Licker
Boom!
A heavy object hit the ground.
Lin An's expression was grim as he jumped down from the rooftop.
The spiritual storm had passed.
Aside from a slight dizziness in his head, there was no serious harm.
Now that the Apocalypse Game had officially begun, it meant that An Jingtian's life was on a countdown.
Time was running out. After leaving the city center, he needed to find a vehicle.
Otherwise, with just his two legs, he would never reach his destination in time.
The city was now swarming with millions of zombies.
Even though he had become an awakened one, surrounded by that many zombies, it was a dead-end.
Linjiang Suburb.
A red Dongfeng heavy truck roared past, mercilessly crushing zombies along its path.
Boom!
Inside the truck's cabin, Lin An kicked the door open, not caring that the truck was still speeding down the road, and jumped out.
After a series of rolls to absorb the impact, he managed to stand up steadily.
After becoming an awakened one, his physical constitution of 12 points was enough to make him immune to most of the impact.
The uncontrolled Dongfeng truck crashed straight into the neighborhood's fence.
Blood splattered across the truck, with unknown chunks of flesh stuck in the gaps.
On the truck's bumper, a half-body zombie continued to gnaw at the metal, unaware of the chaos around it.
With a loud crash, the truck finally fulfilled its final mission.
At the entrance to the neighborhood, zombies that were clustered together, feasting on corpses, were crushed into a bloody pulp by the out-of-control truck.
Black smoke billowed from the crumpled front of the vehicle, the tire marks darkened by blood.
The sky was dim.
After breaking out of the city center, Lin An sped through the streets, arriving at the area near where An Jingtian was located.
A journey that should have taken three hours had been reduced by more than half.
No time for rest.
Lin An quickly pulled out his phone and checked the faint screen.
Twenty-three minutes...
His heart, which had been in suspense, suddenly relaxed.
Thankfully, there was still time.
An Jingtian's neighborhood was located deep inside this area.
It was in the old part of the city.
The roads were winding and complex, and walking was the only option.
But even walking, with his enhanced body, Lin An could make it there in fifteen minutes at most.
Brother...
You have to hang on!
After punching through a zombie in his path, Lin An sprinted along the neighborhood's inner wall.
The once peaceful residential buildings had now turned into a slaughterhouse.
The sealed anti-theft windows became the biggest obstacle to escaping.
Occasionally, chilling screams echoed from inside the buildings.
Through half-open windows, zombies could be seen passing by.
Fortunately, most of the neighborhood's residents hadn't returned home before the outbreak.
If they had, with the density of people in this old neighborhood, Lin An would have had no chance of moving.
With his agility boosted by his enhanced attributes, Lin An easily dodged the smaller clusters of zombies.
He moved at a terrifying speed, and in mere moments, he reached the entrance of the neighborhood.
Along the way, zombies that could be avoided were bypassed, and those that couldn't were simply punched through.
At the neighborhood entrance, beneath the 6th-floor luxury apartment's anti-theft window.
A man dressed like a wealthy businessman was hanging painfully from the balcony, his shirtless body barely gripping the railing.
Lin An couldn't understand how the overweight man managed to climb out of the window.
"Help!"
"Please, I beg you!"
The chubby man screamed at Lin An, his face contorting into an ugly grin, sweat pouring from his nose.
He had been hanging outside for a while, watching as Lin An, like a god of death, charged out from the neighborhood.
Saving him seemed like child's play, right?
Lin An ignored him, kicking a zombie in front of him, not even looking back.
"I'll give you money! Please!"
"Ten million!"
"Save me, just this once!"
The wealthy man panicked, seeing Lin An about to leave the gate.
The anti-theft window in front of him was starting to bend under pressure.
The sturdy steel bars creaked as a zombie woman began gnawing at them.
"One million! I'll give you one million!"
The businessman's face grew pale as his strength faded.
The rotten stench from the woman's mouth made him dizzy.
That was his most beloved woman, once the epitome of grace.
"Five million! I'm the boss of Linjiang Construction Group! Anything you want, I'll give it to you!"
As Lin An's figure grew smaller, the businessman's face turned ashen, his voice rising in desperation.
Linjiang Construction Group was well-known in the city, and he believed anyone would be tempted by his offer.
Lin An didn't even acknowledge him.
In the apocalypse, money was only good for wiping your ass.
As Lin An disappeared into the distance, the businessman was left stunned.
Five million! How could anyone not be tempted by that?
"Idiot! A complete idiot!"
Infuriated and desperate, the businessman began to curse loudly, venting his fears.
Across the rarely zombie-free avenue.
Lin An suddenly slowed his pace, his expression tense.
It wasn't the businessman's promise of money that moved him, urging him to turn back.
In the distance, a massive creature stood in the road—three meters tall, its blood-red body resembling a skinned frog.
That was...
The Licker!
A mutated zombie, the Licker possessed terrifying combat power.
In his past life, a single Licker could easily destroy a small safe zone.
Though it lacked armor, its constantly regenerating muscle tissue could withstand most small-caliber firearms.
It was fast, strong, and could regenerate its flesh.
Steel was like dough in its hands.
It was one of the nightmares for survivors.
Could he bypass it?
Lin An carefully hid behind a truck, suppressing his breath.
Even though he was an awakened one, he was still at level 0.
His strength had surpassed the limits of an ordinary human, but compared to this monster, the gap was enormous.
Should he take a detour?
Lin An held his breath, holding up a broken rearview mirror to observe the creature.
Every time the Licker moved, the ground shook.
More than two meters in length, its sharp claws could easily pierce through iron.
Its claws moved like afterimages, continuously pulling humans out from the cars.
Like savoring a delicacy.
When it got into the mood, even zombies weren't spared.
Lin An remained silent.
No wonder there were no zombies on this road. This monster had eaten them all.
A few seconds later, the Licker chewed on a severed leg, its greedy eyes scanning the surroundings.
It had finished devouring everything on the street.
Buzz~
A slight vibration from his phone.
It was a voice message from An Jingtian.
Lin An's eyes suddenly sharpened as he carefully turned down the volume.
"Zhi... Lin Ge, it's An Jingtian's sister, An Xia. My brother... I think he's not going to make it..."
"He's vomiting... so much blood."
"I don't know why... but when he looks at me, his eyes—"
"Zhi... he... wants to eat me."
The message was a bit garbled, disrupted by static.
It was sent five minutes ago.
Global communications had been severely disrupted since the apocalypse began, and would gradually cut off in the next three hours.
Lin An gripped his phone tightly.
His hands, which had been steady even through the horrors of the past, now trembled slightly.
An Jingtian's condition was deteriorating faster than he expected.
Perhaps, in the next second, he would completely turn into a zombie.
No more time to waste.
Lin An, who had originally planned to take a detour, suddenly straightened his body, no longer caring about exposing himself to the Licker's sight, and charged forward with all his might.
Boom!
Boom!
The ground trembled.
In the distance, the massive Licker seemed to sense something.
Its grotesque face turned toward him, nostrils flaring as it sniffed the air.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Suddenly, the Licker's enormous body lunged forward.
The cars along the road were sent flying as if struck by a train.
It was moving at incredible speed.
It smelled the scent of a living being!
The distance between them closed rapidly.