“Pfft!”

The axe descended, splitting a zombie in two.

Ye Chen moved with fluid grace, weaving through the horde. With every swing, another zombie crumpled to the ground, dead. In moments, dozens lay strewn across the floor. Black blood pooled everywhere, limbs and torsos scattered in gruesome ruin; not a single corpse remained whole.

“That’s brutal…”

Bai Long stared, slack-jawed, then swallowed hard, muttering the words. Ye Chen stood amidst the pile of dead, remarkably clean of gore, radiating an intimidating aura like a demon god. He turned to look at Bai Long. “There are two more rooms over there. You handle them.”

“Uh… I’m not feeling well today, I think I’m sick, could I maybe…” Bai Long stammered uncertainly.

Ye Chen turned to his sister, Ye Zhu, and instructed, “Just prepare enough food for two tonight.”

“Oh, I remember now—hunting the zombies in those two rooms, right? Fine, no problem!” Bai Long gave Ye Chen a dazed look, then shook his head vigorously and hurried toward the last two rooms on the floor, brandishing his watermelon knife.

After days of hunting, he too had consumed some Mutagen, significantly strengthening him. He now possessed the strength of about five men. Ye Chen, however, had reached the power level of thirty men, and Ye Zhu possessed the strength of twelve.

Once Bai Long was gone, Ye Zhu began dissecting the zombies on the floor. Ye Chen had initially intended for Bai Long to take on this task, but the man seemed to have worse luck than even Ye Chen himself; after dissecting more than a dozen zombies, he had only managed to find a single piece of Mutagen the size of a fingertip. Consequently, this job ultimately fell to his sister, Ye Zhu.

“You’re making him train his survival skills by hunting zombies, aren’t you?” Ye Zhu remarked casually while slicing into a corpse. “Otherwise, with your strength, those two rooms would be cleared in a few strikes.”

Ye Chen gave her a helpless glance; it seemed his intentions could never be hidden from her.

Before long, Bai Long retreated from the two rooms, drenched in sweat, smeared with blood, panting heavily. “Finally done. That nearly killed me.”

Ye Chen nodded. “Drag all the bodies over here for Xiao Zhu to dissect.”

Ye Chen hadn't hidden the secret of the Mutagen. Since they were together long-term, keeping it secret was impossible anyway, so he told him directly. Besides, now that he had taken Bai Long in, he wouldn't isolate him.

Hearing Ye Chen’s instruction, Bai Long’s face fell. He gave Ye Chen’s cold expression one last look before reluctantly standing up, muttering, “It’s not that I’m scared of you; I’m doing this for your sister’s sake!”

...

After the dissection was complete, the group took the elevator back up to their room on the 18th floor.

After washing up, Ye Zhu took charge of dinner, while Bai Long handled moving things and chores like laundry. Ye Chen sat on the sofa, deep in thought. Popular music played from the stereo in the living room.

Bai Long mopped the floor, humming along to the music, nodding his head wildly. Anyone unfamiliar might think he was unhinged, but those who knew understood he was dancing. When the music peaked, he hugged the mop to his chest and began singing, pretending it was a guitar.

The scene was one of perfect domestic harmony.

Ye Chen appreciated this atmosphere. Thus, despite his aversion to Bai Long’s tone-deaf singing, he did not stop him.

“Dinner is ready!”

Around seven o’clock, as dusk fell and they closed the windows, the three gathered around the table to eat dinner.

“We had a good harvest today.” Under the warm light, Ye Zhu brought out two large bowls of Mutagen, her pretty face flushed with delight.

Bai Long’s eyes lit up, and he reached out with his chopsticks, but Ye Zhu then placed a small bowl of Mutagen in front of him, smiling sweetly. “This is yours from today’s hunt. It’s much more than yesterday’s—keep up the good work tomorrow!”

Bai Long looked at his small bowl, then at the two large bowls, and looked pleadingly at Ye Zhu. “Let me help share some of yours!”

Ye Zhu giggled. “Alright then.” Saying this, she picked a tiny sliver of Mutagen and placed it in Bai Long’s bowl.

“Just this little bit?” Bai Long looked stunned.

