Ian vaguely remembers that among the eyes watching him earlier, one belonged to Jewel. She seemed to live on the 16th floor.
It's been almost a month since the apocalypse began. Ian Song believes that in a city as big as Huahai, there can't be more than a hundred thousand survivors left.
It's about twenty kilometers from the eastern suburbs to downtown.
Jewel is in a hurry, afraid Ian will leave. She trips over a zombie's severed head and falls, but she doesn't cry. Just as she's about to get up by herself, a hand appears in front of her, and a gentle voice says, "Give me your hand."
Jewel is in a hurry, afraid Ian will leave. She trips over a zombie's severed head and falls, but she doesn't cry. Just as she's about to get up by herself, a hand appears in front of her, and a gentle voice says, "Give me your hand."
Jewel hesitates, because her hands are dirty. She wipes them hard on her already filthy dress before reaching out.
Seeing this, something deep inside Ian is suddenly touched. He pulls Jewel up, his voice even gentler, "Did you hurt yourself?"
"No, I'm not afraid of pain! Thank you, big brother!" Jewel says timidly. But Ian's eyes land on her scraped, raw knees.
Luckily, compared to the speed of his flying sword, these mutated sparrows are pretty slow. Still, Ian doesn't dare fly around up there anymore, in case he attracts the attention of other mutated birds.
He figures, since there are mutated sparrows, there must be other kinds of mutated birds too.
Suppressing his sword light, Ian lands in front of a high-rise in the city center.
Zombies roam everywhere on the street.
After running down from the 16th floor, Jewel is exhausted. Her clothes are soaked with sweat, and her forehead is covered in beads of perspiration. But she doesn't feel tired at all—instead, her face is full of hope, because she knows that if she brings this big brother home, her mom can be saved.
Ian puts away his flying sword and pulls out a massive mountain-cleaver machete from his Storage Ring.
After a night of black rain, all the zombies evolved into tier-two or higher. But since that night, it hasn't rained again.
Even after fighting for two hours and killing over two thousand zombies, Ian's clothes are still spotless—not a trace of dust or blood.
Like a phantom, Ian Song charges forward with his mountain-cleaver machete. Zombie heads fly, and headless bodies keep collapsing to the ground.
In just a few minutes, he beheads every one of the hundred-plus zombies that had gathered from all directions.
But to Ian's surprise, Jewel splits the bread into two parts—one about a third, the other two-thirds. She eats only the smaller piece, saving the rest for her mom.
By now, it's been almost a month since the apocalypse broke out. He wonders if anyone else knows how useful Evolution Crystals really are.
"I'm saving the rest for my mom!" Jewel says with a sweet smile, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.
"Kill!"
The mountain-cleaver machete appears in Ian's hand once again, and another slaughterfest begins.
Soon, Ian, still carrying Jewel, arrives at the 16th floor. But just as they reach the door, his expression suddenly changes, sensing something dangerous inside.
Meanwhile, several pairs of eyes in the surrounding buildings are staring at Ian in shock. To them, zombies are terrifying monsters, but Ian kills them like he's chopping vegetables—it's just unbelievable.
Ian has long since noticed those peeping eyes, but he just doesn't bother with them.
This time, before he can finish extracting crystals from those two hundred zombies, even more start converging on him.
Without another word, Ian whips out his mountain-cleaver machete and starts killing again.
Even without channeling true essence, just swinging with his raw physical strength, the machete is still incredibly sharp—every casual swing takes out one, two, or even more zombies.
After two hours, Ian has already killed nearly two thousand zombies.
But there are still huge numbers of zombies pouring in from all directions.
Thinking about the fact that there are nearly four million zombies in the city makes Ian shiver a little.
If he kills a thousand zombies per hour, it would take him four thousand hours of nonstop fighting to clear out all four million zombies. That's 166 days and 6 hours.
Of course, there's no way he could fight for over 160 days straight without sleep. If you factor in twelve hours a day for rest and sleep, then it would take 332 days to kill all the zombies in Huahai City.
Assuming each city has a hundred thousand survivors...
He'd need to conquer ten cities just to reach a million survivors.
Thinking about all this, Ian feels a little depressed. Damn, ten years—isn't that way too long?
Looking at the new wave of zombies surging toward him, Ian loses all desire to keep fighting. He shifts his body, ready to leave.
"Big brother, wait!"
Ian turns around and sees a little girl running toward him.
Ian vaguely remembers that among the eyes watching him earlier, there was a little girl like this. She seemed to live on the 16th floor.
After the apocalypse began, the power went out pretty quickly. That means this girl walked all the way down from the 16th floor—and had to dodge zombies along the way.
So, Ian decides to stop and wait.
"Thud!"
The little girl is in a hurry, afraid Ian will leave. She trips over a zombie's severed head and falls, but she doesn't cry. Just as she's about to get up by herself, a hand appears in front of her, and a gentle voice says, "Give me your hand."
The girl hesitates, because her hands are dirty. She wipes them hard on her already filthy dress before reaching out.
Seeing this, something deep inside Ian is suddenly touched. He pulls the girl up, his voice even gentler, "Did you hurt yourself?"
"No, I'm not afraid of pain! Thank you, big brother!" the girl says timidly. But Ian's eyes land on her scraped, raw knees.
"So, why did you come looking for me?"
"Big brother, please save my mom, okay?" The girl looks up at him with a dirty, pleading face, begging pitifully.
"Okay! Take me to your mom." Ian agrees without even thinking.
"Thank you, big brother! Thank you! You're a real hero!" The girl exclaims, then grabs Ian's hand and leads him into the building.
After running down from the 16th floor, the girl is exhausted. Her clothes are soaked with sweat, and her forehead is covered in beads of perspiration. But she doesn't feel tired at all—instead, her face is full of hope, because she knows that if she brings this big brother home, her mom can be saved.
"Little sister, what's your name?" Suddenly, Ian picks her up.
"Big brother, my name is Jewel. You should put me down—I'm dirty, and I'll get your clothes dirty!" Jewel says seriously, her eyes showing a bit of shyness.
Even after fighting for two hours and killing over two thousand zombies, Ian's clothes are still spotless—not a trace of dust or blood.
"It's fine, I don't mind getting dirty!" Ian laughs. Suddenly, he gets an idea and takes out a fragrant piece of bread from his Storage Ring, handing it to Jewel. "Here, Jewel, this is for you."
Smelling the bread, Jewel instinctively licks her lips. She hesitates a bit, then politely accepts it and thanks Ian.
But to Ian's surprise, Jewel splits the bread into two parts—one about a third, the other two-thirds. She eats only the smaller piece.
"Jewel, why aren't you eating the rest?" Ian asks curiously.
"I'm saving the rest for my mom!" Jewel says with a sweet smile, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.
"You don't have to save it for your mom—I have more!" Ian says, waving another piece of bread in front of her.
Soon, Ian, still carrying Jewel, arrives at the 16th floor. But just as they reach the door, his expression suddenly changes.