Chapter 48

After the three rounds of attacks, everyone returned to their original base to rest. The sky gradually darkened, and many new arrivals reached this area that day. Some chose to leave, while others decided to stay, totaling over twenty people. However, they were all temporarily arranged by Chen Mo to remain at the base, not participating in the battles during the day.

After all, the three teams had worked together very smoothly during the day. Suddenly adding over twenty more people would only lead to confusion.

Chen Mo decided to explain their attack and coordination methods in detail to the new arrivals that night and reorganize the teams the next day.

With the total number of people exceeding seventy, those with severe injuries stayed at the base, while the rest were divided into three teams, each with over twenty members.

After assigning people to take turns on watch, everyone found their own places to rest. Chu Nan, however, left alone under the cover of night.

Chen Mo sat up, wanting to call him back, but his lips moved and then closed again.

Chu Nan was stronger than all of them. His performance during the day had deeply impressed everyone, and his obsession with the withered pineal glands in the corpses' heads was evident. Now, he was wandering alone in this dangerous darkness, which would be a death sentence for anyone else.

"Truly a strange person," Chen Mo muttered, watching Chu Nan disappear into the night.

"Maybe this guy is hiding some secrets, something peculiar," Nangong Xiong whispered beside him.

"Um." Chen Mo thought of Chu Nan's skills, the special spider claws, and his collection of withered pineal glands, which seemed useless. This made Chu Nan a mystery to him.

After some thought, Chen Mo got up and walked to Su Yao, Tang Sanli, and a few others, asking them about Chu Nan.

Tang Sanli was very cautious, giving vague responses.

Chen Mo asked a few more questions but found nothing valuable, feeling slightly disappointed.

"Is he collecting those pineal glands for medicine? How likely is that?" Chen Mo pondered. Chu Nan's risk in collecting the pineal glands seemed far more complex than just for medicine.

Since Chu Nan was a Level 4 Awakened, and Chen Mo was a Level 3, the gap wasn't too large, so Chen Mo didn't suspect that the pineal glands were related to Chu Nan's evolution.

However, if Chu Nan evolved again, Chen Mo would immediately suspect it.

Chu Nan left the team alone and slipped into the night. He didn't go far, only about one or two hundred meters, entering a dilapidated building. He moved swiftly, quickly reaching the third floor, took a deep breath, and removed his backpack.

He left the team to find a suitable place to infuse the withered pineal glands he had collected during the day with Origin Power.

He needed to evolve and become stronger.

A Level 4 Awakened had three times the physical attributes of a normal person, with his right leg having five times the strength. After the Level 4 adrenaline surge, his overall abilities could reach ten times that of a normal person. With the spider claws, ordinary zombies and undead, unless in the thousands, couldn't stop him.

However, Chu Nan still lacked the confidence to break into the city, cross the Daxiu District, and safely reach the Baiyun District to find his parents.

Therefore, he needed to evolve to a more powerful level. When his strength doubled, he would have a significant chance of success and would act alone.

Chen Mo's approach was relatively safe, but slowly advancing through the Daxiu District to reach the Baiyun District would take an unknown amount of time, which Chu Nan couldn't afford.

Thinking of his parents, possibly trapped somewhere in the city, waiting for his rescue, Chu Nan couldn't wait even a day.

"Hopefully, these pineal glands will help me break through."

Chu Nan thought silently, keeping his vision and hearing several times sharper than a normal person's. After confirming no one was around, he opened his backpack, took out a large number of withered pineal glands, and carefully took out the magnifying glass to infuse the glands with Origin Power.

"These spider claws are special, and this magnifying glass is even more unique... They can't be man-made. How did they come to be..."

Chu Nan mused, watching the faint white light in the distance, like an umbrella covering a distant area.

The area they had cleared during the day was also their target, but at their current slow pace, it would take several days to reach it.

About three hundred pineal glands, some from ordinary undead, and even from the special undead with mutated arms.

Chu Nan observed the pineal gland from the special undead with mutated arms, which was lighter in color compared to the reddish-brown ones.

"The more powerful and evolved, the lighter the color of the pineal gland. The one in my head is probably also a lighter color now."

Chu Nan thought as he infused the pineal glands with Origin Power.

"Since Awakened people are divided into levels, these zombies and undead should also be divided into levels. However, their evolution direction is different from humans. The same goes for the mutants. Although they all have pineal glands and Origin Power, their evolution is completely different."

"Human Awakened powers don't change our appearance; they mainly enhance our physical attributes and functions. However, the side effects are also significant, with strong aftereffects. This is mainly due to our originally weak bodies. Now that my body is stronger, the aftereffects are much less severe."

"These zombies also activate the pineal gland and Origin Power, but it's different from human awakening. It might be related to their already dead bodies. Ordinary zombies, though having several times the strength of a normal person, lack intelligence and only have basic instincts. In terms of evolution, zombies are roughly on par with normal people. They gain strength but lose intelligence, so it's hardly considered evolution."

"Ordinary undead with a bit of intelligence should correspond to Level 1 Awakened... They can be considered Level 1 undead."

Chu Nan held the pineal gland from the special undead with mutated arms, thinking, "In terms of strength and evolution level, this undead is roughly equivalent to a Level 3 Awakened, not much weaker than Chen Mo and Nangong Xiong. So, as a Level 2 Awakened, Zhuang Qing was no match for it."

"Mutated arms with unimaginable strength should be considered a Level 3 undead."

"Then, there might also be Level 4 undead, capable of matching a Level 4 Awakened."

Chu Nan's heart raced as he thought about this. Since the earthquake, a clear fact was that humans were evolving, but so were zombies, undead, and mutants, becoming increasingly powerful.

The most obvious was the increasing strength of the undead, with the残耳 becoming stronger each time it appeared.

"The changes in the appearance of the undead are not the most noticeable. The evolution of animals, especially insects, is the most obvious."

Chu Nan thought of the spider as big as a round table and the hideous, alien-like soft-bodied mutants that could directly consume human essence, growing larger with each consumption. This ability was clearly not possessed by humans or undead.

"Perhaps the diverse and varied evolution is determined by the genes of each different species."

In the end, Chu Nan could only make this guess.

About three hundred pineal glands, Chu Nan used the magnifying glass to infuse them with Origin Power and then crushed and consumed them.

Streams of Origin Power flowed into his body, gathering and merging in his pineal gland, forming a massive torrent.

Evolving to Level 4, Chu Nan had killed many spiders, zombies, and undead, absorbing a significant amount of Origin Power. If calculated in terms of zombies, the effect was equivalent to killing over a hundred zombies.

Now, these three hundred pineal glands, including those from undead, contained more Origin Power than four hundred zombie pineal glands.

Combined, the effect exceeded the Origin Power Chu Nan would gain from killing five hundred zombies.

However, even with this much Origin Power, Chu Nan still failed to break through.

Evolving to Level 4 required more Origin Power than the sum of all previous levels.

"Although I didn't break through, it's not far off... Tomorrow, I just need to kill a few more zombies, and I will definitely break through."

Despite the hard work of collecting three hundred pineal glands, which were all consumed, Chu Nan was still excited.

He could clearly feel the Origin Power in his pineal gland surging, impacting and shaking the genetic center, ready to break through the genetic center that had been restraining his greater power, transforming and evolving to break through.

"I just don't know what it will be like after I break through." Chu Nan touched his right leg, which was very special, different from the rest of his body. Each time it required Origin Power, it was equivalent to the total required for the rest of his body. It contained a unique and special force, just a step away from truly bursting forth.

"What is this power? If I break through again, will this power truly appear?"