Outside the service station.
Lam Pham met Cao Chiem's other companions.
Including Cao Chiem, there were seven people in total, five men and two women. The age gap wasn't very large; the youngest was probably in his twenties, and the oldest was only around forty.
They were all holding instant noodles, using the service station as a temporary resting point to get some food and fill their stomachs.
They knew Cao Chiem had gone to the supermarket inside the service station to get water. It had been a while, so Tong Nghi went to check on the situation. Unexpectedly, when the two of them returned, there were three people.
When they first saw the other person, they felt he looked somewhat familiar. Taking a closer look, my heavens, wasn't this the Lam Pham they had seen in the "Zombie Illustrated Guide"?
Lam Pham of the Hoang City Sunshine Shelter, the creator of the incredibly detailed "Zombie Illustrated Guide." They had personally seen many of the zombie types mentioned in it.
They also knew how powerful these zombies were.
So when they saw it was Lam Pham, they were truly shocked.
"Hello everyone."
Lam Pham greeted them, a very friendly smile on his face.
He could tell at a glance that they were people who had experienced the apocalypse. The number of zombies they had killed was definitely not small. They were self-made Awakened.
For them to have raised their awakened abilities to this level on their own, the hardships they must have endured were absolutely unimaginable.
"Hello."
"Hello."
They warmly greeted Lam Pham.
After introductions.
Lam Pham learned their names. Besides Cao Chiem, the others were named Tong Nghi, Tre Suat, Chuong Hien, Phung Di, Tong Vien, and Chu Oanh.
"Are you all heading towards Hoang City?" Lam Pham asked.
"No." Cao Chiem shook his head and said, "We're just looking around and hunting zombies."
They had previously thought about going to the Sunshine Shelter. After all, surviving the apocalypse was really difficult. But later, as their abilities improved, they gradually abandoned this idea.
They felt the apocalypse was not as terrifying as before.
And hunting zombies in the apocalypse could yield crystals to enhance their own abilities. Just thinking about it felt great.
Lam Pham looked at them and, after a moment, said slowly, "Your ability levels are not bad. As long as you don't run into those terrifying zombies, there shouldn't be any major problems. But the dangers of the apocalypse often arrive silently, and no one knows when danger will strike. My suggestion is that you could consider coming to the Hoang City Sunshine Shelter."
"Of course, this isn't mandatory, just my personal suggestion."
He knew that these few people before him were people with their own ideas.
People with their own ideas would always stick to their own thoughts and would absolutely not be influenced by external factors.
Cao Chiem exchanged a glance with his companions.
"Thank you for your suggestion. We still want to make our own way in the apocalypse. I think with our strength, there shouldn't be any major problems."
As he said this, Cao Chiem's expression was very confident, a kind of confidence in his own strength.
He believed in his own abilities, and also believed in the abilities of his companions.
With good cooperation, they could handle most dangers.
"Alright then, I won't force you all."
Lam Pham was helpless in this situation. Since they had chosen another path, he would let them continue on that path.
Cao Chiem said, "Thank you for your understanding. We naturally know a little about the Hoang City Sunshine Shelter, but for us, we have gradually gotten used to life in the apocalypse."
Lam Pham took out a satellite phone from his pocket, "For you. If you run into any trouble, you can call me."
He now habitually carried an extra satellite phone when he went out.
He just thought that he might encounter survivors. If the survivors didn't want to return to the Sunshine Shelter with him, then he would give them a satellite phone.
"Thank you." Cao Chiem took the phone, naturally knowing the function of a satellite phone. This was a kind of guarantee the other person was giving them.
Lam Pham said, "No need to thank me. It's good enough that you all can stay alive. Since the apocalypse descended, the number of living people is really getting smaller and smaller."
He sighed inwardly.
He really wanted to do more, but he was just one person, and his power was very weak. Sometimes, he really felt helpless.
Just then.
Cao Chiem hurriedly said, "You mentioned an organization in the illustrated guide. A long time ago, we met a strange old man. He kept muttering something about an organization, but we don't know anything else."
When Lam Pham heard this, his eyes lit up. "Where is he?"
"On a cliff on Ngu Nhac Mountain. There's a simple house there, and he lives there." Cao Chiem felt that saying it like this was a bit one-sided, so he found a piece of paper and a pen and drew on it, "This is a mountain, this is also a mountain. Ngu Nhac Mountain has five mountains. He stays on the cliff of this mountain."
