Chapter 61: Mutation, City Building

AnXia!

Lin An stepped over the broken iron door, anxiously looking inside.

In the living room center, AnXia's crimson eyes held no emotion, her slender fingertips slowly dripping fresh blood.

The ground was littered with corpse fragments; in the blood plasma, An Jing Tian, his whole body wrapped in bandages, lay collapsed, alive or dead unknown.

"AnXia... it's me... I'm Lin An!"

Lin An's gaze was sorrowful, his steps staggering as he walked toward AnXia, as if a thousand knives were grinding his heart.

"Judgment Eye"

Light blue mist rose and spread in his eyes.

He wondered what had happened to AnXia.

"Beep, detected Second Level Mutant:???"

Why... why did this happen!

Lin An gave a bitter laugh, as if falling into an ice cellar.

The Judgment Eye's transmitted message announced that AnXia had mutated, or rather, in some sense, AnXia already...

The girl, hearing the sound, arched her back warily; deprived of reason, she sensed the dangerous aura on Lin An like a beast.

"Hiss!"

Like facing an enemy, the girl's fingertips suddenly extended sharp bone claws, assuming a defensive stance.

Lin An, grieving, opened his arms and stepped closer step by step.

"AnXia, you don't recognize me anymore..."

Clutching the antitoxin serum in his palm, Lin An held onto the last sliver of hope.

Antitoxin serum can completely eradicate the zombie virus in the body, but it's unknown whether it works on mutants.

Even if it's only a one-in-ten-thousand chance, he must try.

"Roar!"

As Lin An gradually approached, AnXia, like a wary beast, launched the first attack; her fingertips' bone claws, like an afterimage, instantly swept toward Lin An's throat.

"Power Burst!"

Lin An let out a low shout, his speed surging.

With the Suturer's Body negating damage, he wanted to try to withstand AnXia's attack and inject the antitoxin serum into her.

"Sizzle!"

Bone claws capable of tearing flesh by hand easily ripped Lin An's outermost combat uniform.

Sparks flew in all directions; as the bone claws swept over the inner Suturer's Body, they burst into dazzling sparks.

It can be blocked!

With his current physique and defensive power, he can hard-block AnXia's attack!

Lin An let out a low shout, desperately gripping the antitoxin serum with his right hand and thrusting it toward AnXia's neck.

"Sizzle."

Half of the serum in the syringe was injected instantly.

"Ahhhhh!"

A piercing wail capable of rupturing eardrums, AnXia suddenly burst forth with tremendous force, frantically retreating.

Under the virus's control, her instincts sensed that the antitoxin serum would completely eradicate it.

"Bang!"

Under the zombie virus's control, she suddenly turned and smashed through the nearby window, glass shattering.

In the extreme burst, she actually exceeded Lin An's reaction time and escaped out the window.

Damn it!

Lin An, face anxious, hurriedly chased out the window, but could only see a black‑line‑like shadow leaping away swiftly into the distance.

Half an hour later.

"Lin Dui..."

Zhang Tie opened his mouth, eyes full of worry.

He looked at the silent Lin An standing by the window, not knowing what comforting words to say.

Wen Ya gently shook her head at him, knowing that Lin An's inner anguish at this moment could only be smoothed by time.

"Lin... Ge."

An Jing Tian struggled to his feet, his voice hoarse.

"AnXia... will be fine."

"As long as we find her, there's still hope..."

Twenty‑five minutes earlier, the people following behind had already arrived in the room.

After injecting An Jing Tian with the antitoxin serum, Jing Tian successfully had the zombie virus cleared from his body, though his body is still somewhat weak now.

The antitoxin serum works extremely well; he is now a normal person.

Lin An turned heavily, his fists clenched tightly.

"Sorry, I came late."

Pain and regret filled his heart; Lin An hated himself for not being a bit faster.

Clearly just a few minutes off—no! Even just a few seconds off!

He had considered the possibility that if he encountered ill‑intentioned people, or zombies threatened the two siblings.

So he deliberately reinforced the anti‑theft door.

But I never expected to actually encounter an Awakened One's intrusion.

"Lin An, you've already fought hard enough. Really don't blame yourself anymore."

