Humans Shrunk 100 Times

Chapter 161: Coexisting in One Room

Roasted potatoes smell delicious, but since they can only be grilled on an iron plate, the surface is slightly charred. To ensure the potatoes' integrity, this level of cooking already represents Du Jiajia's strongest culinary skills.

Tomatoes provide a fair amount of water, so Chen Mu didn't need to use his water bottle.

Food wasn't a big issue; if necessary, they could occasionally nibble on ant legs to sustain themselves, but water was something they dared not drink recklessly.

One potato, one tomato.

Considering it as their lunch was already quite good.

After resting for half an hour, the two of them set out on their journey again.

For He Ying, the mental energy consumed in reducing her own body weight was not too much of a problem; the issue was how much she needed to reduce it by.

At the beginning, the most she could do was cut her weight in half, but after these days of research and practice, she could now reduce her weight to one-tenth for a short period, probably lasting only three to five seconds.

If she aimed only for the moment of jumping, she could even become lighter.

However, the more weight she reduced, the more mental energy it consumed, so He Ying didn't dare to push her abilities to the limit, fearing a repeat of the fainting incident from last time.

As a result, as they went further, the two's speed also slowed down.

They also took more frequent breaks, resting for longer periods.

It was only when the sky began to darken slightly that they barely reached the third level.

One more level remained, but it would be impossible to ascend it today, no matter what.

"Let's not continue today. Rest overnight, and tomorrow we'll make the ascent in one go," said Chen Mu.

"Right here?" He Ying asked.

Their current location was on the third level's corridor, but since the railing was closed, they couldn't see the outside view.

Chen Mu gave up on the idea of resting in a classroom since it would waste a lot of time. Making a makeshift shelter in place was the most economical choice.

"Yeah, let's find a corner against the wall and set up a tent."

As they spoke, the sky grew darker.

Chen Mu wasted no time and started to work.

To wait for He Ying, his mental energy consumption wasn't actually significant. On the contrary, when he was suspended, supporting his entire body with his right hand, he felt a bit sore.

The two quickly found a good spot.

This time, Wei Dalei wasn't with them, so Chen Mu didn't carry much material. He had initially wanted to make a tent for each person, but after experimenting, it turned out that the thickness wouldn't be enough to achieve a defensive effect.

In the end, they could only share a shelter together.

To save materials as much as possible, Chen Mu set up the tent at a corner against the wall, thus saving material on three sides.

Eventually, a flat, stainless steel box not much bigger than a coffin appeared before them. If it weren't for these materials having been reduced in weight by Lu Shanshan, Chen Mu wouldn't have been able to create this.

By this time, the sky had completely darkened.

Chen Mu estimated the time, and it should be around 8 o'clock. In the past, this was the perfect time for doing homework, watching dramas, and reading novels.

But now, with no entertainment activities or homework, people's mental lives were extremely deprived, and they could only go to sleep early.

Fortunately, they were already very tired today, so lying down would lead them to sleep.

He Ying lay down inside the steel box, and Chen Mu lay down beside her. Then, he closed the box, leaving only a dozen or so finger-sized ventilation holes.

To be honest, these conditions couldn't compare to being at home, but when you were away from home, having a safe place to sleep was already quite good. He Ying wasn't a delicate person and didn't feel too uncomfortable.

However, after lying down for a while, neither of them could fall asleep.

"You know, I feel like I have a slight fear of confinement. If I were alone, I probably wouldn't dare to sleep in such a box," He Ying said.

The distance between the two was only about one person's body length, and the height of the steel box was only enough for them to turn over; it wasn't even sufficient for them to extend their hands upward.

In such an environment, with a man and a woman of this age, it was natural for certain thoughts to arise.

Chen Mu could clearly smell He Ying's scent, and it would be dishonest to say he wasn't moved. However, for Chen Mu, in the past, he had to work hard to make a living, and now, after the apocalypse, he had to strive even harder to survive. He simply didn't have the time or qualification to think too much in this aspect.

"Should we enlarge the ventilation holes?" Chen Mu pondered for a moment, finally coming up with this response.

He Ying paused for a while before saying, "No, forget it. I'm more afraid of something crawling in."

"..."

The scene became a little awkward for a moment, and Chen Mu suddenly found himself tongue-tied, not knowing what to say.

Luckily, he was someone who usually slept well, and while he was trying to think of a topic to ease the atmosphere... he unconsciously fell asleep.

He Ying was actually waiting for Chen Mu to speak, but before long, she heard faint snoring. She was initially a bit taken aback and a little annoyed, but soon after, she couldn't help but chuckle.

Realizing that Chen Mu had fallen asleep, she felt more relaxed. She turned to the side and quickly fell asleep too.

Chen Mu was awakened by the chirping of sparrows.

The cool morning breeze blew in through the ventilation holes, and without any bedding, lying directly on the metal surface, it was a bit cold.

He flipped over, and He Ying woke up quickly too.

"Morning."

"Morning."

Chen Mu opened the steel box, and it was already half bright outside.

He didn't have Tang Jing's precise time calculation ability, but he roughly knew it was around six or seven in the morning.

After packing up the tent and putting the backpacks on again, they continued on their way.

The morning air was refreshing.

With their spirits invigorated, after resting for the whole night, He Ying had fully recovered and was again leading the way like yesterday.

Meanwhile, Chen Mu was still slow, but he never stopped climbing the stairs.

Not long after, the two finally reached the fourth level.

Chen Mu calculated that if they included yesterday's time, it took about five to six hours in total.

It was still within an acceptable range.

Teacher Wan's office for the labor and technology class was on the western side of the fourth level, while the stairs were on the east side. This meant they had to cross the entire teaching building to get to the office.

The width of Building 3 was 40 meters, not a short distance, and it would take them about an hour to walk.

Moreover, this stretch of the route was almost entirely exposed outdoors. The empty corridors of the teaching building appeared unusually wide at this moment, with no hiding place in sight.

The two walked along the wall heading west.

When passing by classrooms, they found only a few doors were open.

But even with the doors open and in broad daylight, He Ying felt an eerie feeling inside.

If something unfortunate had happened to the students and teachers on this level initially, there would probably be many bodies in those classrooms.

Thinking about this, He Ying quickened her pace.

One classroom after another, besides silence and lifelessness, Chen Mu couldn't find any other words to describe it.

The bird's chirping in the garden not only failed to dispel this silence but instead made the entire teaching building seem even more eerie and terrifying.

Both of them unconsciously hastened their steps.

Soon, they arrived at their destination.

Although this office was only used by one person, its area was the same as other offices.

Naturally, Chen Mu thought of entering through the gap under the door.

However, as he and He Ying approached, they saw that the gap, which was more than one meter wide, had been completely blocked by something.

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