The gaze alone couldn't kill, so Ye Chen simply ignored the looks and walked with a cold expression to the girl. Only after confirming she was dead did he crouch down and slice open her chest with his knife.

The girl's skin was slightly blue. As it was cut open, blood flowed out in a torrent, dark as ink and smelling foul. Any normal person, under the resentful stare of the deceased, would never dare touch the corpse. But Ye Chen had seen too much of this; it was no longer startling.

"Hmm?"

Ye Chen's eyes suddenly lit up. "Gene-Mutation Core."

There, beside the black heart inside the girl's chest, was a tender white lump, about the size of a fingertip, resembling fine mutton fat, utterly unstained by blood.

Ye Chen, wearing a plastic bag over his hand, carefully extracted the white lump. He sniffed it; there was no trace of metallic blood smell, only a faint, elegant fragrance.

"Unexpectedly, after hunting two adult zombies, I didn't find a Gene-Mutation Core, yet I found one on this small zombie," Ye Chen shook his head and smiled. He walked to the bathroom, rinsed the lump, and promptly tossed it into his mouth, chewing.

It possessed miraculous effects, capable of strengthening the body upon ingestion, and could generally be obtained from ordinary zombies.

The reason humans turned into zombies was due to viral infection. The entire circulatory system couldn't withstand the virus's rapid transformation, causing the gene chains to collapse and the skin to ulcerate. This was like trying to make a bicycle go faster than a car; the bike inherently lacked the necessary structural integrity and would simply disintegrate.

What was humanity’s greatest strength?

Intellect!

Stripped of intelligence and technological weaponry, humans were utterly frail against the beasts of the natural world—lacking the ferocity of a lion, the speed of a leopard, the soaring ability of an eagle, or even the resilience of a cockroach...

The original goal of the scientists who developed this virus was to use it to stimulate human cells, forcing them to mutate and acquire strength comparable to wild beasts. Unfortunately, the virus exploded during its testing phase, leading to this catastrophe...

Most people couldn't withstand the infection and became zombies. Among these zombies, a fraction developed the "Gene-Mutation Core" that the research scientists had been seeking.

According to the scientists' theory, if the virus development had succeeded, the entire human circulatory system would have evolved into something like the Gene-Mutation Core, greatly increasing vitality and granting astonishing stamina, thus creating "New Humans!"

And now...

For Ye Chen, the Gene-Mutation Core was something that could enhance his power!

As the tender white lump was crushed in his mouth, a subtle, profound fragrance filled the air. Ye Chen sat on the floor, resting for a moment. The Core in his stomach seemed to be rapidly digesting, merging into his body.

Ye Chen clenched his fist, vaguely feeling his strength increase by a quarter. This Core was too small; if it were the size of a fist, it might boost his strength by a hundred catties.

Ye Chen surveyed the room. He found no more zombies, but he did locate three cans of vegetable preserves in the refrigerator. The fish in the freezer, however, had already rotted, crawling with maggots.

Ye Chen opened one can of preserves. It hadn't been infected and was still perfectly intact. He placed all three cans on a nearby cabinet, intending to take them when he returned after hunting more zombies.

Clutching his watermelon knife, Ye Chen took a deep breath and then pulled open the door to step out.

The dimly lit corridor remained empty, unsettlingly silent. Ye Chen slowly walked toward a room beside him. This door was locked, and Ye Chen didn't attempt to open it. If a zombie were trapped inside, that would be ideal, as the creature wouldn't know how to open the door and would simply starve inside...

Ye Chen passed several rooms; all were locked. This wasn't surprising, as the apocalypse had struck at 7 PM when most people were indoors; no one checking into a hotel would leave their doors wide open...

This hotel had eighteen floors. The floor Ye Chen was on was the top floor. Since each room was quite spacious, there were only six or seven rooms per level. Ye Chen had rented two of them, and in another, the zombie had already been dispatched. The remaining four rooms were securely locked.

After confirming there were no roaming zombies on this floor, Ye Chen turned toward the elevator, preparing to descend to the next level.

"13th Floor!" Seeing the numbers displayed on the elevator panel, Ye Chen pressed the down button, and the elevator immediately began to move up. Ye Chen stood quietly by the elevator entrance, watching the flashing digits. For some inexplicable reason, a sudden tremor of alarm shot through him...

As the elevator continued to ascend, Ye Chen's sense of unease grew stronger. His expression shifted subtly. He no longer waited for the elevator but sprinted toward the stairwell corridor beside it, hiding behind the cabinet for the fire hose. A moment later, the elevator doors slowly slid open, looking unnervingly eerie in the quiet hallway.

Just as Ye Chen was about to relax, several staggering figures slowly emerged from the elevator...

