The two of them repeated the process, killing their way from the first floor of the apartment building to the sixth. Before the apocalypse, this neighborhood had been reserved for retired officials.
So most of the zombies were elderly. They were neither strong nor fast, and there was not a single Evolved Zombie among them.
"What exactly are the conditions for zombie evolution?"
Shen Jin had always felt that zombie evolution must follow some sort of pattern. There had to be a reason why an entire building had no Evolved Zombies today.
While standing upstairs, Shen Jin glanced down through his binoculars. Evolved Zombies had begun appearing frequently among the zombies on the street.
Jumping Zombies with long, slender legs and hunched bodies, Strength Zombies with swollen skin and increased mass.
"Why are there so many more Evolved Zombies on the streets?"
Ding~ The mission 'Preliminary Understanding of Zombies' had been completed. Reward: 10 World Coins.
Ding~ The 'Module Store' had been unlocked.
Shen Jin did not rush to inspect it. He could study it once he got home; the outdoors was no place to linger!
Only home could put Shen Jin at ease.
The commotion from earlier had been too great. Zombies from all around had already surrounded the area. Shen Jin spotted two hunched zombies in the courtyard, their noses constantly sniffing at the lingering human scent in the air.
Agility Zombies!
Shen Jin called them "Jumping Zombies."
"Looks like we can't go through the courtyard."
Yang Ao panicked. "What do we do? Our exit's blocked!"
"Don't panic. Follow me."
Shen Jin led Yang Ao into a first-floor apartment and directly dug another tunnel.
Yang Ao: "..."
The two returned underground. Shen Jin dug onward by instinct for a while before finding their original route again.
Luckily, Shen Jin had developed the habit of sealing the exit after leaving. Otherwise, the entire tunnel would have become a zombie playground.
On the way back, he reinforced it with more stone to make sure the zombies would not discover it.
Along the way, Yang Ao, in the spirit of pursuing logic, kept questioning Shen Jin. Professional terms kept slipping from his mouth from time to time:
"Unscientific," "law of conservation of matter," "space compression technology," and so on.
Finally, Shen Jin smiled. "Do you know about Superhuman powers?"
Yang Ao's mouth fell open. "Could there really be living Superhumans? I heard my father say that a very small number of people in this world could develop their body's potential, raising their physical strength to an unimaginable level. But the price of gaining that power was often death!"
"Before the apocalypse, it was said that the government had only one person capable of enduring the backlash from that power! And the 'Gene Optimization Serum 1.0' my father researched was taken away by the government for Superhuman testing!"
Shen Jin was startled. He had not expected Future Human Pharmaceuticals to be connected to Superhuman power. Could that serum help people avoid backlash after opening their Gene Locks?
Interesting!
"The potential development you mentioned is called opening the Gene Lock. The government's Heaven and Earth Net Bureau already revealed that secret before. There's another kind of power also called Superhuman power: abilities!"
Shen Jin took out several models and casually tossed them away.
Yang Ao watched chunks of dirt and stone suddenly emerge from the ground, and his scalp went numb!
"Stone Control?"
Damn it! Why did every person call it something different? No, the terminology had to be standardized.
"More precisely, it's an Earth-based Ability. Stone contains earth elements too, so I can control it."
"I understand! Then why do you need a shovel and pickaxe to use it?"
Shen Jin directly borrowed Shang Qian's explanation. "You've seen Harry Potter, right? The wands in it are a medium through which wizards cast magic. These tools are my casting medium!"
Yang Ao nodded, half-understanding.
Then Shen Jin sent him off to the previous "test room."
Before he left, Shen Jin brought him an entire roast chicken from Room Yellow Two.
"Take it. This is your reward for today's testing. Work hard from now on."
Yang Ao felt that he had already been shocked enough to alert UC's mysterious department.
But he could not help being shocked all over again!
A roast chicken, sealed and preserved so perfectly, had actually been casually tossed to him!
"Special Ability Users are terrifying!"
After arriving in the underground room, Yang Ao tore off chicken and stuffed it into his mouth while fantasizing about becoming a Special Ability User himself someday.
Preferably, one with time-control abilities!
In that case, heh~ hehehe.
Shen Jin looked at Li Moxiao, who had already started eating Snickers in the basement, and Shang Qian, who was looking around everywhere. He frowned.
