Riding

Dust from the Gobi Desert sprinkled the highway, making the road, which hadn't seen traffic in a long time, look somewhat gray. Tao Yu's footprints were clearly visible on it.

Walking along the highway towards the city, one could see a few emaciated zombies in the middle of the road.

The zombies ambled along the highway at a rather slow pace.

"They can still move after seven months without food, what version is this?"

After slinging his assault rifle onto his back, Tao Yu held the MP5 pistol grip at his waist with his left hand, while his right hand was already gripping his kukri.

As he got closer, one of the withered zombies seemed to have spotted Tao Yu, sniffing the air and heading in his direction.

"Scent?"

Tao Yu raised an eyebrow and casually tapped a nearby abandoned car with his kukri, making a clanging sound.

The next moment, the few nearby zombies all swarmed towards him. Their speed was faster than a normal human walk, but not quite a jog.

Swish~

With a flick of his wrist and a chop, the first zombie to approach was instantly decapitated without a hitch. Tao Yu weaved through the zombies with the grace of a leisurely stroll, dispatching them all smoothly.

The Five Forms Fist Technique wasn't just a training method; some of its combat moves and stances were also very practical when used individually.

It wasn't that he was restricted to using only his bare hands. He already had [Basic Weaponry Refinement] Lv2. Once the proper exertion techniques were in place, everything naturally became integrated.

A slight flick of his wrist could fully unleash his power, making it effortless.

The blood was in a semi-congealed state, and the bleeding wasn't significant.

Tao Yu looked down at his kukri. Although he had decapitated the zombies, it only left a small, inconspicuous nick. The bones seemed more fragile than ordinary ones.

He wondered if it was due to weathering or the erosion from the virus.

Tao Yu walked up to a zombie corpse and squatted down, waiting for the Wish Power to condense.

"Teeth again, and molars at that..."

He tapped the ground with the tip of his knife, feeling a bit helpless. It was just like pulling wisdom teeth.

He tapped the blade against the zombie's head, channeling a slight burst of force. The zombie's rotten teeth were knocked out, and he then picked out the Wish Power teeth from its mouth. He dealt with the other zombies in the same manner, absorbing their Wish Power.

Good, less than a unit of Wish Power, and all of it just fragmented chaotic information, with no trace of any skills.

"I can confirm this: it's not worth wasting time pulling teeth."

Tao Yu sniffed the air. Perhaps it was because they were almost dried out, but apart from the foul stench of semi-congealed blood that erupted when he cut them down, the overall smell was better than he had imagined.

Having endured the harsh environment of the Outer City, he could adapt to this easily.

Facing things like giant pythons and aliens at the start, now that his strength had improved, facing a few lone zombies posed no real threat.

"But there are few of them outside the city. It's probably a bit bad inside too."

The most troublesome thing about zombies is their numbers!

Clang~ Clang~

A clanging sound came from a wrecked pickup truck. A zombie, still buckled up, seemed to want to get out due to the noise outside. It also looked withered and clearly couldn't break free.

Having no interest in dealing with it, Tao Yu continued forward. He had seen an overturned motorcycle from the higher ground in the grasslands earlier.

Given the road conditions, two wheels would be more convenient.

After a few steps, he reached the fallen heavy motorcycle. Tao Yu picked it up. He wasn't sure of the brand, as the logo was uncommon, but there were the English letters 'Kawasaki' underneath. He tried starting it, and it successfully roared to life.

He checked the fuel gauge; there was still more than half a tank, which should be enough.

Tao Yu didn't usually ride motorcycles, but he had ridden them before. With his current physical condition, getting proficient was easy.

After a brief adjustment, he twisted the throttle and sped off instantly.

The roar of the motorcycle drew the attention of nearby zombies. However, by the time the zombies reacted, Tao Yu was already weaving through the wrecked vehicles like a snake, heading straight for the city.

"The sound is a bit loud. I still prefer electric bikes, but the sense of power is really something..."

Tao Yu could understand why some people were obsessed with "ghost fire teens" now. The acceleration at higher speeds was indeed thrilling.

His body had already surpassed human limits, yet even his full-speed sprint could be easily outpaced by this thing with a twist of the throttle.

What surprised Tao Yu a bit was that as he was weaving through the wrecks on his motorcycle and approaching the urban area, a skill glow slowly appeared.

[Motorcycle Riding] Lv1: The ability to operate a motorcycle.

What Tao Yu found a bit strange was that even this free auxiliary skill required a hundred points of Wish Power to upgrade.

Although he only had three hundred Wish Power left after buying the Qi replenishment pills, Tao Yu reinforced it anyway.

[Advanced Motorcycle Riding] Lv1: Increases your adaptability to mounts. Any mount you grasp the reins of, you will understand how to control it. Can achieve telepathic connection with tamed biological mounts.

