Chapter 55: The Freak!

All of them were stunned. In less than a minute, the female zombie had grown from a height of 1.7 meters to a towering giant of 2.8 meters. Its muscles bulged, and its dirty hair hung like a fringe over its face, resembling a gorilla. It stomped towards them, leaving a pit with each step.

Wang Zhiqing never imagined that he would overlook the possibility of a zombie becoming a "freak"!

Seeing the sudden transformation of the female zombie, Shenchi knew that even if it had just advanced to level three, once it became a freak, no one present could kill it.

Jiang Bin had been uneasy since Ding Haiyan's death. Witnessing this unexpected change, he quickly decided to leave.

At the same time, the sound of running footsteps approached from not far away—many, chaotic, and incoherent. No one there was foolish enough to think reinforcements had arrived; they all knew it was the horde of zombies coming!

Shenchi fired an anchor hook at the sign of the medical building and turned to pull Cao Kun, only to see him simultaneously firing his own anchor hook and turning back to look at him. The two of them swung away in perfect sync!

Jiang Bin moved incredibly fast, while Wang Zhiqing used the recoil of water jets to propel himself away.

Wang Yang, the weakest in terms of physical strength and speed, watched in horror as the "gorilla" pounced on him. He managed to shout towards Wang Zhiqing, "Brother, save me!"

Wang Zhiqing had already run far away. Hearing the cry, he raised five fingers, and five water jets shot out from beneath Wang Yang. Intense ultrasonic pulses collided with the water jets, causing them to contract, expand, and then explode violently!

The collapsing concrete and rebar struck the gorilla again, crushing down on it.

Underneath the gorilla, Wang Yang's eyes widened in terror as he shouted again, but it was too late. The mutated level-three zombie's defense was even stronger now, and the explosion only left a few cracks on its body. As the debris hit it, the gorilla grabbed Wang Yang and ran off, stuffing him into its mouth as it went.

Wang Zhiqing looked ahead at Shenchi, who was shooting low-level zombies with a gun. He called out, "How about we cooperate?"

Shenchi sneered, "Aren't we already cooperating?"

Wang Zhiqing shook his head, "That's different. Before, we both kept secrets, thinking there was only one level-three zombie about to advance. But now, this zombie is something we can't handle together."

His voice softened, "If I tell you that I know a way to obtain crystal cores, wouldn't we have another chance to cooperate?"

Shenchi looked at him.

Wang Zhiqing tapped his head, his voice still seductive, like a lover whispering in your ear, "The crystal core is inside a psychic's head, in the same position as a zombie's, except it must be extracted alive."

Observing Shenchi's expression, he added, "With luck, you can absorb some of the psychic's abilities. For example, I absorbed a level-one earth psychic's crystal core and gained partial earth abilities, allowing me to mix sand and gravel into my water blades for cutting hard objects and metal."

Shenchi's expression changed. No wonder the water psychic had such strong offensive capabilities.

Wang Zhiqing smiled slightly, reverting to the harmless doctor in the ward, "Moreover, besides enhancing our strength, I can help you protect the child in your belly."

He glanced at Shenchi's stomach, missing the fleeting change in Shenchi's demeanor, "You care deeply about him, don't you? Whenever danger comes, you instinctively protect your belly. How noble!"

Wang Zhiqing didn't mean to mock, but he was genuinely interested in Shenchi and the child in his belly, despite his efforts to hide it, which Shenchi noticed.

As soon as Wang Zhiqing finished speaking, ten ice arrows shot at him like lightning!

Wang Zhiqing was taken aback, raising a water curtain to block the attack, but he was forced to retreat repeatedly, sweat dripping down his forehead.

Wang Zhiqing was annoyed, "You—"

Shenchi didn't want to hear any more nonsense. Wang Zhiqing threw several ice blades to cut through the ice creeping up his body.

Cao Kun noticed the situation and looked at the gorilla finishing its meal. He swung over and grabbed Shenchi, "What's wrong, Shenchi?"

Shenchi trembled, his voice icy, "I'm going to kill him."

