317 Ward

The moment he landed, the scattered Zombies wandering around the hospital converged on him.

Whether it was because there were still Survivors in the various buildings, or because they were avoiding the daytime sunlight, he did not know.

There were not many Zombies on the ground outside.

"Hiss!"

Lin An gripped a Bone Spike and drove it straight through the Zombie lunging at him.

It was like stabbing tofu.

After equipping Skull Crusher's Hand, his Strength Attribute had reached a staggering 24.4 even without activating his talent.

Even in his normal state, he was stronger than he had been before when "taking drugs" and activating a skill.

His strength had risen by an entire level.

Lin An bent his legs and gathered power, locking onto a window on the third floor of the inpatient building.

"Bang."

The ground cracked, and the depression left by his footprint was several inches deeper than before.

Like a human cannonball, he ignored the Zombies below that had rushed over after catching his scent.

"Thud!"

The outer wall of the third floor cracked, and dust drifted down.

Lin An landed against the outer wall, grabbed the protective grille over the window with one hand, and exerted a little force.

"Creak."

The protective bars were torn apart with his bare hands.

The stainless steel pipes twisted into spirals with ease.

Through the window, the ward was pitch-black. He could not tell which room it was or see clearly inside.

"Roar!"

Inside the ward, a Zombie roared as it slammed into the window.

Its face warped against the glass, making it look like an evil ghost.

The window shattered at once. Driven by its craving for flesh, it felt no pain at all.

The Zombie forced its way through the window, ignoring the shattered glass as the sharp edges shredded its face.

Judging by its appearance, it had been an elderly man in his seventies or eighties before undergoing Corpse Change.

It frantically opened and closed its bloody maw.

Most of its teeth had fallen out, yet it still tried to tear a chunk of flesh from Lin An and savor it.

"Bang!"

Expressionless, Lin An hung from the window with one hand, then kicked its head apart and flipped into the ward.

He quickly scanned the surroundings. The ward was a complete mess.

There were two hospital beds in the room, along with a private bathroom.

It was probably a special care ward for two patients. The Zombie that had just died had likely held a high status when it was alive.

Ordinary people could never afford the cost of such a special care ward.

Before his eyes—

On the other bed, an elderly female Zombie with only her upper body remaining struggled to crawl out of bed.

It was not that a Zombie's strength was limited by its physical condition before mutation.

Enhanced by the Zombie Virus, Lin An had seen plenty of frail elderly people turn into Zombies and still run incredibly fast.

It was simply because the elderly female Zombie had been gnawed clean of all four limbs. Reduced to a human stump, she could only wriggle forward like a maggot.

The clean bedsheets were covered in dark red bloodstains.

The flesh on her arms had been completely eaten away, and even much of the organs in her chest cavity were gone.

It looked as though the old man had turned into a Zombie first, then infected her.

If nothing unexpected had happened, they might even have been husband and wife.

Married for decades, they had stayed together in the hospital and supported one another through illness.

Who would have thought she would ultimately die beneath her own husband's jaws?

Lin An shook his head, but he did not feel much.

He had seen scenes like this countless times during the three years of Doomsday in his previous life.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The locked ward door warped.

The Zombies outside heard the noise and came rushing over.

Lin An casually strode to the door and reached for the lock.

His gaze was calm, as though what stood outside were not savage, terrifying Zombies, but friends dropping by for a visit.

"Eye of Judgment!"

"Crack!"

He tore off the lock in one pull, pale blue mist rising in his eyes.

"Roar!"

The Zombies outside roared. At a glance, there were at least twenty or thirty of them.

They packed the entire hallway so tightly that not even water could pass through.

"Charging Step Stomp!"

Lin An reacted with incredible speed. Just as the Zombies closed in, he raised his leg and stomped toward the nearest one.

It was utterly overwhelming.

The bone-breaking crunches that made one's teeth ache rang out like firecrackers.

The Zombie charging at the front was launched away in an instant, smashing apart along with the Zombies behind it.

The walls trembled. Every Zombie by the doorway was wiped out, while the innermost one was embedded into the wall and reduced to a puddle of flesh.

Lin An looked at his casual kick and smiled in satisfaction.

Converted into tonnage, his strength was probably over four tons now.

Any casual punch or kick was like a car crashing at high speed.

