Upon seeing the sign "Tieshan City Second Food Company," Shang Jianyao exclaimed, "Wow!"
His attire shifted, transforming into a yellow monk's robe draped with a red kasaya.
Shang Jianyao's face turned a metallic black, as if forged from metal, his eyes blazing with a bright red light that cast a layer of bloody gauze over everything before him.
This was one of the "Five Great Holy Lands" of Buddhism, and it deserved respectful treatment!
Having changed his "identity," Shang Jianyao raised one hand to his chest, twirling the "Six Senses Beads" with the other, his voice a low, resonant growl:
"Namo Amitābha, those with affinity will meet from a thousand miles away."
The "Six Senses Beads" in his palm were merely a decoration, serving no actual purpose, as the real ones were not with him, but kept safe by a specialized department of the Security Division.
After reciting the Buddhist invocation, the semi-mechanical monk Shang Jianyao strode confidently towards the entrance of the "Tieshan City Second Food Company."
The entrance on the first floor was a revolving door, but it had long lost power and was stuck in place.
Shang Jianyao didn't force it, opting for the small door beside it.
Clearly, the owner of the room had done the same, as everything along the way was meticulously detailed and unusually realistic.
Stepping into the lobby, Shang Jianyao saw transparent plastic boxes scattered on the floor or arranged on tables, and wrapping paper strewn everywhere.
Drawing on old-world entertainment data, Shang Jianyao could easily guess that the first floor had been turned into a retail outlet by the Second Food Company, evidenced by the fairly neatly arranged counters.
He advanced slowly, scanning the wrappers on the ground.
Preserved Tangerine Peel Candy, Fruit Gummies, Sachima, Creamy Sunflower Seeds, Soda Crackers, Sandwich Cookies, Sponge Cake… the corresponding names registered in the eyes of the semi-mechanical monk Shang Jianyao.
His face abruptly reverted to its normal human appearance, and his left hand instinctively rose, wiping his mouth.
Glug.
Shang Jianyao swallowed.
Then, he hastily averted his gaze, restoring his face to its metallic black, his eyes once again glowing red.
In an instant, Shang Jianyao was once more the picture of an enlightened monk.
Then, he began to soliloquize:
"The food here has either been moved or only the wrappers remain;
"The 'Heartless' seem afraid to enter this area;
"Therefore..."
This wasn't "Reasoning Clown," Shang Jianyao answered himself:
"Therefore, this was done by humans, the humans who survived in Tieshan City after the Old World was destroyed."
Clap, clap, clap, Shang Jianyao applauded himself.
"A food company is indeed well-suited to serve as a survivor base in the apocalypse," he emphasized.
He immediately refuted himself:
"Not necessarily.
"It could simply be that a survivor base was built around it, to facilitate access to food."
"Looking around will tell us whether that's the case or not," another Shang Jianyao cut short this meaningless argument.
The semi-mechanical monk Shang Jianyao took a few more steps forward, and then raised a very serious question:
"As a monk, what is my Dharma name?"
One of the Shang Jianyaos immediately offered a suggestion:
"Pudu, Pudu sentient beings."
"Namo Amitābha, from today on, I am Chan Master Pudu." The semi-mechanical monk Shang Jianyao raised his palm again, declaring a Buddhist invocation.
He walked at a measured pace around the first floor of the Second Food Company, confirming that the lobby was a retail outlet and the back and sides were warehouses.
And apart from the garbage on the ground, there were no living creatures here, not even insects.
"It seems the owner of the room also carefully inspected the first floor," Shang Jianyao nodded slightly, saying to himself.
If that weren't the case, the places he didn't inspect, the places where the subconscious needed to extract details from other experiences to complete the picture, would likely contain mosquitoes, cockroaches, and other things.
Having found nothing, Shang Jianyao stepped onto the stairs leading to the second floor.
By this time, it was late, and dim light shone through the narrow windows at the corner, preventing the area from being completely dark.
But even so, Shang Jianyao had to produce a flashlight, or he would hardly be able to see the edges of the stairs under his feet.
As he walked, the semi-mechanical monk suddenly paused and looked around.
He had the feeling that someone was watching him from the surrounding darkness.
As the flashlight's beam swept across, the surroundings were fully captured in his eyes:
The weathered and mottled walls, the rusted iron railings, the ceilings with light fixtures but no power supply—everything was clear in Shang Jianyao's mind.
In such an environment, there was almost nowhere to hide.
Therefore, the gaze was either coming from below the stairs or originating from the second floor.
