looking for old friends

Cheryl, who was still lost in thought, Anthony went straight into the gym after breakfast.

"Attack! Attack! Not fast enough! Faster!" The phantom of a beautiful lady continuously issued instructions, and Anthony followed the instructions, crazily attacking until he completely exhausted his stamina before stopping.

Anthony lay on the floor, gasping heavily, sweat dripping from his forehead onto the ground. After resting for a while, he got up and took a big gulp of the Pool of Spirits water.

"Host: Anthony

Gender: Male

Age: 23

Intelligence: 2 (normal humans: 1)

Strength: 8.95 (normal humans: 1)

Agility: 3.15 (normal humans: 1)

Spirit: 1.8 (normal humans: 1)

Ability: Awakening Degree: 0.8%

Overall Combat Power: 15.9"

"My strength has reached 895 pounds, still 105 pounds away from being a half-awakened individual. My speed has increased to 22.05 meters per second, and the awakening degree has also improved. I wonder what the result would be if I encountered a first-level mutant zombie of the strength type?"

Anthony muttered to himself and remembered the old friend they discussed yesterday. With that magical technique, he would have the power to fight against mutants. There was no time to waste! Immediately, Anthony decided on today's search mission—to find the old friend.

He remembered that the old gentleman lived in a small community by the Yang River, called Rose Garden. No, wait! Rose Garden! Anthony suddenly realized and almost burst out laughing. This location was the red light district of Linxian City!

Preparing for defense and packing his belongings, Anthony specifically brought a bottle of Pool of Spirits water for stamina recovery and concealed a gun at his waist for emergencies. This time, he didn't plan to bring Cheryl along.

Before leaving, Anthony instructed the two of them, "You two can stay active at the base while I'm gone."

"Okay, we'll prepare meals and wait for you to come back," Verna replied, and Cheryl nodded in agreement.

Bidding farewell to the two, Anthony headed straight towards the Rose Garden. It wasn't far from here, just follow Yang River East Road all the way. They would pass by the Ship Community, where there was a small uphill slope that led to the embankment. Walking east along the Yang River embankment for one kilometer would take him to the Rose Garden. Anthony had the entire map of the Yang River community memorized in his mind.

One noteworthy point was that without human activities, the originally turbid Yang River became much clearer, and the river breeze brought a hint of cool mist.

The only thing was that the river water couldn't be consumed as it contained a large amount of ancient viruses. After taking a brief glance at the Yang River, Anthony started running at high speed. He didn't want to waste too much time on the road.

In less than a minute, a T-shaped road appeared on his right. On both sides of the road were residential buildings, which may have existed for a long time, with large chunks of the outer walls peeling off and green moss resembling patches of psoriasis. Looking down, there were four large characters, "Rose Garden," written on the gate of the residential area in front of the building.

"here it is," Anthony murmured to himself. The general location was confirmed, but he didn't know if the old man lived inside the community or in an old house outside. He descended from the embankment and began to search. Occasionally, unremarkable zombies came over, but he cut them all down without mercy.

After searching for about an hour, just when Anthony was about to give up, a loud noise erupted, coming from the neighboring area. Anthony quickly rolled and took cover behind the security room of the residential complex, cautiously peeking out to observe.

In the next moment, his pupils contracted, and his mouth slightly opened. "This... is a mutant!" He rubbed his eyes in disbelief and looked again. The creature was entirely gray, standing over three meters tall, with muscles that resembled an enlarged version of Schwarzenegger.

"A first-level power-type mutant, I definitely can't be mistaken! But shouldn't it appear only half a month later?" After a painful recollection, Anthony had another question. Because the base had conducted an experiment, trapping hundreds of zombies in a cage and observing if they would attack each other to explore the cause of mutant formation. As a result, these hundreds of zombies tore each other apart for a full 15 days before a mutant was born.

The experiment's results were announced by the survivors' base in Linxian City,Now that a mutant appeared in the Rose Garden, it could only mean one thing: those idiots didn't consider the change in quantity and thought the results of the experiment with hundreds of zombies would be the same for thousands or tens of thousands. Truly a bunch of idiots! No wonder they only lasted three years.

Anthony directly speculated that if mutants appeared in the Rose Garden, it meant that mutants had also appeared in other areas. However, while he was pondering, a loud shout resounded. "Beast, go to hell"

Anthony's spirit trembled, finding the voice somewhat familiar. He quickly peeked out and saw an elderly man with bulging muscles, standing on the road, suddenly leaping up and throwing a punch at the mutant.

The mutant, sensing the attack, quickly counterattacked with its fist. The collision of their fists created an invisible ripple spreading in all directions. A one-meter diameter cracked circle appeared beneath their feet.

"Wow! How powerful is this?" Seeing that a single move couldn't take down the other, the first-level power-type mutant roared and rapidly threw punches at the old man. The old man, unwilling to show weakness, retaliated with his fists. The scene of their battle could rival a sci-fi blockbuster.

"I initially thought Dash was just bragging, but I didn't expect him to be so fierce before entering the survivor's base!" Anthony exclaimed, further confirming Dash's extraordinary skills in his mind.

However, he was curious about why Dash, who could directly confront power-type mutants, appeared so despondent in the survivor's base and had a twenty-centimeter wound on his chest. Just as the thought crossed his mind, a massive figure suddenly appeared at a strange speed.

"Not good!" Anthony silently exclaimed, wanting to warn them, but it was too late. He heard a sound. A gray scythe pierced through Dash's chest from behind. Anthony clearly saw the appearance of the attacker, a first-level speed-type mutant.

Blood sprayed out, and Dash's vitality immediately weakened by sixty percent. He turned his head in disbelief and saw an eight-petaled mouth creature proudly roaring at him.

"You beast, daring to ambush an old man, I'll break you!" Dash roared, his arm muscles suddenly bulging, and his hands enveloped in a white light. He grabbed the scythe lodged in his chest and spun it 360 degrees. The speed-type mutant was thrown away by Dash's move, and the scythe embedded in Dash's chest was forcibly pulled out.

Without the pressure of the scythe, a large amount of blood gushed from the wound, splattering on the ground. A wave of weakness instantly swept over him. Unable to maintain his balance, Dash dropped to his knees, wearing a bitter and pained expression. "I'm getting old; even my perception has declined."