The copy has 0 error tolerance, and the last words on the ground are all wrong for me.

Chapter 554 Don't Sleep
Wu Chang stopped and looked at the lit-up cash register.

From the moment he entered the supermarket, he felt watched by something. Moreover, in the chaotic city of Jacques, there were still shelves full of food and water left. There must be something strange about this.

But there was no resentment in the supermarket. From the moment they entered the supermarket to the moment they went to the shelf to get something, they did not feel anything unusual. He thought that the other party was a gentle flesh monster and planned to let it go. He did not expect that it was waiting for him here.

he asked:
How much will it cost in total?

A scanner extended from the cash register, scanned the shopping cart, and said:

"We need two adults, plus one leg and one arm. Please select the part you wish to pay for."

Wu Chang opened his wallet and asked:
Can I pay in Federal Currency?

The cash register said:
"I'm sorry, sir, our shop only accepts the flesh and blood of thieves."

Wu Chang raised an eyebrow slightly. Only accepting the flesh and blood of thieves meant that this small supermarket had been setting a trap from the very beginning, deliberately using the remaining supplies to lure survivors into becoming thieves, and then killing them under the pretext of payment.

He originally intended to tease the fleshy monster, put the shopping cart into his personal space, and then ask it what it had stolen.

However, when it came time to pack up, it was discovered that the shopping cart and the goods inside could not be moved separately. This was not because unpaid items could not be taken away, but because these goods were actually part of the supermarket's "body".

He looked at the cash register and politely asked:

"If I openly steal, would I no longer be considered a thief?"

Wu Chang's words seemed to have touched a nerve with the small supermarket, causing it to instantly fly into a rage. The supermarket door slammed shut, and the roller shutter door outside and the mesh security door inside fell down simultaneously.

As the doors closed, Wu Changneng clearly felt that the spatial connection between the inside and outside of the supermarket had been completely severed.

The supermarket's interior forms its own space.

He looked at the cash register in front of him, and inspiration told him that the machine in front of him was not the real body of the flesh and blood monster, but only a part of its body.

Even if you destroy it, you can't truly affect the other party.

He scanned his surroundings and felt that the entire supermarket was filled with the aura of a flesh-and-blood monster, but the aura was only on the surface, making it impossible for him to determine the core of the monster.

What looks like a supermarket is actually a special realm, the realm of flesh and blood monsters.

The area may not seem large, but everything is actually controlled by the supermarket monster. If you don't find its core, it will be difficult to even injure it. You can only be slowly worn down and killed.

Leaving the supermarket seems to require only breaking through a security mesh door, a glass door, and a roller shutter door, but breaking through these three barriers is no different from destroying the entire area by brute force.

It would be impossible to do this unless one's strength is at least one level higher than that of the supermarket monster.

Although the domain created by the supermarket monster is rudimentary, it is quite well-made and has barely reached the threshold of the Lord level. Only a true Lord level, and even closer to a demigod level, can break through it by brute force.

If it were an ordinary lord-level player like Cold Mountain, or an ordinary player like Flash who had just obtained the power of the source, they would find it difficult to escape once they entered this supermarket.

The only way to survive is to first find the monster's true form in the supermarket and then find a way to defeat it.

Wu Chang couldn't help but sigh. The level of the Realm of Reason was indeed different from that of the Desolate Realm, especially the Gamma-level dungeons. Even a small monster encountered on the roadside could control the power of origin and set up a rudimentary domain.

In a world dungeon, even a supermarket monster would be a Grandmaster, and among Grandmasters, they would be considered top-tier.

If a native of a world instance comes to Jacques City, they will instantly feel that Grandmasters are everywhere and Grandmasters are as common as dogs.

The supermarket monster closing the door was just the beginning. As the domain took shape, the entire supermarket seemed to come alive. The walls, ceiling, and shelves began to twist, and countless thick white tentacles stretched out from them, spreading towards Wu Chang and his companions.

These white tentacles resemble an enlarged biological network, each as thick as a thumb, exuding power, and making a faint sound of wind breaking as they are waved in the air.

