Bang!
Ye Chen grasped a zombie's skull with one hand, slamming it forcefully against the wall. The creature's struggles ceased immediately, its lifeless body going limp.
Ye Zhu, accustomed to such sights, swiftly wielded her machete, slicing open the zombie's chest to retrieve the mutation-enhanced flesh. Moments later, she unearthed a piece, tossing it into her bag.
Glancing outside, Ye Chen noted the encroaching darkness. Turning back, he said, "Let's head home."
Ye Zhu nodded obediently.
The two exited the room and walked to the elevator at the end of the corridor. Ye Chen pressed the button for the upper floors.
Ding.
The elevator doors slid open, and they stepped inside.
Back in their room, they resumed their nightly routine. Ye Chen entered the bathroom to cleanse himself, while Ye Zhu went to the kitchen to prepare the harvested flesh. By the time everything was ready, it was already 7 p.m.
Outside, the world was shrouded in pitch-black darkness.
Ye Chen sat at the dining table, watching as his sister carried dish after dish to the table. Warmth filled his heart; this familial comfort was something he would defend with his very life.
"Not a bad haul today," Ye Zhu remarked as she brought out a bowl of soup filled with neatly cut mutation-enhanced flesh—almost the size of three fists combined.
Ye Chen's eyes gleamed with satisfaction. "We cleared the 13th and 12th floors today, a total of over 250 zombies. Normally, we'd expect to find just 25 pieces of mutated flesh, but you managed to extract more than 70, including one as large as a fist."
Mutated flesh of such size was a rarity—most pieces were only fingertip-sized. Zombies bearing fist-sized flesh were on the verge of evolving into zombie kings, creatures capable of unleashing primal beast-like instincts.
The two began their meal, with the lion's share going to Ye Chen. After consuming the flesh, their bodies glistened with a layer of black sweat, evidence of the energy absorption.
"Twenty times the strength of an ordinary person," Ye Chen muttered, clenching his fists as his eyes sparkled with newfound power.
In just over ten days of relentless hunting, his strength had surged from fourfold to a terrifying twentyfold. The thought of compressing the might of twenty men into a single punch was exhilarating.
As his strength grew, so did his physical transformation. His nails had sharpened into knife-like claws, surpassing the zombies' in lethality. Even the thickest doors could be shredded under his grip. His skin had toughened to the point where zombie scratches barely broke the surface.
Moreover, his cellular resilience had evolved to such an extent that he was nearly immune to the zombie virus, even if injured.
By Ye Chen's estimate, his current stats were:
Strength: 1000 kgSpeed: 100 m in 5 secondsReaction Time: 0.01 seconds
For comparison, an average person's reaction time was about 0.3 seconds. A trained goalkeeper might reach 0.1 seconds. At 0.01 seconds, one could navigate a hail of bullets as if moving through a slow-motion film—though dodging bullets was still beyond Ye Chen's capability for now.
Ye Zhu had also made significant progress, reaching five times the strength of a normal person. While her combat skills were still lacking, she could now handle zombies on her own. However, Ye Chen remained cautious about letting her fight solo, as her inexperience often left her flustered in close encounters.
"Eat up," Ye Chen said firmly. "Rest early. Tomorrow, we hunt again."
The following day, the siblings geared up and descended to the 11th floor.
As the elevator doors slid open, a rancid stench assaulted their senses. A shadow lunged toward them with a guttural roar. Ye Chen reacted instantly, his sharp eyes locking onto a bloodied zombie whose claws reeked of decaying flesh.
"Die," Ye Chen growled, his voice icy. He delivered a ferocious kick, sending the zombie hurtling down the corridor, its body slamming into the wall with a sickening crunch. Its chest collapsed, and it fell limp. Despite its mangled state, the zombie continued to claw forward, snarling in desperation.
Ye Chen frowned, striding forward to deliver a final blow. The zombie's head burst apart like a melon, and it stopped moving.
"Dissect it," Ye Chen ordered curtly, scanning their dim surroundings. The corridor was lined with battered doors and skeletal remains scattered across the floor. No other zombies were in sight—likely lurking within the rooms.
After Ye Zhu had finished her task, the two moved systematically through the rooms, breaking down doors and dispatching the undead inside.
At Room 28, rapid footsteps echoed down the corridor. Ye Chen froze, his sharp ears picking up the sound of seven or eight individuals approaching from the corner.
"What's happening?" Ye Zhu asked, her voice tense.
Ye Chen shook his head silently. A figure burst into view—a young man with a lean build, dressed in loose black jeans and drenched in sweat. His breath came in ragged gasps.
"Help!" the man shouted, his eyes lighting up as he spotted the siblings. Without hesitation, he dashed past them.
"Good luck with those zombies!" the man called out shamelessly, offering a thumbs-up as he disappeared down the corridor.
Ye Chen blinked, momentarily stunned. But there was no time to dwell on the man's audacity. The zombies were upon them. He hefted his fire axe and charged into the fray.
In a blur of precise strikes, the axe danced through the air, carving through the zombies like a hot knife through butter. Within moments, all seven were reduced to lifeless heaps on the ground.
Standing amidst the carnage, Ye Chen looked like a blood-soaked demon, his crude clothes now dyed a deep crimson.
The young man, having taken refuge in a nearby room, peeked out and froze. His jaw dropped as he witnessed Ye Chen's effortless slaughter. The man's stomach churned at the sight of Ye Zhu calmly dissecting the corpses.
"Wait!" the man called out hoarsely as the siblings moved on. "Please, wait for me!"