Wu Peng¡¯s flippant words and did not bother to continue with the conversation. She turned around and started to assign tasks to the law enforcers. ¡°Based on how the repair teams got attacked in the past, the enemy likes to take action deep during the night. They would definitely have come to scout the area during the day. All of you will have to change your positions.¡± Ye Wei¡¯s voice was ice-cold and determined. She had the demeanor of a leader. The team of law enforcers lined up as Ye Wei assigned them with a new defensive position. Wu Peng secretly glanced at the map in her hands. The map was clearly marked with the names of her team members as well as the roles they were assigned. It even had the strengths of all of the team members. For example, the people who had good marksmanship skills were assigned further away as hidden snipers. Those with good observational skills were assigned to higher vantage points as scouts. Wu Peng secretly nodded. This group was lucky to have such a good captain. They would be able to minimize casualty if they really encountered the enemy. After she assigned everyone with their roles, Ye Wei gave special instructions to every member of the team. ¡°Daliu, you are quite impulsive. That¡¯s alright on a normal day but the mission this time is very dangerous. You have to restrain yourself! A¡¯liang, I know that you are a good fighter but you like to show off too much. You have to control yourself when you encounter the enemy later!¡± Wu Peng waited for her to finish her instructions like a kindergarten teacher, sneakily shifted to her side, and asked, ¡°Captain Ye, do you have any instructions for me?¡± Ye Wei did not know what to say. ¡°You can stay on the sidelines and cheer us on.¡± The law enforcers spread out and quickly reached the positions they were assigned to. Wu Peng was not a law enforcer and was not given a task, so he followed closely behind Ye Wei. ¡°Captain Ye, after thinking about it, this is the first time we are spending the night together.¡± Chapter 15 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Ye Wei turned her head to look at Wu Peng. ¡°I can see that you have extraordinary talent, but why do you always have to act in such a frivolous manner?¡± Wu Peng slipped into a daze then rubbed the back of his head. ¡°To think that you managed to see through my act. Your eyes sure are sharp, Captain Ye.¡± Ye Wei saw that Wu Peng continued to put up an act but could not be bothered to continue talking to him. She pointed to the trench that was furthest away from the area and said, ¡°I¡¯ll give you a mission. Stand guard there. Fire your gun in the air if there¡¯s something amiss.¡± Wu Peng looked at the spot that Ye Wei pointed at. It was roughly 300 meters away from the station and was surrounded by a vast, empty plot of land. The enemy would never come from that direction. ¡°You sure have a warm heart despite your cold attitude, Captain Ye. You know that that¡¯s the safest spot. I¡¯ll accept your goodwill.¡± Wu Peng skipped over after he said his piece. Ye Wei could not help but feel ashamed when Wu Peng exposed her intentions. Fortunately, her expression could not be seen clearly through her protective gear. Wu Peng sat in the trench and took out his phone. He connected it to the camera of the Bird and started to scout the surrounding area. The sun had set and the surrounding area was pitch dark. There was only the sound of his breathing in the silent night. The Bird patrolled a few rounds around the area and found nothing. Wu Peng felt confused and thought, ¡°Could it be that Viper had given up on taking action tonight?¡± Perhaps they had come to scout the area during the day and did not want to engage in direct conflict with the law enforcers. Wu Peng heaved a sigh of relief when he thought about that. The sigh was not for himself, but the team of law enforcers led by Ye Wei. The members of Viper were obviously desperados who had gone through strict training. Ye Wei¡¯s team would suffer heavy casualties if they really were to fight. After multiple days of interaction, Wu Peng did not want to see anyone on the team die. Time passed slowly, and Wu Peng looked at the time on his phone to see that it was already one in the morning. In theory, the time between one in the morning and three in the morning was the period where a person¡¯s level of alertness was at its lowest and was the best time for an ambush. However, there was still no movement around them. Wu Peng expanded the scouting radius of the Bird and discovered that there were the ruins of a building one kilometer away. The building had not been heavily damaged and still had its roof. The Bird would not be able to detect anyone hiding within the building. Wu Peng steered the Bird slowly toward the abandoned building before he flew the Bird into the building through a window and found five people hiding inside. They sat in a circle and seemed to be conversing with each other. All of them were dressed in pure-black protective gear. Judging from the look of their protective gear, they must have been enhanced with a bulletproof material. Wu Peng pointed the Bird¡¯s camera toward one of the people and magnified the image. He saw that the person hugged an assault rifle in his arms and had a ring of grenades strapped around his waist. The Bird did not have any audio equipment and could not detect what they said. The protective gear that the people wore also prevented Wu Peng from reading their lips and could not determine how the group would attack the station. However, he thought that he only had two choices: retreat or attack. Neither of these two choices was one that Wu Peng was willing to make. ¡°Should I notify Ye Wei now that I¡¯ve spotted the enemy?¡± Wu Peng thought for a moment and decided not to notify her. He wanted to meet the members of Viper and personally seek revenge for Qin Ming and the rest of his team while he was at it. It was not too late for him to notify Ye Wei if he could not win against those men. After he reached a decision, Wu Peng got out of the trench and glanced at the faraway Ye Wei and the rest of the law enforcers. He saw that they did not pay any attention to him and thus arched his back and charged toward the abandoned building. Wu Peng took out his phone to have a look when he was 200 meters away from the ruins. He noticed that the enemy finished their discussion and had split up into two groups to take action. ¡°It¡¯s disadvantageous for me to do battle with them in such a vast space. I have to barricade them within the building and engage in guerilla warfare.¡± Wu Peng quickly came up with his battle strategy. He took the AK-47 off of his back and placed it behind a rock. He had to be fast and stealthy if he wanted to win a battle where his enemies outnumbered him. The AK-47 was too loud. He took out his M1911 and equipped its barrel with a silencer, and grabbed his dagger with his other hand. ¡°The enemy¡¯s protective gear is bulletproof, but there are openings at their necks and other connective areas.¡± Wu Peng began to run through the battle that would happen in his head. The enemy had split into two groups, one with three members and the other with two. He had to attack the two-man group first. He took out his phone and steered the Bird until he found the two-man group before he activated the automatic tracking function. This way, the Bird would automatically follow behind them. He estimated the other party¡¯s advancing speed and set up an ambush at a corner of the abandoned building. The two-man group never expected to be ambushed while they were trying to ambush another group themselves. The two-man group did not have any defenses. They quickly ran past the corner where Wu Peng was without even stopping to look at the side. Wu Peng held his breath and pointed his gun toward the back of one of their necks. He pulled the trigger and immediately pierced his left hand holding the blade through the neck of the other person. The two men could not even let out a cry before they slumped lifelessly onto the ground. Wu Peng did not have the time to search and investigate their corpses. He maneuvered the Bird and found the three-man group. It was much more troublesome to deal with three people. Additionally, Wu Peng wanted to capture one of them alive to obtain information. He sneakily arrived behind the three-man group, completely oblivious to them. Wu Peng was about to take action when he suddenly heard one of them say, ¡°Draw the fire away from me later if we are unable to defeat the law enforcers. I¡¯ll blow the station up!¡± ¡°These people are really trying to destroy the station.¡± Wu Peng determined that his guess was correct through the enemy¡¯s conversation. He continued to follow behind the group. He wanted to see if the three men would give him any other useful information. In the end, the person who spoke before suddenly stopped in his tracks. ¡°Why can¡¯t we connect with S4 and S5? S2, go and have a look!¡± One of the men immediately turned around to look for the two-man group. Wu Peng was following behind them. S2 saw that there was a person a few meters behind his group the moment he turned around. ¡°You¡­¡± S2 had just uttered a word when he felt something pierce into the back of his neck and lost consciousness. The sound of S2 falling onto the ground alerted his partners. They immediately turned around and aimed their gun toward Wu Peng¡¯s direction. Wu Peng cursed his luck, but he immediately dodged to the side and into cover. The members of Viper had come to ambush the law enforcers and did not dare to fire at will. They were afraid to alarm Ye Wei¡¯s team so they slowly inched toward Wu Peng. At this moment, Wu Peng had his eyes shut in thought. He still wanted to capture one of the men alive. However, these two people were on high alert. It was now much more difficult for him to capture one of them alive. He needed an opportunity, even if it was just one second. He would be able to do it if the attention of the enemy got off him for a second. He suddenly had a stroke of inspiration. Wu Peng sneakily took out his phone and steered the Bird above the enemy¡¯s heads and made it dive into one of their heads. That person had put all of his focus towards what was in front of him. Now that his head had been hit suddenly, he was startled even though it had not been very painful. He could not stop himself from crying out in shock even though he had undergone strict training. ¡°There¡¯s something above us!¡± Chapter 16 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio The man¡¯s shout immediately caused his partner to quickly look above their heads and created the opportunity Wu Peng had waited for. He shifted half of his body out from cover and aimed his gun at the neck of one of the men and pulled the trigger. As the man fell onto the ground, Wu Peng charged forward and fiercely tackled the other person to the ground. The person also reacted quickly. He realized that the situation was bad the moment he got tackled and immediately reached out to pull his dagger from its sheath beside his thigh. Unfortunately, Wu Peng had predicted his movement and turned the dagger in his hand around and stabbed it into the crook of the man¡¯s arm. The Viper member let out a painful moan but had not given up on fighting back. He started to feel for his grenades around his waist with his other hand and intended to take Wu Peng down with him. ¡°You sure are a persistent gangster,¡± Wu Peng thought in his heart and pressed down on the man¡¯s arm with his hand. The two of them started a long strength contest. Unfortunately, the man could not free himself from Wu Peng¡¯s pincer-like grip no matter how much he struggled. Wu Peng felt the man¡¯s strength get weaker and weaker and knew that he had run out of strength. However, as a safety precaution, Wu Peng pulled the oxygen tube out of the man¡¯s protective gear. Without his oxygen supply, the man immediately stopped struggling, and his body started to convulse in pain. To prevent the man from suffocating to death, Wu Peng pulled open his protective gear. The face of a 30-year-old man appeared before his eyes. The man glared at Wu Peng with a venomous gaze. Wu Peng reached out toward the man¡¯s waist and disarmed all of his grenades and handguns before he dragged the man toward the side of the wall and sat him up. ¡°What¡¯s your name? Why do you want to destroy the satellite signal station? Where are you hiding the core installations that you stole? I¡¯ll spare your life if you tell me,¡± Wu Peng asked as he interrogated him. The man fell silent for a moment before he let out a cold, mocking laugh, ¡°We¡¯ll rule everything eventually!¡± He had a determined gaze in his eyes. Wu Peng thought that the situation was bad, and he saw a streak of black-colored blood flow from the corner of the man¡¯s mouth. Wu Peng felt for the man¡¯s heartbeat, only to realize that it had stopped completely. This was the first time Wu Peng had interacted with a member of Viper. They had average combat skills, but his non-existent fear of death gave Wu Peng the chills. Fortunately, he had decided to come to investigate the area alone. If these men from Viper were to face off against Ye Wei¡¯s team, just their suicidal attacks alone would cause Ye Wei and her team to suffer heavy casualties. Wu Peng felt a little frustrated. He had worked the entire day but did not manage to obtain any new information. However, it was better for him to get Ye Wei and the rest of her team to deal with the aftermath. Wu Peng dragged the corpses together and picked up all of the bullet shells left on the ground. He did not want Ye Wei to find out that he was the one who killed all these men. He gathered all of the grenades around their waists. He cut a few of the grenades open with his dagger and poured the gunpowder out to create a fuse. He left behind the corpses of the men who had been killed by his dagger or committed suicide by consuming poison. He placed the rest of the corpses together and installed the rest of the grenades on them. He estimated the time it would take for the spark to reach the grenades through the fuse and confirmed that he would have enough time to run back to the trench. He ignited the fuse and left the scene. He jogged back to the trench and heard a giant explosion pierce through the night sky shortly after. Ye Wei immediately took out her binoculars to observe the situation. ¡°Everyone, listen to my orders! Scouts and snipers are to remain here. Daliu and A¡¯liang, follow me! The rest of you, follow 30 meters behind us and cover us.¡± After she relayed her orders, Ye Wei led the team and was the first to advance toward the ruins where the explosion had happened. Wu Peng could not remain and hide in the trench. He jogged over and caught up to Ye Wei. ¡°What are you doing here? Go back and await orders!¡± Ye Wei wanted to drive Wu Peng away, but he pretended to be cool and disregarded her words. Left without a choice, Ye Wei got Daliu and A¡¯liang to protect Wu Peng. After the group arrived at the ruins, Ye Wei was the first to charge into the building to investigate. Wu Peng knew that there was no danger in the building but Ye Wei did not know that. Wu Peng had a look of admiration when he saw Ye Wei put herself in danger for her team. She investigated the building for a short while before she noticed the corpses of the members of Viper. Ye Wei arranged for a few of her men to act as scouts around the area and began a simple investigation of the corpses. ¡°Judging from their attire and equipment, they are all warriors that have been through strict training. However, based on their wounds, other than one who had committed suicide by consuming poison, the rest of them have had their throats slit open at a close distance. What¡¯s going on?¡± Wu Peng stood on the side as he listened to Ye Wei¡¯s analysis. He felt amused when he saw how Ye Wei was a little confused. ¡°Captain Ye, in your opinion, do you think that the person who managed to assassinate these men at a close distance has phenomenal combat prowess?¡± Wu Peng asked her curiously. Ye Wei did not know the truth and immediately nodded in approval, ¡°Your analysis is correct. That person must be a top-notch expert.¡± Wu Peng fought back the urge to laugh. It felt great to be praised. ¡°I can¡¯t determine anything for the time being. I¡¯ll have to wait until we examine the corpses closely back at the base.¡± Ye Wei stood up and called for reinforcements. ¡­ Sometime later, a six-wheeled armored vehicle drove over and a few law enforcers leaped out to carry the corpses away. ¡°Captain Ye, what should we do next? Do we continue standing guard or return to the base?¡± Wu Peng asked. ¡°What do you mean? We¡¯ll have to continue standing guard, of course. What if this was a trap set up by the enemy?¡± Ye Wei¡¯s explanation was logical, and Wu Peng had no complaints. Viper might send another wave of men over. ¡°Captain Ye, I was in awe of how you had led the charge just now. You really are Hua Mulan reborn,¡± Wu Peng said as he praised her. Ye Wei saw how Wu Peng was being frivolous again and could not care to respond. She had learned to ignore Wu Peng¡¯s words. The team continued to stand guard after the corpses were transported away. They did not notice any abnormalities until daybreak. Ye Wei and the rest only got ready to head back to sleep when a new batch of law enforcers arrived at the scene. Wu Peng was still energetic even though he had spent the night here. ¡°General Hua, are you going to come to stand guard again tonight?¡± ¡°What General Hua? Why do you still have the energy to be this frivolous even after spending the night out here?¡± Ye Wei asked in a cold tone. Ye Wei had to hand it to Wu Peng. Even she felt a little tired after she put all her concentration into guarding the area last night. However, Wu Peng acted as though nothing had happened. ¡°I am always this full of energy. I can show you if there¡¯s an opportunity next time.¡± Wu Peng secretly threw in a sexual joke but Ye Wei did not catch it. After bidding goodbye to Ye Wei and the rest of the team, Wu Peng returned to his little den and ate a simple meal. He laid down on his bed and started to replay the scenes of the battle last night in his head. If those people had really been sent by Viper, then the organization was something that he should not underestimate. Just a small team of theirs had such terrifying equipment and determination, they could choose to consume poison and die on the spot. If everyone in Viper was like that, he would not be able to obtain any useful information even after ten battles. He could only hope that Ye Wei could find some useful clues after investigating their corpses. A smile appeared on Wu Peng¡¯s face when he thought about Ye Wei. Captain Ye had become General Hua in his heart. She was a woman with both brains and brawn, and he admired her deeply. Unfortunately, Ye Wei still seemed to be wary of him and always deliberately put some distance between them. However, Wu Peng was not worried. A person who he had set his sights on would not be able to escape. Chapter 17 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio The night passed quietly. When the new day arrived, Wu Peng received a new wave of point rewards as usual. However, what was different today was that the system had awarded him an extra 1000 points. Wu Peng quickly flipped open the point reward journal to have a look. The journal stated that the extra point reward had been granted as he had successfully stopped the satellite signal receiver from being destroyed. Wu Peng was a little agitated, as he had spent all of the 2000 points he had painstakingly amassed previously. These 1000 points made him a little more confident in dealing with any accidents that might arise in the future. Wu Peng hummed a small tune and prepared a simple breakfast before he headed over to Ye Wei¡¯s office after he finished. When he arrived at the base of the law enforcers, Ye Wei was researching some pieces of information in her office. Wu Peng saw that she was deep in concentration and remembered that Ye Wei had told him to knock the other day. ¡°Cough cough! Good morning, General Hua!¡± Ye Wei signaled for him to enter without having to lift her head. Wu Peng wore a wide smile as he walked into her office. He shifted over to Ye Wei and stole a glance at the information in her hands that contained a report with the analysis of the corpses that were found last night. ¡°What have you gathered from the analysis, General Hua?¡± Ye Wei closed the file and placed it on her table. ¡°After we did a thorough investigation on these corpses, we found that they all had the same snake-shaped tattoo on their arms, the symbol of Viper. We can confirm that these men had been sent over by Viper.¡± ¡°Snake-shaped tattoo?¡± Wu Peng immediately reached out for the file on the table. He wanted to see exactly how the snake-shaped tattoo looked. ¡°Bam!¡± A crisp sound rang out. Ye Wei had slapped the table and gave Wu Peng a cold glare. ¡°This is the internal information of the law enforcers! Outsiders are not allowed to read it!¡± Wu Peng knitted his brows slightly. Ye Wei¡¯s attitude made him a little frustrated. However, he quickly put his smile back on. ¡°It¡¯s fine if I can¡¯t read it. I can just listen to you tell me about it.¡± Ye Wei saw the powerful control Wu Peng had over his emotions and thought even more highly of him. It was actually fine for Wu Peng to read the report, as there were no other clues other than the tattoos on the men¡¯s arms. However, those men had died in an abandoned building near the station in a strange manner. Ye Wei could not understand what was going on. Even if it was internal strife, how could she explain the person who had committed suicide by consuming poison? The problem would be even greater if those men had been killed by some other organization. The killer was able to eliminate an elite team from Viper without anyone realizing it. Even the law enforcement team a kilometer away did not notice anything out of the ordinary. That kind of ability made Ye Wei feel tremendous pressure. Additionally, after the other party had eliminated the team sent by Viper, they intentionally ignited the grenades to attract the law enforcers¡¯ attention. It was as if everything was under the control of this mysterious faction. Ye Wei could not understand the situation after she thought about it for a long time. Who would appear suddenly to complicate the situation? She suddenly had a stroke of inspiration when she saw Wu Peng. Wasn¡¯t it very possible for it to be him? He had a mysterious background and possessed the ability to produce his own weapons. He also had a determined spirit and skin as thick as steel. She deliberately flared up at Wu Peng just now. However, Ye Wei felt that she overthought things when she saw Wu Peng act like a bum. ¡°General Hua, we¡¯ve already agreed that I¡¯ll help you find the core installation in exchange for some seeds. Are you deliberately trying to trip me up by not sharing information with me today?¡± Wu Peng saw Ye Wei sit there silently in a daze and started to speak in a weird tone. ¡°What I told you just now was all of the information we obtained from the corpses. There are no other useful clues.¡± Ye Wei¡¯s tone was a little dejected. Viper was extremely impressive. They have not exposed any openings even though the law enforcers have been investigating them for such a long time. This had a considerable impact on Ye Wei¡¯s psyche. She had always been confident of her abilities. Wu Peng knew that this would happen. He did not manage to obtain any clues after he personally interrogated one of their members. How could the law enforcers find any useful pieces of information from their corpses? He reached out and gently patted Ye Wei¡¯s shoulder, then, as if assuming the role of her senior, said, ¡°General Hua, the road toward the truth is often turbulent and arduous. Don¡¯t lose your confidence after encountering a little setback.¡± Ye Wei instinctively nodded. She suddenly felt that something was wrong and pointed toward the door in frustration as she shouted, ¡°Get out!¡± Wu Peng quickly scurried out the door. ¡­ When he returned to his little den, Wu Peng walked around his shelter. Everything had gotten on the right track, but he had to continue to move forward. Humans had to strive for improvement. The current size of his shelter no longer satisfied his desire to have more facilities in his shelter. He had just obtained a reward of 1000 points. Even though he had not had the points for long, it was about time to use it. Even though he had won during his first encounter with a member of Viper, that was merely the beginning. Wu Peng was sure that Viper would not give up easily. They would send even more powerful opponents next time. While he still had time, he had to quickly improve his abilities. The current shelter had an area of 300 square meters. He needed 500 points to expand its area to build a simple gym. In this post-apocalyptic world, having a strong body and spirit was extremely important. He accessed the attribute panel of the shelter and pressed on the option to expand its area. He heard a rumble that lasted for ten seconds. ¡°Expansion of the main hall completed. The area of the shelter has been increased by 20 square meters. You are rewarded with 20 points for your first expansion,¡± the Mechanical System¡¯s notification said. ¡°500 points for 20 square meters. The property prices of the post-apocalyptic world are not cheap.¡± Wu Peng secretly cursed. He accessed the attribute panel of the shelter. As expected, the gym that he had not been able to use before was usable now. The Simple Gym provided the most basic equipment and required 100 points. Wu Peng had wanted to build the gym from the start and decisively tapped on that option. A beam of white light flashed in the shelter, and the Simple Gym appeared before him. The interior of the Simple Gym was like any other and had a few pieces of basic gym equipment. Wu Peng took off his shirt and started to lift weights after he finished a simple warm-up. After he trained for half an hour, the system suddenly gave him a notification. ¡°Strength of the host has increased by one point. The Physique Attribute Panel has been unlocked.¡± ¡°Oh? The system could still monitor my physical attributes when I trained in the gym? My strength increased by one point. How many points does my strength have in total?