The drawing was very rough, but simple and clear.
"Thank you. This information is very important to me," Lam Pham said thankfully.
He felt that this old man might really know something.
He had been searching for the Mutator organization and the Tan Linh Group all this time, but the world was so big, it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. It was incredibly difficult to find them.
Therefore, he would absolutely not let go of any opportunity.
Cao Chiem said, "No need to thank me, it's what we should do. We've read the introductions in the illustrated guide. The actions of those organizations are indeed very cruel. Anyone else would do the same. It's just that I don't know if the organization the old man was talking about is the one recorded in the illustrated guide."
"It's okay. It doesn't matter whether it is or not. As long as there's any chance, I won't give up," Lam Pham said, then bid them farewell. He couldn't wait to go there and take a look.
After Lam Pham left.
Cao Chiem and the others had also finished the instant noodles in their hands.
"Brother Cao, it feels so good to be powerful," Tong Nghi looked at Lam Pham's disappearing back and couldn't help but sigh. The way he left was truly domineering, just jumping away like that.
Don't look at how their abilities seemed to be okay now.
The height they could jump was also not low, but they definitely couldn't do what he did.
"What's wrong?" Cao Chiem asked.
Tong Nghi said, "With strength, you can stand up straight when you talk and not take the apocalypse seriously. The apocalypse is a disaster for most people, but for Awakened, it's an era where opportunity and danger coexist. Civilization is regressing, but we are evolving. What the future holds, only we can know by walking forward on solid ground."
Phung Di said, "I agree with Tong Nghi's explanation. Actually, if Brother Cao had been willing to go to Hoang City just now, I think I wouldn't have gone. I've lived a comfortable life for decades and have had enough of it. Now that I have a chance to rise, I won't let it go."
His words were met with everyone's approval.
That's right.
No one could stop their progress.
Tong Vien said, "Actually, the Hoang City Sunshine Shelter is really very safe. Going there is the best choice."
Phung Di said, "Then why didn't you say so just now? Even if you wanted to go, we wouldn't have said anything?"
Tong Vien said, "None of you wanted to go, so how could I go?"
If they had met Lam Pham at the beginning of the apocalypse and he had invited them to the shelter, they probably wouldn't have even thought about it and would have agreed. But now that they had risen, they naturally wanted to survive in the apocalypse with their own abilities, and at the same time, enhance their own strength to make themselves even stronger.
...
Ngu Nhac Mountain.
The mountain scenery was still beautiful, not affected by the arrival of the apocalypse at all.
"On that mountain."
There were indeed five mountains. The person who named this place seemed to be a bit casual. Was it called Ngu Nhac Mountain just because there were five mountains?
But that was fine.
It was easy for people to remember.
He landed at the foot of the mountain and walked up. After a while, he reached the top. In the distance, he saw a wooden house standing on the edge of a cliff. Next to the wooden house was a vegetable garden, and a figure was bent over, busy in the garden.
"He's really brave. Isn't he afraid of being seen by zombies?"
Lam Pham was very surprised. Even if he had just built a simple fence, it would be a form of respect for the apocalypse. But not only did the other person not build a fence, he didn't even have any sense of preparedness.
If even one zombie were to appear here, it would definitely be able to have a big meal.
He walked towards the wooden house. The busy old man straightened his back, wiped his sweat, and turned around to see a figure walking towards him in the distance.
The old man's eyesight was not very good. It was blurry. He thought it might be a zombie and hurriedly ran into the house. When he came out, he was holding a shotgun. He loaded it but didn't fire, as if waiting for the zombie in the distance to get closer before firing, as the accuracy would be much higher that way.
"Old sir, I'm a person, not a zombie," Lam Pham waved his hand. When he saw the old man come out with a weapon, he knew there was a misunderstanding.
He quickly spoke up to remind him.
After all, behind the house was a cliff. The old man had quite a few options.
After Lam Pham spoke up, the old man still didn't put down the weapon in his hand. It seemed that for the old man, in the apocalypse, the danger of both zombies and people was very high.
Lam Pham also agreed with this.
That was indeed the case. Zombies were very straightforward, while human evil was often hidden in the heart, like a hunter in the darkness, waiting for you to be at your most relaxed to deliver a fatal blow.
Gradually, when he was about to reach the old man, about four or five meters away, the old man let out a low voice.
"Stop, don't move."
