Lu Yu rummaged through the kitchen for ages before finding a small bag of rice in the corner.

It had been over a month since he last cooked rice, so this bag had been spared. Once cooked, he mixed it with whatever ham sausages, eggs, and chili powder he could find, and whipped up a pan of ham and egg fried rice.

Eating the ham and egg fried rice while scrolling through his phone, he hoped to order some food online.

Recently, especially after breaking through to the Iron Bone Realm, his Spiritual Power could replace the energy required for daily bodily functions, making Lu Yu hardly feel hungry.

However, Lu Yu wanted to maintain his passive ability to quickly recover Qi Blood, so he still needed to eat to replenish substances and store energy.

The hunger he barely felt almost re-emerged after three days without logging off, then he remembered to eat. Otherwise, eating was just to satisfy cravings, not to fill his belly.

Looking at the screen showing all the stores sold out, Lu Yu felt uneasy. Was it possible he couldn't buy food?

After checking for a long time, Lu Yu found a store still selling grain, but the price had surged four to five times. A 50-pound bag of rice was over 400 yuan, with purchase limits—each person could only buy one bag.

Lu Yu was speechless. He had only stayed in the game for three days, why did it feel like three months had passed in reality, even grain was so scarce?

After eating, Lu Yu went to the balcony and dialed Fei Yuqing's number, overlooking the street below.

"Bzz~ Bzz~ Bzz~" The dial tone sounded.

The street was almost devoid of pedestrians. Occasionally, one might pass hurriedly, without a hint of lingering.

"Hello, what's up?" Fei Yuqing answered the call, sounding a bit weary.

"What happened these three days..." Lu Yu asked.

International turmoil had basically halted trade a month ago, and foreign-produced goods within Hua Country had been virtually depleted, especially grain and oil food products.

Online goods were mostly off the shelves, with offline supplies from grain reserves and cold storage still providing some support. Despite rationing, one could still manage to live.

What's worse is that demonic sightings appeared in regions outside the cities, especially in deep forests, making this year's autumn harvest uncertain.

If the harvest can't proceed to replenish the granaries, food scarcity will become a significant issue.

When Lu Yu entered the game, it was roughly June. Now having spent two months in the game, two months have also passed in reality, it's mid-August, about a month and a half away from the harvest.

Following the current trend of demonic corruption, if it can't be reversed, in a month and a half, the food in the fields might be contaminated.

Many small countries already abandoned most cities, heavily guarding a few major ones, establishing base cities built around Holy Light. Without Holy Light's protection, ordinary cities can't withstand demonic Qi invasion.

Though Eagle Alliance has many strong fighters, Lucifer's blow to it was severe, and internal disputes over so-called freedom persist, making domestic situations bleak.

Players with significant powers, backed by conglomerates, sought rights to independently manage regions or even cities. Yet when faced with Fallen Angels' attacks, they did nothing.

Only when absolutely necessary did they unite to attack the Fallen Angels. So far, Lucifer had attacked twelve Eagle Alliance cities and attempted to establish three demonic dens.

All three demonic dens were destroyed by Eagle Alliance fighters, but the cost was the destruction of those three cities and citizens left homeless.

The Eagle Alliance doesn't ban guns, so citizens have private firearms, providing slight resistance against demonic threats. But against unkillable demons, guns only delay.

Overall, Hua Country's situation is currently the most stable.

Although supplies started being rationed, at least there's no life threat... Most city dwellers face no threat to life.

Apart from fewer people wandering about, commerce runs, schools hold classes, and factories continue processing—at least in Blue Sea City, things haven't halted.

Learning recent changes from Fei Yuqing, Lu Yu couldn't help but reflect on the rapid shifts in life, like fleeting clouds.

Simultaneously, he learned there's a place to obtain food, though it's currently sealed off.

Blue Sea City's western suburbs warehouse district, the city's largest warehouse for storing goods, used to have relentless traffic daily. Now, apart from a few areas, the entire district is officially sealed.

Here has become the nest for those demonized cockroaches; the vast materials stored in the west suburbs warehouse serve as those cockroaches' food, used for fast reproduction of offspring and energy.

When Lu Yu arrived, he felt the air in this area was suffused with demonic Qi.

Ordinary people moving in this region would soon be contaminated by demonic Qi, significantly lowering their condition, and upon leaving, even using exorcism charms would feel like recovering from a severe illness.

Staying longer would make the sensation of weakness disappear quickly, experiencing a rebound effect, as if consuming the Strength Pill, becoming immensely strong, starting the demonic transformation.

The shift from extreme weakness to extreme strength marks the critical point of demonic transformation.

But when Lu Yu arrived, he noticed many 'ordinary people' entering and exiting the sealed area. Upon exiting, these people underwent 'decontamination' at the exit.

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