2 Building a Castle!

"So this is an Origin Crystal."

 In his hand was a small, glossy, white crystal, seeming like the most beautiful jewel in the world. Before the apocalypse, a crystal like this would have been enough for him to bid farewell to his single life!

 This was Tang Yu's first time seeing one, but he was certain that it was an Origin Crystal and not a diamond. As he clenched it tightly, he could feel it radiating warmth. An astonishing energy was contained within it.

 The system had inspected the Origin Crystal and determined that it contained about one unit of energy. This hadn't been found on the body of an Awakened, as either the Awakened were poorer than Tang Yu had expected or they didn't carry these things on them. He had searched the bodies of several Awakened and had found nothing of the sort on them.

 He had dug the Origin Crystal out of the body of a demonized beast. He had cut open the heads of numerous demonized beast corpses, but he had only found this one crystal. He had, however, become much more skilled in dissection.

 Tang Yu began to worry that he would be unable to gather one hundred units of Origin Crystal. What if these Awakened really were this poor, or what if they had run away with all the Origin Crystals? He would be doomed!

 Time continued to drain away. He managed to find some food that he used to fill his stomach before continuing his search. The situation in the villa area was somewhat better. After searching the majority of the area, Tang Yu managed to gather together ten-some Origin Crystals.

 "How unfortunate… these Origin Crystals are far from enough. I hope that I can find enough Origin Crystals in this last villa."

 This was a stand-alone villa, larger and more luxurious, and it was the last villa that he could search in the eastern part of the villa area. The villa area was divided into an eastern and western part, and while the westen part was larger, there was some distance between the two parts. If he couldn't get enough Origin Crystals in the eastern part, he would have to head to the western part, putting himself at much more risk.

 Tang Yu cautiously walked into the villa's garden, and suddenly—

 "Beepbeep! An energy reaction exceeding one hundred units of Origin Crystal has been detected one hundred meters ahead. Please gather it as quickly as possible… Beepbeep! An energy reaction…"

 The system's voice resounded in his mind, causing Tang Yu to almost yelp in surprise… This awful system that didn't even have an intelligence had actually reacted, and the contents of the message caused his face to glow in joy.

 "Heaven hasn't abandoned me!"

 While this villa was large, its level of destruction was also more severe. Craters left by explosions marked the ground, and the plants in the garden had been scorched by flames and turned into ash.

 Tang Yu walked into the villa through a damaged wall and was greeted with a scene of devastation. In a bedroom, partially concealed by a door, he could see something glimmering within a damaged safe. 

 "Found it!"

 He quickly stepped into the bedroom, but right after stepping in, he froze.

 His pupils constricted!

 Inside the bedroom, next to the damaged safe, was a boar-sized demonized beast covered in brown and spiky fur. It had its back to Tang Yu and seemed to be feeding on something.

 Crack! Crack! All sounds seemed particularly loud in this environment. Tang Yu held his breath and didn't dare to make a sound.

 He had instantly recognized this strange creature as a demonized beast!

 Unlike humans, when animals were affected by the red mist, they became demonized, transforming into a new species. This was a demonized beast that had evolved from an ordinary rat, a Steel Rat!

 This was one of the lowest class of demonized beasts, but to Tang Yu, it was a lethal threat!

 He instinctively wanted to retreat, but the Steel Rat had already discovered him. Squeaking, it charged at Tang Yu as a round ball of flesh.

 The brown ball moved with incredible speed, the spiky fur coldly glinting. After a brief moment of hesitation, Tang Yu understood that there was no escaping!

 His only hope of survival was killing the Steel Rat and taking the Origin Crystals!

 This sudden realization actually caused Tang Yu to calm down.

 He stared at the approaching Steel Rat, his eyes narrowing as it became the only thing that existed to him.

 Thirty paces, twenty paces, ten paces…

 Tang Yu held the pistol with both hands, the barrel aimed at the Steel Rat!

 Bangbangbangbangbangbangbang!

 Fire spat out of the Type 54 Pistol as the bullets packed with kinetic energy slammed into the Steel Rat.

 Tang Yu had never practiced shooting, but perhaps because it was too close and he was sufficiently focused, five of his bullets managed to hit.

 The Steel Rat's hide was damaged in several places, black-green blood flowing out of the wounds. It had been heavily injured already, and it now squealed in pain. But demonized beasts were very tenacious creatures, and a savage light still gleamed in the Steel Rat's eyes.

 It continued to heedlessly charge at Tang Yu!

 Tang Yu's vicious streak emerged, and he threw down the emptied pistol, took out his dagger, and fiercely stabbed, his eyes flying open.

 With one stab after another, blood splattered, painting his chest and arms dark green. But Tang Yu couldn't feel any of it. His mind was focused solely on stabbing again and again.