The old man's eyes were full of vigilance as he stared at Lam Pham. His finger was already on the trigger. If Lam Pham dared to move, the old man would probably not hesitate to fire.
Lam Pham raised his hands to chest level and said in a low voice, "Old sir, don't be nervous, I'm not a bad person."
"Bad people don't say they're bad people. Kid, your grandpa here has eaten more rice than you've eaten salt. Do you think I'm that easy to fool?" the old man shouted.
Lam Pham said, "Old sir, my name is Lam Pham. I'm from the Hoang City Sunshine Shelter. I really have no ill intentions. I came here because Cao Chiem said you were here, so I came to see you."
"What Cao Chiem? I don't know him," the old man still looked at Lam Pham warily.
When Cao Chiem and the others came here before, they didn't have much interaction with the old man. In their eyes, this old man was long-winded and seemed to have something wrong with his head, so they left in a hurry.
So when Lam Pham mentioned Cao Chiem's name, the old man naturally didn't know him.
Lam Pham blinked, not expecting the old man to not know who Cao Chiem was. Could it be that when Cao Chiem and the others came here, they didn't have much interaction with the old man? So he was thinking about how to get the old man to let down his guard.
Just as he was thinking.
The old man spoke.
"Throw the weapon behind you over here. Three seconds. If you don't throw it, I'll shoot."
"One!"
"Two!"
Lam Pham didn't want the old man to stay so agitated. After all, he was a bit old. If he maintained such a mood from beginning to end, he was very worried that the other person's body wouldn't be able to take it.
Therefore, he directly threw the weapon over.
"Old sir, take it easy. I really have no ill intentions. This weapon is very heavy. You can't hold it," Lam Pham reminded him.
The old man watched Lam Pham warily while slowly walking towards Frostmourne, which had fallen to the ground. Then he stretched out his foot, trying to kick it to the side.
The tip of his foot touched the hilt of the sword.
But something strange happened. The sword on the ground didn't move at all.
The old man didn't pay attention, just thought his strength was a bit lacking. Then, while watching Lam Pham warily, he squatted down, reached out his arm, and wanted to take Frostmourne into his hand.
Touching the hilt of the sword, for the old man, how heavy could a sword be? He could easily pick it up.
"Aiyo."
The old man frowned and cried out in pain. He had strained his lower back.
He didn't expect a sword that looked so ordinary to be so heavy.
"Old sir, are you okay? You really can't hold this sword. This sword has been enhanced with crystals and is very heavy. Only I can lift it," Lam Pham said.
"Don't move, or I'll shoot."
When the old man saw Lam Pham wanting to approach, he endured the pain and aimed the shotgun in his hand at Lam Pham.
"Old sir, I really have no ill intentions towards you. If I had ill intentions, the shotgun in your hand would not be able to cause me any harm."
Lam Pham explained, hoping the other person could feel his goodwill.
He always believed that he could enter the old man's heart and thus resolve the current misunderstanding.
...
A moment later.
Outside the wooden house, the old man was sitting on a chair, while Lam Pham was standing behind him, squatting, and gently massaging the old man's back. Through his sincere communication, he finally got the old man to let down his guard.
"Aiyo, what's wrong with you, kid? You should have said so earlier. You made this old man strain his back."
Lam Pham, who was massaging the old man's back, said with a smile, "Yes, yes, it's my problem. I didn't explain the situation clearly earlier, which caused you to twist your back. This is my fault."
"Yes, that's the spot. Much more comfortable," the old man said.
He knew that the young man massaging his back was a good person. He had really misjudged him earlier. But he couldn't be blamed. In this apocalypse, who could tell who was a person and who was a ghost?
"It's good that you're comfortable," Lam Pham said with a smile.
"Are you really from Hoang City?"
Old Man Quan was very surprised, even a little disbelieving, because the young man massaging his back had actually come from Hoang City to Ngu Nhac Mountain. It was truly incredible.
The distance between Hoang City and Ngu Nhac Mountain was very far.
And looking at the situation, it seemed that he had come specifically to find him.
"Yes, I've been staying in Hoang City. There's a shelter there, and many people live there," Lam Pham said.
He knew that Old Man Quan hadn't seen the "Zombie Illustrated Guide." If he had, the misunderstanding just now would not have happened.
"A shelter," Old Man Quan said to himself, as if thinking about something.
"Old Man Quan, the reason I know you're here is because someone passed by here and met you. They told me you were talking about an organization. Can you tell me what kind of organization it is?"
