Chapter 6: Slaying the Licker

Boom!

Lin An ran with all his might, desperately dodging the cars hurled at him by the Licker in the distance.

He tried to take a detour, but ended up being forced back.

The nearby straight road has a Licker, impossible to go around!

Cars flew like shells in the Licker's hands, smashing down frenetically.

We must find a way to lure it into a narrow place and kill it!

Lin An racked his brain, then turned and ran toward the residential area with fewer vehicles behind him.

Sixth floor of the Western-style building.

Under the anti-theft window, the merchant who could barely hold on heard a rumbling sound.

Before he could see what was making the noise, he only saw Lin An turning back.

It's the one who got away!

His face showed ecstatic joy.

Surely no one can resist the temptation of such a huge sum!

The merchant, as if injected with chicken blood, screamed with his last bit of strength.

"I'm still here!"

"Save me quickly!"

"Ten million! Car, woman, you want anything I'll give it!"

Lin An turned a deaf ear, directly taking a prepared fire axe from the ring.

The red fire axe was about half a person tall, and swinging it casually produced whistling sounds.

"Ding, fire axe (common)"

"Fire axe: ordinary quality weapon, prone to rolling the edge."

Lin An didn't pay attention to the prompt.

After the Doomsday Game started, picking up any item would show a prompt.

But whether guns or cannons, they only had brief descriptions, with no attribute bonuses.

Only equipment unique to the Doomsday Game would have attributes and special abilities.

The merchant under the anti-theft window watched Lin An with his back turned, seeming to wait for something.

His face turned pale instantly, and he kept cursing in his heart.

If he hadn't just thought of tying his belt to reduce the strain on his hands, he would have already collapsed from exhaustion.

"Thirty million! Don't be too greedy—if I die, you get nothing!"

The zombie woman inside the window had her face squeezed out of shape.

Her once delicate, small cheeks had been squeezed into a long, narrow strip.

Only a fist's distance separated them.

"One hundred million! I'll give you one hundred million—you damn well hurry up and save me!"

The merchant wept bitterly.

As the zombie woman struggled wildly, half of her body was forcibly pressed onto his hand.

After the skin rotted, the slimy, fleshy feel drove him to mental collapse.

In front of the guard booth.

Lin An held the axe with one hand, tilted his head back and gulped down the stimulant taken from the space ring.

"Pop!"

The test tube fell to the ground and shattered into pieces.

"Ding, Strength+1, Constitution+1, Agility+1"

"Ding, Explosive Power increased 50%, Endurance, Strike Resistance increased 30%, Attack Speed increased 20%"

The effect was excellent.

Lin An's heartbeat instantly quickened, the potion's small-molecule structure directly breaking the blood-brain barrier.

His heart pounded like a war drum.

His muscles tensed throughout his body, and the axe in his hand felt two units lighter.

No wonder it was a highly sought-after potion in his previous life.

As a rare non-apocalypse item, it could still grant attribute bonuses.

It is rare in the apocalypse.

In his previous life, ordinary Lin An could bring Tang Wan's family to survive thanks to the potion's effect.

If he hadn't happened to carry a few bottles with him during his escape.

Not to mention surviving with three people—he would have died that day leaving the city, torn apart by zombies.

Feeling the powerful strength within his body, Lin An's fighting spirit surged.

Boom!

The vehicles haphazardly parked at the residential area entrance instantly shot high into the air, revealing its massive body.

The Licker appeared!

The merchant who had been screaming and cursing all along, like a chicken with its neck choked, suddenly fell silent.

Now is the time!

Without Hesitation.

After Lin An drew a deep breath and bent his legs, the ground instantly cracked.

The body turned with extreme stillness!

He held the axe with both hands, leaping up four or five meters like a cannonball, the axe blade coated with a layer of blood-red in the setting sun.

Activate power burst!

The ability from the awakening talent activates.

Strength+2, Agility+2, Constitution+2, Willpower+2!

