Chapter 74

After all, this was the primal force contained within the pineal gland of a sixth-level Awakened, Songguo’s pineal gland alone likely held enough primal force to match the power of killing hundreds of ordinary Infected. The ground was littered with corpses. After killing Songguo, Chu Nan felt no joy or excitement, nor did he feel elated from absorbing such a vast amount of primal force. Songguo’s words were not wrong; killing humans might be the fastest path to evolution. If Chu Nan could bring himself to do it, he only needed to kill a few more sixth-level Awakened like Songguo to evolve and become even stronger. However, he had his own principles. To pursue strength by killing humans was something he could not do. Feeling a sense of emptiness, Chu Nan slowly sat down, looking at the ground covered in corpses and thinking about Songguo’s疯狂的话语, a chill ran through his heart. There were likely many people in this world with thoughts similar to Songguo’s. Faced with the dangers and threats of survival and death, how many people would resort to harming their companions or other humans to gain powerful strength and increase their chances of survival? The air was thick with the smell of blood, and Chu Nan felt an indescribable oppression in his heart. He slowly took out a cigarette, lit it, and began to smoke. Amidst the bloody pile of corpses, Chu Nan’s thoughts wandered. He thought of his parents, Li Feng, the点滴 of this journey, including Su Yao, Tang Sanli, Shen Mo, and even Can Er. After a long while, Chu Nan extracted the pineal gland from Songguo’s corpse. This pineal gland belonged to a sixth-level Awakened. Songguo had evolved at a speed almost comparable to Chu Nan with the magnifying glass, by constantly ambushing and assassinating his companions. Such a person was truly terrifying. If Chu Nan had not left the base to retrieve the pineal glands and had not been on guard against Songguo, he might have fallen victim to Songguo’s treachery and become one of these corpses. "It seems that even humans can’t be completely trusted. Who knows who might suddenly turn on you," Chu Nan muttered, feeling a chill run down his spine. This meant that he could trust no one in the future. Taking out the magnifying glass, he fully charged the pineal gland with primal force. After crushing the gland, the amount of primal force absorbed was incredibly substantial, equivalent to killing another sixth-level Awakened. In this hellish world where death could come at any moment, the only way to survive was to become stronger. Survival was the top priority. While Chu Nan could not bring himself to harm other humans to gain strength, he did not hesitate to extract the pineal glands from the corpses and use the magnifying glass to charge them with primal force, then absorb the primal force. In such a cruel world, it was impossible to judge and act according to the moral standards of the past; otherwise, he would be eliminated and die. For the corpses from which he had extracted the pineal glands, Chu Nan felt a slight pang of remorse, but he had no other choice. Between survival and the so-called morals of the secular world, he could only choose the former. After absorbing the primal force from the pineal glands, Chu Nan felt the primal force in his mind surging, almost filling half of his capacity. That night, Chu Nan barely slept. The advantage of traveling alone was that he did not have to worry about the secret of the magnifying glass being leaked, but the disadvantages were also becoming apparent. No one was there to keep watch, and he dared not fall into a deep sleep. The city of Jiangtian at night was particularly terrifying, with可怕的咆哮声 from the darkness in the distance, and even the sky was occasionally crossed by massive dark shapes. Chu Nan knew these were mutated vultures. At night, the number of undead and Infected moving around in the city increased, wandering and hunting. Even the Infected and the undead would fight each other, with the victors evolving to become stronger. The night had become the domain of the undead. Even those stronger than Chu Nan were unwilling to wander around Jiangtian at night. The city’s population was over a million, and Chu Nan estimated that after the earthquake, more than half of the people had died and turned into Infected. Finally, as the sky began to lighten, Chu Nan took some food and put it in his backpack, then carefully left the area. Heading towards Baiyun District, the mutated vultures that had been circling in the sky were no longer visible. In the sunlight, he could see the undead and Infected moving around, but their