The zombies on Yanghe West Road, Yanghe South Road, and Yanghe East Road have been mostly cleared out. The remaining densely populated locations on Yanghe North Road include Yanghe School, Yanghe Welfare Institute, Yanghe Technical School, and Yanghe Kindergarten. Especially considering the formidable presence at Yanghe School, Anthony decides to temporarily avoid direct confrontation.
Currently, his top priority is to obtain zombie crystals to replenish the energy points of the base. "Now that my strength has reached the level of a first-order Awakened, I'll start by dealing with the two first-order mutants that attacked Dash."
Gripping his Tang sword, Anthony walks straight along Yanghe West Road, crosses the ship community, and reaches the embankment. He continues eastward along the embankment and arrives at the Rose Garden in less than half a minute. "This is it." Anthony scans the Rose Garden and sees that a rose boulevard divides this area into two parts: east and west. The boulevard leads south directly to the central business district.
The business district is not his immediate target as it has even denser personnel than Yanghe School. If a formidable presence similar to the one at the school were to emerge there, his chances of escaping would be uncertain. For now, he decides to deal with the two areas adjacent to the embankment. With his Tang sword in hand, Anthony heads down the embankment.
Meanwhile, in the western section of the Rose Garden, in Building A, a woman cautiously leads a pale and thin six or seven-year-old girl upstairs. When they reach the ninth floor and stand in front of Apartment 903, the woman hesitates for a moment before knocking on the door.
"Who the hell is knocking? If you have something to say, spit it out!" Impatient voices sound from inside the door.
"Elmo Brother, I want to exchange for some food," the woman says. "Come in and talk."
Upon hearing the mention of exchanging for food, the door opens slightly, and the woman quickly pulls her daughter inside. The interior is small but filled with various bottles and cans. In the living room, a group of burly men sits together, drinking and chatting. Occasionally, they roughly grope the women in their arms, causing them to cry out in pleasure.
The woman follows the man into the living room, glancing at the former neighbors who are now dressed provocatively. She freezes for a moment, then squats down and says to her daughter beside her, "Be good, wait for Mommy here."
"Okay, Mommy, hurry up. I'm a little scared," the little girl weakly says.
"Okay, Mommy knows," the woman agrees. After her obedient daughter walks to the side and waits near the door, the woman grits her teeth and approaches one of the burly men, then pleads, "Elmo, could you spare some food for me? My daughter hasn't eaten anything for two days."
"Where's your stuff?" Elmo, the burly man, leans back on the sofa and looks the woman up and down.
The woman clenches her teeth and takes out a gold necklace she has worn for six years from around her neck. The necklace has a thumb-sized pendant made of high-quality jadeite. Reluctantly, she hands it over and says, "Here."
"Hmm," the man weighs it in his hand and says, "Gage, get her a slice of toast."
On hearing these words, the woman became anxious and hurriedly said, "Elmo, we're all neighbors here. This gold necklace weighs 50 grams, and the pendant on it is made of high-quality ice jade. It cost over 30,000 when my husband bought it. How come there's only one slice of toast?"
"What's the matter? Do you think it's too much?" Elmo sneered and said, "Gage, tear the toast in half and give it to her."
"You...you..." The woman was so angry that she couldn't speak. In the end, she had to swallow her pride and said, "Fine, just one slice then." She reached out her hand and said, "Give it to me."
"Oh, you're so angry. I've changed my mind," Elmo teased and said, "Gage, tear that half slice of toast in half again."
"You... you're going too far!" The woman's chest heaved with anger. Finally, she had to say in a submissive tone, "I don't want it anymore. Give me back the necklace."
"Give it back to you? Are you fucking with me? We agreed on buying bread. Now that you don't want it, who am I supposed to sell the torn bread to?" Elmo's voice turned cold as he stared at the woman, fiercely saying, "Today, whether you want to buy it or not, you have to buy it!"
The woman was also frightened by Elmo's attitude and could only accept her misfortune, saying, "Then give me the bread."
Upon hearing this, Elmo's expression softened a bit. He looked the woman up and down, although her hair was deliberately messy and her face was covered in dust, he could still see her decent facial features. Moreover, she was tightly wrapped in a beige coat, which made him curious about what was inside.
He looked at the woman with an intrusive gaze, licked his lips, and said, "Hehe, the price of bread has gone up. A necklace alone won't do. Unless you're willing to sleep with me."
"That's impossible!" The woman was shocked and turned to walk towards the door. But just as she turned around, she was grabbed by Gage, who was standing by her side, and thrown onto Elmo's sofa. The woman crashed onto the sofa, completely disheveled. Before she could even scream, Elmo pressed down on her stomach and began tearing at her clothes.
"Ah! No, I don't want the bread. I'll give you the necklace. Please let me go!" The woman struggled and screamed.
The little girl standing at the door heard her mother being mistreated and ran in, trying to pull the man who was bullying her mother away. But before she could get close, she was grabbed by Gage, and she immediately burst into tears, crying, "Mom, you can't bully my mom!"
"What the fuck are you pretending to be? This is Rose Garden. Don't think I don't know what you do here. We're all in the same business. Once I'm done with you, I'll give you two slices of toast. Then both you and that little brat can eat!" Elmo's lust clouded his judgment, and he viciously tugged at the woman's clothes, his face turning red.
The people around them watched the scene unfold. "We've never liked her. Who does she think she is, acting all high and mighty? Ever since she moved into Rose Garden with that little brat, we haven't seen her husband."
"That's right. She always gives us those condescending looks."
"We're all in the same business. Who looks down on who?" The women mocked while munching on melon seeds.
"No, get away from me!" Just as the woman screamed, a loud noise suddenly came from the corridor, causing the house to tremble slightly. Elmo paused, stunned in place. It wasn't just Elmo; the men and women around him dared not make a sound.
"It... it's back again." Gage trembled.
"Don't fucking speak!" Elmo roared lowly, turning his head to look at the woman beneath him. He angrily slapped her face and said, "It must be that bitch mother of yours who attracted that monster."
The sound grew closer, and everyone in the room became short of breath. Elmo quickly released the woman beside him and gestured for his henchmen to pick up their weapons. In the next moment, the front door of the house flew backward, and a monstrous creature with eight tentacles protruded its head and roared.
"Attack! Don't just stand there like idiots. If we don't fight back now, we'll all be finished here!"...
"What's that sound?" Anthony frowned. It was strange. He had been searching for those two mutants here for a while, but he hadn't even caught a glimpse of them. Could it be...
Anthony immediately drew his sword and rushed forward.