A burst of pale golden light instantly covered Lin An's body, his strength originally 12 points suddenly surging to 14 points.

Explosive power filled his entire body.

Die!

Charging down chop!

The sharp axe blade, bolstered by immense force, fiercely chopped toward the devourer's head.

Flesh and blood exploded, a whole block of meat half a person's height was completely chopped off, revealing the dark purple muscle tissue inside.

Roar!

The devourer roared in pain.

The huge body was knocked askew by one axe blow, and the exposed skull was instantly shaved off a piece.

The explosion under Lin An's full strength.

With a strike far surpassing the power of a 0 Fourth Rank Awakened One, it almost instantly slew the devourer!

Boom!

The giant claw pressed down, the car body burst.

The devourer barely used its giant claw to prop up its body, instantly flattening the car beside it.

What a pity.

Unable to kill in one blow.

Not disturbed by useless emotions.

Lin An, failing with his strike, quickly rolled to dodge the devourer's furious swing.

He carefully circled the devourer's body at high speed, seeking the next opportunity.

As the nightmare of all major safe zones, the devourer has naturally been studied.

After countless painful costs, people discovered that although the devourer is extremely fast, it is slow to change direction.

Its two pairs of giant claws gave it terrifying destructive power, but also affected its agility when turning.

Lin An, familiar with this, shifted positions back and forth, hiding in the devourer's blind spot.

This monster is fundamentally not something a single person can oppose.

Even Awakened Ones need at least 1 Fourth Rank to barely contend.

The wealthy merchant hanging outside the window stared blankly at the scene before him, his face full of shock.

The terrifying flaying monster's appearance alone is enough to cause the weak-willed to lose their sanity.

The devourer is now enraged, its sharp claws wildly sweeping all around.

Before these twin claws, the metal car body was as flimsy as paper, offering no resistance.

Truly horrifying.

But compared to the terrifying devourer, what shocked him more was that Lin An could actually grapple with such a monster.

At this moment, Lin An, whom he had merely thought of as skilled, was now equated with the monster in his mind.

Is this truly power that humans can possess?

Boom!

Boom!

The vehicles were flung over and over, like missiles.

Lin An nimbly dodged the car hurled by the devourer, then suddenly changed direction.

It had been attacking continuously for over a minute.

The area in front of the residential complex was cleared out; the few cars there were all hurled at it like shells.

But after Lin An took the potion, his agility of up to 14 points rendered the effort futile.

No matter how high the damage, it's useless if it doesn't hit the target.

This undoubtedly made it even more frenzied.

Roar!

The devourer lowered its body and roared angrily.

The injury of having half its skull shaved off began to show.

Forced to lower itself, the brain tissue wrapped in regenerated flesh was exposed before Lin An.

Now!

Lin An took a deep breath, no longer conserving his stamina.

He stepped out, narrowly dodging the devourer's violent, furious smash at the limit.

Power burst!

Power surged again, muscles exploding.

Like explosives being detonated.

Turn and counter-chop!

Lin An's speed exploded to the extreme, taking a few steps onto the devourer's massive body, his figure leaping high.

Waist muscles exerted force, a surge of violence transmitted from the waist to the muscles, and the fire axe in his hand swung round violently.

Smash it for me!

Momentum like Mount Tai pressing down.

The axe blade, bursting with a breaking-air sound, precisely smashed into the brain lacking skull protection.

The axe handle broke, and under the tremendous force the connection shattered.

After smashing in, it was like stirring eggs.

Lin An's eyes turned ruthless; he simply gripped the axe handle with both hands and ruthlessly stabbed into the licker's brain, stirring quickly.

