After taking a quick and refreshing cold shower and drying off, Lu Chen left the room, feeling refreshed.
Although it was only cold water, it was clean, at least without any strange smells.
This gave Lu Chen the urge to explore this hotel.
A place that could keep the water supply system so well-preserved.
Maybe there were other supplies left behind.
After telling this idea to Sakurajima Mai, she expressed that she wanted to explore together.
"I can't help in battle, but I can help carry things."
Although Lu Chen felt that she was more afraid of being left alone and encountering danger that she couldn't handle.
But this reason was reasonable, Lu Chen had no reason to refuse.
Besides, he didn't feel comfortable leaving Sakurajima Mai alone.
"I need to find a way to increase her combat strength."
"But... we are only a temporary team now."
"It would be great if there was a formal team system."
Lu Chen really wanted to allocate resources to Sakurajima Mai.
But the two of them had only met once and their relationship wasn't close enough to trust each other completely.
Not to mention, whether they could be teleported to the same location tomorrow was still unknown.
Lu Chen had a lot of good stuff on hand, but it was just enough for him.
Without the guarantee of being able to form a stable team...
He could only provide some protection and help, as he was doing now.
Of course, if he could form a fixed team through some means, that would be a different story.
In other words, the current "Sakurajima Mai" wasn't considered "one of his own" in Lu Chen's eyes.
"Look, there is a diagram of the hotel floor on the wall."
Sakurajima Mai naturally didn't know what was going on in Lu Chen's mind. Her attention was on the surrounding environment.
"The 1st floor is the lobby, the 2nd floor is the functional floor, and the 3rd floor and above are all guest rooms."
"There is also a basement floor, it should be a storage room or something... should we go and take a look?"
Lu Chen also snapped out of his thoughts and carefully browsed the structural diagram.
The basement part was marked with a "Staff Area, No Trespassing" sign, but now no one would care about that.
"The basement... we'll go there later."
Lu Chen shook his head slightly and rejected Sakurajima Mai's proposal.
"Don't forget that there is no electricity here, and the basement has no light source, making exploration very dangerous."
"Let's go to the second floor and see if there are any flashlights or other tools..."
"I have them here."
Sakurajima Mai took out two small flashlights from her handbag.
Judging from the LOGO on the flashlights, they seemed to be from the clothing store, just like the handbag.
Seeing Lu Chen's surprised expression, the girl smiled.
"I thought they might come in handy, so I took them."
"Good job."
Lu Chen gave Sakurajima Mai a thumbs up for her thoughtfulness and reached out to take one of the flashlights.
【Flashlight: Remaining Power 85%, Can be recharged by replacing batteries】
Seeing the information description pop up, Lu Chen subconsciously brushed the word.
The result was unexpected. Lu Chen thought nothing would happen, but ordinary items like flashlights could actually get word!
【Ding! The tool "Flashlight" has obtained a C-level word: "Energy Saving"!】
(Energy Saving: Slightly reduces brightness, greatly reduces power consumption)
"This is possible?"
Lu Chen was slightly stunned and thoughtfully weighed the flashlight.
It seems that not all miscellaneous items cannot be brushed with words, they must have functionality.
Anyway, this is good news.
The Energy Saving word is quite good and very practical in the current situation.
"Since you're so well-prepared, let's go straight to the basement."
After thinking for a moment, Lu Chen instructed.
"Just like before, stay alert and follow close behind me."
"Okay."
Sakurajima Mai nodded earnestly, feeling happy as well, because she had finally played a role and was no longer simply a drag.
As they passed through the lobby on the first floor, the horde of zombies blocked outside saw the figures of Lu Chen and the two, and they all roared excitedly.
"They have accumulated so many already?"
Seeing the sea of zombies, Sakurajima Mai's face froze, and she couldn't imagine how she could escape their pursuit.
"Don't be afraid, we'll take care of them when we come back from the basement."
Lu Chen didn't have any fear, as he had already killed quite a few zombies.
In his eyes, these zombies, who waved their arms randomly and staggered, were less threatening than a stray dog on the road.
Pushing open the iron door of the basement, a musty, decayed air filled with dust rushed towards them.
In the light of the flashlight, a quiet corridor appeared before them.
On both sides of the corridor were many small doors, with some faded signs hanging above them to distinguish the types of rooms.
"... I should have brought a mask."
