Two days later.
The ambient temperature had crept up to ten degrees Celsius. The gray mist lurking in the water—the cause of the apocalypse—had vanished without a trace.
In its wake lingered a faint, ever-present stench.
With no running water to flush toilets, the drains were barely used.
Surviving residents threw their waste out of the windows.
Plastic bags plummeted from high-rise windows, bursting and splattering in all directions.
That wasn't the only method.
A few "gentlemen" concerned about plastic waste opted to reduce plastic pollution, jutting their bare asses out the window to spray freely into the wind.
If anyone still lived below them, they often threw the bags back up.
Compound that with the dissected zombies and the rotting corpses of suicidal residents.
The world had seamlessly merged into a giant, open-air latrine and morgue.
A glimpse of how ugly the apocalypse had become.
For the past two days, Su Jin moved constantly, weaving between buildings, dodging the rotting "strawberry towers," and systematically hunting zombies.
Fu Hu and his family, along with Cheng Du and Aunt Liu, shadowed him, observing his brutal efficiency.
He wanted the others to get used to blood and violence before they had to fight.
They also helped carry supplies from homes whose owners were gone.
They registered the surviving residents who seemed healthy.
Cheng Du and Aunt Liu were technically still in their quarantine observation period, but realistically, there was nothing left to monitor.
Liu Min had plenty of supplies at home. Cheng Du had avoided the rain even when he was reduced to drinking lubricating oil and his own urine; half a cup still sat in his apartment. Those facts were reassuring enough for now.
Furthermore, they needed help, so Su Jin let them join the group early.
The morning of the third day.
A crisp gunshot shattered the dead silence of the residential complex.
Su Jin shot the lock and entered, immediately intercepted by an elderly zombie, trailed by a towering brute.
Fu Qingdai and the civilian crew observed from the threshold.
Su Jin drew the extended screwdriver from his belt, driving it precisely into the old man's heart before delivering a kick that sent the old zombie flying.
Then he flipped through the air, landing squarely on the tall zombie's shoulders.
While airborne, Fu Qingdai lobbed a glass fishbowl toward him. He snatched it mid-flight and placed it over the zombie's head.
He clamped his thighs tight, locking the monster's arms against its torso.
Reaching behind his back, Su Jin whipped out a long strip of cloth, lashing it around one of the zombie's flailing arms.
With a few rapid, practiced loops, he bound its right fist into a bundle of cloth, then mirrored the process on the left.
Leaping off its shoulders, he danced around the thrashing creature, tying off the knots until its hands resembled bundles of cloth.
Finally, he produced a thick dog leash, fastened it around the zombie's neck, and jerked his head toward the door.
Taking the cue, Fu Qingdai's group scrambled downstairs. The enraged zombie lunged after them, securely tethered by Su Jin holding the leash behind it.
Upon reaching the ground floor, Su Jin lashed the zombie to a steel security window grille.
He stepped back, resting his hands on his hips. "Qingdai, you and your father are doing nothing else today. Your only job is archery practice! You've been shooting at folded quilts, but today is real practice. No slacking."
Fu Qingdai licked her dry lips, a knot of terror tightening in her stomach.
Two days of observing slaughter had barely calloused her to the gore, but stepping into the ring herself made her skin crawl.
"Brother... what if the window grille tears loose? What if the fishbowl shatters?"
"Relax, I've thought of that. Toss me your bag," Su Jin ordered.
She hurriedly slung off her backpack and tossed it over.
Catching it, Su Jin fished out a can of expanding foam—looted from the apartment of a zombie who might have worked in hardware.
He casually palmed the top of the fishbowl, ignoring the muffled, padded thuds as the zombie helplessly drummed against his chest, and sprayed the foam into the bowl's opening through a gap.
Next, he uncapped a massive bottle of glue and poured it over the fishbowl.
To finish the armor plating, he strapped a crude, makeshift chest protector over the creature's sternum.
Su Jin turned and pointed. "First, get up close. Desensitize yourself to its movement and smell. Once the glue dries, start shooting. If it rips the steel grille out of the concrete and you somehow can't outrun a monster dragging the grille... then I won't be able to save you."
"Old Fu, keep the shotgun. Supervise your daughter."
"Understood, Director."
Satisfied, Su Jin waved the rest of his group back into the stairwell.
They resumed their methodical door-to-door sweep. When a resident responded, Zhang Wan and Aunt Liu handled the verbal screening and census registration through the closed door.
After a few questions and some reassurance, they left supplies at the door. Su Jin stood off to the side, gun ready, acting as a lethal deterrent against desperate ambushes.
The resident, weeping like the rest, cracked the door open in a desperate bid for human connection. But when they saw Su Jin aiming his gun, they took the supplies through the gap and went back inside.
Zhang Wan delivered the standard parting line: "Keep the plastic bottles! Do not throw them away! We require them for the next water distribution!"
The containers were salvaged from the complex dumpsters. They needed containers that could be sealed, and bottles were scarce.
Then they moved on.
This time, there was no human whimpering; only the frantic, rhythmic slamming of a zombie trying to breach the wood.
Su Jin shot the lock and went in.
He brought down two zombies.
Expressionless, Su Jin drew his blade and began dissecting the heart.
This process had been repeated too many times, crossing the threshold into pure, mechanical numbness.
He was now completely desensitized to the gore.
He opened a zombie's chest and searched behind its heart.
Suddenly, his hand stopped. His expression changed.
Extracting his blood-slicked fingers, he stared at the fleshy orb pinched between his knuckles. A rush of pure, adrenaline-fueled triumph hit him!
Cheng Du, noticing his boss freeze, hurried into the gore-slicked room.
