Little Monkey remembered Zhao Yin's instructions clearly. It immediately ate a piece of Compressed Biscuit.

Its energy surged back to full.

Squeak, squeak, squeak... Roar!

It activated Giantification, tossed Song Xiaodao onto its shoulder, and leapt out of the crevice.

The zombies before it were endless. Calling it a wall of corpses wasn't enough-this was a mountain of the dead.

Little Monkey charged into the horde. Countless zombies swallowed it instantly!

Its Heavy Armor scraped against their sharp claws, throwing sparks. The Spiked Club whirled in a blur, and every swing crushed several zombies into pulp.

Boom!

A thunderous crash beside it-Old Bull had charged in at Extreme Speed, scattering a cluster of zombies and easing the pressure in an instant.

For a time, the two beasts looked unstoppable. Under their coordination, countless zombies were reduced to mangled flesh.

In just over ten minutes, they had killed thousands...

But there were simply too many. From start to finish, the two beasts had barely advanced a few meters. As time dragged on, their stamina drained rapidly.

Little Monkey faltered first. Its swings slowed.

Pfft!

A legless zombie crawled to its feet and bit down on its calf-where the Heavy Armor didn't cover.

Little Monkey was mid-swing, smashing the zombies in front. Its reaction came a heartbeat too late. A chunk of flesh was torn from its leg.

Blood poured out. The surrounding zombies caught the scent and lunged for its legs.

They were only following instinct, biting and tearing-but by chance, they had found the weak point in the armor's defense.

In the blink of an eye, zombies covered Little Monkey's legs. Blood streamed everywhere. Chunks of flesh had been eaten raw, exposing ghastly white bone. It could barely stand.

Roar!

Pain twisted Little Monkey's savage face-but even more than pain, there was fury.

It swung the club in a vicious arc, smashing every zombie at its feet to pieces.

The next moment, it stopped caring about anything else. It pulled out the Iced Black Tea, the Filled Bread, and the second Compressed Biscuit Zhao Yin had given it.

"Little Monkey, I'll help you!" Song Xiaodao called from its neck.

Little Monkey shoved the supplies into her hands and kept battering the zombies rushing toward them. Song Xiaodao tore open the Filled Bread and stuffed it into its huge mouth.

Then the Compressed Biscuit. Then the Iced Black Tea.

Little Monkey swallowed everything in one gulp-no time to taste it. In the next instant, the wounds on its legs visibly stopped bleeding, healed, and began sprouting new flesh.

Its energy surged back to full. A moment later, power welled up from within-its attributes doubled on the spot.

Its strength now surpassed Old Bull, an E-rank mutated beast.

Its face twisted. Its body swelled again, muscles bulging at terrifying speed.

Roar... Roar!

It seemed to be enduring intense agony. After several roars, its body had grown over three meters taller. One arm alone was as thick as a barrel.

Golden fur burst out all over, soon half a foot long, whipping wildly in the night wind.

Ability-Berserk!

At last, this Monkey had awakened its second ability for the first time in its life.

Even Zhao Yin, in this life, had never seen Little Monkey activate its second ability.

It was supposed to awaken only after reaching E-rank.

But with its strength surging and rage exploding in its heart, it had entered Berserk directly.

Boom!

The terrifying figure swung its Spiked Club, setting off a dreadful sonic blast.

The wall of zombies in front was blasted away in a massive swath. The flying corpses crashed into another swath behind them. Many had their bones shattered on impact.

Clad in Heavy Armor, the terrifying Monkey strode forward, crossing thirty or forty meters in the blink of an eye. Its Spiked Club smashed ceaselessly ahead.

Mangled corpses flew everywhere, carving out a bloody path.

Old Bull behind it was invigorated. It had never expected this Monkey to have a second ability-and compared to its own Iron Armor, this one seemed even stronger.

Then Old Bull came to its senses and quickly followed.

......

Zhao Yin lay in a crevice among the ruins. His face was a bloody blur, features almost unrecognizable. The back of his left hand exposed stark white bone. An enormous hole gaped in his neck, blood gushing out in streams.

He panted heavily, struggling to take out a piece of Filled Bread. He swallowed it and closed his eyes.

More than ten minutes later, his injuries had finally healed. But from blood loss, his face was still deathly pale.

He opened a bottle of Nongfu Spring, drank more than half, then stuffed a handful of Chestnut Leaves into his mouth. He chewed as he crawled out of the crack.

Zhao Yin climbed onto the tallest broken wall nearby and looked toward the Industrial Park.

The tide of zombies was surging wildly. He guessed Little Monkey and the others had already fallen into a tight encirclement.

"Monkey still has a bottle of Iced Black Tea. Both it and Old Bull have Compressed Biscuits. They should be able to break out, right?"

"Old Bull's horn is practically comparable to a D-rank weapon. Overall, it's stronger than me, even though we're both E-rank."

"After Little Monkey drinks the Iced Black Tea, it'll surpass me too. If even they can't break out, then going to save them would just be throwing away another life."

"In the apocalypse, who can ever stay safe forever? To survive, sometimes you have to risk your life. That goes for them. It goes for me too."

Zhao Yin could only console himself like this.

So he quickly forced away that bit of guilt.

After getting his bearings, he realized he had drifted away from the direction he came from. He picked up the Mountain-Cleaving Machete and headed south.

At dawn, Zhao Yin finally returned to the old village site in the southern outskirts.

He didn't set up the Invisibility Tent. Instead, he lit a bonfire among the ruins, hung up a pot, cut open several Chestnuts, and tossed them in to boil.

He threw seventy or eighty more Chestnuts into the fire.

Gradually, the aroma drifted outward. The scent of roasted Chestnuts was enticing.

Yet Zhao Yin didn't take a single bite.

Even he didn't know whether he was waiting for Xiaodao and the two beasts to come back.

All at once, he felt a wave of emptiness. Loneliness. For the first time since being reborn, he felt regret-he shouldn't have been greedy for that Golden Thread Fruit. He shouldn't have taken them to the Industrial Park to risk their lives.

An hour later, Little Monkey and the others still hadn't returned.

Two hours later, they still hadn't returned.

Firelight flickered across Zhao Yin's face, bright and dim by turns. The wind carried away sparks, drifting past the hem of his clothes. There was almost no expression on his pale face.

They still hadn't come back. Were they dead?

He told himself he had already done his best for Song Xiaodao. If she died, then it was just her bad fate.

As for that Monkey and that bull-two mutated beasts with dual abilities-they were truly rare.

Without them, he, the Contract Master, would be reduced to a Bare Commander.

In his thoughts, he had already started considering where to find his next Contract Beast...

Just then, footsteps came from the distance.

Old Bull was still carrying the supplies Zhao Yin had tied to it. Its hide was covered in wounds, blood streaming down. Beside it walked a short figure.

Song Xiaodao's hair was a complete mess, like a bird's nest blown by the wind. She wasn't badly injured, but tears still streaked her face.

"You're back. Are you alright?"

Zhao Yin stood up, a smile appearing on his face.

He looked behind Old Bull and Song Xiaodao, then asked, "Where's Monkey?"

"Wuuu...!"

Before Zhao Yin had even finished, Song Xiaodao's lips trembled and she burst into tears. "Little Monkey... Little Monkey is dead, wuuu...!"

Old Bull beside her looked grief-stricken, its spirit sunk into utter desolation.