Chapter Seventeen: Unusual Bones

Gu Sha had a vivid memory of that beast, officially named Fire Cat King—a creature he had witnessed in his previous life, one that seemed almost impervious to artillery. It was the third year after the apocalypse descended. That year, Gu Sha had just arrived in Tung City. At the time, he had joined a hunting squad and was carrying out a mission.

From a distance, he saw the authorities mobilize tens of thousands of soldiers, along with many renowned experts, appearing outside the walls to besiege a single beast. It was a gigantic blue cat, its body wreathed in flames, enormous as a small building yet unnervingly agile. With every roar, it unleashed torrents of fire, devastatingly powerful. It slaughtered everything in its path for dozens of miles, and only after a barrage of hundreds of rockets did it finally depart—leaving in a manner so carefree it seemed almost disdainful.

That was the first king-level beast Gu Sha had ever seen.

Yet, none of this mattered to the present-day Gu Sha. No matter how powerful that king beast might become in the future, right now, it was certainly not at its peak. And its current weakness represented an opportunity far greater than any Source Pearl for Gu Sha.

These beasts were unique—more accurately, a certain subset of them was special. In later years, humanity would slowly discover that a very rare few among the beasts evolved unique talents, just as the Fire Cat King awakened an affinity for fire. Any beast that awakened such a talent possessed within its body a singular bone, named by the authorities as the Variant Bone.

Variant Bones, in later times, were acclaimed as the greatest fortune one could find, among the highest valued items in the apocalypse, bearing similarities to the Source Pearl. The Source Pearl unlocked gene locks and developed one's potential as a warrior; the Variant Bone enabled the development of superhuman abilities.

Abilities, as they were called, were not revealed to the public until three years into the apocalypse. The authorities never disclosed how they were discovered—only that, after three years, they suddenly announced that aside from warriors, there existed a unique group among humanity: the Ability Wielders.

The powers of Ability Wielders differed from the straightforward strength of warriors. Their abilities were myriad and bizarre. In his previous life, Gu Sha had encountered several: some could burrow through the earth, some command water, and the most astonishing was one who could manipulate metal. During combat, he would shout, "Sword, come!" and dozens of blades would whirl through the air—a spectacle both flamboyant and impressive.

However, the conditions for unlocking abilities were exceedingly harsh.

For warriors, even without Source Pearls, one could cultivate by absorbing the scarce energy in the world through the Breathing Technique, or by extracting energy from the cores of slain zombies to become stronger.

But Ability Wielders were different. Their powers, though potent and unpredictable, were far harder to cultivate. First, one could only unlock abilities by developing a Variant Bone. Variant Bones were so rare that only one might appear for every hundred thousand beasts—a singular, unique bone found only in a particular kind of beast, which tended to be more intelligent by nature. Only by killing such a beast and obtaining its bone could one unlock an ability.

And that was merely the beginning. Progress afterward was even more troublesome, for advancement required continuous absorption of energy from Variant Bones. Since the bones were so rare, the difficulty of advancing was self-evident.

Thus, most Ability Wielders in later times prioritized warrior cultivation, using their abilities as trump cards. Nonetheless, it was undeniable—their powers were strange and formidable.

In his previous life, Gu Sha had been endlessly envious of Ability Wielders. As long as their skills were not utterly useless, every one of them was fiercely sought after by various factions, respected in every fortress, and held status far above ordinary warriors.

Gu Sha had dreamed of becoming an Ability Wielder himself, but Variant Bones were so rare; twenty years of struggle had yielded not a single one, so he had never unlocked any abilities. He never knew what potential he might possess.

Now, reborn, he would certainly try again. Yet, time was too tight—he did not wish to waste it searching for special beasts. Eventually, as long as he grew strong enough, there would be a chance to obtain a Variant Bone.

Still, if a special beast appeared before him, he would not hesitate. Who wouldn’t want another trump card, another measure of strength?

Unfortunately, information about the Fire Cat King in his previous life was scarce. Gu Sha truly did not know where it had originated. However, judging by the trajectory of the past, it was highly likely the Fire Cat King was born in Tung City.

With these thoughts, Gu Sha’s heart stirred. He looked at the scar-faced man and said, “If there really is a powerful beast here, it makes sense that the zombies would stay away. But if even the zombies don’t dare approach, what gives you the right to be here?”

Scarface hurried to explain, “That beast is intelligent. The first time we met it, I was terrified and instinctively threw a corpse at it. Unexpectedly, it just took the corpse and left.

The next day, it appeared again. I tossed it a zombie corpse, and it flew into a rage. I quickly switched to a human corpse, and it was satisfied and left. On the third day, when the zombies attacked, it appeared. After I gave it a human corpse, I mustered my courage and asked it for help, and it actually went after the zombies.

After that, we developed an understanding: we give it corpses every day, and it protects us!”

Gu Sha listened, feeling a twinge of emotion—this Scarface was ruthless. He spoke of corpses, but Gu Sha, after twenty years in the apocalypse, could easily guess their methods. They must have fed the survivors here to the beast one by one, and when they ran out, lured others in—like himself, targeted today.

Luring people in meant both gaining supplies and securing the beast’s protection. Gu Sha could even smell meat in the room. There was no need to guess what kind of meat it was.

“Let’s go. Take me to meet the beast,” Gu Sha said.

“Huh?” Scarface was momentarily stunned, then secretly delighted, thinking the young man was courting death. He nodded quickly, “Alright, alright, I’ll take you. It’s in a room on the fifth floor!”

In the room, Scarface staggered to his feet and led the way.

As they reached the third floor, Gu Sha saw a group of women whose eyes were numb—more than a dozen, several naked, with iron chains around their necks, crawling on the floor.

At the sight of Scarface, terror filled their eyes. Even as his hands bled, they remained terrified, forcing smiles to please him.

Gu Sha glanced at the women without stopping, urging Scarface upstairs. Soon, they arrived at the fifth floor.