 When he finally came to his senses, he had stabbed with the dagger countless times, and the Steel Rat had collapsed in a pool of blood.

 Huff! Haa!

 Tang Yu panted for breath, his arms aching and his clothes in tatters. The steely spikes had left wounds all across his arms, and slightly moving them made him clench his teeth in pain.

 Before he had time to relax, he suddenly paled.

 The roar of a demonized beast came from outside.

 Tang Yu knew that the gunfire just now had drawn over even more demonized beasts.

 A human-shaped, two-meter-tall demonized beast with gray-black skin and sharp claws on its hands appeared in front of Tang Yu.

 Right behind it was a massive, fiery red scorpion.

 There was also a large, black snake that was spewing out some green gas from its body.

 Tang Yu's face turned extremely grave. Any one of these three demonized beasts was far above the Steel Rat.

 He was definitely no match!

 Tang Yu turned and ran, pushing through the pain and pressing his hand against the Origin Crystal.

 "Beepbeep! One hundred and twenty-five units of Origin Crystal have been identified. The Overlord now has one hundred and forty-one units of Origin Crystal. Would you like to erect your Overlord Castle?"

 "Erect it! Hurry!"

 The Origin Crystals vanished in points of light, like the dazzling lights of fireflies. Tang Yu felt a hint of heartache. That had been perhaps the most 'money' Tang Yu had ever possessed in his entire life.

 In a dazzling flash of light, a gust of wind swept past, and his location underwent a momentous transformation.

 The devastated villa interior disappeared, replaced by a classically decorated room.

 A red carpet covered the floor and gorgeous lamps hung from the ceiling.

 On the walls, what wasn't covered by exquisite murals was studded with large crystals.

 The tables and the chairs in the room all exuded a wooden fragrance, made of some unknown wood. There was also a wide and soft sofa made of real leather that was perfectly capable of serving as a bed.

 Several life-like statues stood around the room.

 A crystal the size of a basketball floated in the center.

 Tang Yu was struck dumb. Did it have to be this luxurious? It was the end of days, so how could he allow such an extravagant life to wear away at his determination? This was simply… too embarrassing!

 Although this main hall was truly extravagant, he knew that his first priority was still the threat of the three demonized beasts outside.

 Tang Yu turned his attention behind him. Where the main door of the villa had been was a large gate that was three meters high and four meters wide. The gate was open, and two automaton guards, wearing blue and white armor with visored helmets, and holding spears, stood guard on the sides.

 Tang Yu immediately understood that these were the automaton guards the system had spoken of that had come with the construction of the fortress. 

 Beyond the gate, the outside world was still devastated, forming a stark contrast with the luxurious hall.

 Tang Yu was still rather nervous. These three demonized beasts seemed like they shouldn't be carelessly provoked, and he didn't know how strong those two automaton guards were. Could they handle those three demonized beasts?

 The automaton guards didn't say a word. One of them took a few steps back to guard the gate.

 The other automaton guard took on a fighting posture, and when the fastest of the demonized beasts, the red scorpion, got close, it suddenly moved!

 The automaton shot forward, almost instantly appearing in front of the giant scorpion. The air exploded as the spear pierced through all resistance. Before the fiery red scorpion even had time to react, its shell had been pierced through entirely.

 From bottom to top, the spear had penetrated right through its shell!

 The first demonized creature was dead!

 But it still wasn't over!

 After taking care of the giant scorpion, the automaton guard went on the offensive, moving with agility surpassing any demonized beast Tang Yu had seen. It transformed into a blue streak of light, arriving in front of the other two demonized beasts with a few hops.

 The spear shot forward like a bolt of lightning! The automaton guard's fighting style was simple and crude, simple swings and thrusts seeming utterly horrifying when matched with its incredible speed and strength.

 In the blink of an eye, the human-shaped demonized beast's head had been turned into pulp and the black snake had been run through!

 Only a few seconds had passed, and these two demonized beasts were still charging forward. Upon death, their bodies rolled forward from their inertia, their variously colored blood leaving long streaks on the ground.

 The howling gales stirred up by the thrusts of the spear were still ringing in his ear. Tang Yu was dumbfounded. Weren't these three demonized beasts too weak?

 But he knew that it wasn't that the demonized beasts were weak. The automaton guard was truly powerful, much stronger than any Awakened he had seen before.

 Full points to this automaton guard! Tang Yu felt that his one hundred units of Origin Crystal had been totally worth it. Could he get a few more?!

 The three bodies of the demonized beasts lay outside the gate of the castle. An invisible ripple came from their bodies. A small part of it dispersed in the air, but the majority drifted in Tang Yu's direction.

 Tang Yu's eyes widened, a hint of excitement on his face.