Nighttime Explosion

"Waaah, waaah, why is my life so miserable?!"

Overcome with grief, Ding Yuqin covered her face and burst into tears. Then she secretly peeked at Wang Tao through her fingers, hoping to win his sympathy.

Wang Tao did sympathize with her. One look at Ding Yuqin's Health Bar told him she wasn't lying. If she went hungry for another day, she would probably really die.

But sympathy couldn't buy food.

So Wang Tao showed no reaction and simply kept eating.

Ding Yuqin was no fool. Seeing that Wang Tao remained unmoved, she wiped away her tears in disappointment and stopped crying. Crying consumed energy too, and every bit of energy was precious now.

After the meal, Ding Yuqin took the initiative to wash the dishes. Wang Tao did not stop her. He watched her slender figure from behind and fell into brief thought.

"40/100... When she heard me invite her to eat, her mental state improved, and she gained 10 health. After one meal, she gained 20 health. But her body is still weak. Even if she keeps eating afterward, she probably won't gain this much again..."

After quickly washing the dishes, Ding Yuqin dried her hands and said to Wang Tao, "Wang Tao, do you have any clothes that need washing? I don't have anything to do at home anyway, so I can wash them for you..."

Wang Tao shook his head.

"No need. I have a washing machine."

"Uh..." Ding Yuqin felt a little embarrassed, but quickly came up with another excuse. "Then how about I give you a massage? I'm pretty good at it..."

A massage?

Wang Tao was tempted, especially since the person offering was a stunning beauty.

But the afternoon was his workout time. He had always been a disciplined person, let alone now, in the apocalypse. His body was his greatest asset.

"I appreciate it, Sister-in-law, but there's no need. I need to start working out soon."

"...All right, then. I'll head back. Wang Tao, if you need anything, just call for me."

Ding Yuqin left reluctantly. Wang Tao's muscular body and neatly sorted food both gave her a deep sense of security.

But she truly could not find a reason to stay.

"Sure, no problem."

Seeing that Wang Tao did not offer to keep her for dinner or anything, Ding Yuqin sighed.

She had actually come over intending to borrow some food, even if it was just a packet of bread.

Getting to eat such a feast had already been an unexpected delight. She did not dare ask for anything more. If she made Wang Tao unhappy, her last hope of survival would be cut off too...

After watching Ding Yuqin return home safely, Wang Tao finally shut the door and began his workout.

Today, he practiced on the punching bag.

After those two battles with zombies, he realized that his combat skills were still somewhat lacking.

Zombies were different from humans. Though zombies moved somewhat stiffly, that did not mean they were slow. It was only that they were less agile.

Besides, zombies were truly strong!

Fighting humans and fighting zombies were completely different things.

When facing a human attack, he could dodge, take the hit, or even choose to fight to the death.

But that did not work against zombies. When facing zombies, the best option for now was simply to dodge.

Even with Wang Tao's physical condition, one slap from a zombie had left him bruised all over. The zombie in the stairwell had even knocked him back several steps with a single blow.

He could not take their hits, or at least not too many of them.

And he could forget about fighting to the death. Zombies could make countless mistakes, but he could not make even one. If he got bitten or scratched by a zombie... he could only wait to die.

Wang Tao had never fought zombies before, so he was not used to this style of combat. If he could optimize his tactics around the zombies' traits, he might not be able to kill them instantly, but at least he would not have taken that hit today.

As he thought, Wang Tao began mercilessly beating the punching bag, imagining it was a zombie.

During his workout, Wang Tao suddenly had an insight. He felt that without a weapon, using only his fists, he would be much more agile. Perhaps in certain situations, fists would be more suitable! Later, I should see if I can find some special gloves, or maybe Brass Knuckles...

Zombies did not feel pain. If he punched a zombie in the head and the zombie was fine while his own finger broke, that would be awkward.

Several hours later, Wang Tao, drenched in sweat, stopped working out.

But he did not rest. He felt he still had plenty of stamina left and could polish the Steel Pipe a little.

He had found three Steel Pipes in Room 301: two were half a meter long, while one was a meter long.

The meter-long one was suitable for open spaces, while the half-meter ones were better for places like stairwells and indoors.

The Steel Pipes were far better than the Homemade Short Spear he had used before.

Wang Tao decided to sharpen one of the half-meter pipes first, since this thing was hard to grind. Still, it did not need to be particularly sharp. It only needed a slight point. After all, with one Jumping Slash, a zombie could not withstand a headshot from him.

He reheated the leftovers from lunch and quickly finished them. Then Wang Tao began grinding.

Scrape, scrape—he kept at it until eleven at night.

If he had not been on the fifth floor, Wang Tao suspected the noise from grinding the Steel Pipe would have drawn zombies over.

Fortunately, it was barely usable now.

After taking a quick shower, he turned on the radio as usual. It crackled for a while, but after hearing no useful information, Wang Tao turned off the lights and prepared to sleep.

Suddenly.

Bang! A deafening explosion sounded outside. Wang Tao, who had just lain down, shot up from the bed in alarm.

"Fuck! Could that have been a government shell or missile?!"

He hurried to the north-facing window and saw flames illuminating the night on another street in the distance, along with countless zombies.

Roar! For a moment, countless howls rang out from every direction, making his scalp go numb.

"Ah—help—"

At the same time, several survivors screamed outside, but their cries quickly vanished.

There was nothing Wang Tao could do now. He could only hide in the corner and wait in silence.

After waiting for about an hour, no second explosion came.

Wang Tao finally breathed a sigh of relief.

It probably was not a shell or missile. If the government had the ability to attack, they would not have fired just once.

Looking at the flames still burning on that street outside, Wang Tao suspected that gas had exploded in some shop.

Luckily, they lived in an Old Residential Area and used gas cylinders, so he did not need to worry about a gas leak. Even if a gas cylinder exploded, it would be inside some room and could not reach him.

But that was not the point. The point was that Wang Tao could clearly feel the zombies outside had become even more frenzied. Their howls were endless.

No, it was not just the zombies outside!

Wang Tao hurried to the south-facing window. Under the faint starlight, he watched the zombies in the residential complex run while howling, and a chill immediately ran down his spine.

What happened to stiff movements, slow speed, and poor agility? He had fought zombies before and had seen them go berserk, but not like this!