Lam Pham began to ask about the key matter.
He would absolutely not let go of any possibility.
If he could really find the location of the organization, then it would be much safer for the survivors living in the apocalypse.
When Lam Pham mentioned the word "organization."
He could clearly feel the old man's body tremble slightly.
"What are you asking this for?"
Old Man Quan, with his back to Lam Pham, had a look of fear on his face, as if recalling all sorts of terrifying images. He didn't know why Lam Pham was asking about this.
Lam Pham said, "Because I want to go to that organization and see if it's the organization I know. Because the organization I know has been harming other survivors. They have been conducting all sorts of cruel experiments on people."
As Lam Pham said this.
The old man's expression became more and more ugly.
"I don't know, I don't know anything," Old Man Quan shook his head.
Lam Pham knew that Old Man Quan definitely knew. Because he felt a sense of fear from Old Man Quan. Was it what he said that made Old Man Quan think of some terrifying image?
"Old sir, I know you know. Tell me. I don't want more survivors to be in danger. The zombies in the apocalypse are already dangerous enough. We can't let humans harm humans. Just tell me," Lam Pham said sincerely.
Old Man Quan said, "You shouldn't ask. It's too terrifying. You can't fight them. Even if you really find them, you won't be their match."
He didn't want Lam Pham to go to his death. After all, that place was really dangerous.
Old Man Quan was a biologist, hired by the Tan Group to conduct research. After the apocalypse broke out, he thought that it might be a virus spreading, and that the people who had turned into zombies were actually just sick. If they could develop a drug, they might be able to reverse it.
It wasn't until the Tan Group caught a zombie and dissected it, seeing the various internal organs in the zombie's body, that he realized things were far more terrifying than he had imagined.
These internal organs were completely useless. Not only had they mutated, but they had also lost all kinds of vitality.
No matter what kind of drug, it was impossible to reverse it.
Just as he was despairing over this, something even more desperate happened. The Tan Group captured many humans and actually began to study the changes of the zombie virus in the human body.
This was research using living people.
He couldn't accept such experiments. The scenes were once bloody to the extreme. In the end, under an opportunity, he escaped from the Tan Group and finally came here.
"Old sir, what do you see over there?" Lam Pham gently patted the old man's shoulder and then pointed to the distance.
Old Man Quan looked into the distance, "A mountain. That's a mountain."
He was a little dazed, not knowing what Lam Pham meant by pointing to the distance.
"Now watch."
Lam Pham held Frostmourne and swung it towards the distance.
Space exploded.
A silver-white light appeared in the sky. With a boom, the distant mountain peak was directly cut in half, and countless rocks fell down.
"Ah..." Old Man Quan's eyes widened, his mouth agape. He was completely dumbfounded. "What's going on?"
"This is sword qi."
Old Man Quan raised his head and stared blankly at Lam Pham, his mind full of question marks. Why are you suddenly acting all fantasy with me?
"This..."
The old man had a lot to say, but all the words were stuck in his throat. He could only say the word "this." He really couldn't say anything else.
Lam Pham said, "Old sir, the reason I swung this sword was not to say that I am destroying the mountain and turning the former Ngu Nhac Mountain into the current Tu Nhac Mountain. I wanted to tell you that I am very strong, so you really don't need to worry."
The only way to make people believe in your own strength is often to let them see it with their own eyes. The power of this sword was not his strongest sword, just a casual swing.
Old Man Quan's current expression showed that his method was effective, and the effect was very good.
See, what a simple way to prove himself.
Indeed, Old Man Quan was really stunned by Lam Pham. Was this something a person could do?
"Alright, the organization I used to be in was the Tan Group..."
"Tan Linh," Lam Pham couldn't help but say.
Old Man Quan's face was full of surprise. "You know?"
"I know. I've been looking for Tan Linh all this time. I've communicated with him and once wanted him to tell me where he was, but he never told me, so I came looking for him everywhere," Lam Pham's mood gradually became excited. It seemed that he could finally find Tan Linh.
This guy already had a big problem. People who studied zombies would eventually become zombies.
This was a proven result.
Old Man Quan nodded and then told him Tan Linh's location. He also told Lam Pham that the seemingly hidden organization actually had a loophole, and there was another passage leading to the outside.
It was probably a kind of prank by the person who designed this place before. Thinking that an impregnable building was impossible, secretly leaving a doggy door didn't seem like too much of a big deal.
