Chapter 15

Chu Nan, who had fallen to the ground, slowly began to move.

The state of super secretion of adrenaline had only lasted for a short time, so the intense pain of near-death had also been brief. However, he was drenched in sweat, his limbs weak, his face pale, and he looked incredibly exhausted.

Seeing Chu Nan move, Tang Sanli hurriedly supported him, helping him to sit up.

"Chu Nan, how are you?" Tang Sanli asked with great concern.

The others, seeing that Chu Nan could move, also looked over, no longer arguing.

"Still okay..." Chu Nan's voice was hoarse, and he answered weakly, looking at the headless corpses on the ground. He was thinking about the withered gene nuclei inside these corpses.

If he could get all of them, there would be about twenty to thirty, plus the six he already had, making it over thirty in total. With so many gene nuclei, what effect would they have on his own gene nucleus once he absorbed them all after charging them with the magnifying glass? Would he gain even greater power?

Although the aftereffects of stimulating adrenaline were so intense that they could damage the body, in critical moments, it could indeed save a life. Just now, if he hadn't stimulated it twice in a row, he would already be dead.

Between death and the aftereffects and damage to the body, he could only choose the latter.

"These zombie-like creatures in this area are probably all here... so this place... is temporarily safe." Chu Nan said weakly, "Everyone... rest here for a while... then, let's go back to the city together."

Impressed by Chu Nan's bravery, everyone was deeply moved. When he spoke, they all nodded unconsciously.

Indeed, there were about twenty to thirty zombie-like creatures lying here. The active zombie-like creatures in this wasteland should have been mostly cleared out. Even if zombie-like creatures from other areas came, it wouldn't be too fast. Relatively speaking, this place was still a safe spot.

"Chu Nan is right. Let's all rest here for a while," Tang Sanli, who was increasingly impressed by Chu Nan, agreed.

The others had no objections and sat down to rest, eating some food and drinking some water.

Tang Sanli handed Chu Nan a bottle of mineral water. Lin Xiao drank it all at once, feeling a bit better. After sweating so much, his body was extremely dehydrated, and he indeed needed to replenish his fluids.

Although they were resting, no one was idle. Everyone was searching for food. Each person had brought some, but because they were only about ten kilometers from Jiangtian City, they could reach it before dark if they hurried, so they hadn't brought much.

Tang Sanli found a pack of cigarettes and was overjoyed. He took out a pack and gave each person one.

Yu Xiaotian shook her head, "I don't smoke."

Tang Sanli smiled, "Have one to calm down. Cigarettes are a good thing." He threw one to her regardless of whether she smoked or not.

The atmosphere gradually became more relaxed.

Everyone introduced themselves. Besides Yu Xiaotian and Gan Yuanyue, the two women, the man with a crew cut was called Yin Yiping, the man with a broken nose and a bloody face was called Jin Xin, and the other two were called Gong Lin and Cui Zhian.

Chu Nan, having recovered some strength, began to collect the withered gene nuclei from the heads of the corpses on the ground.

Tang Sanli also helped.

Yu Xiaotian asked curiously, "Chu Nan, what do you need these for?"

Tang Sanli explained, "Chu Nan is a doctor. He wants to take them back to the city for research to understand why these dead people turn into zombie-like creatures."

Yu Xiaotian understood, "I see, I'll help you too."

The others looked at each other, some believing, some half-believing, and some suspecting that Chu Nan had other motives.

"Could his sudden strength be related to collecting these things?" Gan Yuanyue looked at Chu Nan, somewhat suspicious.

Chu Nan took out the gene nucleus of the particularly powerful zombie-like creature, which also looked withered. From the outside, there wasn't much difference, except perhaps that the reddish-brown color was slightly lighter.

"Could these zombie-like creatures also evolve? Just like my gene nucleus can be stimulated," Chu Nan suddenly thought.

Yu Xiaohu also firmly believed Chu Nan's words, so he even smashed the heads of the recently deceased Dongzi and the other three men, citing Chu Nan's advice to prevent them from turning into zombie-like creatures.

Besides the special gene nucleus, there were twenty-six ordinary zombie-like creatures, plus Dongzi and the other three, making it over thirty in total. However, when they reached Chu Nan's hands, there were only twenty-five, indicating that a few had been secretly collected by others.

Chu Nan didn't mind, putting away the twenty-five, adding to the six he already had, making it a total of thirty-one withered gene nuclei.