Shang Jianyao was not intimidated, and he moved the flashlight, ascending the stairs step by step to the second floor of the building.
Here, there were dark corridors and individual rooms, seemingly the Second Food Company's office area.
Shang Jianyao slowed his pace, the flashlight beam sweeping over the door numbers of the adjacent rooms:
"203"
On the door corresponding to "203" was a plaque that read:
"Sales Department"
Shang Jianyao was about to continue forward when he suddenly sidestepped, aiming the flashlight at room 203.
He felt that gaze again!
The silent gaze hidden in the darkness!
The yellowish beam illuminated the messy office desks, the chairs lying on the ground, and the dusty desktop computers and their corresponding LCD screens, but it did not reveal any humans or other creatures.
"Is this what the owner of the room felt at the time?" The semi-mechanical monk Shang Jianyao raised his hand and stroked his steel chin.
Immediately afterward, the red light in his eyes flickered violently a few times:
"That's not right..."
"Namo Amitābha, what's not right?" the semi-mechanical monk Chan Master Pudu asked.
Shang Jianyao, while feeling the different texture of his steel chin, said with a smile:
"There are neither human corpses nor a large amount of feces here, unlike what you'd expect from a place where many people once gathered."
Shang Jianyao immediately refuted himself:
"Didn't we just say that?
"The survivor base is nearby, not here. They just come here regularly to replenish food.
"And even if this really was a survivor base, they could bury their companions' bodies elsewhere and team up to go far away to relieve themselves."
Shang Jianyao stroked his steel chin:
"That's not the point. The point is that there are no signs of human habitation here."
"So, it's the first explanation then." The honest Shang Jianyao spread his hands.
As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly felt something and aimed the flashlight at the end of the corridor.
In the focused and unwavering light, a figure emerged from the darkness.
It was a woman, wearing a white shirt under a blue blazer, the image of an old-world corporate professional.
She was probably in her twenties, with shoulder-length black hair, delicate features, a straight nose, and lips that were neither too thick nor too thin, making her quite attractive.
After this initial impression, Shang Jianyao quickly noticed more details:
The woman's shirt and blazer had many stains and hadn't been cleaned in ages. Her nasolabial folds, the muscles in her face, the corners of her eyes, and the lines on her neck made her look older than just over twenty, at least in her late thirties.
Also, her eyes had many blood vessels, but they weren't cloudy.
As soon as she saw Shang Jianyao, fear appeared in the woman's eyes, her expression quite vivid.
She started running wildly, stumbling and falling, and disappeared at the end of the corridor.
"There are people here..." Shang Jianyao remarked.
Then, he turned around and walked back to the stairwell.
Having explored this far, his mental energy had been greatly depleted, and he needed to reserve some for the return trip.
And the strange woman who appeared in one of the "Crystal Consciousness Church's" Five Great Holy Lands deserved the utmost caution.
Shang Jianyao planned to continue his exploration next time when he was in a better mental state.
Nothing unexpected happened on the way back.
...
The next morning, Floor 647, Room 14.
Shang Jianyao was about to tell Jiang Baimian about his experiences last night when the phone in the office rang.
Jiang Baimian answered it and said with a smile:
"Xiao Bai, the higher-ups have asked you to go to Room 9 on Floor 648 to choose a bionic limb and the genetic modifications you want."
Only after choosing could they schedule a specific time.
Bai Chen pursed her lips, stood up, and said:
"Okay."
Seeing this, Jiang Baimian asked with a smile:
"Do you want me to come along and help you make a decision?"
Bai Chen paused for a moment and said:
"Okay."
"I'll go too!" Shang Jianyao was eager to try.
Long Yuehong quietly breathed a sigh of relief:
"Then I'll go too."
Jiang Baimian was both amused and annoyed:
"You guys are really something. Do you think Xiao Bai is a child, needing so many people to escort her?"
She said that, but she didn't stop Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong from following behind.
When they arrived at Room 9 on Floor 648, the group of four saw the middle-aged woman inside, and the middle-aged woman also saw them.
"Why are so many people here?" the woman asked in surprise. "I remember only one person needed to choose."
"Can't there be a consulting team?" Shang Jianyao said matter-of-factly.
"Yes, yes." Long Yuehong quickly chimed in.
Jiang Baimian put on a smile and helped explain:
"Three cobblers with their wits combined equal Zhuge Liang."
The woman in charge curled her lips:
"Even if you want to help with the consultation, you don't need to bring so many people."
Hearing this, Bai Chen couldn't help but lower her head, looking at her toes.