An hour later.
"Squeak."
The motorcycle slid to a stop.
Lin An suddenly braked hard, his face serious.
Not far away, a mountain of corpses blocked the entrance to the city, eerily devoid of zombies.
Wen Ya woke up, bleary-eyed.
Lin An's sudden stop without warning caused her chin to slam into his back, making her dizzy.
"Ouch... that hurts."
How could it be so hard?
Was this guy's body made of stone?
Wen Ya couldn't help but complain inwardly, he really didn't know how to show tenderness to a lady.
Lin An glanced back slightly, feeling nothing.
With a physique of 14.4, he could withstand much more than a bump.
The scene before them was indeed strange.
He decisively activated the Eye of Judgment to quickly survey the area.
A large number of humans had died, their bodies piled into a mountain, yet no zombies were present.
This oddity made him cautious.
"Scan complete."
The Eye of Judgment swiftly scanned all information.
"Survivors: 0."
"Zombies: 0."
"Damaged vehicles: 11,219..."
...
The corpse mountain stood about ten meters high, made up of at least ten thousand bodies.
At the road entrance, fence, and inside the vehicles, there were also a few corpses.
On the ground, some partially eaten meat chunks had turned dark red, indicating some time had passed.
Near the corpse mountain, some shattered zombie corpses formed a circle.
After confirming no immediate threats around, Lin An cautiously approached the bizarre corpse circle.
What is this?
Lin An took a few strides to the shattered corpses, eyes heavy.
The shattered bodies had clean cuts, their muscle tissues almost turned to mush.
This wasn't the result of an explosion or physical attack.
Lin An lowered his head in thought, a sense of unease creeping in.
He glanced back at the corpse mountain and compared it to the meat chunk in his hand.
The top of the corpse mountain was flattened, as if something had stood there.
Something that could cause such damage...
After repeatedly comparing in his memory, Lin An reached a conclusion.
Psionic impact marks!
Only a psionic impact could achieve such effects.
Lin An felt a chill down his spine.
A psionic impact, at least a third-tier awakened or mutated entity could wield such an attack.
Such a wide-range, indiscriminate attack...
It might even be beyond the third tier!
What exactly was it?
Lin An was puzzled.
It shouldn't be.
Whether awakened or mutated zombies, third-tier entities shouldn't appear this early in the game.
From his past life knowledge, third-tier entities only appeared six months into the game.
The day that third-tier [Corpse King] appeared, it led millions of zombies to destroy a large safe zone.
Nearly a million casualties.
Finally, it took a massive amount of tactical missiles to eliminate it.
Entities of this level could destroy entire regiments single-handedly.
Excluding awakened ones first.
Lin An considered his own strength to be globally leading, given his S-level talent for power bursts.
Player template, awakened template, savior template, plus the willpower bonus from reincarnation.
With triple reinforcement, other awakened ones were incomparable to him.
Even so, he was at best mid-tier first-level in strength.
Third-tier was two levels above first-tier.
Entities of this level could destroy cities alone.
It was impossible for a player to reach third-tier just two days into the apocalypse game.
If it was a mutated entity, it was barely acceptable.
But the thought of another suspected third-tier mutant near Linjiang City weighed heavily on him.
An existence that shouldn't have been there according to his previous life's memory.
Was it because of the butterfly effect or something else?
He had carefully examined the ground.
A large number of zombies had moved toward Linjiang City recently.
Predictably, the zombie horde would migrate, likely led by that third-tier mutant.
Danger lurked.
Now, Linjiang City alone had two known mutants above first-tier.
One was the [Stitcher], the other an unknown third-tier mutant.
Headache.
Behind him, Wen Ya followed with heavy steps, her face pale.
The sight of the corpse mountain had shocked her deeply.
"Is there anyone alive in Linjiang City?"
This was the only route out of Linjiang City.
If this route was blocked, with many survivors dead, it meant no one could leave the city now.
Wen Ya asked Lin An in despair.
Though all players were forcibly informed of some apocalypse game details after its start.
Knowing and seeing were two different things.
She thought it was just like in movies with zombies.
But seeing at least ten thousand corpses piled into a mountain, she realized the world might be far more complicated.
