Chapter 6: The Deceptive Mutant

After confirming that the monster had fully awakened, Li Ye bolted without hesitation, no longer caring about conserving his supernatural energy. In the presence of such a creature, the slow ones were simply prey.

Unlike the ordinary people around him, who cowered before the hordes of zombies, Li Ye charged headlong through the encirclement. Antibiotics and formalin floated closely above his head, following him like guardians.

Beneath his skin, a faint glow flickered, making his figure resemble a luminous phantom weaving through the tide of corpses. The zombies lunging at him paused in the light’s presence, allowing Li Ye to swagger past unscathed.

Not far ahead lay the outskirts of the university town, where the zombie tide visibly thinned. As his supernatural strength waned, Li Ye’s nerves tightened further.

Years of experience from his previous life screamed at him—something was wrong.

These zombies’ behavior was entirely abnormal. Even unranked zombies usually had a few small but formidable variants among them. Although his “Candlelight Guide” was powerful, it couldn’t so effortlessly slip beyond the horde without leaving a scratch.

Unless… a higher-level variant was brewing something.

A sudden buzzing erupted behind Li Ye, piercing through the thick red mist. He kicked off the ground hard, sending stones and dust scattering behind him.

“That bastard from the hospital… I really underestimated its evolution level,” Li Ye muttered darkly, wary of the seemingly sluggish zombies ahead.

The scattered stones were swiftly devoured by a swarm of buzzing flies. This little group’s evolution level was clearly far beyond normal.

The swarm pressed closer to Li Ye’s back, the oppressive force nearly tripping him. At that moment, the faint glow beneath his skin began to fade.

Yet, amid the dim red mist, a candlelight suddenly flared to life.

The swarm was engulfed in the flame, a rootless fire blazing within this small space, burning the annoying red-eyed flies to ash.

As the candlelight vanished, a sluggish zombie ahead suddenly revealed a densely scaled arm that shot out directly toward Li Ye.

Coincidentally—or not—this was the moment when Li Ye’s legs alternated, the old strength dissipated, and the new had yet to rise.

An ambush!

But Li Ye curled his lips into a strange smile.

“Got you!”

His previously awkward figure straightened abruptly, leaping into the air with a primitive stance.

Like a fierce eagle diving on its prey, his hands, fluid as swimming fish, coiled around the scaled arm that had reached for him.

The instant he touched it, a chilling coldness devoid of warmth spread through his grasp. He kicked the shambling zombie aside, revealing the cunning variant’s pure black eyes.

Gripping its right arm, Li Ye prepared to subdue the mutant when a sharp sense of danger surged from his hand. The creature didn’t retreat but charged forward, embracing him.

Its dense scales bristled as if standing on end.

Li Ye failed to release in time; sharp, knife-like scales scraped open half of his right hand’s flesh, blood splattering everywhere.

Nearby zombies were drawn by the fresh scent of blood.

“Still careless,” Li Ye frowned, instinctively drawing on the nearly depleted supernatural energy within him. The black dragon pattern on his right arm dimmed, but the flesh-colored markings on his left arm radiated a long-missed warmth.

Suddenly, a stone illusion burst from his chest, shining with five-colored light.

The dim black dragon pattern flared again, and the glow beneath Li Ye’s skin reappeared, successfully halting the mutant’s advance.

Li Ye stared in amazement at the five-colored stone on his chest. Wasn’t this the Heaven-Mending Stone he had already used? How had it reappeared?

Drawing on the overflowing supernatural energy within, he manipulated the surrounding light to create an independent, enclosed space—a cage cutting off the zombies’ senses and firmly restraining the mutant before him.

The faint glow reemerged beneath his right arm, and a scent of roasting meat wafted out.

The searing pain from the burning fire didn’t even make Li Ye wince; instead, he regarded the mutant—whose evolution surpassed his expectations—with keen interest.

“Tsk, tsk… I never imagined Jiangning had such rare variants. Perhaps your silence after the Red Mist Era was because you went to challenge that Xiangliu?”

Because of its pure black eyes, Li Ye could not discern the mutant’s emotions but judged from the trembling scales that it must be panicking.

The trembling frequency was so rapid it blurred.

Li Ye cautiously stepped back. Under the control of his “Candlelight Guide,” the mutant forcibly shed its entire scaled armor, leaving it behind.

Its smooth body crashed through the light cage and fled back into the nearby zombie swarm.

“Hiss—”

Li Ye sucked in a breath, helplessly watching the scale armor he still controlled in place.

He shook his bloodied right hand in frustration, muttering, “Still too careless…”

If this mutant hadn’t gone to challenge Xiangliu, giving it some time to develop, Li Ye believed it would one day dominate all of Jiangning. After all, the fallen god would soon leave.

Once that entity was gone, with this mutant’s control abilities, becoming a regional zombie king would be effortless.

He burned the discarded scales clean with a single fire.

If he wore something like that himself, he might not even know how he died.

Li Ye closed his eyes, feeling the warmth radiating from his left arm. The five-colored stone he had discovered on his chest had completely vanished.

“An unfamiliar power… could this be the as-yet-unawakened ‘Divine Treasury’?”

This newfound strength reassured him greatly.

He smiled, deciding not to dwell on it further. Picking up nearby formalin and antibiotics, he continued eastward.

...

In the eastern suburbs, inside the Fashion Food Processing Factory.

“Let me be clear: without all three of our consent, you don’t even think about touching any food in the warehouse!”

“Why? Just because there’s a bit of fog, you three think it’s time to rebel? I’m telling you, if you keep this up, I’m calling the cops!”

Three men in floral shirts stood before a warehouse inside the factory.

A plaque behind them read “Finished Goods Warehouse,” clearly the storage for the food processing plant.

Opposing them was a young woman.

Her skin was fair, dressed in a fiery red dress.

Her waist-length hair flowed like seaweed, lightly made up with delicate features, edged with a sharp, aggressive intensity.

“Then call the police. Don’t say we didn’t warn you—once you step outside the factory gate, whether you can come back is no longer up to you.”