Chapter 3 The Woman in Pajamas
Sienna Gray stopped cursing abruptly as she saw a huge 6.5-foot diameter Roulette appear in the spacious kitchen.
Sienna asked, "What is this?"
By the standards of a typical civilized society, Sienna could be considered a standard Strong-willed woman.
This was evident from the fact that she didn't hide or immediately call for help upon seeing William enter.
She was so confident because of the two months she spent learning women's self-defense techniques and her trust in the security of the Oasis Luxury community.
There had been incidents where burglars who attempted break-ins here were left half-dead by the security guards.
Of course, William's appearance also made her rest assured slightly.
William murmured. "The Doomsday Roulette."
William reached out to touch the Roulette's exquisite surface.
Although he had miraculously been reborn, encountering this object again in his new life brought forth an indescribable mix of emotions, such as relief, hope, anger, weariness, and attachment. It was so complex that even he couldn't describe it.
The Doomsday Roulette was the foundation of human survival in the post-apocalyptic world. In the previous era of the apocalypse, those who first mastered the use of the Roulette became the first powerful individuals to rise. Ten years later, some of these individuals had become unparalleled powerhouses, controlling the devastated Earth like kings with absolute authority surpassing that of any leader in the civilized era. They were kings, possessing strong control within their territories.
Their immense power was derived from the various levels of Doomsday Roulettes.
In the previous life, it took William three months after the apocalypse to meet the first Doomsday Roulette and realize that such objects still existed in the world, offering hope for becoming stronger.
It took him another three months to gather five First-Level Magic Crystals to spin the Roulette. However, he found that most Roulettes were already occupied. Want to spin? Sure, but it required him to trade Magic Crystals. Even if he did trade them, there was a high chance of being killed if he landed on something good. The reward that should have been yours would become someone else's spoils of war.
The apocalypse was far more brutal than one could imagine.
It wasn't until a year later that William was fortunate enough to join a small organization, gaining an opportunity to spin the Roulette and embark on his journey to become stronger, eventually evolving into a Six-Star powerhouse.
Even after becoming powerful, finding a safe Roulette to spin required great luck and significant sacrifices.
It could be said that the Doomsday Roulette was the most valuable resource in the apocalypse!
Almost every survivor camp was built around a Doomsday Roulette.
One of the first and greatest benefits of his rebirth was that William remembered the locations of many Roulettes. The one in Oasis Luxury was the closest First-Level Roulette to him.
Looking at the Roulette before him with its ten evenly divided sections, William finally felt at ease. With this Roulette, he could become one of the first to possess power and then rely on his experience and memory to grow rapidly.
In the center of the circular Roulette was a gray gemstone shaped like a water droplet, the hallmark of a First-Level Roulette. A Roulette with pure white gemstones would be Second-Level. If the color of the gemstone turned black, it indicated a Third-Level Roulette. Even ten years later, locations with Third-Level Roulettes and above remained the most fiercely contested areas.
Squinting, William looked at the ten rewards represented by the ten sections of the First-Level Doomsday Roulette, one of which excited him greatly.
A One-Star enhancement potion!
A potion that could double or triple a normal person's physical attributes.
This was arguably the best reward in a First-Level Roulette.
In the previous apocalypse, William had landed him this reward from the first spin of the Roulette, which began to grow stronger continuously. He could hardly imagine what his life would have been like if he hadn't been lucky enough to receive this reward on his first try.
"Do you know what this is, right?"
Sienna, clad in pink pajamas, finally snapped out of her shock and looked at William with a determined expression.
Glancing at the woman, who was both beautiful and well-built, William even harbored a slight hope that she would turn into a zombie soon so he could eliminate her and gain a First-Level Magic Crystal. With four more, he could spin the Roulette once more.
However, as he pondered, William suddenly felt something amiss. He instinctively looked at the metal platform beneath the Roulette, which stood at 1.6 feet high, and noticed seven gray-white grooves!
Seven!
