The State of the World

"Knock, knock, knock..."

There was a knock at the door. 

It sounded so hollow, lonely, and ominous. 

General Joseph Davis couldn't bring himself to say "Come in" to the officer behind the door for a long time. 

He had been staring out the window for several hours. 

"What day is it today? The sixth? I think it's the sixth... Time seems to stand still."

The world he saw from the window was like a battle cry—but a cry that could only be heard with the eyes.

Outside, a symphony of chaos was playing, but the silence behind the glass swallowed every sound.

He couldn't hear the explosions of artillery shells tearing through the sky, nor the panicked shouts of soldiers giving orders. 

For Joseph, the world was nothing but movement. 

Exploding bombs bloomed like fire lilies amid clouds of dust rising from the ground, then faded into dark gray, swallowing the air.

With each explosion, the ground shook, the walls trembled—but there was no sound.

Zombie hordes attacked in waves. The dead bodies came in waves, piling up against the trenches and barriers like a living tsunami. Some climbed the barbed wire, others threw their bodies against the barricades. Bullets left trails in the air, rockets set trees ablaze.

Soldiers fought with bullets, Molotov cocktails, and sometimes bare hands. They shouted orders to each other—their lips moving in silence.

Some soldiers were fleeing. Some were kneeling in prayer, others with blank stares, searching for their next bullet. 

The sky was choked with smoke from the fires. 

Helicopters were circling above, their machine guns spitting sparks below. But all of this seemed to be happening behind a veil of silence.

For Joseph, the scene played out like a silent movie—with one difference: this movie was not funny, it was painful.

At that moment, Joseph realized something:

Hell might not be noisy.

Sometimes hell is just that place on the other side of the glass that doesn't pull you in.

He clasped his hands behind his back. He sighed.

The war he saw through the window remained etched in his mind like a picture carved into the depths of his soul. 

As he watched the war, he heard the same unsettling sound again. 

"Knock, knock, knock..." 

This time, Joseph responded. Because it was time to do so. He had been observing the chaos outside for nearly an hour; the war seemed to be at a stalemate. 

The war where he was killing his own people.

"Come..." His voice was hoarse and hopeless. He wanted to show the messenger officer who was about to come in that he was still unbroken.

"Captain Eliza Hartwell, I have come to report as ordered, sir!" 

Eliza took two steps forward and waited at attention. When Joseph nodded, she relaxed and took two more steps forward. She came to the window.

"I'm listening, Captain." Joseph did not take his eyes off the battle outside. 

"Commander, the helicopters are ready." Eliza was still a little sweaty and out of breath from the commotion outside. Since they had transferred all the electricity in the barracks to the wires and the computer connected to the local network, the inside was no different from the hell outside.

Despite this, there wasn't even a hint of sweat on General Joseph's face.

"It hurts, Eliza. It hurts." Joseph turned his head and looked at the crowd of people five hundred meters away on the right. These people had rushed here thinking it was a gathering area, but things hadn't gone as expected. Now they were all being devoured by hundreds of zombies. 

"Miscalculations and strategies, these things always happen, Commander." Eliza tried to reassure him, but she wasn't very successful.

"What miscalculation? We weren't going to use those weapons, that's all." Joseph still remembered, everything was fine for the first two days. As quietly as possible, zombies could be easily killed with knives or different weapons. 

But a group of zombies was enough to spark panic among them.

It was Lieutenant Maxwell who fired the first shot, attracting all the zombies in the vicinity. He had reacted that way when he was bitten on the arm, and he still refused to admit his guilt. 

Despite his injury, Joseph did not leave him behind because he was the son of another general. He had his arm cleanly amputated and ensured his survival.

According to occasional news from the local network, at least the military part of the government was still standing, albeit not at full capacity.

He couldn't take such a risk. 

"Eliza, tell me, which base should we go to?"

"Commander, aren't we going to the Angola base, as you said?" Eliza couldn't hide her surprise. They had been in contact with this base for two days and thought that, because of its remote location, it would not be too badly affected by the zombie disaster.

Joseph did not answer verbally.

He just pointed to the papers on the table behind him.

There were several coded messages on the papers, but worst of all, the messages were incomplete. What they wanted to say could not be conveyed.

"We've been trying to communicate since morning, but they're not responding to any of our messages or signals. There can only be one reason..."

Joseph stopped at this point.

Eliza was still in shock from the incident.

"This... This... Well, how? How are we going to get there? We only have enough fuel to get to Angola..."

Eliza didn't even notice the sweat dripping from her forehead onto the paper in her hand.

"We may still have hope." Joseph's eyes were fixed on the battle behind the window.

A powerful figure dancing among the zombies, a machine gun in one hand and a long knife in the other, was the only human being in Joseph's eyes. 

Eliza came to the window at that moment and looked outside. 

"Did he do it? Did he succeed?"

Joseph shook his head. "Get ready, Captain! We're joining the fight. Tell the pilots to shut down the engines and stand by."

