Chapter 14

The layout of the second floor was completely different from the first —— here, the floor was carpeted, and green potted plants were placed around the walls. The venue was divided into three areas of different sizes, each designated for weightlifting, yoga, and ballet training.

Seven or eight tall, muscular men gathered together, along with two women dressed provocatively. They formed a circle, focusing on the cards in Hu He's and two other men's hands.

Dozens of glass bottles and a pile of empty drink cans were placed in the corner, and in the small room at the turn of the stairs leading to the rooftop, a thick stack of old newspapers was piled up. After the toilet became completely unusable due to a water outage, these items began to serve as containers for feces. After the survivors finished their business, they would wrap the waste in newspapers and throw it from upstairs. Despite this, a faint, indescribable stench still lingered in the gym.

"Three twos with a pair of fives, the big joker, and the last card, the six of hearts. Hahahaha! I win ——"

Hu He had a great hand, leaving his opponents no chance to fight back. Satisfied, he grabbed the two packs of cigarettes on the side and put them in his pocket.

He loved gambling, especially in this environment where playing cards was the only form of entertainment.

There were over fifty survivors in the gym. Only those who had Hu He's permission were allowed to go upstairs to the second floor.

When the virus outbreak occurred, Hu He was organizing equipment in the gym. No one expected that a few of the early morning aerobics class participants would turn into zombies. Hu He fiercely swung a steel pipe, smashing their heads, and quickly sealed the first-floor entrance, continuously accommodating nearby escapees. His strong physique and decisive actions in a crisis made him a natural leader, revered by many survivors.

He fairly distributed food and water and bravely led the group on resource-gathering missions. However, the expected rescue never came, and after the phone batteries died, no messages were received. After the initial panic and tension, the survivors fell into a silent, gray future.

With his superior strength and combat skills, Hu He gathered a core group of followers. He began to set rules in the gym —— all those who returned from outside had to hand over half of their supplies. Otherwise, they would be expelled and left to face the terrifying zombies alone.

He quickly grew to enjoy the taste of power. Being able to deal with disobedient people at will, watching them kneel and beg with the most humble tone, even licking his shoes with their tongues... All of this made Hu He, who earned a monthly salary of just over 3,000 yuan, feel unprecedentedly satisfied. He suddenly realized that becoming a big shot was actually very simple —— as long as you were stronger than others and made them fear you.

A solitary corpse hung from a horizontal bar outside the window.

It was a middle-aged man, not a zombie, and not infected by the virus. The deep rope marks in his flesh were the cause of death, and his face still bore an expression of extreme pain. A long time had passed since his death, and the highly decomposed body was infested with maggots, making a faint, barely audible "squelching" sound.

He was a vice-manager of the gym and the first person Hu He personally killed. The reason was simple —— during a food-gathering mission, he had hidden two bags of beef jerky. Hu He hanged him high on the bar in front of everyone.

He believed the world had become chaotic. Otherwise, why hadn't the police and the military shown up?

"Hahahaha! My luck is really good today, really good ——"

Hu He gathered the cigarettes on the table, stood up from the cushion, and laughed as he left, heading towards the office on the south side of the gym, which had now become his private quarters.

The empty seat was immediately taken by the onlookers, and amidst the chaotic shouting and laughter, a new round of card dealing began.

Cookies, cigarettes, bottled water, and candy, even clothes, could be used as gambling chips. As for money... in the corner of the rooftop, a few pink hundred-yuan bills remained. They were crumpled and covered with black, hardened feces.

Humming an unknown tune, Hu He took a backpack from the cabinet and used a key to open the door. Most of the furniture in the office had been moved outside, and two cushions were laid on the floor. These were mainly used for yoga training but now served as a simple bed.

A woman was curled up in the corner. She wore only a large men's shirt, the collar open, exposing most of her breasts. Her skin was very fair, and her appearance was beautiful. She sat on the ground, hugging her knees, her eyes vacant, occasionally letting out a sob. Her long, disheveled hair fell over her shoulders, partially covering her naked body, giving her a bit of pitiful confidence.

She stared at Hu He with fear, her feet curling up instinctively, her arms hugging her knees tighter, her body trembling slightly.

Hu He grinned, pulled over a chair, and sat down. He took out a bottle of water and a small pack of soda crackers from his backpack, placing them at his feet, and looked at the woman with a meaningful gaze.

