One-Shot Kill

Walking Step.

Downward Slash!

Lin An's bones crackled as he concentrated all the strength in his body into his right hand.

He slashed out, the blade whipping up a fierce gale.

With strength beyond the limits of the human body,

what should have been the most basic move in swordsmanship now carried boundless might.

Roar!

The Licker instantly swung its claws as well. The disparity in size between the two formed a stark contrast in everyone's eyes.

Crack.

The massive claw shattered.

The sharp blade's momentum remained undiminished, and a line of blood spread from the Licker's skull.

Lin An's steps did not falter as he continued straight ahead.

Half a second later,

the Licker's massive claw stopped the instant it touched Lin An's head.

Flesh and blood separated.

Its enormous body slowly split into two.

Lin An silently walked through the Licker's severed body.

A second later, something heavy hit the ground.

Ding. Detected that the Player has killed a Tier 1 Mutant: Licker.

Waves of white light surged from the Licker's corpse and flowed into Lin An's body.

Ding. Upgrade conditions met. Congratulations, Player! Current Player Level: Level 1!

Ding. Advancement conditions met. Congratulations, Awakened One! Current Awakening Level: Tier 1!

Two successive streams of power emerged from the void and vanished into Lin An's body in an instant.

Warm. Comfortable.

An intoxicating rush washed away his exhaustion.

Ding. Player Level increased. Strength +1, Agility +1, Physique +1, Willpower +1!

Ding. Awakened One tier increased. Strength +2, Agility +2, Physique +2, Willpower +2!

Double the increase in strength!

Lin An greedily took a deep breath, feeling the growing power within him.

Very good! The Black Bear sprawled on the ground had already shrunk back into human form.

The bald man's Awakening ability was Bear Transformation, and it did not last long.

After being severely wounded and near death, he could no longer maintain the Black Bear form.

He clutched his severed arm, his gaze filled with shock, as though he had seen a monster.

Lin An had killed the Licker with a single slash.

The others might have found it shocking too.

But none of them felt it as intensely as the bald man did.

He had fought the Licker before, and at first they had seemed evenly matched.

Later, he had merely failed to land one attack. The opening he exposed had allowed the Licker to severely injure him in return.

But he knew clearly that even if he had a hundred lives, he would not have lasted more than a few seconds before the Licker.

Too strong.

"How... did you do that?"

The bald man's throat bobbed.

As he watched Lin An stroll over as though taking a walk, his eyes were full of admiration.

"Mm."

"You just bring the blade down."

Lin An answered casually.

Even before leveling up, his Strength had already reached 17.4. After activating Strength Burst, it had risen to 19.4.

With that kind of power, killing a Licker in one slash was perfectly normal.

Zhang Tie: ...

Lin An smiled slightly and paid no attention to Zhang Tie's feelings.

"How is it? Can you still move?"

Lin An looked at his body. The huge wound in his chest, where the Licker had pierced through him, was slowly healing.

But his incomplete left arm had merely stopped bleeding. It had not regenerated.

That recovery speed was a little fast.

Lin An thought to himself.

It seemed Zhang Tie was stronger than he had expected.

Awakened Ones had powerful physiques and decent recovery abilities.

But recovering this quickly from such injuries was rather abnormal.

An ordinary person would have died long ago.

Did the Beastification skill also enhance Physique?

Perhaps it was related to his Awakening talent.

His speed was lacking after Beastification, but his Physique was fairly good.

He was a decent meat shield.

Lin An gave Zhang Tie that assessment in his heart.

"I can still move."

Zhang Tie nodded and struggled to climb up from the ground.

"Hello, my name is Zhang Tie!"

The bald man extended his right hand.

His voice was rough. His bared-teeth smile was not attractive, but it was sincere.

"Lin An."

"Well, Brother Lin, thank you for saving me."

Zhang Tie's face was full of genuine gratitude.

If Lin An had not acted, he probably would have ended up in three pieces like his brother.

"I really don't know how I should..."

"We'll talk after we get back."

"The Zombies are about to surround us."

Lin An cut Zhang Tie off and glanced at the hospital entrance in the distance.

Quite a few Zombies were gathering in their direction.

"All right!"

Zhang Tie said no more, simply keeping his gratitude in his heart.

As they passed the muscular man's corpse, Zhang Tie quickly picked up the pieces of his body and held them in his arms.

His eyes were red.

"My condolences."

Lin An could feel Zhang Tie's grief and could not help offering comfort.

He had siblings too.

Naturally, he knew how painful that felt.

An JingTian, An Ya...

Hold on. Wait for me to come back!

Thinking of the brother and sister in HeYuan Residential Area, Lin An's gaze hardened.

They ran all the way back.

Both were Awakened Ones, and their speed far surpassed that of ordinary people.

In just a few seconds, they rushed into the hotel lobby.

"Brother Zhang!"

Everyone spoke at once.

The dozen or so Survivors who had fled into the hotel surrounded them excitedly, asking after Zhang Tie with concern.

But when they saw the corpse of the companion in Zhang Tie's arms, their eyes became somewhat sorrowful.

It seemed this group all knew one another.

Several elderly people took the remains from Zhang Tie and silently placed them on a piece of red cloth.

Lin An said nothing and merely blocked the hotel entrance again.

Boom.

Lin An dragged a sedan weighing several tons by himself and secured it against the entrance.

Hearing the sound, everyone looked over, somewhat afraid.

This fear differed from their fear of Zombies. It was the instinctive fear ordinary people felt toward the strong.

Zhang Tie appeared to be the group's leader.

He saw that his companions were somewhat frightened and immediately introduced Lin An.

"This is Lin An, my savior,"

"Everyone saw it just now. I only survived because of Brother Lin."

After Zhang Tie finished speaking, he gave Lin An a deep bow.

The others were also full of gratitude and bowed in unison toward Lin An.

Among the Survivors, a younger-looking girl's eyes welled with tears.

She wore a baseball cap and had her hair tied in a simple ponytail.

She was not very old, around seventeen or eighteen.

Her sporty outfit radiated youthful energy.

The girl had sweet features. It was clear she would grow into a beauty.

"Brother Lin, you saved my brother's life. You Wei will never forget this kindness."

Lin An smiled faintly.

You Wei was quite similar to Wen Ya.

Both were youthful and full of energy.

Only Wen Ya was a little more mature.

You Wei wiped away her tears and turned to Zhang Tie.

"Brother... your hand."

"I'm fine, You Wei. Don't cry."

"People of the Zhang family don't cry!"

Zhang Tie grinned. His fierce face forced out a smile as he comforted the little girl before him.

Looking at the two of them,

Lin An's expression became somewhat strange.

He had thought You Wei's surname was You and that she simply called Zhang Tie brother like everyone else.

He had not expected them to actually be siblings.

One was built like a bear, with a face full of fierce flesh.

The other was petite and adorable, gentle and delicate.

They had the same parents, yet the difference was far too great...

Zhang Tie seemed to notice Lin An's strange gaze. He suddenly pulled You Wei's hand and brought her before Lin An.

"Brother Lin, this is my little sister!"

Zhang Tie's face was full of pride.

Lin An: ...