Wu Chang wanted to tear off a piece to study it, but just as he was about to take a step, he found that the floor, which was originally hard underfoot, was now as soft as a puddle of mud, causing their bodies to sink in until their calves were submerged in the ground, making it difficult to move.

Taking advantage of Wu Chang and the other two being unable to move, the white tentacles wrapped around their hands, and then the door of the store warehouse opened, about to drag them inside.

The cash register yelled, "Damn robbers, you'll pay for what you've done!"

Wu Chang stared at the open warehouse door, where he saw many pale red resentments.

These pale red resentments mostly came from the survivors, who were lured into the supermarket while searching for food. They were then grabbed by white tentacles and taken to the warehouse. After screaming in agony, they were turned into various foods and became the warehouse's inventory.

No wonder he didn't see any resentment when he first entered the supermarket; it turns out they were all hidden in the warehouse.

Through these resentments, he saw that the core of the supermarket monster was hidden deep in the warehouse.

He was worried that he wouldn't be able to control his strength; if he used too little force, he wouldn't be able to break the domain, and if he used too much force, he would scatter the ashes of the supermarket monster. He didn't expect the other party to be so considerate and offer themselves up to him.

Wu used his spiritual power to tell Eileen and Raven not to resist the white tentacles, then turned to look at the cash register and said:
"What bad luck, you caught me."

The cash register snorted and said:

"I will make you pay the price."

The white tentacles suddenly exerted force, dragging Wu Chang and the other two into the warehouse.

The warehouse was a blood-red mess, not only from the resentment that stained it, but also because the walls were covered in human flesh and blood.

White tentacles, like stitches, sewed the flesh and blood to the walls, making the warehouse resemble the interior of some organ.

When they entered the warehouse, the supermarket monster was "working," with white tentacles dragging a corpse out of the cold storage and throwing it into a meat grinder with its mouth wide open.

The corpse went inside, and what came out of the other side of the meat grinder was not minced meat, but boxes of neatly packaged drinks and biscuits.

Wu Chang's expression turned strange. Could it be that all the supplies displayed in the supermarket were made in this way?

The appearance of the three people prevented the supermarket monster from retrieving more stock from the cold storage; instead, it prepared to push the three people into the meat grinder alive.

Wu Chang really wanted to experience the monster's primal power and see how it reconstituted flesh and blood into junk food.

However, the meat grinder's entrance was full of minced meat and blood foam, along with some flying human fragments, which was extremely unsanitary and made him abandon the idea.

Being able to enter the warehouse is enough.

With a powerful pull of his arms, he tore off the white tentacles binding him, and then, amidst the screams of the supermarket monster, stepped into the cold storage.

Four or five corpses were scattered inside the cold storage. The inner walls of the cold storage were covered with white tentacles, each as thick as a wrist, and where they overlapped, a human-shaped protrusion could be seen.

Wu Chang stepped into the cold storage, causing the supermarket monster to go completely berserk.

Attacks such as iron hooks, kitchen knives, needles, and lashing tentacles came at him in a barrage. In addition to physical attacks, there were also bursts of cold air, flames, and even energy attacks such as carbonated beverage bombs.

They came up with a lot of fancy tricks, but unfortunately the actual effect was very limited.

The supermarket monster was, after all, a monster, and its attack intent was too obvious. Wu Chang, relying on his newly upgraded Wuxiang Style, strolled leisurely through the various attacks, completely unaffected by them.

Only when faced with a wide-ranging spray of cold air and flames did he grab a throwing knife thrown by the supermarket monster and shatter the cold air and flames.

He approached the humanoid protrusion, first making a vertical cut to slice open the white tentacles surrounding its surface, revealing the woman encased within.

The woman appeared to be around twenty-eight or twenty-nine years old. Her entire body was covered in white tentacles, and over 60% of her body had merged with the wall, becoming indistinguishable from it.

He pressed one hand against the wall and grabbed the woman's head with the other. Amidst the supermarket monster's piercing screams, he yanked hard and ripped her off the wall.

The white tentacles connecting the woman to the wall were all torn off, the supermarket monster's screams stopped abruptly, and the entire supermarket fell silent instantly.

From the conversation with the supermarket monster, it's clear that the supermarket monster still retains some sanity and hasn't completely become a monster.

