Lu Feng glanced at Lin Jiao, who immediately understood. She took out two pieces of bread and two bottles of water and tossed them to Chen Tao and Chen Hao.

Of course, this didn’t mean Lu Feng trusted them.

Trust isn’t built on just a few words. He would need to observe them further.

’Who could tell if these two brothers were sincere or just feigning it?’

’If they were sincere, then congratulations to them for making the right choice.’

’If they weren’t, the worst punishment would be a return to the miserable life of an empty stomach after getting a taste of comfort and full meals, wouldn’t it?’

’Either way, it was no loss to him.’

’After all, he was only giving up a bit of food.’

’And was food really an issue for him?’

After taking the bread and water, Chen Tao and Chen Hao frantically stuffed the food into their mouths and guzzled down the water.

Having eaten only a single small cracker in two days, the piece of bread before them instantly turned them into ravenous beasts.

Lu Feng then continued, "Since you’re going to work for me, for the time being, you’ll be like Lin Jiao and Xu Bin. Help me search for gold stores inside this Department Store. In a building with over thirty floors, there must be more, and I need that Gold."

Chen Tao took a gulp of water and, hearing Lu Feng’s words, immediately said, "I know which floor has a gold store."

"You do?" Lu Feng was surprised.

’This was a pleasant surprise.’

If what Chen Tao said was true, then the bread and water he’d given them had already more than paid for themselves.

Chen Hao immediately added, "It’s on the 23rd floor. Yesterday, we found the department store’s offices there. We thought there might be food, so we went up to scout and saw the store then."

"But it’s dangerous. There’s a Mutant Beast there. If we hadn’t run fast enough, we’d have been goners."

"Take me there," Lu Feng said at once.

After his first successful kill, he wasn’t particularly worried about another Mutant Beast.

He happened to have two more gas canisters back in his apartment.

Judging by the power of the last explosion, two canisters would be more than enough to eliminate this one.

Chen Tao and Chen Hao exchanged a look, a flicker of hope in their eyes.

’The man before them heard about a Mutant Beast and immediately wanted to check it out instead of being afraid. This means he’s truly not scared of them.’

’This meant he might actually be able to get them out of the Department Store.’

So, after finishing their bread and licking every last crumb from their hands, the two brothers got up to lead the way.

Seeing this, Lin Jiao and Xu Bin also picked up their steel pike and large axe.

Lu Feng grabbed his steel blade as well.

The two brothers had evidently cleared a path on their way down the day before, so Lu Feng’s group encountered no zombies on the way up. Any that did appear were immediately cut down by the others, leaving him no chance to even make a move.

Soon, the group arrived on the 21st floor.

From this point on, Chen Hao and Chen Tao became extremely cautious.

Lin Jiao and Xu Bin were also on high alert, wary that the Mutant Beast might leap out at any moment.

After passing the 22nd floor, the group arrived on the 23rd.

This was one of the upper floors, so there were almost no zombies. When the apocalypse began, everyone had fled downward, so most of the zombies were concentrated on the lower levels.

After passing through a circular walkway, the group entered a large exhibition area.

Once they arrived, Chen Hao made a hushing gesture and pressed himself against a corner wall.

He peeked his head around the corner and immediately pulled back. "The Mutant Beast was in that hallway yesterday," he whispered. "It’s still there. The gold store is on that side, too."

Lu Feng peered out as well and, sure enough, he saw the Mutant Beast. It was another Slaying Dog, just like the last one, lying there at rest.

"You all head downstairs. I’ll take care of this thing," Lu Feng said, already scanning the area for a suitable storefront to set a trap.

He soon found one, stepped inside, and with a thought, logged out of the game.

Seeing this, Lin Jiao and Xu Bin decisively turned and headed downstairs.

They trusted their boss to handle it; it certainly wasn’t because they were worried the Mutant Beast would wake up and target them.

