[There are monsters nearby, you cannot sleep]
Lying on the bed, Fu Zhu's eyes snapped open.
Damn it, he had actually forgotten about this part!
Because he was in the real world, he wouldn't be physically prevented from lying on the bed like in MC, which made him forget one of MC's fundamental rules.
The "monster" in the system prompt was obviously Hulei, who was blustering not far from him.
Fu Zhu's expression darkened as he climbed out of bed. Question: when the game prompts that there are monsters nearby and you cannot sleep, which of the following actions should Steve take?
A. Forget sleeping, go straight to the mines!
B. Find another place to sleep.
C. TNND, kill every living thing in the vicinity!
Fu Zhu didn't know what other Steves would choose, but he would definitely choose C. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't waste time on development by sleeping; he only ever slept when he wanted to skip the night.
His expression icy, Fu Zhu once again drew the Ōdachi from his inventory and walked toward Hulei.
Seeing that Fu Zhu wasn't planning to sleep, Hulei couldn't help but grin.
"Heh heh, little human whelp, I told you no one would dare to sleep soundly near me. You were finally scared, weren't you? Hahaha, even though I'm bound by these shackles, no one dares to sleep near me! Ha—"
In the next second, Hulei's laughter came to an abrupt halt. Fu Zhu directly shoved the Ōdachi in his hand into Hulei's mouth, churned it around, and then pulled it out to begin hacking away at its body.
Fu Zhu even felt that this method was a bit inefficient. He pulled out the Godfall Sword and slashed Hulei once, inflicting a burning BUFF. Since creatures in this world didn't have invincibility frames, Fu Zhu didn't have to worry about the damage from the flames creating invincibility frames that would block his Ōdachi's attacks.
After a few slashes, Hulei's eyes widened in disbelief as he died. Fu Zhu, however, let out a long sigh of relief, walked back to the bed, and lay down.
[Respawn point set]
This time, the system didn't pop up with a warning about not being able to sleep. Fu Zhu finally closed his eyes in peace and drifted into a deep slumber.
Not long after Fu Zhu fell asleep, the dead Hulei revived. The first thing he did upon coming to his senses was to look for Fu Zhu, only to see him sleeping peacefully on that red, single bed.
Hulei's eyes widened in astonishment.
"Human whelp, you actually dare to sleep?!"
Hulei cursed, but found that Fu Zhu didn't react at all, as if he were truly sound asleep.
Just moments ago, when he had merely uttered a few words as Fu Zhu lay down, Fu Zhu had flown into a fit of morning crankiness and hacked him to pieces. Yet now, there was no reaction at all. Hulei was certain that Fu Zhu was genuinely asleep.
This situation made him involuntarily grin, revealing two rows of sharp, pointed teeth.
"Hahaha, little human whelp, has no one ever told you that even when a wild beast is chained, you must remain vigilant? You never know... when a beast might break free from its cage!"
As he spoke, Hulei suddenly let out a muffled grunt. The bones and muscles of his entire body began to shift and contort. Finally, with a low roar, one of Hulei's arms broke free from its restraints!
Although the shackles binding him tightened in the next second, giving him no chance to free any other part of his body, one arm was more than enough for Hulei!
He might not be able to break the rest of his shackles with a single arm, but it was enough for him to reach the sleeping Fu Zhu on the bed!
Since the Ten-Lords Commission was willing to throw this human whelp from beyond the Luofu into his cage, he was clearly of great importance to the Luofu!
As long as he could capture him and use him as a hostage, he would have a chance to escape!
Hulei narrowed his eyes, cautiously extending his right claw toward Fu Zhu, afraid he would startle him.
Seeing his right claw get closer and closer to Fu Zhu, even Hulei couldn't help but hum softly. The thing before his eyes wasn't some detestable human! It was clearly his hope for freedom!
"Come to me, little human whelp!"
Seeing the distance was right, Hulei swiped his claw directly at Fu Zhu's throat, preparing to grab him by the neck and haul him off the bed.
However, in the next second, Hulei was stunned to find that his right claw had bizarrely slid 'off' Fu Zhu's neck.
What happened? Had he been imprisoned for too long that he misjudged the force and distance?
Hulei refused to believe it. He reached out again, but the result was the same. His claw slid off Fu Zhu's neck once more, not even leaving the slightest mark on that seemingly fragile throat.
Hulei's eyes widened. "Is this f*cking human?"
If it was a matter of Fu Zhu's skin being highly defensive, Hulei could accept that.
But the feeling of his two failed grabs wasn't at all like Fu Zhu's skin was too tough for him to injure. Instead, it was more like Fu Zhu was a wisp of air, completely intangible.
