Chapter Four: Killing the Fool

Gu Sha clenched his fists, the muscles on his arms standing out. The sense of security that came with this power put his mind at ease. Although he was still far from being a fifth-tier warrior like in his previous life, in this newly descended apocalypse, a first-tier warrior already stood at humanity’s peak—and besides, he had already unlocked a third of the second gene lock.

He made a rough estimate: right now, if he attacked with all his strength, he could probably generate about 1,500 kilograms of force—nearly three or four times that of boxing champion Tyson. More importantly, the gene lock enhanced all-around abilities, including but not limited to speed, reflexes, and agility.

Gu Sha couldn’t help but feel a surge of emotion. In this life, armed with foresight, he was already far ahead. In his past life, at this moment, he was still cowering in a classroom; a slow step at the start meant he lagged behind in everything that followed. He missed every opportunity during the subsequent Crimson Descents and, when the world mutated, could only risk his life scavenging what others saw as worthless scraps.

But in this life, he would seize every top opportunity!

For now, his immediate priority was to gather all three source pearls in the school. According to his calculations, these three pearls should be enough to elevate him to around a third-tier warrior; even if he fell a little short, it wouldn’t be by much. He thought of how, in his previous life, he struggled for twenty years to barely reach the fifth tier—all because he missed those initial chances.

Taking a deep breath, Gu Sha gripped his dagger and closed his eyes to rest. With the gene lock open, his abilities had improved greatly in every aspect, especially his hearing. He could hear countless zombies roaring downstairs, as well as the terrified screams of some people, which roused even more zombies. The building was now a chaos of noise.

Gu Sha sat still, waiting quietly. Although he had unlocked the gene lock, he wasn’t arrogant enough to think he could take on all the zombies in the building by himself.

As he waited, more zombies gradually returned to the rooftop. However, they seemed confused; even though they no longer had any human consciousness, their bestial instincts remained. They sensed that something was missing here but couldn’t discern what it was.

This was, of course, because Gu Sha had taken the source pearl. The source pearl contained a vast amount of primordial source energy, which was both oppressive to zombies and yet attracted them within a short range. At this point, all these zombies were still at their most primitive stage, only instinctively drawn to the pearl but too afraid to touch it, maintaining a certain distance.

For this reason, in the future, many zombies worldwide would evolve after absorbing the first wave of source energy when a pearl shattered. More often, it was wild beasts—less fearful of the pearls than zombies—who, after accidentally swallowing one, would instantly mutate into zombie beasts. In later years, these zombie beasts would prove even more destructive than zombies.

Thus, Gu Sha waited patiently until the latter half of the night, when the commotion finally subsided again. Once silence returned and the zombies slipped into their dormant state, Gu Sha silently dropped down from the stairwell landing and tiptoed away, careful not to alert the zombies, making his way downstairs with utmost caution.

Soon, guided by hazy memories from his past life, he found the campus convenience store. Just as before, the store was one of the few places left untouched—during the school event earlier that day, the shopkeeper had locked up and gone to join the excitement.

Gu Sha climbed in through the window. He found a fire axe and a black backpack. Quickly, he gulped down some water, ate a few pieces of bread, then stuffed the bag with more biscuits, bread, and several bottles of mineral water, placing his dagger inside as well.

After finishing this, Gu Sha wandered the store a bit longer and opened a few large barrels of water, drenching himself completely. At this primitive stage, zombies possessed no special abilities—just no sense of pain, tremendous strength, and speed about equal to a normal person. Their only notable trait was heightened smell, making them sensitive to the living, but water could mask human scent to some extent.

Finding nothing else useful, Gu Sha grabbed the fire axe and climbed out the window.

Outside, he weighed the axe in his hands. At about three pounds, it was a decent weapon. An ordinary person would quickly tire wielding a three-pound axe against zombies, but for Gu Sha, who had now unlocked his first gene lock, it felt almost too light. Still, it was likely the most lethal weapon he could find in the school.

After looking around, Gu Sha set off quickly in the direction of the cafeteria. He remembered, from conversations with old classmates years later, that one of the three source pearls was rumored to be in the cafeteria, though no one was sure exactly where.

Time was pressing—source pearls lasted for varying durations, and he wasn’t sure how long the other two would remain, or if they would last until he found them.

Under the night sky, the campus was deathly silent.

On the athletic field, mangled limbs, intestines, and viscera were scattered everywhere—a gruesome scene. Occasionally, a zombie or two wandered aimlessly.

Gu Sha circled the area around the cafeteria but found no trace of the source pearl, guessing it must be on the cafeteria rooftop. He climbed up the exterior piping. Unfortunately, the pipes only reached the second floor, and there were two more floors above, inaccessible from the outside. He would have to go in and use the stairs.

With a leap, Gu Sha landed on the balcony.

What he hadn’t expected was to find two zombies awake on the balcony. The moment they saw him, they roared and lunged.

“Just my luck,” Gu Sha thought, cursing his misfortune at not being able to avoid trouble despite all his caution.

