Chapter 8: The Stitcher

Just as Lin Yi was about to check on An Jing Tian's condition, a blinding light suddenly flashed before his eyes, and a semi-transparent light screen instantly unfolded in front of him. He squinted slightly, adjusting to the sudden brightness before carefully reading the content displayed:

"Savior Task System: Activated"

"Mission Information: Eliminate the 2nd-tier mutant [The Stitcher]"

"Mission Level: Dangerous!"

"Time Limit: 240 hours"

"Mission Reward: Anti-toxin Serum *3 (Eliminates the zombie virus within the body)"

"Mission Description: A dangerous (2nd-tier) zombie will emerge in Linjiang City within 12 hours. Please eliminate it as soon as possible. If not dealt with within 240 hours, the zombie will evolve into its complete form: Terrifying (3rd-tier)."

Before Lin Yi could process this information, two pendant-like objects appeared out of thin air in his palm. These pendants felt cold to the touch, had a considerable weight, and emitted a mysterious aura. Lin Yi was startled, thinking to himself, "What are these things?"

Just then, new text appeared on the light screen:

"Initial Mission Reward: Anti-toxin Pendants (Gray Equipment) *2"

"Anti-toxin Pendant (Gray Equipment): Temporarily suppresses the zombie virus when carried. Usable time: 240 hours."

"After the usable time ends, the pendant becomes ineffective and turns into an ordinary item. Can be reused repeatedly (timing starts upon use, pauses when removed)"

"Equipment Levels: Gray (Poor), White (Common), Blue (Excellent)... Black (Doomsday)"

Before Lin Yi could react, a white light flashed, and the pendants in his hand directly entered the bodies of An Xia and An Jing Tian, immediately appearing around their necks. These pendants were silver-white in color, with a translucent purple gemstone embedded in the center, emitting a faint glow.

An Jing Tian, who had been struggling painfully and constantly growling, immediately stopped moving as soon as the pendant was on him, as if he had fallen into a deep sleep, lying quietly on the floor. Meanwhile, An Xia, who was leaning against the window, gradually regained color in her pale face, looking much better in spirits.

As Lin Yi was marveling at the miraculous effect of the pendants, the system issued a new prompt:

"Ding, activating Savior exclusive skill: Eye of Judgment"

"Eye of Judgment (Level 0) activated: While the Eye of Judgment is active, it will continuously consume mental energy. During this period, you will obtain detailed information about any object within your field of vision."

"Eye of Judgment (Level 1): ???"

"The next level of the Eye of Judgment will be unlocked upon mission completion."

As this information appeared, a strange energy surged into Lin Yi's brain, engraving itself deeply into his memory like a brand. He momentarily lost focus, then felt a cool sensation cover his eyes.

Lin Yi's pupils were instantly shrouded in a pale blue mist, as if undergoing some miraculous transformation. A golden light flashed in the depths of his eyes, and suddenly his vision dramatically increased. The previously dim room became as bright as day to him, with even the tiny specks of dust in the corners clearly visible.

This change shocked Lin Yi to his core. The Eye of Judgment could actually enhance vision and observe detailed information about anything. In this perilous apocalyptic world, the greatest threat often wasn't physical weakness, but misjudgment of information. With the Eye of Judgment, he had gained an absolute advantage in information gathering, undoubtedly an extremely useful auxiliary skill.

"Brother Lin, what's wrong?" An Xia called out weakly from her position by the window, her voice filled with fatigue and anxiety. Ever since An Jing Tian and Lin Yi had exchanged messages three days ago, her health had been steadily deteriorating. As an eighteen-year-old girl, An Xia had to shoulder the burden of caring for her brother. If Lin Yi hadn't specifically instructed An Jing Tian to tie himself up on the third day to prevent hurting others after zombification, An Xia might have met the same tragic fate as countless others around the world, killed by the person closest to her while caring for them.

Lin Yi instinctively turned his head towards An Xia upon hearing her voice. The automatically activated Eye of Judgment immediately locked onto her, flooding him with information:

"Name: Human (50% Zombified)"

"Strength: 3"

"Agility: 3"

"Constitution: 2"

"Will: 6"

"Player Level: 0 (No danger, this creature is in the process of zombification transformation.)"

"Player Weaknesses: Heart, Head, Spine."

"Player Skills: Cooking 1, Language Proficiency 2, Handicraft 1..."

"Player Equipment: Anti-toxin Pendant (Gray)"

Besides these, a vast amount of other information continued to update, covering everything from An Xia's acquired skills to her current status. With the Eye of Judgment activated, all of An Xia's information became transparent to Lin Yi, detailed to an almost unsettling degree.

"I'm fine," Lin Yi said, though surprised internally, he showed no outward signs of distress. He merely smiled gently, indicating to An Xia that she needn't worry. With An Jing Tian currently unconscious, Lin Yi understood that he was An Xia's only emotional support, and he absolutely couldn't show any signs of abnormality in front of her.

