Annihilation Civilization

Chapter 3 Core Flesh!

A glare alone could not kill anyone, so Cole ignored it completely.

Expressionless, he walked over to the little girl. Only after confirming she was truly dead did he crouch down and slice open her chest with the machete.

The girl's skin carried a faint bluish tint. Once cut open, black blood poured from her chest like flowing water, thick as ink and reeking with a foul stench.

An ordinary person, stared at by such hateful eyes even in death, would never dare touch the corpse.

But Cole had seen scenes like this far too many times already.

"Eh?"

Suddenly, Cole's eyes lit up.

"Core Flesh!"

Beside the girl's blackened heart was a tender white chunk of flesh about the size of a finger joint. It resembled flawless jade fat, completely untouched by blood.

With a plastic bag covering his hand, Cole carefully removed the white meat and sniffed it lightly.

There was not even the slightest trace of blood odor.

Instead, a faint fragrant aroma drifted from it.

"I hunted two adult Infected Creatures and found nothing. Yet I actually found Core Flesh inside this small one."

Cole shook his head with a smile.

Walking into the bathroom, he rinsed the white meat clean before tossing it directly into his mouth and chewing.

Core Flesh!

A miraculous substance that strengthened the body after consumption. It could occasionally be found inside ordinary Infected Creatures.

The reason humans transformed into Infected Creatures was because their bodies could not endure the virus's rapid mutation process. Their genetic chains collapsed, causing flesh to rot away.

It was like trying to make a bicycle move faster than a car.

The bicycle itself simply lacked the necessary durability and would ultimately fall apart.

What was humanity's greatest strength?

Intelligence.

Without intelligence and technological weapons, humans were pitifully weak before nature's beasts.

They lacked the ferocity of lions.

The speed of leopards.

The ability to fly like eagles.

Or even the cockroach's terrifying vitality.

…

The original purpose of the scientists who created this virus was to stimulate human cells through infection, forcing them to evolve and gain strength comparable to wild beasts.

Unfortunately, before the virus completed testing, the laboratory exploded.

And that catastrophe led to everything that followed.

Most people could not endure the infection and became Infected Creatures.

Yet among those creatures, a small number produced the very thing those scientists had dreamed of creating—

Core Flesh.

According to the scientists' theories, if the virus had been perfected, every piece of flesh within the human body would evolve into Core Flesh.

At that point, vitality would increase dramatically, physical power would become astonishing, and humanity would evolve into an entirely new species.

A "New Human."

But now…

To Cole, Core Flesh was simply something that increased strength.

After chewing apart the tender white meat, its fragrant aroma spread throughout his mouth.

Cole sat on the floor and rested quietly for a while.

The Core Flesh in his stomach gradually seemed to dissolve and merge into his body.

Clenching his fist, Cole vaguely felt his strength increase by nearly a quarter.

This piece of Core Flesh had simply been too small.

If it were the size of a fist, it could probably increase one's strength by several hundred pounds.

Cole searched the room thoroughly but found no additional Infected Creatures.

Instead, he discovered three cans of preserved vegetables inside the refrigerator.

As for the frozen fish meat stored within…

Under the virus's infection, it had already rotted completely, covered with crawling maggots.

Those maggots, after exposure to the virus, would soon mutate as well.

Cole opened one can of vegetables.

The greens had not been infected and remained perfectly edible.

He placed the three cans onto a nearby cabinet, planning to carry them back after finishing his hunt.

Gripping the machete tightly, Cole took a deep breath before pulling open the room door and stepping outside.

The dim hallway remained utterly silent and empty, quiet enough to make one's skin crawl.

Cole slowly walked toward another room nearby.

This room's door was locked.

He did not attempt to open it.

If an Infected Creature was trapped inside, then even better.

Infected Creatures did not know how to open doors.

They would only starve to death inside eventually.

Cole checked several rooms in succession.

Every door remained locked.

That was not strange.

After all, the apocalypse had erupted at 7 PM, when most people were already inside their rooms. Nobody staying in a hotel would leave their door wide open.

This hotel had eighteen floors in total.

Cole lived on the top floor.

Because every room was extremely spacious, each floor only contained six or seven rooms.

Two of them had been rented by Cole.

Another already contained the Infected Creature he had killed earlier.

The remaining four rooms were all tightly locked.

After confirming there were no wandering Infected Creatures on this floor, Cole turned and walked toward the elevator, preparing to head downstairs.

"13th floor."

Seeing the number displayed above the elevator, Cole pressed the down button.

The elevator immediately began moving upward toward him.

Standing before the elevator doors, Cole waited quietly.

Watching the numbers rise one by one, he suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of danger creeping through his heart.

"14…"

"15…"

As the elevator continued ascending, the unease within him intensified.

Cole's expression changed slightly.

Without waiting any longer, he immediately ran toward the stairwell beside the elevator and hid next to the fire safety cabinet.

Moments later, the elevator doors slowly opened.

Within the silent corridor, the scene felt strangely eerie.

Before Cole could even relax—

Several swaying figures slowly walked out from inside the elevator.

Cole's eyelids twitched violently.