Without hesitation, he reached into his backpack for the axe, aimed at the leading zombie’s head, and swung down with all his might.

The zombies’ fatal weakness was their heads. But even knowing this, most people would still perish when faced with one—the skull is hard, and it’s rare for someone to kill a zombie with a single blow. And since zombies felt no pain, if you couldn’t kill it instantly, you were as good as dead.

With a wet, splitting sound, Gu Sha’s axe cleaved through the zombie’s head as easily as slicing a watermelon.

He spun around and chopped at the next zombie’s neck, decapitating it in one stroke.

Both zombies collapsed.

But Gu Sha had no time to relax. The earlier roars had already roused the zombies inside the cafeteria. He did a quick count—there were about a dozen.

His pupils narrowed, and he charged forward, meeting the zombies head-on. As a first-tier warrior, his physical abilities far surpassed those of these primitive zombies, and with two decades of combat experience and instinct, he was confident facing a dozen of them. His only worry was drawing even more, since the campus swarmed with zombie hordes—if all the cafeteria zombies converged on him, he’d have no choice but to flee.

As Gu Sha fought, five survivors hiding in the walk-in freezer on the second floor heard the commotion. They opened the small window in the door, watching in shock.

They could scarcely believe their eyes—someone single-handedly fighting a horde of zombies.

During the outbreak earlier that day, they’d taken refuge in the storeroom and witnessed firsthand how terrifying zombies were—far stronger and more vicious than people. Facing a dozen ordinary humans would be daunting enough, let alone zombies.

“Who is that?” one boy exclaimed in disbelief.

There were three boys and two girls. At his question, the others looked just as bewildered.

“It’s too dark out there to see—could it be a legendary special forces soldier sent to rescue us?”

“If the government sent someone, why would they come alone?”

“Who else could be that strong? It can’t be a student or teacher. If there was someone like that, they’d be famous on campus by now!”

“…”

“Stop talking nonsense,” one of the girls, wearing heavy makeup and a school uniform, snapped impatiently. “Just keep watching, okay? You lot do nothing but chatter all day. If any of you could fight like that, would we still be hiding in here?”

The boys looked embarrassed, laughing awkwardly and falling silent.

The apocalypse had only just begun, and most people hadn’t yet adjusted their mentality, clinging to pre-apocalypse habits and human nature. So, being scolded by this pretty girl, the boys said nothing—after all, she had always been popular, and in their adolescent minds, they vied to please her, mistaking infatuation for romance and chivalry.

“Look,” the girl said, “he’s about to win. Once he kills all the zombies, we’ll go find him and have him lead us out.”

Before long, silence fell outside.

Gu Sha chopped off the last zombie’s head, then quickly dragged several corpses to the balcony and tossed them down, hoping to distract the zombies below. He kept a wary eye on the stairwell, relieved to see the downstairs zombies drawn away for now.

Without hesitation, Gu Sha prepared to run upstairs.

Just then, a creak sounded—the freezer door opened, and several figures rushed out.

“Hey, you! Please take us with you!”

“Yes, wait for us!”

“We’ll go together!”

The group at the front shouted over each other.

Gu Sha’s brow furrowed. They were courting death—such noise could easily attract more zombies. He had been careful to kill quickly and quietly to avoid making a racket.

“If you want to live, then shut up!” Gu Sha snapped in a low voice.

The group was startled into silence.

Gu Sha had no interest in rescuing them, so he ignored them and moved to leave.

Suddenly, the heavily made-up girl gasped, “You—you’re Gu Sha?”

Gu Sha paused, turning to look at her. Instantly, an old memory surfaced—before the apocalypse, he’d been strung along as a backup admirer by this very girl.

Her name was Zhang Yu, a classmate from junior high, once his white moonlight—though not even his first love, since it was unrequited. He’d pined for her from freshman year through to the apocalypse, a full three years.

Only after two years of bloody survival in the apocalypse did Gu Sha, by chance, learn from another alumnus that Zhang Yu had dated several boys in high school, even slept with a few.

Then he realized he’d been played for three years—a loyal fool, while she kept him in the wings.

Yet these memories were too distant now. Even seeing Zhang Yu again, Gu Sha felt nothing. In the apocalypse, romance was meaningless. As for resentment—after so many brushes with death, such matters hardly stirred him.

So, he gave Zhang Yu a glance and walked on.

But Zhang Yu, oblivious to his coldness, became excited at recognizing him, barking orders, “Gu Sha, you’re so strong! Hurry, get me out of here! I can’t stand another second in this hellhole!”

“Shut up!” Gu Sha spun around, his expression fierce. “I won’t say it a third time—if you want to live, keep quiet!”

Zhang Yu flinched, shocked and incredulous that Gu Sha would speak to her that way.

A moment later, her anger flared. “How dare you talk to me like that! If you keep this up, I’ll never speak to you again, you—”

“Damn it, you idiot!” Gu Sha suddenly swung his axe, slashing Zhang Yu’s throat. Blood sprayed everywhere as she collapsed, her face frozen in terror.