INSIDER Chapter 66

Lu Chu, Song Gui, and Yuan Kejie waited quietly in the villa.

After a while, they heard movement outside the door. Lu Chu looked through the window gap and saw that 7 had returned. He was carrying a huge bundle on his back and had a long, large bag secured to his waist with his left hand, clearly loaded with supplies.

Lu Chu quickly opened the sturdy door and greeted him, reaching out to take the bundle off 7’s back. With both hands occupied, 7 gently touched Lu Chu’s hand with the back of his right hand, which was holding a Japanese sword. “These are heavy, I’ll carry them,” he said.

With that, he dropped the bundle onto the ground.

Yuan Kejie immediately stepped forward and opened the bundle to check.

Inside were bags of bread, fruits, canned fish, compressed biscuits, and several bottles of purified water, clearly scavenged from a supermarket or a similar place.

Song Gui raised an eyebrow in admiration. “Impressive. I didn’t see any supermarkets nearby.”

While carefully removing the bag from his waist, 7 responded succinctly, “It’s a bit further in.”

Lu Chu frowned, concerned. “Did you encounter any danger?”

Hearing Lu Chu’s worried question, 7 turned to him, his lips curling into a smile. “Nothing much. There were just two monsters sleeping deep inside a house, which I quickly dealt with.”

After saying this, he took out an item from the bag at his waist and handed it to Lu Chu.

Upon hearing that 7 had encountered monsters, Lu Chu immediately felt tense and looked him over to make sure he wasn’t hurt. Only after seeing no signs of injury did he relax and focus on the object in 7’s hands. It was a Japanese sword similar in sharpness to 7’s own, though shorter. It was a katana, suitable for close combat, making it a perfect replacement for the makeshift weapon Lu Chu had been using.

This was something 7 had intended to find for Lu Chu since seeing his makeshift weapon the previous day.

A weapon significantly influences one’s combat effectiveness, and 7 couldn’t allow Lu Chu to be at risk in any aspect.

Lu Chu picked up the sword and swung it a few times. It felt perfectly suited to his height and usual movements, filling him with joy.

What moved him even more was 7’s constant thoughtfulness.

Lu Chu smiled warmly and sincerely. “Thank you.”

Seeing the sword, Song Gui’s eyes lit up, and he quickly asked, “Where did you find this?”

7’s gaze finally left Lu Chu as he took out a few more swords from the bag and said, “A bit further in, there’s a villa. It had quite a collection of Japanese swords, probably the owner’s personal collection.”

These swords, unlike the ones in Lu Chu and 7’s hands, didn’t carry the weight of history. Though they didn’t show the wear of wars and bloodshed, they were still excellent blades. Song Gui quickly chose a suitable katana for himself, while Yuan Kejie selected a naginata. This slender, light weapon had been a common choice for female warriors since ancient times.

Yuan Kejie couldn’t put it down, continually wiping the blade. “I feel like a heroine.”

Song Gui smiled and shook his head before thanking 7. “Qili, thanks.”

7 nodded slightly. “It’s nothing.”

Since Lu Chu was part of the team, improving the overall combat power of the group also served as a form of protection for him.

Soon, Qian Zhen and Luo Qi also returned. Although their haul couldn’t match 7’s, they had also gathered a substantial amount of food, drinking water, and empty backpacks.

The two had been fortunate and hadn’t encountered any monsters.

Song Gui showed them the weapons 7 had brought back. After some consideration, they decided they still preferred the heft and impact of their shovels and fire axes.

Song Gui shrugged. “Shovels and axes do suit you two better.”

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After breakfast, they each packed a backpack with food, water, and various small items—candles, matches, and twine. Lu Chu carefully reminded everyone to take these items.

This method of distributing supplies evenly among everyone was safer. If they were separated or had to leave the group, they could still use various methods to survive. Once everyone had their backpack ready, Song Gui asked, “Okay, everything’s packed. What’s our next step? Should we leave here?”

Yuan Kejie shook her head. “It’s hard to say. It’s morning now, and Luo Qi and Qian Zhen didn’t encounter any danger when they went out. Maybe those monsters only come out at night?”

“If that’s the case, we’ll be much safer,” Song Gui said, leaning back in his chair and touching his eyebrow.

7 swiftly secured his sword at his waist and looked around at everyone. “Shall we test it and find out?”

Luo Qi smiled sweetly, hefting her shovel. “No problem. We’ll find out when we fight.”

Song Gui sighed. “You’re so young, and yet you’re always talking about fighting.”

