A moment later, Ye Chen dissected a zombie, rummaged through its insides, and finding nothing, slightly frowned. Without further searching, he rose and moved to the next zombie, beginning its dissection.

Ye Zhu stood beside him, watching silently. Suddenly, she felt that her usually familiar brother seemed a bit strange. In the past, this man was gentle, never got into fights, and dearly loved small animals. She remembered when they were children, walking home from school together; he had seen an injured kitten on the roadside and had been distressed about it for a long time.

But now…

Whether hunting or dissecting the zombies, Ye Chen carried an air of calm composure, like a detached killer casually reaping lives…

Had he truly changed?

A flicker of confusion crossed Ye Ye Zhu’s eyes. Although the ruthless manner in which Ye Chen hunted zombies made her feel a degree of unfamiliarity, the gentle smile he reserved for her remained exactly the same as before!

Never changing!

Ye Zhu shook her head, chiding herself for such thoughts. Her brother had hunted zombies all morning; his mental fortitude must have strengthened considerably—this was normal.

She did not know that Ye Chen’s composure wasn't forged in a single morning, but over an entire decade!

Having experienced the previous apocalypse, he had known despair, loneliness, confusion, grief, and tears…

He had also become stronger. Thus, upon realizing he had been reborn ten years in the past, he felt no panic whatsoever; no matter what storm he had to face, he was psychologically prepared to endure it!

“Brother!” Ye Zhu called out softly. Under Ye Chen’s questioning gaze, she mustered her courage, walked up to him, lowered her head, her hands trembling uncontrollably, “Let me handle the last zo—zombie, please!”

Ye Chen paused, gazing at the stubborn girl for a long moment. Although her whole body shook, there was an unyielding insistence in her tone. His eyes slowly softened, and he nodded, “Be careful. Wear the gloves; don’t let its blood touch your skin.”

Ye Zhu nodded, picked up two black bags, pulled them onto her hands, and then squatted before the dead zombie. Its fangs were hideous, its mouth smeared with blood, looking as if it could lunge and bite at any moment!

Ye Zhu swallowed hard before slowly pressing her watermelon knife against the zombie’s chest, beginning to slice. However, the zombie's skin toughness far exceeded her understanding; it felt like cutting through oxhide, refusing to yield.

Ye Chen reminded her from the side, “The zombie’s skin has been reinforced; it’s tougher than oxhide. You need strength and to use a ‘chopping’ motion to breach the skin.”

Ye Zhu slowly nodded, took a deep breath, raised the knife, and chopped down with her eyes closed. A ‘thwack’ sound followed, and she hastily opened her eyes to see the knife embedded deeply into the zombie’s shoulder. Because she had closed her eyes, the angle of the strike had shifted slightly.

Ye Zhu felt tears welling up, silently thinking, Don’t blame me, I didn’t mean to strike there…

She pulled the knife out forcefully and raised it for another chop. Fearing the sight of gore upon cutting open the heart, her eyes instinctively squeezed shut.

And so…

It went astray again, this time landing on the zombie’s right chest.

“The Nucleus is only found near the heart’s edge,” Ye Chen reminded her.

Ye Zhu’s face flushed, and she glanced sheepishly at the dead zombie, biting her lip mentally: I must hit it accurately this time! She raised the knife again, forcing herself to keep her eyes open to aim correctly.

Thwack!

This time, it finally struck the left chest.

Ye Zhu sighed in relief, wiping the sweat from her brow, internally feeling fortunate.

This poor zombie brother, struck twice while lying there, not only had its body disassembled but had also inexplicably suffered two extra cuts.

After cutting through the skin, Ye Zhu began peeling it back, getting her first look at the internal organs. Seeing such gore made her scalp tingle, and her entire body trembled, especially when she had to reach in and feel the black heart to find the Nucleus. Grasping the heart, it felt soft and smooth, like a fragile, soft egg, and she immediately gagged and vomited.

Nearby, Ye Chen quickly dissected his zombie. After searching through its insides, he still found no Nucleus. He let out a soft sigh, turned to Ye Zhu, and seeing her pale face, felt a touch of pity. “Let me do it.”

Ye Zhu stubbornly shook her head. “I’ll be quick.”

She forced herself to suppress the nausea from seeing the organs, quickly rummaged through, and suddenly, right behind the heart, she found a piece of Nucleus the size of a finger. Her eyes lit up, and joy bloomed on her face. “I found it!”

“You found it?”

