Annihilation Civilization

Chapter 5 The Mutated Ant!

In the early stages, the Mutated Ant Creature was not considered a very powerful monster. But in the later stages, every single one of them became terrifying beyond imagination. Even mutated lions and tigers were nowhere near as ferocious as ants in the late apocalypse!

According to scientists, an ant’s strength was four hundred times its own body weight!

How terrifying would an ant the size of a wild boar be?

“This ant is still small, only the size of a fist. Right now, its strength is only equal to the combined power of ten Infected Creatures. But by next month, once the virus inside it evolves again and its body grows to the size of a football, it’ll become even more terrifying. At the very least, it’ll possess the force of over a hundred Infected Creatures striking at full power.”

Cole’s eyes gleamed brightly.

“As long as I capture it, extract its genes, and fuse them into my body, I can become a Gene-Enhanced Warrior!”

Gene-Enhanced Warrior!

This was one of the most powerful professions in the later stages of the apocalypse!

Cole still remembered that in his previous life, there had been ten peak Gene-Enhanced Warriors. Every one of them was monstrously powerful. A casual punch from any of them could destroy an entire building. Their strength completely surpassed normal human understanding. They were the strongest New Humans!

“As long as I catch this ant, I’ll be able to become a Gene-Enhanced Warrior.”

Excitement surged through Cole.

Although the requirements to become a Gene-Enhanced Warrior were incredibly harsh. On average, among a thousand survivors, only one person might successfully overcome the monster genes and become a Gene-Enhanced Warrior!

And those survivors were already people who had resisted viral infection. Their resistance was astonishing, yet even then it was a one-in-a-thousand chance. That alone showed how difficult it was to become a Gene-Enhanced Warrior.

However, Cole had complete confidence in himself.

In his previous life, he himself had been a Gene-Enhanced Warrior. Although he could not compare to the ten peak warriors, he had still earned quite a reputation across many regions.

Thinking this, Cole slowly closed the room door, sealing the room into a closed space and trapping the Mutated Ant Creature inside. Once his strength became sufficient, he would return to capture it!

After shutting the room, Cole bypassed it and headed toward the next room. The door there was slightly ajar, and the inside was deathly quiet.

But Cole did not let down his guard.

He could smell a dense scent of blood in the air.

If his guess was correct, there were definitely Infected Creatures inside the room—and probably more than one...

A trace of tension rose in Cole’s heart. He braced the door with his foot. At that moment, the door felt as heavy as a mountain. He slowly took a deep breath before pushing it open.

In that instant, even time itself seemed to stop breathing.

The door slowly opened.

Inside the room stood seven or eight figures motionless like stone statues. As the door opened wider, all seven or eight heads turned toward him simultaneously.

Cole’s heart violently twitched.

The next moment, without the slightest hesitation, he spun around and fled at full speed, moving like the wind. In the blink of an eye, he rushed into the stairwell.

At the same time, savage roars erupted from the room behind him. Seven or eight figures charged out and pursued him.

“D*mn it!”

Cole’s expression darkened.

He had originally estimated there would be at most three or four Infected Creatures inside. He never expected there to be seven or eight!

With his current strength, facing them meant certain death!

Even the only gasoline bottle he carried had already been used up. All he had left now was the watermelon knife.

After rushing up the stairs, Cole quickly ran back into the room he had previously used for shelter. He slammed the door shut and locked it.

A few seconds later, furious roars approached.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The door shook violently under repeated pounding.

Fortunately, the doorway was narrow. At most, only four Infected Creatures could attack it at the same time, so it could still hold for a while.

Calm down! Stay calm!

Cole repeatedly warned himself internally.

In an instant, he forced himself to calm down. At a time like this, panic meant death was close. Cold sweat covered his body as he frowned and thought rapidly.

A moment later, his eyes suddenly lit up.

Turning around, he entered the bedroom.

Inside was a large white bed with neatly folded blankets on top. Cole walked over and pushed the bed with all his strength. Immediately, the bed shifted position.

Joy flashed through his eyes.

He pushed the bed directly behind the living room entrance. But this time, instead of blocking the door completely, he placed it about three feet away from the entrance.

Then he entered another bedroom and dragged out another bed of the same size, stacking it on top of the first one.

Together, the two beds formed a barricade roughly one meter high, completely blocking the path into the living room.

Although the Infected Creatures possessed amazing jumping ability, it would still take them several seconds to climb over the beds and enter the living room.

Those few seconds were exactly what Cole needed!

He entered the kitchen and, as expected, found two gas canisters beneath the stove cabinet. He quickly carried one out and placed it beside the stacked beds.

