The woman with a high ponytail quickly changed her clothes. When she emerged, her gaze fell on the glass of water and she wasn't surprised to see that Xu Zhi hadn't drunk it. If it were her, she wouldn't have drunk it either, even though she hadn't added anything to it.

With her hair still stained with blood, she realized it was too late for a shower. She simply let down her hair, wiped it with a towel, and sat down across from Xu Zhi. She forced herself not to stare at the python and asked Xu Zhi with a slightly stiff voice, "What information do you want to exchange with me?"

Xu Zhi didn't answer her question directly, but instead eased the tension a bit by saying, "Sister, why don't we exchange some personal information first and get to know each other? After all, we'll be living in this building, and we might see each other often."

The woman didn't have any objections to this. She nodded and said, "My name is Shen Jinwen. I'm originally from Yuncheng and just graduated from university. Due to some reasons, I haven't had the chance to leave yet. I've always been interested in melee weapons and learned a few moves when I was young. I never expected that one day they would actually come in handy."

Shen Jinwen's words were quite vague, but for the two who had just met, this level of detail was sufficient.

After finishing, she turned to Xu Zhi and asked, "And you? What about you?"

Xu Zhi first introduced himself by name, and then calmly continued, "I didn't have much education, and my health isn't great, so I was left here."

Shen Jinwen's eyes widened slightly as she looked at Xu Zhi. She had actually suspected that the girl's poor health might be the reason she was still in the city at this moment, when she first saw her. However, what surprised her now was not that, but Xu Zhi's overly calm demeanor.

Xu Zhi didn't pay attention to her gaze and instead looked down at the black snake by her feet. "This is my pet, or rather, my superpower, which I awakened not long ago. Do you have a superpower too, Sister? When did you awaken it?"

Since the other party had already been honest about their superpower, Shen Jinwen naturally didn't want to hide hers. She nodded and said, "Yes, I awakened my ability about two days after the city was sealed off. My ability is related to my sword, I suppose."

"Oh? That's quite a coincidence."

Xu Zhi didn't believe it was just a simple coincidence.

The brief introduction came to an end, and Xu Zhi decided to get down to business. The method of asking and answering questions back and forth was inefficient, and individuals on their own couldn't possibly have much information after less than half a month since the disaster began. Therefore, she bluntly said, "Let's exchange information. One piece of information each. We can challenge the value of the other's information, but it must be reasonable. We'll continue exchanging until one of us decides they don't need to anymore."

"Oh, and by the way, let's skip over information that's too trivial or uninteresting. I'm not really into that, and I won't be sharing anything too cheap or useless either. If that's okay, why don't you start first, Sister?"

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Her tone sounded reasonable, but her words were somewhat assertive. After all, she was the one who possessed the power at the moment, and this wasn't an unreasonable request.

Sitting across from Xu Zhi with her hair down, Shen Jinwen appeared slightly more gentle than when they first met in the hallway. As Xu Zhi observed her closely now, she noticed that Shen Jinwen casually wore a short-sleeved shirt, revealing muscular arms with smooth lines. They weren't overly exaggerated, but they exuded a sense of strength.

Thinking about her own frail arms that seemed to snap with just a squeeze, Xu Zhi felt a sense of sadness. While she didn't particularly like the overly muscular look, she did have complaints about her own body.

Shen Jinwen's face was at best considered pretty, with neatly groomed eyebrows that had a sharp shape. Her jawline was more distinct than that of ordinary girls, giving her an air of sharpness even when she sat quietly.

Her voice was also crisp and clear when answering Xu Zhi's question: "I don't have much information, but the most valuable piece in my opinion..."

"Currently, only a small portion of the people left in the city can resist the mist and maintain their sanity. Among those who can't resist, some die immediately, while others turn into madmen. These madmen are extremely aggressive towards rational humans, hunting them down, especially those who have awakened superpowers. Moreover, most of the madmen have extremely low intelligence, but their bodies gradually become monstrous. Only a very few maintain a certain level of intelligence, but their values and beliefs are completely different from humans. Their bodies don't become stronger, but they gain some superpowers."

"In summary, there seem to be two branches of the madmen now. The rare intelligent ones are, in my opinion, more dangerous. They lead the mindless madmen and awaken bizarre superpowers. I haven't found any weaknesses in them yet."

As she spoke, Shen Jinwen's tone was slightly defeated. After finishing, she looked at Xu Zhi, indicating that this round of information exchange was over.

This was indeed useful information. It seemed that Shen Jinwen, who frequently ventured out, knew more than Xu Zhi, who had been staying at home.

However, Xu Zhi also had information that others might find difficult to obtain.

She mentally categorized the information she knew and selected a portion to share: "All supernatural abilities, whether possessed by humans, mutant monsters, or animals undergoing mutation, have attributes. Perhaps the key to restraining those madmen lies within these attributes."

Xu Zhi said only this much, thinking it was sufficient.

Prior to this, no one had ever mentioned the concept of attributes in connection with superpowers, even though they had existed for about a year. This was a groundbreaking revelation, and in Xu Zhi's opinion, she was practically giving it away to Shen Jinwen.

Now that Yuncheng was a dead city completely cut off from the outside world, the outside might have realized the existence of attributes, but the same might not be true inside Yuncheng.

Xu Zhi didn't intend to hold onto this information tightly and refuse to share it.

"...Are you serious?"

Shen Jinwen furrowed her brows and couldn't help but question Xu Zhi's statement. Xu Zhi understood her skepticism but simply nodded and replied, "Just because it didn't exist before doesn't mean it doesn't now. There was no mist before, and I have no reason to lie to you about this."

In fact, based on the vague descriptions in the game's narration, Xu Zhi suspected that attributes might be related to the arrival of the mist.

However, she definitely wouldn't tell Shen Jinwen that.

Shen Jinwen had already believed Xu Zhi's words to a large extent, and there was a reason for this.

She took something out of her pocket and held it in her hand, looking at Xu Zhi and asking, "Do you recognize this?"

As her palm slowly opened, what lay in Shen Jinwen's hand was something familiar yet strangely unfamiliar to Xu Zhi.

A light blue Attribute Core.