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墨書 Inktalez
At the same moment that Zheng Yifan entered the Telecom Building, a dozen Survivors lay on the ground across from the entrance, gasping weakly for breath. Their bodies were emaciated, having lost most of their flesh, and all their strength had been worn away by time. Occasionally, two individuals in white coats would poke at each person, and those who did not move were taken away by others behind them.
Their fate was to be devoured by Zombies, becoming the dinner for those monsters.
There was no sympathy, only slaughter. The corpses of these dead Survivors could attract Zombies, leading to widespread carnage. They were clearing out areas for their own survival.
Supermarkets had been reclaimed using this very method, and they continued to operate in the same manner.
Among the crowd was a frail old man, his eyes clouded and dim. It was evident that he was nearing death. However, when Zheng Yifan entered and drew everyone's attention, the old man suddenly lunged forward.
In front of him stood a girl of about seventeen or eighteen, her body as thin as a reed. Her bony arms hung limply at her sides. Beside her lay a middle-aged woman who had already passed away, yet her body still clung to the girl.
They were mother and daughter, slowly waiting for death, for an eternal end. Suddenly, a sharp pain surged through the girl, causing her weakened throat to emit a half-stifled moan.
It was the pain from the old man biting into her buttocks. That part of her body still had some flesh left. The old man bit down hard, tearing at her with all his might. Her thin clothing offered no protection against his teeth.
If given just a few more minutes, he would surely tear off a large chunk of flesh and chew it down to sustain himself a little longer.
He had lost count of how many times he had resorted to this method; after all, those people were nearly dead. Most of the time when bitten, they wouldn’t even cry out or bleed much.
Unfortunately for him, Zheng Yifan witnessed this entire scene unfold before his eyes. A surge of anger ignited within him; his Silver Spear seemed to sense its master’s fury and emitted a faint glow. The chilling killing intent locked onto the old man.
If Zheng Yifan casually threw the Silver Spear, it would undoubtedly pierce through the target's chest and kill him instantly.
The old man's actions went unnoticed by others, but Zheng Yifan's rage sent shivers down the spines of those in front of him. This was a figure of lethal power; the high-ranking officials on the top floor of the Telecom Building had gone to great lengths to fortify their walls, only for this Fellow to reduce them to ruins with a single kick.
His destructive capability was far greater than that of those monsters.
"What are you doing! Old Donkey Head! If you attack anyone else, I'll drag you out alive and feed you to the Zombies!" The guards in front quickly moved to stop the old man's beastly actions upon seeing Zheng Yifan's expression.
Let Old Donkey Head bite a few people; it doesn't matter. But if this killing star goes on a rampage, it won't be worth it.
"He is already dead," Zheng Yifan said calmly, without much elaboration. Just as Old Donkey Head was about to retort and continue enjoying his meal, he suddenly felt a chill wash over him, as if his soul had transcended. Slowly, it drifted into the air, leaving the earth behind and flying far away.
The mere aura of killing intent was enough to claim the life of the barely surviving Old Donkey Head without needing to lift a finger. The anger contained within Silver Spear only intensified the killing intent.
"Ah!" A faint groan escaped his lips, barely even a scream. At the corner of Old Donkey Head's mouth, the girl merely twitched, as if she had exhausted all her strength.
Zheng Yifan cautiously made his way through the crowd of overlapping bodies.
Before him stood a girl, emaciated to the point where her original features were unrecognizable. Her sunken cheeks were almost terrifying, resembling a skeleton before him.
In front of the girl was a middle-aged woman who brought tears to Zheng Yifan's eyes. He saw that she held a blade, like a metal piece used by students to sharpen pencils, deeply embedded in her thigh, where the last remnants of her flesh and blood remained. She wanted to cut it off to give her daughter a little more time to live, even if just for ten more minutes.
The sight of her mangled flesh pained Zheng Yifan; several chunks of meat had already been severed from her hip. The girl was so starved that she was nearly delirious and could not even recognize what food was, let alone realize that it was flesh from her own mother.
Tears began to flow down his cheeks uncontrollably, slowly trickling down his face and dropping onto the ground—one drop... two drops.
"Young lady, your mother is a great woman. She will surely bless you in the afterlife," he gently closed the eyes of that great woman who had fought to keep hope alive for her daughter. From his Storage Space, he pulled out a bottle of sweet milk provided by the hotel breakfast and slowly squeezed it to the girl's lips. He actually had quite a bit of porridge stored in his Storage Space.
Unfortunately, the girl lacked even the strength to drink porridge; she was struggling on the brink of life and death. Whether this small amount of nutrition could revive her body remained uncertain.
Zheng Yifan did not know what the outcome would be but would still strive to help. There were many lying on the ground in their final moments; he could not assist everyone. When he entered, a groan had caught his attention—that was fate, and Zheng Yifan wanted to help this girl.
To save everyone, one must start from the source; simply giving them food would not allow these people to survive. It would only delay their deaths by a little while and might even cause them more suffering.
"What you're doing isn't worth it," Zhang Wei finally couldn't hold back and stepped forward to speak to Zheng Yifan. "The milk powder that can still be consumed is already among the best things available; you can exchange it for plenty of supplies at Gathering Place."
He feared Zheng Yifan but still wanted him to abandon this ridiculous compassion. In this apocalypse, there was no room for pity. The law of survival favored the strong; the weak were destined to be killed.