Ye Chen was stunned.

It was known that only about one in every ten zombies had a chance of producing a Nucleus. After dissecting two zombies without success, he had assumed that hunting these three had been a waste of effort, but Ye Zhu actually found one!

“Brother, where is yours?” Ye Zhu sprang up excitedly, turning to look at Ye Chen, noticing his empty hands, and felt curious.

Ye Chen coughed dryly. “These two zombies were too low-level; they didn't have Nuclei.”

“Really?” Ye Zhu looked at him suspiciously.

Ye Chen stood tall, his expression righteous. “Of course!”

…

Afterward, the Nucleus was given to Ye Zhu for safekeeping, to be consumed after they returned that evening. Ye Chen inspected the door and felt it could hold for a little while longer. He instructed Ye Zhu, “I’ll go out shortly to lure a few zombies over; you prepare in the room.”

Ye Zhu nodded, cautioning him, “Be careful, don’t draw too many!”

Ye Chen smiled, then walked out of the room to the fourth door. Seeing the door was locked, he knocked.

After a while.

There was no response from inside.

Ye Chen guessed it was an empty room and didn't linger. He moved to the fifth room. This door was ajar, not fully closed. This time, Ye Chen wasn't cautious; he kicked it open violently. A sweep of his eyes revealed two zombies in the living room—one male and one female—the only difference being that—

They were both completely naked…

Ye Chen’s expression remained normal. Seeing the zombie couple had spotted him, he first gave them a cold glare, then abruptly turned and fled.

In the blink of an eye, he darted back into the room where Ye Zhu was still tidying the corpses from the floor, dragging them to the corner of the living room.

As soon as Ye Chen returned, he quickly jammed the sofa against the door, leaving only a narrow gap. A few seconds later, the two zombies caught up, pounding ‘thump-thump’ against the door.

Using the previous method, Ye Chen quickly dispatched those two zombies. At that moment, the door weakened, likely unusable now.

Ye Zhu volunteered to handle the dissection of the zombies, which made Ye Chen feel deeply ashamed—his sister’s luck seemed almost too good. In those two zombies, she had managed to find another finger-sized Nucleus! What nearly made Ye Chen spit blood was Ye Zhu looking rather dissatisfied with the Nucleus, lamenting, “What a shame, the other zombie didn’t have one!”

Ye Chen felt tears streaming down his face. He hadn't found a single one after dissecting two zombies; how could he face this?!

Subsequently…

Ye Chen and Ye Zhu relocated to the fifth room, establishing it as their zombie hunting base. Ye Chen lured zombies from the surrounding rooms, using this room’s door as a barricade. When it could no longer hold, they would switch rooms, then search for more zombies elsewhere, luring them outside to kill…

Three hours passed like this.

It was four-thirty in the afternoon. The sunset streamed through the windows, and the sky began to darken.

Seventeenth floor, outside Room 30.

Roar! Roar!

Four zombies hammered frantically against the door. Ye Chen stood behind the crack, watermelon knife in hand, watching them coldly. As soon as a zombie got close, he severed its arm.

Suddenly—

Boom!

The door collapsed completely!

The four bloodthirsty zombies rushed in, pouncing toward Ye Chen.

“Brother—” Ye Zhu cried out behind him.

Ye Chen’s expression was calm. Thanks to the door’s resistance, the arms of three of those four zombies had already been severed; the only real threat was the intact head, which was hardly a concern.

Ye Chen shifted his stance, turning his body, and drove a kick backward. The force was fifty percent stronger than a forward kick, and combined with his current strength—which was comparable to that of an average zombie—the kick sent the leading armless zombie flying backward into its two companions.

Roar!

The zombie with its arms intact bypassed Ye Chen and lunged toward Ye Zhu, ferociously attacking the girl.

Ye Zhu’s delicate face turned deathly pale; the hand gripping the watermelon knife trembled incessantly. A look of helplessness filled her eyes as she retreated continuously.

“Get lost!”

A voice laced with explosive rage sounded from behind the zombie. Ye Chen had caught up, his free hand clenched into a fist. He struck the zombie’s side of the face, the immense force sending it tumbling aside. Ye Chen walked over next, his handsome, refined face now marred by palpable murderous intent, his gaze icy as he stared down at the zombie, veins bulging on his arm.

…

My computer broke down today; I replaced the graphics card, costing 200 yuan. Hearing this dreadful news, the sky instantly darkened for me, blocking out the sun and moon. Oh my god…