He originally intended to capture her alive to study the flesh-and-blood monster, but who would have thought that the woman would stop breathing the moment she was separated from the supermarket, and the power of her origin would also dissipate rapidly.

He teleported the woman to Eileen, hoping she would save her life, but the holy light magic shone on the woman, doing nothing to slow the loss of her life force. Wu Chang looked at the raven and asked:
Is there any way to save her?

The raven shook its head expressionlessly and said:
"Her will has completely collapsed, which means that her existence has dissipated and returned to the consciousness of the plane, or to some large collective consciousness."

Upon hearing Raven's conclusion, Wu Chang was completely disheartened.

The most important thing in saving a person is to ensure that their spirit is not dead.

If the body dies, one can still find ways to rebuild the body and transfer the spirit, but if the spirit dies, then one is truly dead.

Although no living specimen was captured, a dead, complete flesh and blood monster still has research value.

After a brief investigation in the supermarket, they discovered that the woman who had transformed into the supermarket monster was named Ina, and was the supermarket owner's daughter.

Her entire body, including her face, was covered in white tentacles, making her look like a white ball of fur from a distance.

Although Wu Chang had torn off all the white tentacles on her body when he separated her from the supermarket, her facial features and other skin had already disappeared due to the previous loss of control.

Lying on the ground, Ina looked like a mannequin without features in a clothing store. If it weren't for Raven's abilities, even Ina's own mother would never recognize her as her daughter.

Wu Chang examined the white tentacles on Ina's body, as well as the thick tentacles that he had severed when he transformed into the supermarket monster. He discovered that the two were the same thing, namely the modified peripheral nerve lines.

Its official name is Biological Identification Network.

The knowledge Sean learned from his textbooks stated that the bionet is a special gene-editing technology that injects specially edited cells into specific areas of the human spinal cord, stimulating the human nervous system to undergo mutated growth.

These mutated, growing nervous systems, known as extensional nerve lines, will penetrate the cyborg's flesh and skin, directly exposing them to the outside world, becoming the cyborg's new organs.

It is like a net woven by consciousness, which can be used to directly control special devices connected to the consciousness network, allowing ordinary people to achieve the effect of human-machine integration when operating certain devices.

The pilot Baker, who transported his true self, used bio-network technology to gain power approaching that of a master-level mechanical pilot.

Simply put, the ability of the biological recognition network is equivalent to a super-weakened, single-target, and highly restricted version of He Yun's Mechanical Heart.

He Yun might not value this ability, but if it were placed in the Sleepless Night dungeon, it would be a revolutionary technological leap.

Biometrics technology can be applied to various fields, from using weapons and driving vehicles to controlling systems.

Bio-recognition technology enables modified individuals to possess a level of proficiency, speed, and precision that is difficult for ordinary people to achieve when working, thereby improving work speed and quality and greatly liberating productivity.

With the further development of biometrics technology, even simple tasks such as cooking and cashiering can be combined with it.

From a technological perspective, biometrics is leading the progress of society as a whole. In just over thirty years, it has become widespread around the world and has completely changed people's lifestyles.

In the textbooks Sean was studying, the bio-network was described as a perfect technology, a gift from God. But now it seems that this technology is far from perfect.

What happened to Ina was something Sean had never learned in his textbooks, and Wu Chang could only rely on Raven's judgment.

According to Raven's analysis, the reason Ina turned into a supermarket monster was that her biological consciousness network went out of control, causing cracks in her willpower barrier, which ultimately led to a loss of control over her inspiration.

When her inspiration spiraled out of control and her sense of self became unsustainable, the abyss seized the opportunity to invade, twisting her flesh and consciousness and turning her into a flesh monster.

If nothing unexpected happens, all the fleshy monsters and the maddened modders that appear in the dungeon are due to the same reason.

Wu Chang clicked his tongue; it was knowledge that hadn't been covered in books.

According to what Sean learned, the biological network is extremely stable. Although it can be damaged due to overuse, it will not stimulate the modifier's mind due to damage.

Could it be that the white light that erupted eight days ago caused people's biological awareness network to go out of control?

