Big G, Coffee Machine and Goblin

Chapter 1 Red Mist Valley and Canned Goods

Ma Li woke up in the dark and first checked his phone.

The time is 7:55.

He got dressed and went to the kitchen, unscrewed a bottle of mineral water and poured it into the Yukihira pot. While the water was boiling on the portable gas stove, he quickly finished washing up.

Take the bag of instant noodles from the storage shelf next to you, tear it open, and put the seasoning packet and the noodle cake into the boiling water one by one.

Then, using another cast iron pan, I fried two pieces of leftover luncheon meat from last night, added two spoonfuls of baked beans in tomato sauce and a braised egg, and a nutritious and balanced breakfast was ready.

Ma Li carried the bowl to the dining table and drew back the curtains.

Outside the window was a thick, almost tangible red fog.

Ma Li didn't know when the red fog appeared, but when he opened his eyes in the hospital, the city was already shrouded in red fog.

At first, Ma Li was quite wary of the red mist, after all, the color looked abnormal and there was no sign of it dissipating.

But a week later, he still gritted his teeth and entered the red fog.

The main problem is that he has to go in; he has already eaten almost all the food available in the hospital, and there are only a few bottles of water left.

In addition, the red fog is in the form of mist and has been completely mixed with the air, so theoretically it would be useless to hide inside a building.

Of course, in addition to the potential toxicity of the red fog itself, other dangers may lurk within the dense fog.

Ma Li also remembers a movie called "The Mist," which is about a mist that suddenly shrouds a town, from which all sorts of terrifying monsters will emerge.

Therefore, he was very reluctant to leave the hospital building during the first week. Even when he had to go out to collect food and water, he was fully armed, carrying a fire axe, and on high alert.

At the same time, try to stay within the hospital grounds and avoid leaving the hospital premises.

However, as time went on, Mali did not encounter any monsters, nor did he see any traces that appeared to be left by monsters.

Gradually, he grew bolder and began to venture out onto the streets.

From three minutes, to five minutes, to twenty minutes, then to an hour, two hours... Ma Li stayed outside for longer and longer periods of time.

The good news is that he still hasn't encountered any monsters; the bad news is that he hasn't encountered anyone else either.

Not only were there no people, but even the animals and plants seemed to have disappeared.

In the entire city, it seemed that only Ma Li remained... a living being.

The more Ma Li explored, the more perplexed he became.

Although the power and water supply were cut off and the factory production lines stopped operating, the city's infrastructure remained relatively intact and did not suffer much damage.

Even the supermarket shelves still have many intact products. The instant noodles, bottled water, luncheon meat, and canned beans that Ma Li is currently eating were all brought from a nearby supermarket.

The production dates are mostly between 2024 and 25, so they look quite fresh.

But that makes it even stranger.

Since the supplies were relatively plentiful and there were no monsters in the red mist, why was he the only survivor?

Where did everyone else go?

Unfortunately, there was no internet here, so Ma Li could only try to find answers in newspapers and magazines, but the most recent newspapers he could find were dated August 19th.

Judging from the news above, everything seemed normal. The front page headline was about the World Humanoid Robot Sprint Championship, and the second page featured consumer loan subsidies. It was as if everyone in the city had moved away overnight, leaving only Ma Li behind.

So in the fourth week, after realizing that the situation might not improve, Ma Li finally made up his mind to go out of town to take a look.

He found a Seal car, loaded it with food and water, and carefully drove onto the Lianyungang-Huoerguosi Expressway, heading west.

As a result, the highway suddenly stopped at a place called Yuegou on the map, and what cut it off was actually a mountain peak.

Ma Li was dumbfounded. He had walked this road many times before, and this area should have been flat land.

Moreover, not only the highway, but even the aluminum plant next to the road was suddenly cut off by the mountain peak, leaving only half of the factory building, as if it had grown on the mountain peak.

Undeterred, Ma Li changed direction again, only to find himself blocked by the mountains once more.

This mountain range was also shrouded in red mist, obscuring its height.

Ma Li tried to climb, but the rock face was very slippery and steep. He climbed about six or seven meters high, but could neither see the sky nor the ground. His fear reached its peak at that moment, and he had no choice but to turn back.

However, after persistent exploration, Ma Li finally found a way out between Xiaozhai Village and Kouma Village.

It's called a way out, but instead of the cliff blocking the way, there's a valley.

Everywhere you look, there are black stones of all shapes and sizes, in bizarre shapes. The road conditions are so bad that ordinary family cars can no longer pass.

Ma Li could only carry a hiking backpack. He brought about three days' worth of food and drinking water, but he only lasted half a day before he had to end the expedition hastily due to a sprained ankle and return to the city.

Besides the sore and swollen ankles, the fear of the unknown on the other side of the valley was also a major reason why Ma Li was not able to continue.

He did not forget the protagonist in "The Mist," who made almost all the choices that seem correct in today's context, but in the end, he only received the most desperate ending.

Ultimately, it's because he had too little information. What's happening in the other cities? Have they also been shrouded in the red fog? What's on the other side of the valley? Are they evacuated survivors, or are they slumbering, terrifying monsters?

Or perhaps the outside world has been destroyed, leaving only a desolate wasteland.

Sometimes Ma Li thinks it wouldn't be so bad to stay in the city.

Although he was alone, he was at least quite safe, and the remaining supplies were enough for him to live to old age. However, after some time, he still decided to continue exploring the outside world.

It wasn't because of loneliness, but mainly because it was just too unbearable not having fresh fruits and vegetables to eat.

Although he found a lot of canned goods, including tomatoes, mushrooms, lettuce, peas, eggs, and fruits such as yellow peaches, oranges, lychees, and apples, the taste was completely incomparable to that of fresh ones.

So far, Ma Li can barely accept it, but the thought of himself eating these things decades from now sends chills down his spine.

Sure enough, I still had to go outside and take a look.

As the saying goes, food is the most important thing for people.

As a Chinese person, it's especially distressing not being able to eat properly.

So even if it might cost him his life, Ma Li still planned to go to the other side of the valley, even if he could only dig up some radishes to bring back.

　Sorry for the long wait. This new book has been delayed for quite a while, mainly because several of my previous topics were rejected, which also rendered my drafts useless. After that, I had to find new topics, prepare the world setting, outline, and test write repeatedly until the end of September when I finally settled on a topic.

　　I hope you all enjoy this story.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)