Once outside the base, Xiang Wan realized she had been blinded by a single leaf. Life in the apocalypse wasn't what she had imagined, a scene of utter devastation. Instead, a new order had been established. Apart from the base, the rest of the place was mostly roamed by zombies, but they weren't aimless; they followed certain routes.
In some places, crude buildings were even constructed for higher-level zombies to inhabit. Aside from some low-level zombies who lacked independent thought and moved only by command or instinct, the others had developed some degree of intelligence. Moreover, aside from initially being somewhat stiff, having different body temperature and color from humans, and preferring to eat raw flesh, their movements were gradually becoming more human-like.
This is a terrifying discovery. Imagine, if a human is injured, they will inevitably turn into a zombie, but zombies cannot become human. As zombies gradually develop intelligence, can fragile humans still resist? Will humans eventually become domesticated creatures, solely supplying them with flesh and blood? Or will humans and zombies reach some kind of balance, coexisting peacefully? Zombies are the living dead; except for being killed, their lifespan is essentially unlimited. If they also gain the ability to reproduce, the thought is terrifying!
What kind of world is this? It leaves Xiang Wan, a human being, feeling both helpless and filled with emotion. Perhaps those who built the base did so because they had considered this possibility, which is why they banded together so tightly to preserve humanity's last hope.
Throughout her journey, which involved frequent stops and starts, Xiang Wan concealed her scent with herbs and altered her appearance. She visited numerous bases and witnessed countless battles between humans and zombies. She even heard stories of humans falling in love with zombies, but without exception, they were all treated as outcasts and driven away. The final result, of course, was that humans were bitten by their zombie lovers and gradually fed and raised into another zombie.
This is a sad story because the transformed zombies have lost their memories of being human; they only possess the memories and intelligence gradually cultivated within the zombie realm, and are no longer the same as before. Such a pair, unless truly in love, generally won't last long.
Xiang Wan never insisted on completely eliminating all the zombies, because she knew it was impossible. Only those who dared to provoke her would be utterly wiped out. Her supernatural ability, through constant consumption and accumulation, gradually reached level six. With each level up, her recovery speed increased, and now she was at the point where a cut would heal instantly without quickly drawing blood. The good news was that fewer people were harming her anymore; the bad news was that if she bled even a little, all the zombies within a hundred miles could smell it. Therefore, she dared not allow herself even the slightest injury along the way.
She had also encountered danger, being surrounded by hundreds of zombies, some of whom possessed supernatural abilities. Fortunately, she managed to escape into an air-raid shelter in time, thus avoiding certain death. She held the harvested zombie cores in her hands, gradually using her supernatural abilities to replenish the energy within them into her body.
Speaking of crystal cores, it seems that no one in this world has directly used their superpowers to digest the energy in crystal cores like she has. They usually send them to the base's research center to exchange for drugs that can stimulate superpowers, or they are used as currency.
In the year she was gone, countless small bases were overrun by zombies, and even large bases shrank considerably. Peng Liuliu's base, in particular, suffered heavy losses due to the large number of high-level zombies that gathered there. Many of her ability users were killed, and even most of her husbands perished. She barely managed to save the base. The rebuilt base was half the size of the original, reportedly because the high-level zombies eventually gave up on it.
"Sister, we meet again."
Hearing that voice again, Xiang Wan knew trouble was brewing. The seventh-level zombie, who had been pretending to be a child, was now standing about three zhang away from Xiang Wan, looking her up and down with a drooling expression.
"Long time no see, sister, you've lost so much weight! But you taste even better." The zombie licked its lips, its face beaming with excitement. "Sister, would you let me take a bite?"
"You think you can just give up just because I said I don't want to?" Xiang Wan stared warily ahead, drawing her long sword. It was a Tang sword forged from fine steel, its blade thin yet sturdy in her hand. The moment Xiang Wan saw it, she felt it suited her perfectly. Having slain countless zombies along the way without a scratch, she knew this sword was something special, of exceptional quality. Now, facing a zombie a level above her, there was no weapon more suitable.
The zombie tilted its head and thought for a moment before replying, "No, I've been thinking about it for a long time. Even though I've been marked, I still want to try it."
As she spoke, the zombie vanished in a flash. Xiang Wan instinctively dodged to the side, only to see the zombie suddenly reappear where she had just been standing.
The speed is too fast; it's either speed-based or space-based. This is troublesome. Aside from her flesh and blood, Xiang Wan doesn't really have any special skills; she can only rely on her perception of her surroundings to make preemptive judgments.
The zombie didn't seem to be in a hurry, repeatedly provoking Xiang Wan and wearing her down. Even though Xiang Wan knew its intentions, she could only resist in vain. Even though she was covered in medicine that could block the senses of other low-level zombies, if she bled, other zombies would be deterred by her fear of the zombie and stop in their tracks.
Like a cornered beast, she would fight to the death; this perfectly describes Xiang Wan's current state. She had been traversing the mountains alone, intending to avoid encountering others and hunt zombies by herself, but unexpectedly found herself in this predicament. Judging from the zombies' frenzy over her flesh and blood these past few days, if she fell into their hands, the best outcome would be to be completely devoured; the worst outcome, well, she'd be used as a living flesh-eating machine—a fate she certainly didn't want.
Her strength was gradually fading, and she was on the verge of collapse. With a sigh, Xiang Wan bid farewell to the system and took out a bomb she had hidden on her person. She had originally planned to use it to take the zombie down with her if she couldn't win, but she never expected it to be used in this situation. When the zombie approached again, Xiang Wan no longer intended to resist. Taking advantage of the moment it opened its mouth to bite her, she pulled the pin on the bomb, firmly locking the zombie in her arms.
"die!"
Before losing consciousness, Xiang Wan only remembered that the word was not uttered by her, and that a pair of blood-red eyes were staring at her with extreme anger.
Something, icy cold, rested on her hands and feet. Her face was wet and sticky, and she slept very restlessly. A line of red words kept looping in Xiang Wan's mind, but unfortunately, she couldn't see them; her consciousness was deeply mired in the deepest recesses, and she couldn't wake up no matter what.
If Xiang Wan had known she would end up in this situation, she would never have acted so impulsively. Alas, one wrong step can lead to eternal regret.
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