An hour later.
"Squeak—"
The motorcycle screeched sideways to a halt.
Lin An braked hard, face sinking.
Not far ahead, at the city's entrance, lay a mountain of corpses. Tens of thousands piled high, congealed blood blackened under the sun. Stranger still—there were no zombies in sight.
Wen Ya, jolted awake, yawned groggily.
The sudden stop sent her chin crashing against Lin An's back. Pain burst along her jaw.
"Ugh… it hurts." She rubbed at it, gritting her teeth. Why is this guy built like stone?
She glanced up at him, half-resentful. Doesn't he know how to be gentle at all?
Lin An didn't react. His physique, strengthened to 14.4, made him oblivious to the collision. Even an ordinary man swinging a blade couldn't pierce his skin anymore.
His gaze stayed fixed on the grisly scene.
Weird. Too weird.
Without hesitation, he opened the Eye of Judgment.
Light flickered in his eyes.
[Detection complete.]
Survivors: 0
Zombies: 0
Damaged vehicles: 11,219 …
The readout scrolled past, but his focus lingered on the grotesque details.
The corpse mountain loomed nearly ten meters high. Beside it, smaller heaps clogged the highway entrance, slumped among twisted fences and wrecked cars. Torn flesh, dark and sticky, still clung to the asphalt—a massacre left long enough for blood to blacken.
And then—something stranger still.
Not far from the pile, shredded zombies lay scattered, forming a perfect circle.
Lin An tensed, edging closer.
The body at his feet was pulverized, fractures too clean. The muscle fiber inside had liquefied into paste. This wasn't explosion damage. Nor claws, nor blades.
He crouched, frowning. Psychic impact…
Only a psychic shock could reduce a body like this.
His stomach dropped. Psychic attacks meant a third-tier Awakened—or mutant. And this wasn't targeted. It was a wide, indiscriminate slaughter.
More than Tier 3?
Impossible. In his last life, such beings hadn't appeared until half a year into the game. He remembered it clearly: the day the Zombie King awakened, leading millions of corpses to flatten a major base. Nearly a million dead. The military had needed missiles, entire barrages, just to bring it down.
That kind of existence… could erase entire armies.
And now, here? Near Linjiang?
Lin An's chest tightened. This shouldn't be happening. Has my rebirth shifted the timeline? A butterfly effect?
He forced himself to study the ground. Tracks showed the horde had moved deeper into the city—not wandering, but driven. Led.
Linjiang's urban zone already held one mutant: the [Stitcher]. Now, perhaps, another. A suspected Tier 3.
His temples throbbed.
Behind him, Wen Ya stumbled forward. Her face blanched as she took in the corpse-mountain.
"Linjiang City… does anyone still live?"
This highway was the only real way out. Blocked now by corpses. Survivors, slaughtered en masse.
Lin An was quiet for a long beat. "…Yes."
At least two million still breathed inside.
But he knew the truth: within a week, half of them would become zombies. A million more added to the horde.
He caught Wen Ya's eyes, saw the desperation there—parents, family, hope. He didn't explain further. She opened her mouth, then shut it, words crumbling away.
"Let's go."
He turned back, swung onto the bike. The engine roared.
They veered sharply, away from the trail of the suspected Tier 3. Lin An wasn't arrogant enough to test fate. Against such a monster, they'd die before they could blink.
"Where… where now?" Wen Ya asked softly, helmet fogged from her breath.
"Flower shop," Lin An said, as calm and blunt as ever.
Xingyi Flower Shop.
The front was littered with trampled petals, flowers mashed into muddy footprints. Several zombies crouched there, tearing at a corpse in a bloodied skirt. They gnawed with relish, strings of flesh snapping in their teeth.
The shutters were pulled down, locked tight. Upstairs, behind a dusty window, a middle-aged woman watched, heart aching at the ruined flowers. She'd survived by luck—her shop in a quiet corner, overlooked during the outbreak.
But there was no back exit. Trapped upstairs, starving, she had days at most.
The roar of an engine cut through her despair.
A black motorcycle, two riders.
