Chapter 20

In the spacious restaurant, water was still slowly draining, the floor damp, and the air filled with the smell of chicken blood and the foul stench of zombies.

Zhou Yun waded through the water, wearing a mask and latex gloves, holding a steak knife. He walked over to the zombie, grabbed its head, and swiftly sliced open the zombie’s brain.

He used the knife to poke inside, retrieving a small dark red crystal core—fire attribute. No wonder this zombie didn’t like water.

The crystal core was incredibly small and had not been pierced by the steel arrow, remaining intact but only the size of a fingernail.

This was quite unexpected. Many early zombies had gray, attribute-less cores. It seemed this security guard had decent physical health but still couldn’t withstand the Red Mist.

However, fire attribute cores were of no use to them at the moment. Zhou Yun had water and wood dual attributes, and although Guan Yuanfeng had activated a fire ability in his past life, he had a severe rejection response, so the fire core was discarded… It was time to test it on Comet.

Zhou Yun picked up the crystal core, placed it in a plastic bag, and stuffed it into his pocket. Frowning, he grabbed a trash bag to pack up the zombie’s body and dragged it to the restaurant’s observation balcony leading outside.

The sun had already begun to set behind the distant mountains, with the landscape unchanged, as if the apocalypse had never arrived. The rising wind quickly dispersed the zombie’s foul stench.

Zhou Yun tossed the zombie off the balcony, watching it fall with a heavy “thud” before a swarm of zombies rushed to devour it.

They eagerly feasted on their fellow zombie’s decaying body. Even from the 20th floor, the sight of the densely packed zombies was unsettling.

After handling the zombie body, Zhou Yun removed his gloves and began inspecting the spoils of the restaurant.

It was clear that taking the restaurant first had been the right choice. The restaurant still had a large stock of seafood, vegetables, fruits, and other food supplies. There were freezers, a warehouse, some cash register equipment, accounting books, printer paper, notebooks, and even a backup diesel generator, likely to prevent food spoilage in case of power outages.

He picked a clean, fresh radish from the pile, took a bite, and it was crisp and sweet—quite good.

He did a quick round, making a rough inventory of usable equipment, taking a photo of the stock list, and then walked to the large seafood fish tank wall.

—-

In the blue seawater tank, the ozone machine was still running, and the marine fish swam leisurely, unaware that the end of the world was approaching.

But Zhou Yun knew that the power and water would soon be cut off. Although the restaurant had a backup generator, it wouldn’t last long without a supply.

Once his ability leveled up and he gained offensive skills, he could consider collecting gasoline from the remaining vehicles in the community.

In the early stages, his water and wood abilities had almost no offensive power, and it was nearly impossible to deal with the zombies in the neighborhood. He would have to survive on the rooftop.

Thus, the sea fish here wouldn’t last long, and he could only try to keep the mutated fish alive a little longer and maintain the saltwater environment as best as he could.

Luckily, mutated animals have a strong survival ability. He only needed to keep the mutated sea fish and eat the non-mutated seafood over the next few days.

He extended his hand, picking out the particularly lively and fierce sea fish to touch. With just a little water energy, he could feel the resonance of power and easily detect if the fish was mutated. Sure enough, he quickly identified eighteen mutated fish, including fish, shrimp, crabs, and shellfish, varying in size.

Indeed, marine creatures are more prone to mutation.

Saltwater fish are not easy to raise, especially now in the apocalypse. It’s difficult to continue changing the water in the seawater tank.

But mutated saltwater fish are different. Their survival abilities are much stronger than ordinary fish.

Zhou Yun fished out a mutated crab, took a small knife, and cut it open. The animal’s mutation crystal nucleus is sometimes located in the brain, sometimes in the heart.

The crab wasn’t very large, so it was easily cut open.

Zhou Yun raised an eyebrow and scooped out the rich crab roe, revealing a small, transparent blue crystal inside. It was tiny, but just right for someone like him, who had just awakened the water and wood abilities.

He held the essence in his palm, closed his eyes for a moment, and then opened his hand. The essence was completely absorbed, leaving no trace.

The crystal nucleus in his dantian seemed to swell a bit.

Early-stage ability users upgraded using the crystal nuclei, and the effect was very noticeable. It even sparked a small craze for hunting zombies.

But once they reached the third level, the increase from the crystal nuclei was minimal and could no longer improve.

At that time, people thought it was due to personal physical limitations.

However, he believed it had to do with the strength of the body’s meridians. If someone didn’t pay attention to expanding their meridians at the start and blindly used crystal nuclei for enhancement, their abilities would soon be maxed out, and their bodies would be unable to bear more power, preventing further improvement.

Because of his studies in traditional medicine, he was very familiar with human meridians and acupoints. After gaining his abilities, he tried acupuncture, massage, adjusting his breathing, and practicing qi cultivation to strengthen his meridians. Slowly, he managed to progress and, with the complementary relationship between water and wood powers, he successfully advanced to level five in both abilities.

