Category: Sickly Girl Doesn’t Die in Zombie Simulator

Chapter 80: Jackpot Sisters p2

“Aagh—”

The Sprinter, devoid of instinct, followed the command.

Without further instructions, it would run straight until it crashed into something and smashed its own head.

Fortunately, the brain damage hadn’t affected its mobility.

“Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat—”

Lin Jiayao, clinging to its back, fired at the approaching Hunters.

Hunters were slower than Sprinters; even with her inaccurate fire, the long-haired Sprinter easily outran them.

After passing the Hunters, she gave the command, “Turn left.”

The Sprinter obeyed instantly, turning and sprinting towards the extraction point.

“Hoo…”

Lin Jiayao breathed a sigh of relief, extended a tentacle to tie up the Sprinter’s long hair, preventing it from whipping her face, and then reloaded her rifle with her last magazine.

The Sprinter was incredibly fast. If there were no obstacles, they would reach the extraction point soon.

If a vehicle blocked their path, she would simply command the Sprinter to jump.

Like playing a game.

More Sprinters were chasing them, but they were about the same speed as the one she was riding, unable to catch up.

“Thump, thump, thump—”

The Sprinter’s heavy footsteps made the ride bumpy, but seeing the extraction point drawing closer, Lin Jiayao relaxed slightly.

Dozens of insects buzzed around her.

Besides the two scouts sent ahead, this was all she had left. After summoning so many, she could feel Goldie’s body was depleted; she couldn’t create more indefinitely.

And then, her worst fears materialized.

The Hive Zombie’s red insects.

“Buzz—”

She heard the distinct buzzing of their wings, different from her green insects.

Her insect vision showed dozens of them rapidly approaching.

Although fewer in number, they were individually far superior to her green insects.

Her insects stood no chance.

“Rat-tat—Rat-tat—”

She fired a few shots at the approaching swarm and then gave up.

Hitting those fast-moving targets while bouncing on a Sprinter’s back was impossible.

If she’d had access to the [Training Grounds] and honed her marksmanship, it might have been possible, but not now.

And to access the Training Grounds, she needed to transport these blood crystals to the warehouse…

Leaving two insects for vision, Lin Jiayao sent the rest towards the red swarm.

The suicidal attack only took down two; the rest continued to close in.

“Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat—”

She emptied her last magazine, killing only two more, purely by luck.

Taking a deep breath, she tossed the empty rifle; it was dead weight now, not even as useful as a crowbar.

The red insects were less than ten meters away. Gritting her teeth, Lin Jiayao climbed from the Sprinter’s back to its front.

“Hold me tight!” she shouted, the urgency evident in her voice.

The Sprinter stopped its low-running posture, raised its hands, and hugged Goldie tightly.

One of Lin Jiayao’s insects flew into her hair, using it as cover, acting as her eyes to guide the Sprinter and prevent it from crashing.

Another insect perched on the Sprinter’s shoulder, observing the approaching swarm.

Within five seconds, the fastest red insect latched onto the Sprinter’s neck, its mandibles tearing at the exposed flesh.

Before the others arrived, Lin Jiayao extended a tentacle, grabbed the insect, and ate it.

The insects were made of blood crystals, surprisingly clean and nutritious despite their appearance.

But she could only do this for one.

The Sprinter’s back was now covered in red insects.

Lin Jiayao felt the Sprinter slowing down.

0.8km… just 800 meters to the extraction point…

“Crunch, crunch—Crack—”

The sickening sound of tearing flesh and bone. Lin Jiayao, huddled in the Sprinter’s arms, recalled the insect on its shoulder, counting down the distance.

0.2km… 200 meters…

Suddenly, the Sprinter stumbled. She looked down; its Achilles tendon had been severed.

Insects had bypassed the Sprinter’s back and were now buzzing around her, their attention on the small figure in its arms.

And because of the Sprinter’s slowing speed, the other zombies were catching up.

It’s over…

“Throw me!”

Lin Jiayao issued her last command.

“Aagh—”

The Sprinter, using its remaining strength, flung her forward. She landed about seven or eight meters away, two blood crystals rolling out of her vest pouches.

Before she could even recover from the dizziness, she grabbed the two crystals and stumbled towards the extraction point.

She could see it, even guessed what it was.

A sewer maintenance hole, its cover removed, a dark opening.

If I can just reach it…

Clutching the blood crystals, she ran with all her might.

“Roar—”
“Buzz—”

A searing pain in her neck and thigh; Hive Zombies, with their stronger mental fortitude, were more sensitive to pain than other zombies.

She could feel the insects swarming her back, biting and tearing at her flesh.

Fortunately, they weren’t very intelligent and didn’t burrow into her orifices.

The maintenance hole… just a few meters away…

“Roar—”

Just as she lunged forward, about to jump into the hole, her legs were grabbed.

“Thump—”

Her momentum gone, she was dragged back and slammed onto the ground.

The two blood crystals slipped from her grasp, rolling into the sewer with a splash.

An insect flew from her eye socket and looked back.

A Sprinter… it had pounced on her, pinning her legs with its hands.

“Roar—”
“Crack—”

The Sprinter yanked her closer and bit down on her small foot, ripping it off.

As easily as a panda biting bamboo, a sickeningly crisp sound.

“ARGH!!!”

The agonizing pain of bone and flesh being crushed almost broke her; she bit her lip, stifling the scream.

A Hive Zombie’s pain receptors were similar to a human’s. She could barely endure it.

She clawed at the asphalt, trying to reach the maintenance hole, but the Sprinter’s grip was too strong.

“Crack—”

Her left foot was also gone.

Her fingers, bloody from clawing at the ground, the maintenance hole now agonizingly out of reach.

More Sprinters would arrive soon; she would be torn apart.

With a desperate lunge, her left tentacles, extended to their limit, hooked onto the metal ladder inside the maintenance hole, stopping her from being dragged any further.

She was far from the Hive Zombie now… she couldn’t hear its wailing… I can try…

Try to control it.

Her last two insects returned to her eye sockets, their wings buzzing.

“Buzz—”

The faint buzzing and the pheromones weren’t enough to control the Sprinter completely.

But it was enough to disrupt its thinking.

“Snap, snap—”

The Sprinter, having devoured her feet, grabbed her legs, intending to bite into her waist, but its aim was off; its jaws closed on empty air.

The unintelligent Sprinter, not pausing to think, simply opened its jaws wider and bit down on her thighs, snapping them like twigs.

“Aagh!!!”

Now!

The Sprinter was only holding her lower legs. With her thighs severed, the grip was broken, blood gushing from the wounds.

Her left tentacles, fueled by the pain, pulled her towards the maintenance hole, her right hand clawing at the ground.

She could feel an insect crawling into her ear.

Finally, before the Sprinter could react, she reached the edge of the hole and tumbled in.

“Splash—”

She landed heavily in the shallow, dirty water, her blood staining it red. She floated there, completely drained, unable to move, the insects feasting on her body.

【Extracting in: 7.8】

The ten-second countdown seemed like an eternity, her face upturned, floating like a corpse.

And in a few more seconds, she would be one.

4.3…
2.1…
0.1…

Finally, before losing consciousness, the countdown ended.

Darkness, the pain vanishing, replaced by the black void of the asset transfer space.

Lin Jiayao remained there for a long moment, still disoriented.

I actually extracted…

She stared at Goldie’s holographic projection, its legs severed and bleeding, lost in thought.

I’m not logging into Goldie again anytime soon… this was a bit too much.

She could still feel the phantom pain in her legs, the insects crawling on her, the terror of insects burrowing into her ears…

And the oppressive presence of that brain-tower Hive Zombie.

She didn’t know if Goldie would survive.

Besides the larger Sprinters and Hunters, and that monstrous brain-tower, the other zombies should be able to fit into the sewer maintenance hole.

She couldn’t think of any way Goldie could possibly survive.

Unless the system intervened.

She quickly transferred the ammo vest to the warehouse, confirmed the blood crystals were still inside, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Twenty-three in the vest initially, one in her tentacles, four in the safehouse. She’d used two to generate insects, and two had fallen out when she’d been thrown by the Sprinter, though she’d retrieved them; the two that had rolled into the sewer didn’t count towards her extracted assets.

This time, she’d brought back twenty-four blood crystals. From zero to twenty-four…

A sudden windfall.

She took the blood crystals from the vest and arranged them neatly in two rows in the warehouse grid.

Looking at the neatly arranged crystals, she felt that the pain and suffering had been worth it.

A huge profit.

After a moment of thought, she took one crystal and placed it in Goldie’s mouth in the holographic projection.

Whether Goldie survived or not, she deserved it… she had brought Lin Jiayao a fortune. It was worth trying to save her.

Maybe Goldie was just incredibly lucky?

With nothing else to transfer, Lin Jiayao left the space and returned to her body.

“Hiss—”

Leaning against the sofa, she abruptly opened her eyes, sat up, and gasped.

Phantom pains shot through her legs.

She hadn’t felt her legs in years, but after controlling Goldie, she occasionally experienced these phantom pains.

As if her legs were still there.

“Hoo…”

She exhaled deeply and rested her hand on the sofa.

She’d lost track of time, but her sister hadn’t returned yet. This was a good opportunity to check the available evolutions from Goldie’s extraction.

Hopefully, Vigor Lv.2.

「Please retain your evolution」
「1、【Hive Skin Lv.1 (Purple): Generates honeycomb-like holes on your skin for insect incubation】」
「2、【Blood Crystal Synergist Lv.1 (Gold): Releases pheromones that attract blood crystal entities, allowing you to issue commands. The level of obedience depends on your mental strength and distance from the target】」
「3、【Vigor Lv.2 (Gray): Increases your mental and physical recovery speed】」

Hive Skin, as expected. Vigor Lv.2, also expected.

And the second, a gold evolution…

Lin Jiayao’s eyes lit up.

A control ability similar to the fungal tendrils, though perhaps not as potent, contagious, or long-range.

But its advantage was the ability to issue mental commands invisibly, controlling both humans and zombies.

Although limited by distance and mental strength, and the duration probably short, it didn’t force her to experience the target’s memories like the spores.

The perfect zombie skill for a human, with no visible mutations.

Without hesitation, Lin Jiayao chose [Blood Crystal Synergist].

As she accepted this new power, a sharp, needle-like pain shot through her head, forcing her to deactivate Bone Spike Lurker and clutch her head.

After a long moment, the pain subsided, replaced by an unprecedented clarity.

Her mental strength had also increased slightly.

Leaning back against the sofa, taking a few deep breaths, Lin Jiayao smiled.

She hadn’t smiled like this, while alone, in a long time.

Today’s gains were truly something to celebrate.

She and her sister were now safer.

And all those blood crystals…

Just as she was about to open the Hideout and start spending, she heard the click of the door opening.

Lin Xiwan, a bright smile on her face, rushed towards her.

“Yaoyao~”

Ignoring the two little girls, she sat down beside Lin Jiayao excitedly.

“What is it?” Seeing her sister’s smile, Lin Jiayao finally relaxed completely.

“Guess how many blood crystals I found?” Lin Xiwan whispered conspiratorially, leaning close to her sister’s ear.

“How many?” Lin Jiayao asked, curious.

“Two!” Lin Xiwan patted her new waist pouch, her eyes crinkling into crescents. “To be precise, two and thirty-five grams~”

“How about that? Impressive, right?” She knew her sister would praise her.

“Very impressive, Sis,” Lin Jiayao gave her a thumbs-up. “You earned more in one day than we’ve collected in a year. As expected of you.”

She wouldn’t skimp on praising her sister.

“Hehe, of course.” Lin Xiwan pinched her sister’s cheeks playfully. “With you as my lucky charm, how could I not be impressive~”

“Right, I’ve packed everything. Let’s go before it gets dark,” she said, patting her sister’s back.

“We’re going through Fuzhou City, north, to Qing City.”

“West?” Lin Jiayao paused, then remembering the germplasm bank was in that direction, nodded.

They didn’t know that on the road from Qing City to Kun City, they would encounter the Voodoo Cult’s sweep team from Chongyu City.

Because the Voodoo version of a “captain’s log” didn’t mention the location of their headquarters.

Chapter 80: Jackpot Sisters

While Goldie, controlled by Lin Jiayao, was still making her way down from the eighth floor to the sixth, all her insects, except for the one serving as her eyes, were already swarming the battlefield.

Gunfire and roars still echoed from the street below, the trailing zombies less than fifty meters away.

At this close range, Lin Jiayao’s insects scavenged frantically.

Blood crystals precipitated from the scattered limbs and gore. Lin Jiayao directed the insects to collect the tiny crystals and pile them together for fusion.

By the time she reached the first floor, several glowing blood crystal stones dotted the smoke-filled street.

Without hesitation, Lin Jiayao ran to the nearest fully formed stone, snatched it, and put it in the safehouse.

Finally, all four slots were full, a brief surge of satisfaction.

But the satisfaction quickly faded; more and more crystals were being collected by the insects.

“Whoosh—”

“Boom—”

A stray grenade exploded against the building beside her, the deafening blast lifting her dirty blonde hair.

She could feel the grit and debris hitting her face… This place is still dangerous.

I have to hurry.

If there were only a few blood crystals, she would have taken a handful and left.

But there were simply too many… The firefight had killed a lot of mutated zombies.

Lin Jiayao had one of her insects monitor the battlefield while she continued collecting.

Ignoring the smaller crystals, she focused on the already fused stones, picking them up and stuffing them into the pouches of her ammo vest, replacing the magazines.

She tucked the two displaced magazines into the gaps between her body and the vest.

They might fall out while running… but better than losing blood crystals.

One… two… three… By the twenty-third stone, her AVS vest was full.

Twenty-three!!!

Her breath hitched. And even after collecting so many, she could sense even more scattered crystals amidst the piles of corpses, uncollected.

There were at least dozens of mutated zombies and over a thousand ordinary Biters here!

The sounds of battle in the distance were fading; it seemed the humans were running out of ammunition.

“WAAAA—”

A loud wail from behind. Lin Jiayao’s insect showed her the source, and without hesitation, she grabbed a blood crystal with her tentacles and ran towards the extraction point.

I have to extract! I have to extract!

Twenty-three in the vest, one in her tentacles, four in the safehouse… twenty-eight blood crystals in total!!!

I have to reach the extraction point!!!

Her insect had just shown her the massive Hive Zombie turning its attention towards her. It had seen her scavenging.

She wanted to teleport to the extraction point instantly.

But Goldie’s small, frail body, now burdened by the extra weight of the blood crystals, was even slower.