Then he opened the valve.

Hissssss—

A strong gas smell immediately spread throughout the living room.

Cole shut one bedroom door to reduce the amount of gas drifting inside. Then he walked over to the light switch and pressed it once. Since the apocalypse had only begun not long ago, the hotel still had electricity.

Cole dismantled the switch and tampered with the wiring so the contact became unstable before reinstalling it.

Since the switch was mounted high, he dragged over a stool and placed the remaining frying pan upright on top of it. Then he positioned the broken mop handle behind the door so it would be pushed immediately once the door opened.

In addition, he found a clothes-drying pole in the room and balanced it diagonally between the frying pan and the mop handle.

After finishing everything, Cole glanced toward the entrance.

The doorframe was trembling nonstop. Chunks of white plaster from the walls were shaking loose and falling. It probably would not last much longer before being smashed open.

Cole entered the kitchen, soaked a towel with water, covered his nose and mouth with it, then hid inside the closed bedroom.

Less than a minute after entering—

Boom!

The entrance door was smashed open.

Immediately after came an explosive roar.

BOOM!!!

Windows throughout the room shattered. Scorching waves of heat surged through the gaps beneath the bedroom door.

A trace of joy appeared in Cole’s eyes. He knew his plan had succeeded.

The moment the door burst open, it would hit the mop handle. Once the mop moved, the clothes pole would fall and strike the frying pan. The pan would then drop onto the unstable light switch, causing sparks to erupt from the faulty wiring.

And in a room filled with dense gas...

Even a tiny spark was enough to trigger an explosion!

Only after everything quieted down did Cole slowly open the bedroom door and walk out with the watermelon knife in hand.

The living room was in complete ruin.

The glass table had shattered into pieces. The sofas and beds were charred black and still burning.

Cole gave a bitter smile.

If another eight Infected Creatures came right now, there would be absolutely no way this room could stop them anymore.

Still, he did not care too much.

After all, in a hotel, the one thing they did not lack was rooms.

Walking over, he saw that all eight Infected Creatures had already died. Two of them had been closest to the gas canister and were burned into shriveled black skeleton-like figures. The remaining ones all carried the disgusting stench of roasted flesh...

Cole walked outside and checked the surroundings. Seeing that no other Infected Creatures had been attracted over, he returned and began dissecting the corpses.

In the end, among the eight Infected Creatures, Cole surprisingly found two pieces of Core Flesh!

His luck was unbelievably good.

One piece was only finger-sized.

The other, however, was as large as a fist!

Excitement filled Cole’s face.

Because the Core Flesh was hidden beside the heart, and because he had only used half a canister of gas, the explosion had not completely incinerated the Infected Creatures. Otherwise, the Core Flesh would have been destroyed too.

He carried the Core Flesh into the bathroom and washed it clean.

Then he stored the finger-sized piece in a plastic bag, planning to bring it back for Loxi later.

As for the fist-sized Core Flesh, he sliced it into several three-inch strips and slowly consumed them piece by piece.

“This fist-sized Core Flesh is enough to double my strength!”

Cole’s eyes shone brightly.

After digesting the Core Flesh in his stomach, he immediately felt his strength increase tremendously. His entire body felt lighter by dozens of pounds. He could now support himself with one hand and easily perform a backflip.

At this point, in terms of raw strength, Cole was already comparable to an ordinary Infected Creature.

“Now, even against two or three Infected Creatures, I can deal with them without using gasoline.”

Cole felt extremely happy.

The stronger he became, the more capable he was of protecting the people around him.

That was also why he had consumed the Core Flesh himself instead of saving it for Loxi.

After all, he was the one hunting Infected Creatures every day. Only if he became strong enough could he guarantee his sister’s safety!

Cole checked the time and felt it was about right. He sheathed the watermelon knife and returned to his own room.

Knock knock!

“Brother.”

Hearing the knock, Loxi looked through the peephole first. Only after seeing that it was Cole did she finally relax and open the door.

The moment the door opened, she saw that Cole’s entire body was stained with the blood of Infected Creatures.

In his eyes, exhaustion could be faintly seen.

The skin around his chest was soaked with sweat, his shirt clinging tightly to his body.

Loxi stared blankly at him.

At the brother who had protected her ever since childhood.

Her eyes instantly reddened.

Completely ignoring his filthy clothes, she threw herself straight into his arms.

Cole rubbed Loxi’s soft hair and smiled.

“Alright, you’re already this old, yet you’re still crying.”

Loxi slowly loosened her grip. Lowering her head, she remained silent for a long time before suddenly speaking softly—

“Brother... this afternoon... I want to go with you too!”