Her eyes immediately showed an intense desire. After a moment, her chest began to heave, and her desire struggled to break free from the constraints of reason. She tried to regain her composure, but her will was as weak as her pale, delicate hands. Her arms gradually loosened around her knees, and she crawled to Hu He's feet like a dog, her lips parting, and a very weak but determined voice came out. She whispered repeatedly, "Hungry... I'm hungry... I want... to eat..."

Hu He laughed and stood up from the chair, grabbed the woman's waist, and pressed her onto the desk, her back to him. He lifted her long, white legs and held them firmly under his armpits. The woman did not resist this rough action; she clutched the crackers and water bottle, tearing open the packaging with her teeth, chewing frantically and hurriedly. Behind her, Hu He sneered and thrust forward forcefully, causing the woman to scream, then quickly lower her head, her face filled with shame and anger, as she continued to swallow the unchewed crackers.

The woman had a beautiful name, Cao Rui.

Although over thirty, she was well-preserved and still looked like she was in her twenties. She had a successful husband, a happy marriage and family, and was a member of the upper class, envied by many. She was also the most beautiful student in the gym's luxury yoga class.

Hu He had drooled over Cao Rui's slender figure countless times and secretly taken photos of her, using them for his fantasies when alone. He knew the gap between him and this woman was vast, and he could only admire her from afar, never truly getting close, let alone touching her.

In the early days of taking refuge in the gym, Hu He still allocated enough food to Cao Rui. On the fifth day, he suddenly realized —— he could use food and water to get more from the woman he loved.

"I don't know how long we'll have to stay here. It's full of zombies outside. We can't all get enough to eat. I can give you an extra bag of instant noodles. But... you have to let me kiss you."

"Let me hug you, and I'll give you half a bottle of water more."

"Take off your clothes, or you'll never get any food ——"

From initial timidity and fear to later brutality and forcefulness, Hu He's psychological changes were very peculiar. He was surprised to find himself the rule-maker and discovered that people instinctively submitted to strength. The noble and prominent aura around Cao Rui disappeared with the collapse of the order. This woman, with millions in assets, was no different from an ordinary person. She would also feel hunger and thirst. As long as there was water and food, she would crawl at his feet like a dog.

Hu He pressed his body against Cao Rui's, his stubble rubbing against her face. He enjoyed this moment, feeling like a real man, capable of conquering and destroying everything.

Cao Rui continued to eat, her body swaying with the thrusts behind her. Her mind was empty, her thoughts abnormal. She did not resist, did not scream, and forgot to cry. Her husband and family were distant, unreal terms. The pain in her stomach and her physical weakness made her completely abandon her dignity, even forgetting she was a human.

The soundproofing in the office was not very good, and the people outside could easily guess what was happening. Soon, the gamblers burst into excited and satisfied shouts, and naked bodies moved among the white skin.

Not every woman was willing to fall, but they had no better choice and could only submit to reality...

"Bang! Bang bang!"

Suddenly, there was a rapid knocking on the door.

Hu He frowned, feeling very angry at being interrupted at this moment. He pushed the woman away forcefully, spat, and walked to the door naked, pulling it open and grabbing the throat of the unsuspecting knocker, pressing him hard against the opposite wall, roaring in fury, "Bastard! What the hell is so important that it can't wait?"

The knocker was called Gouzi, a trusted subordinate of Hu He. He struggled, creating a small gap between the iron-like fingers, and said with difficulty, "...I... I found... found... those people."

Hu He narrowed his eyes, his expression impatient and slightly puzzled. He loosened his grip slightly and asked coldly, "Who? Speak clearly."

"Those... those two we met last time... the man and woman in police uniforms at the supermarket entrance on the side street. I... I found their hideout."

...

The background of the laptop was a famous beach in the Maldives. The light blue sea and white shells, coconut trees, and wooden huts in the sunlight looked peaceful. This relaxing image had no effect on Su Hao, who still stared blankly at the empty rectangular input box on the screen.

He couldn't open the USB drive. The prompt required a password. Su Hao remembered clearly —— there was nothing text-related in the briefcase.

In the process of developing the time machine in the future world, Su Hao had some contact with the military high command. He knew that such a startup password was usually twenty-four characters long, consisting of numbers, English letters, and the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches mixed together. For Su Hao, cracking this code was not difficult. However, due to the complex sequence, a regular reader could not complete the calculation.

He had no equipment.

To get the password, he would have to make those who knew it tell him.

This was clearly impossible.

Handing over the USB drive would mean admitting that he had found the briefcase and obtained the prototype drug.

