Chapter 9: Food

Lu Yuanming, holding a small boy, ran between two adults, carefully examining the energy pistol in his hand as he ran.

He had fired a total of four light bullets, and the barrel of the pistol was showing signs of melting.

But that was to be expected, since the pistol was designed to shoot regular bullets, not energy or light spheres.

The power of those light spheres was tremendous, capable of producing extreme heat in an instant, something beyond what a pistol could handle. The reason it was only showing signs of melting was probably due to the light spheres being fired at a rapid pace; otherwise, it might have exploded after just one shot.

Lu Yuanming estimated the extent of the melting and calculated that the pistol could only fire about three to four more light bullets at most.

(However, each light bullet requires a Colorless Light Particle, and there's one bullet left in the magazine. I also have four Colorless Light Particles, which means I can only fire five more light bullets at most. Even if each shot is a headshot or a critical strike, that would only kill at most five human-faced dogs...)

The thought weighed heavily on Lu Yuanming's mind.

Moreover, he had noticed something else; after absorbing the White Light Particles from two dead monsters, he hadn't felt any increase in the strength of his soul.

(Could it be that the increase in strength only occurs once I return to my physical body?)

There were too many unsolved mysteries, and Lu Yuanming was at a loss for the moment.

As the three of them ran, the two children were wailing loudly, their cries harrowing. The skinny tall one turned while running and shouted, "Shut your mouths, FXXX, I'll leave you here if you keep crying!"

The chubby man's face showed anger, but he remained silent. Lu Yuanming pointed the pistol directly at the skinny tall one.

The skinny tall one immediately raised his hands and said, "Hey, dude, relax, just relax, I was just scaring them. Those cries will attract monsters, and it could get us all killed."

Lu Yuanming sneered and replied, "The monsters are already here, and their coming has nothing to do with whether they cry or not. Now shut up and keep running!"

"Yes, yes, yes." The skinny tall one proved to be aware of the situation and continued to run forward, saying, "The Melon Bank is just up ahead, we..."

As he spoke, Lu Yuanming saw three people running out from a dilapidated bank building up ahead—a man and two women, who were urgently running toward their location. As soon as they got close, the two women immediately took the children from the arms of the chubby man and Lu Yuanming. While comforting the children, they too ran toward the bank.

The remaining man was dressed in a bank security uniform and carried a rifle that looked like a lever-action or a shotgun. Lu Yuanming couldn't recognize the specific type, but it was clear that this gun was far more powerful than the pistol.

(That's it!)

A realization sparked in Lu Yuanming's mind, and he suddenly felt foolish.

Colorless Light Particles changed based on one's thoughts, and he had used these particles to create fresh water and food—it was an exchange of equivalents, not just producing as much food as one wished for.

He had condensed a bullet using the Colorless Light Particles, but he had only created one!

No wonder the power was so tremendous, it was practically like holding a cannon. He should've used one Colorless Light Particle to condense at least ten bullets or so. Moreover, he could've condensed shotgun shells to reduce the power of each shot but end up with a large quantity of bullets. That would've been the best use!

By the time Lu Yuanming came to this realization and felt regret, he was already running into the damaged bank building with the man and two women.

Standing in the bank lobby, everyone saw over a dozen human-faced dogs appearing in the distance in the street. At the back of their pack was the largest human-faced dog, at least three times bigger than the others, with the upper body of a person and the lower body of a dog. It was around ten meters long, with a body, arms, and claws all three times the size of the other human-faced dogs—a true behemoth!

The sight sent chills down everyone's spines, and without further delay, they followed the man and two women deeper into the bank.

They entered through the employee passage, crossed a long corridor, and then a stairway going down appeared at the back. The security guard led the way, quickly guiding everyone down the stairs to face an intact, undamaged metallic wall as well as a round metallic door on it.

The woman holding the small boy stepped forward to a verification panel next to the metallic door, pressing something. She then went through fingerprint and retina scans. During this time, the group could hear the sounds of impacts and running from above. The skinny tall one then screamed in a high pitch, "Hurry up, hurry up!"

Just then, the metal door began to slowly open. Unable to wait for the door to fully widen, everybody squeezed through the gap, and after everyone was inside, the woman immediately pressed something on the wall inside. The metal door that had not fully opened was quickly sealed shut with a bang, cutting them off completely from the outside.

Once the door closed, everyone let out a huge sigh of relief, with the skinny tall one collapsing to the floor, clearly not intending to get up again anytime soon.

Lu Yuanming began to take in his surroundings.

This was the interior of the bank's vault, filled with shredded US dollar bills, but there were no traces of gold. The space inside was fairly large, and seven more people were inside—men and women among them, including a child and a pregnant woman. Evidently, this bank vault had sheltered a group of people before Lu Yuanming and his companions had arrived.

What piqued Lu Yuanming's curiosity, however, was the presence of light inside the vault, indicating that there was electricity available.

