Chapter Ten: The End of the Mortal World (Part Three)

"Master, I don't recommend you go out right now," Xiaotao said, her expression unusually serious as she looked at Guo Lang. "The virus has just broken out, everything is chaos, and we have no idea about the parameters or combat ability of these mutants. Rushing out to save someone is irrational. Besides, she's just a little girl—if she really encountered one of the mutated zombies, the chance of her surviving until you find her is less than one percent!"

"I know, I know!" Guo Lang waved his hand, looking helpless. "But look, we've been living off these people for days—eating their food, sleeping in their house, and they've even enthusiastically tried to set me up with a girlfriend. Even if you're right, shouldn't we at least try? However slim the odds, there's still hope. What if she's hiding in some cabinet and hasn't been found?"

When he mentioned the girlfriend, Xiaotao's face darkened; she felt something was off about his words. Shaking her head, she replied, "This isn't a movie. The odds are about the same as winning the lottery. Master, I've told you many times: since we've joined this game, you need to learn to harden your heart, or you won't survive. In the apocalypse, countless people die—how many can you save?"

Guo Lang sighed. "I know..." He pointed to his chest. "But no matter how cold I try to make it, it's still flesh, not stone. I'm no savior—don't have the heart or the ability for it. If those undead did something that killed billions, I wouldn't even bother to frown. What’s it to me? But this child is different—she called me 'Dad' for a week. I ate her food, used her things, and even swindled her out of more than two hundred thousand yuan..." As he spoke, he took out a pack of Double Happiness cigarettes, lit the last one, and took a deep drag. "No matter what, you've got to keep at least a shred of decency as a person!"

Xiaotao looked a bit dazed. "The things you say always sound a little weird."

"Right?" Guo Lang grinned, showing his white teeth. "I was trying to say something a bit more moving, but I just don’t have the words. Honestly, it was a mistake for me to choose teaching as a major—if I really went and taught with my way of expressing myself, imagine how many young minds I’d ruin." He took the final drag, stubbed out the cigarette on the ground with little grace, then pulled out his kinetic gun and single-handed sword from the system space.

He tested the sword’s weight, gave it a few swings, the blade tip deftly tracing flowers in the air, and nodded in satisfaction. Then he strode toward the front door.

"Master!" Xiaotao called out as he reached the entrance.

"Yes?"

"I don’t seem to have the word 'decency' in my dictionary. Is it important? What’s the point of keeping it?"

"Uh..." Guo Lang scratched his ear. "Usually, it’s not much use. But sometimes, keeping it helps you sleep at night."

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As Guo Lang stepped outside, the harmonious sunlight warmed his skin, but a chill spread through his heart. This was a high-end, standalone villa community with a low building density—each villa surrounded by ample walking space, their own private gardens, and almost a thousand square meters between buildings, a rarity in a big city and even more so downtown. The price must be astronomical. The benefit, though, was low population density—Guo Lang didn’t have to worry about being swarmed by thousands of zombies. Still, while the estate was spacious and sparsely populated, Guo Lang did see something...

About two thousand meters away, in a corner, he spotted a woman in pajamas. She must be the owner of the villa just to the left of the little girl’s. Guo Lang had scouted the area a few days before; that villa housed only a young woman in her early twenties, rarely seen outside. Occasionally, a fat middle-aged man would arrive in a Bentley and spend the night. Judging by the situation, she was probably a kept mistress—the very type Guo Lang had initially wanted to find.

He’d spied on her before—her face was exquisitely beautiful, her full lips reminiscent of Angelina Jolie, and her body was explosively attractive; her tight pajamas couldn’t hide her perky curves and long, slender legs. In his previous life, Guo Lang often used women like her as objects of fantasy. On a normal day, he might have been in the mood to peek—or maybe even try his luck. But now, seeing her stirred two very different emotions.

With his wide view, Guo Lang noticed more details. The woman’s gait was nothing like before; she used to move with allure, but today her walk was strange. Her body hung low, almost dragging her hands along the ground, muscles visibly relaxed. Yet that posture was ideal for a sudden burst of power—like a beast hunting its prey.

Guo Lang frowned. This was the last thing he wanted to see. Those undead brats were actually using this level of bioweapon—weren’t they worried about losing control?

There were many types of necromancer bioviruses, each for different situations. The ones used on low-magic worlds were usually primitive, like proto-cell viruses. These turned people into zombies by directly destroying the brain and taking over the central nervous system, leaving only the basic drive for food. But the extensive neural damage meant many bodily functions—like blood production and tissue repair—were lost, leaving the corpses stiff, slow, and weak, easy to handle.

But this was clearly different. Judging by the woman’s coordination, her basic biology hadn’t been destroyed, and she was still calmly searching for targets, retaining some base intelligence.

