Chapter 11: Fireball, the Tenth Zombie

She pressed her temples in frustration. The key problem was—the farm still hadn’t opened.

Ever since she realized she might be in bad shape for a while, she’d ramped up her zombie-killing efficiency, barely resting at all. She threw caution to the wind, actively seeking out zombies to kill. The apartment complex was only so big; if the other residents wouldn’t come out, she couldn’t get into their units. So she could only wander around downstairs. After killing two zombies, she ran back up to Building 5, searched from the first to the fifteenth floor, ran into another zombie and killed it, then checked two apartments that seemed off and killed three more zombies. Yesterday alone, she’d taken care of six zombies.

This morning, realizing there was no future in staying inside the complex, she rode out on her motorcycle. On the way, she took down another zombie, and just now in the shopping street, she killed two more. That made a total of nine zombies.

She was still one short—at least one short.

Bian Changxi decided to quickly make it ten, then try to see if she could activate the farm. If she could, she’d immediately head back to her apartment for a good rest. If not, she’d just have to keep pushing herself.

She had to hold on. If she let up now, she wasn’t sure she’d even be able to get up before the end of tomorrow. After these first three days, she had no idea what to do with the jade bracelet. Maybe she really would have to say goodbye to the farm.

She absolutely could not let that happen!

She tried to psych herself up. In a daze, she suddenly noticed several zombies shambling out from around the corner ahead. Crap, she thought, she must have lingered too long—her scent had attracted them.

She quickly sped away on her motorcycle.

Luckily, her bike had been modified to minimize noise. If it were a regular motorcycle, starting it up would alert the whole street—practically a death sentence.

Unfortunately, her luck wasn’t great this time. There were zombies everywhere along the way, but none alone. She didn’t dare stop, so she just kept riding, searching for an opportunity.

Suddenly, she found herself near a plaza. Looking carefully, she realized it was Student Plaza on the outskirts of University Town. The area was open and, thankfully, free of zombies. She glanced around and turned to leave—just ahead were several universities, with tens of thousands of students, and likely thousands of zombies.

Passing a street corner, she suddenly spotted a shadow in a phone booth next to a bus stop.

It was the back of an older woman, standing motionless inside the booth. From the side, her face was pale and rotting—a zombie!

Bian Changxi felt a surge of joy. She looked around. This was a road to Jiangcheng Airport, which had been quiet even before the apocalypse, and now was completely deserted. A car was parked by the roadside—probably driven here by this zombie when she was still human.

It was a golden opportunity.

She got off her bike a hundred meters away, gripped her axe, and crept closer.

Because the zombie was standing with its back to the booth’s door, Bian Changxi planned to quietly open the door and take it out from behind.

She tiptoed over, held her breath, opened the booth door, adjusted her stance, and was about to swing her axe down—when the zombie slowly turned around.

Bian Changxi pressed her lips together, ready to strike, but suddenly froze.

The zombie before her had short, ear-length hair. Its terrifying, ruined face was unrecognizable, but it wore a crooked pair of rimless alloy glasses, and its suit was soaked with foul fluids.

She gasped. “Director Zhu?!”

Wasn’t this the same Director Zhu who had stood by her bed just two days ago, scolding and advising her?

The second person she’d seen after being reborn?

Bian Changxi shouldn’t have been so shocked—she’d seen plenty of life and death. In the apocalypse, people who were like brothers one moment could be separated by life and death the next. The survivor didn’t have time to grieve; to stay alive, you had to quickly suppress your emotions and keep moving forward, no matter what.

As long as it wasn’t Bai Heng or Bian Kuang, no matter who it was standing before her like this, she shouldn’t have hesitated. But damn it, she was feeling unwell right now, her focus was shot, and that half-second of hesitation was all it took. By the time she snapped out of it, zombie Director Zhu was already lunging at her with a roar.

She raised her axe, pressing it against the zombie’s chest, but its long claws dug into her shoulders, piercing down to the bone, while its bloody mouth lunged for her, reeking of rot.

Bian Changxi dropped the axe, which was too unwieldy at close quarters. One hand pushed at its neck, the other braced its chin, desperately trying to shove it away. But Director Zhu, who had been a thin, frail woman in life, was now terrifyingly strong as a zombie. Bian Changxi was forced back several steps, the zombie’s fangs nearly grazing her skin more than once, but she managed to push it away each time.

With a bang, her back slammed into the car, making her grimace in pain. She glanced at the window, then at the zombie, and suddenly ducked her head, letting go. The zombie, carried by its own momentum, crashed headfirst through the car window, smashing the glass to pieces.

Ignoring the pain from her shoulders, still gripped by the zombie’s claws, she twisted free and reached for the straight blade strapped to her back.

But as soon as she raised her arm, a wave of agony shot through both shoulders, making her whole body tremble and her arm drop. She glanced down—her clothes were torn, her shoulders a bloody mess, bone faintly visible. At the same time, pain erupted from the wound on her left arm. Three spots flared at once, the pain weaving through her nerves—she nearly passed out, feeling as if something inside her was about to burst free.

This final stage of transformation was agony, as if she were being flayed alive from the inside out.

Don’t faint! Don’t fall!

She bit her lip hard, shook her head fiercely. Zombie Director Zhu pulled her head out of the car window, glass shards stuck in her hair, and staggered toward Bian Changxi, who kept backing away.

Suddenly, a cold, commanding voice shouted from behind, “Get down!” Something whistled through the air—a wave of heat rushed toward her.

Instinctively, Bian Changxi turned. At the intersection, several dark figures had appeared. A blazing, fiery-red orb streaked through the air toward her.

Bian Changxi squinted, then her eyes flew wide open.

Holy crap! A fireball!!

It was actually a fireball!!

She almost wanted to curse out loud.

She’d been struggling to awaken her powers since the very first morning, suffering endlessly, not even managing to get a wood-type ability—and now someone had already awakened fire?!

Fire! The strongest of the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, earth!

Her head spun. One part of her mind was swearing furiously, another was analyzing the situation. If the fireball hit zombie Director Zhu, that would be the end of it.

The tenth zombie—the tenth energy source—the energy she needed to activate the farm! Was it about to be snatched away by someone else?

Without thinking, her body moved—she darted two steps sideways, blocking the oncoming fireball. As it struck her, she lunged forward, drew her straight blade over her shoulder, and slashed down hard from right to left.

Foul, sticky fluid sprayed in her face.

She didn’t know if she’d hit the zombie, or killed it. She only knew that after using all her strength, she felt utterly drained, as if she were falling, falling for an eternity, her whole body suddenly light as air.

All the pain seemed to float away and vanish, and all the exhaustion she’d been forcing herself to ignore finally overwhelmed her...

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