The two chatted for a while, and Ye Shuangluo casually asked:
"Who was that bald guy just now? He looked fierce, doesn't seem like a good person."
"Bald guy? You mean Brother Lin? He's the leader of our settlement. He may look scary, but he's actually a really good person."
"Is that so…"
Ye Shuangluo recalled what the woman said when he registered earlier, that they actively took in people whose lives were destroyed by zombies.
If he died, could this settlement still hold together?
As Ye Shuangluo pondered, his killing intent gradually subsided, but he couldn't just do nothing.
***
In the distance, Brother Lin was staring intently at Ye Shuangluo and Shen Lingling, muttering to himself.
"That boy… he must be one of those damned New Humans. Why did Shen Lingling help him out of nowhere? Do they know each other? Or is Shen Lingling also a damned New Human?"
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. Brother Lin remembered his parents in the Capital who died at the hands of New Humans, and he felt a surge of uncontrollable rage.
Although Ye Shuangluo and Shen Lingling weren't part of the New Humans from the Capital, Brother Lin equally despised every New Human.
Thinking back to Ye Shuangluo's fight with the Horned Zombie, his ability seemed to be space-related, a rare power but one that couldn't effectively protect its user.
A cold glint flashed in Brother Lin's eyes. If he could catch him off guard, he could definitely kill him.
Just as Brother Lin was fantasizing about killing Ye Shuangluo and then slaying Shen Lingling to avenge his parents, Ye Shuangluo suddenly walked towards him. Even though the boy did nothing, Brother Lin felt his hair stand on end, an indescribable sense of oppression emanating from the young man.
Watching the boy slowly approach with a knife, Brother Lin wanted to flee as far as possible, but his legs were trembling uncontrollably.
At this moment, in his eyes, the boy was no longer a fellow human but a beast ready to pounce and kill him.
When they were close enough, Ye Shuangluo whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear:
"I'm going to leave for a while. If I find out that anything happened to Shen Lingling when I get back, I'll kill you."
The boy's tone was calm, but the calmer he was, the more terrified Brother Lin became.
Brother Lin had already abandoned the idea of ambushing and killing the boy. He lowered his head and said respectfully:
"I… I understand. I will take good care of Lingling."
"You better not get any funny ideas, or I'll find you no matter where you run and chop you to pieces."
Hearing Brother Lin's promise, the boy still wasn't reassured and threatened him again. Only when he saw Brother Lin's submissive attitude did he finally feel a bit more at ease.
Next, Ye Shuangluo finally had time to check his personal panel. After killing the Horned Zombie, he seemed to have heard several system notifications in his mind.
[Hidden Achievement: Elite Hunter]
[Completion Condition: Kill three elite monsters]
[Current Progress: 1/3]
[Achievement Reward: Luck +1]
It was an attribute that couldn't be increased through conventional means. Ye Shuangluo's eyes lit up.
With higher Luck, the chances of getting good items from treasure chests would increase, and the probability of some skills activating would also go up.
Then, he looked at the skill bar. The previously empty skill bar now had a new skill.
[Wind Affinity LV.1
Skill Effect: Wind Element Resistance +15, recover 2 Health Points per second.
You can slightly control wind elements.
Skill Description: Blessed by the wandering winds of the high heavens, the wind will guide your path and turn into a gale to clear all obstacles in your way.]
[PS: This skill is self-learned by the player and cannot be upgraded through skill points or other methods. Please explore ways to improve it on your own.]
This skill had a high ceiling, Ye Shuangluo thought. He already had some initial ideas about developing the wind element.
At that moment, a gentle breeze brushed against the boy's cheek. The wind was soft, instantly dispelling all his fatigue.
Ye Shuangluo felt his body return to peak condition, and even his mental exhaustion seemed to be soothed.
"During the battle just now, was it you who helped me? Was it you who told me its weak point was the crystalline on its forehead?"
Ye Shuangluo's question was destined to go unanswered, but when he asked it, he already had an answer in his heart.
Finally, he took out a half-damaged crystalline from his space backpack.
[Viral Nucleus (Ugly) Damaged]
[Type: Material/Quest Item]
[Item Description: The energy source of one of the twelve monsters created by a mad scientist on a whim.]
[Item Evaluation: It has an almost insane attraction to the other eleven monsters. This is a different kind of survival game, where only one of the twelve monsters can survive.]
[Special Effect: When you hold this item, you can vaguely sense the locations of other items of the same origin.]
What should he do next? Ye Shuangluo began to seriously ponder.
He had no chance with that world quest; after all, to stop this evolution, he would need to kill Him.
Ye Shuangluo knew his own limits well and wouldn't take on such a suicidal task.
