Chapter 1 The cubs don't understand.
A shadow suddenly fell over the clear sky.
Before Su Shi could react, a strange electronic voice suddenly appeared in his mind.
[Player identity detected. Initial item distribution in progress.]
[Assignment successful. Congratulations, player! You have received an initial fuel-powered sedan.]
[Warning! Warning! Your world will face its end in 5 minutes!]
[Players must enter the car within 5 minutes to begin their survival journey. Otherwise, you will perish in the apocalypse.]
...
The series of sounds stunned Su Shi. He lay there dumbfounded, even forgetting to put down the hand that had taken half a step forward.
It was the dog waiting beside him that noticed something was wrong. It nibbled at the hem of his clothes and gently tugged at him, finally bringing Su Shi back to his senses.
"Woof!" the dog barked softly.
Su Shi snapped out of his daze and realized that he had just tried to climb out of the flower bed with the dog.
The flower bed was filled with lush plants, and even though Su Shi was only in the size of a cub, moving around inside it was still very difficult. She had to use both her hands and feet to crawl on the ground and slowly move outwards in order to get out of the flower bed as quickly and smoothly as possible.
Even so, when Su Shi climbed out of the flower bed, he was still covered in thorns.
But Su Shi didn't stop to pry at the branches. Instead, she followed behind the dog, lifting her short legs and running forward quickly.
There's a large supermarket there, and several trash cans are placed at the entrance. The supermarket sells fresh vegetables and various foods every day, and anything that's not very fresh or has expired is thrown into the trash cans.
Su stayed by the dog's side, and they survived for the first two days only by relying on this food.
Today is the third day.
This supermarket opens very early. Although Su Shi didn't know what time it was, based on the experience of the past two days, he knew that he had to do the garbage collection during this time to successfully find food.
If you go too early, either the supermarket hasn't thrown away the expired food yet, or you might run into supermarket staff when you arrive.
If you arrive too late, the trash can will be filled with a lot of other garbage. For example, large plastic films or packaging boxes will get stuck in the trash can, pressing the food down at the bottom.
If Su Shi wants to find food, he first needs to figure out how to move these things out.
But Su Shi's figure was really too short.
And it was just a cub less than five years old, with pitifully little strength.
In addition, the trash can was very big, so Su Shi and the dog had to stand on the edge of the large flower bed next to them to barely reach the edge of the trash can and receive the food that the dog turned around and handed out of the trash can with its mouth.
To reach into the trash can and remove other trash directly, you would have to tip the trash can over; otherwise, it's simply impossible.
But if the trash can is knocked over, it will attract attention. And once it's knocked over, Su Shi's thin arms and legs might not be able to pick it up again.
So you have to be on time when picking up trash, otherwise you'll go hungry for the whole day!
Thinking this, Su Shi ran even harder, following behind the dog with her short legs.
He was far too young, and he also had the important task of scavenging for food. So, once he started running with the dog, he had long forgotten about the sudden electronic voice that had just appeared.
But before Su Shi could run with the dog to the trash can, when they were still quite a distance from the supermarket, she had to stop immediately.
The supermarket, which had been quiet and nearly empty at this time of day just two days prior, was now crowded with people. Even more people were rushing towards the supermarket entrance.
“Ah,” Su Shi stopped abruptly, her expression somewhat blank.
The trash cans weren't actually placed at the supermarket entrance; they were piled up on the side.
However, there were too many people outside the supermarket at this time, and there was no room to stand at the entrance. Many people crowded to stand on the side.
After Su Shi stopped, the dog that had been running ahead glanced back and forth between the supermarket and Su Shi a few times before slowly stopping as well. Finally, it turned around, trotted back to Su Shi's side, and then circled around her somewhat uneasily.
Su Shi was miraculously able to understand what the dog meant.
He reached out his thin little hand and gently patted the dog's head, trying not to sound too down.
But he still had to stammer out the reality: "There are too many people, we're going to go hungry today."
"Woof," the dog looked up and nuzzled Su Shi's palm, barking softly in a comforting tone.
The two sides were at least 50 meters apart, and the people on the other side of the supermarket didn't notice the pair of puppies standing not far away. They seemed to be arguing about something, and even almost came to blows.
This made Su Shi even more hesitant to take the dog to scavenge for food.
But Su Shi was reluctant to leave just like that.
After all, if this period is missed, there won't be any other opportunities to find food until the trash cans are emptied at night.
However, at that very moment, Su Shi, holding her dog, was carefully hiding behind a roadside flowerbed, her eyes wide open, peering towards the supermarket. She was hoping to wait until all the customers had finished shopping and left, so she could then take her dog and continue searching for food.
A terrifying scream suddenly erupted from the location of the large supermarket.
The scream contained fear, but it was quickly replaced by a piercing scream filled with pain.
Su Shi was simply too short, and the adults at the supermarket entrance were all too tall. Even though Su Shi had managed to climb to the edge of the flower bed and stand there, holding onto the plants inside, he tried his best to stand on tiptoe and look in that direction.
But even so, they still couldn't see through those adults to understand what was happening over there.