Eliza nodded and immediately reached for the radio on her belt. After giving the order, she followed the general.

Before leaving the building, the general took a pistol and a sword. They had learned how to use the system. 

They had bought a few items from the store and library. In fact, every soldier had a sword, whether they had killed zombies or not. 

As they left the building, a screen appeared in front of Joseph.

[Joseph Davis – Level: 4]

[EXP: 84/5000]

[POWER: 2 (+++)]

[SPEED: 2 (+++)]

[PERCEPTION: 2 (+++)]

[LEY: 1 (+++)]

[SP:0] (System Points)

[Abilities: Sharp Eyesight, Accurate Shooting, Cutting Principle]

[Blessing: Clear Vision]

[System Coins: 34]

[STORE (+)]

[LIBRARY (+)]

[CODEX (+)]

Eliza took a sword, a rifle, and a pistol with her as she left the building.

[Eliza Hartwell – Level 3]

[EXP: 2577.6/3000]

[STRENGTH: 1 (+++)]

[SPEED: 1 (+++)]

[PERCEPTION: 2 (+++)]

[LEY: 2 (+++)]

[SP: 0] (System Points)

[Abilities: Ley Path, Ley Bullet, Precision Shot, Cutting Principle]

[Blessing: Ley Hearer]

[System Coins: 48]

[STORE (+)]

[LIBRARY (+)]

[CODEX (+)]

The two of them left the barracks together. The battle had already intensified at the barbed wire fence 300 meters away. The other sides of the barracks were not as crowded. 

No one noticed Joseph and Eliza reaching the battlefield. 

Joseph drew his weapon as soon as he arrived and fired with perfect accuracy, killing several zombies. 

As soon as his magazine ran out, he used the spare magazines in his pocket, killing over thirty zombies in a short time with just his pistol. 

Eliza wasn't much different. 

She was shooting with almost the same accuracy as Joseph, hitting nine out of ten shots. The only difference between her and Joseph was that the bullets in her pistol glowed with a blue light, blowing up not one, but at least two or three zombies' heads as it continued on Its way.

It was clear that this was no ordinary ammunition. Eliza was using ley energy! 

She was the only one at the barracks who could do that. 

However, neither of them could compare to the ordinary sergeant who was currently terrorizing the zombies on the battlefield. 

"HAHAHAH! DIE, DOGS! YOU WON'T TAKE ANY OF MY COMRADES FROM ME TODAY!"

It was completely against the rules. He was shouting as loudly as he could, using the machine gun he held easily in his right hand as if it were a toy. The sound of the gun alone was enough to attract thousands of zombies.

The machine gun's cartridge reached almost to the barracks. There seemed to be no end to the supply of bullets.

He was wearing only a black T-shirt over his military pants. A large mace hung from his belt. 

In his left hand, a long sword pierced the zombies' heads as easily as a thin rapier. 

His black hair was short, and his unshaven beard fit perfectly on his face. He was handsome, at least from most women's perspective.

The exposed parts of his body were covered with wounds. However, it was clear that these wounds had not caused an infection.

"Fortunately, the system's strong bandages prevent zombie infection; otherwise, this idiot would have died long ago." 

Joseph muttered quietly. Only Eliza heard him.

The bandages they bought were not ordinary. Each one cost 50 SP. 

Meanwhile, Joseph had put down his gun. He had started using his sword and was eliminating all the zombies below Level 3. 

This relentless battle continued for another hour. Only then did those around them realize that their generals were among them.

The last to notice was the man fighting like a madman in the middle.

He spoke as soon as he saw Joseph.

"I apologize for not greeting you, Commander!" 

"It's okay, soldier! Speak, what level are you?" Joseph focused directly on the matter at hand. Unfortunately, whether or not they could clear the zombies in the area was in this man's hands.

"I'm at level seven! I'm very close to level eight!" 

"That fast?" Joseph couldn't hide his surprise and took a step back. He left his place to Eliza. 

But now he noticed the crowd of zombies around them. The zombies were piled up like a mountain, and although most of them were at level one, there were quite a few level four zombies.

"They're leveling up too! Constantly!" Joseph thought everything was going well. 

The soldiers were leveling up, growing stronger, and surviving. But what he hadn't noticed before was that the zombies were also leveling up. 

Now that he noticed, a fear arose in his heart. 

"What if they keep getting stronger? What if a zombie becomes too powerful for us to defeat?"

"Marcus! Distract the high-level zombies! Don't kill them! Just focus on the low-level ones."

Marcus had already put down his machine gun and sword. He was fighting with his mace, and it was already difficult for him to use such a weapon. He didn't understand why such an order was given. If he left the high-level zombies alone, the soldiers behind him would have a very hard time. 

The strongest soldiers were the two level three soldiers in his team. They were close to level four, but their strength was nowhere near his.

"Let's trust them. That way, I can conserve some of my energy."

At that moment, a screen appeared in Marcus's eyes.

