Chapter Twenty-Three: The Sixth-Rank Warrior

Gu Sha was actually a bit puzzled. Judging by the abilities of this team of mercenaries, they ought to have made a name for themselves in the future, but he had no memory of them at all. After some thought, however, he didn't dwell on it. After all, in his previous life, his activities were limited to City C, and his status wasn't particularly high. There was much he didn't know. What's more, in the apocalypse, many warlords and battle emperors perished—no one could guarantee survival.

This band of mercenaries possessed both ability and opportunity in the early days; under normal circumstances, they should have achieved something. Yet it was entirely possible they'd perish along the way. None of them were easy to deal with—they would constantly seek greater fortunes, and it was perfectly normal for them to be swept away by the tide.

Gu Sha didn't think about it any longer. He quickly stowed away the source pearls and departed. Downstairs, hordes of zombies surrounded the building, and some had even evolved enough intelligence to begin climbing upward. Some stood atop others, trying to leap up to attack him, and a large group rushed up the stairwell as well. The security window only offered temporary safety.

Seeing the surging zombies below, Gu Sha had no interest in fighting. Using the security window, he leaped upward, grabbing onto the next window above, and repeated the process. In a few jumps, he reached the rooftop.

However, there were also a number of zombies on the rooftop. Unwilling to linger, Gu Sha dashed to the edge, vaulted over the railing, and with a powerful leap, soared over ten meters to the rooftop of the building opposite. Landing without pause, he continued running and leaping across rooftops, traversing more than ten buildings before finally arriving at his destination.

He had scouted this place long ago and had already chosen his hiding spot. Next to the building he now stood on was a small villa—the very place he'd selected as his base. The villa was surrounded by walls, was well-equipped, and most importantly, had an underground garage.

When he'd scouted before, he'd already slain most of the dozen or so zombies inside, leaving a few as guards to prevent others from wandering in and taking over. Gu Sha climbed down from the rooftop along the pipes, and when he reached the fourth floor, leaped to the villa's roof, flipped inside, ignored the aimlessly wandering zombies, and quickly made his way to the garage.

There were two zombies in the garage, which Gu Sha dispatched with two shots to the head. The garage was quite spacious—about a hundred square meters—and housed five cars, all of them luxury vehicles.

Gu Sha started the cars and used them to block the garage entrance, even lifting and stacking them to reinforce the barricade, leaving only a few narrow gaps. Once he had finished, he checked his watch—it was already half past eleven. In just half an hour, the source pearls would dissipate.

Without wasting time, Gu Sha opened his backpack, took out the source pearls, and began to swallow them. He had obtained six during the day, seized two more at the villa, and looted one from the mercenaries he'd killed, making a total of nine.

Excitement surged within him as he began to refine them. As the nine source pearls entered his body, his blood and energy began to boil, source energy surging violently through his limbs and bones. The initial source energy’s power to cleanse and temper washed relentlessly over his genetic locks.

He began circulating the Source Guiding Technique.

Source energy battered at his genetic locks. Just as in his previous life, the advancement from third-tier to fourth-tier warrior appeared to be just a single step, but in reality, it was a leap to an entirely new level. In later generations, people spoke of the lower, middle, and upper three realms—because with nine original genetic locks, every three represented a distinct level. Hence, the saying "nine tiers, three heavens."

But Gu Sha didn't care much about such distinctions. Although the middle three tiers required much more source energy than the lower, he now possessed an abundance of initial source energy and wasn't intimidated in the least.

The Source Guiding Technique ran swiftly. His blood churned, and the genetic locks were assaulted.

The fourth genetic lock—open!

He attacked the fifth—

The fifth—open!

He pressed on to the sixth genetic lock—open!

Source energy roared through his being, striking at the locks. In the end, Gu Sha didn't know how much time had passed before all the energy was spent, leaving the seventh genetic lock a quarter opened.

Heat billowed from his seven orifices like steam. After a long while, he slowly opened his eyes.

"Sixth-tier warrior!"

He could not contain the joy in his heart. In his past life, he fought desperately for twenty years in the apocalypse and barely reached the fifth tier. Now, in this life, after only a month, he had already surpassed his previous peak.

Not only had he gained the power of a sixth-tier warrior so early, but he also possessed the terrifying talent forged by the refinement of twelve source pearls.

He exhaled a long breath, and his stomach rumbled loudly.

He immediately took compressed biscuits and water from his backpack and began to eat. It wasn't that he couldn't find other supplies, but compressed biscuits were filling and took up little space—a single backpack could hold several days' worth.

As he ate, Gu Sha noticed light piercing into the garage from outside. Dawn had arrived.

He checked his watch. It was already half past nine in the morning! In just over two hours, a new round of the Crimson Descent would occur, bringing with it another wave of source pearls.

However, both the number and the range of today's source pearls would be much less than yesterday, and the competition would be several times fiercer and stronger.

Today's harvest was bound to be meager, and tomorrow's would be even less, with even greater competition.

"Today, I must try to obtain as many source pearls as possible and strive to unlock the seventh genetic lock."

The location he had chosen was carefully selected in advance. Although the range of source pearl descent would shrink today, quite a few would still appear in the surrounding area. He was confident he could seize some of them.

Suddenly, at that moment, a loud bang sounded at the garage entrance.

Gu Sha, in the middle of eating, stopped. He slowly set his biscuit back in his backpack, slung it over his shoulders, and drew a pistol and a combat knife—equipment he had seized from the mercenaries the day before.

He tucked the knife into his boot and quietly hid behind a pillar.

With a thunderous crash, one of the cars blocking the entrance was shoved aside, and a hurried voice cried out, "Quick! Everyone, get inside! Soldiers cover the rear—civilians first!"

Gu Sha, hidden behind the pillar, was startled. The voice sounded familiar.

He peeked out toward the entrance and could just make out several people in camouflage uniforms protecting a group of ordinary people as they hurried into the garage.

The leader in camouflage—Gu Sha recognized him. To be precise, he had known him in his past life!