Chapter 66 - 66: Mother and Son
The 47th day of the Apocalypse Calendar, Thursday.
It was morning.
At the official shelter.
The heavy gates swung open and a convoy drove out from underground to the surface.
This convoy was led by Bai Tianyu.
Today, they were embarking on a mission, and once again heading to the gathering place in Guangping Street.
Bai Tianyu sat in the military vehicle at the front. Other than him and the driver, there was another person in the car.
This person had gray hair and deep eye bags, appearing to be around 40 years old, but the fatigue and vicissitudes in his eyes made him look older.
This person was the chief scientist of the official shelter—Dr. Huo Sheng.
The vehicle left the confines of the official shelter and arrived on the streets of Nanxiang City.
There were not many zombies along the way since Bai Tianyu’s team had cleared them out multiple times.
After a while, Huo Sheng, who was beside Bai Tianyu, could not help but speak, “So Tianyu, what about Meng Jie…”
Seeing that Dr. Huo Sheng could no longer contain his concern for his ex-wife and asking about her, Bai Tianyu’s lips curved into a smile and he said, “Very good, Dr. Meng is doing very well over there.”
Bai Tianyu heard a faint sigh of relief from Huo Sheng before he quickly changed the topic.
“You mentioned yesterday that there’s an Awakened person over there who’s stronger than you. Can you tell me in detail what’s going on?”
Bai Tianyu immediately perked up as he spoke of Lu Ming.
“That person is indeed stronger than me, undoubtedly an Awakened who is Level 4 or above.”
Huo Sheng shook his head abruptly. “That’s impossible.”
This was because the advancement of an Awakened individual required zombie crystals of the same level. According to current observations, the number of known Tyrants was not enough to support a Level 4 Awakened.
Hearing Huo Sheng’s words, Bai Tianyu pondered for a moment and said, “I also chatted with Dr. Meng Jie about Lu Ming. Meng Jie told me that she had been observing Lu Ming for a long time and discovered something strange.
“She had never seen Lu Ming take any corpse crystals. And Lu Ming would exercise and train every day without fail.
“She speculated that Mr. Lu Ming’s level might still be Level 3, but his superpower was relatively unique. He could increase his physical strength through training and exercise, and this enhancement might have no limit.”
Huo Sheng thought about it carefully and nodded. “That’s more likely.”
After saying that, Huo Sheng could not help but sigh. “What a terrifying superpower…”
Bai Tianyu was not convinced. “My superpower is not bad either. It’s not necessarily inferior to Lu Ming’s superpower.”
Huo Sheng shook his head and said, “No, your superpower is much inferior to Mr. Lu. I don’t know if you’ve noticed something, but after an Awakened advances, his physical strength will increase significantly.”
Bai Tianyu was well aware of this.
“And this increase is doubled, doubling their original strength! It means that the stronger the awakened individual’s physical strength was originally, the stronger he becomes after leveling up.
“Let’s say you and Mr. Lu are both Level 3 Awakened, but his physical strength is 100, while yours is 50. After both of you advance to Level 4, your physical strength is 100, while Lu Ming’s physical strength is 200! This difference will only become greater as the levels increase. How can you compare with him?”
Bai Tianyu opened his mouth, wanting to refute, but he could not find a counter -argument.
After a moment, Bai Tianyu stretched and yawned. “Well, it’s better to have a monster like him appearing among humans than you always pinning your hopes on me alone…”
Bai Tianyu remained calm.
Huo Sheng, on the other hand, entered a contemplative state. “You mentioned that Meng Jie did not want to come back because she wanted to observe Mr. Lu Ming… Now, I think Meng Jie’s decision is very reasonable. If we can decipher the root of Mr. Lu Ming’s superpower, perhaps we will have hope of overcoming this disaster.
“However, until now, I haven’t figured out the root of these superpowers. I only know that it’s related to a mysterious factor, but the research on this mysterious factor has reached a deadlock… How should we proceed?”
Huo Sheng began chanting a spell.
Bai Tianyu couldn’t understand his mumbling at all.
Knowing that Huo Sheng had entered his work mode, Bai Tianyu decided not to listen anymore.
He turned his head to look out the car window, but unexpectedly he caught a glimpse of a faint gaze from one of the nearby buildings, seemingly directed at him.
Frowning, Bai Tianyu wanted to trace the source of that gaze, but the car was moving too fast and making a turn, leaving the gaze behind within seconds.
Shaking his head gently, Bai Tianyu muttered softly, “It was probably just an illusion.”
In the building that the convoy had just passed.
On the third floor.
As she watched the convoy gradually disappear into the distance, Xu Rufang drew the curtains.
She was a middle-aged woman, around 40 years old.
She had a bulky figure, plain features, and rough skin.
Overall, she was just an ordinary person.
However, even ordinary people have their extraordinary aspects.
On the second day of the apocalypse, Xu Rufang had a high fever. After the fever subsided, she unexpectedly discovered that her physical strength had significantly increased. At the same time, she had a special ability.
She had become Awakened!
Of course, Xu Rufang herself did not know the term ‘awakened.’
She did not really care much about this.
Compared to being an Awakened one, Xu Rufang had more important things to do.
After drawing the curtains, Xu Rufang turned around and looked into the house. After being in a daze for a moment, she muttered softly, “It’s time to make breakfast.
“Yes, it’s time to make breakfast… Otherwise, my son will be hungry…”
As if she had gone crazy, Xu Rufang mumbled to herself while making her way to the kitchen.
Unlike the other clean and tidy areas in the house, the kitchen was in a mess. There were blood stains everywhere, and the house was filled with the pungent smell of blood.
However, Xu Rufang turned a blind eye to it. She simply went to the chopping board and picked up the kitchen knife.
She raised the knife with her right hand and placed her left hand on the chopping board…
“Crack!”.
The knife fell and her hand was severed!
A shocking scene unfolded…
Xu Rufang’s wound quickly healed and stopped bleeding. At the same time, bone stubble and flesh buds kept growing out of the wound. In just five minutes, the severed hand had completely regrown.
Satisfied with what she saw, Xu Rufang smiled contentedly.
She placed the severed hand on a plate and held it up, walking towards the second bedroom.
Standing at the doorway, Xu Rufang called softly, “Son, it’s time to eat.”
A sound came from the bedroom.
A rustling sound, as if insects were crawling.
Soon, the bedroom door was opened from the inside.
A fleshy tentacle protruded from the door and coiled around the plate.
At the right moment, Xu Rufang released her grip, watching as the tentacle swept the plate into the room. The doting look in her eyes was as sweet as sugar. Xu Rufang whispered, “Lianjie, if it’s not enough, tell Mom and I’ll cut more for you.”
Then, a hoarse voice came from the room, sounding like a terminally ill patient choking on phlegm.
“It’s a bit insufficient, Mom. I need more…”
“Okay, I will go and cut more for you.”
Xu Rufang turned around and returned to the kitchen.
A faint voice came from the second bedroom again. “Thank you, Mom..”