Louis lowered his gaze to the black bundle at his feet. Because it had not been tied tightly, bright red liquid could now be seen continuously seeping out. Clearly, this was a life that had already reached eternal death.
However, what caught Louis's attention even more was the energy emanating from whatever lay inside the black bundle.
In his eyes, it appeared as a dazzling stream of black smoke. This was certainly not an ordinary creature. Whatever it was, it had consciousness, and even after death, the resentment it released was still almost tangibly present before Louis, manifesting as those wisps of black smoke.
It was obvious that this creature had been brutally treated while it was alive.
If this were Louis's previous world, perhaps this creature could have relied on that resentment to cultivate.
But this world was still far too immature. Its energy was weak, and the resentment of this creature would soon dissipate. It would eventually become nothing more than a small, decaying corpse lying in the middle of the road. Passersby would at most shake their heads in disgust at the stench, unable to do anything else.
Yet it had fallen right in front of Louis.
Louis lowered his eyes slightly. He bent down and directly picked up the black bundle that was still dripping blood, then slowly made his way back to his home.
He entered the bathroom and only then began to open the black bundle. Immediately, the dismembered body parts of a creature resembling a cat appeared before his eyes.
Perhaps it really was a cat, a black cat. Its head had been severed, its limbs were no exception, and even its torso had been cut in half. The knife used by the assailant did not seem particularly sharp, only capable of smashing the flesh and bones of this small cat, causing some of its internal organs to spill out.
Fresh blood continued to flow, and the cat's eyes were not even closed, staring wide open as if they were "looking" straight at Louis.
This cat had encountered a terrible owner, an animal abuser.
Of course, Louis would not suddenly pick up a corpse for no reason. The resentment of this cat was far too strong, and he had another way to let it live again, by relying on the hatred within its mind.
Louis directly cut open his own wrist. Fresh blood streamed down, but he paid it no mind as he swiftly drew a magic circle on the bathroom floor with his blood.
The cat's corpse was carefully rearranged and laid out neatly, resting at the very center of the circle.
Louis's blood soaked into its fur and skin, into its flesh and bone. The sheer amount of blood he lost made even Louis feel slightly dizzy, yet he did not stop.
Only when the final line was completed did the entire circle and its patterns suddenly flare up with a purple-black glow, rising upright like a faint pillar of light.
The black smoke that had existed only in Louis's eyes was now completely exposed. It writhed and gathered into a twisted shape, and it was clearly baring its teeth at Louis in extreme fury.
Louis could not be bothered to care.
This thing would drink his blood to reclaim life, while also strengthening its own intellect. By the time it opened its eyes once more, it would no longer be an ordinary animal, but a being capable of thought, capable of understanding this world through the information contained in Louis's blood.
In exchange, a blood contract would be formed. This would become a loyal servant of Louis in the future.
However, carrying this out was extremely harsh. Not only did it require Louis to provide enough blood, it also required the creature itself to possess sufficient resentment to endure this long and painful process.
"Whether you can survive or not depends entirely on you, little cat."
Louis spoke softly, then slowly stood up. Because of the excessive blood loss, his head inevitably spun and his vision darkened.
He swayed slightly, then quickly regained his balance, bracing himself against the wall as he slowly walked out.
Looking at the bowl of noodles on the table that had no taste at all, Louis still expressionlessly forced himself to swallow everything before sitting down on the bed.
The curtains were not drawn. Moonlight streamed in through the window, faint yet enough to make Louis feel comfortable.
Although the energy of this world was not abundant, at least there was moonlight.
Darkness and moonlight were the best conditions for Louis to cultivate. The energy was far too weak right now for him to accumulate anything, but it was still enough to replenish a bit of the blood within his body.
Early the next morning, when the moonlight had only just begun to fade and the clock had only just struck three a.m., Louis suddenly opened his eyes. He let out a long breath, then closed the window and slowly lay back down on the bed.
Later that morning, Louis dressed in black, put on a mask and sunglasses, and wrapped himself up tightly before heading out.
Yesterday, he had been browsing the internet and saw someone listing a closed-down factory for sale.
The area was neither too large nor too small, just right to serve as a transfer point for goods before Louis moved them into his space.
When the factory owner saw that the buyer was such a young man, he could not help feeling surprised. However, noticing that Louis did not want to chat much, he simply smiled and exchanged a few polite words before moving straight on to negotiating the price and completing the payment. Everything was handled swiftly and cleanly.
Louis went inside to look the factory over, confirming that there were no cameras or any unusual disturbances.
After that, he set out to buy water.
Water was an indispensable resource under any circumstances, especially in a harsh world like the apocalypse.
Louis had, of course, considered drawing water from that lake to drink, but he had not tested it yet and could not be sure he could consume it without any problems. For now, it was better to buy clean water outside.
In the end, Louis purchased four large water storage tanks along with two hundred regular bottles of water. All of it was delivered to the factory address he had chosen in advance.
This amount would do for now. His space was still shrouded in a great deal of mist, and he needed to reserve room for planting as well as for storing other items.
Louis then went to markets selling processed food and clothing. He bought an especially large amount of clothes. After all, when the time came, he would not be able to wash them, so the more he bought, the better.
A busy day came to an end just like that. Louis returned, put everything he had acquired that day into his space, and only then went back home.
During the day, the seeds he had ordered online were finally delivered. When he went to the farm today, he had also obtained many different kinds of vegetable seeds. Tomorrow, he could try planting them all at once.
Even better, he had caught a great many bees. They were now flying about inside his space.
Louis went into the bathroom. Everything was exactly the same as before, unchanged in the slightest.
Louis was not in a hurry to give the little cat his blood.
Before that…
Louis suddenly opened his eyes and saw that the scene before him was still a sky filled with brilliant daylight, yet it was not overly dazzling.
Inside the Inner Realm, it was always daytime. The clear pond before him showed no change at all.
At this moment, Louis's body was completely naked. Without the slightest hesitation, he jumped in, tightly shutting his eyes and allowing the pain to invade him once more.
Today, he would try to stay down there longer than yesterday.
No matter how painful the process was, it could not be denied that his body was continuously "shedding" and transforming. This was a good thing.
Three minutes passed. The once calm surface of the water suddenly became turbulent. A hand stretched out of the pond, gripping the rock on the shore, and then Louis emerged as well.
He focused his thoughts, and in the blink of an eye, he appeared back in his bathroom. His body trembled as he collapsed onto the floor, thick black mucus still dripping from him.
Louis gritted his teeth and staggered to his feet, quickly using water to wash himself clean. That rancid, fishy stench was truly unbearable.