[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-fiercest-man-in-the-end-times":3,"chapter-the-fiercest-man-in-the-end-times-the-fiercest-man-in-the-end-times-chapter-594":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Fiercest Man in the End Times",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2319832,4536,"Chapter 594: Hard Bones","the-fiercest-man-in-the-end-times-chapter-594",594,"\u003Cp>“Where’s the cool part, Su-ge? I’m neither human nor zombie—what can I even do?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Tianji was frustrated, and even the black-and-white world he’d once found interesting now seemed unpleasant; he frowned, cheeks puffed with anger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Su smiled mysteriously, patted Liu Tianji on the shoulder, and said, “Such a simple question: if zombies have no interest in you, you can move freely among them—that creates infinite possibilities.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Gather intelligence, locate resources—these are basic operations. Right now, the city’s probably overrun by zombies; we can’t go in, but you can—damn it, you can walk right through like it’s empty!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he spoke, Zhang Su himself felt a twinge of envy, but unfortunately, the origin of this ability remains a mystery. Preliminary evidence suggests you must first be bitten by a zombie, then amputate the bitten area, and finally inject an enigmatic zombie-transformation blocker—this entire process carries too many risks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just because Qiu Hui and Liu Tianji developed this ability doesn’t mean the odds are high; the other four injured who remain unconscious are the best proof—it’s all luck! After hearing Zhang Su’s words, Liu Tianji still had doubts, but a flicker of longing passed through his eyes as he gave a strange smile and said, “So I’ll be even more exhausted from now on?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Exactly!” Zhang Su said firmly. “Those who can, must carry more. You’ll have more tasks ahead, but you won’t be alone.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What do you mean… Qiu Hui too?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Tianji reacted quickly—he hadn’t inquired about Qiu Hui’s condition until now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Right. Your Hui-jie also got this ability. From now on, you two can form a team: Liu Tianji and Qiu Hui—how about ‘Qiu Ji’er?’ What do you think? Hahaha.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Su laughed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Qiu Ji’er…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Tianji felt like laughing and crying at once, but overall, things were moving in a better direction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Listen up, all of you. Don’t reveal a single word about today’s events to anyone. And one more thing: don’t tell anyone about your limb regeneration—not even Qiu Hui. Her condition is still unstable. We’ll decide later whether to tell her. Understood?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Su issued another gag order.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All three nodded solemnly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mr. Zhang, do you have time? I’d like to update you on the liquefied gas zombie research progress.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xie Yanshan saw Zhang Su preparing to leave and quickly spoke to detain him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Su had indeed planned to check on the dinner preparations at Village One—it was already late, and darkness had fallen outside—but the mention of the liquefied gas zombie instantly revived his attention.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You two stay here and play. Do one final observation tonight, then return tomorrow. You’ll miss tonight’s hotpot feast—I’ll have someone send you some. Eat it with Qiu Hui. We’re leaving now.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After giving these instructions, Zhang Su left the room with Xie Yanshan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two entered the room where the liquefied gas zombie’s corpse was stored. Without turning on the light, Zhang Su immediately spotted the black, ink-like square crystal. But now the zombie’s body had been disassembled into pieces, many bones exposed; from its features, it merely resembled a human form, far removed from flesh and blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Click. Xie Yanshan turned on the light, walked to the examination table, and said, “This is the energy source Weijun extracted from its skull. I’ve also conducted multiple tests on the corpse and found something unusual.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Su, crouching to examine the black crystal, turned to him. “Tell me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Its humerus, radius, and ulna—look at the lower limbs: femur, fibula, tibia—all unusually hard!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xie Yanshan, like a biology teacher lecturing, pointed to different bones of the liquefied gas zombie in sequence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Su was instantly confused by the barrage of unfamiliar bone names. Fortunately, Xie Yanshan was pointing at real specimens; otherwise, he’d only know the femur… “Unusually hard? Give me a pair of gloves.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Su took a pair of gloves from Xie Yanshan, slipped them on, and decided to personally test this “unusual hardness.” He gripped the zombie’s humerus—the bone of the upper arm—and squeezed with all his strength. No reaction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Whoa, damn it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Direct contact is fine, but crushing it? Impossible,” Xie Yanshan said with a smile, delivering his gentle knife blow with lethal precision.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I don’t believe it!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since gripping had limits, Zhang Su decided to go harder—he yanked the humerus clean off its joint. The liquefied gas zombie was small in stature, so the humerus was only about twenty centimeters long.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hey!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Su gripped both ends, took a deep breath, and twisted with all his might like he used to bend his strength bar during workouts. His arms trembled, muscles bulged, face reddened, expression twisted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Huff… damn, it’s hard!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After five or six seconds, Zhang Su gave up. Even bending rebar would show slight deformation—but this relatively thin femur didn’t budge an inch. Not a glimmer of hope.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“See? I told you it’s hard,” Xie Yanshan shrugged. “There’s a standard Mohs hardness tester over there. It measured eight. This bone’s result went off the charts—it means hardness exceeds Mohs 8!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mohs 8 or higher? That’s… comparable to tungsten steel?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Su had once loved forging cold weapons and was familiar with Mohs hardness—a standard for measuring natural mineral hardness, also used for synthetic metals. Human bone hardness is also commonly expressed in Mohs scale.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Common construction rebar is Mohs 4–5; human fingernails are 2–3; tooth enamel reaches 5—harder than ordinary steel! “Not just tungsten steel—I think these bones are as hard as diamond, maybe even harder than the hardest material on our planet.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xie Yanshan’s assessment was extremely high.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So light, yet harder than diamond? If forged into a weapon… wait, the harder something is, the more brittle it is—it might not be suitable for weapons… what a shame.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Su waved the bone sadly. Its light weight felt insufficient for striking power—he’d need to add counterweight. If it could combine this hardness with metal-like toughness, it would be the perfect weapon material.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Not necessarily,” Xie Yanshan disagreed. “Brittleness does correlate tightly with hardness—because high-hardness materials have tightly packed atomic structures, making atomic sliding difficult under stress, hence brittleness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But all these physical properties apply to known substances. For something unknown like this, we should remain cautious and verify. What if it possesses both hardness and toughness?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Alright, I’ll take it to…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Su-ge! Su-ge! How are we handling alcohol tonight? Lots of people are asking if they can drink.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, Zhang Su’s walkie-talkie crackled—it was Wang Xin’s voice, background noise loud, clearly from Village One where the hotpot feast was being prepared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Su pulled out the walkie-talkie, thought for a moment, and said, “No alcohol at all. Send word to Ju Wuying—tell her not to drink during the meal.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Normally, such a memorable day called for celebration with drinks, but zombies outside were growing stronger, defenses still incomplete—drinking now was just asking for death!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Su had originally planned to allow each squad leader and above two taels of alcohol, but he changed his mind—it would bring no benefit and might spark class resentment. Squad leaders shouldn’t lead by drinking; they should lead by example. Still, he felt forbidding all alcohol was too harsh, so he added: “No alcohol, but everyone gets one pack of cigarettes—consider it a bonus.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seven hundred people meant over seventy packs of cigarettes. This trip back had greatly increased their cigarette stock—the camp had enough reserves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1236,"2026-06-20T15:15:16.642Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","516271c974328a50bd35038e44fcb8fcbb577e0f2a6a962f006dbc3e82c884e2","the-fiercest-man-in-the-end-times-chapter-595","the-fiercest-man-in-the-end-times-chapter-593",694,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-fiercest-man-in-the-end-times-cover.jpg"]