Zhang Chen was already accustomed to the system's somewhat cheeky personality.
What use were these prompts? They were practically useless!
"This place looks rather eerie and strange. Why aren't there any zombies or mutated creatures on the streets?"
"There's nothing alive here except for abandoned cars and trash?"
"This is not a normal phenomenon!"
Katerina pointed towards the city's highway entrance in the distance.
Behind the toll booth was an extremely wide road. The Jiazhou transport vehicle was on higher ground, offering a clear view of the situation ahead.
Zhang Chen nodded.
It was indeed a bit strange. Unless this place was regularly cleared of mutated plants and monsters by monsters or survivors themselves, it was impossible for it to be in such a state.
Of course, there was another possibility: this city itself was so dangerous that no living creature dared to approach it rashly!
"We're here to sweep away the danger. So, the more dangerous and abnormal this place is, the more we should go in!"
Zhang Chen said with a smile.
"Yes, we'll accompany you!"
Katerina replied with a smile.
"But before that..."
Zhang Chen took out two energy cores and handed one to Katerina and the other to Zhang Mo.
"Energy cores? The purity of this is... an Inheritor's Core?"
When Katerina saw the radiant golden energy core in Zhang Chen's hand, her eyes widened in surprise.
"I saw this item in the announcement. It seems only powerful individuals who go on external missions and have accumulated ten Class 1 merits can exchange for it!"
"This is a rare item!"
Seeing Katerina's surprised expression, Zhang Chen felt even more guilty. He smiled and said,
"Of course, others need to exchange for it, but you don't. This is a sort of privilege!"
"Yours is an Inheritor's Core. As for Mo'er... he's still young and doesn't have a ring. He absorbs energy purely through his body."
"I was afraid that if he absorbed too much energy at once, it might harm his body, so his energy core's purity is slightly lower. It's a Super Energy Core."
"Thank you!" Katerina said with a sweet smile.
"Thank you, Daddy!" Zhang Mo exclaimed, rushing forward to kiss Zhang Chen on the cheek, and then Katerina on the cheek.
He then looked expectantly at Zhang Chen and Katerina.
"Uh... are you hoping I kiss you back?"
Zhang Chen asked, slightly dazed, unsure of what to do next.
"Mm-hmm!"
Zhang Mo nodded vigorously.
"Alright!"
Zhang Chen and Katerina each kissed Zhang Mo on the cheek.
"More!"
Zhang Mo continued.
"More what?"
Zhang Chen asked in surprise.
"Mommy also got an energy core, and she should thank Daddy, so she should kiss Daddy too!"
Zhang Mo instructed with a little adult-like expression.
This was taught to Zhang Mo by Katerina: to be grateful and to express thanks.
One could kiss their mother on the cheek because she was family.
Now that Zhang Chen was Daddy, he was naturally family too, so kissing was allowed!
"Then..."
Katerina paused for a moment, then quickly pecked Zhang Chen on the cheek.
"Okay, now it's Daddy's turn to express his gratitude to Mommy!"
Zhang Mo said with a supervising expression, as if he wouldn't rest until he saw Zhang Chen act.
"Alright, alright!"
Zhang Chen smiled helplessly and then kissed Katerina on the cheek as well.
"That's more like it!"
Only then did Zhang Mo sit back on the sofa.
"Master, are we entering the city?"
The Cleaner waited for a long time without receiving specific instructions from Zhang Chen, so he asked again.
"Park the vehicle outside. Find a hidden spot to park it. I'll come back here to find you when I need you!"
Zhang Chen said.
"Understood, Master!"
The Cleaner nodded.
Zhang Chen, pulling Katerina and Zhang Mo along, got out of the vehicle.
It was only then that he realized the air around them was not good either.
Due to the lack of ventilation for a long time, the air was filled with a rotting odor.
"This place smells terrible!"
Zhang Mo said, pinching his nose.
"In the apocalypse, the environment certainly isn't as good as in parallel worlds, with things to play with and eat!"
Katerina said with a smile, gently stroking the back of Zhang Mo's head.
"Let's go. We'll take the main road and see what happened here!"
Zhang Chen said, leading the two of them slowly into the toll station.
To Zhang Chen's surprise, the toll station windows were intact, and there were no bloodstains on the walls.
More than a dozen derelict cars were parked haphazardly on the road, and the ground was covered in dust.
With every step, a gust of dust was stirred up.
"This place seems to be sealed by dust, unlike any city I've seen before!"
Katerina instinctively hugged Zhang Chen, saying with a vigilant expression.
"Yes, I've never seen a city like this either. It's just too clean..."
"Of course, I'm not referring to the lack of dust, but the lack of bloodstains. How could a city that has experienced the apocalypse have no bloodstains?"
Zhang Chen said, walking to the window of a car and looking inside.
Inside, there was a hamburger box, the food within already too rotten to identify.
Next to it was a bag of opened yogurt, now covered in white mold.
Faint white spores permeated the entire car cabin.
"It's as if the people in this car left in a hurry, not as if they were fleeing."
"Because they even locked the car when they left!"
Zhang Chen gently pulled at the rusty car door, which immediately fell off. However, it was visible that the lock mechanism was still connected; it was the door hinges that had broken.
"Getting out of the car in the middle of the road, locking it, leaving... not fleeing, and no signs of struggle..."
"Could these people have been guided by the military to evacuate quickly?"
Katerina speculated.
Zhang Chen shook his head noncommittally, and the three continued walking into the city.
Soon, they saw a large shopping mall. The glass outside was covered in dust, but there was nothing on the ground in front of the door except for dust.
"Daddy, look, it's a mall! Are there any stuffed toys inside?"
"Sister Xiaobai and Sister Moran said stuffed toys are very cute. I want one too..."
"No, I want three! I can give one to each of them!"
Zhang Mo said innocently.
"Okay, let's go in and take a look. We haven't found anything interesting along the way anyway, and we were just wandering aimlessly!"
Zhang Chen nodded and walked to the door first.
He ignored the revolving door still covered in dust and gently tapped the glass beside it with his finger.
Bang!
The entire tempered glass shattered with a resounding crash, stirring up clouds of dust.
However, as the dust settled, the entire city remained silent, without the slightest sound.