Chapter 2 Those Who Have Emerged From Their Cocoons

Lu Buer felt that he had a very long dream. In the dream, he seemed to hear a faint broadcast, far away in the sky but close to his ears.

"On December 24, 2047, Aurora Technology announced the Tree of Life system to the world. The ecological environment of the earth has undergone tremendous changes. The life structure of human beings has been reshaped, and the era of universal evolution has begun. The latest batch of humans who have awakened from the cocoon of time have mastered tremendous power. The official name is... Evolvers!"

"Global notification, the earth's environment has stabilized in recent years, and special dimensions have appeared in cities such as Fengcheng, London, San Francisco, Florence, and Strasbourg. Life restricted areas have been formed. The area is extremely dangerous. The Evolver army has intervened to block it. Ordinary citizens please evacuate as soon as possible."

"The Supreme Federation has been established, the new order has been established, Aurora Technology has officially disintegrated and renamed the Akasha Holy Church..."

When he opened his eyes, he saw a blurry pure white in front of him. His brain was in pain as if it was hit by a blunt hammer, his muscles were stiff and sore, and his bones seemed to be falling apart.

It was as if he had been lying in bed for a long time.

It's been so long that my hair has turned grey, and the world has changed.

I can't remember the broadcast I vaguely heard in my dream.

He found himself entangled in a pure white silk, like a cocoon of a silkworm. Fortunately, it was not particularly difficult to entangle, and he could tear it apart naturally after rolling a few times.

"Have you entered the game?"

After a trance, he remembered that when he played the initial test before, he also started from the cocoon. This was the setting made by his father and mother.

At that time, they said: "Human evolution starts from the cocoon. After sleeping and rebirth in the cocoon, the physical condition is improved. It's like waking up from a sleep and finding that the spiritual energy has revived, and the earth has entered the age of mythology again."

The cocoon is still the familiar cocoon.

But something seems to be wrong.

He felt that the virtual helmet was still on his head.

Reaching out and touching it, it was as expected.

"Name Lu Buer, number 75637, vital signs have been thawed, body functions have been revived, soul matrix has stopped running, initial evolution has been completed, Kabbalah Tree of Life system has been offline. Welcome to the new world. You are no longer in the normal dimension. The nearest city is Linhai City. Your first task is to survive and try to leave the life restricted area."

"Good luck, guardian left over from the old world!"

A cold reminder sounded in the virtual helmet, and the flashing red light completely dimmed, which meant that the remaining power had been exhausted, but his heart was hanging.

The reminder sound was very familiar, just like in the past.

But the question is, why is he still wearing a helmet!

It was really weird. Lu Buer was a little confused. He tried to wake up the system interface but there was no response. The feeling was so real that it felt like a real person crossing.

There was no game at all.

He looked around and confirmed his guess.

This was his old dormitory. Books and homework were placed on the desk and cabinet, gel pens were scattered everywhere, and there was his worn-out notebook.

The pile of empty bottles of anti-cancer drugs scattered in the corner was the best proof. He had marked every bottle cap. These things were his life, and there was no way he would make a mistake.

He was still lying on the bed, wearing the school uniform of Fengcheng No. 2 Middle School, and in his pocket were a mobile phone and key ring, a Swiss Army knife, an ID card, and two packs of egg yolk pies.

These were all his personal belongings. No matter how real the game was, it was impossible to perfectly restore all the details of reality.

In order to verify his guess, he bit his finger hard.

It hurt a little, and blood flowed out.

That feeling was so real!

I knew that when my parents made the settings, they said that in order to prevent players from having adverse reactions due to pain during the game, the pain sensation was directly blocked.

"How could this happen?"

When he turned and looked out the window, he found nothing unusual. Under the dark night sky, there were bright stars, and the starlight dotted the silent playground. The creepers were like green waterfalls hanging upside down on the tilted teaching building. Outside the long street were neatly lined cars, but there were no lights.

There were no pedestrians on the street. The brightly lit buildings were completely dimmed, standing silently in the cold winter wind, like a giant supporting the darkness.

