Ye Chen held the skull of one zombie in his grip, raising it high before slamming it viciously against the wall. The zombie immediately ceased its struggle, its body going limp.
Ye Zhu was entirely used to such sights. The watermelon knife in her hand sliced swiftly through the zombie’s chest cavity. After a brief search for the Jihua shard, she located one, pulled it out, and tossed it into her bag.
Ye Chen glanced toward the window; seeing the evening shadows lengthen, he turned. "Time to go back."
Ye Zhu nodded obediently.
The two left the room together, proceeding to the elevator in the hallway and pressing the upward call button.
Ding!
The elevator doors opened, and they stepped inside.
...
Back in their room, the routine unfolded as usual. Ye Chen headed into the bathroom to clean up, while Ye Zhu went to the kitchen. By the time she had washed the Jihua and prepared everything else, the clock had struck seven in the evening.
Outside, it was pitch black.
Ye Chen sat at the dining table, watching his sister, Ye Zhu, bring the dishes out one by one. His heart swelled with warmth—this fleeting tenderness was something he was prepared to defend with his very life!
"We had a good haul today." Ye Zhu placed a bowl of soup on the table, filled with chopped Jihua pieces, nearly the size of three fists combined.
Ye Chen’s eyes were bright and sharp. "We cleared out both the 13th and 12th floors today. Across two floors, that’s over 250 zombies. We should have only found about 25 Jihua shards, but you managed to find over 70. And inside one zombie, we dug out a Jihua shard the size of a fist."
Zombies containing Jihua shards were 99% of the time only housing finger-sized pieces. It was rare for a zombie to develop a fist-sized core. Generally speaking, if such a zombie evolved a few more times and developed true beastly instincts, it would almost certainly become a Zombie King!
The two began to eat.
Most of the food ended up in Ye Chen’s mouth. After a long while, having absorbed the energy from the Jihua, a layer of dark sweat coated both their bodies.
"The power of twenty men!" Ye Chen clenched his fist, his eyes blazing with fierce light.
After more than ten days of relentless hunting, his strength had surged from the 'power of four men' to the terrifying realm of the 'power of twenty men.' One could only imagine the impact of channeling the strength of twenty individuals into a single punch.
Along with the increase in raw power, Ye Chen’s body had undergone physical transformations. His fingernails were now sharp as blades, even keener than a zombie’s claws, capable of tearing through solid walls! The dermal layer covering his body had achieved an astonishing toughness; occasional scratches from a zombie would only break the skin, never hitting bone or tendon.
Of course, with his current strength, the cells within him had become exceptionally resilient, granting him an immunity to the virus far beyond that of ordinary people. Even if scratched by a zombie, he would not contract the infection.
According to Ye Chen's estimation, his current physical attributes were:
Strength: Speed: Nerve Reaction Time: 0.01!
A normal person’s nerve reaction time is around 0.3 seconds; for instance, if their hand touches ice, it takes about 0.3 seconds before they register the cold. A soldier undergoing professional training typically registers 0.1 seconds. When nerve reaction speed reaches a certain threshold, one can move gracefully even amidst a hail of bullets, easily dodging projectiles—everything in front of them appears to be moving in slow motion...
Naturally, with Ye Chen’s current reaction speed, dodging bullets was still largely impossible...
In these ten days, while Ye Chen had seen massive improvements, Ye Zhu had also advanced significantly, reaching the 'power of five men.' Once she mastered her combat techniques, killing zombies alone wouldn't be difficult.
However, Ye Chen remained uneasy about letting her hunt solo. Ye Zhu’s fighting skill was too poor; she panicked whenever a zombie lunged close, and even when she mustered the courage to strike, she would often sustain scratches from the creature when delivering the fatal blow—killing a thousand enemies while injuring oneself eight hundred.
Fortunately, given her physical constitution, as long as she wasn't bitten on a major blood vessel by the zombie's venomous fangs, she wouldn't become infected.
"Eat!"
"Sleep after eating. We go again tomorrow."
...
The next day, fully armed, the pair arrived on the 11th floor.
As the elevator doors opened and they prepared to step out, a roar echoed, and a shadow blotted out the light, lunging forward with a scent of blood. Ye Chen’s heart hitched, but he reacted instantly, recognizing a zombie—its face caked in gore, clearly having feasted recently, its nail beds clogged with foul-smelling debris.
