"Senior Brother Thoi, what's wrong?"
The students of the Martial School saw Senior Brother Thoi stand up, his expression serious as he stared into the distance, and they had no idea what was happening.
They were still immersed in the joy of their future strength.
"A terrifying fellow has arrived."
Hearing these words, everyone's expression suddenly changed completely. In their hearts, Senior Brother Thoi was incredibly powerful. For even someone as strong as him to say that a terrifying fellow had arrived, just how terrifying must it be?
In the darkness, a figure approached slowly, unhurriedly.
Everyone stared intently, seeing that the figure was clearly human.
Could it be a zombie?
But it was somewhat different from what they imagined. If it were a zombie, it would definitely be making low groaning sounds, but right now, there was no sound at all.
Soon, the figure appeared before them, the faint light of the bonfire illuminating its body.
A zombie...
That's right, it was a zombie, and it looked like an ordinary one.
But this ordinary zombie gave off a strange feeling. It was a bit roguish, even tilting its head and revealing a smile that sent shivers down one's spine.
Damn...
Seeing this, they knew this was no damn ordinary zombie; there was definitely something wrong with it.
"A strange zombie."
Thoi Tieu Phi narrowed his eyes, sizing up his opponent. And just as he was assessing the zombie, suddenly, it shot towards him like a bolt, its speed incredibly fast, becoming a blur.
"Hmm?"
Splat!
Thoi Tieu Phi looked down at his empty right arm stump, fresh blood gushing from the wound.
"So fast."
The students looked worriedly at Senior Brother Thoi. A zombie had appeared out of nowhere, attacking without a word and even severing their senior brother's arm. This scene truly frightened them.
Thoi Tieu Phi frowned slightly. The wound on his severed arm began to squirm, and a new arm grew out.
He turned to face the mysterious zombie in the distance.
He saw the zombie holding the arm, a sinister smile on its face. It opened its mouth and took a bite of the arm, then spat out the flesh and blood as if disgusted by how bad it tasted.
It casually tossed the arm aside.
"Groan..."
It let out a roar at Thoi Tieu Phi.
"What a powerful zombie. Your genes must be extremely strong." A trace of excitement appeared in Thoi Tieu Phi's eyes. After becoming a mutator, he had strayed further and further down this path. He understood better than any other mutator how important perfecting one's genes was.
He could clearly feel the changes in his own genes.
This couldn't be explained by science.
It was a unique introspective ability he gained after fusing with zombie genes.
If described in terms of genetic unlocking, he had already unlocked it three times.
Neither ordinary people nor the Awakened could unlock their genes. Perhaps only by fusing with zombie genes and entering a hybrid stage could one achieve genetic unlocking.
After the third genetic unlock, he could clearly feel the changes in himself. When he truly released this power, his own form would change.
He didn't want to call this form a distortion; he was more convinced that it was his original body's inability to withstand this terrifying power, thus undergoing a self-strengthening change.
The mysterious zombie saw Thoi Tieu Phi grow a new arm and showed a strange expression. With a bang, the ground beneath it cracked as it shot forward like a stream of light, its five fingers pressed together, aiming to pierce Thoi Tieu Phi's chest.
Clack!
The mysterious zombie's five fingers were stopped just inches from his chest, its wrist caught by him.
"You're really strong, but don't get too carried away."
Thoi Tieu Phi said angrily. The shocked mysterious zombie showed a curious look. With a squelch, Thoi Tieu Phi crushed its wrist directly. The injured zombie retreated backward.
It looked at its mangled wrist, seemingly unable to accept it. It shook its dangling hand, which had lost all feeling.
The mysterious zombie's face gradually turned icy. Its other hand swung down, directly severing the useless arm, and then a new hand grew back.
In the eyes of the spectating students, this was practically a battle between monsters.
Severed arms could grow back again.
It was simply terrifying beyond belief.
They were all wondering if they, too, could have such an ability.
Just as they were thinking this, the fierce battle had already erupted before their eyes.
They couldn't see the two figures clearly at all; instead, they could only hear the booming sounds of collision. Each impact generated a terrifying shockwave.
Even though they were just spectators, their blood was boiling with excitement.
"Terrifying, truly terrifying. This is Senior Brother Thoi's true strength."
"And that zombie is also incredibly scary, isn't it? A zombie that looks no different from a person can actually be this powerful?"
"If an ordinary person encountered a zombie like that, wouldn't they be done for?"
"More than done for, I'm afraid they wouldn't even know how they died."
Just as they were in heated discussion, the situation on the field changed.
Senior Brother Thoi, in their eyes, let out a low roar. The iconic flesh-and-blood wings unfurled from his back, and the tyrannical aura made their very souls tremble.
Splat!
