The sky above the city suddenly darkened, the clouds obscuring the sun, casting a shadow over the street outside the supermarket.
The street, which had been roaring like a sea, abruptly fell silent; even the tense and worried Ye Zhu and Bai Long in the distance stared in stunned disbelief at the scene unfolding, as if a God of War had returned...
Bang!
He stepped forward amid a flash of blood-red light!
An aura of killing and carnage swept across the entire street like a violent gale, sending shivers down every spine. Ye Chen's eyes were cold and merciless, the two black tendrils on his forehead looking terrifying, like a demon's horns. His black hair whipped in the dust, and gripping his great axe, he advanced toward the zombies who, after a momentary pause, were still snarling and surging forward.
Swish!
A flash of the axe, and two zombies exploded, cleaved into seven or eight pieces. Their bodies burst apart, limbs and claws severed, black blood staining the ground everywhere as the remains piled up at Ye Chen's feet.
"Grrr..." On the car roof, the Zombie Dog instinctively sensed danger, a sudden chill running through it, and it instinctively took a fearful step back. Having developed rudimentary thought, it knew this human before it was not to be trifled with. The powerful aura radiating from him pressed down like Mount Tai, giving it an urge to turn tail and flee.
"Roar!"
"Roar!"
Ye Chen, clad in black and already spattered with blood, moved like a cold-blooded assassin toward the Zombie Dog. Zombies continued to charge from both sides, but Ye Chen didn't even look, casually swinging his axe; these zombies burst apart and were flung away.
"Gene Fusion 20!"
"Superman Rank One!"
Ye Chen was acutely aware of the immense power surging through him. Having fused with ant genes, once he entered the Superman mode, his cells and structure would undergo changes, transforming into a superhuman gene born from the fusion of two distinct genomes.
In the Superman gene state, Ye Chen possessed the shared characteristics of both human and ant genetics!
An ant can lift objects 400 times its own weight. The ant's physical structure differs from other creatures; its leg-claw muscle system operates as a highly efficient 'engine,' composed of hundreds of 'miniature motors.' These motors can directly convert the phosphorescent energy within the muscle into electrical energy, emitting enormous power—an efficiency several times greater than that of an aircraft engine!
In Superman Rank One, Ye Chen could multiply his strength by twenty times!
Superman Rank Two: fifty times increase!
Superman Rank Three: one hundred times increase!
Superman Rank Four: two hundred times increase!
Superman Rank Five: four hundred times increase!
Reaching Superman Rank Five meant a 100% fusion integration!
This was why Ye Chen chose the mutated ant gene. In the late apocalypse, Ant Gene Warriors represented the pinnacle of existence globally. If the base physique gained the strength of one person, in Superman state, that strength would increase by tens or even hundreds of times!
The Ant Gene Warrior: a purely strength-based fighter!
The Ant Superman possessed two primary talents: Strength Amplification, and **!
Though the Ant Superman's innate abilities were few, they were all formidable, especially the Strength Amplification. A person who originally possessed the strength of a hundred might, upon reaching Superman Rank Two, would wield the power of five thousand!
What a terrifying multiplier!
The second talent was **!
Ants possess acute sensitivity to temperature changes and odors.
"Roar!"
A zombie lunged from behind. Ye Chen didn't need to turn his head; using the feelers on his forehead, he had already simulated the appearance of that charging zombie. These two feelers were crucial sensory and communication limbs for ants, and after evolution, their function was even greater, acting as a perfect detector!
Thud!
The axe swept out, and the zombie was split into four pieces.
Ye Chen glanced coldly at the Zombie Dog, stamped his foot once, and his figure vanished like a gust of wind, appearing before the creature. The Zombie Dog, possessing the strength of sixty men, let out a terrified howl. Before it could even scramble away, Ye Chen's axe cleaved its head. With a crack, its body, large as an elephant, crashed thunderously onto the sedan.
"One minute!"
