Chapter 5: Discovering Urban Ruins!
Picked up… a garbage bin!
Quite large and sturdy, this brown garbage bin was nearly one meter tall, crawling with mold and insects.
Lu Yuan found that the bottom of the garbage bin had a large crack and could only regretfully leave it behind.
"Damn it, what a pity."
Discovered a dangerous creature!
It looked like a leopard, with a body covered in golden patterns and sharp claws and teeth.
But unlike a leopard, it had a sharp horn on its head.
When the creature saw Lu Yuan, it made a threatening sound from its throat.
Lu Yuan spread his arms, pretending to be very fierce, and threw the soda can he had just picked up at it.
With a "smack," the soda can landed on the ground.
The leopard was startled and took off like a shot, probably thinking that the enemy was not easy to bully.
"If you dare to come over, I'll eat leopard meat today!" Lu Yuan was actually terrified.
He threatened loudly.
But he also felt that the genes of his terrifying upright ape were coming back to life.
He had been thinking about using the "Different Space" as an escape if the creature attacked, but he didn't expect it to turn tail and run.
Lu Yuan faintly realized that his mentality had changed from the past, possibly adopting a defeatist attitude, thinking death was just death.
It could also be an adaptation to the environment, where he must hunt!
If he couldn't overcome even this bit of difficulty, then death was the only choice!
Discovered an insect nest and an unknown number of insects*10000!
They looked like a swarm of bees but were much larger in size, each the size of a table tennis ball, buzzing as they flew.
The largest of these insects was actually one meter tall!
Facing a social creature, Lu Yuan dared not provoke them and had to avoid them from a distance.
...
This alien civilization had been extinct for at least several hundred, or even thousands of years, with not even a complete corpse to be found.
Nature had reclaimed the abandoned city, with plants growing wildly and concrete pavements bulging up, most buildings having collapsed.
Only a portion of man-made objects had survived until now.
Plastics, in particular, with their slow degradation, could be preserved to the greatest extent.
There was also glass and ceramics, which could last indefinitely if not weathered.
"If humans went extinct, it would be this kind of scene in a few hundred years."
"Of the 17 human cities, how many will remain?"
Found… one gigantic Cannibal Flower!
With spike-covered leaves spreading across the sky, they extended for a kilometer, and the purple main stem was as tall as a 100-meter-high building, with blossoms like opium poppies beaming brightly.
[With its Extraordinary Power, the Cannibal Flower's red fruits are rich in nutrients necessary for human growth.]
[Unfortunately, with your mediocre skills, you're far from its match. Should you get too close, within two hours you'll become bones at its feet.]
Lu Yuan muttered to himself, "No wonder this place has a large expanse of golden and red halos... It turns out to be a Cannibal Flower."
Each fruit was as big as a soccer ball!
That scent... so fragrant!
It was somewhat like a blend of grape and mango fragrance, causing Lu Yuan to continuously swallow his saliva.
He swore that he had never smelled such a sweet scent before, to the point where every cell in his body was trembling slightly, craving the nutrients within!
Just as a bird happened to fly by, lured by the fruit.
Whoosh!
A purple-red tendril shot out like lightning, grabbing the bird and pulling it down!
The pocket-shaped flower quickly closed in, engulfing the bird within.
The poor creature let out just one cry of agony before falling silent.
Lu Yuan shivered and began to pray, "God, if you just let one fruit fall, I'll be your fervent follower today!"
"Please, God!"
He waited quite a while, but no fruit fell.
What remained of his reason compelled Lu Yuan to walk away with heavy steps…
"Damn you, God, you can't even spare me this little thing."
…
Picked up 42 red wild fruits, each about the size of a peanut.
[A somewhat nutritious but bland fruit, non-toxic, but the taste, even dogs would refuse.]
"Dogs won't eat it, but I will..."
Lu Yuan actually cleaned them up and carefully ate them.
How to describe the taste? Very fishy, somewhat like the herb fish mint, Lu Yuan ate one and almost threw up his stomach acid.
Actually, when you're starving, taste doesn't really matter anymore.
"Besides, if I don't chew, isn't that the end of it? I'll just swallow it whole."
All he could think about was finding something to fill his stomach.
Why would starving people in ancient times eat clay and end up starving to death?
Because extreme hunger really does diminish intelligence.
The day was well advanced, and Lu Yuan estimated that he hadn't had a proper meal for 24 hours.
If he couldn't find anything else edible, he'd have to go back to eating roots and insects.
But roots didn't have much energy, and insects actually didn't have many calories, his physical state would get worse and worse; it would be better to make the most of his current strength and look for something better.
With that resolve, Lu Yuan once again mustered the courage to walk a few kilometers forward.
In the deepest part of the canyon, he saw a large swath of collapsed houses, glittering with green and gold light, indicating a massive treasure hidden beneath.
"Found the ruins of a city!"
Lu Yuan's excitement surged, and his pace quickened.
He casually dug into the ground and unearthed a string of gold necklaces.
Even in an alien civilization, gold was still considered a luxury.
The chain was quite exquisite, carved with rose-like patterns, weighing at least five hundred grams.
"This thing... I'll come back for it later."
Lu Yuan casually tossed the gold chain on the ground, unable to bear the extra pound of weight.
Finding proper food in this rubble was as hard as climbing to heaven, even canned and vacuum-packaged food, after a few hundred years, would have rotted inside.
Besides, this area occasionally flashed with red light, not without any risk.
So, after wandering around for half the day, he simply chose the largest, most intact house.
The thick layers of reinforced concrete allowed it to escape the massive disaster unscathed, and its shape was a hefty round one.
Lu Yuan always felt this was a shelter, perhaps there really was food inside, or even living intelligent creatures?
Could they share sentiments, tell each other of their hardships?
As for whether the locals might eat him?
Forget it, never mind that, let's have a good meal first.
[A heavy mechanical door that can still be opened without electricity, the password is 8872134.]
Lu Yuan was astonished, is the "Pioneer's Eye" this amazing?
To this point, he still hadn't figured out the true principle behind the "Pioneer's Eye."
The unknown civilization's buttons, naturally not Arabic numerals, but those few buttons were probably consecutive, just a bit of fumbling might get it right.