Chapter 17: Human Wisdom: Fast Experience Grinding

Fang Shi moved swiftly, climbing like a gecko along pipes and air-conditioner platforms until he reached the rooftop.

Below, the corpses could not climb.

Each one could only lift its rotting head and let out feeble roars.

Fang Shi looked down at the clustered corpses and nodded in satisfaction.

He roughly estimated that at least three hundred corpses had gathered beneath the building.

Enough to cover half his level-up experience.

As long as he occasionally showed himself to provoke them, the corpses below would not scatter.

Now came the grinding time.

The simplest method was naturally to throw things downward.

Only a fool would clash head-on with corpses.

So Fang Shi decided to rest for a while, then go downstairs.

Find a few rooms, move some gas cylinders, tables, chairs, and other heavy objects, and drop them straight down.

…

“Thud! Thud! Thud.”

Fang Shi’s ears twitched—he heard footsteps coming from below.

One steady, one light and flitting.

Probably a professional and an ordinary person.

Fang Shi, who had just rested, immediately grabbed the cleaver beside his foot.

In the apocalypse, human hearts are unpredictable.

No one could guarantee the other had no ill intentions.

As for the steel rod—it hindered climbing—he hadn’t brought it up at all.

With a “Bang!” the rooftop door burst open.

A man and a woman walked in—it was Xiao Xi and Zhai Yan.

Xiao Xi scanned the area and spotted Fang Shi in the corner.

She took a few steps forward, then recoiled from the stench.

She covered her nose and shouted: “It’s you, you madman, who lured the corpses here! If you want to die, don’t drag others down with you!”

Fang Shi: ???

Zhai Yan, with his square face, quickly said: “Brother, I’m not saying this to blame you, but we’re already struggling to survive here.”

“You’ve drawn the corpses downstairs—how are we supposed to go out and scavenge supplies later?”

Fang Shi replied coldly: “Don’t worry—I’ll handle the corpses downstairs myself.”

Xiao Xi pointed a finger at Fang Shi and shrieked: “How are you handling them? I saw it—you couldn’t fight them, so you ran up here!”

Fang Shi chuckled, then fell silent.

Long ago, he had believed everyone’s intelligence was normal.

Until he saw all the bizarre things online.

Added to that, the chaos of humanity in the apocalypse.

Fang Shi realized how vast the gap between people truly was.

They say art comes from life but rises above it.

In reality, real-life absurdities are even stranger.

You don’t need to think through the other person’s logic.

Because you’re not even on the same frequency.

Seeing the stinking man before her say nothing, Xiao Xi assumed his silence meant guilt.

She was about to speak again when she noticed Fang Shi’s expression change—a murderous aura surged toward her.

It was the kind of killing intent forged in mountains of corpses and seas of blood, as if born from hell itself.

In an instant, she trembled all over, helplessly watching Fang Shi charge straight at her.

“Watch out!”

Zhai Yan was also stunned by Fang Shi’s aura, but his Level 1 professional strength allowed him to snap back at the last moment.

He shouted, shoved Xiao Xi aside with his body.

Pulled out his short baton and faced Fang Shi’s cleaver alone.

“Intimidation activated successfully. Target enters terrified state.”

“Intimidation activated unsuccessfully. Target passes willpower check, successfully resists intimidation.”

Fang Shi didn’t even bother to look at Zhai Yan again—he kicked him away with one foot.

Then slashed Xiao Xi’s throat with a single cut.

“Ahh!”

A scream pierced the sky, drawing the attention of the corpses below.

They looked up blankly,

unsure what had happened.

“Quiet!”

Fang Shi’s voice was cold, as majestic as a god’s.

“No one’s dead—why scream? This is your lesson.”

“This is the apocalypse—lives are as worthless as grass. To question a stronger person is an act of great disrespect.”

Xiao Xi clutched her neck and nodded frantically.

Her face twisted in pain, thin trails of blood seeping through her fingers.

“Xiao Xi, what happened?”

Zhai Yan struggled to his feet, ignoring the pain in his abdomen, crawling and stumbling to Xiao Xi’s side.

He stared at her anxiously—he dared not even think of attacking Fang Shi again.

That single kick had shown him the chasm between them.

If Fang Shi had drawn his blade then, Zhai Yan would already be dead.

Xiao Xi feared Fang Shi—but she didn’t fear Zhai Yan.

Seeing him rush over, she glared at him fiercely.

If Fang Shi weren’t here, she would’ve already cursed him out.

Zhai Yan saw her expression and grew even more panicked, his mouth opening and closing, unable to speak.

Fang Shi watched the scene and sneered: “Relax—I only cut her skin. Don’t be so tense.”

“And I reiterate: I’ll handle the corpses downstairs myself. I won’t cause you any trouble.”

“On the contrary, you’ve offended me. Now I have a task for you—if you refuse, I’ll throw you down to feed the corpses.”

In truth, when Fang Shi heard their footsteps, a plan had already formed in his mind.