¡± Wu Peng immediately set down the dumbbells in his hands and accessed the system interface. He searched through the interface for a moment before he found his Physique Attribute Panel. [Wu Peng] [Health]: 95 [Strength]: 20 [Speed]: 18 [Stamina]: 15 [Intelligence]: 19 [Mind]: 22 These were the six most important fundamental attributes. Several attributes were derived from these main attributes. Amongst these six attributes, other than health having an upper limit of 100, there are theoretically no upper limits to the rest of the attributes. Wu Peng examined the system closely and secretly thanked his good fortune. If he had not built the gym, he would never have unlocked the Attribute Panel and the system never would have given him a clue that this panel existed. Now that he had the Attribute Panel, he could monitor the status of his body at any time. Chapter 18 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Medical supplies were incredibly rare in this post-apocalyptic world. Many people could only choose to take their illnesses head-on after they got sick. They could only blame their luck if they succumbed to their illness. Health checkups were basically non-existent in this world. Now that he had the ¡°health¡± attribute in his Physique Attribute Panel, Wu Peng could constantly check on the status of his body and he would know when there was a problem with his body when his health value dropped. The production station should also give him the option of producing medical equipment and medicine. Wu Peng would not have to worry about suddenly dying from a disease when he constantly upgraded the production station in the future. Wu Peng did not want to waste time since he could increase his strength while he trained in the gym. He wiped off his sweat with a towel and was prepared to continue to lift weights. However, there wasn¡¯t much equipment in the gym, it didn¡¯t even have a treadmill. Only the most basic pieces of equipment were inside the gym. ¡°It would be nice if I could upgrade the equipment in the gym.¡± Wu Peng thought about it. He accessed the Attribute Panel, found the options for the gym, and noticed that the gym could be upgraded. The Ordinary Gym was the upgraded form of the Simple Gym. It had more equipment for working out and could slightly increase the speed of his attribute gain. ¡°Increase the speed of attribute gain?¡± Wu Peng immediately became excited. Would he be able to become Superman if he trained in the gym constantly for a year? However, the upgrade for the gym required 500 points. He had just spent 500 points to expand the shelter and another 100 points to build the gym. He would become penniless if he upgraded the gym. Wu Peng struggled between the two decisions in his heart for a while. He clenched his teeth and pressed down on the option to upgrade the gym. The thought of becoming Superman had taken root in his heart. He had to advance no matter the price he had to pay. There was a beam of white light, and the gym had been successfully upgraded. Now there were many pieces of equipment in the gym. There was a treadmill, chest developer, squat machine, and other pieces of equipment waiting for Wu Peng to use. ¡°Hehe, I¡¯ll become Superman soon!¡± Wu Peng let out a strange cry and sprinted to the chest developer to work on his chest muscles. He felt blood rush to muscles. It felt as though he constantly oozed power. However, Wu Peng had trained for a full hour and was completely exhausted before the system nonchalantly issued a notification. ¡°Strength increased by one point.¡± ¡°My God! I toiled throughout the entire day just for one point!¡± Wu Peng slumped to the ground and panted heavily. He felt that something was off. He had trained with the dumbbells for half an hour in the Simple Gym and managed to increase his strength by one point. Why did the speed of his progress become slower after he upgraded the gym and used better equipment? Didn¡¯t the system say that it could boost the speed of attribute increase? ¡°My 500 points!¡± Wu Peng felt his heart bleed knowing that he had spent a full 500 points on this upgrade. However, Wu Peng did not know that his strength had been on the verge of leveling up just now. His strength would increase as time passed even if he did not work out. Working out only hastened the process. If he wanted his strength to increase right after it leveled up, it would take a while for the additional one-point increase. If not for the gym, he might have to spend half a year for his strength to increase by one point again. Wu Peng crawled up dejectedly after he rested on the floor for a moment. ¡°Looks like I won¡¯t be able to become Superman, but I can still accept that my body is becoming stronger.¡± Wu Peng quickly adjusted his mindset and shot two punches at the sandbag. He realized that fact even though his strength had only increased by one point. The effects of that increase were very prominent. The power he had behind his punches had become much larger than before. ¡°I¡¯ll settle for becoming Batman if I can¡¯t become Superman.¡± He had to head out to gloat now that he had become stronger. Wu Peng immediately headed to the base of the law enforcers. He lifted his head, raised his chest, and spread open his arms after he walked past the main door. He intentionally walked into the base with small strides. His posture naturally attracted the attention of the people around him. After getting familiar with Wu Peng during this time, the law enforcers knew that he liked to play the fool and walked past him with smiles on their faces. Just like that, Wu Peng walked all the way to Ye Wei¡¯s office. ¡°Little Ye, do you notice anything different about me?¡± Ye Wei glanced toward him, not knowing what he was up to once again. ¡°Why do you look like a fighting rooster?¡± ¡°Hehe, I¡¯ve been working out in the gym and now my muscles have gotten much stronger. Please call me ¡®Macho Man¡¯ in the future!¡± Wu Peng said with a cheeky grin as he flexed his muscles. The corners of Ye Wei¡¯s lips rose slightly but quickly returned to normal. ¡°You even have a gym? Are you sure you weren¡¯t just lifting rocks?¡± ¡°Hmph, I use standard gym equipment. I have stuff like treadmills, chest developers, and the like. Do you know about chest presses? I can do 30 of them!¡± Wu Peng bragged. He wanted Ye Wei to take him seriously instead of teasing him. Ye Wei saw that he was being serious. She stood up, walked toward him, and observed him from head to toe. ¡°How many kilograms do you use with your chest developer?¡± ¡°30 kgs!¡± Wu Peng proudly raised his head even higher. ¡°Puuu! 30 kgs? Even I use 35 kgs. Daliu can do 50 chest presses on 100 kgs of weight!¡± Ye Wei said with a laugh. ¡°¡­ Goodbye!¡± Wu Peng squirmed and turned to run as he felt embarrassed by Ye Wei¡¯s teasing. It was only now that he realized how ordinary his physique was. ¡°Wait!¡± Ye Wei fought back her laughter and stopped Wu Peng. ¡°Don¡¯t continue to humiliate me!¡± Wu Peng¡¯s face was red. He looked at the ground, too embarrassed to look at Ye Wei. ¡°Let¡¯s talk about work. Two hours ago the other cities also experienced incidents of the satellite signal stations being destroyed. I highly suspect that Viper did this,¡± Ye Wei said. Wu Peng¡¯s expression instantly became stern, ¡°Are there any other pieces of useful information?¡± Ye Wei shook her head, ¡°The other cities don¡¯t have it as good as us. They couldn¡¯t come across the members of Viper.¡± ¡°Just what is Viper trying to do? Attacking in multiple locations is not a good idea. How could they be so confident that they could deal with that many law enforcers at once?¡± Wu Peng wondered. ¡°No matter what Viper¡¯s plan is, we have to protect our last station. Viper will definitely expose an opening when they become pressured enough,¡± Yu Wei said confidently. ¡­ After the two of them discussed some details, it was now evening. Ye Wei had to start to make preparations to hand her shift over, and Wu Peng did not continue to bother her. Wu Peng¡¯s phone suddenly rang on his way home. It was an alert from the Bird Scouting Drone. Ever since he crossed swords with Viper, Wu Peng was afraid that they would infiltrate and sabotage his shelter while he was out, so he configured the Bird to automatically patrol the area around his shelter when he left and alert him if it detected a biological creature near his shelter. He connected his phone to the camera of the Bird Scouting drone and saw a woman hastily escape near his shelter. The woman was simply dressed, and she had many wounds on her exposed skin. She tightly gripped a black crystal in her right hand. At the same time, three people in pure-black protective gear were hot in pursuit behind the woman. Wu Peng immediately recognized that they were members of Viper through their outfits. Chapter 19 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Wu Peng did not know who the woman was or why she was being chased by members of Viper, but he knew that he had to help her. He immediately sprinted toward the direction the woman was running toward while observing the situation from his phone. The woman seemed to be out of stamina, and she staggered as she ran. She looked like she was about to fall at any moment. Wu Peng felt a little anxious as he was still rather far away. He knew that there would definitely be an arduous battle when he got there, and he had to conserve his energy. A few minutes later, the woman could not last any longer, she tripped over a piece of rock and fell forward like a tossed rag. The members of Viper behind her immediately charged forward. They disregarded the woman¡¯s pain and fear, tightly surrounded her, and snatched the black crystal from her hands. One of the members of Viper closely examined the black crystal and placed it into a pouch around his waist. After they obtained what they had come for, the three people from Viper pulled the woman up and seemed to ask her about something. However, the woman shook her head continuously before they viciously beat her unconscious. By the time he saw this, Wu Peng was within 500 meters from them. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t I be able to find Viper¡¯s base if I followed them?¡± After he thought about this, Wu Peng chose not to rush forward to save the woman. He took out his gun and fitted a silencer on its barrel. He took a detour and came behind the three men. One of them had to carry the unconscious woman. This affected the speed at which the three men moved which allowed Wu Peng to easily follow them from further away. However, this beautiful scenario did not last long. After the three-man group had walked roughly two kilometers, the member of Viper who was carrying the woman became a little frustrated. ¡°Do you think it¡¯s time for someone else to carry this woman? She¡¯s dead weight.¡± In the end, the other two people of the group did not speak. None of them wanted to do this effortful and laborious task. ¡°Did you not hear me when I¡¯m talking to you?¡± the member carrying the woman shouted. The other two members finally stopped in their tracks when they saw him refuse to carry the woman any longer. ¡°What are you doing, S3?¡± S2 asked irritably. ¡°Why must I be the only one to carry this woman?¡± S3 asked angrily. ¡°Your marksmanship is the poorest. Do you want S1 to carry her?¡± S2 said with a mocking tone. ¡°F*ck you! Is your marksmanship better than mine?¡± S3 shouted as he pulled out his gun and aimed it at S2 for mocking him. ¡°Do you think that you are the only one who has a gun?¡± S2 was unwilling to show weakness and also raised his gun. ¡°Enough!¡± S1 interrupted their conflict and looked at the unconscious woman. ¡°We¡¯ve obtained the item. This woman has no more value to us alive. Kill her.¡± Wu Peng saw the three-man group suddenly stop to converse and thus sneakily got closer to them. In the end, he heard that they were going to execute the woman and immediately thought that the situation had turned for the worse. Originally, he had wanted to follow the group all the way back to their lair. However, he could not look on helplessly as Viper killed an innocent person before his eyes. Wu Peng saw the group aim their guns toward the woman. Wu Peng hesitated no longer. He took out the AK-47 behind his back, cocked the gun, took aim, and fired in one fluid motion. ¡°Bang, bang, bang!¡± The sound of three gunshots reverberated in the air. The AK-47 had decent power, but it was also deafening. All three members of Viper wore modified protective gear that had bulletproof qualities. It was hard for him to kill them in one shot from that far away with his handgun. Wu Peng could only use the more powerful AK-47 to deal with one of the men first. S3¡¯s face was smashed in by the bullets of the AK-47. The other two members of the group immediately crawled down onto the ground and aimed their guns toward Wu Peng at the same time. Unlike the close-ranged assassination that he did the previous night, a mid-ranged gunfight was more dangerous. Guns were more unpredictable. The other party might not be able to land a bullet on him and hit a vital spot with one bullet. Additionally, he had two enemies. Wu Peng would be foolish as to engage in positional warfare. After he killed one of the members, Wu Peng hugged his gun and started to sprint to the left. The two members of Viper who crawled on the ground immediately started to retaliate after they collected themselves. ¡°Bang, bang, bang, bang!¡± A string of gunshots rang out. However, Wu Peng ran at such a high speed they did not have an accurate shot at him, the bullets flew past his body and could not hit him. ¡°Throw a grenade!¡± S1 ordered with a deep voice. The two of them took out a grenade from around their waists, pulled the pin, and threw it toward Wu Peng. Even though Wu Peng was sprinting, he constantly paid attention to the movements of the enemies using his peripheral vision. He realized that the other party was going to throw grenades after they stopped firing their guns. He raised his sprinting speed to its maximum and pounced forward. He heard a deafening explosion behind him, but he did not have the time to check if he had been injured by any flying shrapnel. Wu Peng sat up, aimed his rifle quickly toward one of the men, and pulled the trigger. ¡°Ah!¡± Wu Peng heard a pitiful cry when S2 had been hit in the shoulder. The impact of a 7.62-caliber bullet was immense. It instantly shattered half of his shoulder. Even though he had not died yet, he lost his ability to battle. S1¡¯s heart thumped wildly because he did not know just who their opponent was. Their opponent¡¯s marksmanship, reaction speed, and battle capabilities were on the same level as the coaches in Viper. He stroked the pouch around his waist that held the black crystal. The mission that the organization had given him and his team were to return with the black crystal. There was no need for him to battle to the death with that person here. S1 shot a few bullets in Wu Peng¡¯s direction and turned to run. Wu Peng was a little surprised when he saw that his enemy chose to escape. ¡°The members of Viper were unafraid of death. So why are they retreating today?¡± he thought. He then thought about the black crystal and immediately understood the situation. ¡°That item must be very important. I cannot let it fall into Viper¡¯s hands.¡± Wu Peng leaped up from his original position, aimed, and fired at S1. However, it was extremely difficult to hit a moving person. Even Wu Peng could not guarantee that he could hit a moving target. The person had run several meters away by the time Wu Peng fired his rifle. ¡°You¡¯re running so quickly, you might as well change your name to ¡®Bunny.''¡± Wu Peng hugged his gun and chased after the man. S1 sprinted for a moment and felt his stamina drop drastically. He quickly turned back to have a look and realized that Wu Peng was chasing after him and was not that far away. He quickly accelerated. He thought of the terrifying punishment the organization would dish out on him if he allowed the black crystal to be stolen. However, no matter how much he ran, Wu Peng followed behind him, a short distance away. Wu Peng was like a shadow, he could not shake him. S1 became increasingly anxious, which caused his stamina to drop even faster. However, he did not know that Wu Peng was also on his last legs. His stamina was a little better than the average person, but he had exhausted a good amount of it during their battle. Wu Peng would have given up the chase if the enemy could continue to run for two minutes. ¡°Urgh!¡± S1 could no longer take it. The intense sprint had caused the contents in his gut to churn. He could not help but pull off the mask of his protective gear and retch. Wu Peng could not stop himself but laugh when he saw how haggard the other person looked. His joy quickly turned into sorrow. He cut off his air supply when he laughed and also felt his stomach churn. Chapter 20 Chapter 20: Treatment Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio ¡°Urgh!¡± Wu Peng could not stop himself from pulling off the mask of his protective gear and vomiting either. The two of them looked at each other and vomited on the ground a dozen meters apart. The two of them no longer had any gas left in the tank. They did not even have the strength to raise their guns. Wu Peng was not afraid that the other person would try to escape. Instead, he sat up and started to rest. On the other hand, S1 tried to continue to run away. In the end, he staggered and fell face-first into the dirt. ¡°Hahaha, fool!¡± Wu Peng slowly stood up and walked toward his enemy. S1 saw Wu Peng slowly approach him. He wanted to stand up but he felt an intense pain in his thigh when his leg cramped up. ¡°Why does Viper want to destroy the satellite signal receiver? I¡¯ll let you go if you can answer this question,¡± Wu Peng said as he interrogated the man. S1¡¯s face was contorted with pain, and his eyes were bloodshot. ¡°You don¡¯t want to say? Then consume your poison and commit suicide.¡± A cold, merciless smile spread across Wu Peng¡¯s face. ¡°How did you know¡­ The person who foiled the plan the other night, was it you?¡± S1 heard that Wu Peng knew of the existence of the poison in his mouth and immediately realized that Wu Peng was the one who killed the men that Viper had sent out the other night. Thinking about this, S1 silently moved his hand toward the grenades around his waist. It would be worth it if he could take this man¡¯s life along with his. Wu Peng noticed the actions of the other person and felt a wave of anxiety. His legs were like logs. He would not be able to avoid an explosion at such a close distance. Besides, it was too late for him to take action and stop the other person. He would instead make the enemy blow himself up even sooner. This was the most dangerous moment he had been in ever since he came to this post-apocalyptic world. Countless ideas flashed in his head as he tried to think of a way to avoid this. S1 pulled off a grenade from his waist and held it in his hand. He looked at Wu Peng with a ferocious smile, ¡°Hehe, you¡¯re trying to force me to commit suicide? That¡¯s giving you too much of a benefit. I¡¯ll drag you down along with me when I die!¡± He clenched his teeth after he was done speaking and was about to pull off the pin of the grenade. Wu Peng suddenly saw the other person¡¯s pouch at this critical moment and remembered that the black crystal was in it. ¡°Haha, to think that Viper would nurture such a stupid person. How could you not fail?¡± Wu Peng said with a mocking tone. S1 did not expect Wu Peng to dare mock him. He loosened his bite and asked, ¡°What nonsense are you speaking at the brink of your death? I will forever have utmost loyalty for Viper!¡± Seeing that the other person had taken the bait, Wu Peng heaved a sigh of relief, and his mocking expression became even heavier. ¡°Is that so? Didn¡¯t Viper send you out to steal the black crystal?¡± S1 stared at Wu Peng and did not speak. ¡°Did they not warn you before you came out that you had to bring the black crystal back at all cost?¡± Wu Peng asked mockingly, his lips curled into an evil smile. S1¡¯s gaze started to waver. He seemed to understand what Wu Peng talked about. ¡°Once you set off the grenade, the black crystal would definitely be blasted to bits. Tell me, wouldn¡¯t that foil Viper¡¯s plans?¡± Wu Peng¡¯s words were very logical. S1 started to hesitate. However, he still rebutted, ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be even worse if it landed in your hands?¡± Wu Peng looked at S1 as if he were a fool. He shook his head and said, ¡°Tsk tsk tsk. You don¡¯t admit that you are a fool. Viper can still snatch the crystal back if it landed in my hands. But it would be completely lost if it got blasted to bits.¡± S1 was confused. It was true that Viper thought the black crystal was highly important. Would he have foiled the plans if he blasted the crystal to pieces? Seeing that S1 was in a daze, Wu Peng sneakily moved his hand toward the handgun beside his waist after his stamina recovered slightly after a short rest. As long as he could pull out his gun, Wu Peng was confident that he could kill S1 with one shot at such a close distance. Unfortunately, S1 started to laugh maniacally, ¡°Hahaha! I nearly got fooled by your devious words.¡± As he spoke, he took out the black crystal from his pouch and threw it off to the side, and pulled the pin out of the grenade. ¡°F*ck!¡± Wu Peng did not have time to stop him. He could only turn around and crouch on the ground. However, at such a close distance, he would definitely be heavily injured, if not killed, by the impact. Countless images flashed past Wu Peng¡¯s mind within a few seconds. The final image was of Ye Wei¡¯s face. He crouched for a while but realized that nothing happened. When he looked back, S1 also had a confused expression. He looked at the grenade in his hand in a daze. ¡°Hahaha! To think that it¡¯s a dummy grenade! The quality of Viper¡¯s items is so poor!¡± Wu Peng mocked S1 maniacally. He stood up and fiercely kicked the grenade in S1¡¯s hand away. S1 had just come to his senses and he let out a howl of despair. He did not expect to be done in by the organization that he trusted the most. ¡°Don¡¯t be so smug! I have more!¡± S1 wanted to take out another grenade. However, Wu Peng did not give him a chance to as he stomped down on S1¡¯s face and immediately fractured his nose bridge. He even broke off three of S1¡¯s teeth. When he saw that the advantage was lost, S1 closed his eyes and bit down fiercely onto the poison that was inlaid in his back molar. A streak of black blood flowed down the corner of his mouth and his body tilted to the side and he died. Wu Peng let out a long sigh. It was troublesome to battle a lunatic who was not afraid of death. Fortunately, he was lucky enough to come across a dummy grenade. Otherwise, he would have lost his life today. Wu Peng found the black crystal in S1¡¯s pouch. He thought that the item looked familiar, ¡°Didn¡¯t it look like the fragment of the meteor that I used to make the chip?¡± He pried the protective gear around S1¡¯s arm open and saw the tattoo of a black snake. With the black crystal in hand, Wu Peng went back to search for the unconscious woman. After he rested for a moment, he carried the woman back to his shelter. Wu Peng was at his limits after the string of battles he had. He slumped onto the floor after he placed the woman on the bed. He took out a few buns and polished them off in an instant. Now that he had food in his stomach, his stamina recovered quickly. ¡°Stamina increased by one point.¡± A notification of the system rang out. Wu Peng wore a bitter smile, ¡°I only got one point after I was nearly exhausted to death.¡± He examined the woman and realized that not only was she covered in wounds, but she was also severely dehydrated. Her life might be in danger. He got some purified water with a can and slowly fed it to her. He accessed his production station and produced a few simple medicines and bandages for ten points before he carefully cleaned and tended to her wounds. The woman¡¯s breathing gradually stabilized after nearly an hour¡¯s worth of treatment. She slowly opened her eyes after another hour. The woman shouted in shock and fear when she saw the unfamiliar environment she was in. ¡°My name is Wu Peng. Don¡¯t be afraid, you are safe now. I¡¯ve killed all of the people who were pursuing you.¡± Wu Peng placed the black crystal in her hands. The woman bawled when she was the crystal in her hands. Wu Peng did not stop her, he quietly waited for her to regain her composure. Finally, the woman stopped crying, and she said with a raspy voice, ¡°Thank you, my name is Elsa.¡± ¡°Elsa, can you tell me what happened?¡± Wu Peng asked her gently. ¡°It¡¯s all because of this crystallized meteorite!¡± Elsa slowly told Wu Peng about what happened. Chapter 21 According to Elsa¡¯s description, her family had been living in a shelter that they had built themselves. Elsa¡¯s father was an architect who liked to research doomsday legends during his free time and even started to build his own shelter when Elsa was very young. The basement of their home had been modified to become a shelter during her childhood with a stockpile of seeds and emergency rations. Wu Peng had a glimmer in his eyes when he heard that there were seeds. He wanted to ask Elsa about the whereabouts of her shelter. However, he thought for a moment and suppressed the urge. She was already so pitiful. He should not lust over her belongings for the time being. ¡°Judging from that, my hobbies are quite similar to that of your father¡¯s,¡± Wu Peng said. Elsa had a gentle gaze when she talked about her father. ¡°My father was a humorous and brave man. It was because of him that my mother and I did not feel despair when the apocalypse arrived.¡± ¡°Humorous and brave, wasn¡¯t that the same as me?¡± Wu Peng secretly praised himself. As if she had slipped into a beautiful memory, Elsa became silent. Wu Peng did not rush her. He stood up and handed Elsa a can of water. ¡°You are very dehydrated. Drink some water to replenish yourself.¡± Elsa thanked him after taking the water from his hands and continued with her story after she started to sip the water. When the apocalypse arrived, her father, being a high-level architect, was mobilized to work on the official shelters. Even though the government had done well to keep up with the secrecy, Elsa¡¯s father still managed to see that something was off. The government had suddenly wanted to build a large underground building. That either meant that they were going to war or that doomsday was approaching. After the shelter was built, the higher-ups from the agency secretly sent men to look for Elsa¡¯s father. They hoped that he would join the official shelter but they only allowed him to bring one family member along. ¡°I would think that your father chose not to go to the official shelter?