The Apocalypse Shelter System

"Good brother!"

Di Ping felt a surge of warmth and heat rising in his chest, his eyes blurred with emotion, and his heart was overwhelmed.

"Swish, swish..."

The giant snake leisurely emerged, its blood-red eyes cold and merciless, as if it was looking at a stone rather than a living being. When it glanced over the two fat men, it showed clear disdain, only fixing its gaze on Di Ping behind them, seemingly disregarding these two and focusing only on the half-lying Di Ping on the ground.

Di Ping thought to himself that this might be his end. Despite carrying the golden finger, it seemed that even he couldn't escape this fate. Yet, at this moment, his heart was strangely calm, as if death wasn't something to fear. Looking at his two brothers in front of him, even though they were shaking with fear, they didn't back down. With brothers like these, what else could one desire in life?

"Come! If you want to kill Di Ge, you'll have to get through me first!"

The fat man suddenly shouted and charged at the giant snake, raising a steel bar in his hand.

"Wham!"

The snake's tail flicked with a swift motion, knocking the two-hundred-pound fat man aside effortlessly.

"Bang!"

The fat man crashed down the stairs, rolling on the grass for a moment before lying motionless, blood spurting from his mouth.

"Damn it!"

At this moment, Li Sheng saw the fat man was injured and immediately became enraged, shouting as he rushed forward.

"Wham!"

The snake flicked its tail again, sending Li Sheng crashing against the wall. Blood sprayed from his mouth, and he slid down the wall, completely unable to move. The snake didn't even look at him; its gaze was still locked on Di Ping.

"Damn! Beast! I'll take your life!"

Di Ping had initially resigned himself to death. His body was wracked with pain, yet when he saw his brothers protecting him and being thrown away by the snake, their lives uncertain, a surge of blood rushed to his head. His eyes burned with fury, gritting his teeth, and despite his battered body, he tried to rise and fight the snake. But it was futile; his injuries were too severe, and no matter how hard he tried, he collapsed back to the ground.

The snake continued to watch silently, its expression filled with even greater disdain.

"Damn it! Damn it!"

Di Ping kept trying, his blood staining the ground. His hands scraped over shards of glass, leaving deep cuts, blood pouring out, and his eyes filled with blood tears.

Ding… Congratulations, host has broken the limitations of the human body through their own efforts, awakening potential. Potential level B.

Ding… Congratulations, host has activated potential, gaining the B-level skill "Flame Enhancement."

Ding… Host has initiated the potential system and gained the system skill "Detection."

Ding… Host has already activated their potential ahead of time. Please construct a tavern to unlock the profession system and complete the class change!

While Di Ping struggled to rise and face the snake again, he suddenly felt a jolt within his body, as if something inside had been unlocked. His body instantly felt lighter, and a series of notifications echoed in his mind. It felt as though something had entered his mind and quickly merged with him, as if it had always been a part of him.

A moment later, his body shook again as a powerful energy surged up from within, spreading throughout his entire body. This energy was stronger than anything he had ever felt, causing his body to tremble in response.

Wherever the warmth flowed, his injuries rapidly healed. His skin tingled, his bones cracked, and he felt a force awakening inside of him. The warmth came quickly and left just as fast, dissipating after several seconds. But Di Ping's face lit up with joy. He couldn't believe that in this final moment, he had awakened, and not only that, the strengthening was far greater than anything he had ever experienced before. It was far beyond anything he could have imagined.

Feeling the surging power within him, Di Ping's heart was filled with intense killing intent. His eyes locked onto the giant snake, and the coldness in them seemed to pierce through the creature as though it was nothing but a lifeless object.

"Hiss, hiss!"

The giant snake seemed to sense something was off as Di Ping slowly stood. It had been planning to feast on what it saw as an easy target, but now a terrifying aura was emanating from this little creature, something it couldn't comprehend. Its instincts told it that it could no longer wait. It had to kill this "little insect" immediately. With a shrill hiss, it lunged toward Di Ping.

"Die!"

Di Ping raised his head suddenly, and in that instant, his aura erupted, surpassing any strength he had felt before. If he had previously possessed the strength of over a thousand pounds, now his power exceeded three thousand pounds. A surge of pride and rage filled his heart as he roared and punched toward the giant snake.

The snake, which was about to strike, was taken aback by the sheer intensity of Di Ping's aura.

But Di Ping didn't stop there. His punch came like a thunderclap, accompanied by the roar of wind and lightning. The snake didn't have time to react before Di Ping's fist struck its jaw with a tremendous sound. The giant snake was sent flying through the air, blood spraying from its mouth, and it tumbled through the air, as if hit by a speeding train.

Before the snake could land, Di Ping pushed off the ground with a force like lightning, shooting toward it and delivering a whip-like kick to its side, the impact so strong that it made the air itself explode with a crack.

"Boom!"

The nearly ten-meter-long snake was flung through the air, twisting as it went.

"Come again!"

Di Ping quickly closed the distance, grabbed the snake's tail, and with a powerful tug, swung it around, slamming it into the ground with all his might.

"Boom!"