Chen Tao and Chen Hao saw this and quickly followed suit.

Although they were curious to see how he would create a commotion like the last one, the Mutant Beast was still far too terrifying for them to stick around.

Lu Feng logged out, returning to his apartment. He immediately brought the two rigged gas canisters into the game. Just like last time, he opened their valves and set the trap.

The smell of gas began to fill the storefront.

When he felt the concentration was about right, he took out a lighter, grabbed an empty bottle from inside the shop, and walked out.

He positioned himself almost directly across from the Mutant Beast, then threw the empty bottle in a high arc. It smashed on the floor right in front of the creature.

CRASH!~

The shattering sound startled the Mutant Beast, which reflexively shot to its feet and whipped its head around.

Naturally, the first thing it saw was Lu Feng—a delicious meal. It let out an instantaneous roar and lunged at him without hesitation.

It was clearly starving.

With his previous experience, Lu Feng calmly watched the ferocious beast charge at him before retreating back into the shop.

A moment later, the Mutant Beast charged into the storefront, only to be greeted by a single flickering lighter flame.

Lu Feng’s figure instantly vanished as he logged out of the game.

In that instant, the small flame erupted, spreading into a sea of fire. The flames ignited the gas from the two canisters, and a violent force began to expand uncontrollably.

BOOM!~

A terrifying boom erupted. A fearsome blast wave, like a fiery dragon, engulfed the Mutant Beast, followed immediately by an incredible tearing force.

「Downstairs.」

Lin Jiao, Xu Bin, Chen Tao, and Chen Hao suddenly felt the walls around them begin to shake.

The sheer force was astounding.

They knew what it was and immediately stopped in their tracks.

Lin Jiao couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise, "The boss was so fast this time."

Xu Bin nodded in astonishment. Last time, the boss had waited a long while before making his move.

The group immediately turned around and headed back upstairs to investigate.

「...」

Lu Feng appeared back in his real-world apartment. The next moment, a prompt appeared:

[Congratulations on killing a Mutant Beast Slaying Dog. You have gained 100 experience!]

’Two gas canisters were more than enough.’

His experience increased by 100, bringing him to LV4: 310/800.

He immediately looked back into the game world. The storefront had been blasted to smithereens. Inside lay the shredded corpse of the Mutant Beast. Not much blood had spilled, as the high temperatures had seared the wounds shut.

The fire had once again triggered the Department Store’s sprinkler system. Water rained down, soaking the shop and mixing with black ash, making the entire place look muddy.

Lu Feng entered and immediately used his steel blade to cut open the Mutant Beast’s head. As expected, he dug something out.

[This is the Crystal Core of a Mutant Beast Slaying Dog. It is quite valuable and can be used as currency or an energy source. Crystal Core Value: 12!]

This Crystal Core’s value was actually 1.5 lower than the last one.

’It seems the value of these Crystal Cores isn’t consistent even for the same type of monster. It probably relates to the individual creature’s strength.’

Just then, Lu Feng’s attention was caught by a card-like object floating beside the monster’s corpse, enveloped in a white light.

The card looked similar to the Qingfeng Tea Life Skill Card from before, and its floating presence was jarring.

He knew what this was. In games, cards like this were always special items with unique effects.

And it seemed to have dropped from killing the Mutant Beast.

In games, killing monsters and bosses could indeed drop special item cards like this.

While Lu Feng was lost in thought, Lin Jiao and the other three arrived outside and entered the storefront.

They were stunned by the sight of the Mutant Beast’s corpse.

This was the second one of these terrifying creatures to be dealt with.

But Lu Feng was surprised to see that Lin Jiao and the others seemed completely unable to see the card glowing with white light. Otherwise, they would have surely reacted to it.

He quickly took advantage of their distraction, snatching the card with a discreet movement and using the game’s inspection function on it:

[This is a special Backpack Slot Voucher. Use it to redeem one additional backpack slot!]