Night crept in, but Zhao Yin had no intention of stopping.

Before the apocalypse, people said hard work didn't guarantee wealth. After the apocalypse, only the hardworking survived.

It wasn't until the deep hours past midnight that Zhao Yin, with Song Xiaodao and Little Monkey in tow, finally left the urban sprawl and neared their destination. Zombies grew sparse.

The city ruins gave way to scorched farmland-pitted, barren, utterly desolate. Occasionally, a wandering zombie drifted past without purpose.

They seemed tireless. Their bloodthirsty nature drove them like perpetual motion machines that never stopped.

In his previous life, some had theorized that the mysterious power from the extraterrestrial meteorite was what sustained the zombies' energy.

"Zhao Yin, aren't we going to rest?" Song Xiaodao was gasping for breath, every step a struggle.

Exhaustion had replaced her initial terror of the undead.

"We'll rest when we reach the village ahead." Zhao Yin drew his bow and nocked an arrow. Whoosh!

A zombie in the distance dropped with a headshot.

Little Monkey raised his steel rod and caved in another zombie's skull with a single swing. Neither man nor monkey spared a backward glance as they pressed on.

Song Xiaodao forced herself to keep moving. She quickly dug out two Corpse Crystals, jogged to catch up, wiped them clean, and handed them over.

Zhao Yin took the crystals and crushed them directly.

[Human Male, Ability Awakener, F-Rank Evolver, Evolution Progress 100/6.42: Strength 15, Agility 17, Constitution 13, Spirit 24, Talent B-Rank Marksmanship, Life Countdown: 30,074 days]

At this pace, he'd reach E-Rank in ten days at most.

His life countdown had stretched past thirty thousand days.

Finally, ruins emerged at the edge of the fields-the village Zhao Yin had been searching for.

Amid the wreckage stood a completely intact two-story rural villa, alone at the center.

Like his own villa, this building had survived.

Through the darkness, Zhao Yin spotted a towering tree swaying before the main gate. The air around it seemed fresher somehow.

"Zhao Yin, there's a house!" Song Xiaodao pointed at the villa.

A smile crossed Zhao Yin's face, fatigue forgotten. "Let's go. There's food inside."

At the mention of food, the girl and the monkey both perked up and hurried after him.

But just as they reached the villa's entrance, Zhao Yin froze. He shot out a hand and grabbed Little Monkey, who had already rushed ahead. "Wait!"

Yanked back by his tail, the little monkey looked up in confusion.

Then-

Roar! Roar! Roar!

The silent world erupted. Countless zombie howls exploded from within the villa, shattering the night.

The gate burst open. Dozens of zombies poured out.

"Fall back! Xiaodao, run!"

Zhao Yin bellowed the command. In the same breath, he drew and fired. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. Arrows split the air and punched through the skulls of the leading zombies.

But more kept coming. The modest rural villa disgorged one hundred, then two hundred zombies.

Worse-these zombies had evolution progress. Two had already reached F-Rank, their speed rivaling Zhao Yin's own.

No time to wonder why they'd evolved so fast or why they'd been hiding here. After loosing a few more arrows, Zhao Yin turned and sprinted.

If this horde surrounded him, he might not die immediately-but one scratch, one bite breaking skin, and he'd be infected.

He had exactly one can of tuna capable of resisting the zombie virus. It wasn't worth wasting on this.

Song Xiaodao's short legs couldn't carry her fast enough. She wailed in terror, but her cries only drew more zombies.

Little Monkey grabbed her by the collar and bolted forward.

"Monkey! Drop her and take out those two F-Ranks!" Zhao Yin shouted from behind.

He'd told Song Xiaodao to run first-not the monkey.

What did an F-Rank mutant beast have to fear?

Still shouting, Zhao Yin spun and fired. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Three arrows flew.

The two F-Rank zombies seemed to have retained some intelligence from their former lives. They ducked into the horde to evade.

But Zhao Yin hadn't been aiming at them. The three ordinary zombies at the front dropped with precision headshots.

The horde closed another ten meters. Zhao Yin didn't linger-he turned and kept running.

"Monkey, what the hell are you waiting for?!"

Seeing his master fighting alone, Little Monkey finally tossed Song Xiaodao aside. His body swelled rapidly, transforming in a heartbeat into that massive, golden-furred behemoth.

