Awakened Black Bear

Hotel Second Floor..

Lin An shook the blood off his hand, looking somewhat disappointed.

After searching all the way down from the ninth floor, he had not even seen a shadow that might belong to the Bloody Witch.

Instead, the survivors behind him had grown more numerous. There were already twenty-seven of them.

Most of the survivors were couples. After all, single people would not come here for no reason.

Of course, there were also a few unusual combinations.

"Go on, quickly wipe Brother Lin's sweat."

A middle-aged man dressed like a wealthy businessman wore a fawning smile as he shoved the woman beside him forward, signaling for her to wipe away the nonexistent sweat from Lin An's face.

The woman was his mistress, and he usually doted on her.

But at a time like this, let alone giving the woman to Lin An, he would not have objected even to sending his wife up.

Everyone else followed with praise, flattering Lin An.

These survivors had practically watched Lin An slaughter his way down like a god of death.

Along with their fear, most of them hoped to build a good relationship with Lin An.

Several young men gazed at Lin An with admiration, clutching Fire Axes for courage.

Some women dressed in business attire secretly tore their already-sexy clothes open a little more, hoping to catch his attention.

"No need."

Lin An coldly refused the towel offered to him, feeling somewhat irritated.

It was not that he was annoyed by people following him.

Although these people could not help much by following him, they could still serve as bait.

Mutant Zombies had a far greater desire to kill than ordinary Zombies.

The denser the crowd, the more likely it was to draw them out.

It was just like in his previous life.

The larger the Safe Zone, the more frequently it suffered attacks from Zombie tides and Mutants.

He had never planned to save anyone. After he killed all the Zombies, these people had simply followed him of their own accord.

Following the strong was a human instinct.

Of course, enjoying his protection naturally required them to pay the appropriate price.

"The last floor."

Lin An descended the stairs without much hope.

The first floor was the lobby, facing the hospital entrance from the side. The two were separated only by a road.

The elevator on the first floor of the hotel had been shut down, and the stairs were blocked by debris.

Perhaps the "meat" inside the hospital did not move very quickly. Most of the Zombies on the surrounding streets had gathered inside the hospital, leaving few gathered around the hotel.

Suddenly.

"Bang!"

A heavy object hit the ground.

The deafening crash shook the air.

The sound came from the road, followed by a continuous series of car alarms.

"Brother Lin! There's... there's a monster!"

Yu Shihao reacted the fastest. After moving close to the window and seeing what had happened, his face was filled with terror.

He hurriedly reported it to Lin An.

"There are people too!"

"On the road!"

Several young men shouted along with him, equally terrified.

It was as though an extremely frightening presence was outside the window.

Lin An quickly walked to the window and pulled open the curtains.

That was...!

In the middle of the road, more than a dozen survivors were fleeing madly.

A bald man was bringing up the rear.

He desperately dodged the cars that came crashing at him like cannonballs, and his reaction speed was quite good.

Lin An was slightly stunned.

Unlike the panic and fear of those around him, Lin An looked at the monster chasing the survivors and revealed a smile.

"Hello, Licker."

In the middle of the road.

The more-than-three-meter-tall Licker easily picked up a car and hurled it at the bald man.

The bald man rolled nimbly, dodging it at a speed far beyond what his body's agility should have allowed.

"Boom!"

The hybrid car exploded into a pillar of flames under the tremendous impact.

Thick smoke billowed everywhere.

"Old Zhang! Get inside the building!"

"That monster is too big. It can't get in! We'll be safe once we're inside!"

A muscular man running in the middle of the group turned around and shouted at the bald man, his eyes filled with anxiety.

"Don't worry about me! You go in first!"

"Damn it, I refuse to believe I can't kill it!"

The bald man was also extremely sturdy. He tore off his tattered shirt in one motion.

His gleaming muscles reflected the sunlight, and his waist was nearly twice as thick as an ordinary person's.

"Fuck your mother!"

"Bear Transformation!"

With an angry curse, the bald man stopped dodging.

As a streak of black light sank into his chest, his body instantly swelled, and the muscles all over him bulged with veins as if they were about to explode.

"Roar!!!"

The bald man's head transformed.

Black fur covered his body, and in the blink of an eye, he had changed from a human into a black giant bear more than two meters tall.

"Bang!"

The Licker swung its claws, but he blocked them with his enormous paw after transforming.

It was like two trucks colliding.

The Licker let out a sharp hiss and staggered backward.

The transformed bald man, meanwhile, took two steps back. In the clash between the two monsters, he was only slightly weaker.

"Die for me!"

The Black Bear pushed off with both feet, collapsing the ground beneath him.

He clasped both hands together like a hammer and smashed them down at the Licker's head in a blow from the heavens.

"Bang!"

Flesh collided with flesh.

The Licker's hard skull instantly caved in halfway.

A flash of delight crossed the Black Bear's eyes.

However, things turned out differently from what he had expected.

The Black Bear's full-strength attack had only achieved this much.

A blow powerful enough to kill any creature had not caused the Licker much harm.

