Chapter 56 - 49: Review

Chapter 56: Chapter 49: Review

Recalling the moment he was ambushed from behind by that Agility Type zombie, Xu Mo could still feel his heart race, even though the fight was over.

His split-second reaction wasn’t a result of careful deliberation but rather an explosion of combat instinct and the superhuman Perception granted by his Cowhide Realm. If he hadn’t detected that chilling stare in time, if he hadn’t made the split-second decision to block with his AK-47, those sharp bone claws would have likely torn open the back of his neck. He would have become a meal for the Agility Type zombie, left to die on this frozen, snowy plain.

"That was too close..." Xu Mo muttered to himself. His gaze swept over the two mutated corpses in the snow, finally settling on the smaller, headless one.

"I just didn’t expect an Agility Type would be paired up with a Strength Type. Are they working together now?" This discovery made Xu Mo’s brow tighten.

If mutated zombies weren’t just fighting on their own, but had formed some kind of primitive, collaborative relationship based on complementary abilities, their threat level would increase exponentially. A Strength Type for frontal assaults, drawing fire, while an Agility Type lurks in the shadows for a one-hit-kill assassination. That kind of combination would be a nightmare for any survivor.

He was lucky today. He took out the more conspicuous Strength Zombie from a distance first. If both of them had cornered him in close quarters, the consequences would have been unthinkable.

Xu Mo’s gaze fell to the AK-47 assault rifle, now broken in two. The jagged metal of the break reflected a dim light against the snow. A flicker of undeniable regret crossed his eyes.

This was the first real automatic rifle he had ever acquired. He’d taken it from that model collector’s Gun Room. It had been with him through the initial, clumsy phase of learning to use firearms, and it had witnessed his progress from spraying bullets wildly to hitting whatever he aimed at.

For countless afternoons on the rooftop platform, its spitting muzzle flash and steady recoil had accompanied him through lonely, focused hours of training. This rifle was more than just a weapon to Xu Mo; it was a silent partner, a record of his journey to grow stronger, step by step, in this apocalyptic world.

And today, at the last moment, it had used its own "body" to block the killing blow, saving his life. Now, the AK-47 was completely destroyed, reduced to a heap of scrap metal. A complex mix of emotions welled up inside Xu Mo—gratitude, and the faint sorrow of losing an old friend.

"Thanks, old friend," Xu Mo said quietly.

Shaking the sticky, blackish-red blood from his Mountain-Cutting Saber, Xu Mo strode over to the massive corpse of the Strength Zombie.

Even without its head, the Strength Zombie’s towering frame still gave off a suffocating sense of pressure. It was over two meters tall, its gnarled muscles bulging like blocks of granite. Its grayish-blue skin looked even more deathly still against the snow. An ordinary person would likely be too terrified to even think of fighting such a monster.

’If I were still a normal person,’ Xu Mo thought, ’I probably would’ve turned and run the second I saw it.’

Xu Mo wanted to see for himself just how tough this thing’s body really was.

He took a deep breath and circulated his qi and blood once more. A dark yellow hue instantly appeared on his skin, and Xu Mo felt power coursing through his entire body. He gripped the Mountain-Cutting Saber with both hands, raised it high over his head, and swung down with all his might at the base of the zombie’s thick, pillar-like right arm.

THUNK—RIIIP!

The moment the blade bit in, the resistance he felt was far greater than when he’d struck the Agility Type zombie. It didn’t feel like cutting flesh. It was more like trying to saw through water-soaked, extremely thick old cowhide or a tough rubber tire with a dull knife. A distinct, sluggish feedback traveled up the blade into his arm, impeding its progress.

But in the end, the power of Xu Mo’s Cowhide Realm was superior. With a low grunt, he put more force into his arms, and the blade brutally tore through the powerful resistance.

CRACK! A soft sound, like an axe splitting hardwood, echoed.

Xu Mo had severed the Strength Zombie’s thick arm clean at the shoulder. Blackish-red blood, thick as sludge, slowly oozed from the stump before freezing into solid chunks.

Xu Mo slowly retracted his saber, his eyes on the clean cut left by the blade. He was still shaken by the resistance he had felt.

’Its defense is truly astonishing. If I hadn’t been circulating my qi and blood at full power, and if this Mountain-Cutting Saber wasn’t so sharp, a single strike might not have been enough to cut through. I can fight it, but I have to go all out. I can’t hold anything back, or its terrifying defense and strength will likely overwhelm me.’

After this, Xu Mo’s gaze shifted to the bald head of the Agility Type zombie, which had rolled to the side. A common trope from many post-apocalyptic novels and films popped into his head: the Crystal Core.

In those kinds of stories, the brains of powerful mutated zombies often contain energy-filled crystals—an important resource for the protagonist to grow stronger.

’I wonder if this one has one?’ With a hint of curiosity and a flicker of hope he barely acknowledged, Xu Mo carefully prodded the bald head with the tip of his Mountain-Cutting Saber. He found a good spot, made a sharp cut, and pried the skull open.

Inside, there was nothing but somewhat congealed, grayish-white brain matter streaked with blackish-red blood. Completely empty. No glowing stone, no energy fluctuations. Nothing. Just a pile of inert, nauseating organic matter.

...

Xu Mo was silent for a moment. Then, with a wry twist of his lips, he muttered self-deprecatingly, "So, the novels were all lying."

It seemed the mutated zombies of this world didn’t drop any "loot." To get stronger, he’d have to rely on his own daily, arduous training and that mysterious "door."

He dragged the two "fully explored" corpses aside and hastily buried them under the snow. At the very least, it would keep them from attracting unnecessary trouble or alerting anyone else to the signs of a fight.

Once that was done, Xu Mo walked toward the patch of scarlet blood he had spotted earlier through his binoculars. He wanted to see what it was.

The closer he got, the stronger the smell of blood became. The snow was a gory mess of shredded fur, splintered bone, and fragments of viscera. Judging by what was left of the head and body, it had probably been a wolf, or maybe a large wild dog. Xu Mo didn’t know enough to tell for sure, but it had clearly met a gruesome end.

Judging from the scene, the unlucky animal had most likely run into the two mutated zombies while they were on the move. Perhaps zombies had a special sense for living creatures. They had unhesitatingly treated it as prey, enacting a bloody feast. This also explained the fresh, bright red bloodstains on the Strength Zombie, so different from its own black blood.

Having figured out what happened, Xu Mo didn’t linger. He gave the snow-covered burial mound one last look, then picked up his two-piece AK-47 and turned back toward his shelter.

Today’s encounter with two mutated zombies actively approaching the town served as a stark warning.

’Are they instinctively seeking shelter from the extreme cold? Or were they drawn by the scent of a potential ’living person’ in town?’ Xu Mo couldn’t be sure. But one thing was certain: the town wasn’t an absolute safe zone in the winter. If two could show up today, more could come tomorrow—or even more dangerous types.

’From now on, I have to be even more careful when I go out scavenging. I need to be on high alert,’ Xu Mo warned himself. Danger was everywhere in the outside world. It could be lurking around the next street corner or behind any dilapidated door.

Finally, Xu Mo looked at the two pieces of his broken rifle in the corner. Thinking about today’s battle—which could only be described as being thrown in the deep end—he couldn’t help but let out a wry, helpless smile.

"Everyone else’s apocalypse starts with killing regular zombies, grinding levels on weak mobs. So how come my story starts with me fighting elite mutated monsters, and a tag team at that...?"