¡± Wu Peng asked. ¡°That¡¯s right. No matter who my father chose, the person who stayed behind would not be able to survive,¡± Elsa explained. Elsa¡¯s father decisively chose to reject the offer but as an exchange, he could not tell his wife and daughter about the apocalypse before the news reported about it. As their house already had a shelter, all Elsa¡¯s father needed to do was to constantly reinforce it. Back then, Elsa¡¯s mother thought that he had gone insane and had even quarreled with him over it. However, in the end, Elsa¡¯s father continued to reinforce the shelter like a lunatic. His stubbornness was rewarded, and the shelter held up after the apocalypse arrived, and his family understood his efforts. Unfortunately, the good times did not last long since a giant meteor crashed into Jiang City a short time ago. Originally, Elsa and her family thought that they were done for and did not expect to survive. At this point of the story, if nothing else had happened after, this was supposed to be an encouraging and great ending. However, one day, Elsa¡¯s father brought back a black crystal and told them that it had fallen from the meteor. ¡°That¡¯s this crystallized meteorite?¡± Wu Peng asked, filled with curiosity. Elsa slowly nodded and looked at the crystallized meteorite beside her with a complicated gaze. Elsa¡¯s father seemed to have been possessed after he obtained the crystallized meteorite and researched the item all day long. Even after he exhausted all of the means at his disposal, he could not decipher anything useful. He took a picture of the crystallized meteorite and posted it online to seek help from other netizens. In the end, this action attracted Viper¡¯s attention. Viper first sent men disguised as scientists to communicate with Elsa¡¯s father through the Internet before they obtained the address of Elsa¡¯s shelter. ¡°Yesterday, when our family was asleep, we heard a loud explosion. The door had been forcefully blasted apart and four people dressed in black protective gear charged in. They captured my father and started to interrogate him about the whereabouts of the crystallized meteorite.¡± Elsa¡¯s eyes turned red, and her voice became softer and softer. Elsa¡¯s father pretended to give in and lied to the members of Viper and said that he had hidden the crystallized meteorite somewhere else. The members of Viper sent three men to retrieve the crystal with Elsa¡¯s father, while one of them stayed behind to keep an eye on Elsa and her mother. Elsa¡¯s mother was not an ordinary housewife. She had been a coach in the Jiang City Sports School before the apocalypse arrived. She knew that the crystallized meteorite was hidden in the shelter and that her husband might not make it back alive. Her husband had created an opportunity for them to escape and had sacrificed his life for theirs. Elsa¡¯s mother found an opportunity and engaged in battle with the guard while Elsa grabbed the crystallized meteorite and ran out of the shelter. She had just run a few meters when she heard a wave of gunfire that came from the shelter. She knew that her mother had been killed and was flooded with grief. However, the most important matter at hand was to escape. She had to prevent the bandits from obtaining what they wanted no matter what. What happened after that was that she encountered Wu Peng while she was running away. Wu Peng slipped into silence after he finished listening to Elsa¡¯s story. He felt his hatred for Viper grow deeper in his heart. ¡°Do you know why that bunch of people wanted to obtain the crystallized meteor?¡± This was something that Wu Peng was very concerned about. He could think back and deduce what Viper would do next if he knew what their goal was. Elsa gently shook her head. She and her mother were not very interested in the crystallized meteor, only her father immersed himself in it every day. ¡°Can you show me the crystallized meteor?¡± Wu Peng knew that Elsa was still like a frightened bird and adopted a very polite tone. Elsa glanced at the crystallized meteor in her hands and nodded gently. Wu Peng picked up the crystallized meteor and examined it closely for a while. It was very similar to the piece of rock that the repair team had given him previously. However, this was more transparent. It looked like a black crystal under the light. Wu Peng had Elsa rest before he brought the crystallized meteor over to the production station. He accessed the operating pod and chose the selection of item analysis. A thin, red laser shot out from the production station, started to scan the crystallized meteor, and the analysis was ready a moment later. The Crystallized Meteorite was a crystalline object that was left behind after an extraterrestrial meteor was burned at high temperatures. There was also a string of complicated, unreadable chemical equations behind that sentence. Wu Peng stroked his nose dejectedly, ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be the case. It¡¯s an item that Viper definitely wanted to obtain. Why can¡¯t I see how special it is?¡± However, Wu Peng believed the data that the Mechanical System gave him. After all, the system was something that surpassed the existing technology on the planet. He brought the crystallized meteorite over to the main hall and returned it to Elsa. ¡°My abilities are limited and I can¡¯t discover the secret of this item. However, since this is something left behind by your father, you should be the one to keep it,¡± Wu Peng said as he returned the crystallized meteorite to her. Elsa took the crystallized meteorite back and stroked it gently with her hand as tears fell down her cheeks. Wu Peng quickly changed the topic when he saw her start to wipe her tears. ¡°What do you intend to do in the future? I know the captain of the law enforcers. I can get her to help you settle into an official shelter. I think that Viper, the people who are trying to catch you, would not enter an official shelter.¡± Elsa thought for a moment, shook her head, and said, ¡°I want to stay. You saved my life. I want to stay here and help you.¡± Chapter 22 Wu Peng was caught off guard when Elsa suddenly requested to stay. They were a young man and a woman who were neither relatives nor lovers. It was inappropriate for a man and a woman to live alone together. Would there be a misunderstanding if Ye Wei knew about this? Elsa noticed Wu Peng¡¯s hesitation when she saw his head lowered in silence. Her tears fell once again, ¡°I know that taking care of an extra person in this post-apocalyptic world is a burden, but I will not live here for free. I¡¯ll help you make meals and tidy the house. I can even do needlework and mend your clothes. Wu Peng felt a chill when he saw Elsa¡¯s red eyes cry. What he feared most were a woman¡¯s tears. He felt that Elsa was right the more he thought about it. As the facilities in the shelter get more and more complete, he would have to spend an increasing amount of time on the shelter. Just to clean the entire shelter took him a large amount of time. The production station could produce a cleaning robot, but it was expensive and required a lot of power. Making meals was also a large problem. He did not know anything else except to process the wheat he grew into flour and make them into buns. It made his head hurt whenever he saw a bun. More importantly, humans are social creatures. It was not enough that he had food and water, he needed to communicate with someone. A huge reason why Wu Peng would run over to where Ye Wei was once every couple of days was to find someone to talk to. His mental state might develop problems if he did not interact with anyone for a long time. There were no psychologists in this post-apocalyptic world to help tenderly adjust his mental state. After he considered the various aspects, Wu Peng extended his right hand toward Elsa, ¡°If you do not mind, let us survive together in this post-apocalyptic world.¡± Elsa opened her eyes wide in surprise. She wiped the tears off her face and held tightly onto Wu Peng¡¯s hand. ¡°Wu Peng!¡± ¡°Elsa!¡± Both of them had faint smiles on their faces. Since there was now a new member in the shelter, Wu Peng had to help Elsa familiarize herself with the surroundings. Wu Peng walked in front and led the way while Elsa followed closely behind. All Elsa had done when she came here was talk about her bitter past. She had not had the chance to explore the shelter. She swept the shelter with her gaze, noticing that Wu Peng¡¯s shelter was a little smaller than the shelter at her house. After all, Elsa¡¯s father had built the shelter to house three people. The next thing she noticed was that Wu Peng¡¯s shelter was much messier than hers. Since Wu Peng was a crass man, he was not as meticulous in his day to day life as Elsa and her mother would be. He would not bother to sweep the floor as long as there was no thick layer of dust. He had never wiped the tables and chairs in his shelter either. ¡°It¡¯s so dirty. Don¡¯t you ever clean this place?¡± Elsa could not help but complain. Wu Peng let out two awkward dry coughs, ¡°I have been very busy recently. I always kept the place clean in the past.¡± Elsa knew that Wu Peng was boasting but she did not expose him. She had already come up with a cleaning plan in her mind. He saw that the young lady dared to complain about him and decided to impose a little threat to scare her just in case he would not be able to control her in the future. ¡°Elsa, you have to listen carefully. This is the production station. You are not allowed to touch it, understand?¡± Elsa saw his stern expression and quickly nodded to signify that she had committed his instructions to memory. Wu Peng secretly felt good when he saw how obedient Elsa was. He brought her over to the nursery and said, ¡°This is the place where I grow crops. You must not touch this without my permission. Otherwise, we would all go hungry.¡± ¡°Understood,¡± Elsa said. Wu Peng nodded with satisfaction. He brought Elsa over to the gym and said, ¡°This is the gym. You can come and train your body if you have nothing to do. Having a good body and spirit is very important. I will not care about you if you become weak and frail in the future!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll remember that,¡± Elsa said while she looked at the equipment. Wu Peng introduced Elsa to all the other facilities and equipment in the shelter. Elsa became increasingly shocked after the more she saw. Wu Peng looked like he was just over 20 years old, but the facilities in his shelter were rather complete. It could be said that he thought of everything. This shelter was more impressive than the shelter her father built. She estimated the value of the facilities in her mind and guessed that Wu Peng was a rich man before the apocalypse. ¡°Brother Peng, what did you do before the apocalypse? The price of these facilities is not cheap. You must have bought and built them before the apocalypse, right?¡± Elsa asked after her curiosity peaked. When Wu Peng heard Elsa call him ¡°Brother Peng¡±, he suddenly realized that he could claim Elsa as his sister if Ye Wei knew about her existence in the future. ¡°Since you are calling me Brother Peng, I¡¯ll call you Little Sister in the future. Tell any other people we encounter from now that you are my cousin,¡± Wu Peng said. Elsa obediently called him Brother Peng again in a hurry. Wu Peng chose to pretend to not hear Elsa¡¯s question. He could have lied to her but lies often required more lies to cover up, and he did not have the energy to come up with new lies all day long. After he explained all of the facilities in the shelter to Elsa, she said that she wanted to take a shower. After all, girls liked to be clean. Wu Peng had to accede to her request. However, there was a new problem. Elsa had no other clothes to change into. The original outfit she wore was a simple set of pajamas that were severely damaged when she ran away earlier. It was easy for things to go wrong between man and woman. Wu Peng did not want to give this pitiful girl a new trauma. He took advantage of time while Elsa showered and ran to the production station. He accessed the operating pod and started to search for the clothing selection. ¡°Sss, why are there only things like bulletproof protective gear. Are there no ordinary clothes?¡± Wu Peng scratched his head in his anxiety. He knew that Elsa was about to be done showering soon. Water was a precious resource in the post-apocalyptic world. Everyone, male or female, young or old, would shower very quickly as they were afraid to waste water. Wu Peng heard the door of the bathroom open, and Elsa¡¯s voice rang out, ¡°Brother Peng? Where are you?¡± ¡°Uhh¡­ I have some matters to finish up,¡± Wu Peng said anxiously. ¡°Oh.¡± Wu Peng heard Elsa give him a reply before becoming quiet. He heaved a long sigh and quickly flipped through the catalog only to finally find lifestyle wear in the daily necessities section. Even though the style of the clothes was average, it was nothing to complain about in this post-apocalyptic world. He quickly made a shirt and a pair of trousers, carried the set of clothes, and carefully opened the door of the room. He headed to the main hall and looked around. ¡°Where¡¯s she?¡± The main hall was empty. He did not know where Elsa had gone. ¡°Elsa, I¡¯m coming out!¡± Wu Peng loudly voiced his intentions before he came to the main hall. He suddenly smelled a fragrant scene waft from the kitchen. He quickly opened the door of the kitchen and saw that Elsa was cooking. When he looked closely, he could tell that she made the dress from bedsheets. ¡°You made that just now?¡± Elsa saw Wu Peng stand by the door and smiled, ¡°Brother Peng, lunch is almost ready. Just wait a little longer.¡± Chapter 23 Elsa had a surprised look in her eyes when she saw the clothes in Wu Peng¡¯s hands. ¡°Are those clothes for me? Thank you, Brother Peng!¡± ¡°Why are you thanking me? You are my little sister. I can¡¯t let you continue wearing rags, can I?¡± Wu Peng said with a smile. Elsa praised as she examined the clothes in her hands. ¡°The workmanship of these clothes are great. I can¡¯t even see the seams. They are like the heavenly clothes of the legends. Where did you find them?¡± Wu Peng smiled but did not reply to her. He looked in the pot and said, ¡°You are making noodles?¡± ¡°Oh no!¡± Elsa let out a cry of shock. She had been too busy looking at the clothes and completely forgot about the noodles she was cooking in the pot. She quickly picked up a pair of chopsticks and stirred the contents of the pot to prevent the noodles from becoming clumped together. She saw Wu Peng stand beside her and concentrated on what she was doing as if something interesting was happening. ¡°Brother Peng, you should go and wait for the food to be ready. You can let me handle all of the meals in the future. The kitchen is out of bounds to you!¡± Elsa pushed Wu Peng out of the kitchen after she said that. She had a little scheme of her own. She had to have an irreplaceable role if she wanted to stay in the shelter long-term. Wu Peng looked like a person who did not know how to cook. Elsa decided that she was going to conquer him through his stomach and wanted to keep her cooking a secret. She could not let Wu Peng secretly learn from her. Wu Peng walked into the living room, stretched his body, and sat down on the sofa comfortably. He heard the sound of the pots and pans from the kitchen and smelled the wafts of fragrance. He felt unexplainably excited. It was as if he had been instantly transported to the past. There was no post-apocalyptic world and no nonsensical Viper. All he did every day was peacefully eat his meals and nap on his sofa. Wu Peng slowly drifted off to sleep as he imagined that. Sometime later, Elsa woke him up, ¡°Brother Peng, it¡¯s time to eat.¡± Wu Peng quickly sat up and looked at the food on the table. ¡°I don¡¯t know your taste preferences. You have to tell me if you don¡¯t like it,¡± Elsa said. Wu Peng was not a picky person. He had eaten canned food for more than a month. How could he complain now that there was someone making food for him? He picked up his chopsticks and slurped down his noodles. Elsa felt extremely happy when she saw how fast Wu Peng ate. Wu Peng polished off his bowl of noodles in under 20 seconds. ¡°That¡¯s too delicious. My taste buds have almost degraded after eating plain buns every day.¡± ¡°It¡¯s good that you like it. Even though the facilities here are very complete, the variety of foods you have is too little. I can only accomplish this even with my best efforts.¡± Elsa¡¯s words moved Wu Peng¡¯s heart greatly. His desire to obtain new seeds became even stronger. After his meal, Wu Peng gave Elsa his room. After all, she was a girl and a guest. He would sleep temporarily on the sofa in the living room. He could search for an opportunity when Elsa was not around and create another room when he amassed some points. Elsa started to constantly yawn after they had a little chat. Wu Peng quickly got her to rest. After Elsa fell asleep, Wu Peng laid down on the sofa and connected to the Bird Scouting Drone¡¯s camera, and started to observe the situation around his shelter. The animosity between him and Viper had increased now that he had taken action and saved Elsa. When he thought about the pitiful events that happened to Elsa¡¯s family, Wu Peng did not wish for a group of members from Viper to fiercely charge into the shelter while he slept. He steered the Bird and scouted a few rounds around the shelter. He ascertained that there were no abnormalities. Wu Peng set the Bird to an automatic patrol mode, stretched, and fell asleep. ¡­ The sun rose. Wu Peng opened his eyes and accessed his point log as usual. He realized that he had gained a full 950 points. He quickly examined the point log closely. The log stated that he earned 300 points after he saved Elsa, 300 after he killed his enemies, 300 after he let Elsa stay in his shelter, and 50 after he survived the day. ¡°Ssss, so it turns out that helping people is not the only way to earn points, but I would obtain even more point rewards for saving people!¡± Wu Peng saved Elsa not just because of justice, but also because he wanted to obstruct Viper¡¯s plans. Wu Peng would do anything to foil Viper¡¯s mission, regardless if it benefited him or not. He did not expect this accidental gain. ¡°This Mechanical System is trying to nurture me into a saint! Great Saint Wu!¡± Wu Peng grinned from ear to ear as he laughed at himself. ¡°Brother Peng, what are you so happy about?¡± Elsa had also woken up. She had wanted to prepare a meal before Wu Peng woke up. However, the two consecutive days of running for her life and the injuries on her body prevented her from waking up on time after she fell asleep. It was Wu Peng¡¯s laugh in the living room that woke Elsa up. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I just remembered a joke. You woke up so early. Did you rest well?¡± Wu Peng asked with a smile. ¡°I had a good rest. I¡¯ll go prepare a meal now.¡± Elsa did not want Wu Peng to treat her as a guest. She immediately went to wash up and started to prepare breakfast. ¡°It¡¯s no wonder they say that there can only be a good life if there¡¯s a woman in the house.¡± Wu Peng sighed and propped his legs up, he felt extremely pleased. Even though he was in a huge amount of danger when he saved Elsa yesterday, he gained much from it. He had gotten a hardworking godsister and 950 points. He even managed to get back at Viper. It was like he killed many birds with one stone. Thinking about this, Wu Peng wanted Viper to hurry and cause more trouble so that he could play the good guy and obtain more points. An hour later, Elsa prepared the meal. This time, she made rice in soup, a classic noodle dish. Wu Peng gulped his bowl down, and his stomach felt warm and comfortable. When he saw Elsa start to wash the bowls and chopsticks, he decided to head over to Ye Wei¡¯s base and have a look. He had not seen General Hua for three days and wondered if she had thought about him. ¡°Elsa, I¡¯m heading out later. Let me give you a few instructions,¡± Wu Peng said with a smile. Wu Peng brought Elsa to the main door and pointed at the LED screen on the wall. ¡°This is the shelter¡¯s defense system. If you hear it beep, press the red button. I¡¯ll immediately receive a notification.¡± Elsa nodded and quickly committed it to memory. After he left the shelter, Wu Peng took out his binoculars and surveyed the surroundings. Even though the Bird was scouting the area, to look at the surroundings with his own eyes still gave him a feeling of safety. After he ascertained that there was nothing abnormal around him, Wu Peng hurried toward the base of the law enforcers. Ye Wei had been extremely busy recently and flipped through files in her office, as usual, this morning. Viper struck multiple locations at once. Many cities had been damaged, but there had been no clues left behind. She had also taken part in meetings with the law enforcers of the other cities and exchanged information in detail, yet she could not arrive at any breakthroughs. There was only one satellite signal receiver left in the Jiang CIty. The situation would be disastrous if it got destroyed. While she was deep in thought, she heard a familiar voice, ¡°General Hua, have you been thinking about me these past few days?¡± She knew who it was even without having to guess. Only Wu Peng dared to talk to her like that in the base of the law enforcers. Chapter 24 ¡°I¡¯ve been extremely busy dealing with Viper. While you have it easy, vanishing for three days.¡± Ye Wei glanced sideways toward Wu Peng who was by the door. Wu Peng observed Ye Wei as if he had seen a ghost, ¡°Are you the General Hua I know? To think that you have learned to complain!¡± Ye Wei immediately regretted her words after she said them. She might have been under too much pressure lately and had no way to let off steam. Coincidentally, Wu Peng had come over with a smile, and Ye Wei found it convenient to complain then. Seeing that Ye Wei was feeling a little down, Wu Peng immediately toned down his hardy attitude. ¡°Are there still no developments regarding Viper?¡± ¡°They do not leave behind any loose holes in their operations. Currently, the law enforcers still have to send men to guard the satellite stations. We do not have extra manpower to head out to search for clues.¡± Ye Wei leaned back into her chair and slowly closed her eyes. She looked extremely tired. Wu Peng had wanted to tell her about the crystallized meteorite but did not say anything when he saw how tired Ye Wei was. Additionally, he could not explain how he managed to kill a three-man team from Viper alone. With Ye Wei¡¯s intelligence, she would be able to deduce that the person who killed the members of Viper the other night was also him. Wu Peng did not wish to become the center of attention and had always hidden his strength. After all, those who stood out too much would often become the target of an attack and be destroyed first. The room slipped into silence as neither of them spoke. Both of them were immersed in their thoughts. A moment later, a law enforcer barged into the room and broke the silence. ¡°Captain! There has been a murder in the east of the city. A personal shelter has been broken into and a family of three has been murdered.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Ye Wei opened her eyes. The dejected expression on her face had disappeared, and her icy-cold attitude appeared once again. Wu Peng was a little curious when he saw Ye Wei straighten her uniform and prepare to head out. ¡°Does a captain like you need to head down to the scene of an ordinary murder?¡± Even though the murder of a family of three was a very pitiful event, it would have become the top headline if this had been before the apocalypse. However, in this post-apocalyptic world, people died every day. Now that Viper was acting from under the shadows, Ye Wei should remain in the base to command the operation. ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. The elites have all been sent to protect the station. The rest of the members can fight, but they are completely useless when it comes to solving cases.¡± Ye Wei was also very frustrated. The ordinary law enforcers were basically given a death sentence if they were assigned to deal with Viper. The station would also be destroyed in the process. She could only send the most elite law enforcers from the base to protect the station and Ye Wei had to personally head to the scene if there were any other cases. ¡°Then let me follow along.¡± Wu Peng did not want Ye Wei to take on too many things alone. He would have to face Viper alone if she succumbed to fatigue. Ye Wei also wanted Wu Peng to follow but was too embarrassed to voice out the request before Wu Peng did. Since Wu Peng had volunteered to follow, she took advantage of the situation and agreed to his request. She brought four other law enforcers along. The group got into a vehicle and drove toward the eastern part of the city. At the scene, Wu Peng looked around with his binoculars after he got out of the car. Some murderers liked to loiter around the scene after they committed the act. They wanted to see how the people who saw the corpses reacted. Ye Wei also knew this and asked, ¡°Did you spot anything?¡± ¡°Nothing abnormal. I think that the culprit had fled far away,¡± Wu Peng answered. Under Ye Wei¡¯s command, the four law enforcers took out three body bags and a camera, before they headed into the crime scene. Wu Peng scanned the surroundings again after he entered the shelter. This was a rather simple shelter, not even 10% as sophisticated as his own. There were a total of three rooms, and the three corpses were lying in the outermost room. Two of the law enforcers entered the room and began to search through their items, while the rest of the team began a simple examination of the corpses. One of the law enforcers dragged the corpses away one by one for easier observation while the other law enforcer started to take pictures as a record. Ye Wei squatted down and started to examine the wounds on the corpses. ¡°There are a total of three victims, two male, and one female. One of the males is roughly 45 years old and has three gunshot wounds on his chest.¡± Ye Wei got one of the law enforcers to flip the corpse around so that she could examine his back. ¡°There are also three penetrative wounds at the back. They are likely caused by the bullets piercing through his body.¡± Ye Wei gave a very detailed explanation. It seemed as though she intended to teach the two law enforcers how to examine a corpse for injuries. Wu Peng started to look through the furniture and decorations in the shelter. He could mostly understand the wounds on the corpses at a glance. Just at this moment, a law enforcer who had headed into the room to check out the situation ran out. Ye Wei gently knitted her brows, ¡°You¡¯ve finished checking whatever is inside?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Captain. I¡¯m having a nosebleed. I can¡¯t stop it no matter how I try. Do you have tissues with you?¡± the law enforcer asked quickly, feeling embarrassed. The rest of the group looked toward the law enforcer¡¯s face. They saw that blood was constantly flowing out of his nose through his protective gear as if it was a tap. ¡°Haha!