Book 1 Chapter 15:Leaving The Hotel!
With a flash of his body, Ye Chen instantlyarrived before the mutant ant. Grasping the fireman"s axe, he swung it at themutant ant"s remaining appendages, craftily aiming for its joints.
*Clang!
Although the sharp axe was backed by Ye Chen"smonstrous strength, hacking the mutant ant"s sleek black limbs still felt likestriking reinforced steel bars. Sparks flew as the axe grinded on the mutantant"s joint.
His initial strike actually failed to lop offits limb, only causing a slight dent upon the ant"s exoskeleton. Ye Chen wasinwardly impressed at its durability. Mutant ants certainly lived up to theirreputation as beings among the strongest in the later stages of the apocalypse,their exoskeletons were almost impregnable!
Ye Chen did not stop there; he continuouslyhacked with his axe. Right now, he only needed to get past its hard exterior.The insides of an ant were much softer; he could easily tear the limb off aftergetting past its exoskeleton.
The mutant ant which was exposed to anexploding gas cylinder at close proximity had shards of shrapnel lodgedthroughout its body, bits that were blown off the cylinder itself. Currently,it was experiencing a concussion and could only struggle helplessly on theground.
With Ye Chen landing consecutive blows with theaxe, the handle finally snapped after being exerted past its breaking point.With no other choice, Ye Chen wielded the axe-head directly and continued hisa.s.sault. A minute later, he finally managed to hack off all the ant"s limbs.
Afterwards, Ye Chen pinned down the mutantant"s head before attempting to break off its mandibles. Only after an intensecouple of minutes did he manage to do so. With that, Ye Chen could finallyrelax. He hefted the mangled mutant ant and left the room with it in tow.
Returning to his room, Ye Chen dumped themutant ant on the floor and searched for a spare gas cylinder. After emptyingthe gas cylinder, he took it apart and stuffed the mutant ant inside.
A wooden box simply could not suffice. It wouldcrack with the slightest wiggle made by the mutant ant. Against a creature withsuch immense strength, wood might as well be considered paper….
"I can"t allow this mutant ant to die yet orelse the gene cells in its body will solidify, making extraction impossible."Ye Chen pondered, "Right now, my objective is to locate a research facility.There, I"ll be able to extract this ant"s genes and have them injected into mybody!"
Ye Chen went over to check the hotel"s built incomputer, a quick browse indicated lack of internet connection. Ever since theapocalypse struck, communication networks the world over have ceased tofunction. Not only has the internet gone down, phone lines were dead as well.
However, Ye Chen was already prepared. He hadknown that things would turn out this way before the apocalypse struck and hadpurchased a map of China and various other detailed maps beforehand.
This map purchased for a few dollars was justas useful as a pistol or any other sidearm in the apocalypse world!
Ye Chen flipped through the map of the city.After scanning through it briefly, he found a symbol on the map indicating aresearch facility seven kilometers away.
Ye Chen"s brows began to cringe.
Seven kilometers…. It was neither too long a distancenor too short.
Normally, it would be just a bus ride away. Now,with monstrosities roaming everywhere and countless zombies lining the streets,these seven kilometers implicated an unpredictable amount of danger. Even if hewere to set out alone, he couldn"t guarantee a safe arrival at the researchfacility.
To go or not….
A tinge of doubt and hesitation began tosurface in Ye Chen"s heart.
If he was currently alone, he would undoubtedlyrisk everything to head over towards that research facility. The reason was,the mutant beasts and zombies were currently still at their weakest. After thesecond month and the month after, those creatures will only continue to growstronger….
If he failed to reach the research facilitynow, he"d lose his chance forever.
However, he had his younger sister with him inthis life, if he were to meet an untimely demise; there will be no one else whocould look out for her….
Those days of living pitifully in solitude, YeChen deeply understood how it felt. He would never allow his little sister tolive like that.
While he was deep in contemplation, time pa.s.sedand it was now almost mid-day. The door opened and in came Ye Zhu and Bai Long.Immediately noticing Ye Chen on the sofa with a glance, Ye Zhu brightened withcheer as it clearly indicated that his hunt was successful. With a lightchuckle, she inquired: "What"s on your mind?"
Ye Chen raised his head to look at her.
This familiar face before him, was smiling withsuch playfulness….
Such thoughts gave rise to a deep sense ofwarmth in his heart. Ye Chen shifted himself to the side of the sofa to allowhis sister to sit down with him. After a moment to collect his thoughts, heglanced at Ye Zhu and slowly began to speak, saying: "For what needs to bedone, I"ll have to embark on a journey of utmost peril!"
Ye Zhu was astonished, the smile on her facegradually began to fade. With her brows in a slight furrow, she understood thatthere was a good reason why her brother had suddenly took on such a somberdemeanor. The perilous journey he spoke of was certain to be dangerous beyondanything they had faced so far!
After a brief silence, she asked: "Where areyou headed?"
Ye Chen studied her gaze for a moment, beforegravely replying: "Away from this hotel to a research facility. It"s sevenkilometers away."
Ye Zhu nervously bit her lower lip. Shehesitated awhile before asking: "Can you not go?"
Ye Chen slowly shook his head; this simplegesture conveyed his solemn resolve.
