2nd Floor, Hotel
Lin An shook the blood from his hands, faint disappointment flickering across his eyes.
From the ninth floor down, he had carved a path of corpses, but still not a trace of the Bloody Witch.
Instead, the number of survivors trailing him had ballooned. Twenty-seven now, clinging to him like shadows.
Most were couples—lovers who'd chosen this hotel for its fleeting comforts. A few odd pairs stood out: business partners, siblings, even one man with his mistress in tow.
"Go, wipe Brother Lin's sweat."
A plump man in a suit, gold watch still glittering beneath grime, pushed the young woman at his side forward. His voice oozed false cheer, though the fear in his eyes betrayed him.
The woman was his lover. He doted on her in the old world. But here, in this world of blood and rot, he would gladly hand her to another man if it bought him another day alive.
Others caught on quickly, parroting praise and sycophantic smiles.
Several women in business skirts tugged their blouses lower, subtle eyes searching Lin An's face.
Young men clutched fire axes tightly, looking at him with both reverence and envy—like cubs watching a lion.
Lin An's face darkened.
He waved away the offered towel."No need."
He wasn't irritated by their following—survivors were nothing more than moving bait. Crowds drew mutants faster than corpses did.
Just like before. In his past life, the bigger the safe zone, the quicker it was devoured.
He killed. They clung. Human instinct—to follow the strongest beast in the dark.
But strength had its price.
"The last floor," Lin An muttered, preparing to descend.
The first floor is connected directly to the hospital entrance. One street away.
The elevators were dead, stairs were half-blocked with rubble. Yet strangely, the hotel hadn't attracted the same swarm as the hospital across the road. Perhaps the meat inside that building was richer, its stench more appetizing.
Then—
Bang!
A deafening crash shook the street. Car alarms screamed into life one by one.
"Brother Lin! M-monster!"
Yu Shihao, face pale, stumbled to the window. His shout cracked, thick with terror.
The others followed, peering through the curtains. A chorus of panicked voices rose.
Lin An strode forward, parted the fabric, and looked down.
His pupils shrank.
Survivors, a dozen of them, sprinted through the street below. Chased.
By it.
Scarlet flesh glistened in the sun. A grotesque form nearly three meters tall barreled forward, bone claws raking asphalt into ribbons.
The corners of Lin An's mouth tugged upward."Hello, Licker."
On the street, chaos reigned.
The beast hefted a sedan with ease and hurled it at the bald man in the rear. Metal twisted midair, flames bursting on impact.
The man rolled clear, reactions sharp. Lin An noted his agility. Not ordinary.
"Lao Zhang! This way!" someone screamed from ahead. "Inside the building!"
"Go!" the bald man bellowed, ripping his shredded shirt away. Corded muscles swelled across his chest. "I'll hold it!"
Black light sank into his sternum. His body warped, swelling, bones cracking outward. Fur sprouted in torrents until a two-meter black bear stood where the man had been.
"Bear… transformation," Lin An murmured, eyes narrowing. An awakened one. Order 0.
"Roar!"
The beast-man's paw met the Licker's claws. Concrete exploded under their clash. For a heartbeat, the two monsters stood locked, strength for strength.
The bear staggered two steps back. The Licker shrieked, skull dented by a double-fisted hammerblow from above.
The man's eyes gleamed with savage triumph—too soon.
Because Lin An already knew. He'd once buried his blade halfway into a Licker's skull and still failed to kill it.
A dent meant nothing.
"Swish!"
The claw came again. Bone-like knives pierced fur, ripped flesh. Blood sprayed in arcs, painting the asphalt crimson.
"Old Zhang!"
Another man screamed in despair, pistol shaking in his grip. He emptied it in blind fury.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Bullets buried themselves uselessly, squeezed back out by rolling muscle.
The Licker blurred forward. One swipe.
The man split apart, body carved like paper. His head, rolling across the ground, still glared wide-eyed at the sky.
The bear howled, grief turning into madness. Wounds burst anew as he forced his body beyond its limits.
He charged.
On the hotel's second floor, the survivors huddled behind Lin An, trembling.
"This… this isn't real…"
The suited Director Wang stammered, his body quaking.
The young men who once bragged about their axes now clutched them like lifelines, teeth chattering.
"Brother Lin, let's hide! Upstairs, quickly!"
"They'll bring the monster here!"
Yu Shihao's voice cracked, drenched in panic.
To them, Lin An was strong. But this? This was no longer human scale. The bear man had been a walking fortress, and still—still he was being torn apart.
How could Lin An stand against that?
But Lin An's gaze burned, fixed on the street below.
He had come seeking the Bloody Witch. Now, fate had delivered him a far greater prize: a Licker—and an Awakened survivor.
He had no intention of wasting it.
His lips curved."Perfect."
Boom!
The wall beneath the window shattered. Concrete burst outward, steel bars bending like twigs.
Gasps and screams tore from the survivors' throats.
In the next instant, Lin An vanished.
Crash!
Smoke billowed as he landed, asphalt caving beneath his boots.
Knife in hand. Eyes locked on the beast.
"Drink!"
The roar thundered across the street. His aura flared, golden light searing across his veins.
The Licker's head snapped toward him, tossing aside the bear's severed arm like garbage. It shrieked, vibrating the air.
Provoked.
It lunged, cars crumpling beneath its charge.
Lin An's grin widened. Step by step, he advanced, blade humming with anticipation.
"Power burst."
Energy detonated within his body, flooding his limbs, igniting his blood. Heartbeat pounding like a war drum.
"Come, beast."
He raised his blade, tip aimed between the monster's brows.
"Let's see if I can end you in one strike."