Long Ming walked straight into the house in front of him. The front door was wide open, leading directly into the living room.

The entire living room was a mess. Tables and chairs were scattered about, covered in a thick layer of dust. Alarming claw marks scarred the metal walls.

Long Ming stared at the claw marks, his nerves instantly tensing. ’What kind of creature could leave marks like these?’

He cautiously surveyed the first floor. Finding nothing of value, he headed to the second floor and soon arrived at the master bedroom door.

Long Ming pressed his body against the doorway, peeking inside bit by bit.

The master bedroom was a complete wreck. A metal nightstand lay toppled on the floor, the wardrobe doors hung open, and clothes and other junk were scattered everywhere.

Judging by the distribution of dust, Long Ming confirmed it was safe before walking in to search.

He first gently righted the nightstand, then pulled open the drawer. Inside was a jumble of tools.

Long Ming gave them a quick scan, picked out a wrench, and stuffed it into his backpack.

Next, he began rummaging through the clothes and junk on the floor, but after a long search, he still found nothing of value.

Just then, Long Ming’s gaze fell on the open wardrobe. He walked over and started searching, eventually finding a metal box tucked away in the back corner.

A rusty lock hung from the metal box.

Long Ming took out the wrench and smashed it down hard on the lock.

BANG~

After a few strikes, the rusty lock broke.

Long Ming eagerly pried open the metal box, and a gold nugget immediately caught his eye.

Beside the gold nugget lay a crudely made white metal necklace, embedded with a few fragments of red gemstones.

Long Ming took them out and scanned them with his wristband.

Gold Nugget

Grade: White

Weight: 150g

Value: Low

Crude Necklace

Grade: White

Material: Silver, Gemstone.

Value: Low

Weight: 35g

Long Ming glanced at the readouts, stuffed the items into his backpack, and continued his search.

A short while later, having searched the entire house and found nothing else of value, Long Ming left.

He headed toward another house to the right. As he passed the mouth of an alley between the buildings, he suddenly spotted some black, dragged bloodstains on the ground.

He stopped, turned, and followed the black bloodstains into the alley, where he found some scattered fragments in a corner.

Holding his breath, Long Ming slowly crouched and reached out to touch the fragmented biological tissue.

His brow immediately furrowed.

’This fragmented tissue doesn’t look human... and while it’s shriveled, it still has some moisture. That’s significant, considering how dry the air is around here.’

’That means the owner of this tissue was torn apart recently. This place definitely isn’t safe.’

With this thought, Long Ming quickly left the alley. As he stepped back onto the street, he heard an excited shout.

"Bro, look what we found!"

Long Ming looked up to see Gu Yi and Chen Wei running over.

Like they were presenting a priceless treasure, the two held up a double-barreled short-gun engraved with a golden pattern.

"Not bad."

Long Ming was stunned for a moment. He hadn’t expected Gu Yi and Chen Wei to have such good luck, not only finding a firearm but one that looked to be of decent quality.

"Like it, bro? If you do, it’s yours."

Gu Yi generously offered the short-gun to Long Ming.

"No thanks. I’ll find my own."

Long Ming refused flatly and turned, heading toward a building up ahead that looked like a warehouse.

"Hey, wait up!"

Gu Yi and Chen Wei quickly followed him.

"What are you following me for? Shouldn’t you be out searching for more stuff?"

Long Ming stopped and looked at the two of them.

"Good point."

"And be careful. There are probably monsters here."

"Ah! Monsters?"

Hearing Long Ming’s words, Gu Yi and Chen Wei’s expressions immediately turned apprehensive, and they glanced around in alarm.

After giving his warning, Long Ming paid them no more mind and walked straight toward the building.

When he entered, he found it really was a warehouse.

The warehouse was spacious. Dim lights hung from the ceiling, illuminating piles of steel beams and iron crates. Various tools were scattered across the floor.

Long Ming looked around with some interest. There were hammers, screwdrivers, and so on.

But these things held little value for Long Ming, so after a brief glance, he cautiously moved deeper inside to search.

Just then, high up on a steel rafter, a pair of scarlet eyes silently appeared, staring fixedly down at Long Ming.

Long Ming’s footsteps were light, making as little sound as possible.

Just then, a drop of viscous liquid dripped from above, landing on the ground behind Long Ming.

Long Ming’s pupils contracted. He froze, then whipped around and snapped his head up.

A hideous figure leaped down from the steel rafter above, pouncing toward him with incredible speed.

Long Ming instinctively tried to dodge, but his body couldn’t react in time, and the figure tackled him to the ground.

He was dazed from the impact. When he managed to focus his eyes...

...an ugly, humanoid face filled his vision. It was rotting, with scarlet eyes and sharp teeth.

PING~

A red notification popped up on Long Ming’s wristband interface.

"Ghoul!"

RAAAGH~

With a ferocious roar, the ghoul opened its mouth and lunged to bite Long Ming.

Long Ming’s heart leaped into his throat as he quickly grabbed the ghoul’s neck with both hands.

Like a rabid dog, the ghoul snarled, trying desperately to bite him.

Long Ming gritted his teeth, holding on for dear life, veins bulging on his forehead as disgusting saliva sprayed across his face.

When the ghoul saw it couldn’t bite Long Ming, it started to grapple and roll around with him on the floor.

THUMP~

Long Ming repeatedly slammed into the debris on the floor, his body screaming in pain. Even so, he didn’t dare loosen his grip; letting go meant certain death.

At this critical moment, Gu Yi and Chen Wei ran in, shouting loudly.

"Bro, we’re here to save you!"

After they had separated, Long Ming’s warning had kept replaying in their minds, filling them with growing unease and fear. They hadn’t dared to wander far, so when they heard the crashing sounds, they had rushed over immediately.

"Hurry up and kill it with the gun!"

Long Ming shouted at Gu Yi and Chen Wei, barely holding on.

Gu Yi immediately raised the double-barreled short-gun and aimed it at the entangled ghoul, but he hesitated to pull the trigger.

Long Ming roared in frustration.

"Why aren’t you shooting!"

"I can’t! You two are tangled together, I can’t get a clear shot!"

Gu Yi kept moving the muzzle, trying to aim at the two rolling back and forth, but he couldn’t get a steady lock on the target.

Hearing Gu Yi’s words, Long Ming was so frustrated he could have spit blood. But there was nothing he could do.

"Dammit, I can’t get a clear shot! Why can’t I aim?! Chen Wei, you try!"

Gu Yi was frantic, like an ant on a hot pan.

"No way, I can’t aim either!"

Chen Wei quickly waved his hands in refusal.

At that moment, Long Ming steeled himself and deliberately rolled, dragging the ghoul with him toward a pile of steel on the right.