Crisis Everywhere

How could it be Beicheng!

Looking around, Li Changan couldn't deceive himself. Even though most of the place had become ruins, the sense of familiarity could not be concealed.

"There used to be a stationery store over there, a welfare store under the Empire's jurisdiction, providing free stationery." Li Changan stood in front of the collapsed shop, raised his hand to brush off the dust on the signboard, and frowned.

The signboard had the words grocery store, slightly different from his memory. Looking around carefully, there were many subtle differences.

"I see, this is..." A warning sign flashed, and Li Changan leapt up without any hesitation.

An arrow pierced through his calf.

The enemy was far away, the arrow came from the south! He quickly made a judgement, his body didn't stay for a moment and pounced into the half-collapsed shop, lifted up a huge stone slab to block the door, and shrank into the corner.

While thinking about an escape route, Li Changan took out a bundle of bandages from the side of his backpack, pulled out a long strip overlapped, and tied it tightly around his knee to stop the bleeding. With both hands holding the arrow shaft protruding from his calf on both sides, he exerted some force to break the arrow shaft, leaving only half of the arrow shaft still embedded in his calf.

This was the only way not to hinder his movements. As for the pain, he could totally endure it.

A ranged assassin-type Esper, using a bow and arrow instead of thermal weapons, which also means it was highly likely to be【Weapon Proficiency】in【Bow/Crossbow Proficiency】, and probably not a Perception-type Esper!

Li Changan immediately made a judgement, pushed open the small door in the shop, and left from the back, turning into the alley behind the shop. After taking two steps, relying on his memory he found a manhole, made sure no blood dripped on the road, before opening the manhole cover.

After entering the sewer, he didn't forget to close the cover.

Seven hundred meters away, after waiting for a while and still not seeing the target come out from the ruins, the girl could only helplessly put the arrow back into the quiver.

"The first target is so tricky already, don't tell me the rest are like him too? Looks like I really didn't bring enough arrows."

Li Changan stuck to the wall of the sewer, moving forward silently at high speed until he turned seven corners before stopping. Based on past experience, the pursuer would lose track after four path splits, so he was temporarily safe for now.

"How unlucky, got another rich master. Not a Perception-type Esper a few hundred meters away, then it can only be a single soldier auxiliary aiming device, with the cheapest one costing six hundred thousand too." Li Changan sighed enviously.

After resting for just two minutes, Li Changan took out a palm-sized dagger, seared it with a fire starter for disinfection, then cut open his calf, pinched the arrow shaft with two fingers and pulled it out.

He stitched and dressed the wound skillfully, comparable to a surgeon. Chronic illness makes a good doctor, and chronic injury makes a good cobbler.

"Alas, I should refrain from getting into fights this time, hide below, this kind of injury will still affect my movements." Li Changan leaned against the wall to rest briefly, and suddenly realized there wasn't a hint of sewer stench around him, only then did he recall his interrupted inference on the ground.

That's right, this should still be Beicheng, just the Beicheng that was destroyed in the disaster! When Li Changan determined there were discrepancies between the ground and his memory, he came up with this idea.

The current Beicheng was rebuilt after the apocalypse, based on the original old city, with some modifications, which gave Li Changan a sense of familiarity yet unfamiliarity.

"Parallel universe." The well-read Li Changan thought of these four words.

The real space that the Trial Grounds had transported them to was perhaps the 'parallel universe' that had always been discussed, where the apocalypse had destroyed the entire world, instead of leaving some humans behind.

That would explain coming across the grocery store that should have been long destroyed, and thus, there was no longer any stench in the sewers. Some facilities were still operating, and now there was clear water flowing in the sewers instead of sewage.

Li Changan felt fired up, feeling like he had discovered some big secret, but a bucket of cold water doused him a few seconds later.

What's the point of thinking about all that, I'm here to take part in the trial!

He couldn't stay here long, it was time to move somewhere else! Li Changan got up, his calf felt numb and itchy, proof that the wound was healing. His claim to be a 【Strengthening-type】 Esper wasn't wrong after all, just that it wasn't strength enhancement, but full body enhancement.

It also included regenerative abilities. This kind of injury would probably recover in half a day.

Born as a human after the apocalypse, Li Changan didn't know much about the pre-apocalypse world. All of it came from new textbooks, except for the few sentences spoken to him by a dying participant during one of the trials.

【What you know is all fake.】

Alright, whether real or fake, whether the past was really like that, at least I know the two meter long thing in front of me is a rat.

The over two meters long, sharp-headed rat came striding around the corner, leisurely like a duck. Its height nearing an adult's chest, its limbs extremely sturdy, sharp claws glinting coldly.

"Terrible luck." Shaking his head, Li Changan attacked first, taking two steps forward, raising his fist to punch the rat in the eye.

Given equal body sizes, most creatures would be stronger than humans, let alone terrifying rats.

At the critical moment, the rat calmly avoided the blow. Li Changan even saw a trace of humanized disdain in its eyes. Its tail as long as its body lashed out like a steel whip, piercing through the air with a shrill whistle.

Although the tail attacked from behind, it was as if Li Changan could see it. He sank his shoulders, and the tail grazed past his shoulder. Li Changan followed up by raising his knee.

The narrow cramped space forced the rat to avoid upwards, stabbing its sharp claws into the concrete wall. Biological instinct distinguished from human intellect.

What should have been a knee strike, Li Changan twisted his waist, turning it into an upwards roundhouse kick.

A crisp cracking sound rang out as the rat's skull caved in deeply, yet it still had the strength to escape even so.

Unfortunately for it, wanting to flee now was too late. Moreover, places like sewers were unsuitable for turning around. It could only charge forward if it wanted to go, but Li Changan kept up with it easily. Before the rat could scurry out a few meters, Li Changan slammed down a palm on its cervical spine.

Its body convulsed once before the rat collapsed limply, the spirit in its eyes yet to fade.

"So troublesome, if you didn't resist, I could've let you die more comfortably. Wouldn't have ended up with blood all over the place." Li Changan sighed. Blood meant evaporation, the smell would spread, surely someone would notice something amiss.

Moreover, it was difficult to keep completely silent during battles. Espers had stronger hearing than ordinary people, though the extent differed. The sewer that was originally quite safe had become dangerous instead, who knew how many more rats like this lurked in the shadows.

After rubbing the rat's fur, getting some smell on himself, Li Changan took out his dagger to slice open the rat's back fur and removed the 'backstrap meat', rinsing it in the clear water nearby before devouring it in big mouthfuls.

Lighting a fire to roast the meat was the most foolish thing to do. The smoke and smell would become his fatal oversight. It was a pity he forgot to bring salt this time.

He couldn't discard the bloody fur either, carrying it with him the whole way. After walking several hundred meters, he threw it into the water at an intersection to confuse pursuers. Next, it was time to return to the surface.

"Please, God, if you exist, don't let me run right into an ambush." Li Changan prayed casually twice before pushing open the manhole cover above his head.