At this critical moment, the zombies instinctively feared the mutant zombie and didn’t dare approach the ongoing battle between the two. Instead, they all converged towards Building No. 7 upon sensing any human activity.
Fu Erdie reluctantly got up again with the support of the ivy, making her way to the room on the second floor where the succulents were kept.
The succulents greeted her happily, but Fu Erdie just touched their fleshy leaves and went to the window to look down.
The residential area consisted of twelve buildings, each housing at least two to three hundred zombies. With Building No. 7 and Building No. 6 cleared of zombies, there were still around two to three thousand remaining.
There didn’t seem to be any other survivors in the rest of the residential area at the moment, so these zombies were solely focused on the slightest hint of human activity. Fu Erdie angrily smashed a glass bottle towards the direction of the community gate, but the zombies were still fixated on her human scent, rushing towards Building No. 7 eagerly.
Fu Erdie thought for a moment and instructed the ivy, “The flowerbeds around the building are all covered by your roots, but you’re still not strong enough to be stepped on. Your task is to wrap the zombies’ heads with leaves as much as possible and release your corrosive fluid directly into their eyes. If you can’t finish dealing with them, it’s okay to let the zombies inside. You only need to focus on attacking the outer perimeter while protecting yourself.”
She then looked towards the vines extending to the first floor, particularly the agile ones that could detach themselves like cucumber or tomato vines, and said, “You guys on the first floor, your job is to entangle the zombies’ feet, tying knots around them. Whether it’s tying the left foot to the right foot of a zombie or tying one zombie’s foot to another’s, it doesn’t matter. The goal is to create as many knots as possible to trip them over.”
After finishing her instructions, Fu Erdie turned her gaze to the dandelions.
Dandelions were the most delicate and smallest in size among her plant companions. Unlike the others, they spread seeds extensively from the 24th floor to the first floor, not rooting but sowing seeds widely.
A single dandelion could produce hundreds of seeds that could easily be carried away by the wind, germinating within an hour and growing back if blown away again.
Ordinary seeds had difficulty surviving in the contaminated soil of the apocalypse. However, those inheriting the mother plant’s traits and mutant genes would choose to take flight on their own, circling back to grow in the most suitable environment around Building No. 7, rooting in corners.
These dandelions possessed inherent wind attributes and could cooperate with each other.
To Fu Erdie, the dandelions were currently the only plant companions with mutant abilities.
“You can manipulate the seeds with the wind direction to target the zombies’ eyes, ears, and noses. Pre-coat the seeds with corrosive liquid; once inside the zombies, they corrode them from within. Of course, if there are mutant dandelions among this batch of seeds, they should sprout on the spot, feeding on the zombies as nutrients and growing directly from within.”
As for the other plant companions,
“You are the main force in striking the zombies. Just like before when a few of your companions obstructed the zombies, you must exert your utmost strength and quickly twist the zombies’ necks.”
“This time it’s not just twenty or thirty zombies, but two to three thousand. We can’t afford to be careless; we must be well-prepared to defend our home.”
Fu Erdie lowered her gaze, “No, actually, you are protecting me. Zombies won’t harm you; they will only come for me. So please, I’m counting on you!”
With that, she steadied her ankle and slowly stood up straight, deeply bowing to her companions.
“Please help me and take care of yourselves too!”
The companions, who had been obediently listening moments ago, now crowded around Fu Erdie, touching and patting her.
They say plants and trees are emotionless, devoid of warmth. Yet Fu Erdie could feel their pure, unadulterated affection, devoid of any impurities, and an intense warmth within.
“They are the best companions! And they are truly helping me unconditionally!”
After instructing the “battle plan,” the outermost ivy had already begun encountering the zombies.
The ivy now had leaves that could be large or small, with the largest ones as big as banana leaves.
It extended its leaves, swatting directly at the zombies’ faces, easily knocking them around.
It was like a kindergarten classmate with outstanding learning abilities. Initially following Fu Erdie’s instructions to wrap up the zombies and release corrosive fluids, after enveloping over a dozen zombies, it began to understand the pattern. Instead of wasting time wrapping them up, it would strike with its leaves and seize the opportunity to apply corrosive fluid directly into the zombies’ eyes.
The front-line zombies were beginning to get confused, spinning in place, while those behind were blocked and couldn’t advance. They pushed forward, causing a zombie trampling incident.
The ivy, following Fu Erdie’s instructions, had its root system intact without being exposed or trampled. However, many of its branches and leaves were damaged in the pushing and shoving.
Although the ivy didn’t feel pain, re-growing its foliage would require time and energy.
It needed to release corrosive fluid, consuming zombies for energy while re-growing its branches and leaves to continue blocking them.
Dealing with two to three thousand zombies was overwhelming. Each strand of ivy could barely cover one zombie’s head and eyes, pushing it to its limit. Many more branches and leaves hadn’t even reached that height before being trampled.
Fu Erdie quickly directed, “Change the strategy. Outer ivy, aim to sever the zombies’ Achilles’ heels as much as possible, not their heads. Ivy on the first and second floors, grow along the walls about two meters off the ground and ensnare the zombies’ heads.”
The ivy obediently followed these instructions, reducing the rate of leaf and branch breakage significantly.
Moreover, ivy extending from the walls around the perimeter made it much easier to attack the zombies, no longer struggling to avoid being trampled. They simply hung their leaves at a height of one and a half to two meters, waiting for the zombies to pass by and blind them.
This approach yielded better results with less effort.
Other companions also followed suit, dangling their branches and corroding the zombies.
This corrosion wasn’t as effective as completely enveloping the zombies, but it was efficient and highly disruptive.
Shorter zombies or those who didn’t clash with the mutated plants passed beneath layers of leaves.
They successfully reached the interior of Building No. 7’s ground floor entrance, facing various entwining vine tendrils.
Lacking intelligence, the zombies found the path difficult, not intentionally avoiding obstacles or clearing the way. They continued pushing forward blindly into the building.
The zombies continued to press forward, stepping over fallen comrades and becoming entangled themselves, tripping over.
The roots and branches of the sorghum within the group were relatively sturdy.
Instead of snapping the zombies’ necks, it quietly emerged from the ground, infiltrating through the weakest points like the zombies’ eyes, invading their brains and disrupting their thoughts.
While it didn’t result in head explosions, it achieved a similar effect.
More and more zombies entered the ground floor. The cucumber and tomato tendrils at the bottom were buried and couldn’t be drawn out.
They abandoned these parts of the tendrils, starting anew with the next layer of zombie tendrils, reweaving them into nets and knots. This still managed to trip up some zombies, but it wasn’t as effective as the initial ambush with the earlier tendrils.
As a result, some zombies made it to the second floor.
The second floor housed a mutated plant entity: succulents.
As one of the first mutated plants, succulents appeared average compared to the dominating ivy, gardenia, and spider plant.
Slow-moving and clumsy, its bulky body only retained its pleasing appearance.
— Of course, regarding this attractiveness, the gardenia didn’t agree; it believed itself to be the most attractive.
Although not as formidable, its defensive capabilities were substantial, akin to a shield for Building No. 7.
Its root system was tough enough to withstand zombies stomping on it.
Once, with succulents’ consent, Fu Erdie personally stepped on it and discovered that despite only recently developing its roots, they were as hard as those of decades-old trees outside, almost like stone.
Other kindergarten children were softer and weaker, needing their root systems to be handled with care.
Regarding this, succulents stated: if it could be stomped on and broken, it would concede defeat.
It blocked the entrance on the second floor, rolling and entangling the approaching zombie corpses, then with a few crisp bone-crunching sounds, twisting them into grotesque shapes, utterly destroying them.
Layer by layer of plant defence, out of two thousand zombies, not a single one managed to reach Fu Erdie and the succulent’s room.
The only one that managed to climb up did so from outside the building, stepping on the piled-up zombie bodies to barely reach the second floor.
Most of the zombies that it stepped on were still alive, but their eyes were corroded by the mutant plant’s corrosive fluid, compounded by the pushing and trampling, they were stacked layer by layer.