As Guo Lang observed her, the woman seemed to sense something. She slowly turned her head, her dull, almost pupil-less eyes looking straight toward him. Suddenly, she stiffened, her beautiful face twisting into a horrifying grin. Her previously relaxed muscles tensed all at once, sending a chill through Guo Lang.

Bang! She vaulted over the fence with ease and charged at him at incredible speed. Guo Lang estimated her burst strength was about three times that of an adult man, and judging by her agility in clearing obstacles, he could guess what grade of virus the undead had used this time.

He slung the kinetic gun behind him, took up the single-handed sword, and adopted a defensive stance. The corpse, seeing he wasn’t fleeing but facing her head-on, grinned even wider, her little mouth opening wider and wider in excitement, the corners of her lips tearing rapidly toward her ears, muscles splitting like rags, blood trailing down in streams.

An ordinary person might have collapsed at the sight, but Guo Lang, veteran of countless battles, remained unmoved, not even blinking. As she lunged, he dodged at the last moment, the sword in his right hand slicing between her reaching claws. Missing her target, the zombie stumbled forward, and Guo Lang seized the opportunity—reversing his grip and thrusting the sword through her spinal center, the blade’s sharpness and his precision slicing clean through her with the momentum of her own charge, splitting her body in two as easily as cutting tofu.

A shrill, beastly scream tore through the air as the zombie’s viscera spilled onto the ground. Guo Lang ignored her writhing remains, instead silently replaying the fight in his mind, analyzing the type of virus at work.

It had to be a nematode class virus—more advanced than the proto-virus types. It didn’t completely destroy the nerves, but killed the brain and took over the central system, altering physiology through the characteristics of the nematode. In the short term, it made the host extremely bloodthirsty and agile—zombies infected with this were strong, fast, and retained some biological cunning, making them troublesome enemies.

But the enemy had shown restraint, using only a low-grade nematode virus. The zombie’s explosiveness was up, but her body’s resilience wasn’t—judging by the way her mouth tore, her physical toughness hadn’t increased along with her nervous system. Guo Lang glanced at the twitching corpse; she had no pain response, her blood was normal red, and her hematopoietic function was intact—given time, she could likely evolve further.

Guo Lang felt a headache coming on. These undead brats must be novices like himself—even if they’d arrived half a year earlier, they were still inexperienced. Yet their choice of virus was spot on. Why? Because this world had advanced technology, nearly past the nuclear age, with powerful modern weapons. If they’d used only the first, primitive virus, the current Federation, with its military training and armaments, could have suppressed the outbreak after the initial chaos, organized a response, and cleared the infection within a month.

But with this virus, the Federation’s chances of stabilizing the situation early on fell sharply. These monsters were agile—unless you sprayed bullets en masse, it was hard to hit their vital points. The initial chaos would mean many more deaths than with the basic virus. Even after establishing temporary bases, these zombies could evolve further, and once their toughness improved, ordinary machine guns would struggle to kill them without a barrage.

"Wow! Master, your combat skills are impressive! Did you train in melee weapons before?" Xiaotao sounded genuinely pleased with Guo Lang’s performance.

In his previous life, Guo Lang had been a knight—proficiency in two-handed and single-handed swords was fundamental. In terms of swordsmanship, even the masters of sword arts on Planet D would barely survive a few moves against him; civilizations simply weren’t in the same league. But how could he explain all that to an AI?

So he didn’t answer, just responded coolly, "Analyze her blood and see what the evolutionary limit of this virus is."

"I’ve analyzed it. It’s the necromancer nematode virus NC92. The infection rate isn’t high; it’s blood-borne. If Master opens the Science Database, the AI can produce an immunity potion—if you’re scratched, as long as it’s during the incubation period, the inferior bloodline potion in your inventory can easily activate your immune system and kill the invading nematodes. For a basic virus, this one’s evolutionary potential is considerable—it can evolve up to a third-stage life form!"

"Third stage!" Guo Lang’s frown deepened. "How strong does that get?"

"First stage is what you just saw—explosive strength and high agility. The second stage increases toughness and develops biological weapons like scales or sharp claws. Third stage, the biological scales become even harder; with mutation, the muscles and scales alone might resist ordinary firearms!"

Damn it, these bastards aren’t playing around—they can evolve three times! Guo Lang was now more convinced of the need for an offshore base; if it were in the mountains, it’d be hard to defend against outside attack.

But this realization chilled him further. If it were just the ordinary virus, the little girl might have had a slim chance to hide. But with monsters like this, even a well-trained adult male would have almost no chance—let alone a small child.

"Master..." Xiaotao seemed to realize this too, wanting to persuade him further.

"Let’s check the supermarket!" Guo Lang cut her off and strode quickly away. Even if he didn’t hold out much hope, he wanted to see the outcome with his own eyes. If he’d made the mistake, he’d face the consequences himself—at least that much responsibility he could bear.