Ye Chen mentally ticked off the time. One minute had passed since activating Superman state.
The Superman state could not be maintained indefinitely; each activation lasted only five minutes. After one use, a mandatory 24-hour cooldown period was required before reactivation. Otherwise, prolonged activation would overwhelm his genes, leading to gene chain collapse, instantaneous death of all cells, and turning him into a puddle of gore. Furthermore, there was the risk of the ant genes devouring his own, causing him to transform into an ant monster.
Normally, the unintegrated 80% of the ant genes remained dormant within his body. Entering Superman mode was equivalent to forcibly awakening them—a highly dangerous undertaking. Thus, most people would not risk employing the Superman mode unless facing imminent peril.
Ye Chen turned toward the dozens of scattered zombies near the supermarket entrance, moved in a blur, and charged in, commencing the slaughter. In a distant corner, Bai Long and Ye Zhu watched, astonished by Ye Chen's sudden, overwhelming power. Only when he charged toward the entrance did they snap back to reality, surging out from behind the wall to follow him.
Behind the crowd, Mo Feng glanced at Ye Chen, now in Superman state, and frowned slightly, as if deep in thought, before he, too, followed the others forward.
Swish!
Ye Chen, in Superman state, was an absolute God of War. His axe danced up and down, whistling through the air. With every flash of the blade, a zombie would explode upon impact.
At this moment, Ye Chen possessed the might of six hundred men!!
Dealing with these zombies was sheer annihilation, a one-sided massacre!
"Two minutes left..." Ye Chen counted silently, charging into the supermarket, eliminating several zombies nearby. He glanced back, saw his sister Ye Zhu and Bai Long following, felt a wave of relief, and plunged deeper in to continue the slaughter.
This supermarket was quite spacious. Upon entry, the cashier area was on the left, an elevator leading straight to the second floor was ahead, and the aisle leading to the food selection area was on the right.
Ye Chen tore through the right passage. Corpses littered the path; any zombie that came within three feet was instantly cut down. The dazzling array of merchandise surrounded him—once all the zombies in this supermarket were slain, this entire establishment would become his domain!
"Roar!"
"Crack!"
"Moo!!"
After dispatching many zombies, Ye Chen suddenly spotted a Cockroach Beast lurking in a corner, about the size of a small dog, its eyes blood-red and filled with terrifying ferocity.
Ye Chen's gaze turned icy. He charged forward, bringing his fire axe down in a strike as fast as lightning. The Cockroach Beast didn't even have time to dodge before its skull split open.
"Thirty men's strength, huh?" Ye Chen's expression was grim. If he were outside of Superman state, dispatching this Cockroach Beast would require considerable effort, but under the boost, such a monster with the power of thirty men was merely an ant, easily terminated.
At this moment, his sister Ye Zhu and the others caught up, staring in horror at the dismembered corpses littering the floor.
Ye Chen looked back at them. "You wait here. I’ll clear upstairs."
Three minutes had now elapsed.
Ye Chen leaped, smashing through the wall partition and vaulting directly onto the second floor. As he landed, his axe swept out, instantly slaying eight zombies that lunged at him.
"Kill!"
Ye Chen charged toward the remaining horde...
Two minutes later.
Ye Chen descended the stairs. The black tendrils on his forehead had vanished, and his eyes betrayed an unmistakable fatigue; it felt as if all the strength had been sucked out of him, leaving him utterly drained.
"You're back?" Bai Long asked, surprised, as Ye Chen walked off the elevator.
Ye Chen nodded and approached them. He saw that his sister Ye Zhu had already begun harvesting the crystallized genes from the slain zombies, while Yue Heng and Bai Long were busy scouting for salvageable food.
A full month had passed now. The vegetables in the supermarket refrigerators had rotted, and the preserved meats had turned pitch-black under the virus's influence. Only some snacks remained edible; everything else was useless.
...
First update of the day is late, I am ashamed...