Her heart leapt. She flung open the window, waving frantically.
"Help! Help me! There are monsters at my door!"
The zombies below jerked their heads up, eyes bloodshot, shrieking in chorus.
The florist's face drained of blood. She ducked back, clutching her apron.
Lin An barely spared her a glance. He dismounted, machete in hand.
"Quick fight," he muttered.
Both he and Wen Ya wore fireproof suits, sleeves sealed with tape. Clumsy, but necessary—Wen Ya couldn't risk even a scratch.
Lin An surged forward.
Blade arc—head split. Blood sprayed across the shutters.
Back kick—zombie flung like a ragdoll, smashing metal with a deafening clang.
The sound stirred more corpses in the distance. They turned, drawn by blood.
"Go in!"
He crushed the half-body zombie underfoot, boot slamming the shutter. Wen Ya, pale but fierce, followed, axe cleaving into another skull.
Upstairs, the florist gasped, tears in her eyes. Salvation.
Moments later, she waddled down, apron stained, hands wiping nervously.
"Thank God! Thank you, thank you—you saved me!" She beamed. "Ah, do you… Do you have food? I'm starving."
Lin An ignored her, dragging shelves across the doorway as barricades. He tossed her a chocolate bar from his tactical pouch.
She snatched it, devouring greedily. But soon her gaze drifted—not to him, but to the cracked shutter, to her ruined shop.
Her lips thinned.
Then, outrage.
"You—you broke my door!" she cried suddenly, voice shrill. "That shutter's electric! At least twenty thousand yuan!"
Lin An's brows twitched. Unbelievable.
He kept searching, ignoring her rant. "Wen Ya. Bright colors. Find them."
"Got it." Wen Ya hurried to the racks.
"Hey! Hey! Don't touch those!" the woman shrieked, clutching her chocolate with greasy hands. "That's my stock! You want flowers, you pay!"
Lin An didn't look back. He flicked a handful of bills across the floor—red notes scattering.
The florist blinked, then scrambled to snatch them up.
But greed is a hungry fire. She straightened, chin lifting.
"Not enough! You wrecked my shop! I'll call the police—"
Her words cut off in a strangled gasp.
Cold steel pressed her throat. Lin An's machete gleamed inches from her jugular, his gaze flat as ice.
"Keep talking," he said softly. "And die."
The woman froze, trembling, her earlier arrogance shriveling into silence.
Lin An had already turned away, eyes fixed on a corner.
A rose.
Its petals are deep red, fringed with faint gold. Ordinary in shadow—but in his sight, faint spiritual energy shimmered.
[Psionic Plant detected: Gold-Edged Rose (Pollution Level 1)][Effect: Attribute enhancement upon consumption.]
Lin An's pulse quickened. Without hesitation, he plucked the bloom, chewed the petals. Sweet. Almost too sweet.
[Ding—You have gained: +1 Willpower, +1 Constitution, +20% Zombie Toxin Resistance.]
Warmth spread through his veins. His skin gleamed faintly, clearer than jade.
"Good…" He exhaled. A real psionic plant.
In his last life, such plants had been worth entire bases. One flower could trade for six trucks of supplies—or three thousand captives. Priceless.
And this one gave more toxin resistance.
A miracle.
Lin An's lips curved faintly. Maybe I can risk the city equipment early after all.
Wen Ya approached, holding a bouquet. "Lin An… these flowers, do they matter?"
He opened the Eye of Judgment again. Starlight flickered in his pupils.
"Some help. Some kill." His tone was indifferent. "Never eat without certainty."
[Scan Results]
Peony: Common Plant. Decorative.
Iris: Highly Toxic Psionic Plant. Consumption = Collapse.
Carnation: Common Plant. Decorative.
He flicked the poisonous iris into his space ring. A weapon for later.
Finally, his eyes landed on the last bloom.
And froze.
[Purple Saint Laurent – Psionic Plant (Pollution Level 2)][Effect: Attribute enhancement upon consumption.]
Lin An's breath caught.
A Level 2 psionic plant.