Luo Qi swung her shovel at him. “I’m your auntie.”

———

Simply avoiding danger would only lead to their end.

Everyone present understood this.

Facing and overcoming challenges was the survival principle that had kept them alive time and time again.

So, they packed up and left the safety of the villa. This time, their goal was to test the monsters.

These monsters appeared when landing on normal squares. Given the frequency of normal squares, they would likely encounter these monsters numerous times. Thus, understanding their habits and weaknesses was crucial.

Luo Qi and Qian Zhen were lucky and didn’t encounter any monsters while searching for food. In contrast, Qi Li encountered two sleeping monsters in a corner.

Lu Chu speculated that the monsters either had a nocturnal habit or were afraid of light.

He shared his thoughts with the others.

Yuan Kejie looked at the bright, sunny, silent town and nodded. “We’ve been walking for a while and haven’t seen any people or monsters. Maybe they’re all asleep.”

Luo Qi swung her shovel. “If they’re asleep, we’ll wake them up. If they’re afraid of light, we’ll throw them into the sunlight and see.”

Song Gui replied, “Who will throw them? You? Don’t get your hands corroded.”

Lu Chu suggested, “It’s better to provoke one and lure it out of the house.”

Qian Zhen remained silent, ready to fight rather than plan.

After walking a bit further, they finally found a relatively secluded house. Lu Chu nodded to the others, indicating there were two monsters inside.

Because the house was secluded and there were few surrounding buildings, Lu Chu had already confirmed that there were no monsters in the other houses. This way, if they lured the monsters out and they weren’t afraid of light but just nocturnal, they wouldn’t have to worry about triggering a chain reaction and attracting other monsters.

Luring monsters was a technical task. Luo Qi might kill the monster inside out of impatience; Qian Zhen wasn’t agile enough. Thus, the daunting task fell to 7.

With his right hand on his sword, 7 entered the house quietly while the others took their positions.

Soon, the roars of two monsters echoed from inside, accompanied by the sounds of furniture being knocked over.

Lu Chu’s heart tightened.

After a heart-wrenching scream, only one monster’s sound remained. The group outside readied their weapons and held their breath.

In the next second, a figure swiftly dashed out. In the blink of an eye, 7 stood outside in the blazing sunlight.

Following closely behind was a two-meter-tall shadow, emitting a foul stench and roaring as it charged out. The moment the monster hit the sunlight, its dark skin began to emit a burning stench. Its odd skin blistered and smoked. Realizing this, it let out a frantic roar and turned to run back inside. 7 quickly blocked its path and, with a swift and deadly strike, beheaded the monster.

After ending the fight, 7 approached Lu Chu with his sword.

Lu Chu relaxed. “So, they are afraid of light.”

Knowing this, everyone felt relieved.

But they didn’t rest. Instead, they quickly divided tasks and took advantage of the midday sun to search for useful items. The further they progressed in this real-life Monopoly game, the more dangerous it became. They needed to be well-prepared.

Since they didn’t need to worry about being ambushed by monsters afraid of light, they didn’t move as a group. Instead, they split up completely, each person gathering as many supplies as possible before returning to the villa to maximize efficiency.

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After filling his backpack with supplies, Lu Chu was about to head back when he unexpectedly ran into 7.

Both had already collected enough supplies and decided to walk back together.

When they arrived at the villa, Lu Chu noticed they were the only ones back.

Lu Chu and 7 discussed and started sorting through the supplies they had gathered, thinking about the challenges they might face next.

This made Lu Chu think about what Yuan Kejie had mentioned about “infinity” the previous day, and his thoughts drifted.

Noticing something was off, 7 frowned and lowered his voice. “Are you not feeling well?”

Lu Chu was startled by the question. He paused for a moment, then looked into the distance and smiled softly. “I was just thinking, since every scenario is infinite, what about ‘Lu Chu’?”

7 understood the source of his inner turmoil.

Looking directly at him, 7 said clearly, “You are different.”

Lu Chu’s eyes widened in surprise, looking up at him with stars in his eyes.

7 gently touched Lu Chu’s bangs, his deep eyes filled with infinite affection.

“Lu Chu, not every version of you will be saved by me.”

The same background, the same appearance, the same starting point, yet any inadvertent node could lead to different paths, forming entirely different lives.

The Lu Chu in front of him was unique: gentle, determined, and always smiling beautifully despite many hardships. His smile had captured 7’s heart.

This was the Lu Chu he deeply loved and was willing to sacrifice his life to protect.

It would only ever be this one in front of him.

“Lu Chu, you are one of a kind.”