And the reason Old Man Quan was able to escape was because he accidentally found the notes left here by the previous designer, which recorded the situation here in detail.
"Old sir, thank you so much. You've really helped me a lot," Lam Pham said excitedly and gratefully.
Old Man Quan said, "You must be careful."
Lam Pham said, "Old sir, come back to Hoang City with me. It's very safe there. You don't need to stay here."
Old Man Quan thought about it and agreed.
He thought that Old Man Quan was a high-achieving person and should get along very well with Professor Ha.
...
Back at the Sunshine Shelter.
Lam Pham handed Old Man Quan over to Quan Hao. They were both named Quan, so maybe they were related in the past.
And he couldn't wait to meet Tan Linh.
He was really looking forward to it.
He had been searching for so long, and finally found him. Who could understand this joy?
Just as he was about to leave, Co Hang saw him. They exchanged a few words, and he told him that he had found Tan Linh's organization. Co Hang's eyes also lit up.
He knew that Lam Pham had been looking for two organizations, one of which was the Tan Group. Now that he had found one, the other one was clearly not far away.
After Lam Pham left.
Co Hang sighed in his heart. The Tan Group was about to suffer. They had been using living people for research, causing so many deaths. Now it was time for them to pay the price.
...
"Wow, my God."
Professor Kim was stunned by his boss's appearance. In his eyes, his boss had been a restrained meatball. But who would have thought that after the boss evolved, he would undergo such a huge change.
His physique had changed. He had actually broken free from the meatball and become a humanoid figure that could move freely.
The boss before him was covered in hard, bulky muscles, and his body was covered in black flesh armor. Just looking at him gave people a feeling of being full of power.
"Boss, you're too handsome. I think you're really developing towards the most perfect zombie form."
"You appeared in front of me, and even though you did nothing, you made me feel a huge sense of pressure."
Professor Kim praised him in amazement. This was not flattery, but the truth. He used to think that the boss's evolution direction was not good, that it was a failed evolution direction. Now it seemed that it was not a failure, but a great success.
"Haha..." Tan Linh laughed, clenched his fists tightly, and felt the explosive power in his body. This power was enough to destroy the heavens and the earth. No one could be his opponent, not even Lam Pham.
Of course, this was just his thought. Tan Linh should also know that Lam Pham's strength was definitely stronger than he had imagined, and definitely not something he could deal with now.
"Humans are really too weak. This body now is the most perfect body in my heart."
Tan Linh praised, looking at the curve of his muscles. It was truly a curve he had longed for.
Professor Kim said, "The boss's evolution method is unprecedented and will never be surpassed. So what if that Lam Pham from Hoang City is strong? One day, the boss will definitely become the most perfect creature. I am so excited to be able to witness it with my own eyes."
"Yes, you're not bad. Do well, and I won't treat you badly," Tan Linh patted Professor Kim on the shoulder.
Professor Kim chuckled. It was just that the boss's pat was a bit heavy and really hurt. But even though it hurt, he definitely couldn't show this kind of pain on his face.
If he made the boss unhappy, he would really be beaten to death.
The more perfect the boss became, the more dangerous he was.
Because his own value was gradually decreasing. When he had no value at all, then there was really no point in existing.
Ding ling ling!
Just then, the long-silent mobile phone rang.
"What a good time to call. Did you know I'm so perfect and came to congratulate me?"
A cold smile appeared on the corner of Tan Linh's mouth. Besides Lam Pham, who else could be calling him?
He answered the phone.
"Lam Pham, you know, right? You called at just the right time."
"Uh... how did you know I know? You're not following me, are you?"
Lam Pham was very surprised.
He still wanted to say to Tan Linh, can you guess where I am?
Unexpectedly, the other person actually said he knew.
This gave Lam Pham an uneasy feeling.
This guy didn't run away, did he?
"Following you? What's there to follow? Let me tell you, I have succeeded. Just now, I completed my evolution and have become a perfect form. One day in the future, you will see with your own eyes how terrifying I am," Tan Linh said sinisterly.
After he said this, the other end of the phone clearly let out a sigh of relief.
"You scared me. I thought you knew something. So it was this."
"What do you mean?" Tan Linh frowned.
"Now guess where I am."
"What does it have to do with me where you are?"
"Just guess. There's a surprise."
Lam Pham just wanted to make Tan Linh guess. He wanted to make the other person worry for a while.