C7 – Antidote for the Virus!
Upon seeing this, a glimmer of joy flickered across Tan Chong’s face. He was now certain that the yellow cloth bag in his hand was akin to a storage space. He composed himself, carefully stowed the storage bag, and then made his way directly to Chen Dong.
“Tan Chong, why didn’t you save us?” Chen Dong glared at him, his voice laced with anger and accusation. Despite Tan Chong’s evident strength, he had stood by as Chen Dong was attacked by zombies, fueling his rage to its peak.
Tan Chong smirked with disdain. “Weren’t you plotting against me? Why on earth would I save you?”
“You’re heartless,” Chen Dong spat, his eyes brimming with venomous spite, while regret gnawed at him. Had he known this day would come, he would have taken Tan Chong’s life sooner.
”Conserve your energy; you’ll be a zombie soon enough,” Tan Chong said nonchalantly, rubbing his nose. Once bitten by a zombie, unless one dies immediately, infection sets in, turning the victim into a zombie. The more severe the wounds, the quicker the transformation.
Chen Dong, riddled with injuries, wouldn’t last long before succumbing to the change. His face paled at the thought. Becoming a zombie meant losing all sense of self, reduced to a mere shell of existence.
“I’d rather die than become one of them,” Chen Dong pleaded desperately. “Tan Chong, for the sake of our shared origins from the Gathering Land, end my life.”
“Rest assured, I’ll kill you, but not just yet,” Tan Chong responded with conviction.
”What do you mean?” Chen Dong’s fear escalated as he realized Tan Chong intended to wait until the transformation was complete before striking. Such malice was chilling.
“It was you who sought my downfall. Now, you reap what you’ve sown,” Tan Chong taunted.
“I’ll haunt you forever!” Chen Dong bellowed, his voice abruptly cutting off. His face twisted in agony, dark veins webbing across his skin as the transformation took hold.
Knowing the danger, Tan Chong prepared for the worst. He retrieved the Chopping Blade from the storage bag, ready to defend himself against the inevitable.
Chen Dong was seized by a violent tremor. As his eyes filled with a blood-red hue, he leaped from the ground and, with a ferocious roar, charged at Tan Chong.
With a swift strike of his Chopping Blade, Tan Chong cleanly severed Chen Dong’s head.
Chen Dong’s headless body toppled to the ground, and from it, a red beam of light emerged.
“Another fragment!” exclaimed Tan Chong, his excitement palpable.
This red fragment made it his third find of the day.
Originally, Tan Chong had planned to wait until Chen Dong turned into a zombie before killing him. He wanted not only revenge but also an additional Energy Stone. He hadn’t anticipated finding another fragment; it was an unexpected delight.
Grasping the red fragment, Tan Chong heard the peculiar voice echo in his mind.
“Antiviral liquid medicine fragment collected. Fragment number is complete. Ready for use.”
“Activate.”
Instantly, a small transparent glass bottle materialized in Tan Chong’s hand, filled with a mysterious blue liquid.
Simultaneously, new information flooded his mind.
The antiviral liquid medicine was effective against the zombie virus. If he were bitten by a zombie, timely consumption of the medicine would prevent him from turning into one.
“This is great!” Tan Chong couldn’t hide his joy.
Surviving in the apocalypse, his greatest fear was a zombie bite. Now, with the antiviral liquid medicine in his possession, it was as if he had gained an extra life.
Clearly, the antiviral liquid medicine was as valuable as the storage bag, if not more so.
Shortly thereafter, Tan Chong carefully stowed the antiviral liquid medicine into his storage bag and proceeded to extract Energy Stones from the zombie’s remains.
With eight Energy Stones now in his possession, Tan Chong was overjoyed.
This substantial haul meant that even without taking on any missions for a month, he could live comfortably in the Celestial South Gathering Land.