And with every step, the crystals in her vest clattered.

“Wooo—”

With a strange wail, the horde, previously pursuing the humans, turned and chased Lin Jiayao.

Seeing this through her insect’s eyes, Lin Jiayao’s heart sank.

No!

An unprecedented desire to survive surged through her. She wanted to live even more than Goldie herself.

Twenty-eight blood crystals! If she could extract with these, she would be rich!

She could upgrade everything in her Hideout and even max out the zombies’ blood crystal capacity before each login.

Rapid evolution.

The zombies behind her were the slower ones, their own numbers blocking the faster ones, buying her some time.

She saw Sprinters pushing and trampling their way through the horde, coming towards her.

5km to the extraction point… A short sprint for Mask or the fourth zombie, but a daunting distance for Goldie.

One magazine in the rifle, two more tucked into her vest.

Even with perfect headshots, that was only enough for ninety zombies.

Even that elite human squad hadn’t been able to withstand the horde; she had no chance of outrunning them for five kilometers.

Should she discard the blood crystals and run?

No. She wouldn’t outrun them even without the extra weight.

She might as well gamble on the slim chance of escaping with the loot.

Lin Jiayao raised her rifle, aiming behind her as she ran.

An insect perched on the holographic sight, guiding her aim.

Although the bouncing made aiming difficult, she could at least damage them before they reached her.

“Bang—Bang—Bang—”
“Roar—”

A black, muscular Sprinter climbed a streetlight, using it as a springboard, ignoring the slower Biters below, and leaped towards her, roaring.

Lin Jiayao didn’t turn around, but her rifle remained locked onto the leaping Sprinter.

The Sprinter’s speed and agility were remarkable, like an Olympic athlete leaping between streetlights.

Its actions seemed to inspire the others; more Sprinters started climbing the streetlights, using them to bypass the slower horde below.

And Lin Jiayao noticed that some of the faster zombies, likely under the Hive Zombie’s control, had split off at an intersection, heading towards another street.

They would be blocking her path soon.

And she still had a 17-minute run to the extraction point.

“Roar—”

The first Sprinter reached her.

With a roar, it leaped from the streetlight behind her.

If Lin Jiayao didn’t react, her small body would be pinned, her neck snapped in a single bite.

But she didn’t turn, didn’t stop running, didn’t even dodge.

She simply raised her rifle.

The insect on the holographic sight helped her aim at the Sprinter’s head, and she fired.

“Rat-tat-tat—”

Three bullets, hitting the Sprinter in the chest, the neck, and the head.

Its momentum faltered, and instead of landing on her, it crashed to the ground behind her.

“Thump—”

Hearing the impact, Lin Jiayao breathed a sigh of relief.

She hadn’t even turned her head, hadn’t missed a single shot.

But she was still incredibly tense.

Not just because of the blood crystals, but also because she had been shooting while running.

She hadn’t even dared to fire single shots, opting for a three-round burst.

And luckily, none of the shots missed. This made her realize how naive her earlier plan had been.

Killing a zombie with a single shot? While moving, it would take at least three, or even more, to be effective.

Her three magazines were only enough for thirty zombies, assuming perfect accuracy and luck.

This won’t work… No risk, no reward…

If gunfire wasn’t enough, then it was time for the insect swarm.

While running, Lin Jiayao’s left tentacles lifted a blood crystal stone from the ammo vest and stuffed it into her mouth.

Her small mouth made it difficult; she almost dislocated her jaw.

The blood crystal dissolved, a warm sensation spreading through her mouth, reaching her eye sockets, a tingling itch.

“Gurgle—”

“Buzz—”

A buzzing of wings from her eye sockets. Countless newly hatched insects emerged.

The blood crystal rapidly dissolved, fueling the swarm, the insects flying towards the horde behind her.

The ordinary Biters couldn’t dodge the overwhelming swarm. The insects landed on their faces, burrowing into their eyes, ears, and any available opening.

Lin Jiayao was bombarded with the gruesome first-person perspectives of the insects devouring flesh and brains, almost making her stumble.

The insects weren’t very efficient at killing, but their numbers made up for it.

Within ten seconds, the leading Biters started falling, becoming obstacles for those behind them.

And Lin Jiayao used about ten bullets to take down two Sprinters that had used the streetlights to get closer.

The pursuit slowed momentarily. 4.5km to the extraction point… If this continued, she might actually make it.

But she knew it was impossible.

Black Sprinters and Hunter zombies, under the Hive Zombie’s control, had already split off, heading towards another street to intercept her.

She couldn’t escape the encirclement.

She had to choose a route and break through.

The blood crystal in her mouth had almost completely dissolved, transformed into insects. If these insects were killed, each would yield about half a gram of blood crystal.

She was burning blood crystals to slow down the horde.

Twenty-seven left…

Lin Jiayao didn’t hesitate. Her tentacles reached into the ammo vest and retrieved another blood crystal.

The insect production continued, uninterrupted.

But this time, they didn’t all fly behind her, but ahead, towards the intersection.

Turning right and then going straight was the shortest route to the extraction point. She would focus on breaking through on the right.

She had to escape the encirclement.

The new batch of insects buzzed towards the intersection 500 meters ahead and then flew down the street to the right.

According to her plan, if there were fewer than twenty mutated zombies on the right, she had a good chance of breaking through.

Victory seemed within reach.

But reality had other plans.

As soon as her insects reached the intersection, the vision from the insects behind her darkened.

Using another insect to see from within a zombie’s brain, she saw a swarm of red insects, twice the size of her green ones, attacking her swarm.

The red insects seemed to know exactly where her insects were.

Even if she hid them inside the eye sockets of living zombies, the red insects would burrow in and kill them, regardless of friendly fire.

Well, zombies weren’t known for their empathy.

The Hive Zombie had noticed her actions and was retaliating.

Lin Jiayao sent a surviving insect to observe the meat-tower Hive Zombie.

The massive zombie was wailing, struggling to move towards her.

Even obscured by the horde, Lin Jiayao could imagine its dozens of pale, human legs churning beneath it.

The red “will-o’-the-wisp” in its massive eye socket seemed to pierce her soul.

Its mental strength… was far greater than hers…

This was a monster she couldn’t defeat! Not as Goldie, anyway.

With half a blood crystal still in her mouth, she took out another one from her vest and forced it in, pushing the first one down her throat.

Emptying her remaining magazine, she took down two more Sprinters.

Almost all the Sprinters that hadn’t been diverted were dead. Now, she was worried about the Hunters, slower than Sprinters, now blocking the other street.

Her fourth zombie was a Hunter; she knew how powerful they were.

She could only hope they hadn’t all evolved [Hunting Instinct].

She was burning through blood crystals to generate insects, throwing her swarm against the larger red insects.

Although slower, smaller, and weaker, her insects had the advantage in numbers.

As long as she surrounded herself with a dense enough swarm, any red insects that entered would be overwhelmed.

She couldn’t even hear the sound of the pursuing horde anymore.

Only the incessant buzzing of countless wings, like ten thousand flies, an unbearable cacophony.

Shielded by her green curtain of insects, she reached the intersection.

The insects providing her vision showed her the zombies blocking the streets.

Sprinters were rapidly approaching from the left, while on the right, hundreds of her green insects swarmed the leading Sprinter, tearing at its eyes and flesh.

The Sprinter on the right, its muscles giving way, stumbled and fell, devoured by the insect swarm.

But it was the only one.

Several more Sprinters and Hunters were closing in.

“Click—”

Lin Jiayao ejected the empty magazine, inserted a new one, chambered a round, and then turned right.

“Wooo—”

The Hive Zombie’s wail still echoed, but fainter now that she had turned a corner.

Seeing the mutated zombies closing in from both sides, Lin Jiayao knew she couldn’t outrun them.

But she could gamble.

Gamble on whether she could, in this area where the Hive Zombie’s mental control was weaker, seize control of a Sprinter.

Only with a Sprinter could she escape.

“Buzz—”

The insects that had been feasting on the dead Sprinter took flight, swarming a long-haired Sprinter less than twenty meters away.

And Lin Jiayao, firing her rifle, took down a nearby Sprinter on her left, then charged towards the long-haired Sprinter.

The insects slammed into the Sprinter’s face, burrowing into its eyes, others tearing at its flesh, disrupting its sight and smell.

“Roar—”

The Sprinter, which had been less than five meters away, crashed into an abandoned car.

Blinded and disoriented, it couldn’t avoid obstacles or locate her.

Seizing the opportunity, Lin Jiayao climbed onto the car, slid across the roof, and landed on the Sprinter’s head.

“Roar—”

The Sprinter, feeling the pressure on its head, roared and swiped at her with its claws.

“Buzz—”

The holes in Lin Jiayao’s eye sockets buzzed, releasing control pheromones.

“Aooo—Roar—”

The Sprinter shrieked in pain, two different pheromones battling for control, its already weak mind overloaded.

“Roar—Gurgle… Aagh… Haah…”

“Aagh… Aagh…”

Three seconds later, the Sprinter’s tense muscles relaxed, its roaring replaced by meaningless gurgles.

Its mind, fried by the conflicting pheromones, even if it wasn’t controlled, it would just be a mindless, easy target.

And Lin Jiayao could now control it with her own pheromones.

“Get up.”

The Sprinter stood up unsteadily.

Lin Jiayao’s tentacles wrapped around its shoulders and neck, securing her position on its back.

“Run.”

Chapter 79: Hive Zombie Battle p2

Lin Jiayao didn’t celebrate but immediately turned and ran down another street.

“Damn it… why was it so loud even with a suppressor…?” she cursed inwardly.

The gunshots had been much louder than the Biter’s growls in the otherwise silent city.

If there was a Hive Zombie nearby, it would have definitely heard.

As expected, shortly after turning, she sensed movement behind her.

Were Hive Zombies really this densely packed here?

Or was she just unlucky?

She had just wanted to reach the extraction point…

Reaching another street, Lin Jiayao was about to continue towards the extraction point.

This time, however, she sent her faster flying insects ahead to scout, about 300 meters in front and behind.

But as soon as one of the insects reached the corner ahead, before she could even see what was there, a flash of red zipped past, and then the insect’s vision was gone.

She could sense that the insect hadn’t just flown out of range… it had been eaten.

Devoured by a larger, faster, red, glowing insect.

“Damn it…”

She regretted thinking this extraction would be easy.

Change of plans. Run.

She had definitely been detected by another Hive Zombie. She hadn’t realized they were so territorial.

She had barely stepped into its territory, and it had immediately given chase.

Had it sensed her weakness, or were Hive Zombies naturally this aggressive?

Like two tigers fighting for the same mountain?

Lin Jiayao didn’t have time to think. Although she had evolved the Control Center, extraction failure still meant a 12-hour cooldown. She didn’t want to abandon Goldie yet.

After all, extracting with Goldie might give her a mental enhancement, which was crucial. She had to try.

And the blood crystals were already in the safehouse; even if she failed, she would still profit.

No losses either way.

“Buzz—”

The insects behind her were faster than she’d anticipated.

With her 360-degree vision, she saw several fast-moving red lights approaching.

Without hesitation, the black holes in her eye sockets buzzed, and dozens of emerald green insects swarmed out, intercepting the red insects.

If she couldn’t win with speed, she would win with numbers.

Although a single green insect was no match for a red one, outnumbered, the red insects were quickly overwhelmed.

“Crash—”

The sound of shattering glass from behind caught her attention. She sent an insect to investigate and saw a black figure running towards her, almost skimming the ground.

That exaggerated running style reminded her of… Devilman. No human could run like that.

No, I can’t outrun that… It was a mutated Sprinter, seemingly unique to America; Lin Jiayao hadn’t heard about this type of zombie from Survivor’s Light.

“Screech—”

Lin Jiayao skidded to a stop, her momentum carrying her forward slightly.

She quickly turned, knelt down, gripped her rifle, her cheek against the stock, an insect flying from her right eye socket and hovering in front of the holographic sight, guiding her aim.

“Click—”

She switched the fire selector to full auto.

These gun-loving Americans, unrestrained by laws… they would have definitely modified it for automatic fire.

She aimed at the charging Sprinter and pulled the trigger.

“Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang—”

5.45x39mm rounds streamed towards the zombie, now only 20 meters away.

Only after firing did she see the red tracer rounds mixed in the magazine.

She clearly saw one of the bullets, trailing a red streak, hit the Sprinter’s eye, shattering its brain and exiting through the back of its head.

The Sprinter collapsed. Lin Jiayao didn’t even bother checking if the magazine was empty.

She quickly swapped it for a new one and chambered a round.

Then she turned and ran, already hearing the thunderous footsteps from the street leading to the extraction point. This Hive Zombie controlled more subordinates than she’d imagined.

That wasn’t the sound of just a few thousand zombies.

But she had no other choice, no other escape route.

She wasn’t a local Hive Zombie; she didn’t have time to build an army, to accumulate brains.

She couldn’t fight a well-established Hive Zombie on its own turf, not with its zombie legion.

If she couldn’t escape, she would grab a few controlled mutated zombies and fight.

At least she would try to put the resulting blood crystals into her safehouse before being torn apart, securing one last profit; the safehouse couldn’t have any empty slots.

The closest zombies were less than 100 meters away, even the ordinary Biters seemingly faster than her.

Just as she released all her insects, preparing for a last stand, she heard the distant rumble of vehicles.

Sending her airborne insects to investigate, she saw a heavily armed convoy.

And at the front… a tank.

A tank?!

Reinforcements called by the men she had encountered earlier?

Without time to think, Lin Jiayao dropped to the ground and rolled to the side.

“Boom—”

A deafening roar, and she felt the shockwave from the tank shell passing overhead.

“Rumble—”

A flash of light and a wave of heat from behind. A piece of shrapnel struck the soft tentacles on her left hand, severing a few.

And the explosion wiped out almost half of her airborne insects.

Lin Jiayao scrambled to her feet and ran towards a nearby building.

“Bang—”

“Crash—”

She shot out the windows, entered the building, and then, without stopping, ran through it, hoping to reach the street on the other side.

“Boom—”

Another tank shell, the horde roaring in fury. Her remaining insects, sent to scout behind her, saw that the horde had bypassed her, now chasing the human convoy.

It seemed that, to them, or rather, to the Hive Zombie controlling them, devouring humans was a higher priority than consuming their own kind.

Gunfire, roars, explosions… the once quiet city center had become a warzone.

A full human combat unit, facing off against a powerful Hive Zombie horde.

And the cause of all this… seemed to be Lin Jiayao.

Sensing the zombies weren’t pursuing her anymore, Lin Jiayao slowed down, her mind racing.

