Chapter 31: Have Plants Mutated Too?

It was past 10:00 AM on the second day when Liu Yang woke up. The sun was already high in the sky.

He stretched his back, feeling that a life where he could wake up naturally every day wasn't bad at all. Back when he was a student, he had to get up for class every morning, and even on weekends, he had to rise early to stand guard as a security guard in the residential complex. He rarely got to sleep in throughout the year. How could it compare to now, when he could sleep every day? Plus, there were several peerless beauties living downstairs; it was even more satisfying than a Ming Dynasty emperor choosing a consort for the night.

After getting up, washing, and eating breakfast, Liu Yang began his plans for the day. Suddenly, he received a system notification.

"Congratulations, Host. You have killed a total of 22,000 zombies and received 2,200 attribute points!"

Liu Yang was stunned. "What? 2,200 attribute points?!"

He quickly realized what happened. "It must be that the ten dormitory buildings at the school burned down overnight. Burning over 20,000 zombies at once! That’s incredible!"

At this moment, Liu Yang's base attributes were 325 points. Dividing 2,200 by 4, he could add 550 points to each base attribute. Adding them all would bring his total to 875 attribute points! His base attributes were now 16.5 times those of an ordinary person. He was truly a superman among supermen!

"The Dark Space has been upgraded again. It would be a waste not to use such a large space, so I must hurry to collect food from the large supermarkets. Also, as time passes, survivors will get hungrier and may start searching for food themselves. If I go too late, the large supermarkets might already be picked clean, with little left."

"Furthermore, with my base attributes at 16.5 times that of a normal person, it's time to leave the residential complex and test my combat power!"

With that, Liu Yang began his first simulation of the day. This was his first time venturing out of the villa area onto the main streets, and he had to be cautious. After all, those five athletes at the school had almost caused his downfall. The streets might be even more dangerous.

The simulation began.

Liu Yang leaped, vaulted over the three-meter-high villa gate, and landed on the street outside. The road was packed with cars, blocking the entire thoroughfare. Some vehicles had crashed into the roadside, caught fire, and been reduced to charred husks. The drivers inside were reduced to blackened skeletons. In other cars, the drivers hadn't had time to escape and had been gnawed down to white bone by zombies.

Looking at these tragic corpses, Liu Yang felt a sense of melancholy. These luxury cars, which cost hundreds of thousands and were beyond what many could afford in a lifetime—once a symbol of status for the rich—had now become mobile coffins, the places where they breathed their last.

Liu Yang continued forward. The supermarket was only about a kilometer away from the villa area, and he hadn't encountered any zombies on the road. However, the closer he got to the supermarket, the more zombie corpses he saw lying on the roadside.

As he got closer, Liu Yang noticed that these zombies had all been sliced in half. Some had their heads severed, while others were cut clean through the waist. The zombies cut at the waist were still alive, their upper bodies crawling on the ground with their hands. Some were even sliced vertically, splitting their heads and bodies perfectly in two!

Seeing this, Liu Yang was shocked. "Good grief, who did this? Could it be another esper? I haven't gone far, and I've already found over a dozen corpses. This guy is too strong!"

What shocked him most was the weapon used. Each zombie had been cut in two with a single strike, whether horizontal, vertical, or diagonal—the blade sliced through them like tofu. Liu Yang looked at his battle-hardened fire axe and suddenly felt it wasn't so impressive anymore. Although his fire axe had armor-piercing capabilities, it would always get stuck whenever he struck a zombie's skull. How could it compare to a weapon that cut them in two instantly?

Liu Yang became vigilant. If the other person really was an esper, this would be the first one he had ever encountered. He had no idea how strong they might be, so he had to be extremely cautious.

As he continued, the closer he got to the supermarket, the more corpses appeared. Finally, under a large tree in front of the supermarket, he found over a dozen hacked-up zombies. A pitch-black katana was stuck in the ground.

Seeing this, Liu Yang froze. "What’s going on? The trail of corpses ends here, and the weapon is covered in zombie blood. That person must have used it to kill them. But if the zombies are all dead, why leave the sword on the ground? Could something have happened?"

Liu Yang walked over, intending to inspect the area and pull the sword out. After all, it was an incredibly sharp blade; it would be a shame to leave it behind.

Just then, he heard a weak cry for help: "Help... help me!"

"Huh?" Liu Yang was startled and looked around, but he saw no survivors.

"Help!" The weak voice came again. This time, Liu Yang pinpointed the direction. He looked up abruptly and was shocked!

A woman was suspended in mid-air, her hands and feet bound. Beside her was a man who had already lost consciousness. The woman was tied in the shape of a "large" (大) character, while the man was tied in the shape of a "too" (太) character. Beside them were dozens of other zombies, also bound in mid-air! Some of the zombies had withered into mummies, while others were still struggling, indicating they had been caught at different times!

Liu Yang became instantly alert. He stepped forward and asked the woman, "Who tied you up there?"

The moment he finished speaking, a vine shot out, bound his feet, and threw him into the air. Liu Yang felt a sense of vertigo, and by the time he realized what was happening, his hands and feet were bound, and he was hanging in the air, tied in the shape of a "wood" (木) character.

Liu Yang was shocked. What a powerful enemy! He hadn't even noticed where it was before he was captured! This had to be a super-powerful esper!

Unexpectedly, the woman beside him said in a weak voice, "This tree has mutated. It has learned to use its vines to catch prey and absorb their nutrients. I'm sorry, it’s all my fault. If I hadn't called for help, you wouldn't have been caught."

A tree? Hearing this, Liu Yang was stunned. He had assumed that only humans turned into zombies during the apocalypse, but he hadn't realized that plants had mutated too. Furthermore, this tree didn't just catch humans; it even caught zombies. That was too intense!

Just as Liu Yang was thinking this, a more delicate, tentacle-like vine extended from the tree, aimed directly at his heart, and thrust forward!