The mysterious zombie looked down at its pierced abdomen, showing an expression of disbelief, as if it had never expected... for things to turn out like this.
"Surprised?"
Thoi Tieu Phi's voice entered the mysterious zombie's ears. Before the zombie could react, with a squelch, his hand covered the zombie's head and squeezed hard. The zombie's head exploded like a watermelon, and a viscous red liquid flowed out from between his five fingers.
Among it, a brilliantly colored crystal was particularly dazzling.
"It has reached this stage, huh."
From the color of the crystal, he knew what stage this zombie belonged to. This was all thanks to the "Zombie Illustrated Handbook", otherwise, it really wouldn't have been so easy to know.
The students of the Martial School looked at Thoi Tieu Phi with eyes full of worship. It was just too awesome.
The fierce battle had completely stunned them.
"It's alright, you can all go rest now," Thoi Tieu Phi said.
"Oh."
In their hearts, with their senior brother around, there was nothing to be afraid of. They could rest peacefully for a while.
The night was quiet.
After they had fallen asleep, Thoi Tieu Phi walked to the corpse of the mysterious zombie. He looked around and, after confirming that there were no problems, picked up the corpse, opened his mouth, and began to devour it.
There were two ways to fuse genes. One was to devour and evolve oneself.
The other was to bring the corpse back and have the organization extract the genes.
But for Thoi Tieu Phi, that was completely unnecessary.
As he continued to devour, Thoi Tieu Phi's whole body trembled. A force was boiling within him, and the intense pain caused cold sweat to bead on his forehead as he bent over, panting.
A moment later.
Squelch!
Two lumps rose on his back, instantly breaking through, and another pair of crimson fleshy wings appeared.
His pupils turned red, and his lips curled up, revealing his excitement.
"The fourth stage, genetic unlock..."
He clenched his fist, feeling this exhilarating power.
"Lam Pham of Hoang City's Sunshine Shelter, I really want to know how long it will take for me to surpass you."
Thoi Tieu Phi knew that the strongest person in the apocalypse was Lam Pham.
The other man had gone further than anyone else.
He suspected that the other party had become a powerhouse in an extremely short time right when the apocalypse broke out, thus gaining an absolute advantage and continuously growing stronger.
. . .
Early morning.
Lam Pham got out of bed.
He went about his day as usual.
After breakfast, he took little Man to Sister Ly's place. He could have entrusted the child to someone else's care, but perhaps because they had spent some time together, the child recognized him and would cry if she didn't see him at night.
No one else could coax her.
Therefore, Lam Pham decided to keep her by his side and take good care of her.
He went downstairs, met acquaintances, and greeted them.
A beautiful day often begins with a greeting.
"Little Pham, wait a minute."
Co Hang called out to Lam Pham from a distance and hurried over.
"Brother Hang, what's up?" Lam Pham asked.
Co Hang said helplessly, "Actually, it's not a big deal, just my personal matter."
"Oh." Lam Pham had a sudden realization and said with a smile, "Actually, I can hear you guys chatting every night. Of course, I'm not eavesdropping on purpose, it's just that we live too close, so I hear it whether I want to or not."
The matter between Brother Hang and Duong Tue was still unresolved.
When reliance becomes a habit, it becomes a burden for the other person.
Co Hang knew of Lam Pham's abilities. It was just as he said, nothing escaped his ears. He spread his hands helplessly and said, "I feel like if this continues, something is bound to happen. I used to think that with good persuasion, things would go back to how they were one day, but who would have thought... it's getting more and more serious."
Hearing Brother Hang say this, Lam Pham patted his shoulder.
"Brother Hang, it's useless to tell me these things. I've never even been in love, how would I know how to solve this? Why don't you ask Ha Khanh? He would definitely know."
"I've asked him."
"What did he say?" Lam Pham was very curious and wanted to hear what the former big shot had to say.
"He told me, what a great thing this is, you got a woman and a son for free. Don't you think what he said leaves one speechless?"
Lam Pham pondered, "Don't say it, I feel like what he said makes a bit of sense."
Co Hang: ...?
Well, I'll be. I didn't expect to get such a reply. It's really irrefutable.
. . .
At this time, on a highway not too far from Hoang City, a modified car was speeding along. Apart from avoiding overturned vehicles, there were no problems at all.
There were four survivors in the car, all male. One of the younger men looked into the distance and said to the person next to him.
"When the apocalypse first broke out, I fled from Hoang City. I never thought that the safest place now would be Hoang City. What do you guys think of that?"
He was very young, but his face was a bit haggard. To have survived in the apocalypse until now was truly a very difficult thing.
"Brother Tien, life is unpredictable," a survivor next to him said.
Brother Tien, Tien Gia Hao. When the apocalypse first broke out, he was at a loss, only able to accompany his pregnant wife. Later, a soldier protected them, which was a kind of comfort.