In his previous life, however, he had focused on developing zombie antidotes and crop growth enhancers. His experiments with abilities were something he had to explore on his own.

This approach might not be universally applicable, and he had originally planned to recruit volunteers and students for clinical trials to systematically summarize the theories. But before he could do so, he was falsely accused and imprisoned. Fortunately, he hadn’t written any of his research down, or else it would have benefited those who framed him.

He was satisfied, took another plastic bag, and picked a mutated shrimp to put it inside. Then he returned to his rooftop, tossed the shrimp into the electric eel pool, and watched as it swam energetically at first. Its pincers were sharp. Once it hit the water, the eel immediately stunned it with a strong electric shock.

The eel seemed to know that the shrimp was different from the usual fish food. It swam over and swallowed it in one gulp, then slowly swam to the shady area under the fake mountain and remained still.

Zhou Yun knew that the eel would need some time to absorb the crystal nucleus, and since it was a different attribute, the absorption time would be longer. He planned to feed it one mutated creature per day and let it grow slowly.

The crystal nucleus inside this electric eel would grow rapidly in the short term. Mutated animals grew faster and more directly than humans.

He was satisfied as he looked at the eel suspended in the water, motionless. He then started preparing dinner with the crabs. Four large ones were steamed, and the previously dissected mutated crab was coated with flour and fried with chili bean paste and breadcrumbs, making it crispy and fragrant.

Mutated plants and animals made excellent food for the body.

Zhou Yun happily made a shellfish and radish soup, then went to check on Guan Yuanfeng to see if he was feeling better.

Since the zombies had appeared at the front door, they always used the rooftop to move. He grabbed his acupuncture pouch, intending to check on Guan Yuanfeng. If he still wasn’t feeling well, he’d give him a few acupuncture needles.

As he reached the door from the rooftop, Comet greeted him affectionately, spinning around his feet. He then heard Guan Yuanfeng on the phone: “Thank you. You’ll always be my old captain, but it’s best I don’t board the ship. I’m a useless person now, no need to waste precious resources.”

When Zhou Yun heard the word “captain,” he stopped. It seemed that Guan Yuanfeng’s old teammates had contacted him. It must be his teammates trying to reach him.

“Board the ship?”

It was the “Mars Ark” plan. The human Mars survival base had been under construction for over a hundred years. They had already made breakthroughs in problems like freshwater supply, oxygen shields, and cultivating life on Mars.

With the arrival of the Blue Planet apocalypse and the outbreak of zombies, countries quickly implemented plans to evacuate surviving humans to Mars, organizing large spacecraft to transport them.

Leading nations organized five giant spacecraft to carry survivors to Mars, while the remaining population on Blue Planet quickly dwindled under the zombie attacks.

The remaining humans on Blue Planet died quickly. The weak perished, and the kind couldn’t survive. The rule of survival of the fittest prevailed.

Culture and technology collapsed, industries halted, and civilization crumbled. The previous nations, governments, social orders, laws, and morals disintegrated. All that was left was the primal rule of the jungle, where only the strong survived.

When ability users were discovered, they began to form teams, hunting zombies and searching for ways to grow stronger, securing safe points, and establishing survival bases.

The scattered survival bases became the last refuges for the remaining humans on Blue Planet.

By the time Zhou Yun died in his previous life, there had been no news from the human base on Mars. It was possible that their technology had regressed so much they could no longer receive messages from Mars or explore space.

Since the apocalypse began, humanity had evolved along a different path: as ability users.

So, Guan Yuanfeng had been one of those who boarded the ship?

It seemed that his achievements must have been considerable… In his previous life, he had clearly given up, which fit his personality.

But later, he was still rescued by teammates. They were likely other teammates who hadn’t left, knowing he was in danger and came to rescue him.

“The spot can’t be transferred…? I have a doctor friend here who has helped me a lot. His medical skills are very high, and he specializes in acupuncture. He could contribute a lot on the ship. I can transfer my spot to him.”

Zhou Yun raised an eyebrow slightly, but saw that Guan Yuanfeng didn’t say anything further. The other person was likely explaining something.

Guan Yuanfeng whispered, “I understand. Since the spots are limited… and they can’t be transferred, I’ll give up my spot for someone who needs it more. It’s okay, I understand.”

“I’m safe now, with food and water, and I have reliable companions. Please don’t worry. There’s no need for them to take the risk to come here.”

“The signal isn’t easy to connect. There might not be another chance to meet. I will always be grateful for your teachings and care, Captain. I wish you all the best on your journey, and may you find new hope and a new future for humanity.”

By the end of his words, Guan Yuanfeng’s voice became a bit choked. Zhou Yun, looking through the door, saw him wiping his eyes. “Goodbye, Captain Tan. You will always be my old captain, and I will remember the time we spent together.”

Guan Yuanfeng hung up the phone and looked at the orange-red sunset outside the window. His always straight back slightly curved down, and his silhouette appeared lonely.