Please vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. The first update tomorrow will be at noon, and the second update at 6 PM. …… Night fell, and the sky was devoid of stars or moon.

Ye Chen brought a zombie bug he had hunted outside back to the office. He found a lighter in the desk drawer, then casually pulled out a book from the shelf—a collection of works by Gorky, an author whose writings had once guided countless young people. Ye Chen’s expression was cold.

He tore the book apart and used his Blood-Red Battle Saber to pare off a corner of the desk. With exquisite swordsmanship and the saber’s keen edge, he sliced the piece of wood into thin strips, about five millimeters thick and one decimeter long, arranging them in a small pyramid. Next, he scraped the wood strips with his fingernail, creating curled wood shavings to make them easier to ignite.

After preparing everything, he lit a page of the book and stuffed the burning paper into the woodpile. After seven or eight pages had burned continuously, the wood finally caught fire, radiating a faint warmth. Ye Chen peeled open the outer carapace of the zombie bug.

Inside, the slightly black blood near some of its limbs was pale green, hinting at potent poison. Ye Chen cracked open its head, revealing three clumps of black blood threaded with vein-like structures resembling earthworms; beneath this blood lay the creature's brain matter. Given his physique, Ye Chen could fully consume the corpses of low-level dark creatures.

He brought the blood to his nose and sniffed. A bloody, foul stench drifted in, enough to make an ordinary person vomit, but Ye Chen merely frowned slightly. He took the steel leg of a chair, severed it with the Blood-Red Battle Saber, scooped out the blood from the carapace, placed it on the steel rod, and held it over the flame.

If he had placed it directly on the saber, the fire's current temperature might not even be enough to heat the weapon. Normally, with Ye Chen’s self-control, eating it raw would have been fine. However, cooking it released an aroma that would attract monsters—an extremely unwise move in the apocalypse.

But for Ye Chen, even the arrival of a large monster was inconsequential; with the Silver Mechanical Warrior by his side, he could kill whatever came, saving him the trouble of searching. “Sizzle…” As the blood burned over the flame, droplets of black, fatty oil dripped down, causing the fire to suddenly flare up with each drop. The dancing flames reflected in Ye Chen’s pupils.

He sat calmly by the makeshift fire, his figure washed in a reddish-yellow glow. “Roar… Roar…” The slumbering zombies outside awoke, moving like hungry beasts searching for prey. The zombies were always much more active at night.

On the street beside the building, which had been empty and desolate during the day, numerous zombies now shambled out from the surrounding structures, wandering aimlessly. If anyone were spotted then, they would immediately be swarmed. At this moment, the zombies on the floor outside the building stirred, catching the scent of blood and spotting the firelight.

They began roaring and moving toward the room where Ye Chen was located. Ye Chen set the steel rod aside, propping the creature's corpse to keep it elevated for continued roasting. He stood up, walked over, and opened the door, immediately seeing over a dozen zombies snarling and rushing toward him through the pitch darkness.

He pried a ceramic tile from the nearby wall, broke it into several pieces, weighed them in his hand, and flung them out. Whoosh, whoosh… The shard-sized pieces of tile shot out, guided by his precise control, embedding themselves like bullets into the zombies’ noses, eyes, and foreheads. After dealing with them, Ye Chen dusted off his hands, turned, closed the door, and resumed roasting the bug.

He stared at the flickering flames, a hint of wistfulness in his eyes, as if transported back to his previous life, struggling and surviving alone… By the firelight, Gorky’s collected works seemed illuminated in a grand glow. A short while later, Ye Chen picked up the cooked bug and swallowed it, chewing it as if it were scalding wood shavings. A foul odor filled his mouth, but after a few chews, he swallowed.

Feeling unsatisfied, he frowned slightly, then opened the Rune Space, taking the Blood-Red Battle Saber with him. He retrieved one of the three 300-level Blood-Tooth Tiger corpses and carved out a piece the size of a fist from its back, bringing it out. For a tiger towering 15 meters, losing a fist-sized chunk of flesh would make no difference.

Although half a month had passed, the Blood-Tooth Tiger’s flesh was still remarkably fresh, though the blood had dried and stiffened. Ye Chen began roasting it. Soon, an intoxicating aroma—one that made one’s appetite surge—drifted out, contained largely by the window and dispersed by the wind.

At present, the lingering scent would be difficult for most monsters to trace to its source. Ye Chen took the cooked meat off, tore it into pieces, and swallowed. The taste was infinitely superior to that of the bug monster.