"There are."
Lin An paused briefly before answering simply.
There were at least two million survivors in Linjiang City now.
But that wasn't a good thing.
Because it meant in a week, Linjiang City would have over a million more zombies.
He knew what Wen Ya was really asking.
She might have parents or relatives still in the city.
Wen Ya opened her mouth, wanting to say something but eventually gave up.
"Let's go."
Lin An turned back.
Behind him, Wen Ya's mood was low, eyes filled with sadness.
Turning the bike around, Lin An chose a route deviating from the suspected third-tier mutant's path.
Avoiding an encounter was best.
A third-tier mutant's strength meant there'd be no chance to escape if they met.
"Where are we going next?"
Wen Ya asked after a long while, sitting on the back seat.
"The flower shop."
Lin An's words were as brief as always.
...
Star Art Flower Shop.
At the entrance, scattered flowers were trampled into muddy water.
A few zombies gnawed on a half-eaten corpse, the lower body clad in a skirt, seemingly a young girl.
Greedy, savoring, they chewed carefully on the flesh strips.
The shop door was locked, the iron roll-up door pulled down.
Not far away, a black motorcycle carrying two people sped toward the shop.
On the second floor, a middle-aged woman watched the zombies trampling her flowers, her face pained.
When the apocalypse broke out, the shop's remote location meant few zombies, allowing her to survive.
But being a street-front shop, there was no other exit besides the main door.
Trapped on the second floor, she didn't dare go downstairs.
The monsters at the door made her lose any desire to leave, but with no food inside, she knew she couldn't last long.
"Vroom!"
The motorcycle roared as Lin An drove up.
Someone's here!?
Seeing someone coming, she quickly opened the window and shouted loudly.
"Help!"
"Someone, help!"
"There are monsters at my door!"
"Roar!"
The zombies at the door immediately raised their heads, eyes red, snarling.
The flower shop owner screamed and ducked behind the window in fear.
Lin An looked up, but the flower shop owner was already out of sight.
He didn't care and directly dismounted, heading for the shop.
"Quick battle!"
Before entering the city, Lin An had Wen Ya change into a set of firefighting gear. Her limbs were sealed with tape.
He wasn't afraid of zombies, but Wen Ya was.
Wearing an oversized helmet, Wen Ya was a bit clumsy in the ill-fitting firefighting suit.
Lin An led the way, charging into the zombie horde.
Raging and swift.
Wen Ya tightly followed behind, holding an axe with both hands, her expression tense and a bit strained.
Step forward and slash!
Lin An's muscles bulged, taking a quick step forward.
Right hand downward strike!
Like a knife cutting through the wind, whistling through the air.
The sharp Nepalese curved knife drew an arc, smashing the nearest zombie's head.
Thick blood splattered on the roll-up door, creating an ugly graffiti.
Back kick!
Lin An suddenly exerted force, turning to kick a nearby zombie.
A standard military combat kick.
"Bang!"
The zombie, still chewing blood-soaked meat, was blasted like a cannonball into the roll-up door.
The sound of flesh hitting metal was ear-piercing.
Distant wandering zombies, like sharks smelling blood, turned toward them.
"Get in!"
"Boom!"
Lin An violently kicked the door, crushing the upper half of a zombie underfoot.
Wen Ya also followed up, clumsily chopping off the last zombie's head with both hands holding the axe.
On the second floor of the flower shop, the middle-aged woman hiding behind the window was shocked and overjoyed.
"Thump, thump, thump."
A short, stout middle-aged woman hurried down the stairs.
Wearing an old gardening apron, she kept wiping her hands on it.
"Oh, thank heavens. I thought I was going to die here!"
"Oh, dear God, thank you for sending someone to save me."
"Um."
"Do you have any food? I'm starving."
The flower shop owner smiled broadly, stretching her short, chubby hands towards Lin An in an ingratiating manner.
Lin An frowned slightly and casually pulled a shelf from the store to use as an obstacle, blocking any potential zombies from outside.
Although the flower shop was on the outskirts of the city, there were still quite a few zombies around.
He threw a chocolate bar from his tactical pouch on his waist.
The owner quickly grabbed it and began to eat voraciously, but her eyes occasionally glanced at the damaged store door with some dissatisfaction.
The shop's interior was old and cluttered with randomly placed flowers, indicating poor business.
Lin An quickly surveyed the shop and instructed Wen Ya.
"Find all the brightly colored flowers!"
The most common characteristic of infected energy plants was their extremely bright colors.
Wen Ya nodded in agreement and followed Lin An, rummaging around.
"Hey, hey, hey—stop that, stop that, what are you doing?"
"Don't mess up my shop!"
The middle-aged woman in the gardening apron suddenly shouted loudly, still clutching the half-eaten chocolate from Lin An.
Lin An ignored her, just frowning slightly.
Wen Ya was taken aback.
Why was this flower shop owner so obsessed with money?
Didn't she fear Lin An might turn violent?
Reluctantly, Wen Ya explained.
"Owner, we're just looking for something."
"Looking?"
The owner's eyebrows raised, and her eyes rolled.
"I don't have anything for you here!"
"If you want something, you need to pay for it!"
A natural reaction.
The flower shop owner, a shrewd small-time merchant, held out a hand.
She completely forgot that Lin An had just saved her life.
With the outside monsters gone, she no longer worried.
Given her age, she didn't realize what the zombies outside truly represented.
When the apocalypse broke out, she couldn't understand the player panel that appeared and dismissed it as an eye trick.
Seeing Lin An and Wen Ya ignoring her and continuing to rummage through the shop, she loudly admonished them.
"Stop it!"
"This is robbery!"
"I…I called the police!"
The threat of calling the police still held significant weight for ordinary people.
Wen Ya hesitated momentarily at the mention of the police but then continued searching after seeing Lin An's unwavering focus.
"Shut up."
Lin An, without turning around, threw a handful of cash from his pocket.
The red bills fluttered and scattered.
He didn't carry much cash, only about two or three thousand.
Although money had little meaning now, it still held significant value for most ordinary people who hadn't grasped the situation.
Lin An didn't want to argue with the shop owner.
His goal was the energy plants in the shop, but he had also saved her life.
This woman didn't show gratitude and even demanded more.
If she continued to yap, Lin An wouldn't hesitate to kill her.
The distant zombies might have heard the noise.
The shop's entrance was narrow, and if he didn't find the energy plants soon, attracting a large number of zombies would be troublesome.
As the money fell, the chubby shop owner froze for a moment before quickly picking up the scattered bills.
She glanced at Wen Ya holding the axe and stuffed the money into her pocket, then her eyes rolled again.
"Not enough!"
"You also broke my door!"
"This rolling shutter is electric; it costs at least twenty thousand!"
The shop owner spat as she pointed at Lin An, shouting loudly.
She completely forgot her earlier desperate pleas for help.
Lin An giving her money seemed to bolster her confidence.
If it were real robbery, she wouldn't dare make a peep facing fierce robbers.
Giving food and money?
These people must be easy to deal with.
Now fed, the shop owner felt more emboldened, waving her phone and pretending to call the police.
"If you don't pay, I'll call the police and have them arrest you!"
She looked smug, having worried about the flower loss and damages the zombies caused, now seeing Lin An's generosity, greed surfaced.
Wen Ya was furious, her face showing anger.
"How can you be like this? We saved your life, didn't we?"
"Why didn't you talk about money when you were shouting for help!?"
The shop owner sneered, feeling confident as Wen Ya held the fire axe but didn't seem threatening.
"You could have waited for me to open the door!"
"I didn't ask you to kick it down!"
"Whoosh!"
Lin An pressed the sharp blade against the owner's throat, his gaze icy.
"Make another noise, and I'll kill you."
Lin An's excellent hearing had picked up the chaotic footsteps of numerous zombies approaching.
If this woman kept shouting, it would inevitably attract more zombies.
The shop owner, like a duck with its neck squeezed, abruptly fell silent, filled with fear and trembling.
People take advantage of the kind-hearted.
When Lin An showed ruthlessness, she immediately quieted down.
"Don't…don't kill me."
"I'll give you whatever you want."
The owner pleaded softly, feeling the killing intent in Lin An's eyes.
Lin An ignored her, focusing instead on a corner of the shop.
A deep red, gold-edged rose stood inconspicuously in the dim light.
But in Lin An's vision, the flower emitted a faint energy wave.
There really are energy plants here!
"Energy Plant: Gold-edged Rose (Energy Contamination Level 1)"
"Effect: Increases attributes when consumed."
Lin An was delighted and walked over, immediately eating the petals.
The petals were sweet, not as rough as expected.
"Ding, you gained 1 point of Willpower, 1 point of Constitution, and 20% resistance to (zombie) poison."
A warm current flowed from his abdomen to his limbs, and Lin An clearly felt his body become stronger.
His already jade-like skin became more translucent.
As expected of energy plants.
Lin An was thrilled.
In the previous life, energy plants were snatched up by major forces as soon as they appeared.
In the apocalypse game, items that could boost attributes were extremely rare.
So, a complete energy plant was worth as much as a small base in the mid-apocalypse!
In exchange for food, it could fetch six truckloads.
Women? Prisoners?
A single plant could trade for twenty or thirty!
Before the apocalypse, an energy plant could easily be valued over a hundred million!
Moreover, Lin An was even happier about the added attribute.
20% poison resistance?
A pleasant surprise.
Lin An hadn't expected energy plants to have additional special effects.
Poison resistance (zombie) was extremely useful.
This resistance wasn't about delaying zombification but directly providing immunity to small amounts of the virus!
Light scratches or cuts from zombies could be ignored, without worrying about infection.
In the apocalypse game, even awakeners couldn't claim immunity to the zombie virus; they just lasted longer if infected.
With poison resistance, Lin An would be significantly better equipped to handle large-scale zombie encounters.
Perhaps…
He could consider going to that place with the large zombie horde in his plan?
Lin An remembered a very powerful piece of equipment in Linjiang City.
It was in a densely populated area, and Lin An originally planned to retrieve it after forming a team.
Facing a horde of zombies, even a minor scratch could easily lead to infection.
But now, with poison resistance, it seemed worth a try.
Wen Ya noticed Lin An's rare smile and grew curious.
Could these flowers really make Lin An happy?
She handed him a large bouquet of colorful flowers.
"Lin An, see if there's anything you need here?"
"And, are these flowers special in some way?"
Lin An looked at the bouquet and activated the Judgement Eye again.
A faint blue mist rose, and stars seemed to swirl in his pupils.
"Some plants or foods mutate and can boost attributes if consumed."
"But not all are edible."
"Some can be deadly."
Lin An explained casually.
Energy plants couldn't be eaten indiscriminately, a lesson learned at the cost of many lives in the previous life.
Without the Judgement Eye to identify them, Lin An wouldn't dare eat them.
Attribute enhancement?
Wen Ya was surprised but handed over the flowers without hesitation.
Although she wanted the energy plants for herself after learning about their attribute-boosting properties, she knew her place.
She didn't have the right to ask Lin An for anything.
So, she wouldn't ask unless Lin An offered.
Lin An took the remaining flowers and carefully examined them.
Meanwhile, Wen Ya found herself momentarily captivated as their eyes met.
This was the first time she had seen Lin An's eyes up close after he activated the Judgement Eye, and she was amazed.
Such deep eyes…
Lin An's pupils occasionally flashed with a faint golden light, pulling her in.
"Peony: Ordinary Plant"
"Effect: Decoration."
"Iris: Poisonous Energy Plant (Energy Contamination, Toxic)"
"Effect: Decoration, consumption leads to bodily collapse."
"Carnation: Ordinary Plant"
"Effect: Decoration."
Poisonous Energy Plant?
Lin An pulled out the iris and carefully examined it.
After a moment's thought, he decided to store it in his spatial ring.
Though it couldn't boost attributes, its deadly poison could be very useful.
If used correctly, it could be a hidden ace.
...
Finally, he looked at the last plant.
Lin An's breath hitched in disbelief.
Damn!
"Purple Saint Laurent (Energy Contamination Level 2)"
"Effect: Increases attributes when consumed."