Had she… just escaped death?

That had been a certain death situation, hadn’t it?

But the humans she had attracted… seemed to be fighting the Hive Zombie horde now?

Looking at the remaining hour and a half on the extraction timer, Lin Jiayao made up her mind.

I’ll just watch, just for a little while. If anything goes wrong, I’ll run.

This life was a bonus anyway. A little greed wouldn’t hurt. If one side gained a clear advantage, she would leave immediately.

If they were evenly matched, both sides suffering heavy losses, or if the battle moved elsewhere, then she would “clean up” the battlefield.

Ensuring that neither humans nor zombies would find a single blood crystal.

She’d already gotten ten blood crystals from Wisconsin. Seeing the humans’ firepower and the dying zombies, she was tempted.

So many blood crystals just lying there…

Even just two would be a huge profit.

No, not stealing.

Unclaimed items on the ground, abandoned in battle… that’s called scavenging!

The thought of blood crystals sharpened her focus.

Instead of leaving through the back of the building, she climbed the stairs to the eighth floor.

From this vantage point, she could observe the battle through the windows.

She hoped either the humans or the zombies would retreat, moving the battlefield, so she could scavenge the leftovers.

“Boom—”
“Boom—”
“Whoosh—Rumble—”

The Americans’ heavy firepower was relentless. Compared to this, Brother Gou’s equipment seemed paltry.

But Brother Gou’s base was a supply depot, not a military base; they didn’t have many armored vehicles.

And even if they had tanks, no one knew how to operate them.

Besides, using tanks in the city center would definitely attract hordes of zombies. Even with unlimited ammunition, they wouldn’t be able to withstand a full-scale assault.

The zombies might not be able to penetrate the armor, but they could trap the humans inside, a slow and agonizing death.

There were simply too many zombies.

But…

Lin Jiayao frowned, watching the carnage below.

Why weren’t zombies from other districts being drawn to the battle?

They couldn’t have missed the noise. The only explanation was…

The territorial nature of the Hive Zombies.

This area likely belonged to the Hive Zombie that had chased her earlier. They wouldn’t interfere unless they were attacked directly.

This seemed like the most plausible explanation.

“BUZZZZ—”

Suddenly, a loud buzzing sound rattled the building’s windows, some even cracking.

The sound momentarily silenced the human’s gunfire, creating a brief lull in their suppression of the horde.

“BUZZZZ—”

The window in front of Lin Jiayao shattered. In the distance, she saw some of the human soldiers vomiting, unable even to hold their weapons.

But perhaps because Goldie was also a Hive Zombie, she was unaffected.

Lin Jiayao looked towards the source of the sound.

“BUZZZZ—”

Another intense buzzing, this time from around the corner, followed by the whoosh of a rocket.

“Boom—”

The rocket struck a supporting pillar of the building on the corner, not harming the zombies, but triggering another barrage of gunfire from the humans.

And finally, the Hive Zombie revealed itself.

The first thing Lin Jiayao saw was a pale, abnormally long leg extending from around the corner.

And the muscles on the leg were more developed than those of an ordinary Biter, more like a Sprinter’s.

Then, more legs appeared.

All seemingly belonging to the same creature.

“Waaaa—”

A strange, wailing sound echoed through the air.

And through her 360-degree vision, Lin Jiayao saw the humans, despite their superior firepower, turning their vehicles and retreating.

They were abandoning the fight after seeing just a few legs?

Lin Jiayao quickly understood why.

Legs, legs, thighs, more legs.

Dozens of legs, arranged in a circle like an insect’s, supporting a massive, grotesque entity that emerged from around the corner.

A red and white “meat tower.”

Human brains, seemingly fresh, piled atop the legs, connected by glowing red tendrils, stacked upwards like rows of corn on the cob.

And surrounding these stacked brains was a translucent, gelatinous membrane, like the green fatty from before.

The brain-tower was almost ten meters tall. Every movement caused the brains to sway and jiggle, a “squish” sound with each tremor.

And at the front of this ten-meter-tall, three-meter-wide “corn-brain-thing” was a three-meter-wide, circular black hole.

Lin Jiayao recognized this black hole; it was like Goldie’s eye sockets, the green fatty’s neck and shoulders.

The large black hole was filled with smaller holes, far more numerous than Goldie’s.

And at the center of the hole was a swirling mass of red, glowing insects.

Like a will-o’-the-wisp in its massive eye socket.

Even Lin Jiayao, having seen so many grotesque things, felt a wave of nausea. She instinctively took a few steps back.

It was terrifying… disgusting… beyond human comprehension…

If she had to compare it to something, she could only describe it as:

A coiled centipede, carrying a soft, swaying white corn cob, with a black, porous eyeball and a red pupil in the center.

And this disgusting corn cob was wrapped in plastic wrap, filled with formaldehyde, the kernels shifting and squishing with every movement, making a “gurgle” sound.

Then, magnify it a few dozen times, and that was what Lin Jiayao saw.

She lowered her rifle. Even if she could penetrate its gelatinous skin, it wouldn’t do anything. It controlled too many brains…

Unless she could destroy them all at once, it was pointless.

And the only thing capable of such destruction, besides a missile…

Huayibai.

Her “daughter” could resist mental attacks. Even with so many brains, Huayibai could still infect it.

It would become a battle between a control-type zombie and a fungal zombie, and Huayibai had a higher chance of winning.

Of course, Huayibai wasn’t invincible. Creatures that had fed on fungi before the apocalypse, after evolving with blood crystals, could easily counter her.

“Waaaa—”

The wailing grew louder, and Lin Jiayao watched the monstrous head pass below her.

And, was it just her imagination, or had the Hive Zombie’s red eye flickered towards her before continuing its pursuit of the humans?

Perhaps it had lost interest because Goldie only controlled a single, ordinary zombie brain.

After the terrifying Hive Zombie and its horde disappeared, Lin Jiayao remained frozen in place.

Such overwhelming power… how could Goldie survive here?

Fungal zombies could infect Hive Zombies, but her fungal zombies were in Chi—

Suddenly, she thought of the safehouse.

Could she have Huayibai give her some spores, store them in the safehouse, and then bring them to America to infect the zombies here?

She would have to test if the spores could be stored in the safehouse. If so, she had a bold plan.

Create another Huayibai in America, a personal bodyguard!

As long as she had Huayibai’s spores, and enough blood crystals, she could create a Huayibai clone anywhere.

It seemed she had a “gift” for the people and zombies of America.

But she would have to experiment later. Right now, extraction was the priority…

No, before extracting, there were the blood crystals from the corpses below.

“Buzz—”

Her insects swarmed out, flying down through the broken windows.

And Lin Jiayao, controlling Goldie, ran towards the stairs.

Every second counts! Scavenge the battlefield! Take everything I can! Extract before the battle ends!

Chapter 79: Hive Zombie Battle p1

Lin Jiayao slowly opened her eyes to a world of emerald green.

A dilapidated basement. In the darkness, her eyes, like night vision goggles, saw everything clearly.

No, not her eyes.

“Buzz—”

Her “vision” crawled out of her sockets, fluttering around her on wings.

Countless glowing green insects emerged from the honeycomb-like holes in her eye sockets, buzzing softly.

Their vision synced with hers, providing a 360-degree panoramic view.

Lin Jiayao slowly stood up, left the building, and looked out at Wisconsin in the darkness.

The abrupt shift from day to night was slightly disorienting.

The different time zone and the unfamiliar body made her feel like she had traveled through time.

She habitually checked the extraction point.

「Extraction Time 1:59:22」
【Extraction Point: 13.1km】

Nothing unusual about the numbers; perhaps today’s journey would be relatively easy.

Wisconsin tonight wasn’t as lively as her first visit. It was eerily silent, not even the chirping of insects.

This wasn’t surprising. It fit the pattern of Wisconsin’s zombie distribution.

Wisconsin seemed to be divided among several Hive Zombies, each controlling its own territory, constantly absorbing other zombies into their ranks.

She didn’t know if Hive Zombies fought amongst themselves for territory, but there were definitely large, zombie-free zones between their territories.

That eight-person team had been very efficient in hunting the Hive Zombie; they must have a larger base somewhere.

But they’d clearly underestimated the obese Hive Zombie’s resilience.

Did this mean that the “green fatty” was just a variant? What did “normal” Hive Zombies look like?

Lin Jiayao knew too little about Wisconsin, or even America in general. She would have to explore.

And Wisconsin was just a medium-sized, relatively poor state, with a low population density.

To find truly powerful mutated zombies, she needed to go to more densely populated areas.

Mutations were a matter of probability; the more people, the higher the chance of mutations.

And a city with a population of tens of millions, after five years of zombie evolution and internal conflict, would produce far more powerful zombies than a small town with only a million.

A simple analogy: if each person represented 1g of blood crystals, the difference between a city of a million and a city of ten million was significant.

Of course, reality was more complex; she also had to consider aquatic life and insects.

Not just humans could be infected by blood crystals; even fungi could mutate, let alone plants and animals.

“Buzz—”

The insects around her buzzed softly, their wings vibrating.

In a pre-apocalypse city, this sound would be barely noticeable.

But in the silent Wisconsin night, it was loud.

Any human present would instantly recognize it as the sound of a Hive Zombie.

Lin Jiayao’s left tentacles spread out, wrapping around the AK74M in her right hand – she had specifically kept this rifle for Goldie, her third zombie.

Hive Zombies weren’t strong in direct combat; she had to ensure Goldie had a weapon for self-defense.

Glancing at the adjacent streets, Lin Jiayao decided to revisit the site of the collapsed building.

A large number of zombies had been killed there, their unclaimed blood crystals scattered across the debris.

Although she’d collected ten blood crystal stones, that was still a small fraction of the total.

There had to be more buried in the rubble.

It had only been a few days. Even if another team had come to scavenge, they probably hadn’t finished yet.

She had her green insects as scouts; she could check and see if there were any leftovers.

Even if she was discovered and her “scouts” were destroyed, she could easily escape from a few hundred meters away.

Walking along the sidewalk towards the ruins, Lin Jiayao stopped about 300 meters away and entered a coffee shop.

300 meters was about the limit of her control range.

She crouched behind the counter, her small body completely hidden.

Leaving two of the glowing green insects in her eye sockets, she sent out the rest.

These insects were expendable; as long as she had blood crystals, she could replenish them.

The emerald green insects, leaving the coffee shop, dispersed, flying towards the ruins from different directions.

…

“Ha—”

“Straight flush.”

“Fuck!”

A bonfire burned atop the ruins, surrounded by five or six men.

They held playing cards, laughing and cursing around a large table, small piles of blood crystals scattered on it, only one man with a full blood crystal stone in front of him.

They were gambling with blood crystals as stakes, and the bets were high.

Besides these men, there were several excavators, idle, and parts of the ruins had already been cleared.

But they weren’t working; they seemed to be just guards, not the main excavation team.

And from the surrounding buildings, UV lamps shone down, encircling the ruins in a protective barrier.

Although the men seemed relaxed, their defenses were well-prepared.

“Shit, I’m out.” A man with purple hair swept up his blood crystals and cursed. “Haven’t won a single hand. If I lose any more, I’ll have to join the demolition team to earn some crystals.”

“Ooh—Jack’s sore loser again~”

“Go dig in the dirt then, maybe you’ll find a few crystals before the construction team arrives in the morning.”

“Hahahaha—”

The purple-haired man’s outburst amused the others around the bonfire.

“Assholes.” Jack glared at them, picked up his Saiga-12 semi-automatic shotgun with a 20-round drum magazine, and walked towards the street.

Their mocking words had stung his pride. He decided to try his luck somewhere they couldn’t see him.

If he found something, he would return to the table and show them who was boss!

He kicked at the piles of rubble, searching aimlessly.

They couldn’t use the excavators until the engineering team arrived; that was the Boss’s rule.

The reason was obvious: to prevent the night watch from looting all the blood crystals.

This was Wisconsin, hunting Hive Zombies! A feast that came only once every six months.

Something similar had happened a few years ago. Apparently, the Boss hadn’t punished anyone, just established this rule, and the matter was dropped.

And after that, more and more people had joined their group, and they had taken control of all the human settlements in Wisconsin.

The guards were still allowed to dig for crystals on their own, within reason.

But the blood crystal yield this time was unusually low, and eight members of the attack team had died. He’d better not take too much.

Just as he was about to jump down to the street and start digging, he glanced towards the end of the dark street.

He froze.

Through the gaps in the UV lamps, he saw several glowing green “fireflies” in the darkness.

The “fireflies” hovered in the air, seemingly observing him.

Jack’s heart sank.

Seeing “fireflies” at night in Wisconsin, especially green ones, wasn’t a good omen.

Whether blue, green, or any other color…

They were the eyes of demons… searching for prey!

“Bang—Bang—”

He quickly fired two shots into the open space ahead, the mixed buckshot and slugs from his 12-gauge scattering across the ground.

After alerting his teammates, he scrambled up the rubble pile.

Hearing the gunshots, the others quickly gathered the blood crystals from the table, discarded their cards, grabbed their weapons, and ran towards the sound.

“Jack! What’s wrong? What happened?!” The largest man quickly pulled Jack up as he climbed.

Knowing the urgency, Jack said quickly, “Green lights, it saw me.”

Then he ran towards the other side of the ruins.

Hearing his words, the others’ faces paled, and they followed.

On the other side, several modified muscle cars were parked on a clear section of road.

They jumped into their cars, abandoned the ruins, and sped off.

Having survived in Wisconsin for so many years, they were all too familiar with those glowing green lights.

Seeing them didn’t just mean encountering a zombie.

It meant encountering a horde—at least.

So they abandoned their post without hesitation and sped towards their base.

Lin Jiayao, hidden in the coffee shop, watched them flee, slightly surprised.

Why did they all run?

She had been considering escaping herself after seeing the UV lamps and being spotted by the armed man.

But they had run away on their own?

There were still many zombie corpses and blood crystals buried under the rubble. They were just abandoning them?

After the sound of the cars faded, Lin Jiayao hesitated.

Uh… now what?

They’re all gone.

She sent her insects to scout the ruins from above.

She could sense a small amount of blood crystals still buried beneath the debris.

At least two blood crystal stones worth, within easy reach.

Looking at the empty ruins, she hesitated briefly and then clenched her fist.

I’m already here.

As long as I get the crystals into the safehouse, it’s a win.

“Buzz—”

A swarm of glowing green insects emerged from the holes in her eye sockets, filling the coffee shop with an eerie green light.

