Departure

Before leaving, An Xia was still fast asleep.

An JingTian had yet to wake up in the room, but he looked much better.

Barring any surprises, he would wake up soon.

To be safe, Lin An—

—used the Eye of Judgment to inspect An JingTian's information once more, confirming that the pendant had indeed suppressed the Zombie Virus.

He moved several Zombie corpses over to conceal the lingering scent of living people at the door, then piled miscellaneous items against it until the entrance was completely blocked.

Only then did Lin An finally relax.

However, there seemed to be Survivors across the hall.

While Lin An was moving things, his sharp hearing caught a sound coming from the apartment opposite.

That person cautiously watched him through the peephole, believing Lin An had not noticed.

Lin An did not care.

After confirming someone was watching him, he casually picked up a Zombie head and crushed it in one hand right in front of them.

It was as effortless as crushing a water balloon.

The hard skull shattered into fragments that scattered across the floor.

"Ah!"

A scream came from across the hall. The person had clearly been terrified by Lin An's horrifying act.

The sound of the opposite door being locked immediately followed.

Lin An smiled calmly. It seemed the effect was quite good.

A blatant display of Martial Power.

The repaired Iron Gate was more than enough to stop ordinary Zombies.

But it could not stop people.

After Doomsday erupted, human hearts became impossible to predict.

In his Previous Life, Lin An had seen far too much ugliness.

To fight over food and survive, people slaughtered their own kin, exchanged children for food, and betrayed their spouses.

As long as he could ensure An Xia and An JingTian's safety, he did not mind staining his hands with blood.

He had even considered killing every resident in the entire building.

If he had not been unsure whether there were any residents here whom the siblings knew—

—only two people would still be alive in this building.

Still, as long as they were not especially unlucky enough to encounter Mutants, or human malice—

—compared to those dangers—

—Lin An was not worried that ordinary Zombies could threaten the siblings hiding in the apartment.

There were ample reserves of food and water inside, enough to last for a month.

As long as the two stayed indoors, those Zombies could never chew through the reinforced Iron Gate with their teeth alone.

Even if something happened to him, the two of them could hold on for some time.

The supplies piled inside had all been bought in advance by An JingTian at Lin An's instruction before Doomsday erupted.

There was a complete assortment, all military rations.

Thinking of that, Lin An remembered the batch of supplies he had purchased beforehand.

It had cost over two million in cash, enough supplies for all three of them to survive for five years.

Weapons, equipment, medicine—everything was included.

He just did not know whether the delivery service had transported them to the location he had designated after he fell unconscious.

If that batch of supplies was still there, he could easily rely on it to build a team and establish a Safe Zone in the early stages.

In the Doomsday Game, it was difficult to survive by relying on oneself alone.

Only by building one's own force could one gain a foothold in this Doomsday.

Lin An sighed softly.

Being unconscious for three days had indeed disrupted many of his plans.

Not only that, there were many rare items and pieces of equipment from his memories that he had yet to obtain.

Still, it was not too late to get them now.

HeYuan Residential Area's entrance.

Lin An carefully held his breath and moved along the wall.

His powerful physical condition was enough to support holding his breath continuously for over five minutes.

Although, with an Awakening's strength, he no longer feared ordinary Zombies at all—

—once there were too many of them, getting entangled with them could easily attract Mutants.

And his main task now was to deal with the Stitcher inside WanDa Shopping Mall.

He had to avoid any accidents along the way as much as possible.

The Stitcher's strength was not something the Licker he had encountered before could compare to.

The Licker had only been a First Order Mutant.

The Stitcher, on the other hand, was Second Order.

Every Order of difference between Mutants greatly increased their danger.

Lin An's current strength only allowed him to barely contend with First Order Mutants.

If he encountered a Special Mutant, his life could even be in danger.

So, facing a Second-Order Mutant with his current strength was no different from seeking death.

Along the way, Lin An had already planned his next course of action.

For the first six days, he would search for the special supplies and equipment from his Previous Life memories, then kill a Mutant to raise his level first.

If he lacked strength, there was no use rushing.

The remaining three days would be reserved for killing the Stitcher.

Then...

His first target: Star Arts Flower Shop!

In his memories, this flower shop on the edge of the city had once produced an extremely rare "Spirit Energy Plant."

"Spirit Energy Plants" were similar to Buff Items in games.

They usually existed in the forms of plants, fruit, and food, though plant forms were the most common.

Players—and even Zombies—could directly consume them and gain permanent attribute boosts.

For Apocalypse Players, who could only gain one attribute point per level when leveling up—

—the effects of "Spiritual Energy Food" were practically absurd.

Every point of attribute increase brought an incredibly exaggerated boost in strength.

In his Previous Life, most of the lucky people who obtained such fruit had become powerful figures ruling their own territories.

However, such special products usually only existed for a period before Doomsday erupted.

They gradually disappeared one month after Doomsday began.

As an ordinary person, Lin An had only learned this information through the Chat Channel that opened half a year after the Doomsday Game began.

Unlike the Chat Channels in ordinary games, where everyone could speak freely—

—the Chat Channel in the Doomsday Game required a great deal of energy and stamina.

In other words, it consumed precious food.

Therefore, in his Previous Life, when even food and warmth were problems for ordinary people like him, they could only silently watch powerful Awakenings occasionally share information—or even chat idly!

In Lin An's memories, after one year of Doomsday, he had never again seen news like this in the Public Channel.

