9: Standing under the gray sun

Tang Ping slowly recovered, turning his head again to examine the room. Even though he had another person's memories and had come here a second time, when he saw the room again, he still felt suffocated.

Memories of this world resurfaced in his mind.

This was the environment where most Gray Citizens in this world would live their entire lives.

Perhaps even a family of three would be crammed together!

Because outside the house, the light of the gray sun would contaminate the body, the light of the black moon would contaminate the spirit, and the bone-scraping wind would strip away life layer by layer.

Without a house to act as a Shelter, one would die outside.

In the outermost Fifth Ring of the Safe Zone, houses were all in the form of these large buildings, with a minimum of six floors and a maximum of ten floors; there were no privately built homes.

Because here, there was no land belonging to Gray Citizens.

Inside the buildings, many were also these cramped pigeon coops, the size of a toilet from a hundred years ago.

Although small, they still caused many Gray Citizens to scramble to get in, because the nights outside were truly terrifying.

Especially the pain brought by the bone-scraping wind and the nightmares brought by the black moon, which were like the cruelest torture.

In the thirty-two districts of the Fifth Ring, which was the outermost ring of the Safe Zone, there was no sunlight.

However, in the twenty-four districts of the Fourth Ring, one hour of sunlight could be enjoyed daily.

In the sixteen districts of the Third Ring, three hours of sunlight could be enjoyed daily, and they were not affected by the black moon.

In the eight districts of the Second Ring, five hours of sunlight could be enjoyed daily, also unaffected by the black moon.

The Central Zone of the First Ring, however, was exactly like a hundred years ago, with normal day and night cycles, pleasant weather, lush greenery, completely contrary to the apocalyptic scene.

This was also why it was called a paradise on Earth.

Countless Gray Citizens dreamed of entering the Central Zone, including the former Tang Ping.

However, to enter the Central Zone, one could only do so with two identities.

One identity was an Awakened with a Talent reaching Level Three—that is, someone who had awakened their panel, gained a Talent, and elevated their Talent to Level Three. They had the right to enter the Central Zone. The contamination level of these individuals was already very slight, basically not contaminating the Central Zone's environment.

The second identity was a White Citizen. So-called White Citizens were those born in the Inner Third Ring whose body contamination index was below 3%. They could also enter the Central Zone.

However, this contamination index was very difficult to achieve even for residents of the Third Ring who enjoyed three hours of sunlight, unless they drank a cup of Pure Spring Water every day to ensure their body's contamination index remained consistently below 3%.

Tang Ping knew that even if he became an Awakened and awakened a Talent, he would not be qualified to enter the Central Zone, because his body's contamination definitely exceeded 80%!

The only way to enter the Central Zone, and even to reside in the Central Zone in the future, was to raise his Talent ability to Level Three!

And only after entering the Central Zone could he access more secrets.

Tang Ping looked at the countdown before him, his gaze deep. His remaining time in this world made it impossible for him to quickly gain the qualifications to enter the Central Zone.

Moreover, if he grew too fast, someone would surely suspect that he had found a fallen player's Shelter and obtained immense resources from it. At that time, troubles would only be endless.

"No, I remember that internet cafes still exist in this world! Many things from a hundred years ago shouldn't be secrets, after all, they are things of the past, things that others consider unchangeable!" Tang Ping's eyes suddenly became somewhat fervent.

Many things that others considered unchangeable were easy for him!

"Next time I come here, I must hide a shelter item in a certain location to see if I can bring it to a hundred years later."

Bang! The door was pushed open!

Fat Tiger Mom's voice was loud: "Tang Ping, take this, don't you dare starve to death on my watch!"

A bag of dried flatbreads was thrown at Tang Ping.

Inside the bag were seven palm-sized flatbreads. Tang Ping was stunned. When had Fat Tiger Mom become so kind? She actually gave him seven flatbreads!

