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Su Xiao hadn’t expected to witness such a scene. Her heart trembled, and she almost let go, nearly causing more harm to the small body.
But she knew—under the apocalypse—this wouldn’t be the first time she saw something like this, nor would it be the last.
After a brief moment to calm herself, Su Xiao composedly cleared the rocks around the child and gently moved the broken body.
The moment her hand touched it, a notification popped up before her eyes: [Infection Level: 10%]
Su Xiao froze for a moment.
The child was undoubtedly dead—there wasn’t even the faintest sign of breath—yet the infection level persisted.
What did that mean?
She moved the body aside, and during the process, she spotted another hand deeper in the rubble. It was severed at the arm, bone exposed.
Su Xiao took a deep breath, walked over, and touched the broken arm.
[Infection Level: 10%]
Still 10%. Yes, the inexplicably increased infection level she woke up with this morning was also 10%.
So whether one is alive or dead, the infection spreads?
Su Xiao had no time to dwell on it—her gaze swept across the world, now in utter ruin.
If something of use could still be salvaged after a hurricane, then the earthquake had left nothing but dust and rubble.
Structures taller than ten meters had nearly all been leveled.
In just 32 hours, all of Blue Star had become a wasteland.
Beneath the ruins, the number of corpses could only grow.
Infection still clung to the bodies—would it increase again tomorrow?
Su Xiao didn’t know.
There were no signs of life nearby, and without a Safehouse, she couldn’t imagine how anyone could have survived such a disaster.
She thought for a moment, picked up a few scattered newspapers, and covered the little one’s body. Then she opened her nylon bag.
Inside were the phone she hadn’t traded in, a power bank, a lighter, a bottle of water, and a bar of chocolate in case she encountered danger.
It wasn’t much—but having seen the child, she couldn’t just leave the body lying there.
She’d try to give the child a final send-off, if she could.
Who would’ve thought—the moment the lighter touched the newspaper and the child’s corpse, it was as if some mechanism had been triggered. It ignited instantly, yet gave off no heat.
When the yellow flame burned out, a yellow treasure chest appeared.
A new color of treasure chest!
Su Xiao didn’t hesitate—she reached out and opened the yellow chest.
[Antivirus Serum]
Description: Removes 20% infection, prevents zombification.
A serum?!
So these medicine chests appeared after burning the corpses of infected survivors?
Then another notification chimed in her ears—
[Detected: You are the first survivor in the apocalypse to open a yellow treasure chest. Treasure Chest Easter Egg triggered. From now on, all yellow chests you find will yield double rewards.]
Su Xiao’s eyes lit up.
So no one else had realized yet—that burning the corpses of survivors led to this!
No more hesitation.
She’d assumed she wouldn’t find much by coming out here, but now this yellow chest was clearly something valuable.
There were levels to treasure chests, and the one she’d just opened was a Level 1 Yellow Chest.
Without delay, she began rummaging through the ruins. With the yellow chests, even the corpses didn’t seem so terrifying.
Perhaps there had been a camp nearby when the earthquake struck, so there were quite a few people.
Within an hour, Su Xiao had pulled seven or eight corpses from the rubble.
She thought about the danger mentioned in the notification.
If these dead survivors weren’t cleared in time, would they turn into zombies and climb out of the ruins once their infection level reached 100%?
Just like that timed challenge on the first night.
Should she tell the other survivors about this?
Su Xiao paused in thought—then proceeded to burn the bodies.
Five yellow chests appeared on the ground.
She hesitated.
Weren’t there eight corpses? Why only five chests?
After collecting them, she continued searching and eventually figured out the rule behind the chest drops—
It depended on the completeness of the corpse.
Only fully intact bodies—head, hands, and feet included—would yield a serum chest after burning.
Earlier, she had accidentally damaged two while dragging them due to her strength, and another body didn’t seem to have died in the earthquake—it had likely perished in the hurricane, with one foot and one hand missing.
With this rule clear, Su Xiao began moving rubble more cautiously.
Find bodies. Burn bodies.
She got so absorbed that she didn’t notice someone approaching from afar.
“Help! Please help!”
The cry for help snapped her back to attention, forcing her to drop the corpse she was carrying.
“Miss, save me!”
A woman’s eyes flickered as she noticed Su Xiao’s movement, but quickly adopted a look of fear.
Not far behind, a man pursued relentlessly.
Su Xiao swiftly pulled out her axe and aimed it at the woman, warning coldly, “Stay back.”
The woman looked at her, shaking her head tearfully. “Miss, that man—he’s terrifying! Please help me!”
As she spoke, she tried to hide behind Su Xiao.
Su Xiao quickly sidestepped—she had no intention of exposing her back to a stranger.
But her Safehouse was at least 500 meters away. If she wanted to flee, she’d have to deploy her car.
Just then, the man—broad-shouldered, bearded, and covered in bulging veins—arrived.
He scoffed as he looked Su Xiao up and down. “She’s my girlfriend. Don’t stick your nose where it doesn’t belong.”
Su Xiao silently stepped back, indicating she had no intention of getting involved.
“Please! I don’t know him! He said he could help me, so I followed him into his Safehouse!” the woman screamed.
The man, face twisted with rage, strode over and yanked her by the hair.
“I let you into my Safehouse—that saved your damn life! What, you thought there was such a thing as a free lunch in this world?”
Without hesitation, the woman grabbed a rock and smashed it toward the man’s head.
The strike was fierce—nothing like how an ordinary woman would act.
This detail made Su Xiao pause.
Clang—
To her surprise, the man’s head rang with a metallic clang, but he didn’t appear hurt at all.
Su Xiao quickly understood—this man must have passed the timed challenge last night and chosen a defense-type ability.
“You bitch! You dare fight back?!” he roared, kicking the woman viciously.
The woman rolled to the side, dodging his attack, and something slipped from her clothes.
A badge—an Alliance badge.
Su Xiao’s eyes darkened.
As the man continued to beat the woman, an axe cleaved into the back of his skull.
His body froze, eyes filled with disbelief, and he slowly collapsed.
The woman on the ground clutched her side, rolled away from Su Xiao, and put distance between them.
Su Xiao took the opportunity to retrieve her axe.
Strength crushes all techniques.
Attack is the best defense.
With the back of his skull crushed, the man quickly stopped breathing.
A toy car fell from his body.
The woman, swift and sharp-eyed, snatched it up and bolted.
Su Xiao’s voice drifted after her.
“If you run again, the next swing of my axe lands on you. You won’t be taking that Safehouse… Alliance.”Bottom of Form