Ye Chen's eyelids twitched. He quickly held his breath, his heart nearly stopping, utterly silent. The figures were three men and one woman, dressed in casual wear—most likely vacationers. But they had been infected when the apocalypse struck while they were inside the elevator, turning them into zombies.

The female zombie wore a white t-shirt with a cute little bear design, but the fabric was smeared with blood. She had likely dismembered the uninfected person who was with them in the elevator...

Her hair was disheveled, nails long, and her skin wasn't ulcerated, but her eyes had turned pale green. Her once delicate face was now grotesque, with two fangs protruding and dried blood around her mouth.

The three men were in similar states. As soon as they exited the elevator, they began to mill about, sniffing the air, seemingly catching the scent of fresh, delicious blood...

Ye Chen felt a knot of tension. He was thankful he had moved away from the elevator in time; otherwise, the moment the doors opened, these few zombies charging out would have guaranteed his near-death.

Zombies had keen noses; they could smell blood even if a victim jumped into water. Ye Chen didn't stay hidden; he knew he would eventually be discovered. He controlled his breathing and cautiously stepped backward, careful not to make the slightest sound.

Thankfully, Ye Chen usually wore sneakers. If he had been wearing boots, walking would have made noise, but with light sneakers, he could manage.

Step by step.

Each step felt as long as centuries. Ye Chen retreated a dozen paces before reaching the turn of the stairwell. At that moment, a young male zombie, drawn by the scent of blood, came up the stairs and instantly spotted Ye Chen in the stairwell. Bloodlust flared in his eyes, and with a low snarl, he lunged toward Ye Chen.

The young zombie's roar alerted the other three, who quickly followed. They spotted Ye Chen at once, their eyes shining with predatory hunger as they charged forward with contorted faces.

Ye Chen inwardly cursed the situation, but he didn't run to the floor below, as that would attract more zombies, leading to exhaustion and being torn apart. He gripped his watermelon knife, his palms slick with sweat, but he didn't panic. In the few seconds before the zombies reached him, he scanned his surroundings, instantly registering the environment in his mind.

"Roar!" The first one rushed down the stairs. Due to the downward momentum, it attacked with increased ferocity, its raised claws aiming for Ye Chen's shoulders to pin him down for a throat bite.

Ye Chen wouldn't allow that. He swayed to the left, simultaneously kicking the zombie in the waist. He didn't kick head-on; he struck from the side. Otherwise, given the zombie's strength and downward momentum, Ye Chen would certainly have been thrown back by the impact.

Kicking the side of the waist threw the zombie off balance, causing it to topple sideways. Since it was on the stairs, a slight misstep sent it tumbling down, hitting its head hard enough to leave it dazed.

Ye Chen didn't relax, as the other three zombies were closing in. In that brief interval, he couldn't possibly retrieve and light a gasoline bomb. He suddenly ducked low and swept his leg, tripping the leading male zombie.

Because they were sprinting downhill, the zombie didn't have to exert much force to fall, landing flat on its back and rolling down the stairs, following the first one's fate. The two zombies behind it, suddenly obstructed, lost their balance and tumbled down as well.

At the last possible second, Ye Chen sprang up and sidestepped. As the female zombie lunged, he sharply thrust his knee upward, slamming into her abdomen. At the same time, his watermelon knife swung down, biting into the back of her neck. He put all his strength into that chop. With a sharp crack, the zombie's neck was more than halfway severed, connected only by a sliver of skin near the throat, presenting a truly horrifying sight.

Ye Chen paid her no more mind. Seeing the two zombies that had fallen below scrambling up, he immediately bolted upstairs. While running, he pulled open his trouser pocket, retrieved the gasoline bottle, and also pulled out a match. With terrifying speed, he swiftly opened the matchbox, drew out a match, and struck it!

Everything happened so fast it was dazzling. If it had been an ordinary person facing two zombies charging up the stairs, their hands would surely have trembled—how could they manage such agility?

"It's over..."

Ye Chen stood above the landing, holding the lit match. He glanced coldly at the two zombies surging upward, and the one that had managed to get up behind the severed female zombie. He twisted open the gasoline bottle and hurled it at the two charging zombies. The gasoline poured out like tap water, and simultaneously, Ye Chen flicked his finger. The burning match traced a beautiful arc through the air before landing directly on the spilled gasoline.

Boom!!

A violent explosion ripped through the stairwell. Flames erupted, and the screams of the two zombies were drowned out by the blast. When the fire subsided, only two charred corpses remained on the stairs. The zombie that had climbed up from underneath the female zombie was convulsing on the ground, paralyzed by the force of the blast.

...

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