numbers were much fewer compared to the night. To get home as quickly as possible, Chu Nan avoided these undead and Infected, knowing that if he engaged them, he could easily be surrounded by hundreds of them and end up in a prolonged and brutal fight. Chu Nan’s speed increased, and he leaped and ran through the ruins of the collapsed buildings. Suddenly, he stopped on the roof of a broken building, looking ahead with a look of disbelief. The building had been sliced open as if by a knife, and the cut extended down to the ground, forming a winding crack that seemed to tear the area apart. Standing on the roof, Chu Nan knew that if he took another step forward, he would fall into the crack below. Looking down, it felt like standing on the edge of a cliff. His scalp tingled, and he was at a loss for what to do. He did not know how far the crack extended, but it blocked his path. To continue to Baiyun District, he needed to find a way to cross or go around the crack. From his vantage point, the crack was at least thirty to forty meters wide, and even with his remarkable physical abilities, he could not jump across it. Narrowing his eyes, Chu Nan was about to turn and look for another way when he heard a rustling sound around the half-destroyed building. Turning, he saw three figures climbing up the sides of the building, all pale-faced with red eyes, lifeless and undead. One of the undead had mutated arms, more advanced than the ones he had encountered before. The muscles on its arms were swollen like drums, with veins like small snakes crawling all over, indicating the explosive strength contained within. Another undead was small and shriveled like a dwarf, with a face and skin covered in wrinkles, as if its body had suddenly shrunk, making the skin loose and wrinkled. This dwarf undead had evolved in the opposite direction, with less terrifying offensive power but a ghostly speed and agility. The third undead was the female with mutated hair, whom Chu Nan recognized. In the short time since he last saw her, she seemed to have evolved further. Her waist and abdomen, which had been largely missing, had partially recovered, and her hair, now over a meter long, flew around her. Her face was even more eerie and strangely beautiful. The three undead climbed up from three directions, surrounding Chu Nan. The female undead clearly recognized Chu Nan and let out a low growl. The one with mutated arms roared like a giant ape and charged at Chu Nan first. The dwarf undead moved like a ghost, darting from the side. The female undead, being cautious, approached slowly, her hair flying around, ready to attack at the slightest provocation. Chu Nan, now a sixth-level Awakened, was not afraid. Holding the spider claw in his right hand, he quickly assessed the situation. The dwarf undead, though slower in attack than the one with mutated arms, would reach him first. He swung the spider claw down heavily, and the ghostly dwarf undead, which had lunged at him, was practically inviting the attack. Just as the spider claw was about to slice open the dwarf undead’s abdomen, it twisted its body and narrowly avoided the attack. Immediately, the one with mutated arms, like a giant ape, slammed its hands down on Chu Nan. Behind him, the female undead, using the angle of vision, suddenly disappeared from Chu Nan’s sight. Chu Nan felt a chill and did not hesitate. His golden power erupted, and his arms turned golden. With a loud "bang," the super-muscled arms of the mutated undead crossed and hit Chu Nan’s golden right leg, like a tank crashing into him. Chu Nan was sent flying backward. The female undead, moving from behind the mutated undead, had her mutated hair, over a meter long, wrapping around like venomous snakes. On the other side, the dwarf undead, with a steel bar in hand, lunged from behind, aiming for Chu Nan’s vital points as he flew backward. With its strength, the steel bar would instantly pierce through Chu Nan’s body. All of this happened in the blink of an eye. The mutated undead roared, sending Chu Nan flying. In mid-air, Chu Nan performed an incredible move, using the impact to spin backward, and his golden left leg, like a battle axe, swung down heavily. With a "crack," the blow landed on the top of the mutated undead’s head. The sound of bones shattering was deafening, and the mutated undead’s head bled profusely. At the sixth-level Awakened, with second-level golden power, the force of the kick was enough to crack concrete walls, let alone the skull of an undead with only super-muscled arms. The skull shattered, and blood mixed with white brain matter gushed out.