He immediately held his breath, almost stopping even his heartbeat.

Absolute silence.

The figures were three men and one woman.

They wore casual vacation clothing and were most likely tourists staying at the hotel.

But while riding the elevator, the apocalypse had erupted.

All of them became infected.

The female Infected Creature wore a white T-shirt decorated with a cute bear pattern.

But the shirt was stained heavily with blood.

There had likely been survivors inside the elevator when the virus spread.

And these creatures had torn them apart alive.

Her hair hung in messy tangles, her nails had grown long and sharp, and although her skin had not yet rotted, her eyes had already turned pale green.

Her once delicate face had become savage and twisted.

Two fangs protruded from her mouth, while dried blood stained her lips.

The three male Infected Creatures looked much the same.

The moment they exited the elevator, they wandered restlessly around the hallway, sniffing continuously as though searching for fresh, delicious blood.

Tension rose within Cole's heart.

Fortunately, he had left the elevator entrance in time.

Otherwise, the moment those doors opened and four Infected Creatures rushed out together, his chances of survival would have been slim.

The noses of Infected Creatures were extremely sensitive.

Even if someone hid underwater, they could still smell blood.

Cole did not continue hiding there.

If he stayed longer, he would eventually be discovered.

Suppressing his breathing, he slowly stepped backward, careful not to make even the slightest sound.

Thankfully, he wore basketball shoes.

If he had worn ordinary sports shoes, his footsteps would have produced noise.

Step after step.

Every movement felt unbearably long.

After retreating more than ten steps, Cole finally reached the corner of the stairwell.

But at that exact moment—

An infected young man followed the scent of blood toward the staircase.

The instant it spotted Cole, bloodthirsty greed exploded within its eyes.

With a low roar, it charged directly toward him.

That roar instantly alerted the other three Infected Creatures.

They rushed over one after another.

The moment they saw Cole, all their eyes lit up viciously as they charged forward with twisted expressions.

"D*mn it!"

Cole cursed inwardly.

Yet he did not flee downstairs.

That would only attract even more Infected Creatures, eventually ending with him collapsing from exhaustion before being torn apart alive.

His palms were drenched in sweat as he tightened his grip around the machete.

But he did not panic.

Within those few short seconds before the creatures reached him, he still managed to rapidly scan the surrounding environment, memorizing every detail instantly.

"ROAR!"

The first Infected Creature charged down the staircase.

Because it rushed downhill, gravity made its attack even fiercer.

Both clawed hands reached toward Cole's shoulders, attempting to pin him down before tearing open his throat.

How could Cole possibly allow that?

His body swayed sideways instantly while his leg lashed out toward the creature's waist.

Importantly, he kicked from the side rather than head-on.

Otherwise, with the creature's strength combined with downhill momentum, the recoil alone would have sent Cole flying backward.

The kick landed against the creature's side waist.

Because its footing on the stairs was unstable, the infected creature immediately lost balance and tumbled sideways.

The moment it slipped, it rolled violently down the staircase, crashing around helplessly.

But Cole did not relax.

The other three Infected Creatures were already charging toward him.

In such a short amount of time, there was no chance to pull out the gasoline bottle and ignite it.

So he suddenly lowered himself into a crouch and swept his leg forward, hooking the feet of the leading male Infected Creature.

Because it was already sprinting downstairs at full speed, the creature was easily tripped and sent sprawling onto its back.

It too rolled violently down the stairs after the first one.

The two creatures behind it instantly lost balance as their path became blocked.

At the critical moment, Cole sidestepped sharply.

As the female Infected Creature lunged toward him, he drove his knee upward violently into her abdomen while simultaneously bringing the machete crashing downward onto the back of her neck.

This strike contained every ounce of his strength.

Crack!

The female creature's neck was nearly severed entirely.

Only a thin strip of flesh near the throat still connected her head to her body.

The sight was horrifying beyond words.

Cole ignored her immediately.

Seeing the two creatures below attempting to rush back up the stairs, he turned and sprinted upward.

While running, he yanked open his pocket and pulled out the gasoline bottle along with the box of matches.

At terrifying speed, he opened the matchbox, struck a match, and ignited it in one seamless motion.

The speed was dazzling.

Ordinary people, seeing two Infected Creatures charging toward them, would already be trembling uncontrollably.

Yet Cole's movements remained frighteningly precise.

"It's over…"

Standing at the top of the stairwell, Cole held the burning match and looked coldly toward the two charging Infected Creatures below, as well as the third one climbing over the female corpse.

He opened the gasoline bottle and hurled it downward.

Gasoline sprayed through the air like flowing water.

At the same moment, Cole flicked his finger lightly.

The burning match traced a beautiful arc through the air before landing directly onto the gasoline trail.

BOOM!!

A violent explosion erupted throughout the stairwell.

Flames burst everywhere.

The screams of the Infected Creatures were drowned out entirely by the explosion.

When the firelight finally faded, only two charred black bodies remained sprawled across the staircase.

Meanwhile, the third Infected Creature climbing over the female corpse had also been blasted onto the floor, twitching violently.