Night fell.

The wind on the wasteland was no longer the dry heat of the day but had turned into a bone-chilling steel blade.

Looking through the rearview mirror, the devouring Grey Mist Wall had been left far behind, out of sight.

While driving the RV, Lin Hui opened the system and glanced at the blood-red countdown:

[Time remaining until Grey Mist arrival: 08:59:32]

[Distance from Grey Mist: approximately 270 kilometers]

Lin Hui parked the vehicle behind a wind-sheltered hill and pulled the handbrake.

Although he had "Infinite Fuel," he couldn't keep driving indefinitely.

Humans needed rest, and so did the vehicle.

Especially the left front tire, which the vehicle panel indicated was moderately worn.

"I must find a tire and some repair tools soon."

Lin Hui took a deep breath and began to inspect his RV.

This Lv.1 civilian RV's interior space was far from spacious.

Excluding the driver's cabin, the living area was only two meters wide and three meters long.

A simple folding table and two rows of opposing sofa seats that could serve as a dining table.

At the back was a single bed only 1.2 meters wide, with a pillow and a thin blanket.

The bathroom in the corner was pitifully small, with a simple straight-discharge toilet that made turning around difficult.

"Though it's a bit crude, it's still better than what most players have," Lin Hui shook his head.

Just then, a piercing howl suddenly swept past the car window.

Woo—!

Immediately, the temperature inside the car began to plummet.

The breath he exhaled instantly turned into white mist. On the car window glass, a layer of frost formed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

[Regional Announcement: Players in C-996 Area, please be advised, a cold wave is attacking!]

[Current environmental temperature has dropped sharply to -10°C and will continue to fall.]

[Warning: Low temperatures will cause body heat loss, slow reactions, and slightly reduce sanity (Sanity Value).]

[Survivors, please find a heat source or a warm place quickly!]

"This game doesn't give you a break!"

Lin Hui rubbed his slightly stiff fingers and opened the [Regional Chat Channel] that had been flashing a red dot.

At a glance, even someone with his strong mental fortitude couldn't help but have his pupils slightly contract.

[Current area survivors: 7,001,248 / 10,000,000]

In just seven or eight hours.

Three million players in this area had disappeared!

Where did these three million people go?

Were they out of fuel and swallowed by the Grey Mist behind them? Or were they killed by the zombies or mutants mentioned by the system?

In the chat channel, the panic was colder than the cold wave.

"So cold... I can't feel my feet, can someone save me..."

"Damn it, why is the air conditioning in the car blowing cold air! Is this broken car malfunctioning?"

"Idiot upstairs, how can there be warm air if the engine is off? You have to start the car!"

"I don't dare to start the car! I only have 20% fuel left! If I turn on the warm air, how will I run tomorrow? The Grey Mist is still chasing behind!"

"Ugh, I'd rather be bitten to death by monsters than freeze to death..."

"Does anyone have fuel? I'm willing to trade instant noodles for it!"

"I have a gun, I'm also willing to trade for gasoline! Please!"

Support us at pawrea𝑑.com .

"This game doesn't give you a way to survive! No fuel means death, no heating means death too!"

Despair.

Even through the screen, Lin Hui could smell the strong scent of despair.

On this road of death, fuel was not just power, it was the lifeline for maintaining body temperature.

To keep warm, you had to consume fuel to start the engine and drive the warm air.

But once the fuel ran out, you'd be caught and devoured by the Grey Mist tomorrow.

It was an unsolvable deadlock.

But for Lin Hui...

He glanced at the fuel gauge that was stubbornly stuck at "full."

"Deadlock? Not for me."

Without any hesitation, Lin Hui reached out and turned the warm air knob on the control panel to the maximum.

Maximum airflow!

Highest temperature!

"Boom..."

In just a dozen seconds, the vents spewed out rolling heat waves.

Frost melted, and the chill was dispelled.

Inside the narrow cabin, the thermometer's needle climbed rapidly.

0 degrees... 10 degrees... 20 degrees... 26 degrees!

Lin Hui took off his parka, wearing only a thin T-shirt, and comfortably leaned back in the driver's seat.

"It's even a bit hot."

He casually adjusted the vent and then looked at the items inside the RV.

During the wild ride of seven or eight hundred kilometers, he had used his speed advantage to find over a hundred resource boxes first.

According to the system notification, there were ten million players in this area but only one hundred thousand resource boxes, a ratio of 100:1.

Lin Hui opened all these hundred-plus resource boxes.

He obtained over fifty portions of Universal Fuel, with the rest being food, electronics, or daily necessities.

Lin Hui sorted them one by one.

[Strategic Materials]:

Universal Fuel — 55 portions

Tires — 8 units

......

