Thinking of that enormous zombie, the two tensed in fear. This Brother Nian, he was unfathomable to them, especially after encountering that zombie and the girl Nannan who rode on its neck, their fear of Tang Ye only deepened.
Meanwhile, Tang Ye and about a dozen others armed with weapons were led into a quiet residential area, lush with vegetation. If not for the horrifying bloodstains on the ground, one might mistake it for a scene from before the Apocalypse.
"Boss, this is where we looked for food the day before yesterday. That’s where we went in."
The person guiding Tang Ye pointed to an empty convenience store. Items had been swept off the shelves, on which a layer of dust had settled. Palm prints remained where someone previously rummaged through the goods.
After a brief glance at the convenience store, Tang Ye moved his gaze away. He had caught a whiff of a zombie’s scent that was identical to his own.
Well, it wasn’t so much a scent as it was a horrible stench coming off the zombies, what Tang Ye noticed was the presence of other zombies in the vicinity. But the signal was extremely weak, he couldn’t tell where the zombies were exactly.
Tang Ye surveyed the area and the surroundings of the residential complex. The complex had a total of three tall buildings, each of them spanning a wide area with many floors. On one of the buildings facing the street, a large portion of the wall was black from fire.
If his guess was correct, this was the result of applying a high-pressure flamethrower when the Qinshan Base was previously cleaning out zombies.
Right in front of the entrance gate, or rather, slightly to the right, was a hospital. A sign displayed on the building read, "Lin City Yuguan Hospital."
There was seemingly nothing unusual with the hospital. Tang Ye glanced at it and other buildings nearby. But after a while, he looked back at a residential building in front of him.
With just one look, Tang Ye knew there were no survivors here. A highly decayed body was clinging to a window on the fifth floor, while at the entrance, many more bodies were piled up, one on top of another!
With a shake of his head, Tang Ye dismissed the first man and called another one.
"You come forward, lead us to where you last looked for supplies."
"Yes, sir!" The man quickly complied.
They set off, guided by the man to a different location.
This place wasn’t far from the residential compound they had just visited, but unlike the residential area, it was a hardware market.
There seemed to be nothing unusual around, everything was eerily silent, the heavy atmosphere of the Apocalypse was palpable.
Except for Tang Ye, everyone focused on the ground, on the look out for parasitic zombie insects that may crawl up their legs.
Tang Ye shrugged it off and commanded, "Next."
Then, led by a third person, Tang Ye proceeded to another spot.
They eventually stopped on a street.
"Boss, this is the place." Upon reaching their location, the third man informed Tang Ye and retreated back into the group.
Tang Ye nodded and said nothing, immediately scanning their surroundings.
Every place these three men took him to had faint traces of zombie presence. Although it was faint, it was certainly there!
Tang Ye looked at a neighboring residential building. There seemed to be no signs of anything amiss. He turned around and, again, saw the hospital building.
A glimmer of interest flickered in his eyes, but he remained silent and called up the next person.
Without further delay, they moved towards their next target.
By the time they got there, Tang Ye noticed the hospital and a small black insect crawling on the ground in the distance!
He took a dagger from Xu Changchi’s waist, stepped forward and picked up the little black insect.
Upon seeing Tang Ye’s movements, the others gathered around to examine the insect.
"Brother Nian, it’s one of those zombie insects!" Xu Changchi exclaimed, having recognized the creature.
"So this is a zombie insect. Where did it come from? There are no more zombies around here, right?" a man asked with a terrified look on his face.
Tang Ye shot him a cold glance, not responding. Many people couldn’t accept the cruel reality of the Apocalypse. After living some tranquil days, they found it hard to accept the harsh reality.
However, Tang Ye wouldn’t allow them to deny reality!
After crushing the insect under his foot, Tang Ye addressed the group, "That’s enough. You can all go back now. I’ll handle the rest."
Everyone responded with an acknowledgment, then returned together to their base. Before leaving, Tang Ye gazed thoughtfully at the hospital building, a strange smile under his mask.
"I’ve found you, huh."
Back at base, Tang Ye gathered some supplies in his office. He was about to retrieve a steel sword, but as his hand almost reached it, he froze.
He suddenly thought of Li Henian’s evolved arm blades.
"Why bother with a sword, even at its sharpest it’s not as useful as my hand."
Chuckling to himself, Tang Ye went back to his office, removed his gloves, and sat down on a soft chair. Looking at his hand with its pale skin and unusual dark purple veins, a thought occurred to him.
Mumbling to himself, Tang Ye’s hand started to transform, its flesh moving like water up the arm and forming into a crimson flesh blade. Etched into the blade were blood grooves formed out of flesh and blood.
It looked cool yet eerie at the same time.
The handle of the blade was connected to Tang Ye’s wrist. He smiled at this and made the flesh blade harder with the grip of his other hand.
When the hardness was just right, the hand gripping the handle twisted, disconnecting the flesh blade from his wrist.
Tang Ye exclaimed happily, glancing at his severed hand which quickly regenerated.
Tang Ye removed the flesh blade from his body, feeling a little strange because it was a part of him. But now it seemed the blade had a life of its own.
Grasping the blade, Tang Ye made a few random swings then viciously chopped the table.
The table was instantly cleaved in half. The cut edge was so smooth, demonstrating the sharpness of the blade Tang Ye had created himself!
Feeling the handle in his hand, Tang Ye became excited. He tried to revert the blade back into his body, but he couldn’t. The blade had now become a separate entity unto itself, its color no longer a bright red but slowly turning brown.