According to his impression, giving him half a piece meant Fat Tiger Mom was in a good mood today.

Fat Tiger Mom then made another astonishing move. She took out the paper with the bloody handprint that Tang Ping had given her earlier and tore it up directly: "This thing is useless. In the future, don't bother with these fancy things outside. No one will believe a promise on a piece of paper. Hurry up and eat, then leave this place."

Then Fat Tiger Mom threw out a small cloth bag, which jingled.

It was money! Money of the apocalypse!

Tang Ping frowned. Was this really the Fat Tiger Mom from his memories? Why did Fat Tiger Mom give him so much food, and even a bag of money?

The money wasn't little; he could hear that there were at least a hundred sheng tian coins inside.

Fat Tiger Mom told him to leave, and tore up that paper. Although that paper was truly not much of a promise in this apocalypse, it was clear that Fat Tiger Mom had no intention of sending him to the gladiator arena.

Tang Ping grabbed the bag of sheng tian coins. He didn't refuse, because he needed them too much.

Leaving this place, he would inevitably have to rent a new house. If he refused this money, he might have to sleep on the streets, enduring the nightmares of the black moon and the torment of the bone-scraping wind.

"Why are you giving me money?" Tang Ping still couldn't help but ask.

The fierce Fat Tiger Mom's eyes showed a deep glint: "Let bygones be bygones. I hope you don't come looking for me again, and don't appear in District 81 again. The money in here is enough for you to go to other districts and rent a house for a few months."

Bang! The heavy, rusty door closed.

Tang Ping bit into the flatbread in his hand, not quite understanding why Fat Tiger Mom had suddenly changed so much, even giving him food and money.

He opened the cloth bag in his hand; inside were one hundred and twenty one-yuan coins. This was currency issued by Shengtian Group. One coin could buy five flatbreads.

And the room he currently lived in only cost thirty yuan a month in rent.

After finishing the flatbread, Tang Ping finally felt much more comfortable in his stomach, and his body gradually began to regain strength.

He rolled up his bedding, shouldered his pack, opened the first door of this era, and left the house.

No matter what had happened before or what her intentions were, he would remember this kindness.

A room that looked relatively clean, about fifty square meters, could be considered a mansion.

"Mom, why did you give that person so many things?" Inside the room, a boy who looked sixteen or seventeen years old had a puzzled look in his eyes.

Fat Tiger Mom said faintly: "Remember, forget this person. Just pretend he never came."

The boy didn't understand, but he didn't care either. After all, that person, who was one or two years older than him, was too ordinary, nothing worth paying attention to.

Fat Tiger Mom's gaze was profound. She remembered every person in every room of this building. That boy had changed; that temperament and gaze should not appear on a Gray Citizen.

What could cause such a great change in a person? She didn't want to know, and she wasn't willing to know. Her current life was better than that of countless Gray Citizens; a stable and peaceful life that didn't need to be disrupted.

"Awakening, what two maddening words," Fat Tiger Mom murmured, then closed the heavy window shutters.

Tang Ping walked through the dim corridor. On both sides of the corridor were tightly packed doors. Most of these houses were for rent.

Some were purchased, but even if they were only six square meters, very few Gray Citizens could afford them.

His rental room was on the fourth floor, where there were a full twenty households, divided into left and right sides, completely sealing off the gray sun's light, the black moon's light, and the bone-scraping wind from the outside.

And today, he was leaving this place.

Stepping out of the building's main entrance, he saw the sky of this world.

It was gray.

The sky seemed to be enveloped by a thick, heavy gray haze. A dim gray sun emitted a hazy light, shining on this broken land.

Oppressive. This firsthand experience felt far more profound than memory.

He couldn't imagine how people in this world lived.

If people from a hundred years ago lived here, many would probably go mad.

Touching the money and food in his embrace, and gripping the Broken Wind Blade in his hand, Tang Ping prepared to head to District 66 of the Fifth Ring.