Chapter Seven: Third-Rank Warrior, Breaking Out of the Academy

Gu Sha moved like a nimble wildcat, leaping quickly across the balconies, and in no time he descended from the fifth floor to the ground below. By then, dawn was breaking, and throughout the school, many zombies were beginning to stir.

Holding his axe, already chipped and battered, Gu Sha raced toward the teaching building and once again returned to the convenience store. The iron gate of the store, at this early stage of the outbreak, still offered a reassuring sense of security; though it bore a multitude of scratches and dents, its integrity remained largely intact. The front window, set high near the roof, made for an excellent defense against zombies, while the rear window, though lower, was fortified with steel mesh, providing further protection. Inside, there was plenty of food, making this place the best refuge in the school.

But Gu Sha had not come here to seek shelter. He was here to absorb the source energy from the third source pearl, taking advantage of the environment. This source pearl was quite large, about the same size as the one he found in the cafeteria.

Wasting no time, Gu Sha swallowed it whole. In an instant, the surging source energy flooded his body. He immediately activated his technique to draw in the energy, harnessing its power. After a long while, Gu Sha exhaled a mouthful of turbid air.

“Third tier!” he murmured.

Though in his past life he had reached the pinnacle of the fifth tier—far stronger than he was now—Gu Sha could hardly contain his excitement. For now, though only a third-tier warrior, he was ahead of everyone by a wide margin, and possessed enough strength to compete for resources yet to come.

Just then, his stomach rumbled loudly. Without hesitation, he grabbed a pile of bread and biscuits from the shelves and devoured them, sweeping away the hunger like a violent storm.

Brushing the crumbs from his hands, Gu Sha spent some time rummaging through the convenience store, finally uncovering a relatively clear map of Cang City. The previous day, the Crimson Arrival had destroyed nearly all satellites in orbit, plunging the world into a state with no signal, making phone navigation impossible. Moreover, having not returned to Cang City in the past twenty years, Gu Sha could no longer recall many places.

He was about to leave the school and embark on the next phase of his plan: to depart from Cang City. There was no reason to stay any longer. He remembered clearly—there were only three places in Cang City that housed source pearls. One was his current school; the second was said to be out in the countryside; the third, reportedly in the river, where several powerful mutated fish would later emerge.

To search aimlessly for these pearls was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Moreover, the source pearls existed for only a brief time; without knowing their exact locations, it was impossible to find them before they vanished, especially in other cities. Resources outside of Cang City were even less feasible—uncertain locations, no time.

Thus, he needed to prepare for the second Crimson Arrival, scheduled for one month later. Unlike the first, which was a global event, the second would be much more limited in scope: only ten cities across the entire country would receive source pearls, and these would become the nation’s ten great fortress cities.

The second Crimson Arrival would not go unnoticed as the first had; by then, the world would recognize the importance of source pearls. Governments would urge survivors to seek out pearls to bolster humanity’s strength, striving to prevent zombies and mutated beasts from obtaining them.

At that time, there would be a worldwide battle for the pearls, with official armies and heavily armed civilian groups joining the fray, heralding an era of fierce competition.

Because of this, unlike the first Crimson Arrival, where only vague records of source pearls existed, the second had fairly accurate statistics and many legends about the places where pearls descended. Locations were documented in greater detail.

For twenty years in his previous life, Gu Sha had operated within Tong City, one of the nation’s ten great fortress cities. He had made a name for himself there, and his memories of the source pearl locations were relatively clear.

Thus, he resolved to head for Tong City immediately. Now a third-tier warrior, arguably the most genetically advanced human in the world at present, he knew that in a month’s time, the global struggle for source pearls would begin, and only through careful preparation could one reap the greatest rewards.

Before the apocalypse, Tong City had been merely a second-tier city, but because of the second Crimson Arrival, it became one of the ten chosen cities, undergoing a transformation into the city with the richest source energy. Various factions established shelters there, and within a year, it became one of the most prosperous cities in the post-apocalyptic world.

But with the apocalypse now upon them, all transportation hubs were paralyzed: planes, trains, and high-speed rail were out of the question. Even driving on the highways was dismissed by Gu Sha—the chaos there was no less than in the cities. When the Crimson Arrival struck, highways became sites of countless accidents and zombie outbreaks; now, they were completely impassable. To traverse thousands of kilometers to Tong City in a month, he needed another way.

Fortunately, Gu Sha knew a secret.

The famous actress Lin Xingyan had arrived in Cang City the day before the apocalypse for a commercial event and was staying at the Blue Moon Hotel. Besides being a celebrity, Lin Xingyan was also the heiress of the Lin family from the capital.

After the situation stabilized, the Lin family dispatched an armed helicopter to the Blue Moon Hotel to retrieve Lin Xingyan. However, it was rumored that during her stay at the hotel, she endured much suffering.

Gu Sha cared little for the details of her ordeal; what mattered to him was the fact that the Lin family would send a helicopter. He intended to ask Lin Xingyan for a favor—to let him hitch a ride to Tong City.

With his decision made, Gu Sha stuffed the map into his backpack, added some food and water, and swiftly climbed out the window.

By now, daylight had fully arrived, and zombies were everywhere. His appearance immediately attracted their attention. Wielding his axe, Gu Sha cut down several zombies and charged toward the parking lot, eyeing a high-chassis off-road vehicle from afar. With a single punch, he smashed the window, opened the door, and tossed his supplies inside.

The alarm blared, but Gu Sha ignored it, climbed into the car, fiddled with the controls, and managed to start it without a key. Having survived the apocalypse for twenty years, rising to fifth-tier warrior and leading a small team, Gu Sha could operate anything—even a tank.

A horde of zombies converged, but Gu Sha floored the accelerator, shooting out like a cannonball and running down dozens of zombies. Corpses flew, rotting flesh splattering everywhere.

The off-road vehicle sped toward the school gate, its roaring engine and the zombies’ howls attracting the attention of many survivors within the school.

Of course, Gu Sha was unaware of the stir and hope his actions had inspired, nor did he care about the desperate cries for help. He simply raced out of the school, leaving it all behind.