So if he did not seize the advantage now and obtain some Spiritual Energy Food, finding it later would be as difficult as reaching the heavens.

"Eye of Judgment!"

To observe the surroundings—

—Lin An activated the Eye of Judgment again. A flash of gold flickered through his pupils.

His already excellent vision improved once more, and information along the route poured in like a stream of data.

After confirming there was no danger—

—Lin An deactivated the Eye of Judgment.

Although the Eye of Judgment did not consume much Mental Strength, the accumulated burden of continuous use was still significant.

No Special Mutants nearby.

Zombie count: 678.

Survivors: 122.

Of the original thousand residents in the neighborhood, only around one-tenth were still alive.

The cruelty of Doomsday was plain to see.

First, he needed to find a motorcycle.

After observing the route, Lin An made up his mind.

The journey into the city was long. Although the number of Zombies was not as terrifying as in the City Center—

—it was not much lower either.

Just dealing with the Zombies along the way—

—would waste far too much time without a vehicle.

Heavy trucks were not easy to find in the old district right now.

Ordinary sedans would malfunction after hitting just a few Zombies.

By comparison, a nimble motorcycle was a good choice.

If conditions allowed later, finding an Armored Car and turning it into a mobile Fortress would be even better.

After a night had passed, quite a few Zombies had gathered at the neighborhood entrance again.

Smashed innards mixed with blood covered the ground in dark red.

Zombies that would not spare any flesh had gnawed the corpses clean, leaving only pale white skeletons scattered across the ground.

It looked like many people had tried to escape last night—or perhaps tried to get in.

Over a hundred Zombies wandered aimlessly, occasionally raising their heads and letting out piercing roars.

Lin An seized the opportunity, his body flashing out in an instant.

His target was the spot surrounded by a small group of Zombies not far away.

A Black Motorcycle lay overturned there, its key still in the ignition, ready to start at any time.

Beside the bike was a skeleton that had been picked completely clean.

It appeared to be the motorcycle's owner.

Lin An suddenly exerted force with his right foot. The aged ground cracked as he instantly sprinted to the front of the Zombie Crowd.

"Downward Slash!"

The half-arm-length Nepal Curved Blade sliced through the air with a shrill whistle.

The curved blade came from An JingTian's collection.

Like Lin An, An JingTian was a retired soldier, and he had always enjoyed collecting weapons.

Although the Licker's spine was far superior in quality to alloy weapons, it was awkward to use without being processed.

The blade flashed coldly, and with a single slash, Lin An cut apart the two nearest Zombies.

The wounds were smooth, as if cut by a laser.

Their severed bodies split in half and slowly slid apart.

"Roar!"

The Zombie Crowd caught the scent of a living human and instantly went berserk.

Arms covered in rotting flesh clawed madly at Lin An.

"Sideways Back Kick!"

Lin An rapidly changed direction.

With speed beyond human limits, he sharply twisted his body and exerted force through his waist.

"Bang!"

The Zombie that had lunged at him with a roar was kicked clean through the upper body. Its pale spine remained stubbornly attached to the sole of his foot by a few strands of flesh.

"Circular Slash!"

"Strength Burst!"

"Buzz."

The unique energy ripple released when an Awakening activated their power spread outward, golden light flowing like water before sinking into his body.

Lin An's expression was cold as he held the blade in one hand and spun swiftly in a circle.

Empowered by immense force, the sharp edge easily sliced through the Zombies' necks.

"Sshk."

Flesh split beneath the blade.

Seven Zombie heads were severed at once.

With that single strike, Lin An cleanly and efficiently killed the remaining seven Zombies.

"Holy shit!"

At a third-floor window nearby, a bearded man in his twenties widened his eyes and could not help crying out.

His face was filled with shock.

It was as though a scene from a movie had appeared in reality, leaving him utterly unable to believe it.

What kind of person was that?

His blade techniques flowed like water, and his physical ability was monstrously strong.

Could he be one of those legendary recluses? An ancient martial artist from a novel?

The man's eyes widened, bloodshot veins filling them.

The day the Doomsday broke out happened to be a weekend. He had been resting alone in his apartment and had thus survived by sheer luck.

But the Zombies outside had trapped him indoors, leaving him unable to take a single step out.

There wasn't much food in the apartment. Living alone, he had long been used to ordering takeout whenever he got hungry.

He had already eaten the last cup of instant noodles in his home clean.

Having watched plenty of Doonsday movies, he quickly realized that if this continued, he might starve to death.

It wasn't as though he hadn't tried going out.

But after seeing the burly man who had ridden a motorcycle home last night fail to last even three seconds once surrounded by Zombies, he gave up on that idea.

Thus, after staying awake all night, he had just been about to check the situation outside when he saw Lin An slaughtering Zombies.

After witnessing Lin An's absurdly overwhelming strength,

he quickly realized that perhaps Lin An could lend him a hand.

The man's heart pounded with excitement as he hurriedly tried to open the window and call out.

But he had forgotten that, out of fear last night, he had locked the window tightly.

Anxious and flustered,

by the time he finally managed to open the window and stick his head out, Lin An had already mounted the motorcycle and sped away.

Not caring whether Lin An could hear him, the man shouted at the top of his lungs, trying to leave some impression on him.

What if that terrifyingly powerful man came back?

"Big brother! My name is Liu ShiMing!"

"I live in Building 3, Unit 2, Room 302!"