Wen Ya looked at the man before her with some heartache, knowing Lin An had already done his utmost to complete the mission.

Jing Tian, supported by Zhang Tie, slowly walked to Lin An's side.

"Brother Lin, you don't need to blame yourself too much; the urgent thing is to first find AnXia."

"I heard from Zhang Tie that AnXia has become a mutant, and in the short term no one should be able to harm her."

Lin An silently nodded, looking at Jing Tian's worried gaze, and couldn't help but show a bitter smile.

He took a deep breath, looking at the rewards of the rescuer mission.

Although we have lost AnXia's trail, finding her among the endless Corpse Horde is as difficult as climbing to heaven.

But.

There might still be a way!

The warzone broadcast, as long as he completes the mission and obtains the warzone broadcast, he can mobilize all survivors to search for AnXia's whereabouts.

Fortunately, he chose to increase the mission difficulty, thus obtaining permission for the warzone broadcast.

If it remained the original difficulty, the city broadcast's coverage might not reach the area where the girl fled.

Moreover.

AnXia's mutated form, under the virus's influence, becomes bloodthirsty and enjoys slaughter.

As soon as she appears in the outside world, she will inevitably come into contact with players.

By then, there is still a good chance of finding AnXia based on clues.

Lin An let out a slight sigh of relief, now fearing that the antitoxin serum might be ineffective against the mutant.

However, regardless, the antitoxin serum should at least be able to suppress the virus inside the mutant; otherwise, AnXia would not have had such a strong reaction after receiving the antitoxin serum.

That is clearly her body's virus instinctively resisting.

"I'm fine; I will find a way to get AnXia back."

Everyone saw Lin An's emotions stabilize, and they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

As the team's backbone, if Lin An remained stuck in grief and unable to extricate himself, they truly wouldn't know what to do.

"Captain Lin, what should we do next?"

Zhang Tie, Wen Ya, Mo Ling, and Youwei all looked at Lin An.

Lin An pondered for a moment, focusing his thoughts.

AnXia's mutation actually disrupted his plans to some extent.

Originally he wanted Jing Tian and AnXia to become Awakened Ones and join the rescue squad to meet the requirements for the Doomsday Base Vehicle mission.

But now that AnXia is missing, the rescue squad is short one member.

Although Youwei could become an Awakened One and join, the risk is too great.

The reason is simple: ordinary players who become Awakened Ones have an extremely high mortality rate, and the poorer their physique, the higher the mortality.

Wen Ya also became an Awakened One smoothly because of her mutant nature.

If Youwei were forced to become an Awakened One, there would be a 99% chance of dying on the spot.

As for the risk of the siblings becoming Awakened Ones, Lin An is willing to seek out props that aid awakening to lower the risk, even if it takes some time.

But Youwei is ultimately not his sister. Moreover, once she joins the team, she must fulfill her role.

Would Zhang Tie be willing to let his sister fight on the front lines against zombies?

Definitely not! Just like Lin An, he would absolutely not allow AnXia to face danger.

He would rather let AnXia hide in the back, become an Awakened One, and be protected as a team member.

But toward outsiders.

Sorry, Lin An isn't that kind, selfless and impartial.

Looks like the final member needs to be sought again.

Lin An's eyes flickered; perhaps he could recruit one of the Past Life's Four Emperors and Six Kings ahead of time!

Having thought it through, Lin An slowly spoke:

"First, let's rest a bit; during this period, hardly anyone has rested well."

"Tomorrow morning, Wen Ya and Youwei, you two go to the inn to gather the remaining survivors."

"Zhang Tie, you, I, and Mo Ling, the four of us will go to Linjiang Academy!"

"Linjiang Academy?"

Linjiang Academy, the best university in Linjiang City, located on the city's suburban outskirts, has a regular student and faculty population of about forty thousand.

"Captain Lin, where are we going and what are we doing?"

"I'm afraid of this place; the chickens are all zombies!"

Zhang Tie was somewhat puzzled, wondering why Captain Lin always runs to such places.

Lin An lowered his head and replied in a low voice:

"Find someone."

"Then, take over the academy!"