"No Man's Land!"

Lu Buer remembered that the setting of the game was like this. When the legacy of the gods appeared in the world, some cities on the earth would undergo tremendous changes, ancient creatures would revive, and monsters would run rampant.

Those cities would become extremely dangerous.

No longer suitable for human habitation.

It would probably become a concept similar to a dungeon.

And the players living in those cities would have to face difficult dungeons after they were born. They might have to die many times before they could leave the novice village, but the advantage was that they could gain a lot of experience and even extremely rare props.

The correspondence between "Pure Land" and reality is a major selling point.

When a normal player is born, he or she will hatch in his or her own home. The environment around him or her will basically not change at all, so naturally he or she will not face any danger.

The former is hell-level difficulty.

The latter is easy-level difficulty.

"The setting is still familiar, and the city I'm in has indeed become a copy, but the problem is that it feels too real, not like a game." Lu Buer murmured.

His phone still has 30% of power, but unfortunately there is no network and signal. He tried to make a few calls, but heard a disappointing busy tone.

When he wanted to get a glass of water, he found that the cup collapsed like sand.

Like dust pouring from his fingertips.

He was stunned for a moment and touched the water dispenser again.

The water dispenser also rusted and rotted suddenly.

Laptops, keyboards and mice, books and stationery.

Without exception, all rotted.

Metal objects or plastics can still leave debris.

Only the things wrapped in white silk are intact, as if time has stopped.

He did not panic.

Everything feels familiar.

Lu Buer was silent for a moment before walking out of the room. This was the first floor of their school, which was no different from before. However, he only dared to step on the ground and dared not touch the wall, fearing that if he touched it lightly, the wall would collapse and crush him to death.

But his worry was unnecessary. This building was still quite strong.

The paint on the wall would fall off quickly after just a touch.

He walked out of the dormitory building quickly, passed through the open door, and went out to the empty playground. The iron fence at the school gate had been opened by someone, so there was no need to climb over it.

The once prosperous city was so quiet. The high-end community next to the school was covered with green vines and creepers. There was not even a single person on the long street, but countless huge tree roots appeared on the ground.

"Is there anyone? Is there anyone?"

Lu Buer looked at these thick tree roots. They seemed to spread from the edge of the world. At a glance, there was no end to them, only endless fog.

Visibility was very low in the cold night, and fog filled the darkness.

These scenes gave him a familiar feeling.

But it was different from the past.

Lu Buer walked for a long time and didn't see a single person.

It was too cold. The city was empty and the temperature would be even lower. The temperature was about minus ten degrees Celsius at the moment. Even the thickened school uniform made of wool was a bit unbearable.

There was a light source at the end of the fog, so warm and bright.

But I don't know what it is.

Lu Buer didn't see these things back then.

The cold forced him to move towards the light source, but there was a sound on the broken electric pole above his head. A dark crow flapped its wings and flew away, shaking off its black feathers.

There was a rustling sound in the ivy across the street, as if a giant creature was climbing and swimming on the wall of the residential building, and its dark green scales opened and closed regularly, shaking off the floating dust.

It was a snake!

"Well, the creatures in the dungeon will mutate, and these things are very dangerous." Lu Buer realized the crisis in the city, took out a Swiss Army knife from his pocket, and sneaked along the corner towards the light source, shuttling through the huge empty city.

In the silence, a dog barked suddenly.

Lu Buer slowed down his pace and leaned against the corner. He looked out and saw a dog eating rotten meat at the corner of the street. Occasionally, when he raised his head, he revealed a rotten face!

Its pupils were also shocking scarlet!

Damn it!

He accidentally stepped on a dry branch.

It was just such a subtle noise that startled the strange dog that was eating. It accurately locked the target's position, barking and rushing all the way, grinning.

It was not big in size, but it ran very fast.

Lu Buer recalled his experience that year, hid in the corner and ambushed. When the strange dog rushed out, he kicked it in the abdomen and kicked it out.

After the successful attack, he turned and ran. After running for an unknown amount of time, his whole body felt heavy as if filled with lead, his chest was burning with pain, and his breathing was rapid.