Ultimately, his gaze fell on the last line of the Viral Nucleus's special effect.
An idea struck him—why not hunt the other mutant zombies?
After all, the rewards from elite monsters were definitely higher than those from normal monsters, and although they were much stronger, Ye Shuangluo now had Mortal Kill in hand.
Combined with his formidable attributes, killing the other mutant zombies wouldn't be too difficult.
Without further ado, Ye Shuangluo grasped the Viral Nucleus. Instantly, he felt a mysterious pull from the south.
***
Whoosh!
A knife covered in a greenish-blue glow slashed towards the zombie ahead with incredible speed.
Splat!
Accompanied by the sound of the blade slicing through flesh, the zombie collapsed powerlessly to the ground, blood gushing from its severed neck.
Ye Shuangluo flicked the blood off his knife, his slightly furrowed brows indicating his dissatisfaction with the recent strike.
Along the way, he had killed many zombies with Mortal Kill, but the special effect had never triggered.
After all, Mortal Kill could even slice through the body of a mutant Horned Zombie, let alone ordinary zombies—it was like cutting through vegetables.
In such circumstances, the Kill Order naturally couldn't be triggered.
Of course, he wasn't just killing zombies for fun; he was trying to develop his only skill, "Wind Affinity."
According to the skill description, "Wind Affinity" granted him wind element resistance, health regeneration, and the ability to slightly control wind elements.
In fact, Ye Shuangluo found through testing that he could indeed slightly control wind elements, but only slightly.
The wind elements he gathered under his control could only last for about three seconds before dispersing.
But Ye Shuangluo thought of the Wind Chaser Type I, which used wind elements as bullets.
He immediately had an idea: if wind elements could be used as bullets, could they also be applied to weapons?
The result didn't disappoint him. Wind elements could indeed be applied to weapons, but they would still disperse after three seconds.
However, three seconds were enough for Ye Shuangluo to strike, and with the wind elements' enhancement, the strike would be much faster.
But for some reason, no matter how much he practiced, there was always a strange awkwardness during actual use.
"Forget it, I'll practice more when I get the chance."
Ye Shuangluo looked at the building in front of him. According to the Viral Nucleus's guidance, the other mutant zombie he was looking for should be in the basement of this building.
Taking a deep breath at the entrance, he pushed the door open and stepped inside.
"Uwaa"
As soon as he entered, several zombies lunged at him with bared teeth and claws.
Bang bang bang!
Ye Shuangluo first used the Wind Chaser Type I to kill the ones in front, then charged at the remaining zombies with Mortal Kill in hand.
Splat, splat, splat…
At that moment, Ye Shuangluo was like a tiger among sheep, and even the fiercest zombies couldn't withstand a single strike from him.
In no time, almost all the zombies in the building were killed, with only one left under Ye Shuangluo's foot for observation.
Ye Shuangluo glanced outside the building; it was still daytime.
Logically, these zombies should be quiet during the day.
Why were the zombies inside the building so active, and…
Ye Shuangluo looked down at the green-eyed zombie under his foot. Its green pupils were particularly striking.
Under normal circumstances, zombies' pupils should be grayish-white during the day and blood-red at night.
He recalled the eyes of the zombies he had just killed; they all seemed to have green pupils.
These special green-eyed zombies were no weaker than the frenzied red-eyed zombies at night. Ye Shuangluo looked at the elevator ahead. Despite the apocalypse, it was still operational.
His intuition told him that he could find the answers to all these questions in the basement.
Whether it was the green-eyed zombies or the exceptionally unique Horned Zombie.
With a single strike, he finished off the zombie under his foot and walked towards the elevator. He pressed the down button, and the elevator doors opened immediately.
Entering the elevator, Ye Shuangluo noticed that the -3 button was protected by a layer of bulletproof glass.
Clearly, this was to prevent the building's employees from accessing the -3 floor.
But obviously, this bulletproof glass couldn't stop Ye Shuangluo.
With one slash, the bulletproof glass shattered. Ye Shuangluo nonchalantly pressed the -3 button.
Soon, the elevator arrived at -3.
As soon as he stepped out, Ye Shuangluo saw a large number of animals—tigers, sheep, dogs, cats…
All of them were preserved in formalin, and Ye Shuangluo noticed that some of these animals were incomplete.
For example, a cow had lost its horns, and a tiger had lost its tail…
Ahead of the elevator was a sophisticated-looking door.
The closer he got to the door, the more restless the Viral Nucleus in his hand became.
When Ye Shuangluo reached the door, it suddenly opened automatically.
Clearly, the host was inviting him in.
Ye Shuangluo couldn't help but smile and then stepped through the door without hesitation.
Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan
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