Elimination

Xia Leng watched the dozens of deformed drifters who had packed the doorway so tightly that not even water could pass through.

He quietly tightened his grip on the dagger he had just acquired, his gaze turning icy cold.

Were these fellows trying to avenge the leader he had just killed?

He wondered if the meager ability he had just obtained would be enough to withstand a collective assault from these dozens of people...

Just as Xia Leng drew his dagger, preparing to strike down the most robust-looking drifter first to intimidate the others.

Thud!!

Suddenly! The deformed drifters at the doorway unexpectedly knelt in unison!

Some prostrated themselves, others trembled uncontrollably, and some even knelt while holding out disgusting food toward him; all in all, they seemed terrified of Xia Leng.

Seeing this scene, Xia Leng finally understood.

He had killed the Baptized One leader whom they viewed as a god, and in doing so, he had replaced him as their new deity; they wanted to crown him as the new leader of this Drifter Camp.

"Ki... King, please accept our tribute and lead us to continue surviving in this wasteland!"

An ugly, elderly-looking man held up a piece of rotting meat, its original form unrecognizable, and crawled tremblingly before Xia Leng, displaying absolute submission.

King?

Xia Leng sneered at this archaic word; he had no intention of wasting his time on these deformed drifters who didn't have long to live.

He had grown accustomed to being a lone wolf over the years; he needed no subordinates, and even less did he need companions.

Because inevitably, when food became extremely scarce, these supposedly loyal subordinates would collectively rebel and plunder everything you owned while you slept.

Thus, Xia Leng coldly stepped over the drifters sprawled on the ground, not wishing to waste the energy to kill them just to prevent future trouble.

Because these drifters, whose hearts were as deformed as their appearances, were incapable of harboring thoughts of revenge.

In their hearts, there was only how to fill their stomachs, how to live a little longer, and how to snatch food from the mouths of others.

"Let that guy be your leader."

Xia Leng pointed at the lackey who had previously followed the Baptized One—the same thin, tall man who was currently trembling on the ground.

Upon hearing that this terrifying man would not kill him in retaliation, the thin man felt as if he had been granted amnesty and began kowtowing frantically, thanking Xia Leng for sparing his life.

He didn't stop until his head was bloodied and he could no longer keep up the act; when he finally looked up, he found that the cold man had long since vanished...

"Land of Corpse Cold... what kind of place would be named that?"

Xia Leng pulled up the black hood woven from the Blacklight Virus, blending into the gloomy, ruined environment.

After leaving that Drifter Camp, he found another slightly sturdier abandoned bungalow to stay in.

After all, it was still nighttime, and there was no telling when it would end; even a high-ranking Baptized One could not guarantee absolute safety in the wilderness during the dark of night.

Moreover, the coordinate calling to him in his mind still seemed very far away, so blindly rushing toward it without any consideration would be a very unwise choice.

Xia Leng intended to wait for the next daylight to arrive before embarking on the long journey.

Though he did not know when the daylight would come.

Perhaps tomorrow, perhaps in half a month, or perhaps it would never come at all...

To date, no organization could predict the changes in day and night.

The alternation of day and night was extremely bizarre and followed no pattern, much like the old-era Sichuan opera master "Sun Xiaochuan"—changing faces on a whim.

Likewise, the four seasons no longer followed the rules.

About two years ago, an extreme weather event had occurred where the temperature suddenly dropped to -40℃, and snow carrying infectious elements fell continuously for two whole months without stopping!

The drifters, already living in harsh conditions, suffered a massive loss of population due to freezing to death or suffering severe frostbite!

Yet, just as the remaining survivors had finally adapted to this lethal cold, the sun, which had been absent for so long, suddenly appeared in the sky, baking the earth with temperatures exceeding 50℃ for an entire month...

The instantaneous alternation between extreme cold and scorching heat nearly wiped out the entire biosphere, survivors included. Xia Leng had fallen deathly ill during that time, nearly burning to death from a high fever.

But the humans who remained after being filtered by such extreme weather were the ones who truly mastered and adapted to this apocalyptic environment.

However, they had also become more primitive, brutal, and savage; in order to survive, morality, ethics, dignity, and everything else could be cast aside...

Xia Leng leaned against the wall, squatting in a corner of the room, his eyes staring numbly at the eerie blood moon hanging in the night sky.

At this moment, he was not thinking about why the world had suddenly become so broken.

He was thinking about how to live a little longer after gaining these abilities, and about the origins of his own life...

As he pondered, sleepiness gradually crept in; the high-alert hunting of the past few days, done solely to fill his stomach, meant he hadn't closed his eyes for three full days.

In the depths of his mind, the lingering shadows within his memory fragments began to lull him to sleep along with his hazy consciousness.

In five years, Xia Leng had never slept as peacefully as he did this night. He fell into a deep slumber, his breathing becoming steady; he didn't even bother to set the traps he usually insisted on before sleeping.

Xia Leng was asleep, but his body was not. The drop of Blacklight Virus that had merged into his brain began to operate frantically, using his brain as the central point!

They were like a well-drilled, disciplined army, moving smoothly through his muscles, internal organs, and even his blood vessels, devouring all the germs, weak cells, and other waste along the way!

At the same time, on the surface of Xia Leng's skin, countless filthy mists were expelled from his tiny pores, condensing into dewdrops that dripped onto the ground.

His entire body was autonomously completing the work of purging impurities!

Even the terrifying ten-centimeter centipede-like scar on his back was covered layer by layer with new skin until it vanished completely, the new skin as smooth and fair as polished jade...

Throughout this entire process, Xia Leng remained in a deep sleep, completely unaware of the changes occurring to his body while he slumbered.

Just at this moment, a pile of broken bricks and tiles in a corner of the room suddenly stirred slightly, and several creaking sounds emerged from within!

Two red, mung bean-sized points of light poked out from the gaps between the broken bricks, fixing their gaze upon the man who had fallen asleep against the corner wall.

Creak, creak~~

The red points of light crawled out; it was a Mutant Spike-Burst Rat nearly as thick as an arm!

A body larger than the cats of the old era, fangs sharp and coated in saliva teeming with billions of toxic bacteria, claws capable of easily tearing through skin, and a rat tail covered in barbs—this was the "house mouse" seen everywhere in this era!

Furthermore, Mutant Spike-Burst Rats were gregarious mutant animals; they would never carry out a hunting mission in groups of fewer than ten.

And Xia Leng was currently sleeping right inside one of the nests of these spike-rats...