Nighttime.
The evening breeze was cool, and the scent of cooking smoke still lingered in the air, a remnant from the evening meals of every household.
He was originally outside clearing zombies.
But Sister Ly had called him, saying Manh Manh had a slight fever and was crying nonstop. No one could soothe her, so he should come back and check on her.
By now, Manh Manh had taken her medicine, her fever had broken, and she was fast asleep.
He was also coincidentally wondering if he should add more content to the "Zombie Illustrated Guide."
Yesterday's island destruction was a rather significant event.
However, he was now hesitant about whether to record it, which gave him a bit of a headache.
"Should I write about it or not? If I write in the guide that I destroyed an island with one punch, will it make people who see it think I'm a braggart, lowering my credibility?"
"And if they actually believe it, will it make them think I'm a violent person?"
"These are points that need careful consideration."
For a long time, he couldn't bring himself to write.
He let out a sigh.
He closed the illustrated guide.
Alright, some content really didn't need to be written down, as it would only increase panic.
He didn't want to explain how powerful he was. The descriptions of himself in the current guide were sufficient; there was no need to add more confusing content.
What if the survivors outside thought he had too strong a killing intent? That would truly be a loss that outweighed the gain.
The survivors who were still alive now were all very timid, each one like a bird startled by a bent bow. The slightest disturbance could make their hair stand on end.
So they definitely needed to be treated gently.
That world-shaking punch was forever hidden in Lam Pham's heart, not to be revealed to the public along with the "Zombie Illustrated Guide."
...
The Aberrant Organization.
Inside a transparent container rested a mass of mutated flesh and blood, submerged in an unknown liquid. A scanner constantly swept over the mass of flesh inside.
This was the flesh of a Creator, representing the flesh of the top-tier zombies currently known.
Around it were other containers, displaying the bodies of the perfect Aberrants who had died while capturing the Creator. There were four of them in total. Even though they had rendered meritorious service to the organization, they could not be laid to rest peacefully and still had to be used for research.
Several researchers waited boredly.
One of the researchers held a donut, savoring it with great enjoyment. His weight was approaching three hundred pounds, but he still hadn't given up his pursuit of delicious food.
"How's the research coming along?"
"What can we do? It's the same old story. The energy contained in the Creator is very high, higher than imagined. Just look at these dead test subjects; all of them combined don't contain as much energy as this lump of flesh."
"And this is just a Weak Creator. Compared to a truly powerful Creator, the difference is probably huge."
This group of researchers had never held the Aberrants in high regard, and one could even say they never saw them as people, always considering them mere research subjects.
Now that they were recovered, they were being used for their continued research.
"These four have improved quite a bit compared to when they left the factory. Their gene combinations are more complex. It seems they fused with some zombie genes on their own during their time outside."
"Can you analyze which zombie genes they are?"
"Can't analyze it. It's already a chaotic fusion. This is an unexpected gain. After absorbing different zombie genes, it didn't create a conflict but rather an inclusivity. The benefit of using humans as a medium for research is that you can often get unexpected results. Perhaps this is inclusivity and adaptability."
"Heh heh, interesting. More interesting than the donut I'm eating. I'd really like to see Thoi Tieu Phi's situation."
"His situation is even more special. Didn't you see the combat footage? His body has undergone immense evolution. Two pairs of red wings, his body can expand to twice its previous size, and his speed, strength, and other attributes have seen a terrifying increase. Who knows what he went through out there."
"What a pity he wasn't the one who died. If we could study his situation, the gains would be absolutely massive."
"When we were injecting them with the serum, who would have thought that the one with the most perfect evolution would be him? It's not that the drug we gave him was powerful, but that people's constitutions are different, and the resulting chain effects are also different."
"Hmm, that makes sense. This line of research is getting more and more interesting. But what result does the commander-in-chief ultimately want?"
"That's not for us to worry about. We just need to do our jobs."
This group of researchers had access to the highest-level research secrets, but they still didn't know what results the commander-in-chief wanted. They just needed to report their research findings.
They didn't need to manage anything else.
"By the way, was there a tremor yesterday? I was sleeping soundly, and suddenly it started shaking nonstop. It scared me into thinking an earthquake was coming."
"It wasn't an earthquake, but I don't know what happened either."
How could they know that the former Phuc Dao had already said goodbye to this world, completely and thoroughly vanishing from the map, never to exist again.
If any native of Phuc Dao were here, looking towards the location of their distant hometown, they would surely murmur with emotion.
Through the mulberry fields, the cherry blossoms of my hometown bloom.
Just as they were discussing this.
The electronic door opened.