The insects flew out, past the UV lamps, and towards the ruins.

Taking advantage of their small size, they crawled into the gaps between the debris, towards the blood crystals.

1g… 3g… 1g… 5g…

Insects carrying small crystals emerged.

They flew back to the coffee shop, their legs clutching the crystals.

The crystals piled up in front of Lin Jiayao, fusing together, slowly forming blood crystal stones.

One… two… three…

After collecting all the easily accessible crystals, she had three blood crystal stones.

She immediately put them into the safehouse, stood up, and, carrying her rifle, ran towards the extraction point on her small legs.

The thrill of being a looter.

Consider it a commission for eliminating that disgusting green fatty.

This third zombie login had been incredibly profitable; her safehouse was almost full without even trying.

Three blood crystal stones, occupying three grids, leaving only one slot free.

This was more than enough; she didn’t want to get greedy. A safe extraction was her priority now.

But Goldie’s small, frail body limited her speed, even when running at full tilt.

The oversized helmet on its head wobbled precariously, threatening to fall off.

She had to use more than twenty insects to fill the gap between the helmet and Goldie’s head to keep it in place.

Finally, she found a more practical solution: carrying the long, modified AK in her arms while running. This allowed her to move slightly faster.

She ran towards the extraction point, hoping to reach the surrounding area first.

But when she was about 6km away, she saw a zombie on the road.

Or rather, on a car.

In the middle of an intersection, an ordinary Biter in tattered clothes stood on an overturned car, swaying like a scarecrow.

The moment she saw it, Lin Jiayao stopped, backed away, and prepared to detour through another street.

In Wisconsin, there was no such thing as a lone zombie.

With so many Hive Zombies, the zombies were divided into groups, each controlling its own territory.

Seeing a zombie meant she was nearing a Hive Zombie’s territory.

Remembering the “green fatty” from the other day, and now without any grenades, Lin Jiayao didn’t want to risk another encounter.

If she controlled enough human brains, she could challenge a Hive Zombie for control.

But now, her third zombie, freshly evolved, was no match for a Hive Zombie that had been here for who knew how long.

A detour was the best option.

Just as she was about to turn, the Biter seemed to notice her. It stood on the car, emitting a guttural growl.

“Gurgle…”

Pus and blood dripped from its mouth as it opened its jaws, about to roar.

Lin Jiayao stopped, aimed the AK’s holographic sight at the Biter’s head, and quickly fired three shots.

“Bang—Bang—Bang—”

The muffled shots from the suppressed AK echoed through the air.

The first two shots missed, but the third, adjusted for the distance, hit the Biter’s head.

Its fragile skull shattered, and it collapsed, falling off the car.

Chapter 78: Sweeping Through Fuzhou p2

Lin Xiwan, lost in thought, reached the cannery entrance.

Opening the small door, she saw the two little girls, standing by the sofa.

Hearing the door open, they jumped, startled, and huddled together, looking at her with fear.

“Don’t be afraid, it’s just us, the big sisters from the car,” Lin Xiwan said gently, approaching them with a smile.

But as she got closer, the two girls seemed not to recognize her, trembling and backing away.

Then, their trembling suddenly stopped, their fear momentarily vanishing before returning.

As if… they’d heard something she hadn’t.

This unsettling observation made Lin Xiwan’s skin crawl.

“Uh… what’s wrong? Little sisters?” Lin Xiwan placed her sister on the sofa and looked at the two girls.

They just seemed… scared…

Which was understandable, considering what they had been through.

And their father had likely been killed right in front of them; that would traumatize anyone.

“We’re not the bad guys from the Voodoo Cult. We were just pretending yesterday. All those bad people are dead now. Don’t be afraid…”

Lin Xiwan was good with children. She crouched down, speaking softly, and moved closer.

Reaching them, she gently stroked their heads.

Seeing this, Lin Jiayao relaxed slightly, leaning against the sofa and closing her eyes.

“Thud—”

The sound of something hitting the floor startled the two girls, and Lin Xiwan quickly looked back at her sister.

Seeing she was just resting, she turned back to the girls.

“Are you… afraid of me? Didn’t you meet Sister before?” she asked curiously.

But their responses confused her.

They answered questions about being hungry or thirsty, but whenever she asked about last night, they remained silent, as if their mute buttons had been pressed.

And the way they looked at her… with a hint of… awe?

Remembering waking up with blood on her hands, Lin Xiwan took a sharp breath.

Could it be… that after inhaling that moth powder last night, she had…

Gone on a rampage?

Judging by the girls’ reactions, it was highly likely.

Otherwise, there was no way to explain their fear, when she had met them before and even saved them.

Seeing they were also exhausted, Lin Xiwan didn’t press further. She stood up, took the bread she had brought for her sister from the sofa, and offered it to the two girls, along with two bottles of water.

The Voodoo Cult wasn’t lacking in supplies; there was plenty of food and water.

Watching them eat ravenously, Lin Xiwan felt a pang of hunger herself.

Neither she nor her sister had eaten since waking up.

Seeing the girls eating quietly, Lin Xiwan patted their heads.

“Don’t wander off, Big Sister will get more food.”

She returned to her sister.

Sitting down beside her, she asked, “Yao, what do you want to eat?”

“Bread,” Lin Jiayao said, opening her eyes.

“Okay, I’ll go get some.” Lin Xiwan stroked her sister’s face and stood up. “Keep an eye on these two little ones for me, uh… here, take this.”

To be safe, she handed the rifle to her sister.

Having her sister armed reassured her.

At least she could defend herself if anything happened.

“Okay.” Lin Jiayao took the rifle, removed the dead flashlight and laser sight, and tossed them aside.

They were just dead weight now.

Seeing her sister had the rifle, Lin Xiwan, after scanning the surroundings, left the factory floor.

She needed to get more gas masks; the two they had were damaged.

Last night had shown her the importance of protection; even a simple mask could help filter out the powder.

The Voodoo Cult’s food storage wasn’t far. Lin Xiwan quickly returned with more food.

After helping her sister change into a new set of dry clothes, Lin Xiwan also changed into a large t-shirt.

After they finished eating, the two little girls also seemed more relaxed.

They sat quietly beside Lin Jiayao, obedient and no longer as scared.

After confirming they were alright and getting their names and ages, Lin Xiwan left the factory.

The Voodoo Cult’s main force could arrive at any moment; she had to prepare the vehicle, load up on supplies, and get her sister out of Fuzhou City.

If they didn’t leave soon, she was afraid they would encounter the main Voodoo Cult force on the highway… a much larger and more powerful group than this small outpost.

Shortly after Lin Xiwan left, a system notification popped up for Lin Jiayao.

A highlighted red “①” appeared beside the [Login] entry.

Clicking on it, Lin Jiayao entered a dark space.

Besides the safehouse and warehouse, a holographic projection of the Hunter zombie hovered there.

It looked almost the same as before.

But its stomach was distended. Using the system’s perspective, Lin Jiayao saw what was inside.

One and a half blood crystals.

That many?

How many Biters had it killed?

A single Biter yielded less than 1g.

This fourth zombie must have killed hundreds in the past two and a half hours.

A true killing machine…

Lin Jiayao left half a crystal in the Hunter zombie’s stomach and transferred the other to the warehouse.

「End Asset Transfer?」

Yes.

Lin Jiayao returned to her body, the system displaying the evolution retention interface.

「Please retain your evolution」
「1、【Hunting Instinct Lv.1 (Purple): You cannot resist your hunting urges and are always in optimal hunting condition】」
「2、【Robust Lv.2 (Gray): Makes the host’s body more robust, increases healing ability】」
「3、【Blood Rage Lv.2 (Blue): Rage consumes your mind, doubling strength and speed while granting brief immunity to ultraviolet light, duration 20s, with moderate side effects】」

Hunting Instinct, Robust Lv.2, and Blood Rage Lv.2.

Hunting Instinct was out of the question; her mental strength wasn’t strong enough to control it.

This purple evolution was like a constant “Blood Rage,” maintaining peak hunting condition.

If she didn’t want to become a mindless killing machine, it was best avoided.

Blood Rage Lv.2 had double the duration and reduced side effects compared to Lv.1.

A significant improvement.

An extra 10 seconds of Blood Rage could be decisive in a close fight.

It seemed powerful, but Lin Jiayao chose [Robust Lv.2].

Robust directly improved her physique, and Lv.2 added increased healing.

This was crucial for her right now.

As for Blood Rage, she could always get it later from the fourth zombie. She could leave it running on autopilot while she slept.

After choosing Robust, a wave of warmth spread through her body, a tingling sensation making her close her eyes.

After a while, she clenched her fists, feeling her increased stren—

Wait… my strength?

Wasn’t Robust Lv.2 supposed to make her stronger? Why didn’t she feel any stronger?

She lifted her shirt and looked at her abdomen.

Still the same faint abs, still the same slender waist, still soft to the touch, only slightly firm when she flexed.

No different from after the Lv.1 Robust evolution.

“System, where are my abs?” Lin Jiayao asked, slightly panicked.

「[Robust] only improves the host’s physique and recovery speed. Higher levels grant immunity to most toxins and viruses. It does not enhance strength.」

Lin Jiayao clenched her fists again.

Her knuckles felt harder.

Besides toning her slightly flabby stomach initially, Robust didn’t actually increase her strength.

The perceived strength increase had been a byproduct of the improved physique.

If she wanted to increase her strength, she would need something like [Strength Lv.1].

“Hoo…”

She exhaled slowly, accepting the lack of visible abs.

Actually, Robust wasn’t bad.

Improved physique, increased resistance to diseases, faster stamina and physical recovery, and eventually, immunity to toxins.

Who knew if there would be poisonous zombies later? It was a good investment.

“Hoo…”

Lin Jiayao leaned against the sofa and closed her eyes.

Her sister was outside preparing the vehicle, which wouldn’t be easy; she probably wouldn’t be back for a while.

The two little girls were under her control now. She could influence their speech and actions through the fungal tendrils, ensuring their obedience.

This was a good opportunity to log into a zombie, to check on the situation in America and perhaps find some ammunition for the warehouse.

Opening the login interface, she looked at the options.

「No.1: [Mask] (Available for login)」
「No.2: [An Xiaoxi] (Available for login)」
「No.3: [Unnamed] (Available for login)」
「No.4: [Unnamed] (Evolving 11:57:11)」

The fourth zombie was evolving again?

Because of the half a blood crystal she’d left in its stomach? How… how was it evolving so quickly?

Mask’s evolutions were usually spaced out by a day or more, or after intense combat.

This fourth zombie was evolving twice within 24 hours.

Promising.

As long as it extracted before the Voodoo Cult’s sweep.

Lin Jiayao shifted her gaze from the fourth zombie to the third.

It was still unnamed. Time to give it a name.

Since it was a little girl with blonde hair, she would call it Goldie.

The system panel flickered, and [Unnamed] changed to [Goldie].

Lin Jiayao selected Goldie, and her consciousness sank into darkness.

…

China, Sizhou Province, Chongyu City, the fourth floor of a slightly dilapidated old building.

Although the entire city was bathed in sunlight, the harsh rays didn’t penetrate this building.

Its windows were boarded up, creating a dark, almost claustrophobic space. A tall, thin figure huddled in a corner of the room.

The figure, curled up, hugging its knees, trembled.

“Sob… sob…”

Soft whimpers, barely audible, escaped her lips.

After a while, the crying stopped, and the figure became still.

Suddenly, it convulsed, its hands clutching its head, screaming incoherently.

“He’s dead!!! It’s alive!!! AAAAAH!!!”

“It’s too late!!! Too late!!!”

“Quick… quick, kill it!!! Kill it!!!”

“The reckoning is coming… the reckoning is coming… the reckoning is here… the reckoning is coming!!!”

“Reckoning!!!”

After this last, desperate cry, the woman’s body went still, as if struck by a sudden thought.

“Garlic… hee hee… garlic is yummy…”

She giggled childishly.

But the next second, the smile vanished.

She stopped her erratic behavior, ripped off her gas mask, wiped the drool from her lips, and sat up.

“Click—”

Picking up a nearby shotgun, she chambered a round and fired at the boarded-up window.

“Bang—!”

The wooden planks splintered, riddled with holes. She kicked them away, sunlight falling on her pale face.

“Interesting… interesting… I see you… I see you…”

She placed her left hand, crisscrossed with old and new scars, seemingly self-inflicted, on the window frame, climbed over it, and jumped from the fourth floor.

“Thump—”

She landed steadily, raising a cloud of dust. She slung the smoking shotgun over her shoulder, and several women in gas masks, who had been waiting below, rushed forward and lit a cigarette for her.

Taking a deep drag, she exhaled a smoke ring, her gaze hazy as she watched the dissipating dust.

“Where’s the sweep team?”

“They’ve already gone to Fuzhou, Boss.”

“Not enough. Send another team. Tell them to bring all the grenades and RPGs. Don’t approach anyone, just fire on sight.”

“Uh… yes, Boss… but are we really sure about this? Such a large-scale operation…”

“Are you questioning me?”

“N-no… of course not…”

“You… you’re not trying to kill me, are you?”

“No… I would never… Boss… I would never…”

“Waaah, where’s my mask? Where’s my mask?! You’re trying to kill me! You all are! You’re all zombies!”

The woman, called Boss, threw down her shotgun and ran back inside, crying and screaming, the cigarette falling from her lips, her previous composure gone.

“Thump—”

The door slammed shut, and everyone present breathed a sigh of relief.

Being around a lunatic wasn’t easy.

Especially a powerful lunatic.

The woman who had received the last order took out a walkie-talkie. “Send another sweep team to Fuzhou City. Bring all the grenades and RPGs.”

“Boss’s orders: no close combat, fire on sight.”

“Zzz… Roger…”

The Boss’s premonitions were usually accurate… Hopefully, this predicted disaster wouldn’t come to pass.

Chapter 78: Sweeping Through Fuzhou p1

“Let me see the wounds on your legs.”
“Mm…”
“Nice figure. Quite toned.”
“Maybe it’s from all the hunger…”
“Eh? Why are you blushing? Dizzy?”
“No, just… a little itchy…”

Inside a cleared-out dormitory room, Lin Xiwan was washing her sister.

It had been a while since she had bathed her sister; the last time she’d tried, Lin Jiayao had already showered.

But… her sister’s figure seemed slightly different now.

Her waist seemed smaller, perhaps from hunger.

Although it still felt soft and comfortable to the touch, it made her wonder how it had happened.

As a woman, Lin Xiwan was sensitive to these subtle changes, especially in her sister, with whom she spent almost every waking moment.