Huff... huff...

He snorted, identified the F-Rank zombies his master had mentioned, and charged with thundering strides.

The horde knew nothing of fear. Seeing living flesh rush toward them, they abandoned Zhao Yin and converged on Little Monkey.

The pressure on Zhao Yin eased. He turned to look.

The giant monkey was already surrounded.

His steel rod swung in brutal arcs. Every blow dropped a zombie. But there were too many. They packed in tight, countless hands clawing at his thick fur, jaws snapping-

Within moments, Little Monkey was drenched in blood.

The two F-Rank zombies, showing the first sparks of cunning, seemed to grasp the threat a same-rank mutant beast posed. They circled wide around the mob and charged straight at Zhao Yin.

His eyes narrowed. "Think I'm easy prey?"

[Female Zombie, F-Rank, Evolution Progress 100/2.3, Strength 22, Agility 15, Spirit 2]

[Male Zombie, F-Rank, Evolution Progress 100/52, Strength 24, Agility 16, Spirit 2.3]

They looked like they'd been a middle-aged couple-probably farmers from this village.

Both nearly matched his agility. Their strength far exceeded his. They'd even developed Spirit stats.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two arrows flew. The female zombie dodged the headshot; the arrow lodged in her chest instead. The shot at the male missed entirely.

They'd closed to under ten meters.

"Zhao Yin, run!" Song Xiaodao had stopped fleeing. Watching the two zombies-clearly several times faster than the rest-bearing down on him, she screamed in panic.

Zhao Yin stood motionless.

The compound bow vanished. A revolver appeared in his hand.

The zombies had no idea what the black lump was. Seeing him put away the weapon that had been hurting them, they accelerated.

Bang! Bang!

Muzzle flash lit the darkness. The two zombies froze mid-stride, one after the other.

Bullet holes marked the center of their foreheads.

They toppled like felled trees.

Zhao Yin holstered the pistol, drew his bow again, and joined Little Monkey in mopping up the remaining horde.

Song Xiaodao stared, slack-jawed. "That... that gun is incredible!"

Thwack!

Little Monkey's rod caved in the last zombie's skull. His massive form shrank rapidly, collapsing back into the scrawny little monkey. He stood there panting.

The battle had wrung him dry. Zhao Yin was breathing hard too. He hadn't fought as desperately as the monkey, but sustained high-intensity shooting took its toll.

"Good work." Zhao Yin stepped over the corpses and patted Little Monkey's head.

The monkey's drooping expression instantly brightened. He chattered excitedly. Through their mental link, Zhao Yin sensed him recounting how dangerous it had been, how brave he'd been-all to protect his master.

Zhao Yin pulled out twenty compressed biscuits. He unwrapped one for himself and handed the rest to Little Monkey. "Eat. You earned it."

The little monkey hugged the biscuits and circled Zhao Yin happily. "Master, I'll work even harder from now on!"

Song Xiaodao's eyes went wide. She'd forgotten to be awed by their strength. Her gaze locked onto the biscuits in Little Monkey's arms.

Gulp.

She swallowed involuntarily.

For days, she'd eaten nothing but half a bowl of rotten meat porridge with Wang Quan. Now the aroma of compressed biscuits hit her, and hunger clawed at every fiber of her being.

Zhao Yin showed no intention of sharing. He pointed at the two F-Rank corpses. "I'll handle these myself. You process the rest. Eat after you finish."

Song Xiaodao knew she was the most useless member of this team.

But she couldn't help asking: "Can I eat first and work after?"

"No." Zhao Yin's refusal was flat.

He shoved the rest of his biscuit into his mouth, grabbed his Tang Dao, and walked toward the F-Rank corpses.

Crack! Crack!

Like splitting watermelons, two strokes opened both skulls. He worked the blade inside and quickly extracted two Corpse Crystals and two Star Crystals.

A smile spread across his face. He'd known F-Rank zombies would carry Star Crystals now.

Only Star Crystal energy could drive evolution this fast.

He absorbed the Corpse Crystals. His evolution progress climbed another two percentage points.

Equivalent to two hundred ungraded crystals.

But what mattered more were the Star Crystals.

He hadn't found a single one all day. These were the only two.

Hopefully, luck would be on his side.