Chapter 6: Retreat in One Piece and Keep Gathering Intel!

A tangle of messy questions swirled through Su Ze’s mind.

Without a doubt, this round of simulation had given him plenty of useful doomsday information.

For example, the area around the school would become a Safe Zone.

Even 20-odd days in, it was still safe and order remained fairly well-kept.

The only problem was a bit of a supply shortage.

However, some of the more critical pieces of apocalypse intel were still ambiguous.

Many key points about the end times remained murky.

Why did a Contaminated Zone pose a lethal threat?

Was a Safe Zone absolutely secure?

What exactly was the path to becoming an Awakener?

All kinds of doubts circled in his heart, and for the moment he could not get precise answers.

What puzzled Su Ze most were the two almost identical ways he had died.

Both times, he went back to the neighborhood that housed his safe house, destroyed the so-called pollution source, then was inexplicably hounded to death in his sleep by terrifying dogs.

The causes of the two deaths were also similar.

In each case, his simulated self had wanted to explore the key to becoming an Awakener.

Such a desire was certainly not wrong.

Just as his roommate exclaimed in the simulation, a new era had arrived.

Perhaps this new era belonged to Awakeners.

Wanting to keep up with the times and become one of its trendsetters could hardly be blamed.

“According to the simulation, someone else copied the known awakening method on day 19, but they failed….”

Su Ze scrolled back through the parts of the simulation that had not yet been overwritten.

He wondered if the intel he had obtained about becoming an Awakener was simply wrong.

Was that why both he and the others failed whenever they tried to imitate it?

Or was the information fine and he had only made mistakes at some critical step?

“You walk a road one step at a time, and eat a meal one bite at a time.”

Pulling back his scattered thoughts, Su Ze murmured to himself.

Obviously, two or three simulations were not enough for him to glimpse the whole picture of doomsday.

Because the simulation text was relatively concise, some worthwhile details might have been omitted.

That was exactly why he needed to be more patient.

Whether it was the correct route to become an Awakener or the real reasons behind Contaminated and Safe Zones, sooner or later these would surface as the number of simulations increased.

Besides, once he drew a really useful Talent in a later run, the speed at which he gathered apocalypse intel would definitely accelerate.

【Simulator cooldown has ended…】

Without wasting a second, the instant the cooldown ended, Su Ze started another simulation.

【Apocalypse simulation has begun…】

【Please choose one of the following three Talents as your inherent Talent for this run!】

【Retreat in One Piece (purple): Activate this Talent before encountering mortal danger and you will gain inspiration on how to retreat unscathed; be mindful of its duration and cooldown.】

【Wind Whisperer (blue): You can use the wind of nature to send or receive messages over long distances.】

【Banana Aficionado (white): You adore bananas; after eating one, your body becomes noticeably stronger for a short time.】

A purple Talent had appeared….

Almost without hesitation, Su Ze decided to choose “Retreat in One Piece” as his inherent Talent for this simulation.

Still, before selecting it, he first thought about the correct way to use the Talent.

Since activating this Talent could reveal a way to survive all kinds of fatal dangers, then even if he got entangled by those nightmare hounds like in the previous two runs, he should still have a chance to live.

Moreover, as long as the Talent’s duration held, he ought to have enough confidence to explore dangerous areas.

【Talent “Retreat in One Piece (purple)” selected】

【Simulation start…】

【Day 1: The apocalypse arrived on schedule; you and your roommates stayed in the dorm, watched official news, and at noon the Teacher told everyone they were forbidden to leave campus.】

【Day 2: The temperature dropped; you put on long johns and lounged under the covers, calmly surfing the web all day.】

【Day 3: Panic spread, causing unrest on campus, but the problem was not serious.】

【Day 4: Water and power were cut…】

【Day 5: Terror incidents erupted on a larger scale, many people died, and some fled to the school for shelter.】

【Day 6: The campus was completely sealed off…】

【Day 7: Light snow fell; the school organized manpower to maintain order, and you took part enthusiastically because you wanted to hear Awakener news at the first opportunity.】

【Day 8: Panic spread silently; thanks to your good looks and steady nerves, you were assigned to the girls’ dorm to provide psychological support.】

【Day 9: Because of the incident on the athletic field, more than one girl wanted to sleep with you, but you rejected them.】

【Day 10: You attended a meeting and learned that official operations were stalled, so the school would have to save itself.】

【Day 11: You patrolled with the team all day.】

【Day 12: Taking advantage of your position, you slipped out of school to test the Retreat in One Piece Talent, and the results were excellent.】

【Day 13: You returned to campus, and an Awakener appeared at the school.】

【Day 14: Promoted to Security Captain, you took the chance to talk with the Awakener and obtained solid intel…

She said there seemed to be two conditions for becoming an Awakener: first, contact with a pollution source, and second, having a nightmare.

When you asked about the content of her nightmare, she told you she could not remember it.】

【Day 15: A second Awakener emerged at school; after inquiry you learned that he too gained strength far beyond normal after a nightmare, yet you could not confirm whether he had ever contacted a pollution source. You left the campus.】

Good grief….

He really did have patience.

He had stayed hidden on campus for a full half-month, only leaving after digging up every piece of information he wanted.

Next, he should be looking to replicate the Awakener path, right?

Thinking this, Su Ze smacked his lips and muttered, “Tsk… something’s off. I touched a pollution source in my first two deaths, but I never awakened; what I got was nightmare after nightmare.”

He had no idea what exactly was wrong.

Either way, an uneasy feeling lingered in Su Ze’s chest.

【Day 16: You returned to your residence near the school, had a hearty meal on the stored food, and drafted a plan to completely survey the area around campus because you wanted to pinpoint every Contaminated Zone and Safe Zone nearby.】

Huh?

The simulation text before his eyes made Su Ze pause for a moment.

He had thought his simulated self would head back to that penthouse complex again.

Apparently he was not the only one who distrusted the intel.

His simulated self was just as skeptical.

That was why he did not act rashly.

He did not try to replicate someone else’s awakening route step for step.

Instead, he changed his goal and prioritized investigating the Contaminated Zones around the school.

That way he could make full use of the Retreat in One Piece Talent.

The intel he obtained would come from his own risky forays, so he would not have to worry about being deceived by others.