Chapter 674: Tavern

"It's so quiet.."

On the empty street, Lin An frowned slightly and slowly stopped his motorcycle.

He got off, subconsciously sensing the surroundings.

The broadcasting building where the search team went missing was already very close.

He fought his way out of the corpse horde, and the whole journey went extremely smoothly.

Apart from casually crushing a few strange first-level mutants, he encountered no enemies.

Here...

Although it's not the city center, the number of zombies shouldn't be this low, right?

Watching the wind grow stronger, blowing leaves across the ground, Lin An couldn't help but feel doubtful.

Within a 500-meter radius, there are no zombies.

At 650 meters, there is a group of survivors.

The street along the way is in utter disarray.

Many shops have been looted clean.

Except for a bank, which looks as if no one has entered at all, still retaining its pre-apocalypse appearance.

White bones are scattered all over the ground, many of them still fresh.

There were zombies before, but now they're gone?

While searching carefully, Lin An also discovered an identity badge representing Long'an Base.

It was a gnawed-off severed hand, with the words 'Long An' sewn on the side of the arm's uniform.

The missing point is indeed here.

He proceeded slowly forward.

As he passed a small tavern, Lin An's eyes twitched.

A scent of fresh blood.

The time is no more than three days.

The tavern bearing the Heineken sign had its decorative barrels sealed at the entrance.

He walked over a few steps and casually opened it.

Inside the sturdy barrel, a woman's head was shockingly soaked.

The cut was neat, and she was fairly attractive.

The skin on her face was blanched from soaking, the head in the beer swaying back and forth.

There were no signs of turning into a zombie.

It looks like someone cut off her head and threw it in.

Nothing else out of the ordinary.

After a moment's thought, Lin An casually pushed open the tavern's sealed door.

There were many dried blood handprints on the door, presumably left by people trying to flee when the apocalypse broke out.

After entering, the wind chime at the doorway swayed.

Smelling waves of wine aroma and rotting flesh, he couldn't help but frown.

Here...

Many people have died here.

Some are rotting, others have died within the past three days.

With the intention of finding clues, Lin An simply stepped over the corpses on the ground.

In the dim tavern, aside from the bell behind him, there was no other sound.

On the haphazard wooden wine tables, many corpses lay crawling.

Most noticeable was a young man nailed to the table.

A long steel bar nailed him to the wooden table; from the corpse's struggle marks, it seemed the young man had tried to pull the bar out before death.

He sniffed.

The time of death is no more than two days.

The corpse's right hand pointed toward another table.

His expression was ferocious; it was clear he harbored great resentment and anger before death.

A casual glance revealed that Lin An indeed saw a female corpse on a table in the corner.

Her clothes were torn open, her ghastly pale skin somewhat glaring in the dim light.

She was ordinary-looking, but her figure was still decent.

The female corpse's right leg had been violently torn off, the severed limb actually hanging from the ceiling.

Long hair covered her face, her body similarly nailed to the table in a spread-eagle pose.

After a brief comparison of the two corpses, Lin An noticed a detail.

At the male's feet lay a fire axe, an empty backpack, and he wore blue Nike sneakers.

The female's clothes were ripped apart; only her right foot, hanging from the ceiling, wore a red sneaker.

A couple's outfit?

After some thought, Lin An focused his gaze on a series of footprints at the tavern's back door.

Broken bottles littered the ground, the spilled liquor leaving sticky traces.

A few seconds later, Lin An unconsciously rubbed his chin.

Combining the scene, he quickly reconstructed what had happened here two days prior.

A university couple, who had come together, searched for supplies inside the tavern.

While the male was loading his belongings, someone ambushed him from behind.

The ambushers numbered at least six, likely having lain in wait inside the tavern all along.

The ambushers were strong; they must be Awakened Ones.

Otherwise they couldn't have nailed a living person to a wooden table.

After subduing the male, several people assaulted his girlfriend.

Seeing the female corpse's struggle marks, she must also be an Awakened One.

To control her, these ambushers nailed her limbs alive, then chopped off her right foot and casually tossed it behind them, not expecting it to get stuck on the ceiling.

After the assault, the ambushers looted the couple's supplies but did not kill the male.

Leaving the male whose chest had been pierced, he struggled in grief until death.

Even the girl might not have been completely dead then.

Otherwise the male wouldn't have struggled violently, and his right hand wouldn't show signs of approaching.

The scene restored.

Lin An's eyes flashed a hint of coldness.

Heartless and insane.

These ambushers are nothing but a bunch of scum.

Judging by their methods, they've probably done this many times before.

Are they scum who hunt survivors for supplies?

Lin An expressionlessly released two psychic blasts, sighing as he shattered the couple's bodies into powder.

People are dead; there's no need to humiliate them further.

Two people who managed to survive together from the apocalypse outbreak to now— their hardships and experiences— he can roughly imagine.

They didn't die at zombie hands, but at the hands of their own kind.

After confirming nothing was abnormal, Lin An planned to leave directly.

But as his peripheral vision swept past the back door, he keenly noticed traces of dragged corpses.

Hmm?

Among the ambushers, someone died?

750 meters away, inside a four-story street-facing building.

"Boss."

"I just saw someone enter that tavern!"

"It looks like only one person!"

"Moreover, he looks like a fat sheep!"

A man with his hair tied in a small braid, carrying a long spear, greedily eyes the scarlet motorcycle parked at the tavern entrance.

Seeing the occasional flicker of psychic waves, his heart pounded wildly.

That is actually a vehicle-type equipment!?

The man called Boss, eyebrows raised, hastily wiped his oily mouth, stuck his head out and took out a telescope to look outside.

Upon seeing the vehicle the younger brother spoke of, he couldn't help but breathe rapidly.

"Confirm one person?"

"How long has he been inside?"

He hurriedly asked.

"Several minutes!"

"As soon as I heard the sound, I noticed that!"

The braided Awakened One, with a sallow face showing a smug expression, then pointed at his own ear.

Hearing enhancement, extraordinarily useful in this city.

In the room where people sat on the floor, several hurriedly looked up together.

Standing by the window, the man called Boss unconsciously rubbed his gums, eyes showing some excitement and hesitation.

Fat sheep arrives...

But fear those who have such props, their strength is strong...

Just thinking of that night's ordeal, his eyes flashed a hint of ferocity.

Originally he was still worrying how to escape.

But now there actually is a vehicle delivered to the door; not grabbing one would really be waiting to die here.

Impatient, he subconsciously glanced at the Broadcasting Building, then picked up his sole white giant axe, called his younger brother to set up an ambush.

"Be careful!"

"First approach and observe!"

"Don't damage my precious motorcycle!"

Behind, the younger brother squeaked; upon realizing they could score again, he couldn't help but feel excited.

Just unfortunate, it's only a man.

Many people glanced scornfully at the casually parked motorcycle at the door, only feeling it was a windfall.

This guy probably discovered there are no zombies here, like that couple, and came to scavenge supplies.

Too bad.

Here there are no zombies, but there are monsters.