She could tell even if her sister lost a single pound, let alone a change in muscle tone.

She touched her sister every day; how could she not notice the difference?

And what surprised her even more was that the red scratches on her sister’s thighs, which had looked quite deep, had almost completely disappeared while she was out scavenging.

Were they not that deep after all…? She had thought the flesh had been torn, that there had even been blood.

After cleaning Lin Jiayao’s legs with bottled water, Lin Xiwan was finally relieved.

It seemed the blood had made the wounds look worse than they were.

Perhaps it wasn’t even her sister’s blood, but her own?

That was possible. Her own hands had been covered in blood when she woke up, but she hadn’t found any wounds.

Reaching her sister’s groin, Lin Xiwan breathed a sigh of relief.

Clean, no blood or wounds. Even in her dream, she hadn’t…

But her sister’s reaction was… intense, her body sensitive. Lin Xiwan didn’t want to probe further, just gently cleaned her with her hand.

She usually used a towel, but there weren’t any available now.

Perhaps that was why her sister’s face was so red.

If her sister were bathing her like this, she herself would probably be… no, she would definitely be blushing too.

Thinking this, Lin Xiwan quickened her actions.

After cleaning her sister, she dressed her in her own clothes.

She didn’t want to wear the Voodoo Cult clothes; she would have to search for some from Brother Gou’s convoy later, from the vehicles that had been knocked into the fields.

For now, her own clothes would do. Her sister’s clothes were torn and offered no warmth or even proper coverage.

After dressing her sister in her slightly oversized t-shirt and pants, Lin Xiwan cleaned herself.

Her own washing was much quicker and less thorough.

She would have to scavenge for supplies later; there was no point in being too meticulous; she would just get dirty again.

After showering, still damp, she put on her sister’s clothes.

The pants fit well enough; their waist sizes weren’t that different, though the pants were a bit short.

And they were likely torn by her.

Putting on the half a t-shirt, however, was pure torture.

It had already been a bit small for her, and now, with the bottom half ripped off…

The shirt, which reached about five centimeters above her sister’s navel, was now a tight-fitting sports bra on Lin Xiwan.

“Sigh… Ugh…” Lin Xiwan felt slightly constricted, unable to breathe properly.

Large breasts weren’t an advantage in the apocalypse, especially when you needed to be agile.

If only she could switch with her sister… then her movements wouldn’t be restricted, and she could… ahem…

Looking down at her sister, Lin Xiwan realized she was staring intently, as if having read her mind.

Feeling slightly embarrassed, she crouched down in front of her sister, her back to her. “Let’s go find you some new clothes.”

“Okay.”

Lin Jiayao wrapped her arms around her sister’s neck.

Then, she felt herself being lifted onto her sister’s back, as light as a feather.

Lin Xiwan, carrying her sister, her right hand holding the rifle, left the dormitory area and headed towards the factory gate.

She had already searched the surrounding area; it was safe.

Nearing the factory entrance, both sisters saw the scene at the warehouse.

“Do you know what happened there?” Lin Xiwan asked, pointing at the collapsed warehouse with her rifle.

“No,” Lin Jiayao shook her head, her chin resting on her sister’s shoulder, looking at the devastation.

She had only eliminated the leader. The rest had killed each other in their frenzy; it had nothing to do with her. That was the truth.

“I know,” Lin Xiwan said with a smile, a hint of pride in her voice. “I found the Voodoo Cult leader’s logbook.”

“Logbook?” Lin Jiayao was surprised.

“Yes, like a captain’s log,” Lin Xiwan explained, anticipating her sister’s question. “It seems every Voodoo Cult team or outpost leader is required to keep a log.”

“The first page explained what happened. It seems it’s a requirement from their higher-ups.”

“And every team has a designated log keeper, and their logs are compared when they’re submitted.”

“It seems this is to prevent infiltration by Mimic zombies… the fungal zombies Survivor’s Light talked about…”

Lin Xiwan shared what she’d read.

According to the logbook, this Voodoo Cult group had intended to occupy this location long-term, using it as a supply depot.

They were the advance team; more Voodoo Cult warriors would be arriving to clear the city.

And the logbook also hinted at what had happened last night.

The Awakened who had written the log had lamented not having this ability before the apocalypse.

If he had, he could have ruled the world, controlling powerful figures, using the moth powder to build a harem of beautiful women.

And no one would dare kill him. Without a constant supply of the powder, those addicted would descend into madness and become extremely violent.

It was the perfect ability.

Unfortunately, this was the apocalypse, and there were many other Awakened with even stranger abilities. He could only be a small-time leader in the Voodoo Cult.

Lin Xiwan deduced that she and her sister had likely inhaled the moth powder and gone berserk.

But in their frenzy, something had gone wrong. The Awakened hadn’t been able to fully control Lin Xiwan, who, in turn, had killed him. And the powder-addled Voodoo Cult members had turned on each other.

Even in the chaos, she had protected her sister, brought her out of the warehouse, and even achieved a breakthrough, almost reaching C-rank.

This was the most plausible explanation.

“Wow… Sister is so amazing.” Lin Jiayao kissed her sister’s neck. “Thank you, Sister.”

“You’re my little sister, protecting you is my duty,” Lin Xiwan said, feeling a surge of strength and pride from her sister’s praise and kiss. Like eating ice cream on a hot summer day.

And not only had she gained her sister’s adoration, but she’d also saved two little girls, and now they had an entire Voodoo Cult outpost worth of supplies to loot, including possibly a few working jeeps.

The fear and tension from stumbling into the Voodoo Cult’s base vanished; this was the best day ever.

Ever since leaving the camp with her sister, they had been incredibly lucky.

Her adorable sister was clearly her good luck charm.

Thinking this, she nuzzled her sister’s cheek before gently placing her on the roadside.

“Yao, wait here for me. I’ll see if there are any working vehicles.”

Lin Xiwan pinched her sister’s cheek and then walked towards the jeeps that had been knocked into the field by the heavy truck.

The jeeps were partially submerged in the muddy water, about twenty or thirty centimeters deep.

But the water hadn’t reached the chassis, and not all of them had overturned; many were just on their sides. She even saw two that hadn’t flipped at all.

Lin Xiwan took off her shoes, placed them by the roadside, and waded through the mud towards the two intact black jeeps.

Her legs were getting muddy again. That’s why she hadn’t bothered cleaning herself thoroughly earlier – she would just get dirty again.

Reaching the first jeep, she saw that the driver’s side door was open, the window riddled with bullet holes, bloodstains on the seat.

They had been ambushed while still in their vehicles, their bodies dragged out later.

Ignoring the dried blood, Lin Xiwan glanced back at her sister, still sitting obediently by the roadside, and then climbed into the jeep.

The engine, having been left running all night, had stalled. She tried restarting it, but it only sputtered.

Either the jeep was damaged, or it was out of fuel.

Fortunately, the Voodoo Cult had a ridiculous amount of gasoline – so much that Lin Xiwan suspected they controlled an oil field.

She would just have to fetch a few jerrycans later.

Looking at the incline between the road and the field, if the jeep wasn’t damaged, it should be able to drive up.

Giving up on starting the engine, she climbed into the back and started searching for supplies.

Canned food, water, guns, guns, bullets, bullets, bullets…

Besides food and water, only guns and ammunition; this must have been a combat vehicle.

Lin Xiwan climbed out and waded through the mud towards the other jeep.

Lin Jiayao watched her sister, her chin resting on her hand.

Her left hand was on the ground, her fingernails touching the surface, Bone Spike Lurker activated, scanning for any dangers.

The sunshower was almost over; the rain no longer interfered as much with Bone Spike Lurker, increasing its range and sensitivity.

Heavy rain had a significant impact; any sustained, high-frequency vibrations disrupted it, and it couldn’t detect airborne creatures.

It wasn’t as useful as she’d initially thought; she was finally seeing its limitations.

No wonder the system classified it as a gray evolution.

I need to find a better detection ability…

Perhaps a zombie with sonar?

While waiting for her sister, Lin Jiayao occasionally checked the login interface.

The fourth zombie’s slot was still grayed out, “Logging in,” but she didn’t know what was happening there.

Her mental strength wasn’t strong enough to resist the influence of Hunting Instinct.

If she logged in now, she wouldn’t be able to switch back until the extraction was complete or her sister woke her up.

And she didn’t want to experience the taste of zombie flesh again.

That taste…

Ugh…

But the thought of that taste reminded her of something she’d almost forgotten.

The fourth zombie was in Fuzhou City…

Although it wouldn’t come this far, her sister had mentioned in her explanation of the Voodoo Cult’s log that they were planning to sweep through Fuzhou City.

Why would the Voodoo Cult send people all the way to Fuzhou City? To occupy this place?

But besides a few large canneries, there wasn’t much here.

And other provinces also had canneries, just not as large.

Sweeping through an entire city just for a cannery… it didn’t seem logical… The Voodoo Cult might be insane, but their actions usually had a purpose.

They must have another motive for targeting Fuzhou City.

It was just a coincidence that her fourth zombie had been assigned there, right before the sweep.

Hopefully, it would extract before the Voodoo Cult arrived; otherwise, there was nothing she could do to save it.

She didn’t want to lose such an efficient, automated leveling machine. With the fourth zombie, she could maximize the system’s use, gaining evolutions even while she slept.

Hopefully, upgrading the Control Center would unlock a “multi-login” function.

One zombie on autopilot, one controlled by her for targeted exploration and resource gathering, would be much more efficient.

But even with that ability, her mental strength needed to be much stronger.

It seemed that [Vigor Lv.2] would be a must-have evolution, unless a gold evolution appeared alongside it.

“Yao—”

Her sister’s voice interrupted her thoughts.

She looked up and saw her sister waving a large, unopened bag of clothes.

“What color t-shirt do you want—?”

It seemed her sister had found some clothes.

“Black—”

Lin Jiayao cupped her hands around her mouth and replied.

“And a skirt—?”

“No—”

Lin Jiayao had no particular preference for colors or clothes. She chose black for practicality.

And skirts… impractical and unsuitable for the apocalypse, not even a consideration.

Although she didn’t really need pants either…

Seeing her sister return to the car, Lin Jiayao returned her attention to the system.

Only a few helmets and two ammo vests with magazines remained in the warehouse.

She had taken the guns, attributing their discovery to the Voodoo Cult; now she just had to find an opportunity to take out the magazines.

Then her warehouse would be empty again…

She would have to log into the third zombie and find more ammunition. Guns were useless without bullets.

And she could also continue evolving the Hive Zombie’s abilities.

Although those types of zombies were disgusting, they were undeniably powerful.

Capable of commanding hordes… with their abilities, she wouldn’t have to fear any zombies.

And she also wanted to assess the situation in America.

America, the land of the free, the beacon of hope… she wondered how they were faring in the apocalypse.

If there were any powerful organizations there, she would find a way to infiltrate them and acquire their zombie research data, which would be invaluable to her.

After the fourth zombie extracted, she would log into the third, the Hive Zombie.

“Pitter-patter—”

Wet footsteps interrupted her thoughts. She looked up and saw her sister approaching, carrying her shoes, rifle, and a large bag.

“I left a lot of stuff in that other car. I’ll be back later to get some gasoline and see if there are any working vehicles,” Lin Xiwan said, placing the bag beside Lin Jiayao and handing her the shoes.

Lin Jiayao took them, placed the shoes and rifle on top of the bag, and hugged it.

Lin Xiwan knelt down, lifted her sister in a princess carry, and then, barefoot, walked towards the factory entrance.

Passing the gate again, she paused. “Those two little girls are still inside… I’ll set these doors on fire later.”

Lin Jiayao nodded slightly.

Then she remembered something. “Sister, what are you going to do with those two little girls?”

Lin Jiayao intended to leave them at a safe camp. They were too young, even if one was an Awakened, it would be inconvenient to take them along.

Her sister’s safety was her priority; she couldn’t properly care for two children while also protecting her sister.

But she didn’t know what her sister was thinking.

Although usually aloof towards strangers, Lin Xiwan was kind at heart.

Her coldness was a necessary shield in this world. Given the chance, she would always show her warmth and compassion.

She worried that her sister might be too soft-hearted.

“Hmm… Brother Gou’s daughters… sigh…”

Lin Xiwan sighed, seemingly thinking about Brother Gou’s tragic fate.

She felt indebted to the camp leader who had saved their lives.

Now, with Brother Gou dead, his two daughters orphaned, she couldn’t just abandon them.

After a moment of thought, she said, “I’ll… I’ll take them out of Fuzhou City and find a safe camp for them.”

“The older one seems to have Awakened her ability, so a camp will surely take them in.”

She smiled at her sister. “We also need to find a camp to rest, don’t we?”

“Those Voodoo Cult members must have quite a few blood crystals on them. It’ll take some time to search… Let’s go back and see if the girls are awake.”

She didn’t really want to take them along.

Protecting her immobile sister was already difficult enough, and her sister’s safety was her top priority. She was afraid she wouldn’t be able to protect the two girls as well; it wouldn’t be responsible.

“We’ll ask them if they remember anything from last night. Maybe they didn’t inhale too much of that powder.”

Chapter 77: Evolution Successful

「Please retain your evolution」
「1、【Robust Lv.1 (Gray): Makes the host’s body more robust】」
「2、【Bite Lv.1 (White): Strengthens your bite muscles, teeth, and claws】」
「3、【Hunting Instinct Lv.1 (Purple): You cannot resist your hunting urges and are always in optimal hunting condition】」

Hunting Instinct?

Unable to resist hunting urges, always in a hunting state?

Lin Jiayao hesitated briefly and then dismissed the purple skill.

The skills available here were those possessed by the logged-in zombie.

This meant the Lv.1 Hunting Instinct must have been evolved by the fourth zombie before it despawned.

She hadn’t sensed any such ability while controlling it.

Had it evolved after she switched back to her main body?

But how? She was no longer controlling it.

Suddenly, something occurred to her.

She hadn’t tested the state of a zombie after extraction.

She had assumed they entered a system-controlled defensive mode, automatically avoiding danger.

Could it be that after she switched back, the system took over the zombie?

「Do you wish to view the [Playback]?」

A system prompt appeared, as if reading her mind.

So there was an autopilot mode? And she could watch a playback?

“Yes,” she responded mentally.

「Warning」
「Warning」
「Host has not unlocked the [Playback] function. System [Playback] failed.」

Two red warning messages flashed, followed by a “Playback Failed” screen.

“Why ask if it can’t be played?” Lin Jiayao tilted her head, puzzled by the system’s behavior.

