My Post-Apocalyptic Territory

"Is this the Source Crystal?"

In his hand, there was a small, shimmering white crystal, which seemed to be the most beautiful treasure in the world. If he had such a crystal before the apocalypse, it would be enough to find a partner!

This was Tang Yu's first time seeing it, but he was certain that it was a source crystal, not a diamond. Holding it tightly in his hand, he could feel a warmth, and there was amazing energy hidden within it.

The system detected that this source crystal contained approximately one unit of energy. It was not found on the bodies of the awakened ones. These awakened ones were even poorer than Tang Yu had imagined, or perhaps they hadn't brought anything with them. He hadn't found anything of value among the several awakened corpses he had scavenged along the way.

The source crystal was dug out from the body of a demonized beast. He dissected the heads of many demonized beast corpses, but only dug out this one. His dissection skills have become much more proficient.

Tang Yu began to worry. Could he really gather a hundred units of Source Crystals? What if these Awakened Ones were really too poor, or what if some of them ran away and took the Source Crystals with them? That would be a disaster for him.

Time ticked by, and during this time he found some food, ate a little to stave off hunger, and continued his search. The situation was better in the villa area; after searching most of the villas in the area, Tang Yu had more than a dozen Source Crystals in his pocket.

"Unfortunately... these source crystals are far from enough. Hopefully, we can find enough source crystals in this last villa."

This is a detached villa, larger and more luxurious, and the last villa Tang Yu could search in the eastern part of the villa area. The villa is divided into east and west sections. Although the western section is larger, there is a considerable distance between the two sections. If he cannot gather enough source crystals in the eastern section, going to the western section will be much more dangerous.

Tang Yu carefully walked into the villa garden, when suddenly...

"Beep beep! Energy reaction of more than one hundred units of source crystal detected within one hundred meters ahead. Please collect it as soon as possible... Beep beep! Detected..."

The system's voice rang in his mind, and Tang Yu was almost startled to his core... This broken system, which didn't even have a system spirit, actually reacted. After hearing the content of the voice, his face lit up with joy.

"Heaven hasn't forsaken me!"

Although the villa was large, it was also more severely damaged. Along the way, there were deep craters on the ground from the explosion, and the plants in the garden looked as if they had been burned by a raging fire, leaving only ashes.

Tang Yu walked in through the broken wall and saw that the house was in ruins. The door of one of the bedrooms was ajar, and he could vaguely see a broken safe with a few points of light flickering inside.

"Found it!"

He strode forward, reached the bedroom door, and suddenly stopped in his tracks.

His pupils suddenly contracted!

Inside the bedroom, next to the damaged safe, a mutated beast, brown in color, the size of a wild boar, with fur that spreads outwards like steel spikes, stood with its back to Tang Yu, seemingly gnawing on something.

The clicking sounds were particularly loud in the environment, and Tang Yu held his breath, not daring to make a sound.

He had already recognized the strange creature in front of him as a demonic beast!

Compared to humans, animals affected by the red mist may be corrupted and transformed into new types of corrupted beasts. Right in front of us is a corrupted beast transformed from an ordinary rat: the corrupted steel rat!

This is only at the bottom of the list of demonic beasts, but it is still a deadly threat to Tang Yu!

Instinctively, he wanted to retreat, but unexpectedly, the demonized steel rat had already spotted him. With a squeak, its entire body, resembling a brown lump of flesh, charged straight towards Tang Yu.

The brown mass of flesh moved with incredible speed, its fur gleaming with steel spikes. After a slight hesitation, Tang Yu knew he couldn't escape!

The only chance of survival is to kill the demonized steel rat and obtain the Source Crystal!

With this thought flashing through his mind, Tang Yu suddenly calmed down.

He stared intently at the approaching demonized steel rat, his pupils filled only with the moving brown figure.

Thirty steps, twenty steps, ten steps...

Tang Yu gripped the gun with both hands, the dark muzzle pointing at the approaching demonized steel rat!

"Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang!"

Flames spewed from the barrel of the Type 54 pistol, and bullets, carrying intense kinetic energy, struck the mutated steel rat.

Tang Yu had never practiced shooting, but perhaps because the distance was extremely close, or perhaps because he was focused enough, he managed to hit the target five times out of a magazine.

The demonized steel rat's fur was torn in several places, and dark green blood kept flowing from the wounds. It had been seriously injured and cried out in pain a few times. But demonized creatures have a tenacious vitality, and the demonized steel rat's eyes still flashed with a fierce light.

It ignored everything and continued to pounce on Tang Yu!

Tang Yu's ruthlessness also surged up. He threw down the pistol, which had already emptied its magazine, grabbed a short knife, widened his eyes, and stabbed the other person with all his might.

