Chapter 5: Everything Under My Control
1592 Words
【Evolution Progress: 2/100】
"p*****t! Psycho! Shameless!" Shen Rong squatted in the corner, burying her head between her knees as she muttered curses to herself. After all, she had just changed her pants, and now she couldn't wear them again.
At the window, Lin Yuan sat on a chair, observing the scene outside.
Beyond the office building was a wide, two-way street. Not far from the intersection, there had been a horrific car accident, with over a dozen vehicles piled up. Now, they were nothing more than ashes.
Earlier, when the helicopter flew by, it had drawn away a portion of the zombies from the ground, leaving the street much quieter.
“There’s a supermarket on the first floor, but there’s probably more zombies there. The supplies likely haven’t been looted too much yet.” Lin Yuan wasn’t too worried about basic necessities. His primary concern at the moment was accumulating evolution points. If he relied solely on biting Shen Rong, her delicate skin wouldn’t last long.
She already had bite marks on both shoulders, and it would take at least three to five days for those to heal.
“I should get her some ointment to prevent infection. After all, where would I find such a perfect ‘pet’ if she gets sick?” Lin Yuan thought to himself, realizing he had found a loophole in the system for gaining evolution points. Since the condition was to bite uninfected humans, he could just keep biting the same person repeatedly.
"You stay inside, and I'll stay out here. Don’t come out unless it’s necessary."
The office had a sofa that could comfortably accommodate one person, and with the weather not yet cold, the spacious room provided a more comfortable place to sleep.
Rong Shen covered her face and returned to the cubicle. Once the door was shut, there was no further sound. If the first time had been an accident, this time was Lin Yuan's deliberate doing, completely exploiting her weakness.
After eating and drinking his fill, Lin Yuan lay down on the sofa to rest for two hours, using the time to familiarize himself with his life-sensing ability. As the sky grew darker, the city, without any lights, slowly fell into pitch-blackness. However, the moon in the sky was unusually bright. The moonlight draped the surroundings like a layer of white gauze, faintly illuminating the area.
At this time, no survivors dared to appear outside; most were curled up in safe houses. The men were discussing how to bravely kill zombies the next day, while the women huddled together and cried.
Lin Yuan opened the door and walked out. Whether it was due to his body being strengthened, his vision had also improved significantly. Walking through the corridor, a few zombies wandered aimlessly in the adjacent work area. Without a target, these zombies were like headless flies, rotating back and forth in a fixed area.
Lin Yuan's presence didn’t cause any reaction from the zombies. Even as he walked past them, they remained indifferent.
"I wonder if other zombies will evolve?" Lin Yuan thought, curious. He didn’t deal with these zombies but followed the stairs down to the first floor and exited the office building. Although he knew the zombies wouldn’t harm him, the sight of a group of zombies slowly shuffling in the dark still gave him goosebumps. He stayed close to the walls and eventually found a pharmacy nearby.
Medicine would definitely become scarce in the future, but in the early days of the apocalypse, people only cared about filling their stomachs and rarely thought about future emergencies. Taking advantage of the bright moonlight, Lin Yuan found several boxes of anti-inflammatory medicine, iodine for disinfection, alcohol, and band-aids. When he saw a box of condoms on the shelf, he hesitated for a moment and chose the largest size.
There were a few convenience stores nearby. Due to the sudden outbreak of the zombie virus, these stores remained open. A half-eaten corpse lay at the entrance of one convenience store, its head reduced to only half. As Lin Yuan approached, the chest of the corpse suddenly twitched.
“Whoa!” Lin Yuan instinctively stepped back. Through his life-sensing ability, he noticed a faint response coming from the abdomen of the corpse.
The next second, a large rat emerged from the corpse's abdomen, its fur soaked in blood. Its eyes, particularly sinister and glowing with a strange red light, gave off a menacing aura. The rat, noticing Lin Yuan’s presence, squeaked a few times and quickly escaped into a nearby sewer.