「Ding, killed a First-Level Mutant Zombie: Licker」

「Gained 1 point of energy」

「Obtained: Armor crafting material: Muscle Tissue*1 (White)」

「Muscle Tissue: Highly elastic mutant muscle, can be used to craft white armor, granting +1 Agility」

「Evaluation: Muscle tissue from the calf, suitable for making footgear」

「Obtained: Equipment crafting material: Licker's Spine*1 (White)」

「Licker's Spine: Bone as hard as alloy, can be used to craft weapons, granting +1 Sharpness and +1 Strength」

「Evaluation: Practical equipment crafting material, can also be used as a weapon before processing」

「Boom! 」

As the licker's massive body slowly collapsed, a point of white light instantly flew out from the corpse and entered Lin An's body.

「Energy detected, opening experience panel」

「Current Awakened Ones level: 0 Level (1/2)」

「Current player level: 0 Level (1/2)」

「Next level requires kills: 1」

Having confirmed the licker was dead, Lin An half-bent his waist and slightly panted.

Killing the licker was really somewhat strained.

In the Doomsday Game, only killing mutant zombies or strange beasts yields experience.

Ordinary zombies, once killed, are useless and grant no experience.

Therefore, whether player or Awakened One.

To raise one's level, one must find a way to kill mutants.

But mutant zombies are often strong; they are not something a 0-Level Awakened One can oppose.

Thus, in the previous life, many Awakened Ones remained stuck at 0 Level until death.

If it weren't for his prior preparation of potions and obtaining an extremely powerful talent.

Facing such a monster, a head-on assault can only lead to death.

No time to rest.

Before leaving, Lin An slightly turned his head to look behind.

The wealthy merchant who had been hanging outside the anti-theft window had already fallen to the ground.

Bright red blood pooled beneath him.

It's unknown whether his fingers were bitten off by the female corpse or he let go himself.

On the iron window, the female corpse's skull had been squeezed out of shape, yet it still mechanically opened and closed its mouth.

He didn't bother to investigate the trivial details.

Having confirmed no one was alive near the residential area's entrance, Lin An extended his right hand.

A flash of white light, and he stored the licker's massive corpse into his Space Ring.

As a mutant zombie, the licker's corpse is entirely valuable.

Not only are the dropped materials useful; the corpse can also be processed into attribute-less gear comparable to a bulletproof vest.

But time is pressing now; it can only be dealt with later.

He Yuan Residential Area, inside the residential building.

A girl, at a loss, curled up hugging her knees in the corner of the room, her face streaked with tears.

「Brother... Lin Bro will be here soon」

AnXia gripped her phone tightly and timidly spoke to the youth on the chair.

On the phone, the last message was from Lin An.

「Roar! 」

On the chair, a man bound at the hands and feet let out a low growl.

The chair beneath him shook violently, as he tried to break free of the bonds.

The iron chains rattled, piercingly sharp.

「Brother... I'm so scared」

AnXia lowered her head.

Unable to bear seeing Jing Tian's face with flesh peeled off, resembling a bloody skeleton.

After her parents died, the brother she could rely on became like this, yet she could do nothing.

This left her somewhat desperate; her body trembled uncontrollably, like a helpless little beast.

The clock on the wall ticked.

She occasionally turned her head toward the locked door, her eyes full of pleading.

But outside the door there was only the sound of zombies scratching the iron door.

The anticipated footsteps never sounded.

Brother, you must hold on.

Brother Lin An will surely find a way to save you.

A glimmer of reason struggled to flash in Jing Tian's bloodthirsty eyes.

Lin... An!

Reason vanished in an instant.

His voice hoarse, yet the name Jing Tian muttered could still be discerned.

AnXia suddenly lifted her head, looking at Jing Tian with surprise and joy.

This was the first time Jing Tian spoke a complete word after the Apocalypse broke out.

"Bang! Bang!"

Outside the door, the Zombies seemed to have sensed their kin's scent and began to frenziedly crash.

The iron door shook violently and deformed.

They were responding.

After Jing Tian's reason disappeared, he struggled madly again.

The iron chain rattled, revealing stark white bone where the wrists were bound.

The originally locked handcuffs had partially come loose.