A rich fragrance filled his mouth, and grease stained his lips. Before he even finished swallowing, his stomach rumbled loudly. After finishing his meal, Ye Chen extinguished the fire, cradled the Blood-Red Battle Saber, and moved to a corner near the bookshelf to drift into sleep.

Though his physique allowed him to remain awake for ten days and nights without activity, the intense battles during the day had depleted his spiritual energy significantly, requiring sleep to restore it and maintain peak condition. Outside on the street, zombies milled about, letting out terrifying howls toward the sky. Behind the walls, Ye Chen gradually sank into his dreams.

The next morning. Sunlight streamed in from outside, piercing the window and falling onto Ye Chen's face, waking him. The man opened his eyes, yawned, and stood up from the floor.

He stretched languidly, shook his body, and walked to the window, tilting his head up to look out. The sun shone brilliantly. He faced the rising sun, opened his arms wide, and closed his eyes.

He breathed in deeply. For an instant, he felt as if he stood atop the world, embracing everything. No monsters had attacked during the night; Ye Chen had slept soundly.

Had any danger approached his perimeter, he would have awakened instantly. Ye Chen smiled faintly at himself, then retracted the Blood-Red Battle Saber. With a single punch, he shattered the window glass in front of him and, with a flash of movement, leaped from the second floor directly onto the street below.

With a thought, the Rune Space slowly opened, and the Silver Mechanical Warrior, Little Black, and the rest of his monster legion poured out. The commotion immediately startled the sleeping zombies on the street awake. They roared and charged, but were swiftly annihilated under the onslaught led by Little Black’s monster legion.

Ye Chen moved instantly, leaping onto the back of a Blood-Tooth Tiger. He decided his first priority was to raise Little Black to level 30, which would then allow him to control the three 300-level Blood-Tooth Tigers—free shock troops. “Move out,” Ye Chen commanded.

The Silver Warrior and the large group of monsters marched down the distant street. In a nearby building, three male survivors, armed with firearms, cautiously peered out the window to observe the zombies on the street. They froze when they saw a towering, 15-meter-tall, silvery-white monster resembling a robot approaching, their hearts skipping a beat.

Immediately after, the men noticed a large contingent of monsters accompanying the silver robot, led by a blood-red tiger, followed by various terrifying creatures like centipede monsters and sharp-horned gore-rats. “Huh?” one of the men, possessing sharp eyes, suddenly spotted a dark-haired man sitting atop the Blood-Tooth Tiger. He rubbed his eyes and looked again; indeed, a human male was seated on the tiger’s back.

“Heavens above!” the man exclaimed in shock. “Look, there’s a human!” “Shh! Keep it down!

Do you want to attract monsters?” another man with a buzz cut chastised him. Then, regaining his composure, he followed the first man's pointing finger. Upon seeing the sight, his eyes nearly popped out.

With an expression of utter astonishment, he stammered, “Am I… seeing things? How can there be a human riding a monster? Damn it, how can a human sit on a monster’s back?” “Knock, knock…” A sudden knocking sound made the three men jump.

They looked over to see seven or eight zombies standing outside, awakened by their noise. …… After traveling for several hours, they finally reached Baoshan District. Along the way, they encountered over twenty monsters between levels thirty and forty, all meeting their end beneath Ye Chen’s blade.

From one kill, he obtained a level 32 core, which he gave to Little Black. After consuming it, Little Black’s physical strength surged from level 12 to level 20. By this time, it was already noon.

After slaying a Gore-Rat Monster, Ye Chen sliced off its forelimbs, cutting them into finger-length chunks of meat, and tossed them directly into his mouth without roasting. They had a satisfying chewiness when eaten raw. After filling his stomach, Ye Chen sliced off pieces of the remaining limbs and distributed them to Little Black and the other monsters.

Being small, their appetites were minimal; a piece the size of a fingernail could serve as their entire day’s ration. Subsequently, Ye Chen uprooted a large tree by the roadside, scraped out a quantity of wood shavings, and used the lighter he acquired last night to ignite the tinder. He then started cutting and burning the tree trunk.

Before long, the stacked wood was ablaze, sending thick smoke billowing up and scattering in the wind. Ye Chen tossed the Gore-Rat Monster’s corpse onto the fire, and its outer fur rapidly burned away. The fatty oil in the blood hissed as it sizzled in the flames, releasing its savory aroma toward the distance.

Ye Chen recalled the Black Snail Bug and the Silver Mechanical Warrior, quickly leaving the scene and hiding in a distant building. He slipped into a room that happened to be empty of zombies, holding his breath as he focused his gaze on the bonfire. Rumble~~~ The earth began to tremble, and deafening roars and furious howls converged toward that spot.

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