Chapter 5

<!--go-->」Boom!

The heavy object hit the ground.

Lin An, with a grave expression, jumped down from the rooftop.

The mental storm had passed.

Apart from a slight dizziness, there were no major issues.

Now that the endgame had officially begun, it also meant that An Jingtian's life was on a countdown.

Time was tight, and after leaving the main city area, he had to find a vehicle to travel in.

Otherwise, relying solely on his legs, he would never make it to his destination in time.

There were now at least several million zombies distributed throughout the city.

Even though he had become an Awakened, he would still be doomed if surrounded by a massive horde of zombies.

...

In the suburban area of Linjiang.

A red Dongfeng heavy truck roared past, mercilessly crushing the zombies along the way.

“Bang!”

In the cab of the truck, Lin An kicked open the door and jumped out without hesitation, despite the truck still moving at high speed.

After several rolls to dissipate the force, he stood up steadily.

After becoming an Awakened, his constitution of 12 points was enough to make him immune to most impacts.

The uncontrolled Dongfeng heavy truck crashed directly into the neighborhood fence.

The truck was covered in blood, with some unidentified pieces of flesh stuck in the gaps.

On the front bumper of the truck, a zombie with only its upper body was still tirelessly gnawing on the metal.

With a loud bang, the truck that had been speeding out of the city finally completed its final mission.

At the entrance of the neighborhood, the zombies that had gathered to feast on the bodies were crushed into a bloody mess by the out-of-control truck.

Black smoke rose from the deformed front of the truck, and black tire marks mixed with red streaks were left behind.

The sky was dark.

After fighting his way out of the city center, Lin An sped to the area where An Jingtian was located.

A journey that originally took three hours was shortened by more than half.

Without resting, Lin An hurriedly took out his phone and looked at the pale screen.

There were still twenty-three minutes left.

His heart, which had been tense, suddenly relaxed.

Thankfully, he was still in time.

The neighborhood where An Jingtian lived was at the far end of the area.

This was the old city district, with complex roads that could only be navigated on foot.

But even on foot, with his enhanced body, he could reach the destination in no more than fifteen minutes at his speed.

Brother, hold on!

After punching through a zombie that lunged at him, Lin An ran along the inner walls of the neighborhood.

The originally quiet and cozy residential buildings had now turned into slaughterhouses.

Sealed security windows became the biggest obstacle to escape.

Occasionally, piercing screams could be heard from inside the buildings.

The shadows of zombies flashed past the half-open windows.

Fortunately, most of the residents in the neighborhood were still outside when the apocalypse began, and had not returned home.

Otherwise, with the population density of this old city district, it would have been impossible for him to move at all.

With his high agility, Lin An easily dodged the small groups of zombies that surrounded him.

He ran extremely fast, and with full effort, he was already near the entrance of the neighborhood.

The zombies along the way either avoided him or were punched through the head.

...

At the entrance of the neighborhood, under the security window of a six-story villa, a man dressed as a wealthy businessman was hanging from the railing, his upper body bare and struggling.

It was unclear how such a fat man managed to climb to the outside of the building.

“Save me!”

“Please!”

The short and fat man shouted to Lin An, forcing a grim smile, with large beads of sweat dripping from his nose.

He had been hanging outside the window for a while, and saw Lin An rush out of the neighborhood like a god of death.

Saving him would be easy, right?

Lin An was unmoved, kicking the zombie in front of him and not looking back.

“I have money!”

“Ten thousand!”

“Save me!”

The businessman was in a panic, seeing that Lin An was about to leave the gate.

The security window in front of him was gradually deforming.

The sturdy steel bars creaked under the bites of the female zombie.

“One million! I'll give you one million!”

The businessman's face was filled with fear, and his strength was almost exhausted.

A putrid stench came from the female zombie's mouth, making him dizzy.

That was his beloved cherry lips, once sweet and fragrant.

“Five million! I'm the boss of Linjiang Construction Group! Just save me, and I'll give you the position of general manager!”

Seeing Lin An getting farther away, the businessman's face turned pale, and he no longer cared about his money, shouting loudly.

The Construction Group was well-known in Linjiang City, and he believed anyone would be tempted.

Lin An ignored him.

In the apocalypse, money could only be used to wipe one's bottom.

Seeing Lin An disappear, the businessman was stunned.

That was five million plus the position of general manager, how could anyone not be tempted!

Power, money.

He believed he had offered enough!

Idiot, real idiot!

Enraged and desperate, the businessman began to curse Lin An wildly, venting his fear.

...

Crossing a street that was unusually free of zombies, Lin An suddenly stopped, his expression serious.

It wasn't the money promised by the businessman that tempted him to go back.

In the distance, a three-meter-tall, blood-red monster that looked like a skinned frog blocked the road.

That was a...

Licker!

As a mutated zombie, the Licker possessed terrifying combat capabilities.

In his previous life, one Licker could easily destroy a small safe zone.

Although it lacked armor, its regenerating muscle tissue could withstand most small-caliber firearms.

It was extremely fast, incredibly strong, and could regenerate its flesh.

Steel was like dough in its hands, making it one of the nightmares for survivors.

Could he go around it?

Lin An carefully hid himself behind a truck, even though he was already an Awakened, he was still at Level 0.

Although his strength exceeded human limits, he was still far from matching such a monster.

And he had no weapons, so if the Licker discovered him, fighting it bare-handed would be extremely difficult.

Should he take a detour?

Lin An held his breath, using a broken rearview mirror to carefully investigate.

Every movement of the Licker blocking the road was like an earthquake.

Its two-meter-long, sharp claws could easily pierce through metal.

Its claws moved like blurs, continuously pulling out humans hiding in the cars.

It was like savoring a dessert.

When it got excited, it didn't even spare the zombies.

Lin An was speechless.

No wonder there were no zombies on this road; they had all been eaten by this monster.

After a few seconds, the Licker, with a pair of severed legs in its mouth, greedily scanned the surroundings.

It had already cleaned up the entire street.

“Buzz~”

A slight vibration from his phone.

It was a voice message from An Jingtian.

Lin An's eyes suddenly sharpened, and he carefully turned the volume down to the lowest.

“Static... Brother Lin, this is An Jingtian's sister, An Xia. My brother seems to be in bad shape...!”

“He’s... static... vomiting... a lot of blood...”

“I don’t know why... the way my brother looks at me...”

“It’s like...”

“Static...”

“...he wants to eat me.”

The message was somewhat unclear due to interference, but it was sent five minutes ago.

Global communications had been severely disrupted after the apocalypse began and would gradually be cut off within three hours.

Lin An tightly clutched his phone.

His originally steady hands, which had remained calm while fighting through a sea of zombies, were now trembling.

An Jingtian's condition was deteriorating faster than he had anticipated.

He might turn into a zombie at any moment.

He couldn't delay any longer.

Lin An, who had originally planned to take a detour, instantly straightened his body, no longer caring about the risk of exposing himself to the Licker, and ran at full speed!

Now he needed a weapon!

Back to the neighborhood security booth!

He remembered there was a fire axe there!

“Bang!”

“Bang!”

The ground trembled.

In the distance, the massive Licker seemed to sense something.

Its grotesque face, with two nostril-like holes, carefully sniffed the air.

“Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!”

Suddenly, the Licker's massive body began to sprint madly.

The cars along the way were pushed aside like being hit by a train.

It was moving extremely fast, having detected the scent of a living being!

The distance between them rapidly closed.

“Boom!”

Lin An rushed to the entrance of the booth and kicked open the tightly locked iron door with brute force.<!--over-->