This time, she received no response.

Lin Jiayao: “…”

She felt a surge of inexplicable irritation… probably just her imagination.

Ignoring the strange system, she closed the warning screen and returned to the evolution options.

Looking at the three evolutions, without hesitation, Lin Jiayao chose the first: Lv.1 Robust.

The second, Bite, might transform her teeth into sharp fangs.

Recalling the gruesome teeth of the Biters, covered in blood and gore, she immediately dismissed that option.

Besides, she had bone spikes; she didn’t intend to bite her way through the apocalypse – who was the zombie here?

And the third, Lv.1 Hunting Instinct, was even less appealing.

Although it was a purple evolution, it was only suitable for lone wolves… no, for tireless zombies.

She hadn’t experienced this ability firsthand; she didn’t know if it would cause her to attack indiscriminately.

And she couldn’t hunt day and night; her human body needed rest.

It was an evolution suited for zombies, not humans.

So, of the three, Lv.1 Robust was the most suitable.

After selecting the evolution, Lin Jiayao felt a warmth spreading through her body.

But this time, besides the warmth, there was also a tingling sensation.

She briefly felt a sensation in her legs, but it quickly faded.

She tried moving her lower body, but besides shifting her waist and causing a twinge of pain in her chest, nothing happened.

But she felt less weak, her grip stronger.

She touched her flat stomach and looked down.

Although it was still soft, she could now see the faint outline of abs.

Before, due to lack of exercise, although she was thin, her stomach had still been slightly soft.

Now it seemed more toned… she could even feel the slight firmness of muscle.

Abs?!

Lin Jiayao’s eyes lit up.

She had tried exercising when she was bored at home.

But without feeling in her legs, even sit-ups were difficult, and she’d always been frail, getting out of breath after just two, unable to continue.

This Robust evolution seemed to be fulfilling her dream of having abs.

Remembering her sister’s toned abs and obliques, Lin Jiayao swallowed hard.

What girl didn’t envy such a perfect physique?

A few more Robust evolutions, and perhaps she, too, could have them.

If she continued to evolve muscle-type zombies, and the extractions were successful, she could continue to gain the Robust evolution, right?

This thought cheered her up.

Feeling optimistic, she opened the login interface, curious about the current state of her fourth zombie, the MVP.

The lack of an asset transfer screen, skipping straight to the evolution retention screen, meant the zombie likely had nothing of value left, perhaps not even clothes.

Looking at the login interface, she first saw that Mask’s evolution was complete.

This is… Mask?

The 3D projection of Mask, after consuming the blood crystal and extracting, hovered in the first slot.

Perhaps because it had killed and consumed an Armored zombie, its appearance had completely changed.

Before, Mask had been just a head, using twenty meter-long bone spikes for mobility.

But now, the neck was gone.

Its bone spike jaw, split down the middle, extended on either side of its face, the teeth replaced by downward-angled bone spikes.

It looked like the lower half of its head had transformed into an upside-down white Venus flytrap.

And indeed, in the virtual projection, the “mouth” opened and closed like a flytrap.

And the former neck area had become the center of the “mouth.”

Six thick bone spikes, about 10cm wide and 2 meters long, each with only three joints, extended from the center, serving as legs.

And around these legs were countless smaller bone spikes, like flower buds.

These were the familiar thin bone spikes, now longer, about three meters, and with more joints, seemingly more flexible.

These longer spikes “floated” around the thicker legs, making it look like a land jellyfish.

Now, besides the upper half of its head, Mask was completely inhuman.

She could imagine how it would control other zombies now.

It could stand over smaller zombies, its six thick legs pinning them down, then bend down and crush their heads in its “mouth.”

The barbed bone plates on either side of its face would then clamp down, securing the head to the body, followed by the insertion of finer control spikes.

After this evolution, Mask no longer had to limit itself to humanoid zombies.

It could even control zombies larger than the Armored zombie…

I want to try…

But the situation wasn’t stable yet; her sister could return at any moment. She would test Mask’s new abilities later.

Lin Jiayao shifted her gaze from Mask, skipped over An Xiaoxi in the second slot and the unnamed Hive Zombie in the third, and looked at the fourth.

The fourth zombie seemed… slightly more normal.

But only slightly.

The previously ordinary Biter had completely transformed.

It looked like the “Hunter” zombie described on Survivor’s Light radio.

Tall and slender, thin limbs, a hunched posture, probably about three meters tall if it stood up straight.

According to Survivor’s Light, this type of zombie only evolved in environments with a high concentration of Biters and no mutated zombies, a special variant.

Its most distinctive features were the massive claws and the permanently exposed, shark-like teeth, its entire body radiating aggression.

This fourth zombie… seemed to have fully specialized in “biting.”

Perhaps because there were only ordinary Biters in that area? And it had killed too many of them?

Probably.

Without Lin Jiayao’s control, driven by Hunting Instinct, it would instinctively hunt any living creature.

And because of the system’s autopilot, it would continue hunting its way towards the extraction point.

The system’s autopilot and the zombie’s [Hunting Instinct] seemed to have created a… synergistic effect.

Automated leveling?

She could log into the fourth zombie before going to sleep, switch back to her main body, and then check on its progress and loot the next day.

Automatic leveling while she slept?

A system bug?

No, not a bug, but a combination of a system mechanic and a specific zombie evolution.

The system hadn’t issued any warnings or prohibitions; it was clearly an intended function.

Perhaps there would be more such combinations later, making evolution even easier.

Seeing that her sister wasn’t back yet, Lin Jiayao logged into the fourth zombie.

Even if she had to switch back later, she could let the fourth zombie continue hunting on its own.

As long as it didn’t encounter any particularly powerful opponents or humans, it should be able to slaughter its way to the extraction point.

After selecting the fourth zombie, Lin Jiayao’s consciousness plunged into darkness. Then, she slowly regained awareness, about to open her eyes.

But the moment her eyes opened, she was overwhelmed by an all-consuming bloodlust.

Although her eyes were open, she saw only darkness.

The only things visible, besides the extraction time and location, were red silhouettes of varying sizes.

Biters, highlighted in red, like thermal images in the night.

An overwhelming urge to hunt, almost as powerful as [Blood Rage Lv.1], consumed her thoughts.

Before she could even figure out where she was, she lunged at the nearest red silhouette.

“Thump—”

She hit something solid, a wall, the impact sending her stumbling back.

But she couldn’t see the wall; all she saw were the highlighted zombies.

“Thump—Thump—Thump—”

She pounded on the invisible wall, throwing anything she could find at it.

Finally, she started clawing at it.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a reinforced concrete wall; otherwise, she might have broken her hand before breaking through.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the wall gave way.

She lunged at the zombie silhouette, ripping its head apart with her claws, then tearing its body to shreds, blood spraying everywhere.

A tiny blood crystal, less than 1g, slowly materialized from the Biter’s remains.

Lin Jiayao devoured it, flesh, blood, and crystal, the metallic taste filling her mouth – Hunters could actually taste!

“Beep, beep—”

“Beep, beep—”

Several system notifications pulled her slightly out of her hunting frenzy.

The moment she regained some awareness, Lin Jiayao quickly switched back to her main body.

Before leaving, she glanced at the extraction point and time.

「Extraction Time 2:33:11」
【Extraction Point: 5km】

Two and a half hours, five kilometers… a true killing spree from one end of the street to the other.

Back in her body, Lin Jiayao saw her sister shaking her.

“Yao? What’s wrong, Yao? Don’t scare Sister!”

Lin Jiayao, still slightly disoriented, could still taste the rancid flesh and blood in her mouth.

The heightened senses of her human body amplified the nausea, and she retched.

“Ugh—”

Having not eaten anything substantial, she only vomited bile and saliva. The bitter taste filling her mouth finally brought her back to her senses.

Gasping for breath, she looked up at her sister, her face pale.

Seeing the worry in her sister’s eyes, she said, “I’m… I’m fine, Sis…”

But she immediately gagged again.

That taste… so disgusting…

Just the memory of it made her nauseous… Why did Hunter zombies even have taste buds…?

She had smelled blood, the stench of unwashed, rotting zombie flesh, seen countless corpses, and felt nothing.

But eating them… that was something she couldn’t handle.

“Yao… it’s okay, just breathe… I’ll get you some water, wait here, I’ll be quick!” Lin Xiwan patted her sister’s back, then, seeing her condition improve slightly, rushed out of the factory.

She seemed to have found where the Voodoo Cult stored their supplies.

Moments later, she returned with several bottles of water and some bread.

The bread was sealed, seemingly freshly baked, probably by the Voodoo Cult’s chef.

Like Survivor’s Light, the Voodoo Cult seemed to have their own farms and methods of cultivation.

Lin Xiwan opened a bottle of water and offered it to her sister.

Lin Jiayao grabbed the bottle and gulped down half of it.

Then, she lowered her head and exhaled deeply.

That’s better…

As her mind cleared, the nausea subsided, the taste fading.

“Yao, you scared me… what happened?” Lin Xiwan asked, gently patting her sister’s back, her voice full of concern.

Looking at her worried sister, Lin Jiayao sighed inwardly.

She couldn’t tell her she had just been biting chunks out of a zombie, could she?

Fresh, raw zombie flesh.

“I just felt… unwell… nauseous…” She decided to keep the gruesome details to herself.

“Is it… your period…? But it’s not time yet…?” Lin Xiwan checked her sister’s pants; there were no bloodstains.

But this was something she had to consider. They had clean tampons, but those were in the jeep, now lost to the horde. They no longer had these essential supplies.

Looking at the saliva on her sister’s thigh, Lin Xiwan put her arm around her shoulders.

“You even vomited on yourself… I found their stash of clean water. There’s plenty. Let’s get you cleaned up.”

She couldn’t carry all the water, and they couldn’t stay here long.

This was Voodoo Cult territory. Who knew when another group might arrive?

Better to use it while they could.

And she could also use this opportunity, under the pretense of checking for… period-related issues, to see if she had actually… done anything to her sister last night.

Chapter 76: Extraction Successful???

Pain, weakness, a bone-chilling cold permeated Lin Jiayao’s being.

Drawing on her slightly strengthened mental fortitude, she fought back, her body slowly recovering.

With the boost from Lv.1 Vigor, her mental recovery wasn’t slow.

Finally, feeling herself being moved, her still-healing ribs pressing against her lungs, a sharp pain made her frown. She forced her eyes open.

It hurts…

Every part of her body, except her legs, ached.

As if she hadn’t just been in a battle, but had jumped from a building.

Well, she had actually jumped from a building.

Haven’t my ribs healed yet…?

Lin Jiayao gently pressed her hand against her left side, just below her chest.

It seemed that Lv.1 Bone Regeneration’s natural recovery was slow; without blood crystal enhancement, it would take a long time.

I need to log in and collect more blood crystals…

How’s Sister…?

The thought of her sister finally forced her eyes open, despite the burning, gritty sensation.

At first, her vision was blurry.

A second or two later, as things came into focus, she realized her sister was standing in front of her, seemingly having woken up earlier.

And her sister’s expression… was complicated.

Shock, panic… and a hint of bewilderment.

Lin Jiayao’s heart sank.

So, even under the influence of the red powder, her sister still remembered what had happened last night?

Then she must have seen her use her abilities.

Bone spikes, tendrils, Blood Orb spores… none of them looked like human abilities.

Would her sister… accept her?

Her sister’s expression, the pain in her body, the mental exhaustion… it all overwhelmed her.

She bit her lip, her hand covering her broken ribs, and turned her face away.

Tears welled up, blurring her vision, but she quickly wiped them away.

She was waiting for judgment.

Waiting for her sister’s questions.

Whether her sister believed her afterward was entirely up to her.

If her sister remembered last night, remembered how she had saved her, she would believe her, right?

Lin Jiayao’s pain and sadness were genuine.

But to Lin Xiwan, it looked different.

Before she could even process what had happened, while she was still trying to piece together the fragmented memories, her sister woke up.

And she hadn’t opened her eyes immediately but had winced in pain.

This made Lin Xiwan’s heart clench.

She could see the numerous wounds on her sister’s body, even a cut on her lip.

And she must have been so weak, so injured, and soaked to the bone that she’d passed out.

Yes, yes, she must have fainted. She probably didn’t remember what she’d done…

Lin Xiwan herself didn’t remember, but she had a feeling she had done something.

Because the dream had been… too pleasurable.

Then, her sister opened her eyes.

She’d stared at Lin Xiwan for a second or two, her gaze slowly focusing, as if remembering something.

Then, the most heart-wrenching thing happened.

Her sister had slowly raised her hand, covering her chest, a look of sadness and helplessness on her face, turning away… she couldn’t even bear to look at her!

And Lin Xiwan saw tears in her eyes, quickly wiped away.

Oh god, did she remember?

But what had happened?!

Lin Xiwan rubbed her temples, trying to remember.

Nothing.

She only remembered holding a soft, warm body before falling into a deeply pleasurable dream.

How could she possibly explain this?

“Yao…”

She spoke, her voice trembling, watching her sister’s averted gaze.

She saw her sister flinch slightly at the sound of her voice.

Was she that afraid of her now? What had she done?!

Had she really… done something so monstrous?

“Yao…” Lin Xiwan knelt beside her sister, close to tears. “Sister really doesn’t know…”

“Sister didn’t mean to. I think I inhaled something… and then I lost consciousness. Yao… I really didn’t mean to.”

“I don’t remember anything… I only remember… I only remember…”

Only remembering holding something soft and having a pleasurable dream.

How could she possibly say that out loud?

She couldn’t finish the sentence, her face flushed, her head lowered, waiting for her sister’s condemnation.

Lin Jiayao, lying on the sofa, blinked at her sister.

Sister… didn’t remember?

Thank goodness…

She breathed a sigh of relief, the tension easing.

It was better this way… much better…

Seeing her sister’s guilt, Lin Jiayao understood what she was thinking.

Her own disheveled appearance, her torn clothes… it must have looked like her sister had assaulted her.

Only the bruises on her thighs were from her sister, and they didn’t even hurt.

This misunderstanding was easy to explain; it wasn’t intentional; it was the effect of the red powder.

Lin Jiayao wanted to reassure her sister.

She reached out, stroked her sister’s head, and smiled gently. “It’s okay, Sis, I know you didn’t mean to.”

Lin Xiwan looked up in shock, staring at her smiling sister.

Even like this… her sister could still forgive her?

“My legs… they can’t feel pain anyway, Sister. You know that.” Lin Jiayao retracted her hand and tried to sit up.

Her legs? She only mentioned her legs?