One slash after another, blood splattered, staining his arms and chest with a colorful mess, but Tang Yu felt nothing, he just kept exerting force.

By the time Tang Yu came to his senses, he had lost count of how many blows he had made, and the demonized steel rat had long since fallen into a pool of blood.

"Hoo hoo~"

Tang Yu was panting heavily, his arms were sore and aching, his clothes were tattered, and his skin, especially his arm that was holding the knife, was cut by steel spikes. He grimaced in pain with the slightest movement.

Before he could even relax, his expression suddenly changed again.

The roar of a demonic beast could be heard from outside.

Tang Yu knew that the gunshots had attracted more demonic creatures.

A humanoid, gray-black, over two-meter-tall mutated beast with sharp claws appeared before Tang Yu's eyes.

A gigantic, fiery red scorpion then appeared.

There was also a large black snake emitting green gas.

Tang Yu's expression turned extremely solemn. These three demonic beasts, each one of them, were far superior to the demonic steel rat from before.

He can't possibly be a match for me!

Tang Yu turned and ran, ignoring the pain in his body, and pounced on the source crystal, pressing his hand against it.

"Beep beep, 125 units of Source Crystals detected. The Lord has a total of 141 units of Source Crystals. Build Lord's Castle?"

"Get it set up, quick!"

One by one, the source crystals turned into specks of light and disappeared, like the most dazzling fireflies. Tang Yu felt a pang of heartache; this was perhaps the most "money" he had ever received in his life.

The light and shadow were dazzling, and in an instant, it was as if a gust of wind swept by, and the place around them underwent a tremendous change.

The original dilapidated environment inside the villa is gone, replaced by a classically decorated interior.

The floor was covered with a red carpet, and a magnificent chandelier hung from the ceiling.

The walls are either adorned with exquisite murals or inlaid with large crystals.

The tables and chairs inside all exude a faint woody fragrance, made of some unknown wood, and there are also large, soft leather sofas that can be used as beds.

Several lifelike sculptures.

A crystal the size of a basketball is suspended in the center.

Tang Yu was almost stunned. Was this really necessary? In the face of the apocalypse, how could such a lavish lifestyle erode his unwavering will? It was simply... too embarrassing!

Although the hall was indeed luxurious, he still knew that the most pressing matter was still the threat posed by the three demonic beasts outside.

Tang Yu shifted his attention to what was behind him. Where the villa's original gate had been, a gate three meters high and four meters wide had now been erected. The gate was now open, and two puppets dressed in blue and white armor, wearing masks, and holding long spears, appeared on either side of the gate like door gods.

Tang Yu understood immediately; these were the guard puppets that the system had mentioned that came with the construction of the core castle.

Through the gate, the outside world remained in its original state of disarray, a stark contrast to the luxurious hall inside.

Tang Yu was still a little nervous. These three demonic beasts looked like they were not to be trifled with. He didn't know how strong the two puppets were or whether they could deal with these three demonic beasts.

The puppet guards remained silent, one of them taking a few steps back to guard the castle gate.

Another puppet guard assumed a fighting stance, and just as the fastest, fiery red giant scorpion approached, it suddenly moved!

The puppet guard swayed and appeared in front of the giant scorpion in the next moment. The air exploded and the spear tip pierced through layers of obstacles. Before the fiery red giant scorpion could react, its carapace had been completely pierced.

From bottom to top, a single shot through the skull!

The first mutated creature is dead!

But this is not over yet!

Having dealt with the giant scorpion, the puppet guard took the initiative to attack. Wearing full armor, it was faster than any demonic beast Tang Yu had ever seen. Its entire body transformed into blue lightning, and in a few leaps, it arrived in front of the other two demonic beasts.

Gunfire thundered! The puppet guards' fighting style was simple and brutal: a slash, a thrust—simple attacks that, combined with their unparalleled speed and power, made them particularly terrifying.

In the blink of an eye, the humanoid demon beast's head was smashed, and the giant black snake was pierced through by a spear!

Only a few seconds had passed. The two demonic beasts were still in the same forward-charging posture. After they died, they rolled over due to inertia, leaving a long trail of blood on the ground.

The whistling sound of the spear piercing the clouds still seemed to echo in his ears. Tang Yu was stunned for a moment. Weren't these three demonic beasts a little too weak?

But he knew that it wasn't that these demonized beasts were weak, but that the puppet guards were truly powerful, far stronger than any Awakened One he had ever seen before!

These puppet guards are simply amazing! Tang Yu felt that spending those hundred units of Source Crystals was totally worth it. Could I have a few more?!

Three enormous corpses of demonic beasts lay outside the castle gates. An invisible wave emanated from these dead beasts, a small portion of which dissipated into the air, while the majority drifted towards Tang Yu's location.

Tang Yu's eyes widened, and an excited expression appeared on his face.