He felt that the apocalypse wasn't so bad.
But as supplies dwindled, he felt that staying there was just waiting to die.
Until a group of survivors arrived in a modified vehicle. When they learned that his wife was pregnant, they didn't want to bring along a burden and gave him two choices.
One was to continue waiting to die.
The other was to abandon his pregnant wife and leave with them.
After a series of internal struggles, he chose the latter. He just wanted to live, there was nothing wrong with that. Being alive was the most important thing; nothing else mattered at all.
Under his wife's desperate and disbelieving gaze, he resolutely chose to abandon her.
Later, the survivor team that took him away was wiped out by zombies in the apocalypse. His luck was relatively good; he escaped death several times and felt that heaven was looking out for him.
Even later, he became an Awakened. The power of an Awakened, although not high-level, made him like a mini-Superman in the eyes of ordinary people.
Tien Gia Hao said, "Yeah, I really didn't expect that someone would open such a safe shelter in the apocalypse. This apocalypse is really too dangerous now. We can't handle it with our situation. Finding a safe place to stay is also a very wise choice."
"Brother Tien, you're right. There isn't even a single zombie around. It's truly magical."
"What's so magical about that? The zombies have all been killed. Look at the corpses on the ground, they've been dead for a while."
The survivors in the car chatted with each other.
They also knew that Tien Gia Hao used to have a pregnant wife.
But Brother Tien said his wife was bitten and killed by zombies in the apocalypse, and he could only watch helplessly. Every time he recalled this matter, he felt heartbroken.
In the apocalypse, everyone has experienced such things.
They have all witnessed their relatives die tragically before their eyes.
At this time, Tien Gia Hao recalled the past, wondering if his wife was still alive. Thinking about it, it was impossible. In such a terrible apocalypse, how could a pregnant woman survive?
She must have become food for the zombies.
He never regretted his choice, but sometimes when he thought about it, he would feel a little guilty.
However, that guilt had long since vanished in the apocalypse.
Since leaving Hoang City with the survivor team, he had encountered no less than twenty female survivors during this period. Some were cooperative, and some were not.
The uncooperative ones would struggle. At first, he was not quite used to it, but gradually, he found that the feeling of doing whatever he wanted was really great.
If these things were done in the past, he would probably have to spend his life in prison.
But now, who needed to care about these things?
There was no one to manage it at all. That feeling was really great, so great that he felt this apocalypse was really great.
What wife, what unborn child, had long been thrown to the back of his mind.
"Brother Tien, I saw in the "Zombie Illustrated Handbook" that to live in the Sunshine Shelter, you have to meet the requirements. With the things we've done outside, will we not be eligible?"
One of the survivors raised this question.
Tien Gia Hao couldn't help but laugh, "Hilarious. If we don't tell, who will know? Can they read our minds? Don't overthink it, rest assured, there will be absolutely no problem."
The three survivors heard this and nodded in understanding.
It was true.
If they didn't say anything, no one would know.
Not long after, the car drove to the cross-river bridge in Hoang City.
Tien Gia Hao and the others saw a fortress at the end of the bridge. They didn't expect the defense line to have been built here. It seemed that the Hoang City Sunshine Shelter was really very safe.
"Who are you?" The patrolman looked at the four survivors who got out of the car, not daring to be the slightest bit careless. Ever since the last incident, they had become much more cautious.
In the apocalypse, there were bad people who were always thinking of attacking the shelter.
How could they tolerate others destroying the home in their hearts?
Don't even think about it.
Tien Gia Hao said with a smile, "Big brother, we are survivors. We came here after seeing the "Zombie Illustrated Handbook"."
He even raised the "Zombie Illustrated Handbook" in his hand as he spoke.
"Do you have any weapons on you?"
The patrolman sized them up, not just letting them in because of that.
"No, we don't have any weapons on us."
Tien Gia Hao and the others lifted their clothes. There were indeed no weapons on them.
The patrolman continued to ask questions and learned that among the four survivors, only one was an Awakened. This was nothing in the Sunshine Shelter, as there were quite a few Awakened there.
Thinking that Brother Lam was still in the shelter, it was a good time to let him take a look.
All this time, whenever Lam Pham wanted to leave the shelter to go out and clear zombies, he would pass by the fortress and tell them, letting them know, "I'm going out now, I'm not in the shelter."
This was a kind of report.
Not long after, Tien Gia Hao and his group followed the patrolman's vehicle.
Returning to the city he once knew, Tien Gia Hao looked at the buildings in the distance. His home used to be there. Then he retracted his gaze and looked at the surrounding streets.
Although it was still desolate, the situation in Hoang City was much better than outside.
The streets were very clean, without a single zombie corpse, and not even an overturned car.