The earth shook, and debris from the steps flew in every direction. The snake's blood poured out in torrents, and Di Ping grinned fiercely, swinging the snake around again and smashing it into the ground.

"Boom!"

The sounds of smashing echoed continuously, the ground trembling as if an earthquake had struck, and the snake's body was shredded and mangled.

"Di Ge!"

At that moment, a faint voice pulled Di Ping out of his fury. He looked toward the sound and saw the fat man, who had somehow managed to crawl back to the steps, leaning against them. Li Sheng was also awake, supported by Cheng Chao and Lao Luo.

"Boom!"

Di Ping tossed the dead snake aside and quickly ran over with a joyful expression.

"Fat man, Li Sheng, you're okay? That's great!" Di Ping said with deep emotion, originally thinking he had lost these two brothers, but to his surprise, they were still alive. He embraced them tightly, and tears involuntarily flowed down his face.

"Di Ge! It's our fault for being useless and not being able to help you!" The fat man said dejectedly, filled with guilt.

"What nonsense are you talking about? You're my brothers. Between brothers, there's no such thing as division!" Di Ping's face darkened as he stared at them and reprimanded.

"Cheng Ge, Lao Luo, where did you two go? I thought you were eaten by this beast!" Di Ping asked, noticing that Cheng Chao and Lao Luo were both standing before him, unscathed.

"Di Ge! After you guys left, I found a huge snake skin in a broken glass box, and there were a few enormous snake eggs underneath it. I realized it might be the snake's nest!" Cheng Chao said, his face still showing signs of fear, glancing over at the bloodied giant snake before continuing.

"It scared me at the time, and I quickly wanted to warn Lao Luo and leave to notify you guys!"

At this point, it seemed like he had been shaken by the experience, his face paled, and he took a deep breath before continuing.

"When we were about to leave, we heard the sound of hissing from the grass, and the grass was shaking violently. Before we could react, a giant snake's head emerged from the grass and saw us."

As Cheng Chao spoke, his voice trembled, clearly still shaken by the fear, while Lao Luo also seemed equally frightened, his lips turning purple and his body shaking.

"Then what happened? Where did you two go?" Di Ping asked, patting their shoulders as they slowly regained their composure.

"We were terrified. We couldn't get out in time, so I had the idea to hide in the cold storage. I dragged Lao Luo inside," Cheng Chao said, wiping the sweat from his brow as he spoke with excitement.

"The snake saw us and charged in. It crashed into the glass door, shattering it." Cheng Chao glanced at the broken glass on the floor.

At that moment, Di Ping realized that the glass door had been shattered because of that.

"Fortunately, the door blocked it. Lao Luo and I closed the cold storage door just in time. The snake charged at us, but the hole I had sealed earlier kept it from getting in. Otherwise, we would have been in big trouble today!" Cheng Chao said with a sigh.

"Inside, we only dared to come out after hearing Di Ge call us. But once we came out, this happened!" Lao Luo added, his face still showing some regret. "We couldn't help at all and ended up getting you all injured."

"Haha! I told you, we're brothers. Don't worry about it too much!" Di Ping laughed heartily and patted the two of them on the back to comfort them.

"Let's go, check out this big guy! Fat man, can you two get up?" Di Ping looked at the fat man who was still half-lying on the steps, his tone concerned.

"I can get up. This dead snake is strong, but luckily, I'm built tough!" The fat man spat out some blood and grumbled as he slowly stood up, supporting himself on the steps.

Li Sheng seemed to have suffered serious injuries, his body soft and limp, supported by Cheng Chao and Lao Luo. He weakly said to Di Ping, "Di Ge, I'm fine. I just need to rest for a bit."

Di Ping let them support Li Sheng as they walked toward the giant snake's corpse, and surprisingly, the fat man managed to lift his leg and follow along. Though his steps were a little unsteady, Di Ping stopped worrying, his gaze shifting to the dead snake on the ground.

Suddenly, an information prompt appeared in front of Di Ping's eyes. He thought to himself, "Could this be the system skill Detection?"

"Mutated Umi Snake: Bloodline Rank: Low, Talent Skill: None, Strengthening Rank: First Tier, Second Level, Skill: Lightning Tail Strike"

"Could this be the snake's information? This Detection skill is actually quite useful! In the future, I'll be able to see information about mutated beasts and not have to fumble in the dark without knowing anything." Di Ping carefully examined the information, secretly glad for the skill.

"Lightning Tail Strike... no wonder this dead snake's tail was so fast, you couldn't dodge it at all. If my potential hadn't activated at the critical moment, I would have definitely been a goner!" Di Ping thought with a sense of relief.

"Brother, are you sure you're not a gorilla?" The fat man asked with a look of terror, staring at the disfigured body of the snake.

"Damn fat man, just wait!" Di Ping gritted his teeth. This fat man was becoming more and more disrespectful, calling him a gorilla. It looked like he needed to teach him a lesson.

"Hey, hey! Di Ge, I was wrong! I'm the injured one!" The fat man quickly pretended to be pitiful, acting like an injured lamb when he saw Di Ping's face darken.

"Go away! Stop disgusting me!" Di Ping said helplessly, clearly fed up with the shameless fat man.