The dog also seemed to be getting increasingly anxious.
Without even considering that Su Shi was standing on tiptoe at the edge of the flower bed, she opened her mouth and bit Su Shi's clothes, determined to pull him in the opposite direction from the supermarket.
Su Shi was pulled so hard that he stumbled and almost fell headfirst to the ground.
Fortunately, the dog didn't really abandon Su Shi. When it was pulling Su Shi down, it turned back and used its furry back to support Su Shi. This allowed Su Shi to land safely on the ground.
Su Shi wasn't angry. After her feet touched the ground, she quickly climbed off the dog.
He anxiously stroked the dog's back, lowering his voice to whisper, "Are you alright? Are you alright?"
The dog seemed to understand Su Shi's words. After shaking its head, it opened its mouth and bit Su Shi's sleeve again, urging Su Shi to leave quickly and return to the flower bed where they had been sleeping for the past few nights.
Although Su Shi only slept in that flower bed for three days, it had always been the dog's home.
Su Shi could sense the dog's trust in that flower bed.
The dog was clearly frightened by what happened at the supermarket. So Su Shi could understand the dog's eagerness to get back to the flower bed as soon as possible.
After confirming that the dog hadn't been injured by his fall, Su Shi didn't linger. He turned around, turned back, and quietly ran back in the direction he had come from.
The screams coming from the large supermarket behind me grew increasingly shrill.
Su Shi was so frightened that she trembled several times.
But he gritted his teeth and forced himself not to turn his head to look.
This area is located on the edge of the city and has only begun development in recent years. The surrounding buildings have a distinctly modern feel. However, because development is not yet complete, large tracts of wasteland still stand out incongruously.
The tall building housing the large supermarket is located right on the boundary between developed and undeveloped plots within this small area.
The direction that Su Shi and the dog were running in happened to be the undeveloped area.
The undeveloped area has a clean driveway, but the passageway leading in from the flower beds on both sides is not clean.
Occasionally, gravel and sand from barren hillsides would roll down the passageway, and weeds would grow out of the cracks between the bricks. Sometimes, even paving stones would break off from the ground, and one could easily trip and fall if not careful.
So much so that when Su Shi was running, he focused all his attention on the dog and his feet.
So when the dog started to show strange changes, Su Shi immediately noticed something was wrong.
Su Shi opened his eyes wide and tried to move faster with his short legs.
"Ah, slow down, slow down!"
Su Shi opened her mouth, raised her thin little arm to her side and tried to persuade the dog to stay.
However, the dog, which had been circling around Su Shi just two days ago—and even just now—seemed to have completely forgotten Su Shi's existence. Its furry limbs seemed to have become exceptionally agile, and with a sudden burst of strength, it darted far away.
Su Shi watched helplessly as the distance between them widened further and further.
Tears welled up in her eyes instantly from her anxiety.
He could tell that the dog was in a lot of pain.
But the dog was running so fast that Su Shi was quickly left far behind.
In the end, even the dog could no longer be seen. Naturally, the dog's pain could no longer be felt.
Su Shi could no longer hold back her emotions; her lips trembled, and large tears streamed down her face.
Just then, the strange electronic sound that Su Shi had forgotten rang out again.
[Attention players! Attention players!]
[High virus levels detected in your world. Please enter your car immediately.]
[You are some distance from the car. Automatic navigation service has been activated for you. Please follow the provided route.]
[Apocalypse countdown: 10 seconds. Please enter the car within 10 seconds, or you will die from the virus.]
[Countdown begins now—Buzz!]
[High-risk warning! High-risk warning! An infected mutated monster is rushing towards you at high speed! Please take cover!]
[10-second countdown has ended. Your world has entered a complete apocalypse! The virus concentration in the air has surged. Please get into your car immediately before you die! Otherwise, you will perish permanently!]
[The infected mutated monster in front of you has closed the distance to within 10 meters! It is expected to bite off your neck within 3 seconds. Please move away as soon as possible!]
[You have been attacked by an infected mutated monster. Your health is rapidly decreasing—buzz!]
[You have awakened a special ability. Ability name: Healing. Ability description: ...]
A series of strange electronic sounds kept ringing in Su Shi's mind without interruption.
Su Shi didn't understand what these strange words meant at all.
But he recognized that the dog that was running back towards him was the one that had suddenly run away earlier!
Su Shi immediately stopped crying and smiled, wiping away her tears as she opened her arms to hug the dog that had run back.
Although the dog in front of me looks very different from before.
Even his appearance has become much fiercer.
But Su Shi still firmly believes that the dog in front of him is still the same dog that has been keeping him company these past two days and has even helped him find food!
Even though the dog jumped into his arms with great force, knocking his thin body to the ground.
Sharp canine teeth pierced his skin, and the pain spread endlessly.
Su Shi looked up at the sky blankly, tears welling up again from the pain.
But for some reason, Su Shi didn't want to push the dog away.
He couldn't push the dog away; the dog was all he had left.
He also cannot harm the dog.
The dog is just hungry; it will be fine once it eats its fill...
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