The weather was too cold, and the high-intensity exercise consumed too much energy.

"Can this be a game? Shouldn't I be a superhuman in the game? Where are my attribute points? Where are my initial equipment?" Lu Buer cursed in his heart.

It's really a tiger in a plain being bullied by a dog.

When he first took the test, he took the special props arranged by his parents. He killed gods and Buddhas all the way and passed the level without death.

But the only pity is that he repeatedly brushed the level many times but failed to trigger the hidden plot, so he failed to unlock the ultimate hidden reward in the dungeon. Dad and Mom once said that they hid an extremely precious prop in the Novice Village, but it was not available during the initial test. If you really want to get it, you can only wait until the day when the game is open for testing.

It is said that it is the ultimate weapon that can touch the ultimate secret of the game world and can accompany the player's growth, but it also involves a huge catastrophe and is crucial.

Although it sounds very exciting, it was just a castrated initial test game at the time, not a formal public beta, so he didn't care.

But his parents said that the hidden item was a small Easter egg prepared for him. If the public beta is launched, only he can get it.

Lu Buer's thoughts turned rapidly, and the strange dog was still chasing him.

He was exhausted and panting. If it weren't for the good medical technology of this era, plus his good condition maintained by years of exercise, he would have died long ago.

Many people think that cancer patients must have a weak constitution. In fact, it was not the case when medical care was not as advanced as it is today. To fight cancer, you must maintain a good physical condition.

Many patients look no different from ordinary people, but they may suddenly collapse one day and never get sick again.

It was as if the howling of wolves gathered together sounded, and pairs of scarlet eyes lit up in the darkness.

Damn it, the barking of the strange dog just now summoned the dog pack. These beasts have become organized and disciplined like wolves. They never act alone and always fight in groups.

Lu Buer could only turn around and flee on the road where vehicles were scattered, and he jumped onto the fragile roof of the car while the strange dogs ran wildly behind him. Once his ankle was almost bitten, but fortunately he was able to fight back with the height advantage and kicked the strange dogs from above.

He held the Swiss Army knife in his left hand for self-defense, and picked up a usable rusty steel pipe in his right hand and swung it, hitting the strange dogs' heads with the dog-beating stick method, which was unexpectedly quite effective.

The dog-beating stick method was swung in the air, and the strange dogs' heads burst.

Lu Buer was fighting and retreating at the same time, and it happened that an extremely strong strange dog pounced on his face in the air. He swung the steel pipe with his backhand, but he was bitten by it and couldn't get away.

Fortunately, Lu Buer had been prepared for a long time, aiming at the strange dog's left eye and stabbed it with a knife. Thick and fishy blood spurted out at once, and it whimpered and completely softened, and was killed with one blow.

Unexpectedly, the strange dogs took this opportunity to rush forward, with pairs of scarlet eyes and sharp fangs dripping with saliva.

For a moment, Lu Buer thought he was going to be torn to pieces by the dogs.

The game is different from reality.

He has bonuses in the game.

But in reality, he has nothing to rely on!

With a bang, the head of a strange dog exploded, and the dogs were obviously frightened.

The door of a church outside the street was opened, and a man strode out with a pistol, shooting the strange dogs in the head continuously, and yelled: "Come here!"

Lu Buer was surprised. He didn't expect that there were people here besides him.

Two companions rushed out of the darkness, holding fire extinguishers and spraying the strange dogs fiercely. A large amount of dry powder sprayed them dizzy, and more deadly gunshots continued to ring.

Lu Buer took advantage of the situation to hit the strange dog beside him with a steel pipe and rushed to the dark door.

Bang, the door behind him closed, and Lu Buer escaped.

·

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For Lu Buer, this was an unprecedented experience. He leaned against the door and panted. The roars and scratches of the strange dogs outside the door made him sweat coldly.

The light of the flashlight lit up in the darkness, but his hands were controlled by someone, especially the cold touch from the back of his head, which was the feeling of the muzzle of the gun!