However, they could move. The zombies outside the seventh building were piled up like a small mountain and would collapse.
So, this time, neither Fu Erdie nor the succulent needed to intervene. As soon as it showed its head, it fell again because it did not step firmly and turned into one of the struggling corpses in the group.
Fu Erdie looked around, relieved, and resumed watching the battle between the ability holder and the mutant zombie.
Although she couldn’t see their specific movements, she could only see their intense clashes and attack trajectories. However, she could be sure that the ability holder had the ability to levitate objects or control metal.
He could shoot various metals into the zombies from thin air. Even if his gun ran out of bullets, he could remotely manipulate discarded bullets to shoot at the zombies.
And these manipulated bullets had an attack power even stronger than regular bullets.
Bullets shot from guns couldn’t penetrate the zombie’s defenses, but the bullets he manipulated could.
However, after repeated use, the bullets gradually wore down and shattered, eventually becoming unusable. He mainly used the surrounding bullets to create distractions, but the primary weapon was his fists.
Fu Er Die thought that since the apocalypse began, her worldview had been somewhat shaken.
How is it that now, an ability user’s fists are even stronger than metal?
What exactly is this ability user’s power, and how many abilities does he have?
Dragging her increasingly inflamed and swollen leg, Fu Er Die quickly collected all the metal she could find on the second floor and returned to the window.
“Catch!”
She didn’t wait for the ability user’s response and forcefully threw all kinds of pots, pans, and scrap metal out the window.
The months of training, along with the physical enhancements brought on by the house’s stimuli, were fully displayed at this moment.
She threw these items one by one into the battlefield, and despite the seventy or eighty meters of distance, she managed to throw them more than halfway by leveraging the height advantage.
The ability user seemed to glance in her direction before quickly turning and moving to a spot about thirty to forty meters from Building 7, where Fu Er Die was located.
—This was also the maximum distance Fu Er Die could throw things.
Fu Er Die understood his intention and realized that she had guessed correctly.
She quickly continued searching for more metal objects, and every ten minutes, she would return to throw something.
Whether it was tools like axes and hammers or damaged locks and metal mirror frames, in the ability user’s hands, they all became lethal weapons.
When a weapon was smashed to pieces against the powerful zombie, he would simply use a new tool.
Now that she was closer, Fu Er Die finally noticed that the man wasn’t fighting the zombie bare-handed. He was wearing iron finger rings on his fingers and had iron bracers strapped to his forearms.
It seemed that his ability could enhance and reinforce these tools, allowing him to engage in close combat with the powerful zombie.
Fu Er Die scoured the entire building, even removing the hinges from some cabinet doors and tossing them to the ability user as tools.
Finally, just as Fu Er Die started dismantling the refrigerator, wondering how far she could throw its heavy door, the zombie’s hard head was finally smashed open.
They won…
They won!
Fu Erdie’s eyes shimmered with tears, almost cheering aloud. She waved silently at the ability holder from afar, applauding him with her actions.
The ability holder, oh, there are good ability holders in this world too!
Not everyone is like those from before, using their mutant powers to violently threaten ordinary people.
She was happy, considering whether to pull him into Building 7.
But before she could come to a conclusion, the ability holder who had been in good condition just moments ago collapsed on the ground, lying dead in place.
And every inch of his skin began to bleed profusely, turning him into a bloody mess in an instant.
Fu Erdie: …?
The zombies who were still approaching Building 7: …
The intimidating aura that made them fear the mutant zombie disappeared, replaced instead by the very enticing scent of human blood.
This scent was richer, more alluring, and easier to obtain.
So the zombies turned around, beginning to converge towards the esper.
Fu Erdie’s heart tightened.
He was only about thirty to forty meters away from Building 7.
These zombies, who could now walk normally like humans, could surround him in half a minute and tear the mutant into shreds.
What to do?
Abandon him?
But he had just saved her.
Should she try to save him in return? How?
Fu Erdie made a bold decision, scratching her arm on a sharp corner of the exterior wall outside the window.
A huge scratch, twenty centimeters long, oozing with fresh blood.