¡± The two other law enforcers could not help but laugh when they saw how embarrassing their partner looked. Ye Wei felt a little embarrassed, especially in front of Wu Peng. ¡°It¡¯s just a little nosebleed, why are you so flustered? Head out and remove your protective gear to deal with it. Don¡¯t contaminate the crime scene,¡± Ye Wei said coldly before the law enforcer quickly ran out of the shelter. After this brief interlude, Ye Wei continued to examine the corpses. ¡°This man is roughly 15 years old. He¡­¡± Ye Wei was halfway into her report when the other law enforcer ran out. ¡°What happened to you? Are you also having a nosebleed?¡± Ye Wei¡¯s tone was filled with anger. The law enforcer first nodded and then shook his head. He ran out of the shelter without saying anything. Wu Peng felt that it was strange and ran out with him. When he came outside the shelter, he saw the law enforcer just now remove the helmet of his protective gear and vomit blood. Wu Peng quickly ran to the car and handed him a towel. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you guys? What¡¯s inside the room?¡± The law enforcer who had been having a nosebleed finally stopped the bleeding. He panted as he said, ¡°I don¡¯t know either. I was investigating the room when I suddenly felt nauseous and my nose started to bleed continuously.¡± The law enforcer who had vomited blood could finally speak normally. ¡°I also felt dizzy and discomfort in my chest. There was a metallic stench in my mouth and ran out when I could no longer tolerate the discomfort.¡± ¡°Dizzy and a metallic stench in your mouth?¡± Wu Peng mulled over the descriptions that the two law enforcers had given him. He seemed to have heard about these symptoms before. Ye Wei also came out. Even though she was furious that her two subordinates had messed up, she was still concerned about their health. After she saw that the two of them had become better, Ye Wei arranged for them to rest outside while she headed back into the shelter to search the area. Wu Peng suddenly remembered something when he saw Ye Wei¡¯s back and shouted, ¡°Don¡¯t go back in!¡± He charged into the room and dragged Ye Wei and the two other law enforcers out of the shelter without explaining anything. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± This was the first time Ye Wei had seen Wu Peng flustered. ¡°It¡¯s radiation! There¡¯s strong radiation in the shelter!¡± Wu Peng shouted. Chapter 25 The rest of the law enforcers were still in a daze. Ye Wei was the first to react and immediately ordered, ¡°Everyone is to retreat 50 meters away!¡± The two law enforcers who had not been exposed to the radiation immediately helped their two injured partners and retreated. Ye Wei charged into the shelter to retrieve the camera and various other equipment. If there really was strong radiation in the shelter, the equipment would be destroyed soon if they were exposed to the radiation. It would be difficult to get her higher-ups to give her another set of equipment in this post-apocalyptic world where resources were scarce. Wu Peng was rather in awe when he saw how hard Ye Wei worked. He handed her a few pieces of the equipment and immediately ran 50 meters away. ¡°Wu Peng, can you confirm that there is strong radiation inside?¡± Ye Wei stabilized her breathing and asked after they retreated a safe distance away. Wu Peng was not too sure. However, the symptoms of the two law enforcers were identical to those of the people hit by radiation. ¡°Do the law enforcers not have a radiation detection device? We¡¯ll know after we get someone to send it over and test it out.¡± Ye Wei did not want her men to take the risk. She immediately sent her two injured law enforcers back to the base and got someone to send over the detection device and professional anti-radiation gear. ¡°Wu Peng, you seem to be rather experienced with how a person would react after being exposed to radiation?¡± Ye Wei tried to dig out information from Wu Peng when she saw that her men had returned to the base and that there was no one around. Wu Peng thought to himself, ¡°General Hua sure is cautious and is finding an opportunity to test me.¡± ¡°I was very interested in the subject of the end of the world in the past and had read many post-apocalyptic novels. Those stories had talked about the reactions people had after they got exposed to radiation,¡± Wu Peng explained. ¡°You¡¯re a doomsday enthusiast?¡± Ye Wei did not believe Wu Peng¡¯s nonsense. She moved her almond-shaped eyes around and asked, ¡°I heard that you have been living in the shelter that you built yourself?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. After all, I am no elite. I don¡¯t have the right to stay in an official shelter.¡± Wu Peng did not mean anything else. He regarded himself as an average man and could not compare himself to scientists and academics. However, Ye Wei felt a little infuriated when she heard that. If Wu Peng was not worthy of staying in an official shelter, wouldn¡¯t she be less worthy? ¡°We¡¯ve known each other for a long time but I have never been to your shelter. When are you going to invite me to visit?¡± Ye Wei really wanted to see his shelter. She wanted to know what kind of shelter Wu Peng could build with his abilities. She had thought that Wu Peng would accede to her request with a naughty smile. She did not expect him to start muttering and try to change the topic. This made Ye Wei feel a little frustrated and deepened her suspicion of him. Could Wu Peng¡¯s shelter be a place that could not see the light of day? Wu Peng had his own problems to consider, with Elsa now living in his shelter. Wu Peng would have been happy to approve Ye Wei¡¯s request to tour his shelter if it had been before Elsa moved in. This was equivalent to a girl requesting to play at his home. It was basically a date. However, if Ye Wei saw Elsa, Ye Wei might not believe his story that Elsa is his sister. With how proud Ye Wei was, she would definitely keep her distance from Wu Peng forever. After he saw that Ye Wei had an unpleasant expression on her face, Wu Peng scratched the back of his ear anxiously. He tried his best to find the perfect excuse when the sirens of a faraway car saved him. The law enforcer reinforcements had arrived. Six law enforcers were sent over each wore heavy-duty anti-radiation gear and had brought along a radiation detector. Ye Wei took out anti-radiation gear from within the car and started to put it on. Wu Peng quickly shifted over, ¡°Captain Ye, I also want to head in to have a look. Can I borrow a set of anti-radiation gear?¡± ¡°This is the matter of the law enforcers. The public need not head in and put themselves at risk,¡± Ye Wei said casually, but any fool could hear the anger in her voice. Wu Peng felt frustrated when she saw Ye Wei¡¯s back. A woman¡¯s heart was incomprehensible, it changed too quickly. By the side, two law enforcers saw that their captain was not in a good mood and gave Wu Peng a few hand gestures as a signal to not offend Ye Wei any further. ¡°You guys dare to come here and see me become a joke? Take off your anti-radiation gear.¡± Without saying another word, Wu Peng immediately charged forward to a law enforcer and pulled off his anti-radiation gear. The anti-radiation gear was much more important than the average protective gear. His face was basically hidden behind the gear, only exposing his eyes. As long as he did not speak, Ye Wei would not be able to know who he was. Just like that, Wu Peng righteously followed behind the team. Wu Peng handed his M1911 to the law enforcer that he pulled the anti-radiation gear off from as compensation. The production of this gun had stopped a long time ago and had a high collector¡¯s value. The law enforcer felt immensely blessed. The group came to the door of the shelter and heard the radiation detector crackle. ¡°Captain! The radiation index has reached 80! It¡¯s strong radiation!¡± the law enforcer at the front of the group shouted. ¡°Can you detect what kind of radioactive substance it is?¡± Ye Wei asked. ¡°It can¡¯t detect it for the time being. We have to get closer to the source of the radiation!¡± the first law enforcer said. ¡°Listen to my orders! Three of you stay outside to keep guard. The other two, follow me into the shelter!¡± Ye Wei dug her head into the shelter after she issued the order. Wu Peng quickly followed behind her. He saw the corpses on the ground when he entered the shelter again and walked straight into the shelter. The radiation detector in his hand started to beep louder and more frequently. He glanced at the number on the detector, its value had reached 130. An ordinary person would suffer radiation damage when the radiation index was 5 or more. Wu Peng walked around the shelter and did not notice anything special. Ye Wei also examined the shelter closely but did not find anything. ¡°Captain! I found surveillance equipment.¡± The law enforcer who followed them in had a new finding. The three of them quickly came to the surveillance equipment. They would be able to know what happened if they could obtain the surveillance record. Unfortunately, the equipment had been destroyed, and nothing was left behind. Ye Wei took out a magnifying glass to see if there were any fingerprints but found that any fingerprints had been wiped off clean. ¡°The culprit has very strong anti-investigation skills. This murder must have been planned a long time ago. We cannot eliminate the possibility of murder of passion. The radiation here is ridiculously powerful. Continue searching for the source of the radiation!¡± Ye Wei ordered. The three of them continued their deep search within the shelter. Wu Peng held up the radiation detector and paced around the shelter as he paid close attention to the changes in the radiation index. He noticed that the radiation index would increase when he got near a wall. He leaned closer to the wall and searched the area closely, and finally locked on a corner of the wall. He gently tapped on the wall twice and realized that it sounded hollow. He confirmed that it must be empty inside. Wu Peng took a deep breath, raised his arm, and smashed onto the wall with his elbow. He caused a crack to appear on the wall and continued to make the crack bigger until he saw a small hidden compartment within the wall. There was a damaged glass tube in the hidden compartment with a silvery-white powder in the tube. He had a rough guess of what the substance was. He did not dare to touch it directly, instead, Wu Peng placed the radiation detector beside the powder. Chapter 26 Wu Peng saw the number displayed on the radiation detector suddenly soar to 500. He started to sweat slightly on his forehead. He could only hope that the law enforcer¡¯s anti-radiation gear was of good enough quality. Otherwise, he would either be killed or handicapped if he was exposed to such a high level of radiation. He turned around and headed to Ye Wei¡¯s side. Ye Wei was still trying to find fingerprints that were left behind with her magnifying glass. Wu Peng patted her shoulder and pointed toward the hidden compartment in the wall. Ye Wei arrived in front of the hidden compartment and looked at the silvery-white powder inside. ¡°You have good observation skills. To think that you would notice the hidden compartment. Stay by my side and be my assistant in the future.¡± Wu Peng felt that the situation was funny but did not dare to speak. He could only nod as hard as possible. Ye Wei observed it for a moment and reached out to touch the powder. Wu Peng quickly hugged her tightly from behind. ¡°What are you doing?!¡± Ye Wei was both shocked and furious. When did such a brazen person enter the law enforcement unit? Wu Peng could not care about hiding his identity any longer and scolded with a deep voice, ¡°Do you not want your life anymore? That¡¯s a highly radioactive substance, radium!¡± Ye Wei was startled when she heard that the silvery-white powder was radium. She immediately recognized Wu Peng¡¯s voice. ¡°Wu Peng? How did you get in here?¡± ¡°Now¡¯s not the time to talk about that. Let¡¯s head out quickly. The radioactive properties of radium are too powerful. We need specialized equipment to store it,¡± Wu Peng explained quickly. Ye Wei also knew how serious the situation was and got everyone to retreat out of the shelter immediately. ¡°Why would there be radium in a personal shelter? Could that be the reason why they were killed?¡± Ye Wei started to analyze the case as she stood outside the shelter. She had a law enforcer notify the chemical defense team to deal with the radium in the shelter. The radioactive index in the shelter dropped considerably after the chemical defense team transported the radium away. They searched the shelter for a little while longer and confirmed that they had not missed any clues and moved the three corpses onto a vehicle and returned to the base of the law enforcers. The autopsy report was produced quickly. Judging from their ages, they must have been a family of three. Ye Wei managed to identify them after their fingerprints were uploaded into the network. ¡°Victim Ma Ming, age 55, was a chemistry professor in a university. The government had once invited him to enter the official shelter but he was unwilling to be separated from his family and chose to build a personal shelter. The other two victims were his wife and son.¡± Ye Wei explained the societal relations of the three victims clearly. She concluded that the enemy might have been eying the radium that Ma Ming was hiding. That substance was valuable even before the apocalypse. One gram of radium could easily cost tens of thousands of dollars. Its value would be even greater in a post-apocalyptic world where resources were scarce. ¡°I think that this is a murder for the radium.¡± Wu Peng knitted his brows after he heard Ye Wei¡¯s analysis. He kept feeling that something was off. If the other party¡¯s goal was to steal the radium, they would not kill Ma Ming and his family before they got the radium. At the very least, the culprit would have kidnapped Ma Ming¡¯s son and used him as a hostage. Even though radium was extremely valuable, Ma Ming clearly valued his family more since he gave up a spot in an official shelter for his family. He would have been capable of exchanging the radium for his son¡¯s life. However, judging from the situation, the other party chose to silence Ma Ming and his family. It did not look like the culprit had gone there for the radium. An entire family silenced, to steal radium? Elsa¡¯s face suddenly flashed past Wu Peng¡¯s mind. ¡°Could this be Viper¡¯s doing? If the other party had not gone for the radium, then their target must be something more important. It was definitely the crystallized meteorite!¡± Wu Peng felt more and more certain about his guess. Both the modus operandi and how merciless the culprit had been fit Viper¡¯s description. Wu Peng headed over to Ye Wei¡¯s office after he finished analyzing the case. ¡°Captain Ye, I want to ask you about something.¡± This was the first time Ye Wei had seen Wu Peng this polite. She subconsciously nodded. ¡°Are there any official findings regarding the meteorite that fell on Jiang City?¡± Wu Peng asked. ¡°The findings are top secret. Even I don¡¯t have the authority to ask about that. I only know that the government had specially sent a few law enforcers to guard the meteorite,¡± Ye Wei said. ¡°What you mean is that the people guarding the meteorite are not law enforcers from Jiang City but a special batch of people?¡± Wu Peng asked, intrigued by her response and his mind began to churn manically. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Ye Wei confirmed his suspicion. It seemed like the meteorite had special value. The government was afraid that news about the meteorite would leak out and did not mobilize Ye Wei¡¯s men. Seeing that Wu Peng had slipped into deep thought, Ye Wei asked curiously, ¡°Why do you have a sudden interest in the meteorite?¡± Wu Peng did not answer her directly, ¡°Do you know that the meteor had split into many fragments when it fell initially?¡± ¡°Of course. The government ordered the law enforcers to search for these fragments. The people who managed to find the fragments and hand it over to them would receive a reward,¡± Ye Wei said. ¡°Then what if I said that Viper is also searching for these meteorite fragments?¡± Wu Peng asked. Ye Wei immediately stood up when she heard that. There was a sharp gaze in her eyes, ¡°What do you know? Say it, quick!¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing special. I was walking around two days ago when I saw a bunch of people dressed like Viper stealing a meteorite fragment from a nearby resident.¡± Wu Peng hid half the truth. He deliberately left Elsa out of the story. Ye Wei slapped the table with force after she heard what Wu Peng said. ¡°Why did you not tell me such an important piece of information earlier?!¡± Wu Peng quickly gave an apologetic smile and said, ¡°Tell me, why would the culprit kill the chemistry professor before he got what he wanted? Could there be any other motive?¡± With Ye Wei¡¯s intellect, she quickly understood what Wu Peng meant. She immediately got the people who examined the corpses to do the autopsy again. She specifically requested for the bullet wounds to be examined against the guns used by Viper. Ye Wei awaited the results while Wu Peng returned to his shelter. If everything was as he expected, then Ma Ming and his family must have been killed by Viper. What he did not understand was why Viper wanted the crystallized meteorite. Unfortunately, Wu Peng would not be able to understand the situation even if he thought about it alone for a year. He needed to capture a member of Viper alive. Since Viper was eying the meteorite fragments, he would be able to track the other party¡¯s movements if he continued to monitor the location where the meteorite had landed. Wu Peng immediately proceeded with his plan and sent the Bird out to monitor the location where the meteorite had landed. Elsa saw that Wu Peng was gone for the entire day and had become busy the moment he returned. She quickly prepared a spread of food and did not dare speak to him while he was busy, and only called out to him when it was time to eat. ¡°Brother Peng, dinner is ready!¡± Wu Peng put down his phone after he heard Elsa. He had been concentrating on steering the Bird and was starving. He could not help but praise her when he saw the fragrant dishes on the table, ¡°It¡¯s nice to have a woman at home.¡± Elsa immediately let out a radiant smile after she got praised, ¡°It¡¯s good that you like it, Brother Peng.¡± The two of them chatted over dinner. Wu Peng felt comforted when he saw that Elsa had stepped out of her grief. ¡­ Wu Peng monitored the area for a few consecutive days with the Bird but, unfortunately, he did not obtain any useful information. Instead, the system rewarded him with 1000 points for saving Ye Wei and the law enforcers from the radiation. Chapter 27 Wu Peng deliberated for a long time and decided to purchase another Bird with his points. There were several shelters where the meteor had landed. Many of the fragments must have been picked away by the people living nearby. He might not be able to cover enough area with just one Bird Scouting Drone. Currently, he was in a race with Viper to see who could find more crystallized meteorites. He was also the first one to find out the truth. He spent the 1000 points he had just gained. A beam of white light flashed on the production station and another Bird Scouting Drone appeared. He could monitor the images from both Birds after he set his phone to split-screen mode. Wu Peng also frequently went to look for Ye Wei to see if there were any new leads. As he expected, the autopsy reports of Ma Ming and his family¡¯s corpses showed that their bullet wounds had all come from Viper¡¯s rifle. Ye Wei also subtly expressed her thanks for Wu Peng. If not for his reminder, her thought processes about the case might have strayed to another area. Unfortunately, as long as it was something that Viper had a hand with, there would not be any other leads to follow up on. The methods employed by Viper were terrifyingly professional. They cleaned the scene of the crime well. Wu Peng had once considered handing over Elsa¡¯s crystallized meteorite to Ye Wei to see if she could find any leads, however, he considered that the item was an item left behind by Elsa¡¯s father and dismissed that thought. Wu Peng¡¯s shelter had become well maintained ever since Elsa moved in. She had done a deep clean of the entire shelter. The walls and floor were basically shining. She even washed Wu Peng¡¯s clothes and bedsheets. Wu Peng of course looked happy on the surface. However, he felt a constant worry in his heart. The young lady was transforming from a guest to the mistress of the house. If this situation continued to develop, Wu Peng would not be able to get her to leave. It came time again for the crops in the nursery to be harvested. With the experiences he had in the past, he had a large harvest this time around. However, both Wu Peng and Elsa were a little dejected when they saw the mountain of wheat. ¡°Brother Peng, why are they all wheat? It¡¯s not healthy to consume carbohydrates every day,¡± Elsa grumbled with a bitter smile. Wu Peng was also very sick of carbohydrates. He could deal with it when he had lived alone in the past. However, now that he had Elsa, eating noodles every day despite having a great cook in the shelter was a complete waste of her talents. ¡°I heard that there¡¯s a small market nearby. We can bring some of the wheat over to the market tomorrow and try to exchange it for some other seeds.¡± Wu Peng had accidentally noticed that the residents nearby would gather to do some simple transactions after breakfast while he was scouting the area with the Bird. ¡°Is that true? Then we have to get some seeds of fruits! It¡¯s been a long time since I had any fresh fruit!¡± Elsa was extremely excited. Girls often could not resist sweet fruits. ¡­ The next morning, Wu Peng was still asleep when Elsa rudely woke him up. ¡°Brother Peng, wake up quickly. Breakfast is ready. Go over to the market and have a look after you are done with your meal!¡± Even though Wu Peng had not slept enough, he did not have a choice but to get up. He carried half a bag of wheat after his breakfast and left the shelter under Elsa¡¯s expectant gaze. He had walked around two kilometers when he saw a simple house made out of scrap steel. It occupied an area of around 500 square meters. ¡°This should be the market,¡± Wu Peng thought and quickly walked through the door. He saw a crowd of people in the house. This was the first time Wu Peng had seen this many people in one place in this post-apocalyptic world. The people gathered together in troves. Some of them were shouting, while others were whispering their conversations. ¡°Come and have a look! Fresh cabbage! Fresh potatoes! There are no such shops past this village!¡± ¡°Cabbage and potatoes?!¡± Wu Peng thought excitedly and quickly followed the voice over to the stall. He loved those two vegetables. When he arrived in front of the stall, he saw that the person selling the vegetables was about 40 years old and had horrifying scars across his face. One of the scars went past his left eye and made him look exceptionally ferocious. In front of the person was a plastic tarp with two cabbages and three potatoes on it. ¡°Do you call that fresh?¡± Wu Peng thought and felt nauseous when he saw the dry cabbage leaves and the arid, warty potatoes. The person saw Wu Peng remain silent after looking at his crops for a long time and became unhappy. ¡°Are you going to buy it or not? Don¡¯t block the way if you are not.¡± Wu Peng was not angry. He said with a smile, ¡°How should I address you, boss?¡± ¡°The people around here call me Lone Eye Wang. How can I help you?¡± Lone Eye Wang was clearly a nickname. The people in this post-apocalyptic world were all very cautious and would never easily tell others their name. ¡°Lone Eye Wang? Do you have any vegetable seeds?¡± Wu Peng asked with a smile. Lone Eye Wang laughed loudly after he heard that, ¡°Is this the first time you visited a market? Vegetable seeds? Do you know how valuable vegetable seeds are? They are difficult to obtain even at the markets in the official shelters, much less here.¡± The people around them nodded while Lone Eye Wang spoke. They also wanted to have some vegetable seeds in their shelters but there was no supply to meet their demand. This made Wu Peng a little surprised. It was no wonder that Ye Wei had reacted so strongly when he asked her for seeds. It looked like the seeds in his wheat were premium items. He walked around the market after he left Lone Eye Wang¡¯s stall and did not find anything valuable. Most of the items were inferior goods that he did not fancy. However, there was still a demand for those items in this post-apocalyptic world. ¡°I can¡¯t return empty-handed.¡± Wu Peng thought and returned to Lone Eye Wang¡¯s stall when he thought about Elsa¡¯s gaze before he left the shelter. ¡°Do you still have any more vegetables?¡± Wu Peng asked. Lone Eye Wang saw that Wu Peng had returned and asked angrily, ¡°Are you going to buy them if I have them?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll buy whatever you have!¡± Wu Peng assured him. ¡°You are small but you say big words. I¡¯ll show you the world!¡± Lone Eye Wang did not want to be underestimated by Wu Peng. He stood up and opened the wooden crate that he had sat on. There were five cabbages, four potatoes, and two carrots in the crate. The sight of these vegetables attracted many people¡¯s attention. Most of them had not seen vegetables for a long time. They could not help but swallow when they saw this many vegetables in one place. Lone Eye Wang quickly closed the lid of the crate when he saw more and more people gather around his stall. ¡°Shoo, shoo, shoo! Go away if you are not going to buy the vegetables.¡± Wu Peng knew that he was afraid of other people having bad intentions. He shuffled forward and asked quietly, ¡°Where did you get those vegetables?¡± ¡°Why are you asking so much? Didn¡¯t you boast that you¡¯ll buy whatever I have just now?¡± Lone Eye Wang asked, his tone became more agitated. Wu Peng smiled confidently, ¡°Name your price.¡± ¡°Sigh, I haven¡¯t had plain buns for a long time. I¡¯ll give you the vegetables if you can give me ten kilograms of flour.¡± Lone Eye Wang¡¯s words caused everyone around them to gasp in shock. Ten kilograms of flour was enough to feed a family of three for a month if it was managed properly. Lone Eye Wang had wanted to deter Wu Peng but unfortunately named the only thing that Wu Peng had. ¡°Deal! Look closely!