Xu Zhi's blood was already clotting, especially the blood that splattered onto her face and hair when she cut off the girl's neck, making her feel somewhat uneasy. However, the side effects of bloodlust had already taken over, and now she couldn't even lift a finger while slumped in her wheelchair.

Xu Zhi stared intently at the clock, counting the minutes. As soon as the ten minutes had passed, her body had noticeably improved a lot.

"It seems the side effects last for ten minutes."

Ten minutes, not a short period at all. In a dangerous environment, these ten minutes could be enough for Xu Zhi to face death several times.

"I'll have to see if improving my physical condition and upgrading my bloodlust ability can reduce the impact of the side effects."

Now, the most crucial thing is for her to consider her next plan.

At this moment, the most troublesome point is that the outside world is enveloped in a thick black fog. Simply stepping out of the room is almost equivalent to walking into the fog. Although the room is not entirely sealed, the fog inside is indeed significantly less than that on the outside.

After killing that girl, a doubt arose in Xu Zhi's mind.

After the city was sealed off, Xu Zhi had not actually encountered any other humans, so she wasn't entirely sure how quickly the black fog eroded one's nerves. However, based on the behavior of the young man yesterday and the girl today, she guessed that ordinary people who remained in the city must have been affected similarly.

However, Xu Zhi couldn't fathom why she didn't seem to be affected as severely by the fog's erosion...

She even didn't notice anything unusual about her eyes when she washed up and looked in the mirror every day.

Xu Zhi realized that she might have a certain degree of resistance to the black fog, and given her fragile physical condition, this resistance must have existed before she acquired the game console.

Otherwise, she likely wouldn't have survived long enough to encounter the game console.

Previously, without any reference or comparison, Xu Zhi hadn't realized this point, but now she suddenly discovered that perhaps she also possessed a certain talent...

The game console's sudden appearance by her side might not have been a coincidence. At the least, she must possess some trait that attracted it.

With this thought in mind, Xu Zhi planned to do something extremely daring.

But before that, she picked up the game console, and in the screen was the interface of Snake after his upgrade.

【Clan: Snake Lv. 11

Mind: 140

Body: 560

Attribute: Blade

Traits: Poison Lv. 5, Sharpness Lv. 3, Bloodlust Lv. 4, Cunning Lv. 2】

【Evolution Points: 700/1500】

The increase in Mind and Body stats is significant, indicating that the gains from leveling up after reaching level 10 are much greater than before. However, there seems to be no change in the other stats at the moment.

Xu Zhi wasn't disappointed. After clicking on the confirmation, a line of text appeared in the center of the screen.

【Life is unpredictable, and you realize that to survive, you must make some changes.】

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【Now that you know exactly what you have to do, you no longer need additional guidance. From now on, you will be responsible for issuing commands to your spirit pets on your own.】

【Please note: As spirit pet members level up, their intelligence will also increase, most of the time you don't need to give them overly specific commands, they will fulfill your commands on their own terms, and you will only need to go into more detail if you have something specific you need them to do.】

As the subtitles faded away, a virtual keyboard appeared in the center of the screen. Xu Zhi wasn't very familiar with computers, so she had to slowly and deliberately input each letter of her command using the game console's buttons.

【Head to the old residential buildings behind the Bell and Drum Tower to hunt and gather intelligence.】

After clicking on the confirmation, the small snake set out on its mission.

The progress bar still indicates a wait time of 7 hours, indicating that the increase in level has not altered the 7-hour waiting period.

Pushing her wheelchair towards the window, Xu Zhi struggled to make out the weather outside as the city was shrouded in a thick layer of fog. No matter if it was a sunny day or a clear sky, the black fog always made it seem gloomy and overcast. Through the window, she could see the black fog continuously swirling in the air.

At this moment, Xu Zhi made a bold move. She slowly reached out and pushed open the windowpane.

Immediately, the black fog seeped into the room through the gap, and Xu Zhi didn't flinch or dodge. She allowed the fog to wash over her face and be inhaled into her body.

This was indeed a highly risky move, but Xu Zhi believed it was necessary. As a group of already unnatural individuals had their eyes on her, and she didn't have the ability to confront them directly, she had to find a way to leave.

To escape, she would inevitably have to make contact with the black fog.

By testing it actively now, she could still salvage the situation if something went wrong.

The young girl sat by the window for a long time, continuously inhaling the high-concentration fog, but she didn't feel any changes. She returned to the bathroom and looked in the mirror, but there were no signs of blackness in her eyes.

"So it is..."

She did indeed have a certain degree of resistance to the "mental pollution" in the black fog, which was why while others had completely lost their minds, she was only starting to experience issues with her thoughts.

"That's great."

With this reassurance, she could now leave her home and carry out her plan.

First, Xu Zhi took a shower and changed into a clean set of clothes. Then, she began packing her belongings, deciding which items she would need to take with her.

Her home wasn't too far from the old residential area behind the Bell and Drum Tower, so Xu Zhi planned to leave at 5 am the next morning and head towards the area.

One is that her spirit pet is there, and the other is that according to the narrative of the game, after midnight, the monsters outside will fall asleep because of fear, and before five o 'clock in the morning, most of them are still sleeping, which is a relatively safe time period

And she has already sent her little snake to scout out the old residential area. If there are no unexpected surprises, she plans to have the little snake come here as a guard and leave with her tomorrow morning. With two spirit pets by her side, she will feel much safer.

Not long after killing someone, Xu Zhi had already mapped out her escape plan in detail.

After drying her hair, Xu Zhi ignored the body lying at the door and picked up the game console to upgrade her second spirit pet.

Her time was now extremely precious.

Around 10:30 pm, Xu Zhi had just leveled up the puppy to level 7.

【Spiritual Pet: Dog Lv7

Mind: 20

Body: 360

Attributes: None

Traits: Strength Lv4, Smell Lv3, Alertness Lv1】

Looking at the evolution points required to level up from 7 to 8, Xu Zhi felt a sense of anxiety. Continuing at this rate, it would take at least three or four days for the puppy to reach level 10, which was too slow for her.

And for tomorrow morning, she needs Xiao Yi, her first spirit pet, to accompany and protect her on her journey to the old residential area. Letting the puppy go alone to search for the black fruit is too risky and dependent on luck. If she has bad luck, she might not find anything the entire morning, wasting her time.

Given her current urgency to enhance her strength, gambling on luck was not a wise option.

Xu Zhi decided that in the morning, she would send the dog to hunt down some stronger prey that was still asleep, in order to accumulate evolution points.

Since the evolution of the dog's flesh and strength is very obvious, in the case of a sneak attack, it might be a surprise.

Regarding the black fruits, she would search for them after finding a new and stable residence.

Not long after making the decision, the seven-hour progress bar for Xiao Yi filled up again. Xu Zhi lay down and clicked on Xiao Yi's avatar to inspect the results of this solo hunt.