He was even more like the monsters from human folklore than Hulei himself!
Hulei refused to give up. He abandoned his plan to take Fu Zhu hostage and instead focused what little power he had left into his right claw, striking fiercely at Fu Zhu.
Three bloody claw marks flew towards Fu Zhu, but without exception, they all dissipated the moment they touched his body, vanishing without a trace, not even kicking up a speck of dust.
This is impossible!!!
Unresigned, Hulei unleashed all sorts of attacks on Fu Zhu again. He no longer thought of escaping; he just wanted to leave a mark on Fu Zhu's body, even if it was just a centimeter-long scar!
Meanwhile, outside the prison cell door.
The military officer on duty heard the commotion inside and couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.
"That Mr. Fu Zhu is truly diligent. It's the middle of the night and he's still hacking away at Hulei. I wonder if he has some deep-seated hatred for him."
"It's possible. Who knows how many people that damn Hulei has harmed."
...
The next day, at 6 AM.
Fu Zhu opened his eyes on time. Although his Steve-like constitution meant he didn't need sleep to rest, a night of slumber had left his mind feeling much lighter.
Just as Fu Zhu took out his Ōdachi, preparing to continue today's experience grind, he turned his head and saw a weary-looking Hulei, which made him a little puzzled.
He knew that Hulei had never shown such an expression before, even when he was being relentlessly slaughtered. He also noticed Hulei's right arm, which was free from its restraints, and the answer immediately dawned on him.
"Did you wear yourself out last night?"
Fu Zhu pinched his nose with a look of disgust, even cautiously checking his clothes and the bed behind him, afraid he would find some whitish-brown stains.
Fortunately, he found no such disgusting spots on his body.
Seeing Fu Zhu wake up, Hulei weakly raised his right claw and swiped at him. The attack was far more "delicate" than the ones he had launched last night; even its color had become much dimmer.
Fu Zhu didn't bother raising his shield to block. He could just respawn on the spot anyway, so he had no fear of being one-shotted.
The claw attack landed on Fu Zhu, dealing 1 point of damage.
Seeing this amount of damage, Fu Zhu couldn't help but sigh. "Hulei, oh, Hulei, how old are you? A young man might recover after a bit of indulgence, but someone like you... I'm afraid you'll be completely out of ammo for good from now on."
After unleashing that final claw attack, Hulei became even more fatigued, not even having the strength to curse Fu Zhu. Still, he asked with a hint of unwillingness.
"Human, what kind of monster are you? Why couldn't I hurt you last night when you were completely defenseless?!"
"You attacked me last night?"
Hearing this, Fu Zhu couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, a憋of suppressed laughter in his heart.
As for why he couldn't be harmed or captured while lying in bed, he had tested this back when he first boarded the Astral Express.
First, according to the rules of MC, when Steve is in bed, if he is the only Steve in the entire world, he can fast-forward time.
But because this was the real world, Fu Zhu couldn't actually accelerate the flow of time by sleeping. Instead, after falling asleep, he remained in that state of time acceleration from MC until 6 AM the next morning, when he would automatically wake up.
To explain it more abstractly, Hulei was attacking the him that had already fast-forwarded to the next morning—the future him.
How could two people existing in different time frames possibly harm each other?
Unless, of course, Fu Zhu himself chose to abandon his sleep and wake up.
Naturally, Fu Zhu was too lazy to explain any of this to his experience baby. He just wanted to grind the Glory Value for his Ōdachi to one thousand and then upgrade it to the Demon Blade "Hiruko".
Fu Zhu glanced at Hulei's unrestrained right arm. Although Hulei looked weak, that arm could still affect his efficiency. And then there was Hulei's mouth, which was truly annoying. His phone had been playing videos all day yesterday and was almost out of battery.
After some thought, Fu Zhu decided to add a few more restrictions to Hulei to prevent him from delaying his progress.
Fu Zhu took out some blocks, a water bucket, and a lava bucket and walked to Hulei's side. His sudden movement immediately put Hulei on high alert.
"Human, what are you trying to do?!"
Fu Zhu's laugh came from Hulei's side.
"Deep breaths. The headache is normal."
Fu Zhu placed a few helper blocks, then poured the lava directly onto Hulei's head, before swiftly pouring the water bucket to the side.
In an instant, Hulei's head was encased in the newly formed obsidian. Fu Zhu could even faintly hear the sound of a skull cracking.
In a flash, the entire cell fell silent.
Fu Zhu smiled as he took out his Ōdachi and began the final phase of his work.
"Now I can finally farm Glory Value in peace."