Cao Kun's eyes narrowed. This was the first time he had seen Shenchi like this, as if a sensitive spot had been touched, making him bristle with anger.

He looked at Wang Zhiqing and guessed what line Wang Zhiqing had crossed. He clenched his fists, flames erupting around him, and charged forward, relentlessly attacking Wang Zhiqing.

Jiang Bin carefully hid behind half a wall. His "eyes," one of his trusted subordinates, Wang Yang, turned out to be Wang Zhiqing's enemy. He had mocked Wang Zhiqing for being a mantis catching cicadas, unaware that he was the cicada. If not for the sudden appearance of the strange "gorilla," he might not have known how he died.

Staying here would only harm him further, so he decided to escape.

But he was unwilling. He had planned everything perfectly, aiming to advance to level three and secure his position as the top figure in Wanzhong City. Instead, he lost many soldiers and his most important "eyes."

Jiang Bin watched Wang Zhiqing and the ice psychic talking before being chased by the fire psychic. He immediately used his ability to flash behind Shenchi and tossed a grenade, then fled.

"—Bang!"

After the grenade exploded, the smoke cleared, revealing no one in sight.

Jiang Bin ran over in surprise, finding nothing but a crater and shattered stones.

A hand holding a curved blade appeared in front of Jiang Bin. The sunlight reflected off the blade onto his face, startling him. He tried to flee, but his back hit something, and the next moment, the blade sliced his neck.

"Boss!"

A fierce cry echoed behind him, followed by a burly figure swinging a large hammer at Shenchi's head.

Shenchi bent down, using an ice shield with his left hand to block the hammer, while extending a one-meter-long ice blade with his right hand to stab the man's belly.

The man had just arrived from the concrete company and saw this person appear behind their boss and slit his throat. He never expected the attacker to use ice abilities!

In a panic, the ice blade pierced deep into his belly, but he punched through it with his bare hands!

Shenchi raised the broken blade again, the broken edge gathering cold energy, but the man fearlessly swung his hammer horizontally!

Shenchi retreated a few steps and leaped onto the half-wall!

"Find death!" The man used all his strength, swinging the hammer with immense force, ready to avenge his boss. However, the next moment, an ice spike descended from above, piercing through his skull!

The man stumbled, eyes wide open, and finally fell to the ground.

On the other side, Cao Kun, Wang Zhiqing, the freak, and the zombies it had attracted were engaged in a fierce battle.

Wang Zhiqing, having failed to cooperate, had lost interest in fighting. However, Cao Kun, whom he thought was just an ordinary ex-soldier, relentlessly pursued him.

He never would have imagined that one sentence from him would lead these two to try and kill him at all costs.

The female zombie, now a strange variant, not only had formidable offensive power but also summoned other zombies as cannon fodder, driving them to attack humans.

Cao Kun and Wang Zhiqing were consuming a massive amount of their abilities and would soon be exhausted, becoming food for the zombies.

After Shenchi killed Jiang Bin, he joined the battle, but instead of turning the tide, his presence as a high-level dual-ability user completely drew the attention of the strange variant, putting himself in danger.

Shenchi's appearance greatly relieved the pressure on Wang Zhiqing, who immediately began retreating.

However, Shenchi had joined the fight specifically to kill him, so his eyes were constantly fixed on Wang Zhiqing. Seeing him trying to escape, Shenchi disregarded the danger of being caught by the strange variant and hurled his ability at Wang Zhiqing, creating a series of curved ice walls in front of him to block his path.

Wang Zhiqing's speed slowed down, and the rate at which he could break through the ice walls with his water blades couldn't keep up with Shenchi's speed of reconstructing them. In the blink of an eye, Shenchi and the strange variant chasing behind him pounced together!

Seeing Shenchi's determination, Wang Zhiqing knew he couldn't escape. If he couldn't escape, he would drag someone down with him in death!

Wang Zhiqing raised his hands, rapidly gathering energy, and shot out one after another of ultra-high-pressure water blades to block Shenchi's advance.

If Shenchi pounced, he would surely be sliced into pieces by the high-pressure water blades! Even if Shenchi raised an ice shield and killed him, the time it took would be enough for the strange variant following closely behind to devour him!