[Marcus Steel – Level 7]

[EXP: 7912.2/11000]

[STRENGTH: 5 (+++)]

[SPEED: 2 (+++)]

[PERCEPTION: 1 (+++)]

[SPIRIT: 1 (+++)]

[SP:0] (System Points)

[Abilities: Spread Fire, Brute Force, Heavy Weapon Skill I, Adrenaline Hunger, Unarmed Combat]

[Blessing: Cannon Fodder]

[System Coins: 784]

[STORE (+)]

[LIBRARY (+)]

[CODEX (+)]

Marcus then looked at the zombie in front of him. 

[Zombie Lv4.] 

There were three more level four zombies around him, and a voice inside him said that a level five zombie would appear soon.

Time was not on the soldiers' side. They could handle the incoming zombies, but their ammunition was limited.

After all, this place had not been a place of war before. It was a simple training barracks within the country. 

Joseph was aware of this. That was why he had given such an order. He could see that the number of level one zombies was decreasing. Only corpses were piling up around them. 

No new ones were appearing.

"Something's strange..." Joseph narrowed his eyes and looked at the area where Marcus was.

In just half an hour, the number of fourth-level zombies had increased, and a fifth-level zombie had appeared. 

Marcus could still fight easily, but what if those zombies changed their focus and attacked the soldiers?

"Marcus, kill a few fourth-level zombies! Make sure they don't escape to the rear!" 

"As you command, sir!" Marcus was full of energy since he wasn't struggling much. 

Every mace strike, every punch was followed by a small shockwave, constantly pushing the zombies back. He tried to push most of them back as far as possible, and killed some by directly blowing their heads off.

But soon, something unexpected happened. A silence...

Not from the fifth and fourth level zombies, but from the third level and below...

They were all dead.

The real reason for the silence was that the soldiers had stopped firing their weapons.

Joseph pulled his sword out of a zombie's head. It belonged to a woman whose facial features were not yet completely decayed. Her blonde hair was now stained gray with rot and blood.

Joseph narrowed his eyes and looked at the mountains of corpses and Marcus fighting in the middle of them. He was still killing them one by one, but he was the only one fighting.

"Something's wrong," Joseph muttered.

Eliza had come up beside him.

"I sense an abnormal ley flow behind those corpses." As soon as Eliza said this, Joseph became concerned. 

"Quick! Contact the pilots! Tell them to tell us what they see from the roof!"

Eliza immediately grabbed the radio and asked Joseph's questions.

The voice coming from the radio was trembling, filled with fear and terror.

"A… A zombie… Behind the pile of corpses right in front of you… It's touching the zombies, and the zombies are turning into flesh and merging with its body! Commander, I request permission to start the helicopter."

Eliza looked at Joseph and waited for him to make a decision. 

Joseph couldn't stop the trembling in his heart. He realized that this moment had finally come. 

"Permission granted." 

"Marcus! Kill them all! We're leaving! Everyone get on the roof quickly, leave everything you have and get on the roof!" 

The soldiers immediately obeyed the order and followed suit. There weren't many of them anyway. About ten soldiers ran quickly. There were three buildings in the barracks, and each building had three helicopters. All of them were fully equipped. 

The soldiers ran to three different buildings and took their places in the helicopters. Joseph went to the roof of the middle building, and Eliza went to the one on the left. 

Only Marcus was left behind, but knowing his strength, they decided to wait a little longer.

At the top of the roof, Joseph saw what was behind the mountain of corpses.

"What the hell is this?"

The scene the pilot had described was real.

That zombie was turning the other zombies into piles of flesh and sucking them into its body.

He could feel the zombie's power rapidly increasing even from this distance. The blue ley lines surrounding the zombie never stopped, feeding every part of its body as if they were protecting it.

Joseph realized that this place had now become a forbidden zone. 

As Joseph boarded the helicopter, he thought of only one person. Lieutenant Maxwell...

He looked back at the crowd of zombies behind him once more and thought, Fuck it.

Fortunately, they had Marcus.

Shortly after, he shouted.

"Marcus! Get your damn ass up and get on the helicopter!" 

Marcus hadn't noticed that everyone else had retreated. 

When he realized he was alone, he gritted his teeth and slammed the mace in his hand into the ground with all his might.

A shockwave emanated from the mace and knocked the zombies around him back dozens of meters.

"You have learned the Shockwave ability!" 

[Shockwave: Allows the user to emit an O-shaped repulsive wave in the area where they deal damage. Knockback power +10% , knockback damage +5% ]

"Haha! Nice!" Marcus then ran to the building where the helicopter was without looking back. He climbed the walls very quickly and got into the helicopter.

The helicopter was already waiting. It took off as soon as Marcus got in.

Finally, Marcus saw the same scene.

The zombie is standing among the blue waves. 

The zombie also raised its head at that moment and looked at Marcus with its blue eyes.

Marcus felt a few drops of sweat fall from his forehead.

[Corpse Shepherd Lv11]

"Damn it!"