Licker

Boom!

A heavy object hit the ground.

Lin An jumped down from the rooftop, his expression grave.

The Mental Storm had passed.

Aside from a slight lingering dizziness, he was otherwise unharmed.

Now that the Doomsday Game had officially begun, An JingTian's life had entered its final countdown.

Time was running out. Once he left the Main City area, he had to find a vehicle.

Otherwise, there was no way he could reach his destination on foot.

There were now at least several million Zombies scattered throughout the city.

Even though he had become an Awakener, being surrounded by such a massive number of Zombies would still mean a Dead End.

Linjiang outskirts.

A red Dongfeng Heavy Truck roared past, mercilessly crushing the Zombies along the road.

Bang!

Inside the truck cab, Lin An kicked open the door and jumped out without a care, even as the truck continued speeding forward.

After rolling several times to disperse the force, he rose steadily to his feet.

After becoming an Awakener, his Physique of twelve points was enough to render him immune to most Impact.

The out-of-control Dongfeng Heavy Truck barreled straight into the residential complex's wall.

Filthy blood coated the vehicle, while unidentifiable chunks of flesh were wedged into its crevices.

On the front bumper,

a Zombie with only its upper body left was still tirelessly gnawing at the metal.

With a deafening crash,

the truck that had raced wildly ever since leaving the city finally completed its final mission.

At the entrance to the residential complex, the Zombies gathered together to feast on corpses were crushed into bloody pulp by the runaway truck.

Black smoke billowed from the mangled front end, and scarlet stained the dark tire tracks.

The sky was dim.

After fighting his way out of the City Center, Lin An had raced all the way here, arriving near the area where An JingTian was.

What should have been a three-hour drive had been forcibly cut by more than half.

Without stopping to rest,

Lin An hurriedly pulled out his phone and looked at the pale screen.

Twenty-three minutes left...

The heart that had been clenched tight suddenly relaxed.

Good. There was still time.

The residential complex where An JingTian lived was at the very back of this area.

This had once been the old part of town.

The roads were tangled and convoluted, making it possible to proceed only on foot.

But even on foot,

with his enhanced body and his speed, he could get there in fifteen minutes at most.

Brother.

You have to hold on!

After punching through the Zombie lunging at him, Lin An sprinted along the inner walls of the residential complex.

The once quiet, cozy apartment buildings had now become a slaughterhouse.

The sealed anti-theft windows had become the greatest obstacle to escape.

Piercing screams rang out from inside the buildings from time to time.

Through half-open windows, Zombie figures flashed past.

One small mercy amid the disaster:

before the Doomsday erupted, most residents of the complex had still been out and had not returned home.

Otherwise, with the population density of this old district, he would have found it impossible to take even a single step.

Moving nimbly, Lin An easily evaded the small Zombie Crowds trying to surround him with his high Agility.

He ran at astonishing speed, and at full burst, he had already reached the complex entrance.

He avoided the Zombies along the way whenever he could, and when he could not, he simply punched through their heads.

At the entrance to the complex, beneath the anti-theft window of a six-story Western-style apartment building.

A man dressed like a wealthy businessman hung bare-chested beneath the railing with great difficulty.

No one knew how someone so fat had managed to climb onto the outer wall.

"Save me!"

"Please!"

The short, fat man shouted at Lin An, forcing an ugly smile onto his face as soybean-sized beads of sweat dripped from the tip of his nose.

He had been climbing outside the window for a while already. Seeing Lin An charge out of the complex like a god of slaughter,

saving him should have been effortless, right?

Lin An remained unmoved. He kicked apart the Zombie in front of him and did not even look back.

"I have money!"

"One hundred thousand!"

"Save me!"

The wealthy businessman panicked as he watched Lin An prepare to leave through the main gate.

Meanwhile, the anti-theft window in front of him was gradually beginning to deform.

The sturdy steel bars squealed beneath the bites of the woman who had turned into a Zombie.

"One million! I'll give you one million!"

The wealthy businessman's face was filled with terror. His strength was about to give out.

Wave after wave of rotten stench poured from the woman's mouth.

It made him dizzy and nauseous.

That was the cherry-red little mouth he had loved most, once fragrant with every breath.

