"No, I've searched for a long time too, but haven't found a trace of anyone."
Xiang Yang seemed not too affected by this, or perhaps she was already accustomed to it, but she said with some hope, "However, it's said that ASEAN has established a human settlement in the Arctic Circle, which should be the hope for humanity!"
It seemed that the national structure of this world was quite different, Lu Ren pondered, after all, this place is a Different Space-Time, perhaps a parallel universe, perhaps.
He was extremely curious about the structure of this world, although this girl would be as easy to kill as a chicken for him, he refrained for the time being since she hadn't shown any anomalies, after all, in a world full of people, some will like you and some won't.
It's not feasible to kill everyone who doesn't like you or shows hostility against you.
Even so, Lu Ren still kept a distance of at least one meter from Xiang Yang to have enough reaction time should she suddenly make a move.
"What are those monsters, the ones you mentioned as polluted creatures, and how were they polluted?"
Xiang Yang was surprised, "You don't know?"
Lu Ren slightly nodded, casually saying, "I came from a very far place, and I don't know anything about here."
Xiang Yang couldn't help but glance at Lu Ren, showing a strange expression, but since he was human, it was a fact, she pondered for a moment, then organized her thoughts before speaking.
"My father said that the disaster occurred thirty years ago, after the Alternate Space opened and released an energy that quickly spread across the globe, ninety percent of humans and animals worldwide were polluted, and their genes began to mutate.
Power, speed, and physical resistance kept increasing, yet the cost was the loss of reason, becoming beasts acting on instinct."
A trace of confusion appeared in Xiang Yang's eyes as she said, "My dad said that period was the worst for humanity, almost on the brink of extinction, with half of the remaining one billion people globally rapidly perishing due to the pollution creatures' hunts, then everyone moved underground, forming resistance lines through subway transit networks and various disaster prevention facilities.
But it wasn't just humans that underwent pollution-induced mutation—animals and insects experienced varying degrees of alteration as well, leaving humanity on the edge of danger. Fortunately, the numerous rats seemed to have a natural resistance, allowing us a subject for research to develop resistance.
In previous years, we could confirm traces of surviving humans around the world via global wireless satellite broadcasts, but in recent years, as pollution worsened, responses became sparse, many surviving in shelters relying on the remaining resources for survival.
Apart from the Arctic Human Survivor Base established by ASEAN, the surface has completely become a haven for monsters."
Lu Ren asked, "What do those monsters rely on to survive?"
"Energy, the special energy emanating from the Alternate Space dispersed in the air, those polluted creatures can absorb this energy to sustain their existence."
Xiang Yang shrugged slightly, "But all this is what my dad told me; the specifics I'm not very clear on either."
"Then where is the Alternate Space?"
Despite having seen it in magazines, Lu Ren still wanted to confirm once more.
"Haimen City." Xiang Yang pointed to the ground, "Here is Haimen City, the place where special energy is most concentrated and has the largest number of monsters."
Lu Ren was full of confusion, "Then why did I encounter so few on my way here?"
"Most of them hide in the black mist."
"Black mist?"
Xiang Yang explained, "At night, those gauzy black mists cover the earth, and polluted creatures will come out and move, but some powerful polluted creatures will also leave the black mist and move during the day."
Lu Ren remained silent for a while, as the extinction mechanism of this world was indeed overly strange, beyond imagination, and fortunately, he didn't venture out at night; instead, he stayed inside buildings, avoiding contact.
In summary, the Alternate Space Passage releases a special energy that forms the black mist, and polluted creatures enter the black mist to inhabit it.
"So during the day, where do those black mists hide?"
Xiang Yang replied, "I don't know. My dad said it might be due to the long-term connection between the Alternate Space and this world, so the black mist retreats into the Alternate Space, then at night, during the special energy's active period, it randomly disperses large areas of black mist globally, its range covering almost a continent. Some say it's actually underground. But in recent days, the cloud qi in Haizhou City has been quite good, and the black mist hasn't spread over here."
Lu Ren slightly nodded, "So why did your dad bring you here?"
Xiang Yang was silent for a moment, "My dad wanted to enter the experimental center and close the entrance to the Alternate Space Passage."
It appeared Xiang Yang's father was not a simple character in this world, certainly not an ordinary person.
"What about you?"
"Me?"
Seeing Xiang Yang unwilling to speak, Lu Ren shifted the topic, "Well then, what do you want to do next?"
Xiang Yang's face showed a bit of determination, "I want to fulfill my father's last wish."
Lu Ren looked at the girl in surprise, despite her petite appearance, it seemed her experiences over the past years had given her quite formidable physical fitness, with faint outlines of muscles visible.
This was a character with maxed-out survival skills, battle-hardened, skillful, with not a hint of girlish coyness, decisive, and daring.
No wonder she had survived alone in this place for so long.
Seeing Lu Ren's indifferent demeanor, Xiang Yang couldn't help but speak, "We're all humans, don't you want to say something?"
Lu Ren thought for a moment and earnestly said, "Hmm, it's an ideal goal, I wish you all the best."
"...Don't you want to be a hero saving the world?"
"I find the word 'hero' too burdensome; I'm not strong enough to bear it."
Xiang Yang looked angrily at his burly physique, and the two Bone Swords hanging at his waist, still stained with dried blood.
"Are you willing to live your life hiding in dark corners? Bathing in sunlight? Standing openly on the surface, watching the sunrise and sunset?"
Lu Ren: "Though the picture you paint is beautiful, I don't find it too appealing."
To say something harsh, he wasn't from this Otherworldly world, and the system clearly informed him that after seven days, this world merged with the reality world would drift away, and those who didn't belong to this world would be detached with it.
And in some sense, it seemed the other party was fishing!
How could Lu Ren willingly take such a risk?
Xiang Yang looked at Lu Ren angrily, this man in front of her wasn't one of those polluted creatures, but from a nature standpoint, he felt equally annoying.
She sat in a corner sulking, unwilling to talk to Lu Ren.
Lu Ren didn't mind; these kinds of people, who don't realize the harsh reality and are blinded by naivety, often do unexpected things driven by their passion. If the Antarctic Survivor Base was truly established by state institutions, there would definitely be strategic plans to deal with the Alternate Space Passage.
But because of practical reasons, they might find themselves helpless.
This father and daughter's thoughts were too idyllic; look, they ended up having an abrupt demise, leaving Xiang Yang alone to survive in the perilous Haizhou City.
It must be said this underground water system was impressively grand, with many passages reaching 2.5 meters high, enough to accommodate five people walking side by side.
And with interconnected routes, there was a sewage holding tank and purification facility further down.
If staying here, it would indeed be easy to last until the seventh day and then return to the real world.
This was quite a good safe house.