"Tell me, who are you?"

The man with the gun asked with a big breath.

Lu Buer was stunned, and for a moment he didn't know how to answer. He saw a group of unfamiliar faces, everyone was covered in dust and their clothes were tattered.

Like a group of refugees.

Among this group of people, there were security guards, strong fitness coaches, but also elderly grandfathers, and girls shivering in the corner. They were all equipped with weapons, such as electric batons, kitchen knives, steel pipes and the like, probably for self-protection.

The old man with the flashlight took a closer look at him, especially when he saw the logo on the chest of his school uniform: "Hey, he's a student, and he's from Fengcheng No. 2 Middle School."

Lu Buer also saw the man's appearance clearly with the help of the light.

Because this is Mr. Zhang, the owner of the grocery store in front of their school.

Although he looked haggard and ragged, he could still be recognized at a glance.

I didn't expect to meet someone familiar here.

"I have a student ID in my pocket."

Lu Buer calmed down: "I have no ill will towards you."

Mr. Zhang took his personal belongings out of his pocket. When the two packs of egg yolk pies were turned out, the people in the corridor obviously became short of breath, and their eyes lit up.

"Okay, he's still a student, don't scare him."

Mr. Zhang stuffed the things back into his pocket: "Let go."

Lu Buer felt the people on both sides leave, and the muzzle of the gun behind him was also removed.

"Sorry, I scared you just now."

The gunman took out his ID from his pocket: "I am the sheriff of Donghai Road Police Station, my name is Amber. We all have similar experiences, so we must be more vigilant. We are not sure of your identity, and we don't know if you are the mastermind."

"The mastermind?"

Lu Buer hesitated to speak.

If there is a mastermind, it is probably the company where his parents worked before they died.

Or, it is his parents.

The people here were obviously people who had come out of the cocoon inexplicably. They looked terrified and confused. When they found that the newcomers didn't know anything, they all lost their temper.

"We don't know either."

Boss Zhang sighed faintly: "Everyone fell into a deep sleep after putting on the virtual helmet. When they woke up, they were wrapped tightly in silk. This place was already an empty city."

"So you just woke up? We woke up a few days earlier than you, and we all got together by chance. Along the way, we encountered various mutant beasts attacking us, and some people... died." Officer An whispered.

Lu Buer pondered for a moment. He didn't dare to say the settings he knew, because he was really worried that he would be regarded as an accomplice of the mastermind, which would be very disadvantageous to him.

Wait, there's He Sai!

He Sai also bought a virtual helmet.

Maybe he is experiencing the same crisis as him at this moment.

"If you ask me, you are just making a fuss. What if we really entered the virtual world? What if all this is a game? Be realistic. There are no monsters in this world. How can we travel through time just by waking up?"

A ragged middle-aged man stood up at the end of the corridor and took out a few bank cards from his pocket: "Young man, you have two egg yolk pies, right? Each of these bank cards has two million. As long as you give me the food, you can take one of them!"

Lu Buer was stunned again. It seemed that this middle-aged man was very rich, and he didn't know how long he had been hungry. When the egg yolk pie was searched out just now, he couldn't sit still.

In this city, except for the buildings that are basically intact, the rest will rot.

As for his personal belongings, they were sealed with him in the cocoon.

Maybe this is the reason why they can be preserved.

Two million, that is a sum of money he dare not even think about, enough for him to continue treatment for a long time.

In a crisis, it is so cheap that it can be exchanged for two egg yolk pies.

At this time, Boss Zhang pulled him back and said, "Stop fooling around, kid. You are such an idiot. You think this is a game. Can't you see the scratch on your thigh? Can the game be so real? We don't even know if we can survive. What's the point of asking for money at this time? Besides, you said there are 2 million in this card, so it's true? Why don't you say there is 100 million?"

He turned around and said, "Kid, hide those two egg yolk pies. Don't let others take them away. You don't know what will happen in the future. Maybe it can save your life."

When saying this, Boss Zhang's stomach growled.

Remind you, this book is still about urban themes, not the end of the world~