This would be no different from turning himself in like a fool.

Su Hao shook his head speechlessly, took a metal tube from his pocket, unscrewed the cap, poured out a few silver bones, and slowly chewed them.

His bone density had already been enhanced to the third stage, and his teeth could easily handle these chitin compounds.

Zombies at this stage were easy to deal with, and although the silver bones harvested were not many, the cumulative amount was considerable. Su Hao calculated that he needed about 160 milligrams more of silver bones to enter the fourth enhancement stage.

His current strength was equivalent to that of a high-level hunter in the future world. Without protective measures or weapons, he could handle a large group of hundreds of zombies alone. If not for hiding his strength from others, he could use the most violent posture to crush all the zombies in the nearby area with his fists.

Thinking of this, Su Hao turned around and looked at the mirror embedded in the side wall.

In the mirror, there was a young, handsome man. His facial features were sharp, and his neatly trimmed short hair gave him a youthful look. His high nose had a slightly intimidating presence, but the faint smile at the corners of his mouth softened his cheeks, giving him the air of a focused and intelligent scholar, with a hint of mystery.

His skin was very smooth, even softer than a woman's. This was clearly the effect of the prototype drug. It promoted the rapid division of damaged cells, quickly healing wounds. This repair also affected dark spots and scars on the skin, making Su Hao look increasingly beautiful.

This was probably one of the fundamental differences between the prototype drug and the genetic drug. In the future world, Su Hao had never heard of any enhanced person undergoing such a change.

Outside, there was a rhythmic knocking on the door.

He reined in his wandering thoughts, turned the laptop screen to the side, and walked to the door, opening it.

Xin Yan stood at the door, smiling, "It's time to eat."

Su Hao said nothing. He suddenly had a strange feeling —— this girl seemed more beautiful than usual.

Her skin was smooth and fair, her lips full, her nose noble and high, her cheekbones high, and the collar of her sleeveless T-shirt revealed an alluring clavicle. Her short, tight shorts accentuated her straight legs, and the light gray stockings outlined a breathtakingly attractive line, exuding an extremely powerful charm and allure.

Su Hao looked at her intently, and Xin Yan's cheeks turned slightly red.

This outfit was very ordinary and common. She knew she had a good figure and appearance, but she didn't understand why Su Hao was so focused. They were not strangers and had lived in the same building for a long time, becoming very familiar with each other, but his eyes showed a look of surprise.

In the future world, only women in special professions paid attention to their appearance. After all, it was their livelihood.

Su Hao could hear a sigh deep in his heart —— he had forgotten that this was another time and place, a world where civilization had collapsed.

Women love to be beautiful, and Xin Yan's attire was not strange, especially in this era.

He smiled self-deprecatingly, closed the door, walked past the silent girl, and said calmly, "Let's go together. To eat."

Su Hao decided to change his way of thinking. He suddenly realized that he shouldn't treat Xin Yan as a girl.

She... was a woman.

...

The south side of the first-floor hall was separated by a standing cabinet, forming a dining area for everyone. In the cleared space, two large soup pots were placed on induction cookers. One emitted a fragrant aroma of rice, while the other was boiling with a thick soup, containing cabbage, vermicelli, large pieces of luncheon meat, and tofu skin.

Li Xiaomei, as usual, sat by the stove, wearing a loose housecoat, a gun in a holster slung over her left leg. She held a sleeping baby in her left arm and stirred the soup pot with a metal spoon in her right hand, occasionally tasting it and adding salt and MSG.

Hearing footsteps behind her, she turned her head, saw Xin Yan and Su Hao, and smiled kindly.

Tao Yuan was standing by the table, distributing bowls and chopsticks. He had just taken a shower, his hair still wet. The small building had plenty of water, and making the fungal hormone in the trap yard would leave a lot of blood stains. Not washing up would make him feel uncomfortable all over.

Old Song and Han Ying sat opposite each other, while Han Jing was on guard duty on the rooftop. The shift system had been established, and although the survivors were not professional soldiers, they had all received shooting training and knew when to fire.

The large pot of soup tasted good, with the suanla sauce that Su Hao had always liked but found hard to get in the future era.

The atmosphere at the table was harmonious, and everyone tried to choose light and pleasant topics, or plans and hopes for the future.

After finishing a full bowl of food, Su Hao put the empty bowl aside, took out a pack of cigarettes, passed them around, lit one, took a deep puff, and said calmly, "Tomorrow, we need to go and get some crop seeds."