“Even the rats have mutated? This rat is almost as big as a small cat, and since it’s been feeding on flesh infected with the zombie virus, its genes have likely mutated as well.” But now was not the time to investigate the rat. Lin Yuan stepped over the corpse and searched inside the convenience store for a while until he found a flashlight.
When he turned on the flashlight, he saw a zombie crouched in the corner, gnawing on some flesh. Hearing the sound, it turned its head and glanced at him before shuffling slightly to better conceal the scraps of meat it was guarding.
“Quite the appetite.”
The zombie's mouth was covered in blood, and it emitted a low, warning growl, as if telling him not to take its food.
Lin Yuan collected some food and water, stuffing his backpack full, and grabbed two bags of still-fresh fruit. He then slowly made his way back to the office building. Nearby, in a tall building, a middle-aged man was hiding by a window, watching the situation outside. He had noticed Lin Yuan’s unusual figure from the moment he entered the convenience store. When zombies weren’t disturbed, they moved slowly and without purpose, but this figure was walking quickly, pausing occasionally.
When the figure emerged from the store carrying a backpack and holding bags, the man immediately realized—this was definitely a living person.
“Hey guys, come here! There’s a live person outside!”
He called out to the others in the room in a low voice, as if he had discovered something incredible. The five others in the room quickly gathered at the window, just in time to see Lin Yuan walk past several zombies without them reacting at all.
“Could it be that zombies don’t bite people at night?”
As the figure gradually walked away, the five men’s minds began to race. Trapped in the office with their supplies running out, one of them finally said, "So, what do you guys think? Should we go out and take a look?"
Over the past five days, they had tried teaming up to go out, but every time they encountered zombies, it was just a race to see who could run faster. However, they had never ventured out at night.
"I think it's the zombies' nature. When night falls, they become sluggish, even sleepy, which is why they don’t attack the living," said a young man who looked like a college student, adjusting his glasses. The moonlight reflected off the lenses, momentarily concealing the naivety in his clear eyes.
"Really? I’ve seen movies where zombies are fierce at night. Maybe that person has some special trick or smeared something on himself," a middle-aged man in a suit said, somewhat puzzled. Out of boredom, he had watched quite a few zombie movies, especially those disgusting ones where hordes of zombies went beyond their limits, which he found more interesting than the Resident Evil series.
"Yeah, just a few nights ago, there were zombies chasing people in the streets. We should be cautious." They were able to clearly observe what was happening outside, so they had noticed the patterns of events over the past few days.
"You guys don’t understand. I’ve been researching the origins of the zombie virus these past few days, and I have a few bold hypotheses." The college student waved his hand, signaling the others to come closer.
"Do you remember the flu virus from a few years ago? The one that swept across the globe in a short time?" The college student had a broad knowledge base, and as he spoke confidently, the others became intrigued.
"The zombie virus spreads even faster than that flu virus, but there’s a significant problem: generally, the faster a virus spreads, the less potent it is. Yet the terrifying thing about the zombie virus is that contact means death."
The four listened in confusion as the college student pushed up his glasses and continued with utmost confidence.
"So I deduce that this virus definitely isn’t from our Blue Planet; it’s likely from an unknown virus in the cosmos. Therefore, if we can find the patterns, we might find a way to counter it."
The four were still bewildered, wondering how a virus could be tied to the macrocosm of the universe.
"Let me put it this way: there’s a special magnetic field on our Blue Planet. This magnetic field gradually affects the virus's activity. Perhaps at night, that’s when they become sluggish."
Upon hearing this, the four finally grasped the main point.
"But what if something unexpected happens? Is it really safe at that time?" The oldest security guard revealed hesitation on his face; he knew that if they went out, he would likely be assigned to the front.
"Don’t worry; I have everything under control! All my years of study have not been in vain!" the college student assured them confidently.
- Writer
