The city was dead.
Mu Bei peered out through the gap in the window, the scene before him suffocating:
On the empty streets, cars were piled haphazardly, like toys carelessly discarded by a giant;
Rotting corpses and scattered items littered the ground, silently recounting the panic and despair that descended when the disaster struck.
The air was filled with a faint, lingering stench of decay, and the low growls and moans of Zombies occasionally echoed from afar. A few shambling corpses wandered aimlessly in the street, their movements stiff and slow.
Mu Bei turned around, switched on the bedside lamp, and it lit up.
He removed the two batteries from the lamp, then plugged the power cord into the socket on the wall above the bedside table. As expected, the lamp didn't light up this time.
He unplugged it, then plugged it into the adjacent socket, but the lamp still didn't light up.
The city's power supply system had likely collapsed.
Afterward, Mu Bei stored the batteries in his storage space. Resources like batteries couldn't be wasted in the apocalypse.
Based on the building density and vehicle density, this was at least a large city. Before the virus outbreak, the city's population should have reached the million level, so the number of Zombies would not be small.
Judging by the degree of decay of the corpses and the current temperature, it could be roughly estimated that the virus had been outbreak for about 2 months.
Those who were still alive now were probably not pushovers. The kind or overly compassionate people should have mostly died already.
Therefore, to complete the main quest, besides the threat of Zombies, one should be more wary of human-caused disasters.
Because human nature has no bottom line.
After observing the scene outside the window, Mu Bei began to search the room for usable resources, eventually finding these:
A sturdy pair of gloves. Their leather was thick and could resist scratches from sharp objects;
A pair of shin guards used for playing soccer. Although designed for sports fields, their hard plastic shells could also provide extra protection in the apocalypse;
A cycling helmet. The helmet also had a pull-down transparent protective visor, which could effectively prevent viral liquids, such as Zombie blood, from entering the eyes.
And a small knife. The knife was inlaid with some gems and crushed diamonds, looking very ornate, its collection value far exceeding its practical value.
But this small knife had been sharpened and was quite sharp, so it couldn't be said to be completely without practical value.
Mu Bei used the small knife to cut the fabric he could find in this bedroom, wrapping the cut fabric layer by layer around his body.
About half an hour later, Mu Bei was 'fully armed':
Wearing a cycling helmet with a face shield, not an inch of his skin was exposed. The thick fabric could provide effective protection against Zombie scratches and bites, which he had tested with the small knife.
'It's time to leave this bedroom.'
Mu Bei took a deep breath and slowly opened the door a crack. Although he was very careful, it still made a slight sound when opening.
What came into view was a messy living room, and...
Two Zombies!
The Zombies' skin had a deathly gray color, with dried bloodstains remaining on it.
Their eyes were rotten, their mouths were open, revealing sharp teeth and shriveled tongues. Their muscles were severely atrophied, in some places even showing bare bones. Their movements looked very slow and clumsy, and they emitted a putrid smell, which was very unpleasant.
These two Zombies looked terrible, but what was worse, Mu Bei was discovered by these two Zombies.
'Roar' x2 Accompanied by two low growls, the two Zombies lunged towards Mu Bei.
Facing this sudden door-opening ambush, Mu Bei did not panic. Instead, he instantly entered combat mode, his adrenaline surged, and his brain worked overtime.
Congenital immunodeficiency was just a genetic problem that could directly threaten Mu Bei's survival.
Besides the immune deficiency, Mu Bei actually had a certain degree of emotional deficiency.
For example, from the time he was born until now, he had hardly ever felt the emotion called joy.
Of course, there was also the emotion of fear.
Mu Bei, instead of retreating, charged forward. He rushed to the Zombie closest to him, gripped the small knife tightly in his right hand, and using his own Strength and the momentum of the Zombie rushing towards him, he plunged the blade deep into the Zombie's eye, then violently twisted the blade, scrambling the Zombie's brain.
Due to the severe damage to its brain, this Zombie died on the spot.
A kill notification arrived:
【Contractor killed a Level 1 Zombie, gaining 0.05 ounces of world source.】
【Heaven Forsaker talent triggered, Contractor gains an additional 0.17 ounces of World Power.】
But Mu Bei had no time to check the notifications at this moment, because the other Zombie had already reached Mu Bei's side and was biting at him.
Seeing this, Mu Bei squatted slightly, then violently struck the Zombie's face with his helmet, while also pulling out the small knife.
The Zombie was briefly stunned by Mu Bei's headbutt.
Mu Bei seized this opportunity to turn around, once again sending the dagger into this Zombie's eye socket, twisting his wrist to scramble the brain.
【Contractor killed a Level 1 Zombie, gaining 0.04 ounces of world source.】
【Heaven Forsaker talent triggered, Contractor gains an additional 0.15 ounces of World Power.】
The kill notification from Paradise arrived again.
After the two Zombies died, Mu Bei did not relax his guard. Instead, he first eliminated potential threats within this apartment.
This was a one-bedroom, one-living room apartment, which was simple to search. It was less than 50 square meters and had nowhere for Zombies to hide.
'Hoo~'
After confirming he was temporarily out of danger, Mu Bei exhaled deeply, then simply plopped down onto the floor, not minding how dirty it was.
As the battle ended, the adrenaline concentration in his blood gradually decreased. Mu Bei could even clearly hear his own heartbeat, thumping like it was about to leap directly out of his chest.
'When facing danger, the instinct hidden in the genes will erupt, saving a life. Was that what I looked like when my potential exploded? Pretty cool.'
Two Zombie corpses lay on the ground, black and foul-smelling brain matter slowly oozing from their punctured eye sockets. This made Mu Bei stare blankly for a moment.
The reason for his blank stare was the emergence of a long-lost emotion in Mu Bei's heart. This emotion seemed to be... joy.
That's right, it was joy.
The last time he felt the emotion of joy was when he successfully created an electronic life form that was highly likely to possess self-awareness through his own efforts.
'The feeling of killing... seems pretty good!'
Just as Mu Bei was seriously savoring the aftertaste of killing, he felt as if something in the Zombie's skull had flashed.
'Could it be the crystal mentioned in the quest information that can be used to exchange for world source?'
Mu Bei got up and used the handle of the small knife to smash open the skull of the Zombie lying on the ground.
Then, in the rotten and foul-smelling brain matter, he used the knife to pick out a transparent crystal that was estimated to be less than 1 cubic centimeter in volume.
【Level 1 Zombie Core, can be exchanged for 0.01 ounces of world source.】
【Exchange? Yes/No】
Mu Bei held the crystal and observed it for a few more seconds, then chose Yes, and focused intently on the crystal in his palm.
About less than half a second after choosing Yes, the transparent crystal in Mu Bei's hand instantly vanished.
Huh? He didn't even blink.
【Contractor has obtained 0.01 ounces of world source.】
Mu Bei repeated the above action, cracking open the head of the other Zombie corpse, obtained another crystal of similar size, and then chose to exchange it.
Now, he had 0.32 ounces of World Power and 0.11 ounces of world source.
So, how should he use this energy to strengthen his body?