This was all done by everyone. After all, this was the road one must take to the bridge. If it was littered with zombie corpses and overturned vehicles, it would definitely not be aesthetically pleasing.
So, everyone in the shelter came out and cleaned up this area very well.
Among them, Van Van's contribution was the greatest.
Co Hang knew of Van Van's ability. With a single thought, all the miscellaneous garbage would float up and be sent to the garbage dump, eliminating the need for manual labor.
"Brother Tien, the environment here is not bad. The places we've been to are full of corpses. You can tell it's the apocalypse at a glance. It's nothing like here. Except for the lack of people, you really can't tell."
"Yeah, looks like we've come to the right place, hehe."
Tien Gia Hao listened to what they said and just nodded silently.
Soon, they arrived at the shelter's vicinity.
Quan Hao and his little brothers were casually shooting the breeze, talking about some gossip. Seeing a car drive over, they stood up to check the situation.
"Yo, survivors have arrived."
It had been a long time since he had seen survivors find their way here on their own.
He jumped down from the roof of the shop.
The patrolman said, "Brother Hao, four survivors, all found their way here on their own. He is an Awakened among them."
Now, Quan Hao was addressed as Brother Hao. His status in the shelter was also top-notch.
Quan Hao curiously sized up these four survivors, unable to help but admire their ability to have survived in the apocalypse until now. It was truly too difficult.
He stepped forward and patted Tien Gia Hao's shoulder, "Brothers... you've come to the right place. From now on, you don't have to worry. This place is much safer than you imagine. Live a good life, and everything will be the same as before."
"Thank you, thank you, we also want to live a normal life," Tien Gia Hao said excitedly.
Quan Hao said, "Don't be in a hurry. Later, you'll have to meet my Brother Lam. If my Brother Lam agrees for you to stay here, then you can stay."
Anyone who wanted to stay in the Sunshine Shelter had to get Brother Lam's approval. Who was a good person and who was a bad person could be seen at a glance.
"Brother Hang, going out?" Quan Hao saw Co Hang carrying something and walking outside, and couldn't help but greet him.
"Yeah..." Co Hang replied with a smile, but when his eyes looked over here, his expression instantly changed because he saw a familiar face.
Similarly, when Tien Gia Hao looked over, he naturally recognized Co Hang as well.
The moment he recognized him, Tien Gia Hao lowered his head, not daring to say anything, hoping that Co Hang wouldn't recognize him.
His heart was in turmoil, and he was completely stunned. How could it be? How could he still be alive? Even though several months had passed, he still recognized Co Hang at a glance.
A sense of unease was brewing in his heart.
How he wished this was an illusion, how he wished Co Hang would absolutely not recognize him.
"Tien! Gia! Hao!"
Co Hang said his name word by word. With each word, his voice was trembling.
This was not excitement, but anger.
"Hang... Brother Hang."
Smack!
Co Hang rushed in front of him, grabbing his collar with both hands, his red eyes looking as if they wanted to eat him alive.
"Don't you fucking call me Brother Hang, you're a fucking coward!"
Faced with Co Hang's angry scolding, Tien Gia Hao lowered his head, not daring to make a sound.
Quan Hao blinked, looking very bewildered.
What was going on?
Why did they start fighting all of a sudden?
From the looks of it, Brother Hang knew this person, and this person clearly knew Brother Hang too. He didn't even dare to speak when being scolded. There must be a little secret that no one knew about.
Tien Gia Hao said awkwardly, "Brother Hang, is Little Tue alright?"
"You motherfucker..." Co Hang swung his fist at Tien Gia Hao's face. Faced with such a punch, Tien Gia Hao didn't dodge and took it head-on. Although he was an Awakened, he was just an ordinary one. A punch to the face was still quite painful.
When Quan Hao on the side heard the two words "Little Tue," the fiery flames of gossip ignited.
The so-called Little Tue should be Duong Tue. He had heard people say that Duong Tue was pregnant during the apocalypse, and her husband abandoned her to save his own life. If it weren't for Brother Hang protecting her, she would have died long ago.
Now hearing their conversation, the man in front of him must be the beast who abandoned his wife and child to save his own skin?
Fuck!
Thinking about how he had just patted the other party's shoulder and called him brother, he rubbed his hands on his clothes, wanting to wash them clean, and even wanted to complain to others.
I, Quan Hao, am no longer clean...
Tien Gia Hao saw how violent Co Hang was and thought that Little Tue might really be dead. That was the reason the other party hit him. Since she was already dead, as long as he humbled himself and sincerely repented, it wouldn't be a big deal, and it could also appease the other party.
"Brother Hang, I'm really sorry. I was just too scared at the time. I wanted to live too, so... please forgive me."
Co Hang glared at him.
"How do you still have the face to come back?"