Did she also not remember?

Lin Xiwan quickly helped her sit up, her voice filled with concern. “Yao, do you remember what happened last night?”

Lin Jiayao froze, hearing her sister’s question.

Did she remember?

Of course, she remembered.

Taking her sister and the two little girls to the roof, firing the RPG, jumping down, shooting the Voodoo Cult’s Awakened, the powder-addled Voodoo Cult members turning on each other in a frenzied free-for-all…

But explaining all that, explaining the RPG, was too complicated. She shook her head.

“No, I don’t remember. I only remember… being carried and then falling asleep.”

Hearing this, Lin Xiwan felt both relieved and confused.

What… had happened last night?

Why were they here?

Where did this furniture come from?

How had she saved her sister and the two little girls?

Had she somehow managed to escape undetected? Had the Voodoo Cult just… let them sleep here?

Perhaps the two little girls would know when they woke up.

“Sister? What’s wrong?” Lin Jiayao asked, seeing her lost in thought.

“Nothing, just… trying to remember what happened last night…” Lin Xiwan gently caressed her sister’s face.

Looking into her sister’s innocent eyes, she couldn’t bring herself to voice her suspicions.

If her sister didn’t remember, it was best to let it go…

She would examine her sister’s body later, when they were safe, to confirm her suspicions.

And if she had done something… she would take responsibility, atone for it with her life.

This resolve settled in her heart, the weight of responsibility towards her sister increasing.

“Yao… wait here for me. I’ll go see what happened… Don’t move, okay?” Lin Xiwan stroked her sister’s head, stood up, and scanned the room.

She decided to ensure the area was safe before examining her sister – her sister was clearly injured and shouldn’t move.

But strangely, she herself wasn’t injured at all.

Besides a slight dizziness, a feeling like a hangover, she felt stronger than ever.

She even felt a craving for blood crystals.

This usually meant she was ready for a breakthrough.

She was already at the peak of D-rank; consuming blood crystals now meant evolving to C-rank.

A C-rank Awakened was a force to be reckoned with, even within a camp.

Especially a physically enhanced Awakened like her. Reaching C-rank was a major milestone, her strength and agility entering the realm of superhuman.

What had she done last night to trigger this long-awaited breakthrough?

Was it… the dream?

The questions swirling in her mind gave her a headache.

Without her memories of last night, there were no answers. She could only dismiss them for now.

She checked on the two little girls; they were sleeping soundly.

And, was it just her imagination, or did the older girl with the ponytail have a faint aura around her?

Had she become an Awakened?

The feeling was too weak to be certain.

She tried to wake them but gave up and went to investigate the surroundings instead.

Returning to the sofa, she picked up a rifle from the floor.

This gun… an M4?

Such high-end attachments… were these from the Voodoo Cult? How did they get these?

She had no idea how these guns ended up here, and no way to find out.

No one here remembered last night; she would have to find the answers herself.

She gathered the rifles, lined them up, and checked the magazines.

Only three or four rounds left in each, almost completely empty.

She took the bullets from the other rifles and loaded them into the first M4’s magazine, making a total of seventeen rounds.

Inserting the magazine, she chambered a round. The action was smooth.

She nodded at her sister and then, holding the rifle, cautiously walked towards the factory door.

Reaching the door, hearing no sounds, she pressed herself against the wall, her right hand holding the rifle, and pushed the door open with her left.

The old metal door creaked loudly. She aimed her rifle through the gap, but heard nothing.

What’s going on? Why was it so quiet outside? No signs of the Voodoo Cult.

Had they all passed out from partying too hard?

If so, this was their chance to escape.

Lin Xiwan opened the door slightly, her rifle raised, and cautiously stepped outside.

The sky was clear, but a light rain still fell, a sunshower. It would probably clear up soon.

Thanks to the improved visibility, she scanned the surroundings and then froze, her gaze fixed on a pile of rubble.

What… what is this?

What happened?

The warehouse had collapsed, the area charred black, debris and body parts scattered everywhere.

Bodies… countless bodies lay around the ruins, all dressed in Voodoo Cult attire. And besides the bodies and the rubble, there wasn’t a single living person in sight.

What… had happened last night?

How had the Voodoo Cult party turned into a massacre overnight?

Lin Xiwan was increasingly confused.

Meanwhile, Lin Jiayao, having confirmed the surrounding area was safe with Bone Spike Lurker, opened the system interface.

A notification had been there since she woke up, but she’d been too busy talking to her sister to check it.

Now, seeing it, she froze.

The evolution retention screen.

But she hadn’t controlled the fourth zombie last night. How had it evolved?

Puzzled, she looked at the three available evolutions.

Chapter 75: What Happened?

Lin Jiayao, using her bone spikes, crawled through the rain back towards the tarp.

She hooked her sister, still bound by the two vests, and the two little girls with her bone spikes and carried them into the cannery.

The factory machinery had only a thin layer of dust, seemingly well-maintained – at least before the Voodoo Cult arrived.

Inside, a bright red sofa immediately caught Lin Jiayao’s attention.

Beside it was a dry fish tank, its glass walls coated with a blood-red powder.

This must have been where the bald, moth-controlling Awakened had lived, occupying the entire factory floor for himself.

The other Voodoo Cult members probably stayed in the factory dormitories or elsewhere; it seemed the Voodoo Cult had a strict hierarchy.

After checking the sofa for anything unusual, Lin Jiayao placed her sister on it.

“Mmm—Mmm!!!”

Lin Xiwan, her mouth gagged with Lin Jiayao’s shirt, strained against her restraints, the veins on her forehead bulging.

The stitching on the two vests was starting to tear.

Even two vests together could barely contain her Awakened strength.

Fortunately, her bound position limited her leverage.

I have to find a way to calm her down before she breaks free.

And I also have to deal with the two little girls.

Lin Jiayao placed them on the floor, away from the sofa, and looked at their closed eyes.

She couldn’t keep them. If they were older, or if Survivor’s Light hadn’t fallen, she could have taken them there, but not now.

She and her sister were barely surviving themselves; they couldn’t afford to care for two children.

And these two had seen her use her zombie abilities… she couldn’t risk keeping them around.

Remembering the horrified expressions of the two little girls and the bald Awakened, the way they’d looked at her, as if she were some monstrous zombie, Lin Jiayao worried.

She dreaded seeing that same expression on her sister’s face.

“Hoo—”

She exhaled, scarlet spores drifting out, inhaled by the two girls.

She could have the spores develop into tendrils within them, temporarily controlling them through a semi-symbiotic state.

After finding them a suitable “home,” she could have the tendrils withdraw.

With one of the girls having Awakened her ability under extreme duress, any camp would gladly take them in.

Taking them in would only cost a small amount of food, and in return, they would gain at least one potential Awakened. No camp leader would refuse such a deal.

Lin Jiayao could have also infected the limbless woman outside with spores, possibly even restoring her mobility, but the price would be eternal dependence on the fungus.

And the risk of being completely overtaken if she was ever severely injured.

Still, it was better than death; at least there was a sliver of hope, even a chance for revenge.

But Lin Jiayao didn’t do it.

Call her a coward, heartless, but she didn’t want to experience that woman’s suffering.

She was afraid she wouldn’t be able to handle it.

Constantly experiencing the pain and emotions of others through the spores… if she continued, she would eventually break.

In fact, her mental state was already different from a normal person’s, at least in terms of empathy.

Until she found a solution, she wouldn’t infect anyone older than a child with spores.

These two little girls, with their weak mental fortitude and limited life experiences, were relatively safe; infecting them was like watching the same cartoon twice.

As the spores entered their bodies, absorbing nutrients and developing into tendrils, Lin Jiayao accessed their memories.

Two ordinary little girls. A loving older brother, a doting father. Although their mother wasn’t present in their memories, they had been happy.

If the apocalypse hadn’t come, they would have continued to live a happy life in their middle-class family.

Even a difficult life would have been better than this, at least their brother and father wouldn’t have been brutally murdered.

Fate was cruel.

After reviewing their memories, Lin Jiayao stood up, slightly unsteady.

Perhaps because it was her first time engaging in such intense combat with her main body, she felt both physically and mentally exhausted.

Drained.

She desperately wanted to collapse and sleep.

But she couldn’t rest yet; she had to take care of her sister.

Ever since her sister inhaled the red powder from the moths, she had been in a frenzied, highly aggressive state.

Like she was on drugs.

If it wasn’t addressed, she might remain in this state until her body and mind collapsed from exhaustion.

Crawling to her sister’s side with her bone spikes, looking at her bloodshot eyes and her violent struggles, Lin Jiayao didn’t know what to do.

The concentration of the powder in her sister’s blood must be very high.

She didn’t know any antidotes, didn’t even know the composition of the powder.

The most effective method seemed to be… bloodletting and transfusion.

Reduce the powder’s concentration through bloodletting, and then replenish her blood through transfusion.

Like dialysis.

Unfortunately, Lin Jiayao didn’t have the means for a blood transfusion.

But she did have a healing ability.

Lv.1 Symbiotic Link.

Although she had never used it before, according to the description, it could transfer life energy from one person to another through fungal tendrils.

This process consumed either blood crystals or her own energy.

She didn’t have any blood crystals on her; she had used them all to build the [Control Center Lv.1].

She could scavenge for blood crystals from the corpses outside, but her sister’s condition couldn’t wait. She decided to use her own energy.

She could always replenish it later by draining another zombie with Symbiotic Link.

Having made her decision, she acted immediately.

Removing the bulky vest and helmet, she used her bone spikes to lift her body and hover above her sister.

Other bone spikes secured her immobile legs in a spread-eagle position, and then she lowered herself, straddling her sister’s abdomen.

Lin Jiayao looked down and saw her sister’s hands, bound to her sides, gripping her thighs tightly.

Although she couldn’t feel her legs, Lin Jiayao quickened her actions.

She extended bone spikes and made small incisions on her sister’s wrists.

Blood flowed freely, and Lin Xiwan, seemingly feeling the pain, struggled even more violently.

Lin Jiayao’s sweatpants couldn’t withstand her Awakened strength. They ripped down the middle, the lower halves sliding down her legs.

Combined with the torn hem of her t-shirt, which she had used earlier as a gag, Lin Jiayao was now dressed as if she were at the beach.

Rainwater trickled down her flat stomach, onto her wet pants, and then down her thighs, past the bloody marks and bruises from her sister’s grip.

Now, besides the bruises, there was also her sister’s blood on her thighs.

And as the tainted blood flowed out of her, Lin Xiwan’s struggles intensified.

“Rip—”

The bulletproof vest tore, the stitching at the shoulder straps giving way, only a few threads remaining.

Her thrashing sprayed more blood.

Lin Xiwan’s face rapidly paled.

Ignoring the fact that her sister was about to break free, Lin Jiayao activated Lv.1 Symbiotic Link.

Spores gathered in her mouth, forming tendrils that connected to her blood vessels, drawing out her blood.

The blood, filtered by the tendrils, transformed into a clear, metallic-tasting mucus.

Lin Jiayao opened her mouth, and a mass of tendrils, like intertwined blood vessels, extended outwards.

She gently removed the cloth gag from her sister’s mouth.

Perhaps because her jaw muscles were exhausted from straining against the gag, Lin Xiwan’s mouth remained open, drool trickling down her chin.

Seizing the opportunity, Lin Jiayao lowered her head, the tendrils from her mouth probing her sister’s lips, sliding down her throat and into her esophagus, spreading and connecting to her blood vessels.

Lin Jiayao could feel the tendrils; they were a part of her.

They felt like an extension of her tongue.

And now, they were sliding past her sister’s soft lips, deeper and deeper into her throat.

A sensation of being enveloped by her sister’s warm, wet mouth.

“Hiss—”

A sudden wave of dizziness, almost making her black out.

Symbiotic Link was drawing her life force, and the drain was far greater than she’d anticipated.

Her consciousness faded, she could no longer control her bone spikes, they retracted, and she collapsed onto her sister.

The pure life energy transferred through Symbiotic Link quickly closed the wounds on Lin Xiwan’s wrists, the scars fading.

And her weakened body seemed revitalized, strength returning, but her mind remained clouded.

“Rip—”

With her renewed strength, Lin Xiwan tore off the remnants of the vest and then wrapped her arms tightly around Lin Jiayao’s bare waist.

“Mmm—”

The sudden embrace, the pressure against her broken ribs, made Lin Jiayao black out. The tendrils retracted from her sister’s mouth, and her head lolled against Lin Xiwan’s forehead.

And Lin Xiwan, though not fully conscious, seemed to be regaining some awareness, perhaps due to the reduced concentration of the powder in her blood.

Although she could feel and smell, her vision was still clouded, as if she were dreaming.

She felt a soft body in her arms, a familiar scent, but all she saw were white clouds.

But she couldn’t let go of the body in her embrace.

Lin Jiayao was completely unconscious, unaware of what happened next.

…

The next morning, as the first rays of sunlight filtered through the factory windows, Lin Xiwan slowly opened her eyes.

An unprecedented clarity filled her mind, as if her mental strength had undergone a profound transformation overnight.

And she felt an abundance of energy, her Awakened abilities tingling at the edge of a breakthrough.

Refreshed and invigorated.

But then, her muscles tensed.

What… what happened? Wasn’t she in the warehouse? Surrounded by the Voodoo Cult?

Had she been captured? Drugged?

Or… was she in heaven?

She tried to sit up and realized she was holding a soft body in her arms, her embrace tight.

Her eyes widened, her newly found clarity replaced by confusion.

My… my sister?

Why was her sister in her arms?

And… they were inside the factory; she could see the production machinery in her peripheral vision.

“Uh…” Lin Xiwan carefully placed her sister beside her and noticed the dried blood on her lips.

Was she injured?

She quickly sat up and then gasped at the sight of her sister’s condition.

Her beautiful, frail sister’s brow was furrowed; she seemed to be unconscious.

Her clothes were torn, her pants ripped into shorts and pulled halfway down her thighs.

And on her smooth, white thighs were several gruesome bloody marks and bruises.

As if she had been… been…

Lin Xiwan pounded her temples, trying to remember what had happened.

She only remembered seeing strange blood-red moths while searching for weapons.

Before she could react, the moths had swarmed her gas mask, and she had thrown it away in a panic.

She couldn’t remember anything after that.

But judging by their surroundings, they were safe.

Who had done this to her sister?

Lin Xiwan pulled at her hair, remembering that she had been holding her sister tightly when she woke up.

Could it be… that she…

She gasped, a wave of panic washing over her.

What should she do? How could she explain this to her sister? What would her sister think of her when she woke up?