Carrying things himself was tiring and inefficient—he might as well get someone to help.

Xiao Xi’s insolence had simply given him the perfect excuse.

Xiao Xi nodded quickly: “Big Brother, as long as you don’t feed me to the corpses, I’ll do anything.”

As she spoke, she slightly tugged at her top, revealing a deep cleavage.

Zhai Yan saw this and felt both anger and fear.

Fang Shi remained unmoved: “My request is simple—carry some heavy debris to the rooftop; I’ll use them to crush the corpses below.”

He stated his plan casually, utterly unconcerned they’d steal his kills.

Zhai Yan’s eyes lit up excitedly: “There’s actually a way like this? If I’d known earlier, I’d already be Level 2!”

Fang Shi said coolly: “Since you understand, get moving. After I leave, you can grind corpses freely—but if I catch you stealing kills now, you’ll regret it.”

Xiao Xi didn’t care about levels at all: “Big Brother, don’t worry—I’ll watch Zhai Yan. He won’t dare steal a single kill.”

Saying this, she grabbed Zhai Yan’s arm and dragged him down the stairs.

As for running away—the courtyard below was packed with corpses. Where could they possibly flee?

Climbing over rooftops? Impossible—the buildings here stood one after another, separated by gaps.

Unless they could sprint and leap seven meters from the rooftop, they’d never escape this building.

…

Fang Shi leaned against the rooftop railing, eating chocolate and other high-energy snacks from his pack, watching Xiao Xi and Zhai Yan rush back and forth.

Though most of the heavy lifting fell to Zhai Yan, their combined effort still saved Fang Shi considerable time.

During this time, Fang Shi asked whether any other survivors remained in the building.

Upon learning there were none, he felt a pang of regret—less manpower meant lower efficiency.

Time was precious in the early days. Starting tonight at midnight, the fourth day of the apocalypse, the first shockwave would arrive.

At that moment, Earth would undergo drastic change. Still thinking about grinding corpses?

You’d be lucky not to be hunted down by interdimensional creatures.

Soon, the rooftop was piled high with debris.

After tidying up, Xiao Xi—with a bandage wrapped around her neck—blushed and said to Fang Shi: “Big Brother, look, my arms are aching from carrying all this—is this enough?”

Fang Shi nodded indifferently: “Go downstairs and rest. I’ll call you back up when I need you.”

“Can I stay and watch?”

“You want to steal the kill?”

Sensing Fang Shi’s serious tone, Xiao Xi hastily insisted he didn’t.

Zhai Yan watched Fang Shi from the side with a look of fear and determination.

Fang Shi didn’t want to say more; he stood up and drove both of them off the rooftop, then locked the rooftop door with steel.

If forcibly opened, it would make a huge noise and alert Fang Shi.

In the apocalypse, every small detail matters; the weak are not incapable of killing the strong.

Before his rebirth, Fang Shi had seen too many cases of the weak killing the strong.

Some were even experiences he had lived through himself.

Without a cautious and meticulous heart, one easily capsizes in a ditch.

Fang Shi casually picked up a table, walked to the rooftop’s edge, and let out a loud howl to draw the zombies’ attention.

After waiting until the zombies gathered densely, he directly hurled the table downward.

“Throwing attack activated.”

“You dealt 5 damage to the target.”

“Throwing attack activated.”

“You dealt 6 damage to the target.”

“Throwing attack activated.”

“You dealt 4 damage to the target.”

…

Watching the flood of damage notifications, Fang Shi sighed—no wonder these zombies had 1 point of natural armor.

A normal person would have died from the falling object long ago.

But Fang Shi was quite satisfied with this result; this was what leveling up should be like.

The previous method of fighting to the death was far too exhausting; one mistake meant death.

How much easier was this method of trapping monsters to level up?

“Indeed, humanity became the master of Blue Planet through wisdom.”

In fact, before his rebirth, the apocalypse had countless monsters with far higher strength, speed, and agility than humans.

If judged solely by raw stats, humans seemed incapable of defeating them.

But with wisdom alone, humans could turn decay into wonder, creating impossible miracles.

Next came the repetitive act of throwing objects.

The zombies, fearless and mindless, had no concept of fear; even when struck by debris and screaming, they didn’t retreat.

And whenever Fang Shi shouted loudly from the rooftop, he could easily gather a crowd of zombies.

This greatly improved Fang Shi’s experience-grinding efficiency.

“Throwing attack activated.”

“You dealt 4 damage to the target.”

“Target died.”

“Extracting target’s soul energy, you gain 5 experience points, 0.5 survival points.”

“Throwing attack activated.”

“You dealt 7 damage to the target.”

“Target died.”

“Extracting target’s soul energy, you gain 5 experience points, 0.5 survival points.”

…

One item after another was thrown down; in the blink of an eye, the rooftop debris was cleared.

Watching the experience points climb on his panel, Fang Shi felt joy—he would reach level 3 soon, and his strength would rise another tier.