She extended her arm and shouted loudly, “Come! I’m here! Come eat me!!”
It had been a long time since she had spoken so loudly, and her voice was strained and hoarse with nervousness.
…
Her actions indeed caught the attention of the zombies.
Fu Erdie bled profusely, the blood dripping down the second-floor window ledge and into the pile of zombies below, stimulating their appetite greatly.
As a result, all of them, driven by their hunger, rushed towards the ability holder who was clearly bleeding more.
Fu Erdie: …
Seeing the front line of zombies only twenty meters away from the man, Fu Erdie made a decisive move. She raised her hand and picked up the potato seedling she liked to sit in the basin with, which had been following her movements. She leaped from the second floor and rolled over the meat shields of the zombies below, moving at twice the speed of ordinary zombies towards the ability holder.
During this, she felt a flash of green brush past and tug at the potato seedling.
She didn’t have time to pay attention and sprinted towards where the mutant was. When she reached him, she hoisted the man over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes and headed straight for Building 6.
Building 6 had been cleared of zombies earlier and was the second safest place in the neighbourhood after their own Building 7.
With one hand holding the mutant and the other carrying the basin with the potato seedling, she surprisingly outpaced the zombies and rushed into Building 6, slamming the decaying door shut behind her.
There was an unlocked iron chain nearby, and without hesitation, Fu Erdie wrapped it around the door handle and bolted upstairs.
Her ankle was giving out, unable to support her much longer. She could only run as many floors as she could.
Suddenly, her fingers were hooked by a small branch.
Amidst her frantic escape, she glanced briefly and saw that the small potato seedling had somehow wrapped around a few cylindrical, enormous leaves of a large green vine.
Fu Erdie paused. “Is the vine helping you?”
The potato seedling nodded.
Fu Erdie quickly understood the vine’s intent. In the past, when Fu Erdie was injured fighting zombies, she would come back and receive treatment from the building. The vine didn’t have healing abilities, but it would press against her wounds very gently. Over time, whether stimulated by the building’s environment or tainted by her blood, after consuming blood like a snack, the vine slowly acquired the ability to absorb blood and effectively stop bleeding by adhering to wounds on her body.
It must have been thinking that without it by Fu Erdie’s side, no one would help her and the ability holder stop the bleeding.
“Thank you, Potato Seedling. And thank you, Green ivy.”
She paused to catch her breath.
Green ivy was so clever.
In just a few seconds, it saw her decision and immediately offered support.
Very impressive, this little guy.
Fu Erdie suddenly chuckled. “Looks like Green ivy has graduated from kindergarten without me realizing it. It’s become a very, very capable little fellow.”
She set the ability user down and began stripping off his clothes.
When she started undressing him, she didn’t think about anything other than the simple need to cover his body with the large leaves of the green vine to stop the bleeding and to mask his strong scent, which could easily attract zombies.
But as her hands moved further, Fu Er Die couldn’t help but blush.
There was so much blood that she couldn’t see his muscle definition, but as she applied the leaves, she couldn’t help noticing that everything was shaped as it should be… Round where it should be round, hollow where it should be hollow, and large where it should be… Stop!
She kept telling herself that she wasn’t taking advantage of him; she was just tending to his wounds, an emergency response in a critical situation.
The inappropriate thoughts had to be banished from her mind.
As she continued, she tried her best to avoid certain areas while fashioning a makeshift grass skirt for him.
There weren’t enough leaves. She barely managed to cover him with the green vine’s leaves, so there was nothing left for her own arm wound.
The potato vine reached out to press on Fu Er Die’s wound, as if to say it could help too.
Fu Er Die smiled, “Can I take a couple of your leaves?”
The potato vine “nodded.”
So, Fu Er Die symbolically placed the leaves over her wound, then let down the sleeves she had rolled up to work, wrapping the leaves and the wound together, barely masking the scent of blood.
After finishing this, she threw the ability user’s blood-stained clothes down the stairs, luring the zombies around to the back of the building to tear at the clothes, and then continued to carry him and the flower pot upstairs.