Would she think she was a pervert?

Lin Xiwan was now certain that she had inhaled something and lost consciousness.

And she must have still been active while unconscious… otherwise, they wouldn’t be safe now.

She looked at the scattered bloodstains, the firearms, the torn vests, the two little girls lying nearby, and knew there had been a fight.

As she tried to piece together what had happened, she saw her sister’s long eyelashes flutter.

She’s waking up! What do I say?

Panicked, she waited.

Chapter 74: A Massacre

“Whoosh—”

The rocket, trailing flames, grew larger and larger in Lin Jiayao’s vision.

She could even see the spinning green warhead.

It was too close to dodge.

“Shhh—”

A bone spike shot out from above Lin Jiayao’s head, aimed directly at the warhead.

Simultaneously, dozens of bone spikes, the maximum number she could control, extended from her back, shielding her exposed neck and face.

“Clang—”

The bone spike hit the side of the rocket, not triggering the warhead’s fuse.

But the impact couldn’t stop the rocket’s propulsion. It continued to hurtle towards her at 250 m/s.

Due to the bone spike’s interference, the trajectory deviated slightly, passing about a meter to her left.

The rocket, still attached to the bone spike, dragged Lin Jiayao with it, the force almost pulling her off her feet.

She didn’t have time to retract the spike; she instinctively extended another, embedding it in the wall at the edge of the roof. The barbed tip held fast.

The rocket, now tethered to the wall, lost its stability, its trajectory changing further.

It arced around Lin Jiayao, making a ten-meter-radius half-circle, and then flew back towards its origin.

In a split second, Lin Jiayao severed the bone spike chain. The rocket, now trailing the broken spike, flew towards the Voodoo Cult members below.

But it didn’t hit them. About five meters above them, its fuse, having timed out, detonated in midair.

“BOOM—————”

The warhead exploded, creating a massive fireball with a seven-meter radius.

Shrapnel rained down on the crowd, screams and cries echoing through the air.

A piece of shrapnel, whistling through the air, struck Lin Jiayao in the side, just below her chest.

The impact knocked her back slightly, but her bone spikes, still anchored to the wall, prevented her from falling.

“Crack—”
“Thud—”

The sound of breaking ribs and shattering armor plates. A searing pain shot through Lin Jiayao.

This wasn’t the dulled sensation of controlling a zombie; this was real, agonizing pain. It almost made her black out. She coughed up blood.

The blast ruffled her hair. Fighting the pain and the heat, she looked down.

Chaos below. The intense heat incinerated a large number of moths. A dozen Voodoo Cult members, closest to the explosion, writhed on the ground in agony.

Blood, severed limbs, and screams filled the air. The chaos created the perfect opportunity.

Fight, or be consumed.

Even through the pain, Lin Jiayao made her choice.

Gripping her M4, she retracted her bone spikes from the wall.

The spikes lifted her onto the wall, and then she jumped down towards the flames and smoke below.

Meanwhile, a tall, thin, bald Voodoo Cult member was crawling on the ground, clutching his bleeding neck.

Moths fluttered towards his wound, their wings scattering blood-red dust.

But the powder was washed away by the gushing blood before it could reach the wound.

The explosion had destroyed most of his moths, and he still didn’t know how the girl above had managed to shoot him from twenty or thirty meters away, or how she had redirected the rocket.

He had only seen something like that in pre-apocalypse movies.

Damn it… fungal zombies truly are monsters…

I have to find a safe place to stop the bleeding…

“Thump—”

“AAAAH!!!”

As he crawled backwards, a loud thud and a scream came from behind him. He quickly turned.

Thick smoke billowed from the explosion, the rain turning it into a black downpour.

As the smoke cleared, his eyes widened in horror.

What… what the hell is that…?

Under the black rain, a figure, supported by dozens of curved bone spikes, stood amidst the smoke and debris, like a giant spider.

No, not a spider… it was a human figure with bone spikes… it was the girl!

And were those… rifles… attached to her bone spikes?

The curved, cracked bone spikes supporting the figure straightened, lifting her up.

Beneath her bone spikes was the corpse of one of his men, impaled by a dozen spikes.

She… it had jumped down from the roof, more than ten meters high!

It was the fungal zombie!

Blood trickled from the zombie girl’s lips. She scanned the area with cold, crimson eyes, her rifle raised.

Then, her emotionless gaze met his.

Fuck—

I’ve been spotted—

Knowing he’d been seen, he couldn’t even curse.

“Ugh—Ugh—”

He didn’t look back. Ignoring his bleeding neck, he dragged his broken leg and crawled frantically.

The moths around the factory swarmed towards him, some also flying towards the zombie girl.

He used his remaining strength to try and slow her down, but when he finally looked back, he was filled with despair.

Why… why the fuck can a zombie use a… gun!!!

A red dot from a laser sight appeared on his left eye. A single, muffled shot, and then darkness.

“Bang, bang, bang—”

The girl fired three more shots into the corpse, and when all the moths in the sky fell, she turned her attention to the surrounding Voodoo Cult members, who were now staring at her.

The lack of guidance from the moths had thrown them into temporary disarray.

After she calmly picked off four more, the remaining members, still under the influence of the blood-red powder, snapped out of their trance.

“Over there! Over there! The enemy is over there!”

“Fuck… my head…”

“A zombie! A zombie!”

Those who had inhaled a larger dose of the powder were in a complete frenzy.

Without the guidance of the moths, they began firing wildly, friend and foe indistinguishable.

Lin Jiayao’s decapitation plan had worked… but it had also backfired.

The leader’s death had seemingly thrown the powder-addled Voodoo Cult members into a state of mass hysteria.

They fired at thin air, shouting “Enemy!”, then screamed “Zombie!” and threw grenades at their own companions…

The warehouse was engulfed in chaos.

A stray bullet hit the ballistic plate on Lin Jiayao’s back, and a ricocheting bullet struck her helmet, the impact causing a buzzing in her ears.

I need cover.

Lin Jiayao lowered herself, her bone spikes, carrying the rifles, raised high, firing at any moving target.

Carving a path through the chaos, she quickly crawled away from the Voodoo Cult members.

Just as she ran out of ammunition, she saw a Voodoo Cult member on her right, his eyes bloodshot, his rifle aimed at her.

His finger was on the trigger. Lin Jiayao froze, her hand halfway through reloading.

At this range, she couldn’t fire her bone spikes or finish reloading in time.

As if in slow motion, she watched as the man slowly pulled the trigger.

“Bang, bang, bang! Rat-tat-tat-tat! Rat-tat-tat-tat!” The man yelled maniacally at Lin Jiayao, shaking his rifle.

But the rifle didn’t fire a single shot – the magazine was empty.

Oblivious, he continued to shout “Bang, bang, bang! Rat-tat-tat-tat!”, advancing on Lin Jiayao as if his gun were actually firing.

He had lost his mind.

Seizing the opportunity, Lin Jiayao quickly reloaded and shot the delusional man.

At the same time, she noticed the gunfire behind her had stopped.

She looked back. The Voodoo Cult members, having emptied their magazines, weren’t reloading, but instead, were attacking each other with their rifles as clubs.

And many others, like moths drawn to a flame, were running towards the burning warehouse.

No!!!

Lin Jiayao instantly understood. She turned and ran towards the burning warehouse, joining the frenzied Voodoo Cult members.

Her sister had inhaled the powder too! She would be just as crazed!

Lin Jiayao fired, killing anyone in her path, reaching the edge of the burning warehouse faster than even the Voodoo Cult members.

A thick, hollow bone spike extended from her back, firing a thin bone chain hook that latched onto the concrete railing on the warehouse roof.

“Clang—”

The bone chain retracted, pulling her upwards.

Nearing the roof, she hooked her bone spikes onto the railing and quickly crawled towards her sister.

Seeing her sister still struggling on the ground, Lin Jiayao breathed a sigh of relief.

Good thing I tied her up.

But then she noticed another problem.

The two little girls were gone.

Activating Bone Spike Lurker, she detected two faint heartbeats, not on the roof, but inside the warehouse.

The metal door leading down from the roof was closed. Using Bone Spike Lurker to simulate the terrain, she located the two little girls.

They were hiding in the crane control room on the third floor, the door locked.

The fire and explosions hadn’t reached the third floor yet, but if it continued to spread, and if the fuel tanks of the modified vehicles and trucks inside exploded, the entire warehouse would collapse.

After a moment of hesitation, Lin Jiayao left her sister, pried open the roof access door with her bone spikes, braved the intense heat, and crawled towards the crane control room.

Although the two little girls had seen her use her abilities, she wasn’t like the Voodoo Cult; she couldn’t just leave them to die.

Even if she eventually just gave them some supplies and sent them on their way, she wouldn’t let them die here, not when she could save them.

Perhaps her sister’s influence was rubbing off on her.

Reaching the crane control room, she pounded on the metal door with her bone spikes.

“Bang, bang—”

She could feel their heartbeats quicken with each bang.

Seeing that this wasn’t working, she hooked a bone spike onto the ventilation window above the door and peered inside.

The two little girls were huddled in a corner, looking up at her, their faces streaked with tears, too scared even to cry.

But something about the older girl caught Lin Jiayao’s attention.

A faint mist surrounded the older girl with the ponytail and her sister, shielding them from the heat.

Had this little girl… Awakened?!

Regardless, the warehouse could collapse at any moment. She had to get them out.

“Crack—Crack—”

Lin Jiayao pried open the security bars on the window with her bone spikes, reached inside, and unlocked the door.

Then, using her bone spikes for support, she crawled inside.

The moment she entered, the older girl stood up, tears in her eyes, shielding her sister.

“Don’t come near my sister, monster!”

Lin Jiayao saw a flicker of her sister in the little girl’s protective stance.

Long ago, her sister had shielded her from zombies in the same way.

But this little girl was far too weak.

Ignoring her protests, Lin Jiayao extended two bone spikes, grabbed the girls, and carried them back to the roof.

Perhaps from fear, or from crying for so long, the two girls had fainted.

Back on the roof, Lin Jiayao secured her sister with two bone spikes and then, moving around the perimeter of the warehouse, looked down.

A ring of corpses surrounded the warehouse. Only a few remaining Voodoo Cult members, armed with empty rifles, were beating each other senseless.

The fire, contained by the heavy rain, was dying down.

Choosing a spot where the flames were weaker, Lin Jiayao fired a bone spike chain, hooking it onto the concrete railing, and then, carrying her sister and the two little girls, slowly lowered herself to the ground.

Reaching the ground, there were almost no Voodoo Cult members left standing.

After eliminating the few who were still fighting, Lin Jiayao carried her sister and the girls to a nearby open plaza, away from the burning warehouse.

Sweeping aside some musical instruments with her bone spikes, she placed her sister on the relatively clean stage under the tarp.

“Sister… Sister?”

She shook her sister gently, but her eyes remained unfocused, her jaw clenching and unclenching.

I need to do some first aid…

To prevent her sister from biting her tongue, Lin Jiayao tore a strip of cloth from her shirt, rinsed it in the rain, and then rolled it up and placed it between her sister’s teeth.

Just as she was about to carry her sister and the two girls to the production area, away from the rain, she detected a faint heartbeat.

It was so weak she’d almost mistaken it for the sound of rain.

She followed the sound and saw a naked figure crawling on the muddy concrete towards the factory gate, its chin dragging on the ground.

A woman, her limbs severed, inching forward.

But her progress was agonizingly slow… without hands or feet, she could barely move.

Her body left a bloody trail on the rough concrete, but she continued to crawl.

As if escaping this hellish place, even for a moment, was worth the pain and effort.

Lin Jiayao took a deep breath, raised her rifle, and, supported by her bone spikes, crawled towards the woman.

“Click, click, click—”

The sound of her bone spikes on the concrete.

Hearing the sound, the woman stopped crawling and closed her eyes, tears silently mixing with the rain.

Lin Jiayao extended a bone spike, gently turning the woman over so she was facing her.

Rain and tears blurred the woman’s vision; she couldn’t see clearly who was before her.

She knew the horrific torture that awaited anyone who tried to escape.

“Do you want to live?”

Lin Jiayao looked down at the woman, her chest barely rising and falling, barely able even to turn over.

Hearing no response, she asked again, “Do you want to live?”

This time, the woman reacted.

She struggled to open her eyes, trying to see who was speaking. From the voice, it seemed to be a young girl.

“Ah—Ah—Aagh—”

The woman opened her mouth, her shoulder twitching. She seemed unable to speak, only managing a few strained sounds.

Her throat had been damaged, the gruesome scars on her neck a testament to the torture she’d endured.

“I can end your suffering,” Lin Jiayao said calmly. “Make a sound. One sound, and I’ll end it. Two sounds, and you can try to escape. I’ll hold them back.”

“Aagh—Aagh—”

Driven by a powerful survival instinct, the woman quickly responded.

She struggled to turn over, to crawl away, like an overturned turtle.

After a while, she calmed down, the desire to live fading.

She knew she couldn’t survive. She had only been trying to crawl outside, hoping to be bitten by zombies or drown herself in a puddle.

Lin Jiayao didn’t leave, just watched her struggle.

“One sound, and I’ll end it. Two sounds, and you can try to leave,” she repeated.

This time, the woman didn’t struggle. Tears streamed down her face, mixing with the rain. She smiled, a look of relief. “Ah…”

“Whoosh—”

Lin Jiayao’s bone chain shot out, hooking onto a can of luncheon meat that had fallen during the chaos and dragging it over.

She opened the can, took out the meat with a bone spike, and offered it to the woman.

Seemingly drawn by the savory scent, the woman, who hadn’t eaten anything decent in who knew how long, opened her mouth and took a bite.

She ate ravenously, then stopped after a few bites, leaving half on the barbed bone spike, as if unwilling to let her would-be savior waste food on someone about to die.

“Ah…”

The woman made a single sound, smiled, and closed her eyes.

“Bang—”

A bullet pierced her forehead, a crimson flower blooming in its wake.

Lin Jiayao holstered her pistol and placed the half-eaten luncheon meat beside the woman’s head, the blood staining the meat.

Then, she turned and walked towards the shelter of the tarp.

She couldn’t save everyone, couldn’t afford to care for the helpless in this apocalyptic world.

Just as the resort camp hadn’t been able to support her, crippled and useless.

All she could do was offer a release, a prayer for a better next life, a life without an apocalypse.

After all, she had someone to protect, someone waiting for her under the tarp, someone whose mental state was fragile, someone who needed her.

As for the fate of the two little girls, Lin Jiayao had already made her decision.