That was two more than the usual five grooves on a First-Level Roulette!
William knew exactly what this meant! In this Roulette, there was something of greater value than the average reward for a First-Level Roulette!
The number of Magic Crystals required to activate a Doomsday Roulette varied with its level, but each had a minimum and maximum requirement. For instance, as far as William knew, a First-Level Roulette could be spun with as few as two Magic Crystals or as many as twelve, with most requiring five.
Roulettes that could be spun with two First-Level Magic Crystals usually offered poor-quality rewards, typically just supplies, never a One-Star enhancement potion. As the required Magic Crystals increased, the rewards improved. It was said that a First-Level Roulette requiring twelve Magic Crystals for a spin might offer a basic control skill, a feature usually found only in Second-Level Roulettes!
This First-Level Doomsday Roulette required seven First-Level Magic Crystal for a spin, clearly indicating superior average rewards!
William quickly looked at the ten rewards again. Besides the One-Star enhancement potion, there were also patterns of a 5.4 pistol, a short crossbow, a medical kit, four cans of fruit with different flavors, six bottles of mineral water, a large pack of chewing gum, a coffee pattern, and a bottle of honey.
Lastly, there was a pattern that excited William inexplicably!
A card!
It was a card only displaying the pattern of a Lucky Function Card!
The name of this type of card immediately popped into William's mind.
The Lucky Function Card was a type of skill card that randomly provided special abilities, such as a vision card that enhanced sight, a perception card that heightened senses, or a pet card that granted a monstrous companion, and so on.
Some Doomsday Roulettes would offer these function cards. The higher the level of the Roulette, the better the abilities of these function cards. Before his rebirth, the captain of the team William was in had obtained a Lucky Function Card from spinning a Fourth-Level Roulette, gaining the skill of Petrified Skin, which made his skin as hard as rock, effectively protecting his internal organs and significantly increasing his chances of surviving dangerous encounters. He had hunted many high-level monsters and acquired numerous high-level Magic Crystals thanks to this skill.
And now, a Lucky Function Card was right in front of William, and he wanted it badly.
Glancing at the time, William knew that in a few minutes, those without innate antibodies in their bodies would undergo a transformation, becoming zombies with only a sense of hunger. This was a selection process for humanity, far from fair. It all depended on each person's innate luck.
William was undoubtedly lucky. He had antibodies in his body that wouldn't turn into a zombie during the first major transformation.
Subconsciously, William looked at the pretty woman beside him, who was curiously observing the Roulette. He wondered whether she was lucky or unlucky.
Perhaps it was the somewhat malicious look in William's eyes that made the woman in pajamas wary. She took two cautious steps back, turning and running out in her slippers. William shook his head slightly. If she was unlucky later on, the outcome would be the same wherever she went. If she was lucky and didn't transform, at least she would have a better chance of survival indoors. Going outside? It would turn into a hellish place soon, and going out would be seeking death.
Thinking back, in his previous life, William had stayed holed up in the building he rented for a month after the disaster, surviving on minimal food and water each day. Only when he had no other choice did he venture out. By then, the most chaotic period had passed, but the outdoors remained dangerous, where one wrong move could make him someone's meal, whether by zombie monsters or fellow humans.
However, half a minute later, the woman returned, looking pale and seemingly shocked by something unbelievable.
"Do you... do you know what's happening? You've been calm all along, showing surprise at this strange Roulette. You drove into the community and straight to my door with a clear purpose, so you must know what's going on!"
As she spoke, her voice trembled, indicating extreme emotional instability. Yet, what impressed William was that even in this state, she still had sharp observational skills. Not everyone, especially women, could notice so many details in a sudden situation.
"What's your name?"
William smiled and suddenly got interested in her. Perhaps if she mutated later, he could help bury her if he was in a good mood and erect a gravestone for her.
"Sienna."
William was surprised slightly and looked at the woman in pajamas with a gaze as if he were looking at a monster.
He asked, "You said what?"