A woman walked in. Her face was expressionless. When the surrounding researchers saw her, their faces changed slightly. Even the researcher eating a donut was startled and hurriedly put it away, staring intently at his screen, putting on an act of, I am working hard, I was definitely not secretly eating a donut.
This woman was the commander-in-chief's subordinate, and basically, everything had to pass through her hands.
Within the entire organization, she was the second in command.
"What are the results?" the woman asked.
"Chief, it's still under investigation. The information in the Creator's flesh is a bit much. To completely decipher it, we still need some time. We are already speeding up the process. I believe we will have results soon."
"Good. The commander-in-chief wants results, and I want speed. Decipher the secrets of the Creator's flesh immediately."
"Yes."
Don't be fooled by their status as researchers, who seemed like precious talents in the apocalypse.
If they really did something to displease her,
then they would have no future.
Their actions were all under surveillance. Minor actions like snacking and chatting didn't lead to trouble, but if they were still brazenly lazy in front of her, they were courting death themselves.
After the woman left,
the researchers let out a collective sigh of relief and threw themselves back into their work.
The reason the organization had the perfect Aberrants hunt the Creator was not just to obtain the Creator's corpse, but more so because they knew that in this battle, some Aberrants would definitely be sacrificed.
From that, they could use the Aberrants' corpses for research.
Living perfect Aberrants were still difficult to deal with.
...
The Tan Group.
"Boss, the Aberrant organization has captured a Creator. Although they took the most important part, that Creator's body was enormous, so there was still a lot left. We have already obtained a portion of its flesh for research."
The most important part was, of course, the location of the crystal.
Professor Kim's report did not bring Tan Linh any joy.
He felt that the people under him were truly too useless.
The Aberrant organization could capture a Creator,
while they were still picking up what others left behind.
"You have greatly disappointed me." Tan Linh's tone had changed drastically. Having become a zombie, although he maintained his intelligence, his form no longer had any relation to a human's.
"Yes, yes, of course."
Professor Kim immediately nodded and admitted his mistake. He had mastered the essence of being an employee: when the boss gets angry, don't say anything, just admit fault. Let him vent properly, and everything will be fine.
Just as he thought,
his boss indeed did not continue his rage.
Professor Kim looked at his boss's current form; even he didn't know in what direction his boss was developing.
If he had to describe it, the boss's current form was more like it was developing in the direction of a queen bee, and the current stage was building a suitable hive.
More than half of the entire base was already covered by the boss's massive web of flesh, intricate and complex, and all of it was active.
He could refer to the web of flesh covering other areas as Area One, Area Two, etc., while his current location was the true mother body's location, the main control room.
The boss still maintained that kingly, domineering style, using flesh to construct a throne of flesh. It was just a pity... it couldn't be moved at will.
Tan Linh said, "How is the gene research? When can my evolution proceed?"
"Boss, I am working hard on the research. There are simply too many types of zombie genes. I will definitely select the genes most suitable for you."
Professor Kim himself felt immense pressure.
Their current situation was very passive. Since the boss turned into a zombie, most of the people in the organization had died. The remaining groups existed, but they were basically ordinary people and not of much use.
Given the current state of the apocalypse,
it was difficult for even Awakeners to survive, let alone ordinary people.
Tan Linh stared intently at Professor Kim.
Feeling the boss's gaze, which contained suppressed anger, Professor Kim felt an indescribable sense of dread.
"Boss, just trust me. With the Creator's flesh in hand, I can slowly create it, and I can also modify its genes to make them more perfect. You trust my abilities, otherwise you wouldn't have hired me for such a high salary, right?"
Professor Kim said hurriedly. He had to make the boss have full confidence in him; otherwise, with the boss's current temper, it would be very easy for him to be disposed of as useless trash.
Before, it definitely wouldn't have happened.
But now the boss was a zombie, who could say for sure?
"Has there been any news about that guy recently?"
Tan Linh was still quite concerned about Lam Pham. He feared no human, except for Lam Pham from the Hoang City Sunshine Shelter. That power, sufficient to destroy any zombie, caused any Creator to not dare to casually reveal their location.
Professor Kim said, "Yes, that guy has been clearing out zombies, and his range is getting wider and wider. The zombies in many cities have been completely cleaned out. At this rate, he can definitely clean up all the zombies in all the cities within half a year."
He didn't yet know that Lam Pham had already sped up, clearing zombies day and night, and his speed was countless times faster than before. It wouldn't even take half a year anymore.
As he said these words,
the entire base trembled slightly. It was Tan Linh's rage.
He had the intention to eliminate the other party,
but he was utterly helpless.
This feeling was extremely despairing.
"Can he really do it?" Tan Linh said.
