Deep Abyssal Black Dragon

Just from Lin An's voice, Zhang Tie could tell how agitated he was on the other end of the communication channel.

Zhang Tie wore an embarrassed expression, completely at a loss.

I haven't even explained what happened yet!

Could it be that Team Leader Lin has encountered this kind of situation before? Is this thing a Mutant?

There's no need to curse at me, though...

I'm asking you about it. Besides, I haven't carried her back yet, have I?

Although he had not known Lin An for long, in his impression, Lin An had always been a calm, cold, expressionless man.

This reaction was far too intense.

Zhang Tie muttered inwardly.

Could it be because Team Leader Lin just told me today not to trust any suspected Zombies?

But then I ran into a suspected Mutant and hesitated over whether to save her, making Lin An angry?

While Zhang Tie was letting his imagination run wild, he even considered whether he should take advantage of the suspected Mutant girl being unconscious and kill her with a single Bone Whip strike.

In front of the hospital building.

Lin An stood rigidly in place, his entire body stiff.

He did not even notice the Zombies charging toward him from nearby.

"Beep. The S-Class Mutant Beast Abyssal Black Dragon wishes to sign a partner contract with you. Do you accept?"

"Beep. You have obtained one orange piece of equipment, Soul-Devouring Hand."

"Beep. Player has received unknown Mental Strength feedback and gained an attribute increase."

"Beep. Willpower +1."

"Beep. Agility +1."

"Beep. Strength +1."

"Beep. Physique +1."

"Beep. Mental recovery speed +20%, maximum Mental Strength increased by 20%, Mental Strength resistance increased by 20%."

A dense stream of System Notifications rang out like heavenly music.

For a moment, the light screen in Lin An's vision was flooded with notifications.

One second before Lin An was about to leave, the slender Black Snake wrapped itself around his arm, and the Soul-Devouring Hand it had swallowed was spat out again.

However, this Epic Equipment had shrunk by a size, and the blood-colored patterns covering it had also dimmed considerably.

It looked as though the spiritual energy inside had been drained away.

Lin An was ecstatic.

This was the very definition of finding light at the end of the tunnel.

The equipment he had lost had been returned to him, and he had even unexpectedly gained an S-Class Mutant Beast that wanted to become his summoned beast.

He never would have thought that the Black Snake was actually a dragon!

No wonder it had two bumps on its head. He had thought they were infected with pus...

All attributes +1, along with a whole pile of additional bonuses.

The joy in his heart could not be expressed in words.

Trembling with ecstasy, Lin An stared in shock at the Black Dragon wrapped around his wrist.

An increase in strength. An Epic Equipment.

But—

Neither of these frenzied rewards could compare with the shock the Black Dragon had brought him.

An S-Class Mutant Beast...

"Gulp."

Lin An swallowed with difficulty, his mouth dry and his throat parched.

Mutant Beasts would only begin appearing one after another roughly a year after the apocalypse erupted.

These creatures from a Different Dimension were different from Zombies.

Although most of them were hostile toward humans, they were likewise enemies of Zombies and Mutants.

The mysterious Mutant Beasts were few in number, but immensely powerful.

Every Mutant Beast possessed at least the strength of an Awakener or a Mutant.

Their strength was classified differently from that of Awakeners, being divided into five ranks: S, A, B, C, and D.

These corresponded respectively to Tier 0 Awakeners through Fourth Order Awakeners.

Therefore—

By the third year of the apocalypse, Zombies, Mutants, Mutant Beasts, and humans had formed a three-way stalemate.

The Safe Zones established by humans would suffer successive attacks from Zombie tides and beast tides.

The Zombies were the strongest side, the Mutant Beasts came second, and humanity struggled to survive.

As the highest-level existence among Mutant Beasts, S-Class Mutant Beasts—

Lin An had only seen one mentioned in the Chat Channel in his previous life.

That time—

A Third Order Peak Awakener had risked his life to record the footage.

A Six-Armed Giant Ape Mutant Beast more than thirty meters tall had single-handedly fought against a modern army of four Army Groups, totaling two hundred thousand people.

Two hundred thousand well-trained Player soldiers whose levels had also been increased.

Heavy artillery, a Steel Torrent of four hundred tanks, and fighter formations from more than two squadrons.

With coordinated land-and-air operations, such firepower could, without exaggeration, flatten any small country.

But even so—

Under the sustained barrage and the attacks of ten Third Order Awakeners, that S-Class Mutant Beast slaughtered an entire large Safe Zone in just five minutes.

It could not be stopped. It was utterly invincible.

The heavy artillery could not even break through its defenses, while Airburst Bombs and strategic missiles could only briefly impede its advance.

The Steel Torrent and machine-gun positions were nothing more than toys that could barely tickle it.

The Third Order Awakeners could only join forces to "dart around" its feet and harass it.

That battle—

More than a million people died. The entire Chinese Southwest War Zone suffered immense losses and nearly fell to the subsequent Zombie attack.

In the end, an unknown force used a low-yield nuclear bomb to severely injure it while ten Third Order Awakeners desperately held it in place, forcing it to flee.

The edited video, which lasted less than a minute, drove all the Players to despair.

The strength of a Fourth Order Mutant Beast made it impossible for anyone to even consider resisting.

And the Black Snake coiled around Lin An's hand was precisely such an existence!

I'm invincible now!

If he signed the contract, then the Black Snake—

No, if the Abyssal Black Dragon could be used by him, would he not be able to run rampant through this Doomsday Game?

"Roar!"

More than a dozen Zombies gathered and lunged toward Lin An at high speed, snapping at him.

Lin An did not even notice them.

Immersed in shock, he could not be bothered to deal with these Zombies.

He moved slowly, like an elderly man making a move.

He was seriously injured now and did not want to fight desperately, as that would only worsen his injuries.

"Poof!"

He lightly punched the head of the Zombie charging at the front, instantly caving in its skull.

Lin An frowned. His strength had fallen far too much under his severe injuries.

"Strength Burst!"

A flash of pale golden spiritual energy vanished into his body.

"Side Kick!"

He kicked out. Although it lacked much of its former power, it was still forceful enough.

The Zombie in front of him had its spine snapped by the kick and fell to the ground, struggling to crawl.

The other Zombies arrived and began tearing and biting at his body frenziedly.

Lin An sighed softly.

Forget it.

Bite me.

With his current physical constitution, ordinary Zombies would need quite some time to break through his physical defenses.

Not to mention, he was immune to poison and had slight resistance to infection.

The Zombies that would have been enough to surround and trap the residents of an entire building were like air in Lin An's eyes.

"Zhang Tie!"

"Take some drugs and rush over. Carry me back!"

Lin An's thoughts were entirely focused on the Abyssal Black Dragon and the equipment that had returned to him.

After sending the message about signing the contract, the Abyssal Black Dragon wrapped around his arm had fallen into slumber.

Otherwise, Lin An believed that an existence of this level would not even need to mention Zombies.

Even an entire plaza of Lickers could be slaughtered by this fellow in a matter of seconds.

Lin An slowly dealt with the Zombies around him while concentrating all his efforts on communicating with a Dark Gold Contract in his mind.

"Sign the contract!"