"Die!" Ye Chen’s eyes turned cold. He unleashed a kick, pouring out ferocious force. Before the zombie could close the distance, it was sent flying several yards, slamming heavily against the wall. Its stomach cavity was completely caved in, and it collapsed softly onto the floor. Yet, the bloodthirsty frenzy in its eyes did not diminish; instead, it intensified. It continued to shriek, dragging its hands across the floor, crawling desperately toward them.
Ye Chen frowned slightly, walked over, and delivered another kick. With a loud bang, the zombie's head exploded, and it fell motionless.
"Dissect it," Ye Chen commanded casually, then turned to survey their surroundings. This floor was dim, and most of the room doors were shattered. White, skeletal remains littered the floor everywhere. The long corridor appeared empty of zombies, suggesting they were likely hiding in the rooms.
After Ye Zhu finished the dissection, the two moved down the corridor toward the first room. The door was ajar, smeared with dried bloodstains. A few clumps of long, black hair lay on the floor, evidence of a recent struggle.
Ye Chen, expressionless, kicked the door wide open. The room was empty; not a single trace of a zombie remained. Without speaking, Ye Chen turned and proceeded to the second room, kicking open door after door, slaying the zombies within...
Until—
Room Number 28.
Thump-thump-thump... A frantic running sound echoed down the hallway. There was more than one set of footsteps; based on Ye Chen's hearing, there were about seven or eight people. He looked up toward the corner ahead, where the footsteps were rapidly approaching.
"What's happening?" Ye Zhu asked, her eyes sharp with vigilance.
Ye Chen shook his head. Just then, a figure burst around the corner, running for dear life—a young man, average height at about five-foot-ten, dressed in loose black jeans, drenched in sweat and gasping for breath.
"Help—!" The young man’s eyes lit up when he saw Ye Chen and Ye Zhu in the corridor. Thinking a deity had intervened, he rushed forward shouting, only to... bypass them entirely and sprint toward the far end of the hall.
"My friend, these few zombies are all yours," the young man impudently threw a look of encouragement over his shoulder, as if to say, I have high hopes for you.
Ye Chen paused slightly. By then, the pursuing zombies were upon them. Having no time to worry about the dark-haired youth, Ye Chen hefted the fire axe in his hand and charged into the horde.
In the hotel corridors, fire cabinets housed axes. Ye Chen’s watermelon knife had become unsuitable long ago, so he had upgraded to this devastatingly powerful weapon.
Slish!
The forty-pound fire axe in Ye Chen's hand moved as lightly as a pen, weaving a flawless defense. Every swing sheared off a massive chunk of flesh from the zombies.
In mere moments, the seven or eight zombies all fell dead.
Ye Chen stood amidst the pile of corpses, holding the fire axe, his coarse cloth shirt entirely soaked crimson—he looked like a true demon.
The dark-haired youth, after passing Ye Chen and Ye Zhu, worried that these two strangers with weapons might not hold off the horde. He hadn't run far, instead finding an empty room, intending to call Ye Chen and Ye Zhu over to hide. When he turned to look back, he froze upon witnessing Ye Chen slay the zombies.
His mind boomed, as if struck by lightning. The words he was about to shout caught in his throat, and his entire body seemed petrified, his expression vacant.
He was dumbfounded.
These clawed, devil-like monsters were so utterly fragile before this young man, dispatched in just a few blows, like harvesting straw...
Was this even human?
The youth blinked, looking closer. Yes, the eight zombies that had been chasing him were all dead, and their ends were horrific—some were cleaved in half, others cut clean across the waist.
The scene that truly shocked him, however, was the sight of the girl behind the young man—who had seemed so demure and compliant—walking up to the corpses with a gleaming watermelon knife and beginning to slice them open...
The youth’s scalp prickled, goosebumps erupted across his skin, and a wave of nausea sent him staggering to the side to retch.
"Hm?" Ye Chen heard the sound and turned, spotting the youth leaning against the wall. He frowned slightly, then dismissed him, turning back to Ye Zhu. "Hurry up and dissect them; let's leave this place."
Ye Zhu asked no questions, nodding quickly, and began the process at speed.
Moments later, all eight bodies were processed. Ye Zhu stood up, wiping the sweat from her brow, deposited the retrieved Jihua into her bag, and followed Ye Chen forward.
The youth, still vomiting by the wall, watched the pair walk toward the area where the zombies had initially emerged. He hesitated, then quickly called out, "You two, please wait a moment."
Recommendation votes, anyone? (^_^)/~