By the time she reached the tenth floor, Fu Er Die could go no further.
She found a relatively clean corner, gently set the ability user down, and collapsed, exhausted, beside him.
She placed the potato vine a little in front of her: “Little security guard, I’m counting on you today.”
The potato vine patted its chest, indicating there was no problem at all, and even produced two potatoes, placing them in the pot like a pair of eggs.
Fu Er Die’s eyes curved into a smile.
She had brought the potato vine out precisely because of this.
Although potatoes couldn’t be eaten raw, in such a critical situation, the slight toxicity of raw potatoes was far outweighed by the healing effects of the ability-enhanced plant’s produce.
Besides, the potato vine had mutated, so it was uncertain if its potatoes even had any toxins left.
Fu Er Die picked one up, crushed a small piece, and ate it.
Hmm… Hmm?
Why was it so crispy and sweet, almost like a sweet potato?
Fu Erdie looked at the Potato Seedling in surprise, but it pointed to Fu Erdie’s injured arm.
Inside her sleeve, the potato leaves had been stained dark with blood, but the darkness gradually lightened and turned into faint white lights, following the Potato Seedling’s lead and moving towards its body.
The Potato Seedling grunted and dropped another potato.
Within the potatoes, there was a faint white light.
Fu Erdie: “…”
Watching this familiar scene, Fu Erdie fell into contemplation.
Did her blood have any special function for mutant plants and the house?
Could she somehow promote their mutation? And would they instinctively reciprocate by nurturing her after evolving through mutation?
Fu Erdie looked at her fingers, dirtied from their escape, found a cleaner spot on her clothes, wiped them, and was about to bite her finger to feed the Potato Seedling, but it stopped her, shaking its head and forcefully pressing her hand back.
Fu Erdie looked at it, her eyes showing a tenderness she didn’t even realize she had. “Hmm, let’s not experiment with these for now. Let’s get through the current difficulties first.”
After all, the healing effects of potatoes were still inferior to those of the house.
After consuming half a potato, the wound on her arm had begun to scab over. Eating a whole potato had significantly reduced the swelling in her ankle.
However, she felt like she had at least a fractured bone possibly a broken bone. This was something she needed to get home to properly treat.
Remaining with two potatoes, Fu Erdie broke them into small pieces and fed them to the man bit by bit.
Finally, when he was almost done with the second potato, the man’s eyelashes fluttered, and he slowly opened his eyes.
The corridor was dimly lit, but Fu Erdie felt that the man’s eyes, dark like obsidian, were calm and bright, lacking the direct sunlight yet still radiant.
To feed him, Fu Erdie sat next to him side by side.
Now that he was awake, Fu Erdie handed the remaining potatoes to him and moved a bit away.
“These potatoes have some healing effects. You can eat them,” she said.
The man’s face was stained with blood, making it impossible to discern his features or expression. He seemed to chew for a moment before swallowing and looking at Fu Erdie. “You saved me. Thank you,” he said in a hoarse voice, reserved and succinct.
Fu Erdie shook her head. “You saved me first. I just returned the favour.”
After a moment of silence, the man spoke slowly, “That zombie was after me, it chased me here.”
Fu Erdie’s expression changed. So that was it!
She had been observing and recording every day. How did such a powerful zombie suddenly appear without her knowledge?
But…
“Why was it chasing you? Were there no other humans on your way here?” Fu Erdie frowned.
Not that she wanted other people to be the cannon fodder, but logically, zombies would be distracted by other things while chasing someone. It wasn’t normal for them to relentlessly pursue one person.
“He was after crystal cores, specifically targeting ability holders,” the man explained.
Fu Erdie humbly asked, “Could you tell me more about mutants, mutants zombies, and their information? I’ve been in this community since the apocalypse and haven’t been outside. I don’t know what’s happening out there.”
Her understanding of crystal cores and mutants was mostly from novels and movies. Even her attempts to become a mutant were based on fictional methods, leaving her clueless about the real situation.
The man pressed his ear against the wall, listening carefully to the sounds below. Once he confirmed that there were no zombies approaching, he began quietly explaining what he knew about the situation.