Then, the security guard extended his hand to Lu Yuanming and said, "John Elson, I saw you bring the child with you and not abandon them. You are truly heroes."

Lu Yuanming shook hands with John and replied, "Lu Yuanming. I didn't think too much of it at the time, but if we can protect one more life, that's one more life saved."

Two women began to soothe the crying little boy and girl. Although the children had been crying, they hadn't caused any trouble and were quite well-behaved. Now, with gentle coaxing, they gradually stopped crying.

At that moment, the tall, thin man jumped up from the ground and exclaimed, "Folks, does anybody know what kind of godforsaken place this is?!"

There were twelve adults and three children in the vault. Setting aside the children for a moment, when the tall, thin man's question was raised, the security guard who had been chatting with Lu Yuanming, along with the two women comforting the children, and the other six adults in the vault, all fell silent.

Lu Yuanming straightforwardly said, "I died, crushed by a falling object from the skies. But, the thing is, that falling object came from a supernatural event, something like a ghost or a curse killed me."

As Lu Yuanming opened up the topic, the others also began to speak about their own deaths. For example, John and one of the women comforting the children were employees of the bank, John the security guard and the woman presumably a manager. They had also died in a supernatural event, and the rest had similar experiences, be it encounters with monsters or dying from stray bullets or being hit by cars during monstrous incidents.

All remembered their deaths and had seen their bodies afterward, then felt a tremendous force pulling them down into this afterlife world.

The tall, thin man was still not convinced and yelled, "But this is New York! Shouldn't the afterlife be some kind of underworld? Why would the afterlife be New York City? Are we being abducted by aliens, or is it some government conspiracy, like a lab leak or something?"

Everyone began speaking all at once until suddenly the entire vault violently shook, and a loud roaring noise came from the metal walls. Everyone instantly shut up, staring dead at the walls of the vault. The roaring and shaking continued unabated for ten or more minutes before slowly subsiding, eventually falling completely silent.

It wasn't until then that the tension eased from everyone's hearts. Undoubtedly, the human-faced dogs couldn't break through the walls of the vault, not even the ten-meter-long human-faced dog king.

Among the adults staying behind in the vault, a frail-looking young man with glasses said, "Those creatures are just flesh and blood. Unless they have supernatural powers, there's no way they could break through this alloy. Everyone, we were just caught off guard. Those monsters aren't as powerful as we imagined!"

The tall, thin man immediately retorted, "Then it's your turn. Go on, stop speaking so glib while safe behind us. We've killed two of those creatures while saving the children. Since you claim they're not that strong, you try taking one down."

The bespectacled young man immediately flushed red with embarrassment, but as the tall, thin man was about to go on, Lu Yuanming held up his hand to stop him. The tall, thin man immediately halted, and Lu Yuanming said, "He's not wrong. Those monsters really aren't that formidable. Considering their size, speed, and method of attack, they're somewhat comparable to tigers or lions at most. Except tigers and lions aren't as active in hunting, and it's very unlikely they'd hunt in packs of more than ten. The only exception is the largest human-faced dog; its size already far exceeds any existing terrestrial wildlife and can be considered on par with dinosaur-level strength. But it's still only physically strong; the fact they can't break into this vault says everything."

The young man with glasses immediately jumped up excitedly and ran up to Lu Yuanming, extending his hand, "Ang Adrian, sir, you're absolutely right. Those creatures really aren't terrifying. Without their supernatural powers from the world of the living, they're not invulnerable, nor do they have any curses. They're just beasts with a different form, and we do have a way to kill them!"

Lu Yuanming shook hands with Ang, then followed with a wry smile, "But here comes the crucial issue; firearms can't be used. You all know that, right?"

John shook the firearm in his hand and added, "Right, the gunpowder in bullets has changed; firearms are unusable. Without weapons, we can't fight those monsters."

Ang immediately slumped, deflated, and muttered, "God, is this our punishment? Could the Day of Apocalypse be upon us?"

Then, the tall, thin man suddenly pointed at Lu Yuanming and exclaimed, "That's not right, his handgun can shoot. No, that's not a handgun—that's a more terrifying futuristic high-tech weapon! He fired spherical lightning!! That's why we were able to kill two of those creatures!!"

Lu Yuanming's eyebrows twitched as he looked at the tall, thin man, who had already instinctively hidden behind others, while he kept talking about the wonders of Lu Yuanming's handgun and the power of the spherical lightning.

All eyes turned to Lu Yuanming, who contemplated silently. Without haste, he removed the magazine from his handgun and pinched a Colorless Light Particle between his fingers, then turned his hand towards the crowd and asked, "Can you see what I'm holding in my hand?"

The crowd looked baffled, and John subtly positioned himself between Lu Yuanming and the others, while Ang unconsciously took a few steps back.

"You're all hungry and thirsty, right?"

After confirming that none of them could see the Colorless Light Particles, Lu Yuanming slapped his hand on the ground.

The next second, small bottles of mineral water and loaves of bread appeared on the floor.