Ye Zhu nodded seriously. “Brother said you can’t help much, and eating too much isn’t good for digestion.”

Bai Long nearly spat blood. He turned to look pleadingly at Ye Chen, but Ye Chen never spared him a glance, calmly picking up his own Mutagen and eating without a word.

Bai Long felt like crying but had no tears. Finally, he conceded with resignation, “Fine, I, representing God, forgive you two petty people.”

After finishing today’s harvested Mutagen, Ye Chen’s constitution strengthened a bit more, bringing him to roughly the strength level of 31.

Physical attributes: Strength: Speed: Nerve Reaction Time: 0.008!

Once Ye Chen’s nerve reaction time reached around 0.004, he would be able to see the trajectory of a bullet and dodge it. By the time it reached 0.001, the vast majority of handguns would pose no threat to him; he could even evade sniper fire.

After dinner, Ye Chen left the room, retrieved a gas canister from another room, and then checked the connection between the fire axe handle and the head to ensure it was secure.

“What are you doing?” Ye Zhu frowned slightly upon seeing Ye Chen’s actions.

Ye Chen turned and glanced at her. “Tomorrow, I’ll be going downstairs to hunt the mutated ants. I won’t be able to follow you when you hunt zombies, so be careful.” He paused, looking at Bai Long. “I’m leaving my sister in your care. Look after her well.”

Bai Long puffed out his chest. “Naturally!”

Ye Chen said no more and began preparing for the next day’s mission.

It had been nearly 20 days since the apocalypse began. If he failed to kill that mutated ant this month, it would undergo another metamorphosis under the virus next month, becoming terrifyingly stronger—reaching the strength level of sixty men. Hunting it then would be far more difficult.

“Once I capture this mutated ant, I will have a chance to become a gene warrior! Only then will I truly have the ability to protect my sister’s safety.” Ye Chen’s eyes were resolute; he was determined to capture the mutated ant!

...

The next morning, Ye Chen woke up early and immediately began a series of preparations.

First, Ye Chen placed the gas canister and a fuse near the doorway of the room where the mutated ant resided. Then he readied his weapons and put on the dog-skin jacket—stitched together from the hide of the mutated dog—which offered far greater defense than coarse cloth. Ordinary zombie claws couldn't even tear through it! There were only two such jackets; usually, Bai Long and Ye Zhu wore them, but today Ye Chen took Bai Long’s.

“Brother, be careful. If you really can’t handle it, just run!” Ye Zhu said worriedly.

Ye Chen nodded. “I have confidence. You two just take care; don't get bitten by zombies. If you encounter any mutated monsters, just run immediately.”

“Don’t worry!” Bai Long grinned and nodded.

Then...

After Ye Zhu and Bai Long left, Ye Chen began his operation. He first moved the gas canister into the bedroom of another room, then modified the electrical wiring in that room, and finally dug a hole in the floor below, just large enough for the mutated ant to pass through.

He opened the gas valve, sealed the gaps in the bedroom door with wet rags, and then placed a bowl of sugar water near the gas source, sprinkling a trail of sugar water all the way to the doorway of the mutated ant’s room.

Having done all this, Ye Chen hid in an inconspicuous spot, waiting quietly.

Bang bang!

Not long after, the mutated ant indeed began battering the room. With its formidable strength, it smashed a large hole through the thick door and crawled in along the trail of sugar water.

Ye Chen held his breath, clutching the fire axe, hidden inside a cabinet in the living room. He cracked the cabinet open just enough to peer out and watched as the mutated ant followed the scent of the sugar water straight into the gas-filled room...

“Explode!”

Ye Chen’s eyes turned cold. With a gentle pull on a thin white silken rope in his hand, the room’s light switch sparked with a kacha sound, followed by a deafening boom. The bedroom door was blown outward, and flames rushed out like boiling water, scorching the frame black.

Ye Chen sprang from the cabinet and rushed toward the doorway. He knew a single gas canister wouldn't be enough to kill the mutated ant.

When he reached the doorway, he saw that the bedroom was utterly devastated. By the shattered remains of the gas canister, the mutated ant lay writhing in agony, its body scorched black by the explosion. Most of the claws beneath its abdomen were broken, and its hardened shell was fractured.

...

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