"Help me!" In a daze, Anthony seemed to see a figure running towards him, and the voice seemed somewhat familiar.
Suppressing the urge to faint, Anthony struggled to stand upright. The person's figure was getting closer. Round face, big eyes, slightly tanned skin, wearing a pair of black-framed glasses, with a slight stubble on the lips, looking somewhat shady.
But at this moment, the person was panicking and screaming, especially after seeing Anthony covered in blood. He exclaimed in despair, "It's over, it's over! There are wolves in front and tigers behind. Am I going to die here?"
Anthony cleared his mind and glanced behind him, then looked at the severed "zombie" arm not far in front of him. After hesitating, he decided to charge towards the direction of the severed arm zombie. After all, this severed arm zombie seemed easier to deal with.
With this in mind, when he was about ten meters away from the severed arm zombie, he shouted loudly and picked up a stone from the ground, hurling it towards the zombie's head.
"Die!" Anthony shouted back. Startled by the man's loud shout, his spirits were revitalized, and his vision became clearer. When he clearly saw the man's shady appearance, he showed a surprised expression and shouted, "Clark..." Before he could finish his shout, a gust of wind hit his forehead.
"Damn!" Anthony muttered in alarm. He resisted the dizziness and pain, lowered his body, narrowly avoiding the stone that grazed his forehead.
"You're still dodging, huh? Oops!" Clark, because of his excessive force, stumbled and fell to the ground. Fortunately, the ground by the river was covered in sand, so he wasn't injured. He quickly got up and charged toward the severed arm zombie again.
"Clark..." Anthony had just uttered a word when Clark, holding another stone, gestured at him again. Seeing that the guy wouldn't calm down unless he was stopped, Anthony gritted his teeth. He leaped off the ground, executing a spinning kick aimed at Clark's arm.
"Ouch!" Clark couldn't dodge in time, his shoulder was injured, and he fell to the ground, face planting into the mud. Seeing this, Anthony performed another move, landing a kick as Clark tried to crawl up. Anthony said calmly, "Clark, if you throw another stone at me, do you believe I'll expose your secret of watching adult videos during high school class?"
"Expose? Who do you think I am, huh? Wait a minute, how do you know about that?" Clark stopped struggling and voiced his astonishment.
"Do you want to take another look at who the hell I am?" Anthony released his foot with an exasperated expression. Clark slowly got up and looked at Anthony. When he clearly saw Anthony's face, he exclaimed in delight, "Holy crap, Anthony, you're still alive?"
"I won't die as long as you're dead!" Anthony retorted without holding back, though he was internally excited.
In his previous life, Clark had died alongside him while trying to save him from a zombie horde. Now, he had been reborn three years earlier, found Annabelle and Dash, but hadn't seen Clark until now. Meeting him in this situation stirred indescribable emotions within Anthony.
"Hey, Anthony, what's wrong with your arm? Or is it that you've turned into a zombie with human consciousness, just like in the novel?" Clark speculated seriously.
Struggling with weakness, Anthony replied, "Stop talking nonsense. I'm a living human. Now, give me a hand, quickly, I can't hold on."
As soon as he finished speaking, Anthony collapsed weakly. Fortunately, Clark caught him in time, helping him stay on his feet. Then, Anthony retrieved an optical invisibility cloak from his spatial ring and handed it over. "Quick, use this thing to cover us. This way, the zombies won't be able to detect us."
"Is this for real? You have something like this?" Clark looked incredulous.
But Anthony didn't have time to explain. He urged, "Cut the crap. DZ country's latest technology. Hurry, I don't have time to explain."
"OK!" Clark made a gesture and spread the cloak, covering both of them inside.
Soon, a zombie came running down, but it seemed to lose track of its target, sniffing the air around with its nose.
"It really makes us invisible?" Surprised by the bizarre behavior of the zombie, Clark exclaimed.
Anthony nodded and said, "Enough of the chitchat. Help me to a safe place. Remember, stay far away from the water's edge."
"No problem!"
With that, the two of them limped their way up the embankment and looked around. They spotted a residential area and headed straight for it.
About ten minutes later...
The surface of the YangHe River suddenly exploded. A massive figure covered in bone spikes shot out of the water and scanned the surroundings. Seeing no one around, it angrily roared to the sky, "Humans, you cunning and despicable creatures!"
As the words fell, the giant zombie leaped up. In that instant, another creature burst out of the water, charging towards the original position of the giant zombie.
"Troublesome creature!" Dodging the attack from the other beast, the giant zombie didn't linger in battle. After landing, it crouched and then propelled itself like a cannonball towards its lair.
Left alone, the other creature watched the departing figure of the giant zombie with unwillingness and anger flickering in its gray-white eyes.
TN City, inside a residential building near the YangHe Bridge. Two men sat by the window, one with a twisted right arm and broken fingers, as well as multiple scratches of varying degrees on his body, looking extremely disheveled.
The other man, dark-skinned and short and stout, cautiously asked, "Should I go get some medicine for you?"
"No need." Anthony waved his hand and pulled out a piece of cloth, stuffing it into his mouth. He then used his legs to secure his right arm, held the broken finger with his left hand, and forcefully pushed it back into place.
Snap. A crisp sound. "Hiss!" Anthony winced in pain, cold sweat breaking out on his already pale face. However, it was fortunate that his finger had been reset. He proceeded to do the same for the other four fingers and his arm.
Ten minutes later, Anthony tore off the piece of cloth from his mouth and took out a transparent glass syringe filled with red liquid from his spatial ring. This syringe was originally meant for experimentation after his awakening reached 100%, but now he had to use it ahead of time. Given the current situation, he had no choice. He inserted the needle and injected the liquid.
The effect of the Level 1 awakening potion was undoubtedly significant. Half a minute after the injection, Anthony started feeling a warmth spreading throughout his body, especially at the location of his broken right arm and index finger. There was a tingling sensation, followed by a warm flow.
Anthony knew that his bones were being restored under the effect of the awakening potion. As time passed, his fair skin started turning reddish, and a large amount of white mist rose from his body.
This condition persisted for over half an hour, and the scorching heat finally subsided. His skin gradually returned to a normal temperature.
A gleam of light flashed in Anthony's eyes. He stood up from the ground and tested his right arm, flexed his fingers, and squeezed his hand, as if to confirm that his broken arm had completely recovered. Moreover, his body was now filled with strength.
Feeling the surging power within him, Anthony had the urge to charge out and fight the giant zombie again. However, he immediately calmed himself down. He hadn't gathered enough information about that particular zombie. Rushing in recklessly might lead to an even worse outcome.
Anthony thought to himself, "System, open my profile panel."
"Ding
[Host]: Anthony
[Gender]: Male
[Age]: 23
[Level]: Transcendent Quadruple, First-tier Awakener
[Spirit]: 0.4 (Enhances combat power by 40%)
[Intelligence]: 13.5 (Average human is 1)
[Strength]: 62.05 (Average human is 1)
[Agility]: 30.6 (Average human is 1)
[Spirituality]: 20.0 (Average human is 1)
[Virus Resistance]: 2.7 (Upon reaching 1, immune to first-tier mutations and lower-level common zombie viruses)
[Ability]: Creation (Awakening Degree: 155.0%)
[Skills]: Qi Breathing, Hard Qi Gong, Meditation, Combat (Advanced), Double-Stacked Force
[Overall Combat Power]: 105.55"
Seeing the section about his Ability, Anthony was completely baffled. What on earth was this "Creation"? And what did an Awakening Degree of 155.0% mean?