The whole nation is trying to survive on the cable car; I'm choosing one of three options at ea

The night was deep, and the moonlight was cold and clear.

Su Mu quickened his pace.

He no longer killed monsters while walking, as he used to. He ignored any monsters that blocked his path. Occasionally, a few foolish creatures would pounce from either side, but he would simply take them out with a single shot, continuing on his way without even bothering to look at the kill notifications.

In the city at night, it's actually easier to get around than during the day.

Most monsters enter a state similar to hibernation at night. Zombies crouch motionless in corners, goblins curl up in piles of garbage and sleep soundly, and the corrupted creatures that roam the streets during the day seem to have had their souls ripped away at night, leaving only slow breathing and occasional twitches.

No need to take detours or sneak around carefully; just walk right past them.

But precisely because of this, Su Mu dared not completely let his guard down.

Those slumbering monsters won't attack unless provoked, but that doesn't mean there aren't other threats. The woman who assassinated him invisibly a few hours ago taught him a lesson... In this city, the most dangerous thing isn't necessarily those enormous monsters, but perhaps the seemingly empty air around you.

His gaze swept across the buildings on either side from time to time, his ears catching every unusual sound. His steps were quick, but he never took a straight route... He would deliberately zigzag around intersections, and glance sideways at the entrances of alleys. It wasn't some professional counter-surveillance technique; it was purely an instinct born of necessity.

Fortunately, people like that female assassin seem to be quite rare.

Along the way, Su Mu encountered several groups of lone travelers.

Some were squatting on street corners smoking, their cigarettes flickering in the darkness; others were leaning against walls with their eyes closed, only to snap open at the sound of footsteps, their hands on their weapons; still others were dragging the corpses of monsters they had just killed toward the roadside, but when they saw him approaching from a distance, they immediately stopped and stared at him warily until he was out of sight before continuing their work.

These people reacted completely differently to Su Mu compared to the female assassin... Instead of decisively drawing their guns and firing, they showed fear, hesitation, and kept their distance. Their eyes held vigilance, but no murderous intent. Their attitude towards Su Mu was no different from their attitude towards the other survivors... distrust, but also avoiding provocation.

This is the normal reaction a person should have. Not everyone is a killer.

Su Mu didn't speak to anyone, nor did he deliberately avoid them. He simply walked at his own pace, passing by them like a gust of wind, neither too fast to appear hurried, nor too slow to give the impression that he could be taken advantage of.

We walked for almost two hours.

The view ahead suddenly changed.

It wasn't a gradual change, but a single step, like crossing an invisible threshold. The air became damp and cold, carrying an indescribable smell of decay, as if something had been rotting underground for a long time and had been unearthed by the rain.

Su Mu stopped and looked up at the sky.

The moon has disappeared.

It wasn't the kind of complete obscuration by clouds... When clouds obscure the moon, at least you can see a hazy halo of light behind the clouds. But now, the sky above was a pure, thick darkness, as if an invisible giant hand had covered the entire celestial canopy. There was no starlight, no moonlight, only darkness.

The buildings on both sides were reduced to blurry outlines in the darkness, like rows of silent giants looking down at this tiny intruder on the street. The wind blew through the street, making a low, mournful sound, as if something was crying in the distance.

In the distance, the occasional hiss of a monster could be heard. The sound was different from what they had heard before... sharper, more piercing, like something scraping glass with fingernails, sending chills down one's spine.

Su Mu activated its regional awareness.

Ash City - Dark Zone

Monster Level: Lv5-Lv12

[Estimated Quantity: Moderate]

[Danger Level: Extremely High]

Su Mu frowned slightly.

Dark Zone?

What caught his attention even more was the number in his perception... Lv12.

This was the first time he had ever seen a level 12 monster marker in this city.

Su Mu took a deep breath and cursed Lin Yuwei in his heart.

Could that woman be trapped by a level 12 monster?

If it were a white or green level 12 weapon, he might still have a chance. But if it were blue or even purple... Su Mu touched the AWM in his backpack, glanced at his experience bar, quickly calculated his chances of winning, and then decisively suppressed the thought.

It's not that he's cold-blooded.

Some monsters cannot be defeated by willpower alone. If he goes there and is just a sitting duck, then the only difference between him and Lin Yuwei is that he has one more person to die with him.

Hopefully, that woman won't have too much bad luck.

Su Mu moved the M500 to a more comfortable position, slowed his pace, and continued walking forward.

The deeper you go into the dark area, the more strange the surrounding environment becomes.

Large sections of the building facades on both sides of the street began to peel away, revealing black, fire-scorched bricks and stones underneath. An eerie dark red light emanated from the windows of some houses, leaving it unclear whether someone had lit a fire inside or if something else was at play.

A faint smell of burning filled the air, as if something had just been burned.

Su Mu suddenly stopped.

About 100 meters ahead, a huge figure was crouching in the middle of the road.

The thing was at least three meters tall, its body resembling a wild boar magnified countless times, but its head... had two heads. The two heads grew side by side on its thick neck; the left head had blood-red eyes, while the right head's eye sockets were empty, just two black holes.

Its dark gray skin was covered with tumor-like protrusions, some of which were oozing a viscous liquid. Its breathing was heavy and slow, each exhale forming a cloud of white mist in the air.

Su Mu's dynamic vision swept over the monster, and information appeared before his eyes.

Two-Headed Ogre (Lv8 Green)

[Race: Mutant Beast]

【Strength: 168】

[Physical Fitness: 220]

[Agility: 15]

【Spirit: 8】

Su Mu did not take a detour.

Monsters of this caliber are not worth him taking a detour for.

A spear was summoned from the void. He moved stealthily, quickly approaching. The two heads of the two-headed ogre turned to him simultaneously... the blood-red eye stared at him, the empty eye socket facing him... its fang-filled mouth opened, letting out a low growl. It stood up, on all fours, and pounced on Su Mu.

Su Mu dodged to the side, his spear piercing the left side of the skull, penetrating the cranial cavity. The ogre's body stiffened abruptly, its right head emitting a piercing scream as it lunged to bite at Su Mu's arm. Su Mu pulled out the spear, swung it back, and the tip pierced the right eye socket, penetrating the back of the head.

[Slayed a Lv8 green two-headed ogre, gaining 24 experience points.]

From the moment the monster discovered him to his death, less than three seconds elapsed.

Su Mu holstered his gun and glanced at the experience bar.

[Lv6: 3045/3200]

I'm just over 150 points away from reaching level 7.

He rushed here all night, and although he didn't deliberately grind monsters, he still took action whenever he encountered something blocking his way or something he could easily deal with. In addition, the monsters in the Dark Zone were generally higher level than those outside, and the experience gained was also more generous, so he had unknowingly gained nearly 600 experience points.

Just as Su Mu was about to continue walking forward, he suddenly caught a glimpse of something on the side of the road.

It was a wall.

On the gray brick wall, large patches of dark red stains covered... not paint, but blood. The dried, blackened bloodstains ran from the top of the wall to the base, as if someone had been hung on the wall and bled.

Beneath the bloodstains, several numbers carved with a knife could be vaguely seen.