Warning! The evil god's minions are invading the eerie dungeon.

"Mr. Lu, what are you doing?!"

Chen Mu couldn't help but shout it out.

"Since these mushrooms aren't strange, we can pick some to take back as samples."

As Qi Xie spoke, he squatted down next to the clump of mushrooms.

His main target was the black mushroom, which contained strange energy and was closer to a strange material that he could use to feed his master.

Of course, he would also pick some white ones, after all, he is a model of thrift and hard work.

Chen Mu opened his mouth, wanting to remind him that it was best not to grab this thing empty-handed.

But then he thought about it again.

Why should I remind him? If this animal gets eaten by mushrooms, it would be considered a service to the people.

Immediately, Chen Mu shut his mouth, a slight upturn at the corners of his lips, and looked at Qi Xie with a hint of excitement.

Qi Xie seemed completely unaware, and reached out his bare hand towards the clump of mushrooms.

Then, with a "pop," he grabbed a white mushroom.

"Um?"

Chen Mu was taken aback.

No response?

That shouldn't be the case.

At this moment, Qi Xie's gaze also fell on the mushroom in his hand.

Because of the obstruction of his body, Chen Mu could not see the scene in Qi Xie's hand, and therefore did not know that the strange mushroom was not unresponsive.

At this moment, mycelium sprouted wildly from the bottom of the white mushroom, trying to pierce into Qi Xie's palm.

"really."

Qi Xie murmured something under his breath.

This thing is more sensitive to water and nutrients than you might imagine.

Just as the mushroom mycelium had penetrated into Qi Xie's flesh and blood, a new white mushroom began to grow at the joint of his thumb.

"Great Lord..."

Qi Xie murmured in a low voice:

As the name of the Venerable One was chanted, Qi Xie immediately sensed a restlessness and malice emanating from the depths of his soul.

As the aura emanating from the evil god's corruption within his soul gradually affected his physical body.

The white mushroom that grew from his hand turned black at a visible speed, and then withered along with all the mycelium that had pierced his palm.

Qi Xie immediately stopped chanting the name of the deity to prevent the pollution from becoming more active and out of control. Before the pollution from the evil god dissipated, he picked seven or eight more white mushrooms.

"It's a pity. If you were any more determined to eat this, I could figure out how to feed you my staple food as your main meal."

Qi Xie said with some regret, but quickly adjusted his mindset and went to pick the black mushrooms again.

"Hmm... On the bright side, at least the strange energy can be fed to the evil god as a performance indicator."

Thinking this way, Qi Xie's mood brightened again, and he hummed a little tune as he picked mushrooms.

Chen Mu, standing behind Qi Xie, watched his retreating figure, his jaw clenching.

Just a moment ago.

The bizarre creature he was controlling screamed warnings in his mind like a madman.

In fact, the warnings were unnecessary.

He could actually feel the terrifying malice emanating from Qi Xie just now, which seemed to make one face the abyss.

Although the malice had now returned to its previous weak state, it still left a deep impression on Chen Mu.

"Lu Renjia must be collecting those dangerous mushrooms for something bad..."

His face darkened, and he became increasingly certain of the danger posed by the young man before him.

Just then, Qi Xie seemed to have picked enough mushrooms. He reached into the shadows, pulled out a yellow snakeskin bag, and threw the mushrooms inside.

After all, this thing is not only sensitive to nutrients, but it can also devour a monster in a matter of minutes. And there are quite a few monsters in his shadow space, so he dares not put them together for fear of some kind of mutation.

At this moment, Qi Xie did not pick up the snakeskin bag, but turned to look at Chen Mu, who was deep in thought, and said:

"You carry this bag."

What? Carry it? I'll carry it for you? Chen Mu was taken aback and subconsciously looked at the dirty-looking snakeskin bag.

It also has the words "urea" on it.

In an instant, he felt a surge of anger rush to his head:

I am Chen Mu, a senior traveler, a captain-level figure in the Explorers Forum, and known as the "Ghost Shepherd"!

You made me carry the urea bags!

My dignity and my reputation will not allow me to accept such an insult!

Even if I, Li Mu, die today, even if I die outside, even if I jump off those tall buildings, I will never...

Seeing Li Mu transformed into a stone statue, standing there motionless, Qi Xie cast a deep, enigmatic gaze upon him.

Li Mu's body trembled slightly, and his smile was more like a grimace:

"Yes, sir!"

He bent down with a frustrated expression and deftly picked up the urea bag.

"Think positively..."

He thought to himself, somewhat like a self-deceptive victory:

At least this stuff doesn't smell weird.

Qi Xie watched Chen Mu's extremely frustrated yet self-amusing expression and followed behind him calmly.

The physical abilities of travelers often far exceed those of ordinary people; after all, those with poor physical abilities are basically dead.

Needless to say, Qi Xie also controlled a ghost that could enhance his physique after possession.

The two stopped every now and then to check their surroundings before continuing on their way.

We drove for about an hour, stopping frequently.

During this time, Qi Xie also considered whether to try starting the vehicles parked on the street.

However, the cracked and congested road surface made him abandon the idea.

It wasn't until the system panel displayed the time as [18:46:32] that the two arrived in front of a massive, collapsed building.

The two looked up at the same time:

All I could see above the main entrance was a broken signboard that spelled out the name: "Tianjianghui".

This is the massive commercial district that can be clearly seen from the sky.

"Using this as shelter tonight?"

Chen Mu, carrying the snakeskin bag, sensed Qi Xie's thoughts.

"Yes, and this shopping mall is quite large, so there must be plenty of food and drinks inside."

Since the rules require us to eat the food inside the instance, let's go in here and find enough food in one go.

Once inside, close the door; that will meet the shelter's "standard enclosure requirements." As for light, it's easy to find in the mall. Here it is, let's go in!

Qi Xie bypassed the craters and bloodstains in the plaza at the entrance, which appeared to be caused by various bombs, and entered first, with Chen Mu quickly following behind.

Enter the shopping mall.

My first impression is that it's big.

It's a huge area! And it has more than a dozen floors above.

But the large area doesn't make it feel spacious, because it's extremely messy.

The hall was a scene of ruins, with bloodstains and shoes and other debris scattered around—a typical post-apocalyptic landscape.

Although the mall appeared to have a power outage and no lights, the light transmission was good, and apart from being a bit dim, there was nothing uncomfortable or dangerous at first glance.

As for whether there is danger in other places, I don't know.

Qi Xie glanced at it casually, wasting no time, and immediately turned to look for the supermarket map signs, wanting to find the food section first.

However, the next second, blue panels simultaneously popped up in front of the two of them:

[Special Mission Reminder: The apocalypse has arrived, and supermarkets overflowing with supplies are obviously the first place that comes to mind for all survivors... But is that really the case?]

[Objective: Build a safe shelter, gather enough food to survive the night.]

Clearly, this is the special scenario with a special mission mentioned in the initial dungeon prompts.

"What do you mean...?"

Chen Mu looked at the last sentence in the special mission notification and seemed to be deep in thought.

……

……