Level 2 base

Anthony followed the previous movements. After twelve repetitions, the fatigue from earlier in the day completely faded away, and he appeared very energetic.

"Good, haste makes waste. Tomorrow, the old man will teach you something new," Dash said, satisfied as he looked at the three young individuals in front of him. He turned around and left the gym directly.

In the evening, Anthony repeated the old man's movements thirty-six times. Then he found a comfortable corner in the third-floor gym and fell asleep, temporarily lending his bedroom to the old man....

July 3, 2024. 5:30 a.m. Anthony was awakened by the sound of the system's notification.

"Ding, base upgrade complete."

"Congratulations, host, on obtaining a Level 1 operating room. (Being in the operating room increases the success rate of surgeries by 50%) (Upgrade energy points: 1000)"

"Congratulations, host, on obtaining three 50-square-meter bedrooms. (Aids in sleep)"

"Congratulations, host, on obtaining a Level 1 backyard of 100 square meters."

"Congratulations, host, on obtaining one Level 2 gene enhancement fluid and three Level 1 gene enhancement fluids."

"Congratulations, host, on unlocking a Level 1 post-apocalyptic base mall (accessible only within the base)."

The consecutive five messages left Anthony a bit stunned. Especially the last one, the Level 1 post-apocalyptic base mall, made him eager to ask, "System, how do I open the mall?"

"Host only needs to silently think about opening the mall," replied the system. Anthony nodded and silently thought, "Open the mall."

In an instant, a list of displayed items appeared in Anthony's mind, but there were only six items, and they would refresh every 24 hours.

Anthony looked at the list.

"Product List. [Energy Points: 1840.2]

Level 2 gene enhancement potion - 1 bottle (1000 energy points)

[After use, all attributes increase by 5 points, with a certain antiviral ability, and a 30% increase in awakening level.]

Level 1 gene enhancement potion - 1 bottle (100 energy points)

[After use, all attributes increase by 1 point, with a certain antiviral ability.]

Level 1 watermelon knife (200 energy points)

[With the resilience comparable to a first-level mutated zombie, it can cut through iron like mud.]

Level 1 doomsday warrior (2000 energy points)

[Strength comparable to a first-level awakened individual, thoughtless, loyalty of 100%, only requires 50 energy points per day to sustain life activities.]

Level 1 ancient virus vaccine (800 energy points)

[An ancient zombie virus vaccine that, when injected, can eliminate the virus in the infected individual's body. It is ineffective against converted zombies.]

Level 1 venom armor (800 energy points)

[Similar to venom, it is transparent and adheres to the host's body surface, imperceptible to ordinary people. It can withstand some physical damage from first-level mutants, and ordinary zombies cannot break through the physical defense.]

Time remaining for refresh: 23:59:18"

Looking at these six items, Anthony couldn't help but lick his lips. To be honest, he wanted all of them, but unfortunately, he only had a little over 1800 energy points left, so he couldn't buy many things.

After contemplating for a while, Anthony finally focused his gaze on the sixth item and said, "System, I want to purchase the Level 1 venom armor."

"Purchase successful."

A burst of white light flashed, and a transparent, slime-like object appeared in Anthony's hand, enclosed in a transparent box.

Opening the box, the object crawled along the edges of the box and slowly spread in his palm until it enveloped his entire body, including his head, and then it stopped squirming. Anthony gently felt it; the armor was very thin, and if he didn't deliberately search for it, he wouldn't even notice its existence.

Looking at the armor, Anthony had a thought and picked up a woodcutter's axe that was placed next to the gym. This time, he used a lot of force. The next moment, he was dumbfounded. The axe was suddenly blocked by a layer of white liquid that emerged from his arm when it was about ten centimeters away. And due to the excessive force, the axe split open in the middle.

"Damn it, my grandma left me that axe!" Anthony felt a pang in his heart. He had been using that axe in battles for several days and thought he could continue using it, but he didn't expect it to break today. He didn't know whether to cry or laugh. Fortunately, the venom armor worked well, which brought Anthony some consolation.

Then, he silently placed the broken axe in a corner of the gym, took a deep breath, and looked at the product list again. The remaining energy points became 1040.2, and the Level 1 venom armor was marked as gray, indicating it was sold out.

"Then buy a watermelon knife" Anthony's expression turned unpleasant. Because of this armor, he now needed to spend an extra 200 energy points to buy a knife.

"Purchase successful."

The white light shone again. In Anthony's hand appeared a large machete, thirty centimeters long and five centimeters wide. The handle was comfortable to hold, and the watermelon knife felt a bit heavy.

"Should I test its sharpness?" Anthony thought and silently picked up the rusty woodcutter's axe from the corner. Holding the watermelon knife in one hand and the woodcutter's axe in the other, he swung them at each other.

Crack! At the moment the two blades collided, the woodcutter's axe was directly severed by the watermelon knife. Not only that, but the crack that had opened on the axe extended further and finally snapped in Anthony's hand.

Looking at the two broken pieces of the woodcutter's axe on the ground, Anthony silently picked them up and placed them in a corner of the gym. After completing all of this, Anthony looked at the watermelon knife. The blade had not a single notch, and the blade itself remained perfectly straight.

"Great knife!" Anthony's eyes lit up, and at the same time, a strange thought popped into his mind. What would happen if he used this Level 1 watermelon knife to strike the Level 1 venom armor? However, as soon as this thought emerged, he immediately dismissed it.

He now had just over 800 energy points left, and if he accidentally broke the knife, he had no idea who to cry to. He exited the store interface. Next, Anthony began training in the gym and finally injected himself with Level 2 genetic enhancement fluid.

"System, display my information panel."

"[Host]: Anthony

[Gender]: Male

[Age]: 23

[Level]: First-level congenital, semi-awakened

[Spirit]: 0.1 (amplifies combat power by 10%)

[Intelligence]: 7 (ordinary humans are 1)

[Strength]: 16.45 (ordinary humans are 1)

[Agility]: 8.75 (ordinary humans are 1)

[Mental]: 6.8 (ordinary humans are 1)

[Virus Resistance]: 0.4 (reaching 1 grants immunity to first-level mutants and ordinary zombie viruses)

[Abilities]: Awakening level: 32.0%

[Overall Combat Power]: 32.4"

"Three options have been added: level, spirit, and virus resistance." Anthony's eyes brightened as he looked through each line from top to bottom. The level and spirit seemed to be related to learning the breathing technique from Dash, but he didn't expect them to have such a powerful effect. However, he wondered how much his combat power would increase when his spirit reached 1. With an intelligence of 7, Anthony felt like he could instantly understand things that he couldn't comprehend before, and he could provide the best answers to complex problems.

This was probably the benefit of having an intelligence score of 7. With a strength of 16.45, equivalent to 1645 pounds, he possessed the strength of a semi-awakened individual, only 355 pounds away from being a fully awakened individual. At his current level, he didn't have to fear encountering awakened individuals.

The most remarkable attribute was agility. 8.75, which meant he could move at a speed of 61.25 meters per second. Even if he encountered a speed-based mutant, he had nothing to fear. With a mental attribute of 6.8, Anthony felt that his perception of the surrounding things had become sharper. Other than these changes, there were no other noticeable differences.

As for virus resistance, it hadn't reached 1, so he still had room for improvement. Finally, there was the awakening level, which had reached 32%. He had no idea what kind of ability he would awaken when it reached 100%. Closing the system panel, Anthony picked up the watermelon knife and exited the gym. However, as soon as he stepped out, he heard a scream.