"Five million! I'm the owner of Lin Jiang Construction Engineering Group! As long as you save me, I'll make you general manager!"

As Lin An got farther and farther away,

the wealthy businessman's face went pale. No longer caring about his money, he screamed at the top of his lungs.

The construction group was extremely famous in Lin Jiang City. He believed anyone would be tempted.

Lin An could not be bothered to respond.

In the Doomsday, money could only be used to wipe one's ass.

As Lin An's figure disappeared from sight, the wealthy businessman stared blankly.

That was five million plus the position of general manager. How could anyone not be tempted?

Power, money.

He had given more than enough!

Idiot, what an idiot!

Humiliated and enraged, the desperate businessman began cursing Lin An frantically.

Venting the fear in his heart without restraint.

After passing through a broad road unusually free of Zombie obstructions,

Lin An suddenly halted, his expression turning grave.

It was not because the wealthy businessman's promise of money had moved him and made him want to go back.

In the distance, a gigantic monster three meters tall, blood-red all over and resembling a skinned frog, blocked the road ahead.

That was...

a Licker!

As a mutated Zombie, a Licker possessed terrifying Combat Power.

In his Previous Life, a single one could easily destroy a Small Safe Zone.

Though it had no armor, its constantly regenerating muscle tissue could withstand most small-caliber firearms.

Incredibly fast, immensely powerful, and able to regenerate flesh.

Hard steel was like dough in its hands.

It was one of the Survivors' nightmares.

Could he get around it?

Lin An carefully concealed himself behind a truck.

Even though he was already an Awakener, he was only Tier 0.

While his strength had surpassed human limits, there was still a vast gap between him and this monster.

And he had no weapon right now. If the Licker noticed him, fighting it barehanded would be extremely difficult.

Should he take a detour?

Lin An carefully held his breath, using a broken rearview mirror to scout ahead.

Every movement the Licker made in the middle of the road was like an Earthquake.

Over two meters long, its sharp foreclaws could easily pierce metal sheets.

Its two claws shot out continuously like afterimages, constantly pulling humans hiding inside cars out.

As though savoring dessert.

Once it got into the mood,

it did not even spare the Zombies.

Lin An fell silent.

No wonder there were no Zombies on this road. This monster had eaten them all.

A dozen seconds later.

The Licker chewed on a pair of severed legs hanging from its mouth, its eyes greedily sweeping over its surroundings.

It had eaten everything on the entire street.

Bzz~

His phone vibrated faintly.

It was a voice message from An JingTian.

Lin An's gaze abruptly sharpened, and he cautiously turned the volume down to its lowest setting.

"Crackle... Brother Lin, I'm Jing Tian's little sister, An Xia. I think my brother is about to die...!"

"He threw up... crackle... so much blood."

"I don't know why... the way my brother is looking at me."

"It feels like..."

"Crackle..."

"He wants to eat me."

Interference garbled the transmission, leaving the brief message somewhat unclear.

The message had been sent five minutes ago.

After the Doomsday began, global communications had been severely disrupted and would gradually cut off within three hours.

Lin An clenched his phone tightly.

His hands, which had remained steady and calm even after fighting his way out of a Mountain of Corpses and Sea of Blood,

were now trembling slightly.

Jing Tian's condition was deteriorating faster than he had expected.

Perhaps in the very next second, he would completely turn into a Zombie.

He could not delay any longer.

Lin An, who had originally planned to take a detour, instantly straightened up. No longer caring about the risk of exposing himself to the Licker's sight, he broke into a sprint!

He needed a weapon now!

Back to the complex's Security Booth!

He remembered there was a Fire Axe there!

Thump!

Thump!

The ground trembled.

In the distance, the massive Licker seemed to sense something.

On its hideous Giant Face, two nostril-like holes carefully sniffed the air.

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

Suddenly, the Licker's enormous body began sprinting madly.

The cars along the road were all smashed aside as though struck by a train.

It was incredibly fast. It had caught the scent of a living creature!

The distance between them rapidly closed.

Boom!

Lin An dashed to the booth entrance in a single stride and kicked open the tightly locked Iron Gate with brute force.