Mutation

"Kill!" Anthony gripped the wooden knife in his hand and forcefully swung it forward, then swiftly changed the direction of the blade with the help of his wrist, delivering a horizontal strike. In an instant, two blade shadows flashed by.

The entire process took less than a second. He had been training like this continuously for three days, and today was the fourth day. Huffing out a breath, Anthony sheathed the knife and looked at the speed data displayed on the screen in the gym wall, feeling unsatisfied.

With physical abilities more than double that of an ordinary person, it took him half a second to execute two strikes. This level of strength would be sufficient against slow-moving regular zombies, but if he encountered a Level 1 mutant, he would be in danger.

He remembered that after the outbreak of the apocalypse, a large number of zombies appeared in the city of Linxian. The first to appear were slow-moving zombies known as regular zombies. As time went on, the zombie virus began to evolve. Within the regular zombies, a type of mutant emerged. Some of these mutants possessed tremendous strength, capable of flipping over a small car, while others were agile, faster than a galloping horse, with speeds exceeding 70 km/h.

Once, when Anthony went out as a scavenger to search for food, he witnessed an unforgettable scene. Over a dozen explorers attacked a Level 1 strength-based mutant, but in less than twenty seconds, they were all mercilessly slaughtered by the mutant.

These dozen or so explorers were once instructors in various combat gyms in Linxian. Each of them could easily handle three to five ordinary people, but when faced with a Level 1 mutant, they were wiped out. Apart from the strength-based and speed-based mutants, which were the more common Level 1 variants, there were also Level 2, Level 3, Level 4, and even stronger mutants. Thinking of this, Anthony furrowed his brow involuntarily.

Level 1 mutants would appear in half a month. Relying solely on the attribute enhancements from the gym and the spirit pool, it would be far from enough to confront a Level 1 mutant. Unless the spirit pool and the gym could rapidly improve his physical attributes, it was hard to say.

So Anthony asked, "System, how can I quickly improve my physical attributes?"

The system's voice immediately sounded, "The host can upgrade the facilities in the base. Based on the current situation, it is recommended to upgrade the gym or the spirit pool."

"What are the requirements for upgrading?" Anthony asked again.

"To upgrade to Level 2 spirit pool, 50 energy points are required. To upgrade to Level 2 gym, 50 energy points are needed."

50 energy points? In these three days, the base had collected a total of 42.08 energy points, consumed 8.3 energy points, and had 33.78 energy points remaining. There was still a shortfall of 16.22 points to reach 50 points. Relying solely on the speed of energy point collection in the base, by the time he gathered 50 energy points, it would be too late for anyone.

Moreover, the operation of the base also required energy. Starting from today, due to the flooding, the city's power supply system had been paralyzed this morning. Previously, all the waste at home had been converted into energy points, which meant that he could only rely on the water supply pipeline to obtain energy points.

The water supply pipeline could collect a maximum of 5 tons of water per day, which converted to 0.5 energy points. At this rate, the base could only operate for a little over half a month before it would be paralyzed. We absolutely cannot let this happen! There must be more ways to obtain energy points.

In the afternoon, the flood slowly receded, leaving a large amount of mud and scattered debris on the ground. People who had taken refuge in high-rise buildings cautiously opened their doors after the flood had subsided. With the first person taking the lead, others followed and stepped outside.

Anthony sat on the balcony, observing the scene from a higher vantage point with a calm demeanor. Here, a "grand spectacle" was about to unfold. More and more people emerged on the streets, some starting to clean up the rubbish in front of their doors, while others searched for the bodies of their deceased loved ones. However, they didn't stay outside for long before a scream pierced the air.

Ah— Anthony glanced over. It was a middle-aged man nearing sixty, behaving strangely as he pounced on a young man and began tearing and biting at him. A nearby middle-aged woman rushed forward to pull them apart, but before she could get close, the middle-aged man abruptly turned around, his pale eyes staring fiercely at the woman, his bloodied mouth emitting an inhuman roar:"Bristo, what's wrong with you? I am..." Before the woman could finish her sentence, the middle-aged man lunged at her. Amidst a chorus of screams, the woman gradually stopped struggling, and the people on the street scattered in fear.

After a few minutes, the seemingly lifeless woman suddenly twitched. Her eyes snapped open, revealing a pair of pale, haunting eyes. She twisted her body into a contorted posture and let out a mournful howl.

Anthony recognized both of them. They were the neighbors from across the street, Mr.Bristo and his wife. In addition to the screams coming from the street, there were also horrifying cries coming from the surrounding houses. Some individuals leaped out of windows and turned into writhing piles of flesh on the ground. Various scenes of horror played out in every corner of Linxian City as the number of zombies increased exponentially.

Before long, the streets and residential buildings were filled with terrifying zombies. Anthony had no intention of saving these people; he wasn't a savior, nor did he need to risk his life for a group of neighbors.

After observing for a while, Anthony calmly returned to his room, wrapped himself in several thick coats, and tightly wound his wrists and ankles with duct tape. Then, he picked up his machete and headed downstairs. He wanted to verify his conjecture. "Dawn, open the door!"

"Yes, master." The door opened.

Anthony walked onto the street. These zombies had a highly sensitive sense of smell. As soon as a living person appeared nearby, they would immediately turn their heads and follow the scent. Within a few seconds, a zombie approached him. Roaring and covered in blood, its large mouth lunged towards Anthony.

However, Anthony remained calm. He had encountered countless zombies like this in his previous life as a scavenger. In the past three years, he had killed over a hundred zombies. As the zombie approached, he lifted his machete and swung it horizontally, just like in the training room. The blade flashed, and the massive head rolled on the ground, emitting a weak groan. With its head severed, copious amounts of black-red blood gushed from the zombie's neck, and its body convulsed before collapsing.

Anthony wasn't in a hurry to take out the crystal as there were at least twenty zombies around him, staring at him hungrily. He took a deep breath and swung his knife at the next zombie charging towards him. Splat! The blade pierced through its flesh, aided by his nearly 400 pounds of strength, instantly separating the zombie's head from its body. After killing two zombies, Anthony adjusted his posture and continued wielding the knife.

Within a minute, he exhaled and looked at the more than twenty decapitated zombie bodies on the ground, nodding in approval. This was his most glorious achievement in facing zombies so far.

Next, he crouched down, grabbed a zombie's head, and forcefully stabbed its skull. Crack! The skull split open. Instead of a mix of red and white brain matter, there was only a grayish-white unidentified liquid and a small, translucent crystal the size of a marble. Skillfully, he dug out these zombie crystals and stored them in his bag.

Without lingering, Anthony evaded the approaching zombies and immediately returned to the survival base... in front of the energy conversion chamber. Anthony opened his backpack, took out a gray zombie crystal, and nervously placed it inside the conversion chamber. Then, he quickly looked at the system information panel. He saw that the energy points, which had originally displayed 33.78, had increased to 34.78. The energy points had increased by 1.

Instantly, a tremendous sense of surprise surged within him. A single gray zombie crystal had brought him a full 1 energy point. This time, he had hunted down 24 zombies. Calming down, without hesitation, he placed all the remaining crystals into the conversion chamber. The energy points rose from 34.78 to 57.78.

At the next moment, the system alert sounded, "Energy points have reached 50. Upgrade options available: Level 2 Spirit Pool (requires 50 energy points), Level 2 Gym (requires 50 energy points), Level 2 Hibernation Chamber (requires 50 energy points)."

"Upgrade the gym for me."