Mutant zombies and mutants had different abilities and attributes. They all had crystal cores in their heads, consuming which could greatly enhance their own strength.
Eating a crystal core of the same attribute would greatly accelerate the growth of abilities.
Eating a crystal core of a different attribute would also enhance abilities, but the progress would be slower.
The man’s name was Sang Wenhao, 23 years old this year, one year younger than Fu Erdie. Before the apocalypse, he was just a first-year student studying at C City University. When the zombie virus broke out, his university campus was one of the hardest-hit areas, and it was extremely difficult to escape from there.
Surrounded by people on all sides, dense with zombies, and rapid virus transmission—additionally, the university campus was surrounded by main roads with heavy traffic. In less than ten days, all nearby roads were completely blocked.
Sang Wenhao survived because he awakened his ability on the first day and sought refuge with his uncle, who owned a bicycle shop in the university town, thus surviving the initial chaotic period.
However, like everyone else in the apocalypse, Sang Wenhao faced numerous challenges. Shortages of food and water, power outages, extreme heat, mosquitoes, and the constant threat of zombies breaking through glass and roller shutter doors.
Not everyone who awakened their abilities at the beginning exhibited exceptional strength. For example, Sang Wenhao initially only had slightly better physical fitness than an average person. His ability to manipulate small metal parts like fingernail-sized nails and other minor advantages were all he had.
As food and water supplies dwindled at the bicycle shop, he began fighting zombies and competing with other humans outside for resources. His ability to control metal gradually strengthened bit by bit.
Besides him and his uncle at the bicycle shop, there were also three university students who had urgently taken refuge there on the day of the apocalypse. Among them, one turned into a zombie and was dealt with by everyone together, while the other two joined Sang Wenhao in scavenging for supplies outside.
Despite managing to loot food, they always ran short of water.
Supermarkets, restaurants, canteens—everywhere they searched had already been raided. Large crates and heavy containers of water had been taken away by others pushing carts. They managed to grab a bucket of water, but before they could carry it even ten meters, it would be snatched away by someone else.
The water was too heavy, and they never successfully brought any back to the bicycle shop in one piece.
So they had to catch rainwater when it rained, and when there was no rain and no water, Sang Wenhao took the risk of running ten kilometres to the river to fetch a bucket of water.
In this way, they barely made it through a month. During this time, Sang Wenhao’s uncle developed a particularly large swelling on his neck.
This swelling contained blood vessels and muscular tissues, growing larger and larger. In just three days, it pressed on Sang Wenhao’s uncle’s airway, making it impossible for him to breathe.
His uncle begged him to cut off this swelling, otherwise he would suffocate or even die from the pressure on his neck vertebrae.
So, Sang Wenhao took action.
In the end, his uncle bled to death because the incision of the swelling continued bleeding uncontrollably.
Sang Wenhao did his best to cover the wound with metal pieces, realizing during this process how to transform metal into sheets that could cover skin, effectively sealing his uncle’s wound.
But his uncle was gone.
Later, one of the two university students, without being bitten by a zombie, started to have cloudy eyes and a deteriorating body, experiencing the process of decay while conscious. His throat became sticky due to decay, preventing him from speaking and only producing painful sounds before tragically dying.
In contrast, the other less physically robust male student remained unaffected and continued to accompany Sang Wenhao on daily scavenging trips for supplies.
With more outings, they gathered more information.
There was a temporary group formed where those who contributed more got to drink mineral water and bottled water, while those who contributed less drank rainwater and river water.
Currently, there were no anomalies among the former group, but there were numerous gruesome cases of mutation and fatalities among the latter. None of them turned into zombies or gained abilities; they simply succumbed to various strange illnesses.
Sang Wenhao concluded that the issue lay with the water.
Some people could adapt to it and remained unaffected for a short period.
Others couldn’t adapt and fell ill, showing different symptoms.
Fortunately, he was one of those who could adapt to the water quality.
At least for now. There’s no telling when it might erupt again in the future.
