Searching along the way
Lu Heng took two more sips of tea and then put the water purifier into his Wristband Space.
It was completely dark outside the window.
After a long day of work, he felt a little heavy. He turned off the light, lay down, and fell asleep almost immediately.
When I woke up the next day, it was just getting light.
Lu Heng got up, put on his equipment, checked the supplies in his Wristband Space, and then walked to the door.
The Bone Demon was already standing there, waiting.
"Walk."
Lu Heng pushed open the light curtain and stepped out.
The streets outside were exactly the same as yesterday. The shops and houses along the street had already been searched, so there was no need to go in again. He led the Bone Demon into the nearby residential area and headed towards the residential area.
Residential areas are harder to search than those along main streets.
The buildings were densely packed, the unit doors were narrow, and the stairwells were dimly lit. Lu Heng pushed open the unit door of the first building, and a stuffy smell hit him. There were several dark marks on the stairwell wall, and slippers and keys were scattered on the steps.
The Bone Demon went in first.
A Zombie was crouching at the corner on the second floor. Hearing the noise, it turned its head. The Bone Demon stepped forward and punched it on the head. The Zombie fell down, its head hitting the concrete steps, and it didn't move again.
Three floors, two. Four floors, one. Five floors, one.
Lu Heng followed behind, checking each floor one by one. He searched where there were supplies and moved on where there were none.
Some items were found in the second building.
On the third floor, a family lived in an apartment with their door ajar. Several bags of potato chips and biscuits were on the coffee table in the living room, and two boxes of instant noodles were stacked next to the TV cabinet, the boxes still unopened. On the dining table was a bowl with noodles soaking in it, chopsticks resting on the rim of the bowl, the noodles clumped together into a hard, dry mass.
Lu Heng put the snacks and instant noodles into his Wristband Space, glanced at the bowl, didn't linger, and turned to leave.
The next few buildings yielded no results.
The Bone Demon moved in and out of the corridor, dealing with wave after wave of Zombie. Some rushed out of the rooms, while others huddled in corners, remaining motionless until the Bone Demon approached them, at which point they stood up.
All the bones were fed to the Bone Demon.
The Bone Demon squatted downstairs, breaking bones into pieces and stuffing them into its mouth, chewing loudly. After it finished eating, its bone armor seemed a little thicker than before. Lu Heng glanced at it a couple more times but said nothing.
The Wristband vibrated, and my Copper Coin balance increased by 25.
Lu Heng stood at the exit of the residential area and glanced back at the row of apartment buildings.
There are definitely still supplies inside that haven't been searched.
But he did not continue.
High-level creatures won't let small monsters get too close. The high Zombie density in the residential area means we're still some distance from the Boss's territory. His current goal is to find the Boss, not to waste time wandering around from building to building.
Lu Heng turned around and continued walking forward with the Bone Demon.
After walking for about twenty minutes, a wall appeared by the roadside. Behind the wall were several low buildings, with a faded sign hanging at the entrance. Lu Heng immediately identified it as a school.
The gate was locked, and the lock was rusted. The Bone Demon punched it, the lock popped open, and the iron gate tilted to one side.
Lu Heng went inside.
The campus was quiet.
One of the basketball hoops on the playground was crooked, and there were several cracks in the running track, with grass growing out of them. A school bus was parked in front of the teaching building, with two broken windows and a layer of dust on its body.
He entered the teaching building.
Several schoolbags were scattered in the hallway. One zipper was undone, and a textbook was half-fallen out, with a name written on the cover in crooked handwriting. The bulletin board on the wall still had pictures, but most of the colors had faded.
In the first classroom, three Zombie, dressed in small school uniforms, sat behind desks. Hearing footsteps, they all turned around at the same time.
The Bone Demon went in and finished it off in a dozen seconds.
The second room had two animals. The third room was empty.
The door to the fourth classroom was ajar.
Lu Heng pushed open the door and saw a Zombie lying on the podium, clutching a piece of chalk in its hand. Half an arithmetic problem was left on the blackboard, and chalk dust was glaringly white on its knuckles.
Hearing the noise, it slowly raised its head.
The Bone Demon stepped forward and punched the zombie in the back of the neck. The Zombie collapsed, and the chalk rolled out of its hand, stopping at the edge of the podium.
Lu Heng searched each room one by one.
In a cabinet in an office, he found three bottles of mineral water and a first-aid kit. Half of the bandages in the first-aid kit were missing, but the disinfectant was still there. Lu Heng put the items into his Wristband Space.
At the end of the corridor, a staircase leads to the restaurant on the first floor.