However, contrary to Lin Yi's calm exterior, his mind was in turmoil. Countless questions clouded his thoughts: What was this suddenly appeared Savior template all about? Why had it granted him such a useful Eye of Judgment skill, and coincidentally provided rewards that could save the An siblings? Was all this a coincidence, or was some mysterious force manipulating events from behind the scenes?

Lin Yi quickly pondered the implications behind the system's appearance. Savior... who exactly was it meant to save? Himself? The people around him? Or perhaps the entire human civilization? If it was meant to save all of humanity, Lin Yi couldn't help but laugh self-mockingly. He had no savior complex, nor did he want to shoulder the burden of rescuing human civilization. If it truly was for the sake of saving humanity, then this mysterious Savior system had probably chosen the wrong person.

He only wanted to protect those he cherished, seek revenge, then become stronger and survive. As for the fate of others, he couldn't care less. His experience of dying due to betrayal in his previous life had made him all too familiar with the ugliness of human nature, instinctively distrustful and averse to others. Kindness and benevolence? In this cruel apocalyptic world, such beautiful words had long lost their meaning.

Suppressing the tumultuous thoughts in his mind, Lin Yi carefully observed An Jing Tian's condition. Lying unconscious on the floor, An Jing Tian's chest rose and fell slightly. If not for the horrifying sight of his peeling skin and flesh, he might have looked as if he were merely sleeping. Although Lin Yi had reservations about this sudden Savior template, he had to admit that this initial mission equipment had indeed solved his urgent problem.

For now, An Jing Tian and An Xia's conditions had stabilized. If he could complete the mission, the two siblings, who had seemed beyond hope, would have a chance to survive. Moreover, the three anti-toxin serums... Lin Yi couldn't help but feel tempted. After deducting the doses needed for An Xia and An Jing Tian, it meant he would have one extra serum for other uses. In this apocalyptic world, a serum capable of reverting zombies back to humans was simply priceless.

As for the mission itself, Lin Yi was no stranger to such tasks. In his previous life, after the apocalyptic game descended, everyone unlocked a player panel, naturally receiving system-issued missions like in a game. But the missions he had encountered in his past life were usually simple tasks like killing zombies or obtaining items, with rewards of only small amounts of food, barely worth mentioning. Until his rebirth, he had never heard of missions offering special rewards like this Savior task.

And the virus serum rewarded by this mission could actually completely eliminate the zombie virus within the body. If this reward could be obtained, it would drive everyone crazy. In this catastrophe, countless people's beloved family members and friends had turned into zombies. To save them, people would be willing to pay any price!

In Lin Yi's previous estimation, the best-case scenario was to use an awakened person's blood to suppress zombification, then keep An Jing Tian by his side, ensuring his safety for as long as possible. If an opportunity arose in the future, he would then find a way to cure him completely. Now, with such a perfect solution suddenly appearing, it was an unexpected stroke of luck.

However, the time limit of the mission put immense pressure on Lin Yi. "Mission Information: Eliminate mutant zombie... 2nd tier. Evolves to 3rd tier after 240 hours..." Lin Yi's expression grew serious. There was a qualitative difference between 3rd-tier mutants and 2nd-tier ones. Perhaps a few awakened individuals working together, or a large-scale safe zone could resist a 2nd-tier mutant zombie with heavy weaponry. But against a 3rd-tier mutant, humans would be utterly helpless! It would be a one-sided massacre.

3rd-tier mutant zombies were no longer afraid of conventional weapons. With agility of at least thirty points, they could almost reach the speed of sound, making human wave tactics a joke against them. Just one such creature could destroy an organized military unit. With either strength or constitution reaching 30 points, they could tear apart tank armor with bare hands, withstand small-caliber artillery head-on, and even possess flesh regeneration abilities!

Perhaps against a 2nd-tier mutant, he might find a way to level up and forcibly kill it with the remaining drugs. But facing a 3rd-tier mutant, with his current strength, a direct confrontation would mean certain death, without even a chance to struggle or escape.

Time was of the essence. 240 hours, which meant ten days. And the suppression of An Jing Tian's zombification would only last 240 hours as well. This meant he also needed to reserve time for the return journey after killing [The Stitcher].

9 days!

Whether to prevent [The Stitcher] from growing stronger over time, or to leave enough buffer time, he didn't have much time left. Although the mission information didn't provide the specific location of [The Stitcher], Lin Yi wasn't concerned about that.

He silently pulled out a crumpled cigarette from his pocket. In the dim room, a faint light flickered, casting fluctuating shadows on his face. Lin Yi took a deep drag, slowly exhaling the smoke, watching as it swirled and dispersed in the air.

[The Stitcher].

Wasn't this the predecessor of [The Abomination] from his previous life?

It was in the Wanda Plaza, in that shopping center crammed with thirty thousand people. And after devouring those thirty thousand people, it became the nightmare of the entire Linjiang City.