Professor Kim said, "If it were before, I definitely wouldn't believe anyone could achieve such a feat. But now I've discovered that guy is just a stubborn madman. He's been clearing them out all this time, as if he never gets tired or bored, and he doesn't even consider coexisting with zombies. His thinking is beyond my comprehension."
Tan Linh was furious. Lam Pham was a stumbling block on his path. Although they had never met face-to-face, many things had fallen apart because of the other party.
"Oh, right, Boss, there's one more thing. As far as I know, among the zombies, there is a Creator who has reached a cooperative agreement with Lam Pham. It has been looking for other Creators and telling Lam Pham their locations. It's simply a traitor among zombies."
"Who?"
"That zombie from Hop Thi city."
Professor Kim had also learned this by chance.
Creators were currently too hard to find. It wasn't that Creators didn't like to wander around outside, but that there was a bad apple in their midst who would reveal their whereabouts to the bad guy.
Therefore, hiding was a helpless act.
...
Early morning.
The morning sun was so full of hope.
A modified bus was parked on the side of the road. From the outside, there were no figures in the car. It wasn't until the sunlight shone down that figures appeared inside.
They had all been sleeping lying down. Now awake, they sat up straight.
"Great, another day alive."
A survivor looked at the quiet outside and sighed with emotion.
Smack!
A middle-aged man with dark, tanned skin lightly patted the young survivor's head and laughed, "What do you mean, 'another day alive'? We're going to keep on living."
"Uncle Thiet Chuy, I was just feeling a little emotional," the young survivor chuckled.
Uncle Thiet Chuy clapped his hands. "Everyone wake up, get ready to drive. We're one step closer to the Hoang City Sunshine Shelter. As long as we persevere, we will definitely get there. Don't casually despair about the road ahead."
He encouraged everyone.
There were twelve people in the bus, all survivors who had managed to stay alive in the apocalypse.
There were men and women.
There were no old people. In the apocalypse, the survival rate for the elderly wasn't even 0.01 percent.
"Uncle Thiet Chuy, we're still pretty far from there, aren't we?"
"Yeah, I really want to get there quickly."
"A true shelter in the apocalypse."
They asked with curiosity.
Uncle Thiet Chuy, back in the driver's seat, took out a paper map. "Soon, soon. It won't be long before we arrive."
He didn't give a specific route.
Instead, he kept saying "soon," just to let them know that the destination was just ahead, that every moment was a moment when hope existed, and that they shouldn't give up easily.
This journey had been too hard.
They had encountered dangers, yes.
But they hadn't encountered any major dangers, which was their good fortune.
All along, he had driven during the day and turned off the engine to rest at night. At night, you couldn't see the road ahead clearly, and turning on the lights would easily make them a target. It wasn't necessary to take risks just to travel.
He started the engine and drove forward.
The survivors in the bus looked at the desolate environment, their moods heavy and suppressed, as if smiles had completely vanished from their faces.
They had witnessed too many terrifying scenes.
Those scenes had deeply shaken their souls.
Sometimes when they closed their eyes, those scenes would flash in their minds like a slideshow.
They tried not to think, didn't want to think, but they always appeared.
Uncle Thiet Chuy, driving, glanced at the fuel gauge. The fuel in the tank wasn't much. He hoped the gas station ahead would have gasoline. After all, many gas stations were empty now.
Soon, a gas station appeared ahead.
"We need to refuel in a bit. Everyone pay attention to the situation."
Hearing they had to refuel,
the group's expressions all grew tense.
Refueling meant getting out of the bus, and getting out of the bus meant they might encounter zombies. If they encountered zombies, there might be a conflict, which, for them as ordinary people, was a terrifying challenge.
Slowly approaching, the speed gradually decreased.
Uncle Thiet Chuy, the driver, stood up, picked up a piece of flexible iron sheet from the side, tied it to his arm, and then grabbed a modified baseball bat with nails embedded in the tip, preparing to get off the bus.
Everyone had a tacit understanding and cooperated.
Someone opened the roof hatch, climbed up, and observed the surrounding situation.
"All clear."
Uncle Thiet Chuy opened the bus door and got out with two strong-bodied men. They stood in place for two or three seconds, then tiptoed towards the fuel pump.
"Move quietly, and be quick."
Uncle Thiet Chuy reminded them.
The two strong men quickly began to refuel. They had done this kind of work many times. Although they were very proficient, they still had to be careful.
At this moment, Uncle Thiet Chuy noticed a figure swaying in a nearby shop. It couldn't possibly be a living person; it had to be a zombie.
Even though it looked like there was only one zombie, he was still too scared to have any other ideas.
"Everyone move quietly. There's a zombie in the shop. Absolutely do not startle it," Uncle Thiet Chuy said.
The two strong men nodded, becoming even more careful.