"Why should I cook for the two of them? I was too lazy to cook even for myself. No way!"
He took out some unprocessed ingredients from Room Yellow Three and placed them in the refrigerator in Room Yellow Two.
Then he went out and said to Shang Qian, "You'll be cooking from now on. Get the ingredients from Room Yellow Two."
"Also, don't touch anything inside the Secret Room. If something happens, I won't be responsible."
Shang Qian agreed without a second thought. If she did not do some work, she would feel uncomfortable just staying here.
She was a shrewd woman. She knew that if she wanted to survive in this place long-term,
she had to demonstrate other value.
Otherwise, she would be thrown out sooner or later.
"Food in the apocalypse is so pre..." Shang Qian looked at the refrigerator packed full of vegetables and raw meat, forcibly swallowing the rest of her words.
"Hiss~ An Earth-based Ability really is incredible! Too bad I can't rely on it."
Shen Jin eagerly entered the surveillance room and closed the door.
He opened the Module Store in his mind.
Before him stood an ancient stone wall with three framed pictures hanging on it. They contained:
Tinker's Construct Module, Beginner (10 World Coins): A complete crafting system covering mold-making, metal smelting, and the forging of tools and weapons.
Industrial Module, Beginner (10 World Coins): An industrial system that modernized daily life and automated production.
Food Craft Module, Beginner (10 World Coins): Food engineering that enriched food cultivation and processing.
Note: This module selection is extremely important. Selecting another basic module will require 'World Lines.'
"What a coincidence. I've played all three of these modules in the game. Tinker's Construct is a crafting system for making all kinds of tools and weapons. It can mass-produce tools, while its unique weapon upgrades and enchantments can greatly increase their value! I remember one hammer tool that could instantly smash open a 3*3*1 flat square space. It's practically a godsend for underground mining!"
"The industrial side has all kinds of machines and automated production. Most importantly, it can generate electricity. Later on, there's incredibly powerful technological equipment—jetpacks, quantum armor, laser swords, and more."
"I haven't played much Food Craft, but I remember it has all kinds of food cultivation and cooking, with a huge variety. And its highest-tier kitchen knife can even unleash magic-type skills."
"Tools and weapons, technology, food."
Shen Jin was immensely grateful that he had played Minecraft modded servers so many times. It kept him from being completely lost at a moment like this.
After hesitating for a moment, Shen Jin chose the Industrial Module, Beginner.
Weapons and tools were not especially important to him. If he could hide and survive, why would he carry a blade and fight others?
No matter how sharp or sturdy his blade was, even if it could burst into flames, it still could not beat those ruthless people who had opened their Gene Locks!
Shen Jin had witnessed that combat awareness and instinct firsthand. Sun Can, a powerful Special Ability User, would have been utterly crushed if Lu Qiang's condition had not been unstable!
And that had only been an ordinary person opening a Gene Lock for the first time.
As for food, Shen Jin could take it or leave it. Not to mention that he had gathered plenty of food reserves,
three months into the apocalypse, many places on Earth still had massive food stockpiles. If they could be found, they would be enough to feed twenty percent of the population for many years. There was no rush.
By the day he truly ran out of supplies, he would probably have obtained World Lines and be able to choose another module.
He chose Industry to better improve his little base.
Industry was a comprehensive module. It had no magical power, but it could steadily restore his ability to produce things.
When the time came, if he could mass-produce electric jetpacks...
Heh heh heh~ Everyone could fly. What could the zombies use to fight him?
Industrial Module, Beginner unlocked!
New craftable items: Iron Furnace, Electric Furnace, Combustion Generator, Solar Generator, Energy Storage Unit, Energy Storage Battery, various types of wires and cables, fluorescent lamps, Forging Hammer, Plate Cutting Shears, wrench.
A long string of new items appeared among Shen Jin's craftable creations!
Not only those items, but all the auxiliary components needed to craft them appeared as well.
"The industrial age begins with electricity!"
PS: The plot is slowly unfolding. Please stay tuned!
Ahem. Do you have that kind of... you know, that thing that makes people feel good when they see it and satisfied when they get it? If you give some to Binghuo, you'll see Binghuo's subtle gratitude~
Before you continue