Only attaining the might of a genome warriorwould afford him the ability to survive in this world, otherwise an inevitabledeath awaits.
Ye Zhu tightened her hands into fists beforestaring straight into her brother"s eyes saying: "I"ll go with you!"
"Not happening!" Ye Chen flatly refused.
Ye Zhu fought against his gaze, saying: "Ifyou"re going to risk your life, then I"ll not live on complacently either. Youmay leave me here, but I"ll follow you in secret if I have to!"
Ye Chen inadvertently broke into a bittersmile; he had already predicted such a development. Now, there were only twochoices before him.
First choice: abandon the journey to theresearch facility!
Second choice: bring his sister along thejourney with him!
Ye Chen knew that with his sister"s stubborn personality,she would not concede after resolving herself to do something. Ye Chen alsoknew that if he were to perish, the eventual changes brought by the apocalypsewould undoubtedly be overwhelming. The Volcanic Era aside, even surviving inthe Glacial Era would require his guidance; the odds of his sister survivingalone were abysmal.
"Fine!"
After what felt like an eternity, Ye Chenfinally heaved a sigh and said: "Let"s go together then."
Ye Zhu gazed suspiciously at her brother. Afterstudying his expression for a moment, she was finally convinced that he wasn"ttrying to dupe her. Finally, she broke into a smile, saying: "That"s how itshould be. From now on, don"t ever think of leaving me behind. If we live, welive together. If we die, we die together!"
Ye Chen was inwardly moved by her words, hebegan patting her dotingly on the head.
"You guys plan on leaving?" Bai Long who wassitting close by decided it was the right moment to cut in.
Ye Chen turned to face him and nodded beforesaying: "You can choose not to come. With your current strength, you should beable to live here comfortably. Eventually, there should be a a chance to escapehere when the army pa.s.ses by. It"s the best plan I can offer you."
Bai Long furrowed his brows saying: "But where exactlyare you headed?"
Ye Chen calmly replied: "A dangerous place.With my current strength, I only have thirty percent of surviving thisjourney."
Bai Long dropped into silence.
Thirty percent? Gambling on such a slim chancewas like walking to your own doom.
During dinner, all three of them were silent.Everyone had their own thoughts to attend to. Therefore, the silence continuedthroughout the night.
The next day.
With the windows opened, the first rays ofsunshine seeped into the room.
Ye Chen was busy packing things that would beuseful during the journey. Aside from a new fireman"s axe, he broke down awatermelon knife to be used as a dagger and strapped it around his thigh on hiscamo pants. He also packed a small pouch full of candy into his backpack.
He did not bring any bottles of gasoline. Abottle"s worth may be useful against a group of zombies, but against a creaturewith 30 men"s worth of strength, it wouldn"t amount to much. The sound of theexplosion however, would alert their presence to any other creatures nearbymaking things worse.
After the preparations were done, Ye Zhuprepared a sumptuous meal for breakfast. Who knows when they would be able toeat a fresh meal like this after they left this hotel?
The two began wolfing down their breakfast withfrightening haste.
"Where"s Bai Long?" Ye Zhu glanced at hersurroundings but failed to locate the man in question.
Ye Chen indifferently replied: "He"s probablyasleep or something. Just have your things ready, we"re leaving after this."
As Ye Zhu glanced at Bai Long"s bedroom door, atinge of disappointment rose in her heart as she turned to pack her things. Herchoice of necessities was much more different than her brother"s. In herbackpack were numerous sets of clean clothes….
Ye Chen was honestly speechless at the sight,he finally took out some unnecessary clothes and switched them for a pouch ofcandy. The calories in a single piece of candy were almost equivalent to a bowlof rice.
"We"re off!"
As Ye Chen opened the door, he glanced backinto the room. This room that they"ve inhabited for the past few weeks suddenlyseemed a bit cold and empty.
As the two stepped forth to depart, the bedroomdoor suddenly flung open. Out came Bai Long wearing a set of camo clothes whilewielding two watermelon knives and a black package slung on his back.Smilingly, he said: "Let"s go!"
Ye Zhu was startled into asking: "What do youmean?"
Bai Long chuckled while glancing at herastonished face, saying: "How could a righteous man like myself possibly allowa delicate little lady to accompany a cold-blooded, emotionless and perverseman like that alone? Naturally I"ll have to follow along to protect you!"
"What a terrible excuse!" Ye Zhu inwardlythought, inadvertently breaking into a smile.
Ye Chen coldly replied: "What did you just sayabout me?"
"I seem to have lost my memory, what were youtalking about?"
"There"ll be mutant freaks everywhere, don"tcome complaining that I didn"t tell you so when you end up dead."
"Relax; a charitable, self-sacrificing andpa.s.sionate youth like myself would never blame you for your faults."
"Very well, from now on you"ll be in charge ofholding off any mutant freaks we come across."
"d.a.m.n! Are you trying to intimidate me?"
"Whatever, don"t come then."
"Xiao Zhu, you see it don"t you? How cold,perverse and emotionless this guy is!"
"You should be happy; my brother"s only tryingto save you from dying a senseless death."
"As if he"d be so kind!"
Translator"s Notes:
Up till now, the author has used the term"strange creature" in Chinese to refer to mutant beasts. I"ll be using the termmutant freaks or mutant beasts depending on how vague the author gets.