The Chime at One in the Morning

Li Haobo's "brilliant idea" instantly set the living room abuzz.

"So that's why you're the young master, Li. You know how to have fun way better than a bunch of roughnecks like us! We'd never have thought of such a great idea." Shouhou spoke to Li Haobo with a mix of admiration and flattery.

The mercenaries of the Hunting Mercenary Group chimed in one after another.

Even Rong Zhan, beside the sofa, gave Li Haobo a thumbs-up.

Li Haobo was so excited by everyone's approval that his face flushed red.

It was the first time anyone had praised him like this.

Wang Dahu was still being pinned to the ground by three mercenaries.

The kindhearted, honest man had just watched more than a dozen women die right before his eyes.

The sight had robbed him of the ability to speak. He didn't even have the strength to fight back anymore.

Tears of utter despair streamed from Heixing's eyes, which he was forcing open, and there was a trace of blood in them.

Heixing and Eyu lifted Wang Dahu up.

Shouhou carefully crept over to the iron cage.

The zombie was still slamming against the cage. It hadn't noticed Shouhou preparing to open the door on the other side.

Rong Zhan stood up to stop the zombie from escaping the cage.

The door swung open, and Wang Dahu was ruthlessly thrown inside.

Shouhou immediately slammed the door shut and locked it again.

"Whew, that was thrilling." Shouhou breathed a sigh of relief.

After devouring more than a dozen women, the zombie had grown much stronger.

Even with its back to Shouhou, it made him feel intensely oppressed.

One could only imagine how terrified Wang Dahu must have been, trapped in the cage at close range with the zombie.

The zombie sensed the commotion behind it.

It turned around and saw a bloodied man struggling to get back to his feet.

Had more food just been delivered to it?

At last, Wang Dahu scrambled upright.

He looked at the zombie, less than two or three meters away.

He saw its mouth smeared with fresh blood and bits of flesh.

He saw the women's shattered remains scattered inside the cage.

He was still afraid.

But he wasn't afraid of the hellish scene in front of him. He was afraid he wouldn't survive.

"Ma, I can't make it back alive to look after you." Tears streamed down Wang Dahu's face.

But he didn't give up. When he thought of his mother waiting at home for him to return, his gaze gradually hardened.

He had to live!

He had to survive!

He looked at the zombie in front of him and charged straight at it.

To everyone outside the cage, his brave move looked utterly ridiculous.

Even so, the crowd outside cheered excitedly. This was the thrilling spectacle they had come to see.

The more than a dozen women hadn't fought back against the zombie, and that had left them unsatisfied.

The zombie moved too.

It lunged straight at Wang Dahu.

The man and the zombie began a fight to the death inside the cage.

Unfortunately, Wang Dahu was only a newly hired bodyguard. He hadn't even learned any fighting skills. All he had was brute strength and a not-too-bright head.

He actually chose to trade blows with the zombie, taking injuries just to land his own hits!

Wang Dahu slammed a fist into the zombie's head, deforming its entire face.

The zombie couldn't feel pain. Instead, it drove both claws deep into Wang Dahu's abdomen.

Blood flowed across the floor, making the stench of blood in the hall even more overpowering.

One punch! Two punches! Three punches!

Relying on his brute strength and unwavering resolve, Wang Dahu kept pounding the zombie's head with his fists.

One swipe! Two swipes! Three swipes!

The zombie ignored its own injuries, repeatedly raking Wang Dahu from head to toe and leaving deep claw marks all over him.

By now, Wang Dahu's entire abdomen was a bloody mess.

A large amount of intestine and parts of his internal organs spilled out of his abdomen.

He looked as if he had emerged from a pool of blood, drenched from head to toe.

No one knew what kind of conviction kept him going.

A zombie Li Haobo had raised until even Rong Zhan found it troublesome to deal with.

A zombie that felt no pain and knew only how to kill.

It actually died first in its brutal fight with Wang Dahu.

The zombie's body collapsed limply onto the ground, among the remains of the dozen or so dead women.

Only Wang Dahu, covered in blood, remained standing inside the cage.

Outside it, everyone clapped for the spectacular fight, unable to hold back any longer.

Had Wang Dahu won?

No. His injuries were so severe that even an immortal would have sighed at the sight.

He had even lost consciousness, his mouth mechanically repeating, "I was wrong. I was wrong..."

He wasn't wrong. His kindness had been right.

But in this terrifying, dark apocalypse,

his kindness had led to his death.

"Boom."

Wang Dahu could hold on no longer.

His gaze grew unfocused, and he collapsed inside the cage.

"Dong."

The chime of 1:00 a.m. rang out.

It was as if it were sending Wang Dahu off.

Or as if it were ringing in the final countdown to death for Li Haobo and the others.

No one noticed.

The skin all over Wang Dahu's fallen body was gradually turning gray.

He wasn't dead. He was about to become a zombie.

The chime at one in the morning carried through the forest outside the manor.

Lin Zhiluo moved.

After lying in wait in the same spot for a full seven hours, he finally moved.

Between one and two in the morning

was when people who stayed up late felt most tired and their attention was at its weakest.

That was because the pineal gland in the human brain secreted a substance called "melatonin."

The light was especially dim between one and two in the morning, when the body produced the most melatonin, making people feel sleepier than ever.

By contrast, a capable killer always kept his energy up in the dead of night.

Lin Zhiluo stood up.

He had turned off the glow from all his gear.

He had also long since dyed all his equipment black, so its shades blended into the night.

After all, equipment made by the Doomsday Game came with an automatic cleaning function.

In the dark forest,

Lin Zhiluo looked like a patch of shadow.

There was no way to see that anyone was there.

After observing the manor's current guard positions once more,

Lin Zhiluo moved.

His body shot forward like a leopard.

The wind from his passing stirred up the fallen leaves in the forest.

Strangely, though, his feet made no sound as they touched the dirt.

Soon, Lin Zhiluo emerged from the forest and stealthily approached the manor.

Along the wall surrounding the manor,

a mercenary stood at regular intervals, shining a tactical flashlight out from the top of the wall and carefully watching for any movement outside.

The beams of their flashlights swept back and forth.

It looked as though they had inspected every corner around the manor.

Lin Zhiluo didn't slow down at all.

He kept moving closer to the wall.

He walked as if strolling through his own backyard.

His steps were light and steady, his manner relaxed and composed.

Yet not a single flashlight beam fell on the path he took.

It was as if the beams were deliberately avoiding him.