Wu Chang couldn't be sure of the relationship between the white light and the loss of control of the biological network, but he was certain that it was related to Eugene, whom Sean's mentor and the military were searching for.

Wu Chang put Ina's body into the cold storage and preserved it with the bodies of the other survivors. As he was about to leave, he suddenly discovered that the goods in the supermarket had not disappeared with the death of the supermarket monster.

He asked the raven and learned from it that the food had been transformed into real food by the power of Ina's Root.

Although the ingredient list is different, the nutritional components and taste are exactly the same as the genuine product.

If it weren't for the rather gruesome manufacturing process, Ina's Origin Power would absolutely be a god-level ability for survival in the apocalypse.

Wu Chang won't eat the food from the supermarket, but the other survivors in the city will definitely need it.

Most people in the Federation do not have the habit of saving, and they do not hoard a lot of supplies at home. The Light of Collapse came too suddenly, and eight days have passed since the incident. The survivors will not have many supplies left.

According to the federal government and the military, the blockade of Calais will last for at least two months. When they are hungry, they will not complain about the source of the food, and Wu Chang will not tell anyone about it.

He put all the food on the shelves into his personal space, leaving about two shopping carts' worth of supplies, and stuffed them into the suitcases carried by the three of them. Then he headed toward the survivor settlement he had previously identified.

The gathering place is located in a six-story building facing the street. Most of the residents are middle-class. The building is clean and tidy, and there are cameras installed around it. The cameras are in operation, and it can be seen that the building has an independent power supply system.

Wu, Chang, and the other two walked towards the small building. Before they even got close, they saw a dark gun muzzle deep inside the doorway. The person inside said:
"This place is already full."

Wu Chang opened his suitcase, revealing it full of supplies, and said:

"We just want to find a place to stay temporarily and won't stay for too long."

After a brief silence, the gun barrel on the door was lowered, the first-floor door opened, and a middle-aged man with a buzz cut, a thin build, and heavy dark circles under his eyes, with blond hair, waved to the three of them:

"If it's just a short stay, I can help you find a room."

Wu Chang carried his suitcase and led Eileen and Raven through the gate.

The environment behind the door was very different from what he had imagined. It was not a survivor settlement like in Ein City. People did not huddle together for warmth. Instead, the area was divided into rooms, and the survivors huddled in their own rooms.

When they noticed new people coming in, they would only open the door a crack or observe the three people through the peephole, without meeting them or exchanging greetings.

In the building's corridor, apart from the short-haired middle-aged man with the gun and the three of them, no one else was walking around.

The middle-aged man led Wu Chang and his two companions to a room at the far end of the sixth-floor corridor. He first took the two large suitcases from Wu Chang's hands, then took out two two-liter bottles of cola and three boxes of biscuits, and placed them on the table in the room.

After closing the door, the middle-aged man looked at Wu Chang and the other two and said:
“I’m the person in charge of this building. You can call me Dylan. You’re newcomers to the city, right?”

Wu Chang asked curiously:
"How did you tell?"

Dylan took out a small white pill bottle, unscrewed the cap, poured out the last pill, and swallowed it dry.

After swallowing the pill, he felt a little better. He chuckled softly and said:

“You only need to stay in Jacques for one day to understand why I was able to tell.”

He pointed to the two suitcases on the ground and said:
“Jacques City is different from the outside world. It’s much more dangerous here. If you want to survive, you have to be careful at all times.”

"For the sake of the supplies, I'll give you three a few pieces of advice."

"First, good luck won't always be on your side. Unless you're absolutely certain it's safe inside, don't rush into any supermarket for supplies."

"Everyone knows that supplies are important. Supplies that can be easily found have already been taken away."

Dylan paused for a moment, then pointed to the specially modified door lock inside the house and said:

"Second, do not leave the building at night. Lock the door from the inside and do not let anything in. If you hear any strange noises, whether they are coming from outside or inside the building, do not look at them. Someone will handle it."

"Thirdly, and most importantly, no matter where you are, as long as you are in Jacques City, remember this: never fall asleep."

"If you are so tired that you can't stand it, either drive out of Jacques and sleep outside, or take a nap every two days, and each nap should not exceed 90 minutes."

(End of this chapter)