Global Collapse

"What are you two chattering about with that pan?" Gu Mian tossed the towel aside and walked over.

Fatty flinched. "Brother Chu was telling me about your childhood."

As he spoke, a sorrowful expression crossed his face. "I never realized Dr. Gu had gone through such things."

Hearing this, Gu Mian also plopped down. "Yes, the past twenty years haven't been easy..."

Fatty nodded in shared sentiment.

Gu Mian continued, "So many people are attracted to my beauty, yet I've remained single for over twenty years. It's been tough."

Fatty was speechless.

The atmosphere instantly turned weird.

It was Chu Changge who broke the awkward silence. "Weren't you wiping the car windows? Are you done already?"

"Nope," Gu Mian spread his hands. "The frost is too thick. I can't wipe it off. I'll deal with it later... Speaking of which, what should we have for breakfast? I'm a bit hungry."

Fatty quickly set the flat-bottomed pan aside. "Couldn't find anything to start a fire with. How about I make some smashed cucumber salad for you? I managed to find some seasonings at the supermarket yesterday..."

Smashed cucumber salad first thing in the morning? How particular.

As Fatty spoke, he eagerly trotted to the car to get the cucumbers.

Players' inventories could only store game-related items, like special items or things they had drawn. Some items from the supermarket could also be stored in their inventories.

However, food and the large pan in front of them clearly couldn't.

If they put the food and the pan in the Spirit Car and then stored the Spirit Car in their inventory, all the items inside the Spirit Car would spill out like beans.

Don't ask how Gu Mian knew this so clearly; it was because he'd had Chu Changge test it out the previous night.

Fatty went to grab the cucumbers and a kitchen knife.

Gu Mian took the opportunity to glance at the event page.

Event: Lantern Festival

Event Location: Inside Huaxia Country Hengdian Film City

Event Time: February 19, 2019, 19:00—24:00

...

Participation Requirements: During the event, the Hengdian area will be sealed off. Entry requires a ticket obtained from a high-level ticket booth.

"The event starts on the evening of February 19th, which is the Lantern Festival. Today is January 27th, so we still have a little over twenty days..."

Gu Mian paused. "During these twenty-odd days, we need to improve our strength... and find the high-level ticket booth mentioned for this event."

Only by finding this could they obtain an event ticket.

All the ticket booths he had seen before were low-level, because the words "low-level ticket booth" were clearly written on the instance tickets they had.

He had no idea what was different about this high-level ticket booth.

"So, for these twenty-odd days, it's best if we travel through more populated areas. More people mean more ticket booths, so perhaps we can find one of these so-called high-level ones."

"As for improving our strength, that means entering instances. Although entering instances doesn't seem to do much for me, it should at least be useful for you two."

Gu Mian said, glancing at Fatty who was approaching with a few cucumbers, "As for how often we enter instances... We don't have much food, so let's go into one each time we run out."

Food couldn't be put into an inventory. If they all went into an instance together, any food left out here would probably be taken.

A large item like the Spirit Car could get towed away if left outside, let alone food, which everyone wanted these days.

So, it was best to finish their food before entering an instance.

Chu Changge nodded in agreement.

By then, Fatty had come bounding over with several cucumbers.

"When I lived alone, I cooked for myself a lot. I often made smashed cucumber salad; I'm quite experienced with it..."

As he spoke, Fatty placed the cucumbers directly into the pan.

Since there wasn't a cutting board, he had to make do with using the pan.

Fatty picked up the kitchen knife and used its spine to crush the cucumbers in the pan. Because it was a flat-bottomed pan, it was relatively easy to handle.

Gu Mian thought Fatty was about to show off his cooking skills, but instead watched Fatty tear open a palm-sized seasoning packet and dump the entire contents into the pan.

It looked like a blend of vinegar, minced garlic, and chili oil, with a few pieces of what looked like very spicy red chili peppers mixed in.

Finally, Fatty stirred the cucumbers with chopsticks, coating each piece with the vinegar-based sauce at the bottom.

Gu Mian was speechless. Even though this was thrown together, it actually seems a tiny bit better than what he usually eats at home.

Fatty tossed the seasoning packet aside. "I found this cold dish seasoning packet at the supermarket. It's pretty convenient."

Gu Mian picked up a piece with his chopsticks and tasted it. It was crisp, tartly refreshing, and had a hint of spice.

If he had discovered this earlier, he wouldn't have had to eat instant noodles for so many years.

However, it turned out that eating smashed cucumber salad first thing in the morning wasn't such a wise decision. After finishing, Gu Mian felt his stomach turn a bit sour.

Chu Changge was carefully studying a map. "If we keep going, we should reach a small county town. Let me see... It's called Chang'an County. Are you planning to go in?"

"Let's go take a look," Gu Mian nodded. "Actually, I'm quite curious about the current situation for players outside Lianhua City."

They had passed by a few small cities last night, but because it was still the middle of the night, they hadn't stopped. Now that they'd encountered a small county town, of course, they had to go take a look.

Chu Changge said, "Then we should stow the Spirit Car."

Driving such a conspicuous Spirit Car into town would definitely attract a lot of attention.

Thankfully, they weren't carrying too much food. Fatty had already prepared an oversized mountaineering backpack to carry the food, with the pan tied to it.

Unexpectedly, this small county town named Chang'an County was eerily quiet.

There wasn't a soul to be seen on the streets; the only sound was the wind.

Although few people dared to venture out in Lianhua City, it was nothing like this utter desolation.

Fatty looked a bit unsettled. "What's going on?"

Fatty's first thought was: They can't all have died in their homes, can they?

Chu Changge pushed up his glasses. "I doubt it. It's more likely there's something outside that frightens them..."