Sang Wenhao struggled to survive each day, all the while encountering numerous powerful mutant zombies during his fights, obtaining their crystals and upgrading his own abilities.
Amidst these challenges, he faced one zombie that could metalize its own body.
“It’s quite intelligent, likely had combat training in its past, with instincts and fighting skills—it’s a tough one,” Sang Wenhao leaned against the wall, his brow furrowed deeply. “Once it saw me controlling metal with my ability, it relentlessly pursued me. I couldn’t defeat it, and the road was blocked, so I had to flee on my bike. Another guy stayed behind at the shop, and he ended up being safe.”
During his escape, he encountered a team of military personnel out to rescue survivors.
They were from Base D, 300 kilometres away. Tanks cleared the way, big trucks carried people, and now they had already taken on many survivors. Once the last truck was filled with people, they would head back.
Upon learning of Sang Wenhao’s situation, a sniper spotted the formidable mutant zombie through his scope and fired a shot.
The shot hit, but couldn’t injure it.
…
The soldiers were understandably shocked, but Sang Wenhao already knew the score—he had to lure that zombie away into the distance, or else the whole group would be in jeopardy.
He exchanged a nod with the nearby sniper, then hopped on his bike and turned to leave.
“Wait!”
The sniper called after him, and consulted with a nearby military officer.
The officer nodded and approached Sang Wenhao, asking, “Have you ever played with guns?”
Sang Wenhao didn’t expect to hear such a question and felt a premonition, his heart pounding.
“I have. There’s a shooting range in my family, so I’ve been training there since I was young.”
With time pressing, the officer didn’t say much, pulling out a spare sniper rifle and showing him how to use it.
Finally, he said, “You’re going to lead the enemy away from ordinary civilians. Can I trust you not to open fire on regular people?”
Sang Wenhao stood tall and assured him, “Absolutely.”
The sniper rifle was thrust into Sang Wenhao’s arms, along with three magazines totalling thirty rounds.
“Our main mission is to escort as many survivors as possible. I’ll report your situation. Hopefully, your shooting skills and your ability can work together to help you get through this tough spot,” the officer said.
Sang Wenhao nodded, then quickly departed on his bike from another route.
He knew too well that too many reports wouldn’t solve anything.
Giving him the sniper rifle was a slim chance at survival.
Once he cleared the congested road, he found a car among a pile of stranded vehicles that he could drive.
Instead of immediately starting the car, he climbed onto the roof, set up the rifle, and aimed at the approaching mutant zombie.
Taking a deep breath, he focused his ability on the impending shot to ensure that even if his aim was off, he could adjust and hit the target—its eyes.
He didn’t believe a zombie’s eyes could be as tough as its brain.
The shot rang out, and the recoil of the sniper rifle jolted him backward. He barely managed to steady himself and look back at the target, which had already disappeared from view.
His premonition was confirmed when the frenzied mutant zombie suddenly accelerated and hammered down on his shoulder as he rolled sideways.
He fell off the roof, ignoring the wound, and quickly jumped into the driver’s seat, slamming the accelerator in an attempt to shake the zombie off the roof.
The zombie urgently clutched the front edge of the roof with one hand and smashed the driver’s side window with the other, blindly striking into the cabin, hitting Sang Wenhao squarely in the temple.
Dazed, he instinctively floored the accelerator.
The zombie leaned over the car roof to peer into the cabin, one eye blown out, its expression grotesque and terrifying.
Enraged, it repeated its attack, aiming again at Sang Wenhao’s head.
Sang Wenhao sharply swerved, finally managing to shake the zombie off.
His head was spinning, thoughts fleeting, racing along the road at breakneck speed, wanting to run farther and farther away.
Then, as he passed through the Fu Erdie’s Residential Area, the tires burst due to the high temperature and prolonged high-speed friction with the ground.
Dizzy and possibly suffering from a mild concussion, he forced himself into the residential area, found a nearby window, climbed in, fought off the zombies, closed the window and locked the door, barricaded it with a cabinet, and covered his injured areas with iron sheets to block out any scent, before finally passing out.
Zombies, unless shot in the head, slowly regenerate after a while.