Lin An had severed half the Licker's head that day and still failed to kill it. What did a merely caved-in skull matter now?

"Whoosh!"

The Licker swung its claws again, and its razor-sharp Bone Claws easily tore through the Black Bear's defenses.

Blood gushed out.

It was like a faucet had been opened.

A huge amount of blood sprayed everywhere.

The Black Bear's eyes widened in shock. He staggered back two steps, his enormous body swaying on the verge of collapse.

"Old Zhang!"

The muscular man guarding the group's escape roared furiously at the sight, his eyes bloodshot.

"Damn monster, I'll fight you to the death!"

The two had been brothers for many years and were as close as flesh and blood.

Seeing the Licker swing its claws again, he frantically pulled a handgun from his clothes.

"Come on, you beast! Your grandpa's right here!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

The muzzle spat flames, and bullets poured out like splashing water.

However.

They were completely useless.

The Licker's powerful muscle tissue easily blocked the bullets.

After the yellow-orange casings entered its body, its surging muscles squeezed them back out almost immediately.

As if enraged, the Licker abandoned its attack on the Black Bear and instead appeared in front of the muscular man at an astonishing speed.

It swung one claw.

The muscular man holding the gun was cut into three pieces, his wounds as clean as if they had been sliced by a laser.

On his severed head, his eyes remained wide open in furious indignation.

"Ahhhhhhh!"

The transformed bald man was overwhelmed by grief and rage.

"You beast, I'll kill you!!"

His Strength Burst reached its limit. The wounds he had been desperately forcing shut split open, spraying blood everywhere.

He forced himself upright and charged at the Licker regardless of the cost.

On the second floor of the hotel, everyone huddled behind Lin An in terror.

Director Wang's legs were trembling violently, and his entire body shook.

When monsters from movies appeared in reality, the immense shock was enough to drive people to the brink of collapse.

The Licker's appearance alone was enough to make ordinary people incapable of even considering resistance.

"Chatter, chatter, chatter."

Their teeth chattered.

Several young men holding Fire Axes gripped them tightly.

When they had followed Lin An downstairs, they had still been bragging to the women beside them.

Watching Lin An kill Zombies as easily as crushing chicks, they had thought the apocalypse was nothing special.

But after truly seeing a powerful monster, they felt that their earlier thoughts had been utterly laughable.

"Brother Lin, let's hide!"

"They're about to lead the monster over here!"

Yu Shihao's throat bobbed as he swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

Damn it, how could there be a monster like this!?

"Yeah, Brother Lin. Let's get upstairs and hide!"

Everyone began urging Lin An away from the window, wanting to flee.

It was not because they were grateful that Lin An had saved them in passing and did not want to leave him behind.

Most of them were worried that there might still be Zombies inside the building. They would only be safe with Lin An there.

As for running away...

Although everyone felt that Lin An was very strong, he had only fought Zombies.

Compared to the Licker, Zombies were like infants compared to adults. The difference was enormous.

They had just witnessed the bald man's strength after his Bear Transformation.

His tremendous power had even allowed him to clash head-on with the Licker.

He was practically a nonhuman existence.

They assumed that Lin An's strength was probably not far behind his.

But the bald man had nearly been killed instantly by the Licker. Naturally, Lin An could not possibly defeat it either.

Lin An stood before the window, unmoved.

His gaze burned with excitement.

He had originally thought that if he could not find the Bloody Witch, he would have to waste time looking for a Licker to kill.

He had never expected it to come right to his door.

What made Lin An even happier was that an awakened person had come straight to his door.

After watching for a while as the first awakened person and mutant he had encountered since his rebirth fought, Lin An gained some insight as well.

His luck was pretty good.

The bald man was an awakened person.

But he should only be at Rank 0.

Perhaps he could recruit him?

Seeing that the bald man was about to reach the brink of death, Lin An stopped watching.

"Boom!"

The windowsill cracked, and Lin An smashed straight through the concrete-and-steel wall, exposing the rebar within.

Under the terrified gazes of the crowd, Lin An appeared instantly beneath the hotel at a speed too fast for the naked eye to follow.

"Bang!"

Clouds of dust billowed.

Lin An Descended from the Sky, crushing the asphalt beneath his feet.

"Hah!"

His furious shout rang like thunder.

Dragging his blade with one hand, Lin An fixed his gaze on the Licker in the distance, his battle intent rising.

"Roar!!"

Another little bug was provoking it.

With a sharp hiss, the Licker threw away the half of Black Bear's arm in its hand.

Faster, faster—the Licker's massive body flattened the cars along the road as it launched a wild charge at Lin An.

Lin An gave a cruel smile as his steps grew faster and faster.

"Clang!"

The blade thrummed violently, its tip aimed straight at the Licker's brow.

"Strength Burst!"

With a low shout, golden spiritual energy poured into Lin An's body, and his strength instantly surged.

His blood raced, and his heart pounded at high speed like an engine.

"Come on!"

"Let me see!"

"Whether I can split you in half with one strike, you beast!"