The restaurant door was open, and inside were several rows of long tables and plastic chairs, most of the chairs overturned on the tables. A thick layer of dust covered the stove behind the food serving window; the pot was still there, but the lid was askew.
Lu Heng walked in and glanced around.
Then he stopped.
In the innermost corner of the restaurant stood a Zombie.
It was wearing a white apron, typical of cafeteria workers, but the apron was stretched out of shape. This Zombie was noticeably larger than the Zombie, with much broader shoulders, arms as thick as small tree trunks, hanging at its sides, and knuckles bulging in concentric rings.
It didn't move, its head bowed, as if it were dozing.
Lu Heng didn't step forward; he stood there and watched for a few seconds.
"Bone Demon, advance!"
The Bone Demon walked over.
Its footsteps pattered softly on the floor tiles. The Zombie in the corner raised its head, its murky eyes turning towards the Bone Demon.
The Bone Demon swung its fist and slammed it into its shoulder.
The Zombie swayed slightly but didn't fall.
It stretched out its right hand and shoved the Bone Demon in the chest. The Bone Demon was pushed back two steps, its feet scraping against the floor tiles.
Lu Heng's brow twitched slightly.
The Bone Demon steadied itself and charged forward again. This time, it didn't use its fists, but instead rammed its entire body into the Zombie, pinning it against the wall. The Zombie's back shattered the window glass next to the wall, scattering shards all over the ground.
The Bone Demon rode on its back, pressed its head down with both hands, and slammed it down hard.
A muffled thud.
The Zombie stopped moving.
Lu Heng's Wristband vibrated. He looked down and saw a few lines of text appear on the screen:
[Mighty Zombie]
[Rank: Black Iron Tier]
[Synopsis: After a long period of hunting, these Zombie have undergone a special evolution, possessing strength surpassing that of ordinary Zombie.]
[Drops: Black Iron Tier Energy Core x1, Black Iron-Tier Material - Bone x1]
Lu Heng crouched down and took out a dark red core, about the size of a thumb, from the Zombie's chest cavity. The core was warm to the touch. He looked at it and put it into his Wristband Space.
The beast bone was a section of bone about the thickness of a forearm, much denser than ordinary Zombie Bone, and quite heavy in the hand. Lu Heng weighed it in his hand and tossed it to the Bone Demon.
The Bone Demon caught it and began to gnaw on it.
Lu Heng stood up and looked around the restaurant.
There's nothing else.
He turned and walked out of the cafeteria, through the teaching building, and left through the school gate.
Not here.
After leaving the school, the roadside gradually became empty. There were fewer shops and more factories. The cracks in the road surface widened, and in a few places, small sections had sunk. Several abandoned vans were parked by the roadside, their windows all broken and their bodies covered in a thick layer of dust.
A few Zombie were scattered on the road. Some leaned against telephone poles, while others lay under an overturned car by the roadside. The Bone Demon walked over and dealt with them one by one.
The bones were picked up and fed to the Bone Demon.
The Wristband vibrated again, and the balance of Copper Coin increased by a few.
There's nothing worth lingering over.
After walking for about ten minutes, a large area enclosed by barbed wire appeared by the roadside.
There was a sign standing at the entrance, the words blurred by sun and rain.
Behind the barbed wire fence were several gray factory buildings, next to which were several small mountains of garbage covered with green dust netting, the edges of which were turned up by the wind. In the center of the site stood a chimney, not tall, its outer wall blackened by soot.
Lu Heng stood outside the barbed wire fence and watched for a few seconds.
A waste treatment plant. A place that incinerates garbage; there's nothing of value there.
He turned around, preparing to continue his search in a different direction.
I had only taken two steps when I heard a muffled thud behind me.
Lu Heng stopped.
The sound was coming from inside the garbage disposal plant. It wasn't the dragging footsteps of Zombie; it sounded more like something hitting metal.
He turned around and stared at the tightly closed iron gate.
A few seconds later, there was another sound.
It was heavier than before. The iron gate trembled slightly, and a burnt smell, mixed with the stench of decay, wafted from the cracks in the door, much stronger than the smell of the outside air.
The Bone Demon also stopped chewing and turned its head towards the iron gate.
Lu Heng stood still, without moving.
The iron gate shook again.
This time, it wasn't just a smell coming from under the door.
A grayish-white object was pushed out from under the door, landed on the ground, and rolled half a circle.
Lu Heng glanced down at it.
It was a piece of iron plate, its edges torn apart by something, the broken edge still hot.
The Bone Demon let out a low growl.
Lu Heng stared at the iron gate, without backing down.