With so many people around, Chu Nan couldn't take out the magnifying glass to charge the withered gene nuclei with primal force. However, he was estimating in his mind that if the thirty-one gene nuclei were fully charged and absorbed, would his own gene nucleus change again? If it did, what would happen?

Chu Nan was somewhat excited.

"Chu Nan, you haven't said how you became so brave just now," Tang Sanli asked quietly, wanting to understand the reason for his kindness.

Chu Nan smiled, "It's simple, I broke through."

"Broken through?" Tang Sanli was stunned.

Chu Nan explained, "When we kill zombie-like creatures, we can absorb a very special kind of energy, right? Absorbing enough energy can stimulate adrenaline, increasing speed, agility, and strength."

Chu Nan didn't hide it because everyone would eventually reach the point of stimulation after killing a few more zombie-like creatures. It would soon no longer be a secret, so there was no point in hiding it.

Hearing Chu Nan's explanation, Tang Sanli murmured, "I see," his eyes gleaming.

Yin Yiping, with the crew cut, said, "That's interesting. It's like leveling up in a game. These zombie-like creatures are like the monsters in the game. Kill enough of them, and we can level up and become stronger. The difference is that in the game, if we die, we can start over... here, if we die... we're really dead." He smiled bitterly.

"I always loved playing games... wishing they were real. Now I realize that if the game became real, it would be so terrifying," Yin Yiping murmured. "I wish this were just a dream. When I wake up, I'll never play games again. Damn... games."

Although he was very skilled at games, having played online games for ten years and considered himself a gaming expert, in reality, he found it useless. Just the sight of the monsters rushing at him was terrifying. A slight mistake could mean death, and even if one didn't die, an injury was excruciating, like Jin Xin, whose broken nose still caused him immense pain.

Humans are really so fragile.

"Rested enough, let's go," Chu Nan said, still weak but feeling much better after eating and drinking.

They had rested for about half an hour. Chu Nan checked his phone; it was already past noon. They needed to hurry to get back to the city before dark.

The nine of them stood up one by one. Jin Xin, holding his bloody nose, was in great pain, tears streaming down his face, but unable to cry.

Fortunately, they hadn't gone deep into the ruins and quickly returned the way they came. When they saw Lu Tianming lying not far from the ruins, they found his neck bitten off, his head rolled to one side, and he was dead.

Seeing the familiar wound, Chu Nan took a deep breath and said, "Residual Ear."

The image of the yellow dog with cold, eerie eyes flashed through Tang Sanli and Yu Xiaoxu's minds.

Tang Sanli felt a chill, "That damn dog is back? It's like a lingering ghost." He looked around but saw nothing.

Chu Nan, feeling weak and floating, without even carrying a rebar, relied on Tang Sanli to walk. Hearing Tang Sanli's words, he said, "Let's not worry about it for now. Let's go."

"What do you mean by Residual Ear?" Yu Xiaotian asked curiously.

Yu Xiaohu said, "It's a dog, but not an ordinary one. It's very powerful. One bite can sever your neck." He glanced at Yu Xiaotian's neck.

Yu Xiaotian instinctively pulled her neck back, giving Yu Xiaohu a dirty look, thinking that this country bumpkin looked honest but was actually quite slick.

"Why is it called Residual Ear?" Yu Xiaotian, who talked a lot, asked Chu Nan.

Yu Xiaotian talked too much, and Chu Nan found it annoying, but he still answered calmly, "Because it's missing an ear."

Yu Xiaotian said, "Oh, I see," looking enlightened, but then wanted to ask more. Chu Nan, already leaning on Tang Sanli's shoulder, walked away, ignoring her.

Chu Nan was in a heavy mood and had no interest in dealing with her.

The other woman, Gan Yuanyue, didn't talk much but had a cold expression. If you looked closely, you could see that she was actually afraid, just trying to hide it.

This time, no one dared to get close to residential areas or collapsed buildings. They followed the direction to the city, choosing to walk through fields, vegetable gardens, and lawns. The black asphalt road was broken in the middle, so they couldn't follow it all the way. To get to the city as quickly as possible, they had to cross through these fields and lawns.

"As long as we keep the right direction, we can definitely get to the city before dark," Cui Zhian said, encouraging everyone, including himself.

At their walking speed, they could indeed return to the city before dark, about ten kilometers away, barring any unexpected events.