But at this moment.
A bird flew from somewhere, landed on a utility pole, cocked its small head, and occasionally pecked at the feathers under its wing.
Chirp, chirp...
The bird chirped.
Hearing the bird's song, Uncle Thiet Chuy's expression suddenly changed completely.
As expected, the zombie in the shop heard such a clear sound and was naturally startled, running out at high speed.
Seeing this situation, Uncle Thiet Chuy hurriedly told the others to get on the bus.
The zombie that ran out naturally saw the humans stealing oil, and in an instant, it became even more ferocious. It no longer cared about bird calls and charged straight for the delicious living people.
The running speed of a zombie was no joke; it was very fast, especially when it was lunging, which was even more frightening.
Uncle Thiet Chuy gripped his baseball bat. Seeing the zombie approach, he swung fiercely. With a thud, he hit the zombie directly on the head. The force wasn't great and couldn't kill the zombie; instead, he was knocked to the ground by it.
The zombie wailed, opening its mouth, wanting to bite and tear. He could only raise his arm to block the zombie's mouth. Fortunately, he had the iron sheet for protection; otherwise, he would have already turned into a zombie by now.
Uncle Thiet Chuy tried to struggle free, but the zombie's strength was too great, especially when it went berserk, it was even more terrifying.
Just as Uncle Thiet Chuy didn't know what to do,
Squish!
The zombie's head was pierced by an iron pipe.
He pushed the dead zombie aside and nodded to the survivor who had saved him. "Thanks."
"Uncle Thiet Chuy, what's there to thank for? It seems like it was only one zombie. We should hurry up and refuel."
"Right."
Encountering such a thing, Uncle Thiet Chuy was shaken, his heart pounding.
So tense and exciting.
The apocalypse was just like that.
Danger lurked everywhere, and you never knew when it would fall upon your own head.
It was very difficult to survive in the apocalypse alone.
You had to have trustworthy companions whom you could rely on.
...
Hoang City.
Lam Pham handed Manh Manh to Sister Ly. From now on, the child would spend most of her time with Sister Ly, while he would put all his thoughts into clearing out zombies.
He took out the satellite phone.
It had been some time since he had received a call for help from a survivor.
There was a time when he would get one every few days, but now it was really too few.
The number of satellite phones they had distributed during this period was not small.
The transport planes flew outside every day, either scattering the "Zombie Illustrated Guide" or scattering satellite phones.
"Our country's territory is a bit large. How could these things be distributed to the right places? It's reasonable that no one picked them up."
Lam Pham thought to himself and didn't dwell on it. Just as he thought, there was no problem.
He went to the side of the large river-crossing bridge.
The corpses of the zombies he had hunted before were here. The crystals had been cleanly picked out. He drew Frostmourne, lightly touched the ground, and frost covered them, shattering all the zombie corpses to pieces.
He really liked this ability.
Cleaning up was really easy.
The patrolmen on the fortress walls stared with wide eyes.
Holy crap...
To them, this was like seeing something incredible. They shouted in their hearts... Brother Lam knows magic.
He leaped up, vanishing from the spot in an instant, heading south. The process of clearing zombies had to continue. When all the cities were cleaned up, then everything would be beautiful.
For the Creators hiding in the south,
they already knew that the human Lam Pham was clearing out city after city.
Their sphere of influence was constantly being compressed.
For any Creator, this was an unbearable act.
Unfortunately, there was nothing they could do.
They still didn't have the courage to confront Lam Pham.
...
A few days later.
Uncle Thiet Chuy frantically gripped the steering wheel, stepping on the accelerator and speeding forward, occasionally jerking the wheel to avoid overturned vehicles blocking the way.
It wasn't that he wanted to show off how superb his driving skills were,
but that countless zombies were chasing them from behind.
A dense horde, too many to count.
On the road to Hoang City, he hadn't dared to drive fast. Everything was focused on stability. After all, there were too many obstacles on the road. A moment of carelessness could lead to a collision or flipping over.
Therefore, when there was no danger, driving so fast was not a wise choice.
But who could have thought that upon entering the provincial borders of Hoang City, countless zombies appeared from somewhere behind them, chasing them madly.
It terrified them beyond belief, and they felt that the greatest danger yet had descended upon them.
The faces of the survivors in the bus were also a ghastly white.
Their ears were filled with the roars of zombies.
These sounds were like demonic music, pouring into their ears, deeply tormenting their hearts.
"Not good, there are more up ahead!"
Uncle Thiet Chuy cried out in alarm.
Just a short distance ahead,
another group of strangely dressed figures appeared. As they walked, they saw the approaching vehicle and actually stopped.
Uncle Thiet Chuy was puzzled...
What the hell are those things?