So, that zombie was sniffing around, following the scent trail on the road, gradually recovering its sight.
But Sang Wenhao lay still for a long time without improvement, only his head no longer spinning.
He killed the zombie that broke into the house, found another place to survive, and then continued to be invaded, continuing to relocate.
…
He would take advantage of each zombie’s poor vision at night to search the building for anything edible or drinkable.
Regardless of whether it’s spoiled or mouldy, he ate it.
“The reason I can still fight now is because I’ve learned to harden my skin. During battles, not only my fists, arms, and shins harden, but also the injured areas, allowing me to forcefully confront the zombies. After the fight, the hardening wears off, and the injuries become worse. Even areas that weren’t injured suffer from the pressure of the impact, with burst blood vessels and damaged muscles,” Sang Wenhao explained his condition slowly.
“Zombies can recover, but I can’t. So even if I survive this time, there’s no good outcome ahead. Every time I use my abilities, it’s a fracture and depletion, until it eventually breaks down. Even if I’m not killed by zombies, I’ll collapse on my own.”
He spoke calmly, but his eyes were downcast.
As if without hope, abandoned like a puppy.
There was no sound nearby.
He was somewhat puzzled, turned his head to look, and met a pair of bright eyes.
Fu Erdie: “Isn’t this a coincidence! You’re injured, I can heal you!”
She had speculated whether Sang Wenhao’s ability might be something like blood rage, where each time he burned his blood, he could forcibly increase his strength. If that were the case, not even ten of her would be able to save him.
But now? Wasn’t it just that he had been injured and hadn’t received any treatment?
For her, was there any difficulty easier to handle than this?
In her current home, she had everything—food, shelter, water, clean and unpolluted air, and a house that could automatically heal injuries. The essential items that were hard to obtain for others were in abundant supply for her.
The only problem was a lack of combat strength. The plants could handle ordinary zombies, but when facing ability users or smarter zombies, all the abundant supplies would become meaningless.
She needed to connect with trustworthy ability users, form alliances, and provide Building 7 with a more stable and powerful defence!
And the person in front of her might be a potential collaborator.
Suppressing her excitement, she lowered her voice and said, “Can you take another hit, carry me to the open ground to grab the mutant zombie’s crystal core, and then bring me back to my building, 16-1?”
Sang Wenhao was silent.
He could do it, but it would come at the cost of his life.
“Is your ability healing?” he tentatively asked, trying to negotiate. “Could you help heal me first, and then I’ll help you get home?”
Fu Er Die shook her head: “How could I be an ability user? But…”
Sang Wenhao paused, calmly looking at her. “You don’t know that you’re an ability user?”
Fu Erdie: “…?”
“That zombie with metal enhancement ability, it doesn’t chase ordinary people, only those with abilities. It couldn’t find me for a while and spotted you while observing in the dark. It decided to eat you first. If you were just an ordinary person, it wouldn’t have easily revealed itself to eat you.”
Sang Wenhao looked at Fu Erdie, whose face had been calm and without much expression, and couldn’t help but show a bit of disbelief: “So, you never knew you had an ability?”
Fu Erdie: !!!!!!
Sang Wenhao: …
This girl, who seemed smart and brave, appeared a bit naive.
But someone this naive probably wouldn’t deceive him.
These days, he…
Had also noticed the anomalies in Building 7, and had seen the plants’ strategies against the zombies just now.
He had initially thought she was a plant-based ability girl, but now it seemed unlikely.
Her ability was so unique that even she didn’t know she had it.
Fu Erdie sat stunned on the ground as Sang Wenhao stood up.
He suddenly realized he was covered in leaves, with the blood-soaked clothes he had been wearing gone long ago.
“…,” his face flushed red, obscured under the crusted blood.
He crouched down, bowing his head and gesturing for Fu Erdie to climb onto his back.
Fu Erdie climbed onto the man’s back in a daze. It wasn’t until she felt the sensation of weightlessness and suddenly found herself high above the tenth floor that she snapped back to reality.
“Oh my, I’m flying in the sky!”
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