A gray claw emerged from the shell, and yellow-green sticky liquid dripped down the gray claw, making a ticking sound as it landed on the floor.
"Hey, Kelvin, did you hear that sound?" Irene pushed the shopping cart, feeling that something was off.
Kelvin didn't pay much attention and said, "There's nothing there. I think you're probably hallucinating..." Before he could finish his sentence, a massive claw burst out from his chest.
Kelvin felt a sharp pain in his chest, and with disbelief, he lowered his head. He tried to say something but vomited a large amount of blood incoherently the moment he opened his mouth. Irene, however, understood. Kelvin was telling her to run. But she was now so frightened that her legs went weak, and she couldn't move. She could only cover her mouth tightly, preventing herself from screaming.
The claw swung forcefully, throwing Kelvin directly against the wall, and a burst of blood splattered, creating a blossom on the wall. Irene stood frozen in place, with splatters of blood staining her face, leaving a large wet patch on her jeans.
With each step the monster took, the ground trembled. When it was only a step away from Irene, it let out a roar, and its claw swung down...
The sound of running water came from the bathroom, and shadows flickered on the glass. After each battle, Anthony would clean himself thoroughly. Even in the apocalypse, he couldn't bear lying in bed covered in sweat. He wasn't sure why he developed this strange quirk, perhaps due to the inability to take showers in the human survivor base in his past life.
Water was extremely precious in the survivor base. Rivers, lakes, and other large water sources were contaminated by the virus. To obtain drinking water, they had to distill and condense it, filtering and disinfecting it multiple times to remove the virus. As for bathing water, it was not even worth considering. Being able to take a shower once a year in the base was considered a luxury.
Regaining his senses, Anthony wiped the water droplets off his head and carefully examined himself in the mirror. He had a slender figure, but his streamlined muscles exuded explosive power. If placed in the pre-apocalyptic world, he wouldn't pale in comparison to any internet celebrity. Moreover, due to frequent battles, he emitted a strong masculine scent, described by women as "manly!"
Unfortunately, beauty and handsomeness had no significance in this apocalypse; they were merely toys for the strong. Opening the bathroom door, Verna's voice came from downstairs. "Dinner is ready, come down and eat!"
"Okay!" Anthony responded and quickly got dressed before heading downstairs.
"Today's dishes are braised beef, stir-fried omelet, spicy and sour shredded potatoes, and lotus root pork soup." Verna, wearing an apron, carried a large bowl of lotus root soup out of the kitchen.
Just by smelling the aroma, Anthony felt that even if Verna wasn't a doctor, as a cook, he had definitely hit the jackpot. He quickly picked up his chopsticks and took a piece of lotus root, putting it in his mouth. The moment he bit into it, the powdery texture instantly filled his tired body after the battle. However, after swallowing, Anthony suddenly paused.
"What's wrong? Did I season it too lightly?" Verna couldn't help but ask.
"No," Anthony shook his head. It wasn't that the food wasn't delicious, but after eating it, his agility attribute increased by 0.1. In other words, simply by eating, he gained a speed increase of 0.7 meters per second.
It could be said that upgrading the second-level storage space was definitely a gain. However, a question arose in his mind. If he consumed food rich in spiritual energy and his attributes could increase, could the same happen for Verna? Or was the daily enhancement only applicable to him, and others would not benefit from eating it?
With that in mind, Anthony tentatively asked, "Verna, can I ask you a question?"
"What question do you want to ask?" Verna casually picked up a piece of ribs, responding nonchalantly.
"When you eat, do you feel anything?" Anthony asked.
Verna didn't understand and said, "Feel? What kind of feeling?" Then, she looked at Anthony mischievously and said, "What? Are you asking if I have feelings for you?"
"no!" Anthony rolled his eyes in annoyance and then said seriously, "I mean the kind of feeling where your strength increases or you suddenly feel more agile."
"Oh, now that you mention it, I couldn't even lift a pot with one hand before, but today I can easily handle it with just one hand," Verna exclaimed in surprise.
"Okay, that's all I wanted to know," Anthony confirmed his speculation. Indeed, anyone who ate these spiritually enriched meals could receive enhancement, but each person could only be enhanced once. So, if Verna were to drink water from the spiritual pool and train in the gym, would she also become stronger?
With this thought, Anthony silently said: "System, can the others also enhance their attributes through the gym?"
"Ding! Other individuals can only enter the gym for training if their friendliness with the host reaches 90. Attribute enhancement is only available once, and the increased attribute value is only half of the host's. The spiritual pool and spiritual food have no friendliness restrictions, but can only enhance attributes once, with the increased attributes being half of the host's," the system explained.
Anthony nodded silently. This could be considered a protective mechanism of the system towards him. In this way, no matter what happened, he could crush potential recruits with his strength.
"Can I see the attributes of various aspects?" Anthony asked again.
"Insufficient permissions to answer," the system replied coldly.
"Alright." Most likely, it would be about upgrading the system. He wondered what changes the system would undergo when the entire base was upgraded to the second level.
After finishing his meal, Anthony prepared himself and headed out once again. This time, he planned to search the Yanghe Community Security Office to see if he could find anything useful.
Meanwhile, at the Yanghe Community Security Bureau, a dozen or so zombies surrounded the detention room. They could only stare blankly from the outside because the iron grille of the detention room had been locked from the outside.
Inside the detention room, three security personnel, two men and a woman, looked pale and weak. "I... I can't hold on any longer," one male security officer said, clutching his stomach. He hadn't eaten anything for two days.
"Alex and Cheryl, how about we break out? It's better than being trapped here and starving to death," another male security officer said weakly.
"Ford is right. If we don't eat soon, we'll either get bitten by the zombies or starve ourselves to death," Alex said.
Cheryl thought for a moment and said, "But there are only three of us, and there are over a dozen zombies outside. It would be a suicide mission to rush out."
"I... I don't care anymore. I still have three bullets in my gun. What about you, Alex?" Ford couldn't bear it any longer.
"I have four bullet," Alex replied.
Both of them looked at Cheryl and asked, "What about you, Cheryl?"
"I... I have one," Cheryl gritted her teeth. In reality, she had two bullets left, but the last one was reserved for herself.
"Okay, we have a total of eight bullets. We have a chance!" Ford said, and then added, "When I count to three, I'll open the door, and we'll charge out together."
"Alright!" Alex and Cheryl replied in unison.
"Okay! Here I go," Ford slowly approached the iron door. As he looked at the hands reaching through the iron door, he swallowed nervously and began the countdown.
"3! 2! 1!" Ford shouted, "Charge!" He decisively pulled open the iron door. Cheryl and Alex immediately aimed their guns at the approaching zombies and started shooting. "Let's kill these damn zombies!"