Wang Zhiqing's plan was sound, and Shenchi indeed intended to kill him. Therefore, Shenchi didn't slow down, and the strange variant kept close on his heels. Everything went as planned, but unexpectedly, the person disappeared...

When Cao Kun turned around, half of Wang Zhiqing's face had already been torn off by the strange variant!

Cao Kun looked around but saw no sign of Shenchi. He immediately attacked the strange variant, trying to lure it in another direction.

In the next moment, Shenchi appeared where Wang Zhiqing had been killed, and the strange variant paused before turning back to attack Shenchi.

Cao Kun shouted, "Shenchi, come over!"

Shenchi and Cao Kun simultaneously used their grappling hooks to climb up a tall building.

Shenchi followed Cao Kun, and when Cao Kun said "jump," he jumped along.

This was a very narrow alley. As they jumped down, Cao Kun broke open a hole just large enough for one person to pass through. Cao Kun let Shenchi go first, and the strange variant followed closely behind.

Cao Kun used the last bit of his ability to form a huge fireball, hitting the upper floors, causing large chunks of debris to fall onto the strange variant.

Buried under the debris, the strange variant, with several meters of rebar piercing its body, was restricted in movement, giving Shenchi and Cao Kun time to escape.

After escaping a certain distance, Cao Kun jumped into the car left by Wang Zhiqing, and the two drove recklessly out of the city.

They drove for a long time until their hands lost the strength to grip the steering wheel, then parked the car and collapsed into their seats, exhausted.

Ten minutes later, Shenchi suddenly exclaimed, "Ah."

Cao Kun immediately opened his eyes and leaned over to Shenchi, "What's wrong?"

Shenchi frowned and opened his eyes. He looked down at his stomach, then at Cao Kun's slightly anxious gaze, and suddenly felt a bit embarrassed. "Nothing, the baby just kicked me."

Cao Kun breathed a sigh of relief but then became worried again. After such a tumultuous experience, would the baby be okay?

Calculating the days, the baby should be about 20 weeks old now. They still didn't know if it was a boy or a girl...

Whether it's a boy or a girl, I'll love it. Hopefully, it's a girl, cute and beautiful like a little angel, definitely taking after its mother.

Cao Kun glanced at Shenchi's profile, which was soft and gentle. His eyes sparkled, his nose straight with a slight roundness at the tip, making him seem harmless.

His lower lip was slightly thicker, though chapped and dry from the weather, still giving it a plump texture.

Cao Kun swallowed, tactically shifting his gaze, only to see Shenchi's belly being pushed by a small foot.

Cao Kun: ...

Cao Kun blinked, disbelievingly watching as Shenchi's belly, through his clothes, was pushed up by two tiny feet, barely half the size of his palm.

The baby must have been doing somersaults inside, moving vigorously, kicking Shenchi's belly with its feet and fists, sometimes even a small pointed part, which Cao Kun irrationally thought might be its nose.

The constant movement of the baby can make the expectant father uncomfortable, not just because of the kicks but also due to the pressure on internal organs. However, the joy usually outweighs this discomfort.

Shenchi's breathing was light, and Cao Kun thought he had fallen asleep when Shenchi suddenly asked, "Did you see how I killed Wang Zhiqing?"

Cao Kun chose not to lie, "I did."

Shenchi opened his eyes.

"Believe me, I won't tell anyone." Cao Kun's expression was very serious, as if making a very important promise.

Shenchi stared at him for three seconds, then turned away, neither saying he believed nor disbelieved.

Cao Kun took out a handful of crystals, among which two blue and one green crystal stood out among the transparent ones.

He took the two blue crystals and handed the rest to Shenchi. "I can sense that I need two more level-two crystals to upgrade, so I only need those two. More wouldn't help much."

Shenchi looked at the green crystal in his palm, "Not even a level-three crystal?"

Cao Kun grinned, "Do I need that one?"

Shenchi accepted it, "Thanks, I'll take it."

Cao Kun smiled (∩_∩).

Author's note:

Finally finished writing this chapter, and the next one will be about going home.