Rubbing her itchy nose, Sakurajima Mai muttered in a regretful whisper.
Lu Chen wasn't so particular. Although the environment wasn't clean, it was bearable.
He tried to open the iron door with the sign "Uniform Storage Room" on it, but found that it was tightly locked.
No matter how hard he pushed, it was like it was fixed to the space, not moving at all.
"It's locked... that's to be expected."
But from the name, there wasn't anything he wanted in this room.
They continued along the corridor, most of the rooms were locked, and some doors were half-open.
The rooms that weren't locked seemed to have been ransacked, with nothing useful left.
This disappointed Lu Chen. He thought this was a piece of fat, but it turned out to be a gnawed bone.
But as they continued deeper, the rooms started to show a third condition -
There were signs of violent destruction on the doors, as if someone had been frantically pounding outside, trying to force their way in.
"Be careful, something's wrong."
The dim vision made Lu Chen unconsciously lower his voice and remind the girl behind him.
After receiving a nervous response, he carefully stuck his head out of the corner of the corridor.
In the reflected light, a tall security guard zombie, wearing a worn-out security uniform and incredibly muscular, appeared in Lu Chen's field of vision.
As if sensing the change in the light, the guard zombie turned his head abruptly, his rotten eyes fixed on Lu Chen!
"He found us... then let's fight!"
Lu Chen's heart skipped a beat, then he gritted his teeth, activated the "Charged Throw" skill, and threw the flying knife in his hand forcefully!
Although the accuracy was slightly off at the beginning, under the effect of "Tracking", the flying knife finally hit the guard zombie's head accurately!
Poof...
The sharp dagger pierced directly through the face, leaving only the rubber handle outside.
But the guard zombie didn't fall, but charged forward with the dagger stuck in his head!
"He has a weapon!"
Sakurajima Mai provided light with her flashlight from behind and reminded him at the same time.
At this time, Lu Chen noticed that the guard zombie was holding a crowbar, which was covered in black-red blood.
"I can't let him get close..."
Lu Chen quickly drew a conclusion in his mind, retreated while holding the fire ax.
Although the dagger would return to his hand soon, he wasn't limited to using just one weapon.
The fire ax... could also be used for throwing!
This time, Lu Chen aimed at the guard zombie's legs!
——Charged Throw!
After using the skill twice in a row, Lu Chen was sweating profusely and gasping for breath.
But the results were very gratifying, the fire ax, which was thrown forcefully, easily severed one of the guard zombie's legs, causing it to stumble and fall!
At the same time, the dagger that had just been thrown was automatically retrieved back into Lu Chen's hand.
As long as he added one more blow, he could kill the guard zombie!
Faced with this situation, Lu Chen naturally wouldn't miss the opportunity to brush the word!
He wanted to maximize the value of this guard zombie!
【Ding! The enemy "Zombie" has obtained a B-level word: "Abnormal Mutation"!】
"... Another Abnormal Mutation?!"
Seeing the familiar word, Lu Chen's eyelids twitched!
Just as he was about to give the zombie in front of him a final blow, his body suddenly felt as if he was carrying a thousand pounds of rock, becoming incredibly heavy!
Forget about attacking, even slightly moving a finger was extremely difficult!
This situation horrified Lu Chen!
"Damn... it's the "Gravity" ability?!"
"Damn it, why did he just happen to get this ability!!"
Realizing that he had already fallen for it, Lu Chen was filled with regret.
Let you play! Let you brush the word! Now you've gone too far!
Unfortunately, there is no regret medicine in this world.
Just as Lu Chen was struggling with all his might to resist the gravitational force on his body.
He suddenly saw a figure rushing towards the guard zombie with a broken leg.
Sakurajima Mai, who had never killed a single zombie before, gritted her teeth.
She stabbed the guard zombie's eye with the dagger in her hand!
The filthy black blood spurted out, staining the girl's freshly washed body with dirty colors.
In that instant, Lu Chen felt the restraint on his body suddenly loosen, and he regained his freedom!
"Good job!"
Taking advantage of the gap of escaping the ability control, Lu Chen roared, picked up the fire ax on the ground, and chopped off the guard zombie's head directly!
The guard zombie was naturally dead as a doornail, losing its life on the spot, and its body gradually disappeared.
Only a small pile of cogs and copper coins were left behind, along with a "Seed of Ability" that emitted a faint glow!