At the same time, Tao Yu felt a difference in the motorcycle beneath him. It was as if controlling it felt as natural as controlling his own limbs, an extension of his body.

As long as the action didn't violate the physical principles of a motorcycle, he felt he could control it to do anything!

Good heavens, this was no longer just [Motorcycle Riding].

The hundred points were well spent.

As Tao Yu's will shifted, the skill's name also changed, directly becoming [Riding].

"Oh ho~"

With a yelp, Tao Yu lifted the front wheel, balancing solely on the rear, enjoying the thrill of a "ghost fire youth."

Then, relying on his superior physical condition, he forcefully pulled the motorcycle, attempting to ride it over a vehicle.

The maneuver was incredibly smooth.

The abandoned cars on the road suddenly seemed like "dirt mounds" in front of Tao Yu, which he'd occasionally play around on.

A mount is definitely something I need to get...

Tao Yu even had the thought of riding his motorcycle back and catching an Alien on the grassland to see if it could be a mount.

But then he considered that while his physical condition was strong, having broken through human limits, and the Aliens looked somewhat slender, the strength of these Wish Power creatures was naturally far beyond humans. Killing them would be easy, but the difficulty of capturing one alive seemed truly insurmountable.

Moreover, Aliens usually traveled in packs, and he didn't have enough Wish Power reserves for recovery. So, he decided against taking the risk for now, opting to save more money before considering it again...

"It would be best to find some horses or something, see if I can combine them with Riding to get some kind of domestication skill."

Although Tao Yu was having fun with his new toy, he wouldn't be foolish enough to charge headfirst into the city.

If he were surrounded by a horde of zombies, even the current Tao Yu would only consider using Shadow Meld to escape. If the horde was large enough, he might not even have the stamina to get away.

"These zombies are both pathetic and disgusting. If I can bypass them, I shouldn't waste time on them."

Tao Yu's initial excitement with the motorcycle had worn off. He slowed down, and the roaring engine became much quieter.

However, even after he'd acrobatically ridden the motorcycle onto the roof of a pickup truck, he saw zombies in the urban area slowly moving towards his location. Clearly, the previous noise had startled them.

A dense mass, the number of which was quite astonishing.

"It's just too troublesome to collect their teeth, otherwise burning them might be good."

Tao Yu coldly watched the zombie horde. At the same time, his powerful eyesight spotted someone peeking from behind a curtain in a building at the end of the street.

Besides potentially intelligent zombies, anyone peeking like that was most likely human.

He wondered if they were Pioneers or original inhabitants from the World Fragment.

"I still need to find a newspaper, or ask the original inhabitants."

As long as he could get enough information about the early stages of the infection from the native inhabitants of the fragment, he could confirm if it was a biological crisis.

If it wasn't a biohazard, then a typical zombie world would indeed be quite barren...

He casually parked the motorcycle on top of the pickup truck, pulled out the key, and then jumped off the road, heading towards the city at an angle.

"No iconic buildings, so it shouldn't be a famous city. Seven months have passed, it's unlikely it was bombed."

In a zombie world, the biggest risk might truly be 'disinfection.'

However, the current world could be set aside for now.

Watching the zombie horde slowly move along the road towards the source of the sound, Tao Yu, who was bypassing them from the side, couldn't even be bothered to casually kill a few scattered zombies. Even minor wear and tear was a waste of his blade; he could just walk a few steps and go around.

"If an ordinary person were dropped here on Awakening Day, the risk wouldn't be small. Given the random range of the deployment area, there might even be unlucky ones."

The rainforest had giant pythons, and now Aliens, but they were relatively sparse. If one were dropped into a city full of zombies on Awakening Day, it would be very unfriendly for newcomers who had to stay for fifteen days.

But conversely, choosing this place for a second entry would be relatively safer, second only to the new world where one only needed to worry about staying warm.

Tao Yu dodged a zombie, accidentally tripping it and sending the emaciated creature face-planting into the ground. Many thoughts flashed through his mind.

There must have been quite a few Pioneers who entered here, and given how the location was described in the intelligence, some might have entered this city.

He himself had spent over half a month learning skills before coming back. Some more desperate individuals, or those who dropped here on Awakening Day, might have already ventured deep inside.

But considering the general capabilities of people from the Outer City, entering this zombie-infested city would at most allow them to protect themselves, map the area, and scavenge for supplies. It would be difficult to cause any significant impact.

Let alone ordinary Outer City residents, even Tao Yu himself would find it hard to make a significant impact with so many zombies.

His super explosive power was good for decapitation, but his endurance was indeed poor.

As for how many people from the Inner City would be interested in the mission rewards here