¡± Wu Peng said loudly. He placed the bag on his back on the ground and took out a handful of wheat. Chapter 28 ¡°Do you know what these wheat are?¡± Wu Peng asked with a grin. Lone Eye Wang immediately nodded. ¡°I have a total of 20 kilograms of wheat here. It should get you 10 kilograms of flour after you husk and mill them. Take it.¡± Wu Peng placed his bag in front of Lone Eye Wang who immediately opened the bag with trembling hands. Lone Eye Wang stared with wide eyes and said that there were no problems after he examined its contents. At this moment, a 60-year-old man beside Wu Peng said softly, ¡°Young lad, you are making a loss with this deal. His vegetables are only worth five kilograms of flour.¡± Even though the old man was soft, Lone Eye Wang still heard what he said. He immediately cursed loudly and pulled back his sleeves, wanting to beat up the old man. Wu Peng knitted his brows and shielded the old man behind him. ¡°Pour the wheat out quickly and put the vegetables in my bag.¡± Lone Eye Wang was put in a spot. His crate was full of slits and while it had no problems storing vegetables, all of the wheat would leak out before he returned to his shelter. ¡°Can you give me the bag along with the wheat?¡± ¡°Nonsense! I¡¯m not selling the bag! I¡¯m leaving if you¡¯re going to continue babbling,¡± Wu Peng said sharply. Lone Eye Wang had no other choice. He could only pour the wheat out and place his vegetables into the bag before handing it over to Wu Peng. Wu Peng was not being stingy over the bag. He only wanted to teach Lone Eye Wang a lesson. Wu Peng lifted the bag of vegetables and walked back to his shelter without stopping. Elsa immediately ran out to welcome him when she heard movement. ¡°Elsa, I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t manage to get any fruits. There were only a few vegetables,¡± Wu Peng said regretfully. Elsa had a look of disappointment in her eyes. However, she quickly smiled sweetly, ¡°That¡¯s fine, having vegetables is good enough.¡± She took out the vegetables from the bag one by one, ¡°We can have a feast tonight!¡± Wu Peng saw that she was about to bring the vegetables into the kitchen and quickly stopped her, ¡°We can¡¯t eat these vegetables yet. I have an important use for them!¡± He brought all of the vegetables into the nursery after he finished speaking. He picked out two of the potatoes that were not withered and warty and placed them in the nursing pod before he sliced the cabbages open and kept the hearts. He placed the hearts of the cabbages into the nursing pod and did the same with the carrots. This would be completely useless to an average person. It would only cause the vegetables to spoil. There was no way they could plant the vegetables. However, it was different for Wu Peng. He had a nursery given to him by the Mechanical System. As long as these vegetables had not become spoilt or moldy, they would be able to sprout again through the nursing pod. When that time comes, he would have an endless supply of seeds. In the end, Wu Peng got the better end of the deal. After he left the nursery, Wu Peng told Elsa with a mysterious expression, ¡°We¡¯ll have fresh vegetables to eat every day in the future.¡± Even though Elsa did not know what Wu Peng did, she had blind trust in him and immediately cheered in joy. ¡­ Time passed quickly. Three more days had passed. Wu Peng constantly scouted the outside world with both of his Bird Scouting Drones. He saw a group of suspicious people about 100 meters away from where the meteorite had landed. He steered one of the Birds closer to check the situation out and found out that there were eight people in the group. Judging from their pure black protective gear, this group of people must have been sent by Viper. ¡°I finally caught you!¡± Wu Peng immediately prepared to leave. However, he had a thought. Viper had failed two consecutive missions in a row. This time, they would definitely have sent elites. Their group was also much bigger this time, with eight people. He knew that it was too dangerous for him to head there alone. When he saved Elsa, Wu Peng would have become a pile of bones if not for his luck. He could not continue to take that risk again this time. Wu Peng decided to notify Ye Wei. He wanted her to mobilize the law enforcers and catch the group from Viper off guard. Ye Wei was resting with her eyes closed when he arrived at the law enforcer¡¯s base. ¡°Captain Ye! I have something important to report!¡± Wu Peng said the moment he saw her. Ye Wei did not even move her eyes when she heard that it was Wu Peng, and said, ¡°Tell me about it.¡± Wu Peng shifted beside her ears and whispered when he saw how relaxed she was, ¡°I noticed a group of men from Viper.¡± ¡°Viper?!¡± Ye Wei immediately opened her eyes. She stood up as though she had been electrocuted. ¡°Where did you get your information from?¡± Wu Peng could not tell her the truth and lied, ¡°I headed over to the market to purchase something today and coincidentally heard that someone saw a team of armed people wearing pure black protective gear 100 meters around where the meteorite had landed.¡± That image fit Viper¡¯s description. Ye Wei was a little excited. She had contended with Viper for such a long time, and it was finally time to face off. Ye Wei decisively gathered her men and personally led the team toward the location Wu Peng had talked about. In the car, Ye Wei constantly explained their formation and tactics. She was prepared to take down their enemies in one fell swoop. ¡°Remember, all of you! Every member of Viper has poison hidden in their mouths. We have to knock them out before they consume their poison if we want to capture them alive!¡± The law enforcers signaled that they understood in unison. Wu Peng secretly nodded to himself. Ye Wei had strong leadership capabilities and had considered the problem very thoroughly. This time, they had mobilized 15 elite law enforcers from the base. It seemed like Wu Peng could take it easy and observe the battle from the side this time. The two six-wheeled vehicles advanced at full speed. They arrived at the location Wu Peng described in about an hour. Ye Wei took out a pair of binoculars and observed the situation through the car window. She saw a few black figures jogging around toward her southeast. ¡°Chase after them!¡± The armored vehicle rumbled and chased toward the southeast, they caught up to the Viper¡¯s team in less than three minutes. Ye Wei picked up the loudhailer in the car and shouted, ¡°Immediately toss your weapons aside and kneel on the ground to surrender! Otherwise, you will be killed on the spot!¡± Wu Peng heard the words of justice she shouted and could not help but laugh, ¡°I was always rather curious, does it help when you waste your breath like that?¡± Ye Wei rolled her eyes at him, ¡°Of course. Even though they will not surrender, it would make them feel flustered and frustrated. That¡¯s enough.¡± ¡°So it¡¯s psychological warfare,¡± Wu Peng said. As they spoke, they saw three people split out from the group, lay prone on the ground, and start to shoot toward the armored vehicles. The bullets let out a crisp ring after they hit the windows and front cover of the vehicle. ¡°Machine gun, fire!¡± Ye Wei gave a decisive order. The machine gunner in the armored vehicle immediately pressed a button. A Gatling gun warmed up for a few seconds before it started to fire. A member of Viper was hit by the Gatling gun and became a mist of blood. The 14.55 caliber Gatling gun did not have to hit someone head-on to kill. Even being scraped by the bullets could tear someone to shreds. The two other members of Viper immediately turned to run when they saw the situation. They had not brought any heavy weapons for their mission this time. They could not do anything against the armored vehicle. The machine gunner wanted to continue shooting but was stopped by Ye Wei, ¡°Don¡¯t fire yet! I want to capture some of them alive. How can I get a statement if you smash them all to bits?¡± She got the driver to chase after them at full speed. The members of Viper clearly understood the terrain well. They went around a hill and fled into an abandoned building. ¡°They want to force us into urban warfare. Everyone prepare to get out of the car and battle! Remember, try your best to capture them alive!¡± Ye Wei was the first to jump out of the car after she spoke with the rest of the members following closely behind her. Chapter 29 Ye Wei had requested he stay in the car and await orders. After all, this battle was the duty of the law enforcers. However, after deliberating for a moment, Wu Peng decided to sneakily follow behind them. He didn¡¯t take out his AK-47 when he came out, and he had given his handgun to a law enforcer. He wouldn¡¯t be able to flaunt his strength this time. Wu Peng grabbed his dagger with a reverse grip and followed the group while looking around him for any movements. ¡°There are several points the enemies can ambush us from in this abandoned building. Be careful, everyone!¡± Ye Wei¡¯s reminder crackled from the law enforcers¡¯ communication devices. The law enforcers slowly crept into the abandoned building and arrived at a giant room after walking past a narrow tunnel. ¡°This could have been the main hall of a shopping mall in the past. Be careful to observe if there¡¯s anyone in the higher areas of the hall.¡± Ye Wei continued to issue orders through the communication device. Wu Peng slowly leaned his back against the wall and continued inching forward. In such a vast area, one should always walk forward under cover if cover was available, as it would greatly reduce the probability of being spotted and shot at. Just as the law enforcers were about to pass through the main hall, gunshots were heard from above their heads. Two law enforcers fell on the ground following the gunshot. Ye Wei immediately rolled to the front and leaned against the wall. The entire tactical movement took less than a second for her to complete. ¡°All of you, lean against the wall and take cover! Immediately find the point of ambush and start retaliating!¡± Unfortunately, Ye Wei¡¯s orders were engulfed by the sea of gunfire. This time, even though all of the law enforcers who¡¯d come were elites, they couldn¡¯t help but become flustered from being ambushed by the enemy. They shot their guns indiscriminately above their heads, regardless of if they¡¯d seen their enemies¡¯ position or not. However, not only was this useless, but it helped the enemies conceal their position, preventing their allies from determining where the attacks were coming from. Wu Peng, watching from the side, knitted his brows. These people lacked combat experience. However, he couldn¡¯t blame them completely for that. Law enforcers were here to maintain order and usually only interacted with the residents on an average day. This was probably their first time fighting a terrifying and mysterious organization like Viper head-on. ¡°Darn it. I was careless not to bring my gun with me this time!¡± Wu Peng glanced at the dagger in his hand, and then at the law enforcers who were flustered from being ambushed, and could only sigh. Ye Wei saw that her subordinates had become disoriented after suddenly getting ambushed and shouted constantly into her communication device for the law enforcers to get out of the main hall. A few of the law enforcers finally came to their senses after being momentarily flustered and followed Ye Wei as she charged out the main hall. Wu Peng leaned against the wall and hurriedly jogged to follow them. He passed by a law enforcer who had fallen on the ground along the way and saw that he was still struggling, so he helped him to get up, and they charged out of the main hall together. They arrived at a long corridor after making it through the door of the main hall. The enemy¡¯s gunshots immediately stopped after the law enforcers entered the corridor. They sure had great executive abilities. ¡°Daliu, head in front of the corridor and scout the path. Xiaolin, keep an eye on the entrance of the corridor! I¡¯ll do a headcount!¡± Ye Wei was still rather calm and continued to do the duties required of her as a leader. After a headcount, she determined that three law enforcers had been sacrificed in the main hall, and two law enforcers were heavily injured. If it hadn¡¯t been for Wu Peng¡¯s timely help, that law enforcer might¡¯ve died in the hall along with the others. ¡°Didn¡¯t I ask you to wait for orders in the car? Why don¡¯t you listen to my orders? Forget it. From now on, closely follow my lead.¡± Ye Wei glanced at Wu Peng and saw that he had managed to save one of the law enforcers without getting injured despite not having any weapons with him. So, she didn¡¯t say anything more to him about it. This time, the law enforcer that Wu Peng had saved said weakly, ¡°Captain, I don¡¯t think I can make it. Let him use my weapon.¡± Ye Wei deliberated for a moment, then gently nodded. Wu Peng didn¡¯t hold back. He immediately took off all of the law enforcer¡¯s weapons. The law enforcers¡¯ rifles had a sleek design, and Wu Peng had long wanted to play with one of them. He fiddled around with the rifle and gained a general understanding of how to use it. However, the trigger was locked. ¡°Every rifle of the law enforcement unit is tied to its enforcer¡¯s personal identification information. It can¡¯t be used unless you have that enforcer¡¯s specially-made identification plaque.¡± Ye Wei took off the law enforcer¡¯s identification plaque and placed it against the rifle, and the locked trigger was immediately released. By this time, Daliu, who had gone ahead to scout the path, returned and reported that there was an elevator that led to upstairs and that he hadn¡¯t come across any enemies in ambush. ¡°Two of you stay behind to tend to the wounded. The rest of you, follow me upstairs! Kill any enemies you see on sight!¡± Ye Wei was really angry now and no longer cared about capturing the enemy alive. Wu Peng ran from the back of the group to the front and stood alongside Ye Wei. ¡°Head to the middle of the group. I won¡¯t have the time to protect you when we¡¯re fighting later!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll immediately head to the back and hide if something isn¡¯t right.¡± Wu Peng¡¯s tone was still relaxed. When they arrived at the escalator, Ye Wei was just about to charge upstairs when Wu Peng suddenly appeared in front of her. He quickly poked his head out and glanced upstairs. He waited for a moment, then confirmed that there were no movements. He took out a stun grenade from around his waist, then pulled off the pin and threw it upstairs after waiting for two seconds. ¡°Ah!¡± A pitiful cry came from upstairs. The stun grenade could completely ruin a person¡¯s vision and hearing. The pain was intolerable. Wu Peng immediately charged upstairs. He reached the second floor in just a few steps and saw a member of Viper rolling on the ground. He had wanted to directly take his life. However, thinking that he should leave a member of the group alive, he put down his rifle instead. Wu Peng arrived in front of the member of Viper and quickly pulled him up, then curled his arms around his neck. After struggling for a moment, the member of Viper became unconscious. Wu Peng did all of this in one fluid motion, and when Ye Wei and the rest of the law enforcers charged upstairs, they saw that the member of Viper was already unconscious on the ground. ¡°You sure are impressive. I¡¯m in awe!¡± Daliu gave Wu Peng a hard pat on the shoulder. The rest of the law enforcers nodded. There was a complicated look on Ye Wei¡¯s face. The more impressive Wu Peng seemed, the more curious about him she became. ¡°According to the previous set of information, eight people in the team Viper were sent up. One of them has died, and another is now unconscious, which means there are six enemies left. I suggest we split into three-man groups and engage in guerilla warfare with them. Going out in a group would make it easier for the enemy to exterminate us if we got ambushed.¡± Wu Peng looked at Ye Wei after voicing this suggestion. After all, she was the leader of the team. Ye Wei gave a simple reply. ¡°Execute it.¡± There were nine people in the group left who were still able to fight. They split into three groups and began exploring the second floor. Wu Peng was naturally grouped with Ye Wei. This was the time for him to show his masculine charm. He charged to the very front and quickly checked out a few rooms but didn¡¯t spot any members of Viper. Suddenly, a string of gunfire came from the communication device. One of their teams had engaged in battle with Viper. ¡°Go quickly and reinforce them!¡± Ye Wei immediately wanted to reinforce her teammates, but Wu Peng instantly stopped her. ¡°If this is a trap, we¡¯ll all die if we head over.¡± Then, he started closely surveying his surroundings to determine where the gunshots they¡¯d heard had come from. ¡°I¡¯ve spotted two rooms that might potentially be ambush spots. There are definitely people there. Follow me!¡± Wu Peng crouched down and quickly shuffled toward one of the ambush spots. Chapter 30 When they came near the ambush point, Wu Peng turned around and motioned to Ye Wei to stand by. He then gently placed his rifle on the ground and took out his battle dagger. He tiptoed and looked into the room through a hole in the wall. Indeed, a member of Viper was aiming outside the window with his rifle. Wu Peng decided to sneakily assassinate this person, as he didn¡¯t want to alert the other members of VIper that might be around. But he didn¡¯t expect an alarm to beep right when he made it within three meters of his enemy. ¡°F***! There¡¯s even an alarm?¡± The alarm immediately alerted the enemy, who was lying in ambush, and didn¡¯t give Wu Peng any time to hesitate. He pounced at the enemy and manically thrust the battle dagger in his hand at him, aiming his attack at his enemy¡¯s vital points. The person from Viper wasn¡¯t weak. After hugging onto his rifle with both hands to block Wu Peng¡¯s fatal attack, he immediately raised his leg and kicked at Wu Peng¡¯s lower body. Wu Peng didn¡¯t want to become the first eunuch in this post-apocalyptic world, so he hurriedly deflected the kick with his arm, while his enemy raised his rifle and slammed it down on his head. Ye Wei, who was a distance away, wanted to help him. However, Wu Peng and the enemy were entangled in battle, so she couldn¡¯t shoot freely. Wu Peng was a little shocked by the other party¡¯s abilities. He only managed to avoid a few of the enemy¡¯s attacks. ¡°You¡¯re so hard to deal with, so don¡¯t blame me for using nasty tactics!¡± Wu Peng thought as he bit down on his tongue. Aiming at the mask of the enemy¡¯s protective gear, he spat out a mouthful of blood. The enemy¡¯s line of sight was immediately blocked by the blood, and he became abnormally flustered. He tossed the rifle in his hand to the side, wanting to take his mask off. Wu Peng seized the opportunity to thrust his dagger into the enemy¡¯s neck, then cleanly pulled the dagger out. The person¡¯s artery was severed, and blood sprayed into the air like a mist. The person trembled for a moment, then stopped breathing. Wu Peng heaved a long sigh and quickly surveyed the surroundings through the window. After ascertaining that none of Viper¡¯s members were coming, he called for Ye Wei to come over. ¡°There¡¯s a wide field of view here. You can set up your gun at this window and reinforce the law enforcers. I¡¯ll go look for the members caught in the gunfire.¡± ¡°Pay attention to your safety!¡± Wu Peng looked more like the captain right now. However, Ye Wei could accept that. She¡¯d come to understand just how strong Wu Peng was when watching him engage in close combat just now. That strength wasn¡¯t something she and her teammates could rival. Wu Peng picked up his rifle and inched toward the gunfire. ¡°Little Ye, can you see me?¡± ¡°I can see you.¡± Even though Ye Wei wasn¡¯t pleased with being addressed as ¡°Little Ye,¡± she didn¡¯t argue about it. ¡°How about you go on a date with me if I save your team members?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Ye Wei¡¯s reply was swift and simple. He was being flirtatious as per usual, but he didn¡¯t expect the other party to immediately agree to his request. It caught Wu Peng a little off guard. ¡°You agreed! So you can¡¯t break your promise! ¡°As long as you live. ¡°Oh my!¡± Wu Peng couldn¡¯t help but let out a strange groan, and his pace became quicker. The gunfire hadn¡¯t stopped. One of the law enforcers from the three-man group had been injured, and the other two members were being beaten back by their opponents and hiding behind a low wall. Using his communication device, Wu Peng instructed the two law enforcers to toss out all of their grenades while he hid and searched for an opening to launch a surprise attack. The explosions of the grenades rang out a moment later. Soon after, Wu Peng saw two of Viper¡¯s men run past him. ¡°Bang, bang, bang.¡± Wu Peng pulled the trigger, and the bullets pierced through the backs of their heads. He had eliminated two more people, which meant that there were still three enemies left. A report from the other team came from the communication device. ¡°Report! We found the enemy¡¯s tracks!¡± ¡°All members are to head over to reinforce them immediately. There are only three enemy members left!¡± Following Ye Wei¡¯s orders, all of the other law enforcers headed over to reinforce the last three-man team. In less than five minutes, the last three members of Viper were heavily surrounded by the groups. Knowing that they could no longer escape, they chose to detonate their grenades and managed to injure two law enforcers before they died. ¡°It¡¯s finally over.¡± Ye Wei heaved a long sigh of relief. She felt dizzy. This was the first time she had participated in such a brutal battle. The insanity of Viper and their battle prowess had startled her a little. It was fortunate that they¡¯d managed to protect the last station. If Viper had sent out dozens of such members and cut them off from the outside world, the law enforcers wouldn¡¯t have been able to handle the situation. The reinforcements they had called for were going to arrive soon. The law enforcers who still had stamina were responsible for cleaning up the battlefield. The member of Viper that Wu Peng had knocked out was given the most attention, and the poison in his mouth was removed before he woke up. Half an hour later, the reinforcements arrived at the scene and took the injured law enforcers and the member of Viper they¡¯d captured into the car. Ye Wei wanted to return to the base with them, but Wu Peng stopped her. ¡°Viper acted very strangely this time. They didn¡¯t have to battle to the death. All they had to do was leave a few members behind to stall us.¡± ¡°What you mean is that their base might be nearby?¡± Ye Wei was quick to pick up on what he meant, just like always. After receiving a few hints from Wu Peng, she understood the situation. Since she¡¯d guessed as such, Ye Wei immediately ordered three of the law enforcers to stay behind and conducted a thorough search of the abandoned building. Indeed, they saw a moveable cover plate by the corner of the abandoned building. They opened the cover plate and saw a tunnel that headed underground. Afraid that there might be an ambush inside, Wu Peng got the law enforcers to toss in a dozen tear gas bombs and stun grenades. They waited a few minutes beside the hole before slowly inching into the tunnel. After they went underground, they walked past a narrow corridor and arrived at a secret shelter that was about 200 square meters large. There were a variety of daily necessities in the shelter. There were even cigarettes, cigars, and liquor. ¡°F***, they¡¯re living better than me,¡± Wu Peng couldn¡¯t help but curse. It was no wonder that the members of Viper were so loyal. They lived in paradise. ¡°Closely examine the area for any valuable clues.¡± The group started to slowly search the shelter. In the last room, they found a wall of photos. On the wall were photos of the meteorite taken from multiple angles. A list of the number of law enforcers and their patrol timetables were also stuck on the wall. But what really caught Wu Peng¡¯s attention was the photo of Elsa and her family. The faces of Elsa¡¯s father and mother had been crossed out. There was also the picture of a crystallized meteorite beside the photo. It was the crystallized meteorite that Elsa had now. After analyzing the photos on the wall, they could basically deduce that Viper was trying to gather the meteorite fragments. Judging from the photos, Viper had already gathered several fragments of the meteor. However, they hadn¡¯t found it in the shelter, as it must have already been moved away. ¡°This secret base must be one of Viper¡¯s low-level hiding spots. It¡¯s a place where ordinary members lived. There aren¡¯t too many valuable clues here.¡± Ye Wei nodded in agreement at Wu Peng¡¯s conjecture. ¡°But why does Viper want to gather the fragments of the meteorite?¡± ¡°Probably to develop weapons or extract the rare materials inside. This organization isn¡¯t one to care about the future of humankind.¡± Wu Peng didn¡¯t think very highly of Viper. No matter what this evil organization was up to, their goals definitely weren¡¯t aligned with those of humankind. Ye Wei called for another wave of reinforcements. They took all of the items inside the secret base back with them and slowly started examining them. Chapter 31 They worked the entire day. It was already evening when Wu Peng and Ye Wei returned to the law enforcers¡¯ base. After a series of heated battles, even Wu Peng felt worn out. But then he remembered that Ye Wei had promised to go out with him on a date, and he immediately became more energetic. After he waited for Ye Wei to finish up her work, Wu Peng immediately shifted in front of her and gave her a wide smile. Ye Wei rolled her eyes at him. ¡°It¡¯s been a tiring day. You should return to your shelter and get some rest.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s not do that. Didn¡¯t you agree that you would go on a date with me if I saved your teammates?¡± ¡°You sure remember that well.¡± Ye Wei lazily leaned back in her chair. She propped her slender legs up on the table and closed her eyes. Wu Peng waited for her to continue. He didn¡¯t expect to hear her snoring a few minutes later. He walked closer and realized that Ye Wei had fallen asleep. Even though he hadn¡¯t gotten a satisfactory reply, Wu Peng couldn¡¯t bear to disrupt her rest, so he turned around and prepared to leave. When he reached the door, Ye Wei¡¯s lazy voice suddenly came from behind him: ¡°Come and look for me tomorrow afternoon.¡± ¡°All right!¡± Wu Peng replied, and quickly left the law enforcers¡¯ base. He hummed a little tune all the way home. As soon as he opened the front door, he saw Elsa standing there, a concerned expression on her face. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. A lot of things happened today. I made you worry.¡± Elsa felt a huge weight lift off her chest when she saw that Wu Peng wasn¡¯t injured. She quickly got Wu Peng to have his meal. After dinner, Elsa curiously asked Wu Peng what he¡¯d been up to. Wu Peng told Elsa about how he had encountered Viper, as well as the photo of her and her family he¡¯d seen in Viper¡¯s hideout. ¡°Viper is searching everywhere for the fragments of the meteorite. They even brutally killed a family of three recently. I guess they murdered them for the crystallized meteorite.¡± Wu Peng saw that Elsa looked sad at the mention of her pitiful past, so he quickly changed the topic. ¡°You have to help me pick out an outfit after dinner. I have an important event tomorrow.¡± Elsa saw how elated he looked and couldn¡¯t help but ask out of curiosity, ¡°What important event are you so happy about?¡± ¡°As a girl, you should know what girls like a man to wear, so you have to pick out a good outfit for me.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to do the dishes.¡± Elsa stood up, expressionless. She picked up the bowls and headed into the kitchen. Wu Peng felt that her tone was a bit cold, and thought that she was still hung up over her parents. He took out all of his clothes from his closet and started trying them on one by one. However, he couldn¡¯t find anything that showed off his masculine charm. He¡¯d never been so frustrated over what to wear before. He usually put on anything as long as it wasn¡¯t too dirty or tattered. Seeing that Elsa had finally come out of the kitchen after doing the dishes, Wu Peng quickly dragged her over to the clothes to get her opinion. ¡°Good sister, hurry and help me. Picking out clothes is harder than fighting a war.¡± Elsa pouted and said reluctantly, ¡°I think you look good in whatever you wear.¡± ¡°You little imp. Why are you so downcast? Could it be that you¡¯re jealous?¡± Wu Peng intended it as a joke. He didn¡¯t expect Elsa to turn red from the neck up. She sprinted into the room and locked the door. ¡°Did I hit the nail on the head? No, that can¡¯t be it. We only just met a few days ago.¡± Wu Peng scratched his head, a little confused. However, he soon turned back around, agonizing over what to wear. The next day, Wu Peng opened his eyes and felt his heart thump when he thought about how he was going to attend the first date of his life. He accessed the points interface as usual and realized that he had gained 1000 points. After giving it some thought, Wu Peng decided to use these points to upgrade the shelter¡¯s defensive systems. His conflict with Viper was becoming more and more intense. He wasn¡¯t afraid, but Elsa was still on Viper¡¯s list. He would regret it if Viper charged into the shelter and injured Elsa while he was out. He accessed the attribute panel of the shelter and chose the option to upgrade the shelter¡¯s defenses. The instant his 1000 points disappeared, a flash of white light shone within the shelter. The white light dissipated. The walls of the shelter had transformed from steel to a powerful metal alloy, and the door had changed from a three-inch-thick slab of stainless steel to a five-inch-thick slab of an alloyed material. Furthermore, when attacked from the outside, the door would release a high-voltage current. Pleased, Wu Peng nodded when he saw the upgraded shelter. This time, Viper wouldn¡¯t be able to penetrate his shelter, even if they sent an armored vehicle. The modification of the shelter jolted Elsa awake. She rubbed her eyes and ran to the living room to see what was going on. Wu Peng explained it away by saying that there might have been an earthquake. After breakfast, Wu Peng started concentrating on getting dressed up. He wanted to win over Ye Wei on their date this afternoon. Elsa pouted as she looked on from the side. She was very unhappy. During the afternoon, Wu Peng rushed to the law enforcers¡¯ base. The law enforcers, who were now very familiar with Wu Peng, gave him strange looks. ¡°Wu Peng, why do you smell weird today?¡± ¡°What do you know? This is cologne! I made it myself!¡± Wu Peng couldn¡¯t be bothered arguing with this bunch of crude men and went straight to Ye Wei¡¯s office. He saw Ye Wei concentrating in front of the computer. She was looking through the information they¡¯d gathered yesterday. ¡°Cough, cough! Miss Ye, I¡¯m here to invite you to a wonderful afternoon out.¡± Ye Wei turned her head and glanced at Wu Peng, then uttered an emotionless, ¡°Wait a moment.¡± She then continued reading the information on her computer. Wu Peng was a little unhappy at experiencing such a setback. However, he then considered that this might be a test set by Ye Wei. She might cancel their date if he showed his displeasure. ¡°Hehe, you want to pull this kind of stunt with me? I¡¯m brimming with positivity today!¡± Wu Peng thought to himself. Wu Peng found a chair and started to wait silently. An hour later, Ye Wei stood up and rubbed her red eyes. ¡°Are you restless from waiting?¡± Wu Peng immediately stood up and replied with his brightest voice, ¡°Absolutely not!¡± ¡°Sigh, then let¡¯s go. The government recently opened a commercial shelter. Let¡¯s go have a look.¡± Ye Wei thought that Wu Peng¡¯s fervent attitude was rather amusing, but she suppressed her desire to smile. She took Wu Peng out of the office, and they went to a room labeled ¡°lounge.¡± Ye Wei got Wu Peng to wait outside the door. Sometime later, Ye Wei walked out of the lounge, and Wu Peng¡¯s eyes lit up. This was the first time he¡¯d seen Ye Wei in something other than her law enforcer uniform. She¡¯d only changed into ordinary casual wear¡ªa white T-shirt paired with jeans and low top shoes¡ªbut it couldn¡¯t hide Ye Wei¡¯s toned physique or soften her demeanor. Then, Ye Wei brought Wu Peng over to the underground traffic network of the shelter, and they took the train over to the newly built commercial shelter. All of the official shelters were connected underground. They could travel to any of the official shelters in Jiang City by train. A little more than ten minutes later, the two of them arrived at the commercial shelter. They passed through a security check and arrived in front of an alloyed door. Ye Wei took out her law enforcer ID and tapped it on the door. The door slowly opened. Chapter 32 ¡°You sure gained big this time. The commercial shelter is in its test phase, and only some of the personnel from the official shelters can enter it.¡± Ye Wei shot Wu Peng a mischievous look. She wanted to see how he would react. ¡°It¡¯s my honor to be here, but I¡¯ll still give constructive criticism if I see anything that needs to be improved.¡± Wu Peng would never fall for Ye Wei¡¯s words. It was impossible to shatter his confidence. Ye Wei was dumbfounded. She had expected Wu Peng to be a little nervous on their date, but now it seemed that Wu Peng didn¡¯t even know what nervousness was. The two of them entered through the door and were immediately greeted with a bustling scene. The shelter hadn¡¯t been fully completed yet. However, there were troves of people, a variety of incandescent neon signboards, as well as a myriad of items behind transparent shopping displays. It was an assault on their senses. Ye Wei thought back to how much she had loved shopping with her parents when she was young, and the corners of her eyes became slightly wet. Unfortunately, there was no chance of that happening again in this post-apocalyptic world. Everything before her eyes made her a little melancholic. She couldn¡¯t help but remember the past. Wu Peng was also a little overcome with emotion. Even though the commercial shelter wasn¡¯t as opulent as the shopping malls of the past, being able to build the shelter showed just how dedicated humans were to making a better life for themselves. The two of them walked down the clean pathway side by side and frequently stopped in front of the shops. Even though Ye Wei was the captain of the law enforcement unit, she was also a 25-year-old lady. Shopping aroused her natural womanly instincts. She constantly ran around and browsed through the stores. Wu Peng wanted to get her a present, but he hadn¡¯t brought any money with him. Furthermore, the currency used here was completely different from that used in the past. Ye Wei finally felt a little tired after shopping for two hours and suggested that they find a place to grab a bite to eat. They came to a small restaurant. There weren¡¯t many items on the menu, but it was better than nothing. Just as the two of them were waiting for their food, a little girl, who was about seven or eight years old, ran over to them. ¡°Sister, you are very pretty! Big brother, why don¡¯t you buy a flower for this beautiful sister?¡± As she said this, the young girl took out a red rose from the basket she was carrying. Wu Peng was shocked. ¡°They sell flowers here?¡± he thought. Even rations were severely scarce. However, after taking a closer look at it, he realized she was holding a plastic flower. He turned to Ye Wei and saw that she was looking at him with a faint smile on her face. Wu Peng steeled his nerves and asked, ¡°How much are the flowers, little girl?¡± ¡°Ten points.¡± ¡°Ten points? Ten points of what?¡± Wu Peng thought, very confused. Seeing that Wu Peng was confused and had fallen silent, the little girl pouted and said, ¡°So you¡¯re a non-contributor, Big Brother. How embarrassing!¡± Wu Peng felt disgraced when he suddenly got mocked by the little girl, and he looked at Ye Wei. Ye Wei smiled as she stroked the little girl¡¯s head. ¡°This big brother is a fool. I¡¯ll buy the flower.¡± After saying this, she took out her phone and scanned the plaque hanging around the little girl¡¯s chest. The little girl also took out her phone and looked at the screen. Then, she happily handed Ye Wei a flower, made an ugly face at Wu Peng, and ran off. ¡°The currency used by official shelters are contribution points. Contribution points are a reward for having made a contribution. If you have no contribution points, it means that you¡¯ve never contributed to the official shelter, so people will naturally look down on you for that.¡± Ye Wei played with the plastic flower in her hands as she explained the situation to Wu Peng. Wu Peng blinked. He grabbed the flower from her and said, ¡°Captain Ye, I¡¯ve done many things for the law enforcers. Can¡¯t I get ten contribution points for my contribution?¡± Ye Wei knew what he was getting at, and covered her mouth and laughed. ¡°I know. I¡¯ll consider this flower a gift from you.¡± It was really easy talking to someone who was intelligent. Wu Peng handed the flower to Ye Wei with both hands. The latter fetched the flower from him, and both of them laughed. Their dishes were served. The two of them chatted as they ate, and the atmosphere became increasingly relaxed and jovial between them. After their meal, the two of them continued strolling along the street. Suddenly, Wu Peng saw a board with the word ¡°cinema¡± written on it far away. ¡°To think that there¡¯s a cinema here!¡± he thought. This place had all the classic date locations. Amusement parks, restaurants, and cinemas were the three classic places couples had gone to for dates before the apocalypse. Ye Wei was also interested in catching a movie, and the two of them immediately ran into the cinema. There weren¡¯t any new movies. All that was left were a few classics. Wu Peng wanted to choose a romantic film, but Ye Wei had immediately taken a fancy to a war film. That definitely fit in with Ye Wei¡¯s personality. Ye Wei was the one to purchase the tickets. Wu Peng saw the strange look the cashier was giving him and decided that he would earn a few contribution points before their next date. The two of them were just about to enter the cinema when Ye Wei¡¯s phone rang. Ye Wei¡¯s expression gradually turned stern after receiving the call. Ye Wei hung up the call. She tightly knitted her brow and said in a grave tone, ¡°There was a large-scale battle near where the meteorite landed. The law enforcers suffered heavy casualties, and many of the meteorite fragments were snatched away.¡± ¡°It must be Viper.¡± Wu Peng was sure of this. ¡°No matter who it is, we have to immediately reinforce the law enforcers.¡± Ye Wei glanced at the tickets in her hands, then threw them into the bin. If Ye Wei was leaving, Wu Peng definitely wasn¡¯t going to watch the movie alone without her. He immediately followed behind her and rushed to the scene. The two of them rode the train back to the law enforcers¡¯ base. All of the law enforcers in the base had headed over to the scene to provide support. Ye Wei immediately changed into her uniform and grabbed her weapon. Wu Peng still didn¡¯t have a weapon on him. Who would bring an AK-47 on a date? Ye Wei knew how powerful Wu Peng was. She immediately used her authority as captain to get him a new rifle. ¡°This gun doesn¡¯t need an identity authorization, but you have to return it to me when we get back.¡± Wu Peng put the rifle on his back. He didn¡¯t hold back and picked up five grenades and five stun grenades along with the gun. After they armed themselves, Ye Wei drove, and they rushed to the scene. On the way there, Wu Peng took out his phone and connected it to the Bird scouting drone. He steered the drone to the scene so he could scout the area before they arrived. The situation was extremely chaotic. The law enforcers were hiding behind a small hill, and on the other side, in a low-lying piece of land two hundred meters away, people from Viper were manically unloading their clips at the law enforcers. Wu Peng decided not to tell Ye Wei about the situation for the time being, as he was afraid that she would become too anxious. The two of them finally reached the scene after driving at full speed for half an hour. By the time they arrived, the gunfire had already stopped. After getting out of the car, Ye Wei immediately issued orders through her wireless communication and got the uninjured law enforcers to save the wounded. Wu Peng scouted the enemy by steering the Bird. The members of Viper were already in retreat. They had sent out an armored vehicle this time and were quickly retreating. Wu Peng guessed that Viper had accomplished their goal this time. He couldn¡¯t let them escape like this. ¡°Ye Wei! The members of Viper are already fleeing. We can¡¯t let them get away like this. I¡¯m going to chase after them!¡± Ye Wei immediately stopped him after hearing what he said. ¡°Chasing after them is my mission. Let¡¯s go together!¡± She pulled Wu Peng along and sprinted up to the armored vehicle. After they got inside, she slammed her foot down on the accelerator, and the armored vehicle let out a rumble before charging forward. Chapter 33 The armored vehicle of the law enforcement unit was extremely functional. It could maintain a high speed despite traversing rugged terrain. Ye Wei¡¯s driving abilities were also exceptional. She looked around and scanned the surroundings but couldn¡¯t find any traces of Viper. ¡°Are you sure that they fled in this direction? I don¡¯t see anyone.¡± Wu Peng couldn¡¯t tell her about the Bird scouting drone and could only say that he¡¯d seen a group of people run in this direction from the hill in front. A few minutes later, they saw two black SUVs traveling at high speeds. The people in the cars saw the armored vehicle chasing after them, and they immediately rolled down their car windows and started attacking. The bullets hit the armored vehicle, and sparks flew. Fortunately, the enemy didn¡¯t have any anti-armor weapons, so they couldn¡¯t penetrate their vehicle¡¯s defenses for the time being. ¡°The other party has two cars, while we only have one. It¡¯ll be a little difficult to capture all of them.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine. Their vehicles aren¡¯t as good as ours. Wu Peng, go and control the Gatling gun. We¡¯ll take care of one car first.¡± Wu Peng immediately got down into the Gatling gun¡¯s control station and pressed down on the trigger. The Gatling gun turned for a moment, then started spitting out bullets. Viper¡¯s SUVs also had anti-bullet capabilities. However, their armor might as well be paper in front of the heavy-duty Gatling gun¡¯s immense firepower. The armor of the vehicle was torn apart in an instant. The bullets hit everyone in the vehicle, and they immediately turned into a mist of blood. The SUV was ultimately torn into two under the Gatling gun¡¯s immense firepower. Ye Wei didn¡¯t bother stopping the car to investigate the SUV. She set her sights on the other escaping vehicle and began her pursuit. Unfortunately, that car was farther away. Wu Peng tried shooting them with the machine gun, but he couldn¡¯t get an accurate shot at the faraway, moving target. Wu Peng squirmed back into the car and connected his phone to the Bird scouting drone. He wanted to cause the enemies trouble with the Bird. However, the Bird¡¯s camera captured a few people who were squatting around the hills a little distance away. Wu Peng couldn¡¯t help but gasp after he moved closer to the Bird to get a closer look at the situation. A cold sweat immediately ran down his back. ¡°There¡¯s an ambush! Quickly stop the car!¡± Ye Wei was shocked when she heard what Wu Peng said. She immediately stepped on the brake and was about to ask what was going on when she saw a few black dots flying over from far away. Behind each of the black dots was a trail of white smoke. ¡°Get out of the car. Hurry!¡± Wu Peng only had time to say this before pulling open the door of the car and pouncing out. Ye Wei also reacted quickly. She kicked open the door of the car and jumped out. The two of them didn¡¯t dare to stay in their original positions. They made use of the momentum and rolled forward. They heard a deafening explosion behind them, and a massive wave of heat sent them flying. Wu Peng was tossed seven meters backward. He felt as if his back had been fiercely hit by a giant steel ammer. He bled from his nose and mouth. ¡°Darn it. I¡¯m always the one who ambushes other people, yet today I was the one who got ambushed,¡± he thought. Wu Peng knew that the enemies wouldn¡¯t let them off so easily, so he fought back the pain and stood up to search for Ye Wei. Twenty meters away from him, Ye Wei was lying motionless on the ground. He staggered over to her. Wu Peng didn¡¯t dare to move her recklessly, as he was afraid that he would injure her a second time. He took out his binoculars but realized that the lens on one side had been damaged by the explosion just now. Fortunately, the other side could still be used. He quickly sat down on the ground and observed their surroundings. A few black figures were running toward them from a faraway hill. ¡°Ye Wei! Are you still alive?¡± Wu Peng gently patted Ye Wei¡¯s shoulders to get Ye Wei to wake up, but she didn¡¯t react. Wu Peng saw that the situation was urgent, and countless thoughts raced through his mind. If he had to choose the safest method, it would be to retreat on his own. Neither of them would be able to escape if he brought Ye Wei along. However, Wu Peng emotionally couldn¡¯t accept the thought of leaving her here. They¡¯d been on their date just an hour ago. ¡°Cough, cough!¡± Ye Wei coughed violently while Wu Peng struggled over what to do. Wu Peng quickly turned her over and saw that her face was covered in mud and blood. ¡°I thought you were dead. How do you feel? Can you stand?¡± ¡°Cough, cough. My head is dizzy, and my body feels like it¡¯s about to fall apart. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to move anytime soon.¡± Wu Peng observed their surroundings again with his binoculars. The enemy was less than a kilometer away from them. ¡°The enemy is almost here. Hurry and climb onto my back!¡± ¡°You should hurry and run. You won¡¯t be able to escape if you carry me.¡± Ye Wei¡¯s mind was still clear even though she was injured. The situation now was extremely dangerous. The enemies would definitely catch up to them if Wu Peng had to carry her. At that moment, Daliu¡¯s voice came through Ye Wei¡¯s wireless communication device. ¡°Captain! What¡¯s your position? Why did the armored vehicle¡¯s signal vanish?¡± ¡°Daliu, we got ambushed! We¡¯re roughly 15 kilometers to the southeast. Come and help us, quick!¡± ¡°We¡¯ll be there immediately!¡± Wu Peng managed to feel more confident when he heard that reinforcements were coming. He didn¡¯t care that Ye Wei had objected. He picked her up and ran as best as he could. He was confident that if he wasn¡¯t injured, he¡¯d be able to walk 10 kilometers with Ye Wei in his arms without a problem. However, his organs were all in intense pain. He had just run several meters when his legs went limp, and he stumbled onto the ground. Ye Wei also fell. ¡°You should hurry and leave! Go and meet up with Daliu and the rest. I¡¯m the captain of the law enforcers. Viper won¡¯t kill me easily! ¡°They¡¯re a bunch of lunatics who can do anything! Since we can¡¯t escape, we¡¯ll fight them! We¡¯ll win if we last until reinforcements arrive.¡± Wu Peng looked around and saw that there was a large pit to the right a little distance away. It could be used as a battle trench. He used all of his strength to carry Ye Wei to the large pit. Then, he took off their weapons and examined them. Fortunately, the law enforcement unit¡¯s rifles were all of rather good quality and hadn¡¯t been damaged by the impact of the explosion just now. He gathered the weapons and grenades that he and Ye Wei were carrying, then took out the binoculars again to observe his enemy¡¯s movements. The enemies had sent 15 men. They were moving around the wreckage of the armored vehicle, searching for their bodies. They would definitely search the area nearby if they couldn¡¯t find them. Wu Peng did a calculation in his head. Daliu and the rest of the reinforcements would need about ten minutes to arrive, even at full speed. If they could last ten minutes, the enemy would retreat when they saw the reinforcements. He turned to look at Ye Wei. She might have suffered a concussion from the impact of the explosion, as her limbs weren¡¯t doing what she wanted them to do. Wu Peng would have to defend against the attacks of all 15 members of Viper alone. This might be the most arduous battle he¡¯d ever been in since coming to this post-apocalyptic world. As expected, the members of Viper expanded their search outward when they couldn¡¯t find their corpses. And three of them started walking over to the pit where Wu Peng and Ye Wei were hiding. Wu Peng estimated the distance between them. He couldn¡¯t allow the enemy to get too close. They would die if the members of Viper threw a grenade into their pit. However, the enemy couldn¡¯t be too far away from them, either. He wasn¡¯t in peak condition, so a large distance between them would definitely affect his aim. The enemy was slowly approaching them. Wu Peng guessed that the distance between them was just about perfect and abruptly poked his head out of the pit. He pulled the trigger and swept the area with his gun before the members of Viper could manage to react. Chapter 34 One of the enemies was shot in the head and died on the spot, while the other two were hit in the chest and didn¡¯t immediately die. Wu Peng wanted to continue shooting to kill his enemies, but the gunshots had attracted the attention of the other members of Viper, so he quickly went back into the large pit to hide. Several bullets shot past Wu Peng¡¯s head, and he would¡¯ve been riddled with holes if he¡¯d hesitated just now. He took out a small mirror from his pockets. He¡¯d taken that with him in case he needed to fix his appearance at any time during the date. Little had he known that it would prove incredibly useful later. He lifted the mirror and observed the other party¡¯s movements through the reflection. The enemy seemed to be wary of Wu Peng, and didn¡¯t dare to recklessly charge into the pit. That gave him a little room to breathe. He took out a grenade and pulled out the ring. He then waited two seconds before throwing it at the enemy. A loud explosion immediately rang outside the pit. But the grenade didn¡¯t cause any casualties or injuries, as the enemy was too far away. But it did greatly reduce the speed at which the enemies advanced. That was enough for Wu Peng. He was afraid that the enemy would mindlessly charge forward together. If that happened, he wouldn¡¯t be able to hold them off, even if he had two more arms. Five minutes passed. Reinforcements would arrive if they could last five minutes more. ¡°Wu Peng, what¡¯s the situation like?¡± Ye Wei was feeling much better after her short rest. She could at least sit up. ¡°Hehe, I thought Viper was made up of robots who don¡¯t fear death, but it looks like they know fear. They¡¯re all hesitating outside the pit, not daring to approach.¡± Wu Peng smiled boastfully. Ye Wei saw how Wu Peng was still smiling despite their situation and couldn¡¯t help but smile bitterly. The two of them were still smiling when they suddenly saw a black ball fall into the pit. It hit Wu Peng right in the head. ¡°Grenade!¡± Ye Wei let out a cry of shock. Wu Peng reacted quickly. He picked up the grenade and threw it out of the pit. ¡°Stop laughing. It almost became a tragedy.¡± Wu Peng quickly passed the mirror over to Ye Wei and instructed her to raise it out of the pit so that he could observe the enemy¡¯s movements. The members of Viper saw that their grenade had been tossed out. Knowing that the other party was still hiding inside the pit, they were prepared to continue throwing grenades inside. Wu Peng wouldn¡¯t let that happen. He abruptly peeked his head outside the pit and started firing bullets at them before they could take out their grenades. The enemies who were taking out their grenades were instantly taken down, and the rest of them starting retaliating. Wu Peng cowardly hid back into the pit. Ye Wei¡¯s eyes were filled with admiration. ¡°Good movements!¡± Wu Peng¡¯s series of movements just now had been extremely fluid. She wouldn¡¯t have been able to do that. ¡°Hehe, unfortunately, I won¡¯t be able to use that move again. The enemies will be prepared for it the next time.¡± ¡°You¡¯re smiling so happily. You must still have ideas in mind.¡± For some reason, Ye Wei believed that Wu Peng had other tricks up his sleeves. ¡°Of course. I have many ideas left. Get the grenades ready. Throw one out every three seconds!¡± Ye Wei immediately grabbed onto the grenades in her hands. Wu Peng reloaded his magazine. He nodded at Ye Wei, and the latter immediately tossed a grenade out of the pit. As soon as the grenade exploded, Wu Peng poked his head out of the pit again and pulled the trigger the instant he saw a human figure. He then squirmed back into the pit to hide. Just like that, Wu Peng had made use of the explosion as a cover and once again stopped the enemies from advancing. Unfortunately, his advantage didn¡¯t last long, and they soon ran out of grenades. All they had left were a few stun grenades. However, the stun grenades wouldn¡¯t be very effective in such a vast area. ¡°The reinforcements should be arriving soon! Try to contact them!