Chapter 70: Chapter 70: Illusory Objects

The scented candle is wrapped in plastic, milky white, and when torn open, it emits a faint fragrance that’s hard to describe—somewhat like jasmine, but also reminiscent of lily of the valley.

This scented candle is similar to a regular candle, or it could be called a scented candle, as lighting it releases aroma continuously.

Su Changxing took out a match from his backpack, tried a few times to strike it on his pants, and lit the scented candle.

The fragrance spread, and the faint candlelight created a small patch of brightness in the dark room.

At the moment the incense was placed in the corner of the room, Su Changxing felt the coldness in the room vanish, replaced by a hint of warmth, and his body became more relaxed.

This might just be a psychological change, but it did have some impact on Su Changxing.

“Is that all it takes? So what’s the principle behind it? It feels quite unscientific.”

Su Changxing sensed some imperceptible change in the surrounding environment, subtle yet undeniably present.

The option for deep analysis hadn’t vanished; the cost had just increased from three thousand points to five thousand points.

Su Changxing looked at the deep analysis option on his phone, a bit silent: “It’s indeed the same routine, at least the essence is similar, taking money step by step from consumers.”

After thinking for a while, he still decided to continue spending points to unlock deep analysis, finding the cost-effectiveness of unlocking this analysis not lower than exchanging attributes in the shop.

Moreover, points only manifest as strength once spent.

[Analyzing]

[Estimated time: six hours]

“That long? Did the CPU overheat and stop functioning, or is this one more complicated than the last?”

Su Changxing was surprised at the sudden increase in analysis time, also lamenting that this machine seemed subpar.

With nothing else to do, he crawled into the sleeping bag, fell fast asleep with drowsiness.

The darkness gradually dissipated into the morning light, and the ruined city embraced a new day once more.

Countless lives vanished in the night.

No alarm was set.

Su Changxing slowly opened his eyes, realizing he hadn’t slept for long. It was eight-forty-three, and he had slept for only about three or four hours.

Sitting up, he picked up the phone to check the path log.

[You lit a scented candle before sleeping, completing a sleep filled with mysteriousness, +30 Mysteriousness]

[Sleeping environment substandard, -2 Mysteriousness]

[Maintaining good spirit, +1 Mysteriousness]

[Dreamer: 162/500]

“An increase of 29 Mysteriousness in one go. Just by sleeping, it should take over ten days to reach 500 Mysteriousness. However, it’s possible that the Mysteriousness gained from sleeping may decrease later, requiring more time.”

Su Changxing calculated, confirming that unlocking deep analysis was indeed necessary, and could effectively increase Mysteriousness through other methods.

Just then, a noise came from outside the door. Su Changxing opened the door a crack to take a look and found Huang Biao leading a group in clearing the corpses on the fourth floor.

Their method of clearing the corpses was simple—lift them up and toss them out the window, letting the Zombies below take care of them.

It was the least laborious and simplest method. Leaving corpses in the room would not only stink but also breed bacteria.

Su Changxing extinguished the half-burned scented candle, put it back in his backpack, and opened the window to disperse the strong scent in the room.

Yet even half an hour later, the room was still filled with a faint lingering fragrance, and Su Changxing found that his clothes had acquired a slight hint of the scent as well.

“Never mind, let it be.”

Su Changxing felt a bit helpless, though the impact was minimal, and the scent could help mask the blood stench on him.

About two hours remained before the analysis was completed. Su Changxing tidied up his belongings, opened the door, and intended to find a map today.

Huang Biao was resting by the corridor entrance, the surrounding corpses already cleared, bloodstains covered with lime powder.

Seeing Su Changxing come out, he laughed, “Brother, you look full of energy, must have had a good sleep.”

He seemed to be waiting for Su Changxing to come out deliberately.

Su Changxing looked Huang Biao over, noticing his bloodshot eyes and tired look, and reminded him:

“You don’t look like you slept well. Getting enough sleep is vital; being in poor spirit could be disastrous, you might fail at critical moments.”

Possibly due to his role, Su Changxing placed extra emphasis on sleep now.

“I really admire you. I woke up after two hours of sleep last night, and couldn’t sleep anymore.” Huang Biao chuckled sheepishly, “I’m fine; even if I don’t sleep for a few days, it won’t be a big problem.”

Su Changxing glanced at the people still busy around, said gravely, “How many of your men died yesterday?”

Huang Biao sighed, “Quite a number died, twenty-eight in total – nineteen men, nine women, about half were newbies.”

“I feel guilty for them, dying because they came to me. I didn’t fulfill my duty to protect them.”

Su Changxing thought for a moment and said, “They might have died even if they didn’t come here, the outcome wouldn’t have been much different. Right now, every moment witnesses countless deaths, and survival numbers have dropped to 8.1 billion, death has become routine.”

“I understand what you’re saying.”

Huang Biao collected himself and said seriously, “Do you know those two people’s specifics? I need to take precautions. We can’t withstand a repeat of what happened.”

Su Changxing took a glance at the others, whispered, “I don’t know much, but I happened to find out they aren’t from our world. Hmm, did the deceased people’s phones remain yesterday?”

Huang Biao rubbed his face, with a puzzled look, “All their phones vanished; it’s my first time seeing such a situation. Moreover, yesterday the person apparently couldn’t see my phone, just like you guessed.”

Su Changxing paused. He had some theories about the existence of phones before, and said, “So-called phones might not be tangible, existing purely as figments in our minds. Our consciousness believes they exist, but they actually do not.”

Huang Biao frowned, “But we can see others’ phones and even take them to plunder.”

Su Changxing speculated, “Perhaps our consciousnesses are interconnected to some degree, forming something like a spirit network.”

He closed his eyes, reopened them, continuing, “This might also explain why they can’t see phones, but we from the same world can see each other’s phones.”

Huang Biao examined his phone carefully, finding it hard to believe it was merely an illusory object existing in his imagination.

It was difficult to comprehend.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep