A flash of fire.
The flame whip sliced through the waist of the mutated zombie. The zombie was cut in half at the waist. Sylas was taken aback. He knew the flame whip was powerful, but he hadn't realized it was this strong. A level 1 mutated zombie couldn't withstand even a casual strike from him.
This result was largely due to Sylas's own immense strength. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been so easy to bisect the mutated zombie with a single blow. Sylas had chosen to aim for the waist to test the whip's power, and the results were indeed surprising.
Despite being severed at the waist, the mutated zombie didn't die immediately. Its upper half fell to the ground, still snarling at Sylas. Sylas didn't give it a chance to recover. With another flick of his wrist, the flame whip slashed through the zombie's head, splitting it in two.
An energy crystal fell from the zombie's head. Sylas used his telekinesis to lift the crystal into his hand. He decided to absorb this energy crystal but was surprised to find that his level 2 fire manipulation could no longer absorb a level 1 energy crystal. It was clear that to continue upgrading his level 2 ability, he would need level 2 energy crystals.
This pattern indicated that a level 3 ability would require level 3 energy crystals, and a level 4 ability would need level 4 energy crystals. As the ability levels increased, the required energy crystals would need to correspond to the ability's level, making the upgrade process increasingly difficult.
Since Sylas hadn't encountered any level 2 mutated zombies yet, he couldn't continue upgrading his fire manipulation ability. However, he had other abilities that needed leveling up. Sylas decided to channel the absorbed energy into his telekinesis ability.
Next on his upgrade list was telekinesis. While not the strongest in direct combat, its support and utility were invaluable.
This was why Sylas chose telekinesis as the next ability to upgrade.
After killing the mutated zombie, Sylas quickly left the area, finding a safe place to hide and take a brief rest. It was then that Sylas took out his phone to check the messages. There were several messages from Clarissa.
To avoid overwhelming messages, only Clarissa had the authority to text Sylas directly. Of course, in special circumstances, the other women could also send him messages. Clarissa's messages detailed the status of the uploaded video and included information about Wendy.
Wendy's photo and current location were sent to Sylas. He glanced at Wendy's picture—she was indeed a beautiful woman. She seemed promising and might meet the system's criteria. Deciding to check on her, Sylas hoped Wendy would qualify as an ideal slave. Finding someone who met the criteria was becoming increasingly difficult.
Wendy's location was about ten kilometers away, across half the city. Sylas checked the time and saw he had plenty, so there was no need to rush. The streets at night were teeming with zombies, making it inconvenient to use a motorcycle. Walking would be better, and he could also search for mutated zombies along the way.
Sylas descended the building and entered the zombie-infested streets. Thanks to his zombie aura, ordinary zombies wouldn't attack him unless he encountered a mutated one. This put Sylas in an absolutely safe state.
As he headed toward Wendy's location, he kept an eye out for mutated zombies. He still had several level 1 abilities needing upgrades, so he had a strong demand for mutated zombies.
Meanwhile, Wendy hid in an office, trembling in fear as she listened to the sounds outside. Wendy was very beautiful and a dance instructor.
Her family was well-off; her parents had opened a dance training studio for her, where she usually worked. When the apocalypse hit, Wendy was at the studio. She still couldn't forget the horrifying scene of that day. She saw her students and friends turn into zombies and then attack and kill the remaining students.
Wendy was terrified but reacted quickly. While the zombies were busy attacking others, she managed to escape. However, the chaos made it impossible for her to leave the building, so she found a place to hide inside. She was fortunate to find shelter in the kitchen of a restaurant within the building. Relying on the food and water from the kitchen, she survived until now. But those supplies had run out.
Today, an unexpected situation occurred—a group of survivors arrived. Wendy, still cautious, hid instead of revealing herself. Thankfully, she did, because she soon discovered that many women in this group were being mistreated and abused by the men.
Terrified, Wendy hid in the kitchen storage room, trembling. She had seen Clarissa's video earlier and hadn't decided whether to join them. But given her current predicament, she had no choice. It was either join Clarissa's group or be taken by these thugs.
The choice was clear, so Wendy quickly sent a message to Clarissa. Now, she could only hope that Sylas would arrive soon. Her phone buzzed, and she received a message saying Sylas was on his way.
Seeing the message, Wendy felt a sense of relief, knowing she had made the right decision and that help was on the way. However, the voices outside were getting closer. The thugs had discovered the restaurant and were searching the kitchen for food.
"Something's off. It looks like someone has been living here."
"Yeah, someone definitely lived here before."
"Everyone be careful. Search everywhere and find them."
The thugs noticed signs of Wendy's presence in the kitchen and immediately became alert. Wendy covered her mouth, not daring to make a sound. The thugs searched the kitchen but didn't find her. Suddenly, one of them noticed the hidden storage room.
"There's a storage room here. Check if there's anything inside."
"The storage room is locked from the inside. Is someone in there?"
"Listen up, whoever's in there. We're survivors too. Come out now, and you can join us. If you don't, don't blame us for what happens next."
"If we have to come in and get you, you're as good as dead."
The thugs threatened from outside, unsure if anyone was actually in the storage room but hoping their threats would scare anyone inside into coming out. It would save them a lot of trouble if someone surrendered voluntarily.
"Not coming out? Fine, you asked for it."
"Guys, break it down."
With a crash, an axe struck the door of the storage room. Wendy let out a terrified scream.
"It's a woman, and she sounds young."
"Hahaha, we've found a young woman. We're in for a treat."
The thugs laughed shamelessly.
The surrounding zombies had already been cleared out, and they were on a high floor, so they had no fear of attracting more zombies. As a result, the thugs acted with complete impunity. Knowing there was a woman inside the storage room, they became even more motivated. The axe struck the wooden door repeatedly, quickly creating a gap.
One of the thugs reached in and unlocked the door. Wendy, terrified, didn't think to stop them. As soon as the door was open, a thug rushed in, grabbed Wendy by the collar, and dragged her out.
"Hahaha, she's a real beauty. Boys, we're in for a great night," the leader of the thugs exclaimed, excited by Wendy's appearance.
The leader, named Hadden, had been a fitness influencer before the apocalypse. After everything fell apart, he used his physical strength to gather a group of men and form this gang. Hadden was smart and used various tactics to maintain control over his team, one of which was sharing the women they found.
Any woman they came across was considered shared property within the group. Everyone had a turn, and everyone got to play. This arrangement kept the men loyal to Hadden. However, Hadden had certain privileges. New and attractive women were his to enjoy first. Only after he had his fill would he pass them on to the others. No one minded this arrangement since everyone got a share, and Hadden was the leader, after all.
"Don't touch me! My man is coming back soon. He's an extraordinary ability user. If you touch me, he won't let you get away with it," Wendy screamed in terror.
Wendy didn't know if Sylas could save her, but she clung to the hope that he would arrive in time. It was all she had to hold onto.
"Your man is an ability user?" The thugs were taken aback by this news.
Even Hadden paused his actions. Although they didn't fully understand what it meant to be an ability user, they'd seen enough videos online recently to know that these people were different. Ability users were a new breed of human with extraordinary powers. Ordinary people like them stood no chance against someone with such abilities.
"Boss, do you think she might be lying?" one of his subordinates asked, suspicious.
Wendy, trembling, insisted, "I'm not lying. My man went out to find food and will be back soon."
"What kind of ability does your man have?" Hadden asked cautiously.
Wendy quickly thought of a lie. "He's invulnerable to knives and bullets. Those zombies can't hurt him at all."
Not knowing what Sylas's actual abilities were, Wendy made something up. Her confident lie made the men hesitant to act.
"What do we do, boss?" a nervous thug asked.
Hadden let go of Wendy and spoke more politely. "Alright, let's talk to your man when he gets back. If he's really as strong as you say, maybe he can join our team. If he's one of us, we won't hurt you."
Hadden had his ambitions. He knew that life was getting harder for ordinary people. Having an ability user join their group would significantly strengthen them. As for the potential power struggle, Hadden wasn't too worried. He was even willing to let the new guy take the lead if necessary. Having a powerful ally could provide a sense of security.
Hadden felt confident he could be accommodating, provided Wendy wasn't lying. If she was, her fate would be very grim.