¡± Ye Wei immediately tried to call Daliu on her wireless communication device. However, all she heard in her earpiece was a wave of static. ¡°The enemy must be using a jammer. The communication device cannot be used.¡± ¡°We¡¯re out of bullets and resources. Are we both going to die here today?¡± Wu Peng smiled as he patted Ye Wei¡¯s head. Ye Wei would¡¯ve beat him up if he¡¯d done that on an average day. However, at this moment Ye Wei could only remain silent. ¡°As a law enforcer, it¡¯s natural to die on the battlefield. Unfortunately, I dragged you into this.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be in a hurry to say your last words. Don¡¯t give up until the very end.¡± Wu Peng heard the enemy¡¯s footsteps get closer and closer. He clenched his teeth and stood up, then pulled the trigger at the enemy closest to him. The enemy immediately retaliated, and a shower of bullets flew past beside Wu Peng. ¡°Ssss!¡± Wu Peng suddenly felt as if his right arm had been stung by a bee. His entire arm then became numb. His past experiences told him that he¡¯d been hit by a bullet, and he quickly squirmed back into the pit. He lowered his head to look at his right arm. Sure enough, there was a bloody hole in his arm, and fresh blood was constantly pouring out of it. Ye Wei saw that he was injured and quickly pressed onto the wound with her hand to slow the blow flow. Wu Peng being injured meant that he could no longer stop the enemy¡¯s attacks. ¡°Sigh, I didn¡¯t expect to die here. However, it¡¯s worth it if I can die together with such a beautiful lady.¡± ¡°Urgh, I am the captain of the law enforcement unit. They won¡¯t kill me.¡± The two of them looked at each other and couldn¡¯t help but laugh. Suddenly, they heard intense gunfire and the hum of a motor from far away. ¡°Listen! It¡¯s the sound of the Gatling gun! Daliu and the rest must¡¯ve arrived!¡± Ye Wei was elated and kept shaking Wu Peng¡¯s arm. ¡°Sss! Softer! Stop applying force on my wound.¡± Wu Peng¡¯s face was contorted with pain. An intense wave of gunfire rang out outside the large pit. The members of Viper opened fire to retaliate, but they were completely powerless against the Gatling gun and armored vehicle. The members of Viper only resisted the law enforcers for a few minutes before starting to retreat. ¡°Captain! Where are you guys?¡± Daliu¡¯s loud voice rang outside the pit like a loudhailer. ¡°Quickly give Wu Peng treatment. Have the enemies been exterminated?¡± Ye Wei quickly replied. An instant later, a bunch of law enforcers rushed to the side of the large pit. As the captain, Ye Wei immediately assumed the role of leader. ¡°There are still five enemies on the run.¡± ¡°Daliu, get some men and chase after them. Leave three people behind to take care of Wu Peng.¡± Ye Wei continued pressing on Wu Peng¡¯s wound after issuing her orders. The law enforcers quickly retrieved the emergency medical supplies from the vehicle and helped Wu Peng disinfect and dress his wound. After Wu Peng¡¯s wound had stopped bleeding, they got him into the car and returned to the law enforcers¡¯ base. Wu Peng¡¯s injuries stabilized after a doctor at the base tended to him. Ye Wei had to remain in the hospital for observation, as she¡¯d been hit by the impact of the explosion. After resting at the base for a moment, Wu Peng suddenly became afraid that Elsa was probably worried about him, so he snuck out of the hospital and returned to his shelter. Elsa saw that Wu Peng was covered in bandages and blood and immediately started bawling. ¡°Brother Peng! Didn¡¯t you go on a date? Why did you end up like this? Did Ye Wei do this?¡± ¡°Haha, I¡¯m fine. When we were on our date, we encountered Viper trying to snatch the fragments of the meteorite and fought a war with them. I accidentally got injured.¡± Elsa saw that Wu Peng still had a smile on his face and cried even harder. Wu Peng spent a great deal of effort consoling her and got her to prepare a meal as a distraction. Then, he accessed the shelter¡¯s attribute interface. Chapter 35 Wu Peng remembered that there was probably a medical room in the shelter. He had been reluctant to spend the points in the past, as he was rather confident in his abilities. Thus, he hadn¡¯t built a medical room. But now that he was getting into more and more battles with Viper, the probability of him getting injured in the future was high. It would be inconvenient to not have a medical room in the shelter. After scrolling through the options, he saw the option for a medical room. The [Basic Medical Room] could provide simple treatment for superficial wounds and required 500 points to build. ¡°Simple treatment for superficial wounds?¡± Wu Peng mulled over the option for a moment. This medical room didn¡¯t seem like it¡¯d be very reliable. He then looked at the options to upgrade the medical room. The [Intermediate Medical Room] could provide exceptional treatment for superficial wounds, as well as simple surgeries for any organs. It was also equipped with surgical robots. It needed 1000 points to upgrade. ¡°This looks pretty reliable.¡± Wu Peng closed the attribute interface. He decided to build the intermediate medical room even though he didn¡¯t have the points to do so. However, based on his previous observations, he should obtain many points as a reward for helping the law enforcers deal with Viper and saving Ye Wei¡¯s life. ¡°Brother Peng! Dinner is ready. Come and eat, quickly.¡± ¡°Coming!¡± Wu Peng sat in front of the table. He wanted to pick up the chopsticks but remembered that his right arm was injured. Just as he was about to switch to his left hand, Elsa picked up the chopsticks and propped the bowl up to his mouth. Wu Peng felt a little uncomfortable. He didn¡¯t need someone to feed him. Only his right arm was injured. It wasn¡¯t like he was completely paralyzed. He wanted to reject her offer, but when he saw how determined she looked, he could only submit and slowly open his mouth. Just like that, Elsa gently fed Wu Peng his meal. He ate for half an hour, and Elsa only put down the utensils after he repeatedly said that he couldn¡¯t eat anymore. ¡°You would make an exceptional nurse.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to take care of people.¡± Elsa¡¯s face immediately turned beet red after she said this. Wu Peng saw how shy she was. ¡°This is bad,¡± he thought. He¡¯d never been in a romantic relationship. However, judging by the romantic relationships he¡¯d witnessed between other people in the past, Elsa was most likely in love with him. However, Wu Peng liked Ye Wei. He had always regarded Elsa as his little sister. He didn¡¯t want to get involved in a complicated love triangle in this post-apocalyptic world. ¡°Cough cough, Sister Elsa, thank you for taking care of your brother. We¡¯ll forever be siblings.¡± Wu Peng stared at Elsa after he said this, hoping that she would take the hint. Sure enough, Elsa¡¯s expression immediately darkened, and she said, ¡°I¡¯m the only child in my family!¡± After saying this, she stood up and picked up the bowls and chopsticks before running into the kitchen. ¡°Sigh! She likes me, and I can¡¯t even take advantage of my good fortune in romance,¡± Wu Peng sighed. The night silently passed, and a new day arrived. The first thing Wu Peng did when he opened his eyes was check his point interface. As expected, he had gained 2000 points. He had received a reward of 1500 points just for saving Ye Wei. He quickly accessed the shelter¡¯s building options and chose the basic medical room. Then, he immediately upgraded the medical room to an intermediate medical room. A beam of white light flashed, and a new room appeared in the shelter. Wu Peng pushed open the door and went inside. There was a surgical bed in the middle of the room. Beside the bed was a white, column-like robot. It had a shimmering green light on its head. Wu Peng walked up next to the robot and curiously patted its head. ¡°Hello! I am your personal doctor,¡± the robot said. ¡°Please lie down on the bed if you require treatment.¡± Wu Peng quickly lay down on the bed. A small hole opened in the head of the robot, and a black probe extended out from within. The probe aimed at Wu Peng and shot out a beam of red light. It scanned him from head to toe. ¡°I¡¯ve done a full-body scan for you. You have a minor concussion, your organs are slightly misplaced, and you have a deep wound in your right arm. I¡¯ll begin your treatment now.¡± Several mechanical arms extended out of the robot¡¯s side after the robot told Wu Peng his diagnosis. Every arm had a different piece of medical equipment. There were surgical knives, tweezers, forceps, and even a mini electric saw. Wu Peng felt a little terrified. He fought back the urge to escape and chose to believe in the Mechanical System¡¯s creation. ¡°I¡¯ll administer the anesthetic now.¡± The robot didn¡¯t care about what Wu Peng was thinking. It reached toward Wu Peng¡¯s arm with one of its mechanical arms and quickly injected him with the anesthetic. Then, multiple robotic arms started dancing in the air as the robot removed the bandage on Wu Peng¡¯s arm. The robot¡¯s mechanical arms immediately sprang into action after it announced in an icy tone, ¡°Beginning the suturing procedure. Estimated time, 9 minutes 30 seconds.¡± Wu Peng tightly shut his eyes. When battling enemies, he could remain completely expressionless. However, he couldn¡¯t help but be a little afraid when the robot started operating on him. A moment later, he heard the robot coldly announce, ¡°The surgery is complete. Estimated time for complete recovery, 26 hours.¡± Wu Peng opened his eyes and looked at his arm. His original wound had disappeared, leaving behind only a faint red line. ¡°A miracle doctor!¡± Wu Peng was elated. He had been worried that his wound would leave a scar. Now, it seemed like the red line would disappear in a few days. He kissed the robot¡¯s shiny forehead, then skipped out of the medical room. Elsa was preparing a meal in the kitchen. She glanced at Wu Peng when she heard him come in, then covered her mouth in shock. ¡°Brother Peng! Your injuries are healed?¡± ¡°Hehe, miraculous, isn¡¯t it?¡± Elsa hugged Wu Peng¡¯s arm and examined his wound for some time. She couldn¡¯t believe her eyes. Wu Peng brought Elsa to the medical room and said, ¡°This is the medical room I built. That¡¯s a medical robot. You can come here if you get sick or injured in the future.¡± Even though Elsa was very curious, she decided not to ask too many questions. There were too many mysteries surrounding Wu Peng. However, if Wu Peng wasn¡¯t willing to bring it up and talk about it, she wasn¡¯t going to question him. Wu Peng went to the gym after his meal. Getting injured this time had made him realize that his abilities were still lacking. Protecting himself wasn¡¯t a problem. However, his abilities weren¡¯t good enough to allow him to protect someone else. If it hadn¡¯t been for his good fortune the other day, he might¡¯ve died alongside Ye Wei. After training for a while, Wu Peng stopped and accessed the gym¡¯s attribute interface. He wanted to see if there were any items that could rapidly improve his abilities. He searched for a moment, then came across an item by the name of [Combat Training Robot]. It could be bought for 500 points. Wu Peng deliberated for a moment, then clenched his teeth and purchased the robot. After all, improving his abilities was the most important thing at the moment. A beam of white light flashed, and a robot that was about the same height as him appeared. He accessed the robot¡¯s operating interface and noticed that there were a variety of modes to choose from. There were options for the robot to continuously attack, defend indefinitely, or go into combat mode. Wu Peng chose the practical battle mode to see how strong the robot was. In the end, Wu Peng was sent scurrying around by the robot in just three minutes. He quickly changed it to defense mode. ¡°This item sure is impressive. If I had its skills, I wouldn¡¯t even be afraid to take on five of Viper¡¯s men with my bare hands.¡± Chapter 36 Wu Peng was elated when he saw how impressive the robot was. In the beginning, he¡¯d thought that the robot would be a dumb steel plate. He didn¡¯t expect the robot to be more agile than a human. He would only be able to improve his fighting technique by constantly sparring with experts. In the past, much less in this post-apocalyptic world, it was hard to find a powerful expert willing to train with you every day. Wu Peng immediately started a harsh training regimen with the combat training robot. Elsa was also attracted by the robot. She saw how hard Wu Peng was sweating and training and opted to join in. She couldn¡¯t always depend on Wu Peng for protection. Her enemies hadn¡¯t been eliminated yet, and Viper was still doing evil around the city. ¡°Elsa, don¡¯t push yourself too hard. Be careful not to get injured,¡± Wu Peng quickly reminded her goodnaturedly when he saw Elsa¡¯s face turn red as she lifted her dumbbells. ¡°It¡¯s fine! I have to get stronger too. I have to exact revenge for my parents when I encounter those people in the future!¡± Wu Peng nodded with satisfaction when he saw how determined Elsa was. Wu Peng liked suave and strong girls more than weak ones. ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, I¡¯ll teach you how to shoot.¡± Wu Peng went to the production station and made a Glock 17 for Elsa. The handgun had a smaller caliber and not a lot of kickback, but it still delivered in terms of power, and its magazine could be modified so it could hold more bullets. This made it a very suitable weapon for Elsa. He took Elsa out of the shelter and set up an easy target. Wu Peng started teaching her what he knew about shooting a gun and various techniques. Unexpectedly, Elsa quickly caught one. She was rather talented when it came to shooting. In just two days, she managed to score above 90 points with ten bullets. As long as she honed her skills in actual combat, Elsa would become an exceptional marksman. Wu Peng needed an able assistant. After all, all heroes need a sidekick. Even though it was cool to be a lone wolf, he wouldn¡¯t be able to fight against multiple enemies on his own. Wu Peng considered his options, then decided to teach Elsa how to fly the Bird scouting drone. In the future, Elsa would be able to fly the Bird to scout the surroundings, even if he wasn¡¯t at home. And they might even be able to go on missions together when she got stronger. Elsa completely mastered all of the techniques for controlling the Bird in just half a day. Like a child who¡¯d just gotten a new toy, she happily controlled the Bird and flew it all around Jiang City. Wu Peng trained with the combat training robot to improve his fighting techniques and lifted weights to increase his strength every day for the next few days. He would rest after his workout and then help Elsa with her shooting outside of the shelter. At night, Wu Peng would control the Bird to scout the surroundings to prevent members of Viper from launching a surprise attack against the shelter. He didn¡¯t find anything abnormal for countless days, and he gradually let down his guard. He was in the middle of flying the Bird around the shelter when Elsa suddenly ran out of her room. ¡°Brother Peng! I saw a few people. They¡¯re dressed like those guys.¡± Wu Peng knew that the ¡°guys¡± Elsa was referring to was Viper. He immediately fetched Elsa¡¯s phone from her and saw four of Viper¡¯s men sneakily digging into a short building. The building was only two kilometers away from the shelter. Wu Peng remembered that no one was living there, so why were the people from Viper sneakily entering that building? He suddenly remembered Viper¡¯s shelter in the ruins of the shopping mall and immediately wondered if that spot was another one of their gathering points. ¡°I¡¯ve finally caught you again. I¡¯ll have to get you to pay me back for my injured arm!¡± Wu Peng immediately went to the production station and found the option to produce weapons. He scrolled through the catalog many times before spending 80 points on an HK416 automatic rifle. Even though the AK-47 was sturdy and durable, not that many accessories could be attached to it. Wu Peng often had to do battle in narrow alleys or indoors, so he needed a weapon that could be heavily modified to adapt to different battle scenarios. A beam of white light flashed, and a brown rifle appeared in front of him. However, this was just the start. Wu Peng accessed the accessories page and started modifying the HK416. A holographic weapon sight, silencer, triangle grip, and a hanging grenade launcher. He produced all of the accessories that he could use. Wu Peng then expertly equipped the accessories onto the rifle. Wu Peng spent 300 points on the full set of weapons and bullets, spending all of the points he¡¯d amassed during the past few days on the gun. After he armed himself, Wu Peng prepared to head out to deal with the four people from Viper. ¡°Elsa, I¡¯m going out for a moment. Take care of the shelter!¡± Elsa gave a determined nod. After Wu Peng left, Elsa steered the Bird and got it to follow behind Wu Peng. When he came near the short building, Wu Peng connected to the Bird and flew it once around the building. He didn¡¯t notice any scouts. Thus, he crouched down and moved over to the side of the main door. He carefully peeked into the building. He didn¡¯t notice anything strange, so he slipped into the building through the crack in the door. The building was dead silent, as if no one was living there. However, Wu Peng knew that Viper would build their meeting point underground. He searched the building for a little while and, as he¡¯d expected, found a manhole cover. He reached out to tug at the manhole cover, but it didn¡¯t move. It looked like it was locked from the inside. The Bird had seen four people just now. However, there might be more people at the meeting point. Wu Peng didn¡¯t dare to barge into the base. He chose to squat near the manhole cover and guard the area. Based on his understanding of Viper, they were most active at night. After Wu Peng waited for almost two hours, a sound suddenly came from the manhole cover as it was pushed open from the inside. This person was very cautious. He peeked out and looked around, then nimbly slipped out of the hole after ascertaining that nothing was amiss. Wu Pent wasn¡¯t in a hurry to shoot. He held his breath and waited for everyone to come out. After the first member of Viper checked out the area, three other people came out behind him. There were four of them¡ªthe same number of Viper members he¡¯d seen that evening. Wu Peng chose to lie low. He had to wait until these people were further away from the meeting point. He sneakily followed behind the four-man group and tailed them for nearly a kilometer. ¡°It seems like these people are advancing to where the meteor fell. Could it be that Viper wants to snatch the fragments of the meteor tonight too?¡± Wu Peng decided to take action. He had to quickly eliminate these four people and head to where the meteor had fallen to take a look. At this moment, the enemies had just walked into an open field. Wu Peng crouched down on the ground and aimed at one of Viper¡¯s members. He rehearsed the sequence of shots in his head and took a deep breath to slow his heart rate, then pulled the trigger. The HK416 automatic rifle performed excellently. Its recoil was much less than that of the AK-47. Furthermore, the rifle was equipped with a silencer, so only a clapping sound was heard before the bullet pierced through the member of Viper¡¯s head. ¡°There¡¯s an ambush!¡± The members of Viper immediately reacted, and the remaining three people crouched onto the ground and started searching for Wu Peng¡¯s position. However, Wu Peng had expected all of this. Without hesitation, he started attacking them, just like he¡¯d rehearsed in his head. A member of Viper who had just crouched down on the ground got shot in the face and died on the spot. Because of the silencer, the sound and flare from the shot were kept to a minimum. The surviving members of Viper still couldn¡¯t find Wu Peng¡¯s position. Chapter 37 Wu Peng continued shooting at the members from Viper. He hadn¡¯t expected them to crouch in a depression in the ground. The terrain that they were on was several inches lower than the ground he was on. Wu Peng¡¯s bullet either flew past their heads or landed in the sand in front of them. The rest of Viper¡¯s members were also well trained, and they locked onto Wu Peng¡¯s position based on the general direction that the bullets were coming from. The battle immediately became positional warfare with both parties shooting at each other. Thinking about the situation on Ye Wei¡¯s side, Wu Peng didn¡¯t want to waste too much time with these people. He took out a grenade from around his waist and placed it inside the HK416¡¯s modified grenade launcher. He angled the barrel of the gun slightly upward and pulled the trigger. With a boom, the grenade flew through the air in an arc and landed in the depression that the members of Viper were hiding in. Then, there was a loud explosion, and dust and debris flew up into the air. Wu Peng didn¡¯t immediately stand up to investigate the situation. Instead, he remained crouching. After a minute, he fired a few experimental shots at the enemy. After ascertaining that there were no movements on the enemy¡¯s side, he quickly ran over at a half-crouch. One of the member¡¯s lower body had been blasted to bits, while the other had become unconscious from the impact of the explosion. Wu Peng couldn¡¯t be bothered to interrogate them. He fired two shots at their heads. Then, he immediately connected to the Bird scouting drone with his phone. He steered the Bird to scout the area where the meteor had fallen. As expected, there was a battle taking place there. Viper had sent more men and were using stronger firepower this time around. They had even sent three armored vehicles. Their armored vehicles were equipped with heavy-duty machine guns, which were raining down bullets on the law enforcers. They must have sent armored vehicles with stronger firepower to take revenge on the law enforcers for splitting their SUV in half with their armored vehicle. Fortunately, the law enforcers were also rather well-equipped, and they were holding their own against Viper. However, what worried Wu Peng was that Viper¡¯s reinforcements were still rushing over from all directions. In the past, they must have been scattered throughout Viper¡¯s various gathering points in Jiang City. However, central command had probably ordered them to come and snatch the fragments of the meteorite at any cost. Wu Peng flew the Bird around the battlefield and finally saw Ye Wei. She was crouching on the hood of an armored vehicle, surveying the battlefield with her binoculars. She issued orders through the wireless communication device from time to time. Wu Peng put away his phone and started to run over to help them. With the bird, he could easily avoid Viper¡¯s men, and he met up with the law enforcers without encountering much trouble along the way. Ye Wei was both surprised and relieved when she saw Wu Peng suddenly appear in front of her. She had been lying in bed for a full week after her injury but hadn¡¯t seen Wu Peng even once. She¡¯d thought that Wu Peng had become handicapped after being injured, or that his treatment hadn¡¯t gone well and he¡¯d died from an infection. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that. It makes me feel embarrassed.¡± Wu Peng always spoke so flippantly, so Ye Wei was used to it. He was someone who could smile and crack a joke even in the face of death. ¡°Viper suddenly launched a fierce attack tonight. Fortunately, the guards handled the situation well. Otherwise, we would¡¯ve been run over. What do you think about this?¡± Ye Wei¡¯s attitude toward Wu Peng had changed now that she had gone through a life or death situation with him. In the past, she never would have actively sought his opinion. ¡°I scouted the area when I arrived. The members of Viper are still rushing over constantly. It seems like they want to fight it out with the law enforcers.¡± Ye Wei smiled coldly and said, ¡°They should all come over here in one go. I¡¯ve already called for reinforcements from headquarters. You¡¯re going to witness a big scene soon.¡± When Wu Peng saw Ye Wei¡¯s smile, he became curious about what the ¡°big scene¡± would be. At that moment, a law enforcer ran over panting and reported, ¡°Captain! The enemy has increased their firepower. Our brothers at the frontline won¡¯t be able to hold on much longer!¡± Ye Wei immediately picked up the communication device and ordered, ¡°Hear my orders, tighten the defensive formation! Law enforcers at the frontline are to retreat 50 meters!¡± The law enforcers at the frontline immediately started to retreat, while those at the back tightened the defensive formation, leading to a more concentrated wave of firepower. As a result, they held off the enemy¡¯s offense for the moment. However, Wu Peng knew that continuing to passively defend wasn¡¯t a long-term strategy. A defensive formation wouldn¡¯t be able to hold against the enemy¡¯s manic blasts, no matter how sturdy it was. The enemies would immediately be able to infiltrate their ranks the moment they found an opening in their web of defense. Ye Wei looked in the direction of the enemy with her binoculars and said, ¡°Oh? Wu Peng, look at that car!¡± Wu Peng fetched the binoculars from her and, looking in the same direction, he saw a pure-black armored SUV parked far away. It was much more luxurious than the bulletproof SUVs he¡¯d encountered in the past. A person was standing beside the car. He was dressed in black clothes with silver adornments, including a round, silver token on his helmet. This person was also holding a pair of binoculars, which he was using to observe the law enforcers. ¡°Judging from this man¡¯s clothing and posture, he might be one of Viper¡¯s leaders.¡± ¡°We should be able to obtain a great amount of information from him if we capture him.¡± There was a strange glow in Ye Wei¡¯s eyes. Wu Peng didn¡¯t comment. Even an ordinary member of Viper was a fanatic who was unafraid of death. A leader of the organization would be even more loyal. Suddenly, an alert rang out from Wu Peng¡¯s phone. It had been sent by the Bird scouting drone. Wu Peng was shocked after he connected to the footage from the drone¡¯s camera and saw a mass of drones flying through the sky. There were several hundred of them. ¡°Ye Wei, there are drones flying over here!