Chapter 552: Chapter 551: No Food or Lodging in the Apocalypse

Shi Yuhuai really did shake his head in response to her question.

"Nope."

"...Applause for you."

Lastly, Li Yang, who obediently handed over his phone, was fairly ordinary. The phone was kept in the inner pocket of his school uniform. Upon witnessing Shi Yuhuai’s "exquisite hiding technique," he expressed his admiration.

"Brother Huai, you’re amazing. I’m still too young, after all."

Learned something new today.

"No matter how exquisite your technique is, you can’t escape the program crew’s scanner. Just give it up," Guan Yu teased.

Li Yang paused, shoulders slumping: "True."

After obediently handing over their phones, the three of them wore the big cell phone walkie-talkies on their arms and tried to speak a couple of times.

The preparations were completed, and the director announced, "The game officially begins! Any notifications will be signaled from the sky above the ruins. Enjoy the game, everyone!"

A long "beep——" sounded from above the ruins, followed by a cold electronic voice.

"The post-apocalyptic survival game begins! Monster profile cards are ready. Wish you all an enjoyable game!"

Mu Qiu looked up at the few drones flying above, then glanced around.

"This really does feel a bit like an infinite post-apocalyptic flow."

"What’s an infinite apocalypse flow?" Cheng Zhirang, who had somehow moved to her side, asked curiously, looking down, "Didn’t you just say this was a real-life version of Werewolf?"

Mu Qiu stopped for a moment.

They rarely interacted on the show to avoid suspicion, and now that he spoke, she felt all eyes in the room were focusing again.

"Infinite flow often involves stories where players are summoned to a special space to continuously participate in games or trials, and such games usually involve survival," Mu Qiu calmly explained,

"However, some believe that infinite flow stories include all elements. We currently lean towards the former interpretation."

Cheng Zhirang nodded thoughtfully: "Interesting. There doesn’t seem to be this kind of genre in current films or TV shows."

"If you’re interested, you can find a script like that," Shen Zhousong said, examining the surrounding environment as he spoke,

"As soon as you express the interest for such a script, a bunch of directors will approach you post-show."

Cheng Zhirang: "We’ll see."

After saying that, he also looked around and returned to his aloof demeanor.

"The fast-food restaurant is just up ahead. Let’s go check it out first."

"Are we scouting? But the store is right here on this road, visible at a glance, no need to scout,"

Han Xizheng had a different opinion, "Shu Ran and I want to check out other places. Aren’t we supposed to find food and a base?"

Cheng Zhirang nodded: "That’s fine too. We’ll return here in an hour. Shen Zhousong and I will head to the fast-food restaurant first."

Li Yang also stood up: "Then Guo Yin and I will check out the other side of the fast-food restaurant."

Mu Qiu: "Zhao Yu and I will head to the end."

Guan Yu: "Chu Qiu and I will go take a look inside that residential building."

Shi Yuhuai: "Chen Yi and I... Director, are we getting lunch provided at noon?"

"..." Guan Yu was speechless to the point of facial deformation, "Brother Huai, are you one of those three traitors? Not interested in the game, just thinking about food."

Shi Yuhuai ignored her, focusing only on the director.

The director begrudgingly picked up the small megaphone again: "The apocalypse doesn’t provide room and board. Go find it yourselves."

Shi Yuhuai frowned deeply and looked at the others: "Then Chen Yi and I will search for food."

The others immediately translated this to mean: We’ll look around everywhere.

"Alright, once you find food, let us know—no, you, can’t, keep, it, all, to, yourselves."

He waved his hand, neither confirming nor denying, and took Chen Yi to the right, casually kicking away a pile of waste paper as he walked into the blue canopied room nearby.

Everyone had a destination. Cheng Zhirang and Shen Zhousong took the lead and headed to the fast-food restaurant, while the others exchanged glances before dispersing.

The place Mu Qiu and Zhao Yu were going to was the farthest, walking all the way to the end of the chaotic road was a building akin to an art museum, with a café on the second floor.

The word "café" had two letters missing, and the last character "fe" was half tilted. All the glass nearby was shattered, inside tables and chairs were messily placed, some even falling from the window to the first floor, smashed to pieces.

Zhao Yu tip-toed to avoid the glass and the remains of tables and chairs as he walked to the entrance.

"Doesn’t this scene look a bit too real? Was it made on the spot? Or borrowed from some movie crew?"

Mu Qiu tip-toed over too, looking up to examine the dark red bloodstains on the museum’s entryway.

"It does seem quite realistic, but the sight here is okay. Just worried the crew might bring in some kind of mutated creatures too."

"?!" Zhao Yu turned around in shock, "How would they bring that in? By having staff dress in mascot suits to play dead?"

The half-destroyed door was pushed open, but before entering, Mu Qiu said, "That’s a good idea. The crew might just add it in."

"......"

Zhao Yu was utterly speechless, following her into the museum.

Inside, there were indeed many artworks, though scattered and toppled. There was some sticky residue on the floor.

A peculiar scent wafted through the spacious area, and within the dimly lit corners, an eerie silence seemed to trickle, oozing ominously.

With a lack of external force, the broken door rebounded inward, closing with a clang.

Mu Qiu and Zhao Yu both flinched at the same time.

"Oh my god, even in broad daylight, this is kinda scary," Zhao Yu said, clutching his chest, unconsciously lowering his voice.

Mu Qiu scraped the ground with her toe, conceding to the authenticity she had once protested.

"It’s really quite real. Sticky floor, bloody doors, broken lights. Look—"

She raised her hand to point at a portrait on the wall.

"That picture is still hanging, but the glass from its frame shattered from the middle. Something must have hit it, and it precisely struck the center point."

Zhao Yu whispered, "A tentacle monster fired a shot, not realizing the glass was made in China?"

"..." Are you nuts?

Mu Qiu decided to educate her on the records of mutant flora and fauna in apocalyptic literature.

"I told you, it’s a post-apocalyptic mutation. Haven’t you read a few infinite apocalypse flow novels? Plants grow wildly and start absorbing blood, creatures increase in size and lose self-awareness, humans become food for flora and fauna."

Zhao Yu was about to adding her thoughts, but Mu Qiu took a turn.

"However, to portray such mutated creatures, it’s best in games or films. For live broadcasts, they probably have to rely on the crew to personally make it happen. So for now, there are two directions—"

She turned to look at Zhao Yu: "One is where the crew is really impressive and staffs wear green screen outfits, acting as mutated creatures attacking us, producing theatrically stunning visuals for the viewers. The other—"

Zhao Yu, observing her expression, half-guessing, half-deducing, continued smoothly: "The other is the crew not using these familiar mutated creatures and substituting with unforeseen monsters. And maybe these monsters don’t even require physical presence."