That was the power of an Awakened.

Stepping over the scattered limbs and mangled flesh—

Lin An entered the hallway and rapidly swept his gaze around.

In an instant, Eye of Judgment loaded all information within his field of vision.

"Ding, detected:"

"Zombies: 1198"

"Mutants: 0"

Although there were far fewer Zombies than in the Emergency Building, they were still not to be underestimated.

Behind him, the ward number read Room 330.

A sign posted on the wall read:

Left: 330–370.

Right: 330–301.

Without hesitation, Lin An turned right.

If he remembered correctly, Wen Ya had said her mother was in Room 303.

The Zombie Doctor had said that the child carrying the component was in 317 Ward.

Although Wen Ya's mother had most likely already died or turned into a Zombie, since he had promised Wen Ya, he had to at least take a look.

Besides, Room 303 and 317 Ward were along the same route, so it would not delay him.

The Zombies roared as those wandering in the hallway charged straight toward him.

Lin An held a "spike" in each hand. One was a Licker's spine, while the other belonged to an ordinary Zombie.

He had not yet had time to deal with the Licker corpse he had killed on the road outside the hotel yesterday.

Compared to ordinary cold weapons, Zombie spines were actually quite good in every aspect except for being somewhat awkward to wield.

"Forward charge, Forehand Thrust!"

Lin An stepped forward, his figure as swift as lightning.

Empowered by terrifying force, the sharp spine pierced straight through the Zombie in front of him, leaving a transparent hole.

The twin "spikes" in his hands thrust at high speed.

He transformed directly into a cold, efficient killing machine.

With his overwhelming strength—

Lin An's advance was never hindered. As he sprinted onward, he cleared every Zombie blocking his path.

Cold, mechanical slaughter.

One minute later, Lin An looked up at the ward number not far away.

The hallway behind him resembled a slaughterhouse, littered with Zombie corpses whose heads he had pulverized.

317 Ward.

There was nothing unusual. The light screen before him displayed only information on ordinary Zombies.

Lin An felt confused, along with a faint unease.

It had gone too smoothly.

As he charged and killed his way here, he had kept Eye of Judgment active the entire time.

On one hand, it prevented special Zombies from hiding among the others, allowing him to detect and react to them as quickly as possible.

On the other hand, Wen Ya had not provided a photograph of her mother.

Of course, even if she had, it would not have helped much.

After all, if Wen Ya's mother had already turned into a Zombie, her face was most likely unrecognizable.

All the patients in the hospital wore identical gowns, so identifying her by clothing was impossible as well.

Yet nothing unusual had happened along the way, and he could tell that these Zombies were not being directed by a Mutant either.

Now that he had reached 317 Ward, he still had not found anything.

That was not reasonable.

Logically, something dangerous had to be here.

Otherwise, the Zombie Doctor would have had no reason to lure him here.

As for the possibility that its child really was here and it wanted Lin An to bring the child back—

Lin An would not believe that even if he were beaten to death.

If that were really the case, why would the Zombie Doctor not come itself?

As a Mutant, it could command other Zombies and would face no obstacles at all within a Zombie Crowd.

Cautious and vigilant.

Lin An let out a low shout, his gaze sharpening.

"Strength Burst!"

Pale golden spiritual energy flooded into his body, raising all attributes by 2.

His strength broke past 24.4 and reached 26.4.

Powerful. His blood surged.

Lin An once again felt the brand-new power of the Second Order!

Unlike when he had just crossed the threshold before, his current strength rivaled that of an Intermediate Level Second Order!

After bringing himself into peak condition, Lin An held the twin spikes horizontally before his chest, then launched a savage kick at the door of 317 Ward.

"Boom!"

The metal door tore free under that force and crashed into the room as though struck by a massive beast.

Lin An watched the room warily under the enhancement of Eye of Judgment.

The curtains were tightly drawn, but the dim room was as clear as day.

After seeing the scene inside—

His pupils contracted violently, and every hair on his body stood on end like a beast sensing danger.

A long-forgotten, intense feeling of fear surged from his heart.

Lin An's breathing stopped. His entire body turned ice-cold, as though he had fallen into an icy abyss.

There were no Zombies in the room. There was only a little girl.

She wore a short red dress, her two delicate feet bare.

She floated in midair.