¡± Ye Wei quickly observed the situation with her binoculars and then exclaimed in surprise, ¡°The big scene is here!¡± The drones had reached the sky above their heads while they were speaking. Judging from how Ye Wei was acting, Wu Peng guessed that these were the reinforcements sent over from headquarters. Indeed, the drones flew over their heads in an imposing manner and started to attack Viper¡¯s members. Each of the drones¡¯ bases opened up as they shot out guided missiles. Even though the guided missiles weren¡¯t large, their numbers more than made up for their lack of power. Several hundred miniature guided missiles exploded on the battlefield, sending up flames, dust, and debris. After the drones dropped their guided missiles, they started to fly through the air, revolving machine guns extending from their bases. They started to spray bullets at Viper¡¯s members. Viper¡¯s fierce offense instantly crumbled, and the tide of the battle immediately turned in the law enforcers¡¯ favor. The battle was already trending toward their annihilation. Ye Wei continued to stare at the person who seemed to be a leader of Viper. Seeing him get into the armored vehicle, about to make his escape, she immediately got into her own armored vehicle and pursued him. Wu Peng wanted to stop her. After all, one should never press a desperate enemy. However, Ye Wei wouldn¡¯t listen to reason. She wanted to capture a big fish like him. Left without a choice, Wu Peng quickly got into the car and chased after the man with her. At that moment, Viper was in full retreat, and they didn¡¯t try to fight off the armored vehicle. The two of them passed through the battlefield unobstructed as they followed closely behind the armored SUV. Even though the enemy noticed that Wu Peng and Ye Wei were pursuing them, they didn¡¯t retaliate. They simply accelerated as they drove forward. Chapter 38 ¡°The other party¡¯s car is pretty fast. We won¡¯t be able to catch up.¡± Wu Peng glanced at the accelerometer on their armored vehicle. They were already at max speed. Unfortunately, they were unable to close the distance between them and the car in front of them. If this carried on, they wouldn¡¯t be able to catch up even if they exhausted all of their fuel. ¡°Wu Peng, use the machine gun to puncture their tires.¡± Ye Wei didn¡¯t want to give up just like that. At the moment, the armored SUV¡¯s trunk opened, revealing a barrel with many black holes. Wu Peng felt his scalp prickle, and he immediately squirmed back to the co-pilot seat. ¡°Thump, thump, thump!¡± The gun barrel fired rhythmically, instantly penetrating the bulletproof glass on the law enforcer¡¯s armored vehicle. Fortunately, the bullets only grazed past Ye Wei¡¯s body. Ye Wei was quick to react, immediately jerking the steering wheel to the side and stepping on the brakes. The armored vehicle rotated in position. The back of the car was now facing the enemy. The two of them immediately hugged their heads and crouched under their seats the moment the car stopped in order to protect themselves from being hit. A moment later, after noticing that the enemy was no longer firing at them, Wu Peng opened the door and checked behind them. The armored SUV had vanished. ¡°Sigh! That was close. To think that the enemy would have a heavy-duty machine gun cannon. It looks like the person in that car is definitely important.¡± Heavy-duty machine gun cannons were usually installed on fighter jets or fighting vessels, and their immense firepower could easily pierce through armor. Faced with the power of one of those cannons, the law enforcement unit¡¯s armored vehicle might as well have been tofu in front of a steel hammer. Ye Wei also got out of the car. Seeing that the enemy was receding into the distance, she angrily kicked the tire of the car. ¡°Forget it. We won¡¯t accomplish anything if we¡¯re too impatient. Let¡¯s go back and clean up the battlefield,¡± Wu Peng consoled Ye Wei. However, shortly after, he realized that there was thick smoke billowing from the cover of their armored vehicle. He quickly opened the cover to investigate the situation and realized that the interior of the car had become scrap metal after being hit by the bullets. This armored vehicle was useless now. ¡°Sigh, it looks like we¡¯ll have to walk back.¡± Wu Peng took out his weapon from inside the car and carried it on his back. Then, he walked over to Ye Wei and tapped her on the shoulder, signaling that they should head back quickly. Ye Wei pushed Wu Peng¡¯s hand away, feeling a little frustrated. They set off after she also grabbed her weapon from inside the car. They had just walked several hundred meters when they saw many of Viper¡¯s men running toward them. Wu Peng cursed their bad luck at encountering Viper¡¯s men, who were fleeing the battlefield. Wu Peng wasn¡¯t afraid, and he wouldn¡¯t be even if he were alone. After all, the men were fleeing for their lives and had no time to be bothered with him. However, it was different with Ye Wei around. She was carrying a weapon that only law enforcers had, and the members of Viper would definitely attack them if they saw it. ¡°Let¡¯s hide first. Lots of Viper¡¯s members are fleeing right now, and it would be disadvantageous for us to engage in battle with them.¡± Wu Peng looked around and saw an abandoned building to their left. He immediately pulled Ye Wei into the building to hide. The two of them observed the situation outside through a hole in the window and saw a constant stream of Viper¡¯s men passing them by. They were all running toward where the armored SUV had headed just now. ¡°That¡¯s weird. Why are they running over there? Could that be Viper¡¯s main gathering point in Jiang City?¡± Ye Wei whispered, voicing her suspicions, but Wu Peng remained silent. Ye Wei wanted to head out of the abandoned building but was stopped by Wu Peng. ¡°No, I have to follow them and have a look,¡± she said. ¡°My great Captain Ye! Stay here for a moment. If Viper¡¯s members spot us, we won¡¯t be able to fight them with just the two of us.¡± Ye Wei glared at Wu Peng. She knitted her brows and said softly, ¡°This is an opportunity to find Viper¡¯s headquarters. Stay here and wait if you¡¯re afraid.¡± She pushed Wu Peng¡¯s hand away and, half crouching, headed out of the abandoned building to follow Viper¡¯s men. Wu Peng let out a long sigh and shook his head in frustration. If it were anyone else, he wouldn¡¯t have been bothered, but this was Ye Wei, the person he loved. All he could do was follow her. The two of them followed Viper¡¯s men as they escaped. They maintained a distance of several meters between them and Viper¡¯s men, who didn¡¯t notice them even after it had been ten minutes. They walked another several hundred meters and suddenly saw Viper¡¯s members slow down. Ye Wei took out her binoculars to look at the men. After a moment, she said, ¡°It¡¯s that armored SUV!¡± At that moment, Viper¡¯s leader was standing on the top of the SUV. He seemed to be saying something to his men. After the leader gave his lecture, the other members of Viper who were scattered around immediately formed organized teams. Their dejected aura had vanished. Ye Wei was rather provoked when she saw this scene. She couldn¡¯t help but prop up her gun and aim at Viper¡¯s leader, who was lecturing his men. ¡°What do you want to do?¡± Wu Peng broke into a cold sweat when he saw what she was doing. There were now 50 to 60 people gathered around the armored SUV. The other party would definitely swarm over and eliminate them if Ye Wei opened fire. However, Ye Wei remained unmoved. ¡°Since I can¡¯t capture him alive,¡± she said, ¡°I¡¯ll just have to kill him. Find an escape route. I¡¯ll retreat immediately after I open fire.¡± ¡°You¡¯re mad, you¡¯re mad! I¡¯ll definitely be killed by you someday.¡± Wu Peng understood Ye Wei¡¯s personality. She wouldn¡¯t change her mind now that she had decided on her idea. All he could do was search for an escape route. Ye Wei took a deep breath and relaxed. She kept her eye on the leader¡¯s head and aimed at the silver token on his helmet. Then, she slowly pulled the trigger. A gunshot rang out, and Viper¡¯s leader, who had been standing on the top of the car, immediately fell. The other men who had been standing around the car immediately slipped into chaos and spread out in search of the sniper. Ye Wei was elated when she saw that she had hit her target in one shot. However, she was only happy for a few seconds before she saw the leader of Viper stagger and stand up. ¡°What kind of helmet could be that bulletproof?!¡± Ye We became flustered. She immediately lifted her gun, took aim, and fired. She aimed at his heart this time. However, she wasn¡¯t in peak condition, and she couldn¡¯t hit her target in two consecutive shots. By now, the members of Viper had already locked onto Ye Wei¡¯s position because of the shots she¡¯d fired. ¡°Run quickly! We¡¯ll be dead meat if we drag this out.¡± Wu Peng grabbed Ye Wei¡¯s arm and forcefully pulled her up from the ground. He started to sprint along the route he¡¯d found previously. The members of Viper were immediately in hot pursuit. They heard a flurry of gunshots behind them. Countless bullets flew past them. Fortunately, they were on a small dirt hill, which meant the enemy couldn¡¯t hit them easily because of the inclined angle. They got over the small hill, temporarily moving out of the enemy¡¯s sight. Wu Peng quickly connected to the Bird with his phone and searched the surrounding terrain for a safe route. However, before he could closely examine his surroundings, the members of Viper had already caught up to them. He quickly put away his phone and continued running for his life. However, neither Wu Peng nor Ye Wei knew the area, so they could only run like headless cockroaches. ¡°We can¡¯t just keep running. We¡¯re finished the moment we run out of stamina,¡± Wu Peng said anxiously. Suddenly his phone rang. Who could be calling him at this time? He pressed on the wireless earpiece in his ear and heard Elsa¡¯s voice. ¡°Brother Peng! I¡¯m following you with the Bird scouting drone. I¡¯ve already found an escape route for you. Listen to my instructions.¡± Chapter 39 Wu Peng was extremely surprised. ¡°My good sister,¡± he said, ¡°you¡¯ve helped me a great deal.¡± Under Elsa¡¯s instructions, Wu Peng and Ye Wei started to escape. They constantly turned left and right, over mountains and ravines, before finally shaking off the people chasing after them. Finally, they arrived at a place near Wu Peng¡¯s shelter. After their manic sprint, Wu Peng and Ye Wei were completely exhausted, and their legs had even started to turn numb. Wu Peng felt more at ease when he saw his home right up ahead. ¡°Alright, we should be safe now. My shelter is up ahead. Do you want to come inside?¡± Ye Wei nodded. She was so tired that she couldn¡¯t speak. They had just walked ten meters when they suddenly heard gunshots coming from behind them. Wu Peng pulled Ye Wei onto the ground. They turned back to look behind them and saw two members from Viper. ¡°They managed to follow us here?¡± He took out his rifle and was about to retaliate when the enemy immediately fired at them. Left without a choice, Wu Peng could only hug his head and plaster his face as close to the ground as possible. The gunshots were getting closer and closer. At the critical moment, Wu Peng heard a wave of gunshots from behind him. The sound of the gunshots was very familiar. It seemed to come from a Glock 17. He secretly turned to look behind him and saw Elsa, who was shooting a little distance away. ¡°Brother Peng! I¡¯ll cover you, run quickly!¡± Elsa anxiously shouted at him. Wu Peng quickly pulled Ye Wei up and tried to lay low as he ran toward Elsa. When the two members from Viper saw Wu Peng¡¯s reinforcements, they decided to give up the chase, as they were also exhausted. Elsa heaved a sigh of relief when she saw the enemy leave, and she helped Wu Peng up from the ground to save him the effort. ¡°Oh my, they always say that the hero should be the one saving the princess. It looks like the roles are reversed today.¡± Now that he was free of danger, Wu Peng started speaking flippantly out of habit. Elsa smiled as she helped him wipe off the mud on his face. ¡°Oh yes, let me introduce you guys. This is Ye Wei, the captain of the law enforcers.¡± Only now did Elsa look at Ye Wei, who was standing off to the side. She was tall and slender and had an exceptional demeanor, and even though her face was also filthy, the dirt couldn¡¯t hide her exquisite features. ¡°Nice to meet you,¡± she said emotionlessly before turning her gaze back to Wu Peng. Ye Wei sensed that the lady in front of her had a strong opinion of her even though this was the first time they¡¯d met. Sensing tension between the two women, Wu Peng quickly changed the topic. ¡°Is there anything to eat? Ye Wei and I have been fleeing for our lives. We¡¯re hungry and tired.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve prepared all your favorite dishes for dinner, but I only prepared enough for the two of us.¡± Elsa glanced past Ye Wei after saying her piece. Ye Wei knitted her brows. She could feel the other party¡¯s open hostility. However, Ye Wei was a proud woman, and she didn¡¯t care to argue with a little girl. ¡°I¡¯ll return to the base first,¡± Ye Wei said. ¡°There¡¯s probably a lot of things I need to tend to there.¡± She turned around and left, not caring whether Wu Peng stopped her or not. Wu Peng could only flash a bitter smile as he watched Ye Wei¡¯s receding figure. ¡°Why did you treat her so poorly? She did nothing to offend you.¡± ¡°Hmph! I saw everything using the Bird. You wouldn¡¯t have been in danger if it hadn¡¯t been for her. She must have had something to do with your injury the other day.¡± Wu Peng knew that Elsa was concerned about him and could only return to his shelter to rest. After dinner, Wu Peng lay down in bed and immediately fell asleep. It was a new day. Wu Peng accessed the point interface and noticed that the system had awarded him with 4000 points. The rewards for helping law enforcers were generous. After breakfast, Wu Peng remembered that he hadn¡¯t searched Viper¡¯s gathering point, which he¡¯d discovered yesterday. Elsa had been unfriendly toward Ye Wei yesterday night, and he decided to salvage the situation by telling Ye Wei about the gathering point. He sent Ye Wei a message containing the address of Viper¡¯s gathering point. Unexpectedly, he received a call from Ye Wei in the afternoon. He got harshly lectured by her. She said that she had led a team of law enforcers to search the address Wu Peng had given her, only to find a destroyed underground shelter. Wu Peng had wasted half of Ye Wei¡¯s day, not to mention the fact that Elsa had also snubbed her last night. She blamed all of that on Wu Peng. Wu Peng felt indignant, but Ye Wei hung up the call, not wanting to hear his explanation. He hadn¡¯t managed to be the good guy and had gotten lectured instead. All he could do was accept it. He guessed that Viper had sent people to destroy the shelters, along with their dead members, after their mission had failed yesterday. These cautionary tactics did fit Viper. Ye Wei was probably in a bad mood after her consecutive failures, so Wu Peng didn¡¯t dare to head over to Ye Wei¡¯s office for the time being. Wu Peng didn¡¯t want to go over and get scolded again. He should investigate Viper alone. The most important thing at the moment was to spend all of the points he¡¯d amassed. Viper¡¯s operations were getting more and more brazen. To think that they would send so many people in a frontal assault. ^^had sent? If not for the drones that the headquarters had sent over as reinforcement, they wouldn¡¯t have been able to defend against Viper¡¯s attacks yesterday night. Not to mention the fact that Viper¡¯s leader, who had just appeared, made Wu Peng feel rather scared. He was afraid of his equipment and leadership ability. He was a troublesome person to deal with. Viper¡¯s weapons were getting more advanced, and their firepower was getting stronger. So Wu Peng decided to upgrade his equipment. Even though the HK416 was extremely useful now that it was modified, it couldn¡¯t do any damage to vehicles that had slightly thicker armor. He needed to produce a gun that could penetrate armor. He accessed the weapon production interface and searched around until he found sniper rifles that could pierce through armor, but these rifles were too large and heavy. He would quickly grow tired before he even encountered any enemies if he had to carry one of these rifles and do battle outdoors. Wu Peng could only settle for second-best and search for a more convenient weapon with stronger firepower than an average rifle to carry around. He finally set his sights on a revolver. The [Thunder.50 Revolver] used massive 0.5 caliber bullets. It was the most powerful handgun in the world. Wu Peng had long heard of this legendary pistol and had wanted to obtain a gun just like it when it had first been revealed to the world. Unfortunately, the company that produced the gun had suddenly disappeared. Wu Peng couldn¡¯t help but remember the old days when he¡¯d first seen this pistol in the Mechanical System. However, producing this gun required 500 points! Furthermore, every bullet cost 20 points. He pressed on the option to produce the weapon. A beam of white light flashed, and a technologically advanced handgun appeared on the station. He picked up the gun and toyed with it, guessing that it weighed about three kilograms. Other than the wooden handle, the entire gun was made out of a silver, metallic material. The gun also had to be loaded in a unique way. He had to load bullets one by one through the breech, as if the gun were a shotgun. Wu Peng excitedly grabbed five bullets and headed out of the shelter. He loaded a bullet into the pistol, aimed at a piece of rock in the far distance, and pulled the trigger. A loud gunshot rang out. Wu Peng felt a strong recoil and nearly lost his grip on the pistol. ¡°What a gun! That recoil is horrifying.¡± He ran over to the rock and examined the results, finding a large hole in the piece of granite. The power of the pistol was terrifying. It was no wonder that it was hailed as the most powerful handgun in the world. Chapter 40 Pleased, Wu Peng put away the Thunder pistol. Then, he returned to the shelter to continue upgrading his equipment. Now that he had a pistol that could penetrate armored vehicles, Wu Peng also needed to produce a weapon that was suitable for close combat. Viper was gradually coming out of the shadows, and Wu Peng was finding more and more of their gathering points. Wu Peng had the feeling that he would have to battle at close range indoors more and more often. Even though his rifle had immense firepower, its body was too long to control all that well inside a cramped room. And it¡¯d also be easy for an enemy to snatch the rifle away from him if they came close. He needed a small and accurate pistol for these kinds of battles. Wu Peng already had a target in mind. The [Glock 37 Automatic Pistol] used 0.45 caliber bullets and only weighed 800 grams unloaded, which made it easy to carry around. Even though it only held ten bullets, that was more than enough for a close-range battle. He could kill three people with the ten bullets if he used the Mozambique Drill¡ªtwo shots to the body and one to the head. Furthermore, this weapon was cheap to produce. It only cost 50 points. The bullets were even cheaper¡ªtwo bullets for one point. Wu Peng produced two of these pistols. After all, they didn¡¯t even weigh two kilograms combined. He had a sufficient number of guns for the time being, but he still needed a cold weapon for close combat. After all, no matter how powerful a gun was, it was basically scrap metal once it ran out of bullets. Wu Peng¡¯s brawling technique had gotten much better after practicing with the combat training robot for several days in a row. At the moment, he needed a sharp claw knife to enhance his close-range brawling abilities. The [Alloyed Claw Knife] was light, sharp, and easy to carry around. It could also act as brass knuckles or a dagger if the situation called for it. Its alloyed material was durable and could easily slice through ordinary protective gear. Wu Peng had eyed the claw knife for a long time. Unfortunately, he hadn¡¯t been proficient in close-range combat in the past and couldn¡¯t make use of the strength of a claw knife. Wu Peng chose to produce two of the knives, and made the blades out of a black, matte material that would make it easier for him to assassinate enemies at night. He didn¡¯t need any other weapons. Wu Peng remembered the leader of Viper. That man had taken a bullet to the head without sustaining any injuries. Wu Peng also needed protective gear that had better bulletproof capabilities. He already had a set of protective gear, so he didn¡¯t need to make a new one. He could upgrade the one he had instead. The [Special Forces Battle Protective Gear] could be upgraded from ordinary protective gear. Its helmet was made out of bulletproof material, and it could defend against a bullet from an ordinary rifle. Once upgraded, the protective gear would have better bulletproof capabilities and provide better mobility. Its anti-radiation capabilities would also greatly improve. This set of special forces battle protective gear cost 500 points. However, Wu Peng made the decision to upgrade without hesitation. His life was the most important thing. A beam of white light flashed, and his once-tattered protective gear disappeared, a brand-new set of black protective gear appearing in its place. Wu Peng hurriedly put it on. As expected, the protective gear was much more comfortable after being upgraded, and it was easier to move in. The mask had also changed from a small slit to a transparent mask, giving Wu Peng a wider field of view. Wu Peng could also produce accessories like night-vision goggles and a bulletproof vest for the special forces battle protective gear. Wu Peng chose to purchase all of them. He wasn¡¯t lacking in points at this time. He was a little unsatisfied with the upgraded protective gear¡¯s color. The pure black color made him look like a member of Viper. However, he couldn¡¯t change it to pure white just to differentiate himself from Viper. That would draw too much attention to himself. In the end, he changed the color of the protective gear to gray to differentiate himself from Viper while maintaining a level of camouflage. Wu Peng put on the protective gear and called for Elsa. Together, they went out of the shelter, and he got her to shoot him with her Glock 18. Elsa¡¯s face turned pale as a sheet from shock. She thought that Wu Peng had become mentally unsound. Elsa merely shivered and pointed her gun at Wu Peng after he explained everything to her. However, she didn¡¯t pull the trigger for the longest time. ¡°I¡¯ll do it myself if you don¡¯t shoot me!¡± Wu Peng said as he stepped forward, wanting to snatch her gun from her. Elsa knew that Wu Peng meant what he said. She quickly aimed the Glock at Wu Peng¡¯s chest and pulled the trigger, trying her best to avoid his vital points. The bullets hit Wu Peng and caused him to stagger, but when he lowered his head to look at his chest, he saw that the bullets were lodged in the protective gear. He removed the bullets with his claw knife, leaving behind indentions in the protective gear. Wu Peng nodded, pleased. ¡°The bulletproof capabilities are decent.¡± The protective gear could be repaired, but the cost of the repair would depend on how damaged the protective gear was. ¡°Come, shoot me in the head.¡± Wu Peng pointed to his head. He wanted to test the helmet¡¯s bulletproof capabilities. In the end, Elsa shouted in shock and ran back into the shelter. As she ran she screamed, ¡°You¡¯re mad, you¡¯re mad!¡± Wu Peng couldn¡¯t help but laugh. Then, after thinking it over, he realized that he did sound like a lunatic and dumped the idea. The items produced by the Mechanical System wouldn¡¯t be that bad in terms of quality. After he returned to the shelter, Wu Peng decided to produce a set of protective gear for Elsa. The girl was also an effective combatant now. Furthermore, Viper was getting more and more arrogant, and he had to prevent them from launching a surprise attack on the shelter. Even though he had just upgraded the shelter¡¯s defenses, Wu Peng still felt uneasy now that he¡¯d seen Viper¡¯s heavy-duty machine gun cannon. He spent 1000 points and produced a set of protective gear for Elsa. The girl jumped happily. He had upgraded his weapons and protective gear and was now left with 2000 points. Wu Peng wanted to increase the drone¡¯s scouting capabilities. Even though the Bird was great, it was a little too large. It was only suitable for scouting an area from high up in the air. The Bird¡¯s scouting capabilities would be greatly diminished if the other party was hiding in a shelter or an abandoned building. He needed a smaller scouting device for these types of situations. He needed a drone that could slip into small gaps without being easily detected. He accessed the production station and searched the interface. He realized that he had to upgrade the weapon production station again if he wanted to produce even more scouting devices. Fortunately, he had enough points. He spent 1000 points to upgrade the production station and unlocked a larger selection of scouting devices. The [Bee Micro Scouting Drone] was about the size of a bee and was basically silent while it was flying. It was suitable for scouting cramped terrain. The Bee needed to be produced in batches. A batch of ten drones cost 1000 points. Wu Peng spent his last 1000 points and produced a batch of Bee scouting drones. Wu Peng held one of the Bee scouting drones in his hand. The drone was similar to a bee in terms of appearance and color. This way, a person might think that it was an ordinary bee even if they spotted it. He connected his phone to the Bee and had it fly around the shelter twice. Its speed was incomparable to the Bird¡¯s. However, it was faster than an average bee. It was also silent. It was a lethal weapon in terms of infiltration and scouting. Wu Peng stretched after he had finished spending all of his points. Elsa had just finished preparing dinner. After dinner, Wu Peng lay down on his bed and started steering the Bird for his routine patrol. He didn¡¯t notice anything abnormal around the shelter. He then flew the Bird to where the meteor had landed to have a look at the situation. After the great battle, there were now more law enforcers there. They had even mobilized four armored vehicles. A group of law enforcers was busy setting up their defenses. Wu Peng guessed that they would be able to easily defend against an attack of the previous scale after they had set up all their defenses.