[Food]:

Mineral Water (500ml) — 24 bottles

Compressed Biscuits (100g) — 15 bags

Wangwang Snow Cakes (100g) — 10 bags

Lay's Potato Chips (70g) — 6 bags

Coca-Cola (330ml) — 11 bottles

Braised Beef Noodles (Cup) — 11 cups

Country Bumpkin Marinated Eggs — 5 bags

Shuanghui Sausages — 7 pieces

Lettuce (100g) — 1 portion

Corn (100g) — 12 pieces

Lamb Hotpot Set — 1 set

...

[Electronics]:

Electric Kettle — 2 units

Induction Cooker — 2 units

Rechargeable High-Beam Flashlight — 3 units

...

Looking at the supplies filling the RV, Lin Hui's eyes lit up.

In the apocalypse, what's most important?

Undoubtedly, it's supplies!

With these supplies, if used sparingly, an ordinary person could survive for a month!

The only thing that troubled Lin Hui was that the system didn't provide a backpack, and having so many things piled up in the RV made it too cramped.

Especially the Universal Fuel, 55 portions, took up too much space.

But for those in the chat channel who were about to freeze into ice sculptures, Universal Fuel was liquid gold, a lifeline.

With this in mind, Lin Hui opened the regional channel.

With a calm gaze, he typed a line in the regional channel.

[For Sale: 1 portion of Universal Fuel, interested parties, please PM!]

As soon as this message appeared, the previously wailing chat channel paused briefly, then exploded!

"Damn?! Someone's actually selling fuel?!"

"Are you crazy! This is a lifeline that can run 100 kilometers! Is this guy running a gas station?"

"Big brother, can you give it to me for free? I'm freezing to death."

"Lin Hui: No way!"

"Cold-blooded! You'll get your comeuppance!"

"Shut up, I'll buy! I'll buy! Big brother, PM me!"

……

In less than ten minutes.

Lin Hui exchanged 10 portions of gasoline for the supplies he wanted.

Among them were water, bread, and other food.

To his surprise, one portion of Universal Fuel was traded for an Axe Gun, although it only had three bullets left.

Lin Hui placed the Axe Gun in his backpack, intending to study it later.

Now, he was hungry.

Lin Hui's gaze swept over the neatly arranged supplies, finally landing on the "Lamb Hotpot Set." He hadn't expected the resource box to contain such a set.

He tore open the packaging of the mineral water and poured it into the induction cooker.

Plugged it in.

Pressed the switch.

If it were an ordinary player, they definitely wouldn't dare use an induction cooker at this moment. The pitiful amount of electricity in a car battery wouldn't even boil a pot of water before depleting, rendering the vehicle unable to start.

But Lin Hui's [Infinite Fuel] had the characteristic of "energy overflow converting to electricity," and the generator was continuously outputting a torrent of electricity.

Boiling water? Even bringing an electric welder would be more than enough.

Gurgle gurgle...

Two minutes later, the water boiled.

Lin Hui tore open the lamb hotpot set, which contained broth, three pounds of lamb, sesame sauce, spicy sauce, various vegetables, and vermicelli.

Quite a rich set... Lin Hui was very satisfied. He placed the mushroom hotpot base into the boiling water.

During the three minutes of waiting, he looked out the window again.

The wind outside was even more piercing, like countless vengeful souls wailing.

In the regional channel:

"I can't take it anymore... It's too cold... My hands are already black..."

"Does anyone have food? I'm so hungry, I'm willing to trade my body for a piece of bread, I'm an F..."

"Upstairs, who has the energy for that at a time like this? Save it."

"I just drank a sip of cold water, now I have stomach cramps, it hurts so much I want to die."

"Mom... I want to go home..."

Reading these lines filled with despair, Lin Hui began to cook the lamb.

Steaming white mist rose, blurring his face.

He picked up a large piece of lamb, dipped it in sesame sauce, and stuffed it into his mouth.

"Hoo—"

The scalding meat slid down his esophagus into his stomach, and the momentary satisfaction made all the pores on his body relax.

......

[Ding! Consumed high-calorie delicious food.]

[Status updated: Full.]

[Sanity Value slightly recovering... Current: 100/100 (overflowing)]

[Evaluation: In the apocalypse, a mouthful of hot soup is more precious than gold.]

Lin Hui took a big sip of lamb soup, feeling the fine sweat beads seeping from his forehead. He glanced again at the pitch-black, icy wasteland outside the window.

Outside was hell, inside the car was heaven.

"This is just the first day."

Lin Hui murmured softly, stuffing the last piece of lamb into his mouth, his eyes appearing particularly deep in the rising steam.

"If I want to keep living like this... this vehicle needs to become stronger."

Just then, there was a dull thud on the car door.

Followed by the ear-piercing sound of claws scraping against metal.

Screech—

The fork in Lin Hui's hand paused in mid-air, his gaze instantly becoming as sharp as a blade.