Spotting the grotesque sphere, his eyes bulged. "Director! Is that the meatball you briefed us on?!"
Honestly, watching Su Jin slaughter monsters with superhuman ease for two days had bred a deep, covetous envy in Cheng Du.
Su Jin had openly admitted this fleshy orb was the source of his power, and promised Cheng Du a share of the spoils.
He had wanted one badly.
Now, seeing the grotesque prize in person, he felt a powerful urge to eat it.
"That's it." Su Jin exhaled a long, heavy breath.
He had begun to fear that finding the first orb was sheer luck.
Now he knew there could be more.
They still had dozens of uncleared units. With so many homes left to check, he hoped to find another orb within three days.
If both Fu Hu and Cheng Du gained powers, the trip to Longshan Medical University would be much safer.
"Stop staring and get back to work."
Su Jin cut the orb free and got back to work.
Night blanketed the city in absolute, suffocating darkness.
In the courtyard below, the zombie with its face and fists covered, looking oddly like Doraemon—strained silently against its leash.
Up on the sixth floor, the room was lively.
Eight people clustered tightly around the dining table.
Nobody bothered with the chairs. They leaned in, staring at the fleshy orb resting on a tissue at the center.
Five flickering candles danced in the draft of their collective, heavy breathing, casting a reddish glow across their faces.
Eyes wide, jaws slack, trails of saliva pooling in the corners of their mouths.
The scene mirrored some strange ritual.
"Huff... Director." Cheng Du panted, wiping his mouth. "This thing looks like a ball. Are you absolutely certain about its efficacy?"
"It's not an ordinary nut. Have you ever seen a ball growing on a heart," Su Jin deadpanned. "Eat it and you get extraordinary powers."
"Language, you degenerates! My daughter is right here!" Zhang Wan hissed, mortified, clamping her hands over Fu Qingdai's ears and eyes.
Fu Qingdai ground her teeth together, her cheeks puffing out indignantly.
Sun Ya and Wei De just leveled looks of profound, geriatric disgust at the two younger men.
"Let's begin. Cheng Du, you first. Pick it up with the napkin." Su Jin gestured with his chin.
Su Jin was the only one who had used an orb. They could not be certain it was safe for everyone.
Su Jin trusted Fu Hu more than Cheng Du, so he would not risk Fu Hu first.
Cheng Du hesitated, his Adam's apple bobbing. Trembling, he picked up the tissue and orb together.
He lifted the grotesque lump toward his lips.
The two old men contorted their faces, their wrinkles bunching up like sour chrysanthemums as they braced for the gruesome display.
"Ugh... Director, the stench is repulsive. Pwah! It smells worse than balls that haven't been washed in ten days, yet I'm starving for it... Can I really eat it? Is this really how you ate yours?" Cheng Du's expression tore between agonizing revulsion and primal gluttony.
"Who told you to eat it?! I said hold it!" Su Jin barked. "Put it down! And don't act like you've eaten balls before."
A slammed door echoed through the apartment. Zhang Wan had finally had enough and forcibly dragged Fu Qingdai back into their bedroom.
Su Jin took a steadying breath, drawing his knife and angling the tip toward the fleshy orb.
The moment the steel pierced the membrane, his pupils blew wide.
The mesmerizing, iridescent rainbow halo bled into his vision, accompanied by a violent, gnawing spike in his own predatory hunger.
Slicing the organ completely open, Su Jin deftly flicked his wrist.
The glowing sphere of liquid slipped from the blade onto Cheng Du's wrist.
The liquid sphere vanished, the rainbow light sinking into his skin.
Everyone's gaze snapped to Cheng Du's face.
"How do you feel?" Su Jin demanded.
"I... feel... a little hot..."
Before he could finish the sentence, his legs gave way, and he collapsed onto the table.
"A little hot?" Sun Ya snapped his head toward Su Jin. "Xiao Li, did you feel hot when this happened to you?"
Su Jin merely shrugged. "I didn't feel hot at all. Let's watch him."
Dawn broke.
In the dim morning light, Cheng Du groaned, his eyelids fluttering open. He instantly jolted in panic!
Seven faces were right in front of him.
"Jesus!! Personal space!"
"How do you feel? Has anything changed?" Su Jin asked, tone all business.
Cheng Du sat up, gingerly touching his face.
"Last night... I felt like I was burning up!! Right now, it's like I have a warm current moving inside me."
"Can you control it?"
"Stand back a little." Cheng Du staggered to his feet, trembling with excitement.
He really had changed. He had a superpower! He could feel the power inside him as clearly as an instinct.
The crowd backed away. Cheng Du raised his open palms, his face reddening as he held his breath.
Whoosh! Flames wrapped around both his arms!
"Holy shit!!" Cheng Du shrieked in shock.
The entire room recoiled in stunned silence.
"Dear heavens... it's like magic," Sun Ya gasped, clutching his chest.
Wei De mirrored his shock.
He had just about accepted Xiao Li's greater strength and speed.
But human spontaneous combustion? He wondered what use a lifetime of learning had now!
Cheng Du kept testing his ability.
The fire around his arms winked out. Then he opened his mouth. A massive fireball blasted from his mouth!
The fireball seemed to kick back hard.
As soon as the fire expelled, the force sent Cheng Du falling backward.
"Great Fireball Jutsu," Su Jin muttered, his eye twitching as he lunged to catch Cheng Du.
"That's incredible, Cheng Du. Can you shoot fire from anywhere else? From your backside? Could you fly, or at least hover? Push the limits, show me."
Cheng Du, looking utterly drained, weakly scanned the room.
He leaned in, whispering directly into Su Jin's ear.
"I think I can... Director, I'll show you in private."