"This girl has a connection with me," Zheng Yifan offered a casual excuse. He gently brushed aside the arm of that great mother and cradled the girl in his arms.
The weight was around sixty to seventy pounds. There was hardly any flesh left on the body.
In the post-apocalypse, people were always trying to lose weight... lose weight. It seemed as if they were constantly striving to shed excess fat, but in this new world, it was entirely different; people wished they could gain a bit more flesh, and it certainly wouldn't be fat—it would be muscle.
In the harsh realities of the apocalypse, one couldn't afford to accumulate too much fat. Only those from previous generations who possessed great strength and could protect their descendants had the right to discuss such matters.
Clearly, in every Gathering Place, there were only a handful of individuals with such power.
Even in relatively prosperous areas like the Hope Gathering Place, supported by Zheng Yifan, there weren't many overweight individuals; everyone was fighting for their own survival.
Naturally, those special Superpowered Individuals were exceptions. A few of them had become quite hefty, weighing three to four hundred pounds due to their ability to burn fat for strength.
No one mocked them; their power was formidable. If pushed to their limits, they could unleash enough force to obliterate even a First Level strongman.
Unfortunately, they rarely used their strength. They only acted in critical moments.
The girl felt light as a feather in Zheng Yifan's arms, still smacking her lips as if savoring the taste of the milk she had just enjoyed. That milk was neither expired nor powdered; it was authentic fresh sweet milk from France, brought into the Apocalyptic World by the greedy Zheng Yifan.
Given these conditions, Zheng Yifan's Storage Space was always filled with delicious food. He couldn't possibly deprive himself of good food in the Apocalyptic World.
"Riding the human-powered elevator up to the tenth floor or above is where the true Gathering Place begins. There's no need to look at the refugee area below; they're just waiting to die," Zhang Wei explained somewhat gloomily to Zheng Yifan.
Waiting to die—refugees. Hadn't they once been like that? They had left the safety of the Gathering Place not wanting to end up like those who had no chance left to fight back. They ventured into the most dangerous forbidden zone, the Lizard Building, and returned laden with spoils.
"The tenth floor and above is the core area of the Gathering Place, with various places for consumption and abundant trade taking place. The refugees below are essentially commodities for those above; with just a pound of food, one can obtain a temporary slave ticket and choose a slave from downstairs. Some pretty girls have already been picked out."
"But there are still opportunities down below. They are so emaciated that no one can tell who might be a beauty from the Post-Apocalypse until they've been taken home and fed back to health—only then will one know if it was a gain or a loss," Zhang Wei remarked casually.
A life for a pound of rice. In the Post-Apocalypse, it cost less than two dollars; yet in this Apocalyptic World, it equated to a human life.
It wasn't that the upper echelons hadn't considered cannibalism. However, after several betrayals during large-scale battles, they realized that eating human flesh actually undermined unity within the Gathering Place. No one wanted to live in constant fear of being eaten.
The strategic shift was simple: let those people die naturally and exchange their bodies for resources.
For those Big Shots, it was a risk-free operation that yielded immense profits.
"Is it just a pound of food? Human lives are truly cheap." The population in Zheng Yifan's Gathering Place had been fought for with lives; he nearly sacrificed everything to save those hundreds of thousands. It was only through his desperate efforts that he managed to eliminate the Night Demon and successfully incorporate the population of Han Sui City Gathering Place.
One million people equated to one million pounds of food, or just five hundred tons. The price was incredibly low for Zheng Yifan.
The population gained was more than double that of Hope Gathering Place. This deal was indeed advantageous; if such business opportunities arose, Zheng Yifan would definitely seize them.
Unfortunately, he had no idea where he was now. During his time at the newspaper, he hadn’t thoroughly reviewed the materials, too focused on quickly searching for supplies.
Afterward, he had fought with the Giant Lizard and fled to this Telecom Building's Gathering Place.
Without the entire Gathering Place behind him, Zheng Yifan felt an overwhelming sense of loneliness for the first time.
The girl in his arms trembled slightly, like a frightened cat, nestled against his chest and fell into a deep sleep.
"Sir, we have arrived at the eleventh floor. Enjoy your visit," a young man beside the manual elevator said with a smile.
Zheng Yifan nodded at him and casually tossed out a piece of candy—the cheapest kind, the worst hard candy in the real world.
However, in the young man's eyes, that piece of candy was invaluable. It could replenish energy and help maintain stamina at critical moments. Each time they raided a grocery store, finding candies and other snacks brought them immense joy.
It meant their bodies had a chance to replenish trace elements.
"Thank you, sir. The Bai Cui Pavilion on the eleventh floor is currently hosting a Beauty Exchange. You should definitely check it out; it will be worth your while," the young man suddenly displayed an expression that men understood well.
Zheng Yifan paused for a moment; was he really that kind of person? Nevertheless, he took note of the young man's introduction. Since it was a recommendation, it must have some merit.
"This is my first time on the eleventh floor; I don't know what to expect. Let's go check out Bai Cui Pavilion together," he said. Zhang Wei beside him was practically drooling, and behind him, those Survivors wore similar expressions.
Zheng Yifan nodded, holding the girl as he walked ahead. The few companions who had been saved by him, Zhang Wei and the others, followed closely behind like loyal attendants, their eyes wide with curiosity at the various entertainment venues around them, each more intriguing than the last, boasting a greater variety than anything seen in the Post-Apocalypse.
What excited them the most were the places where women offered special services; it seemed like every few offices had one.
Each shop was like a department or an office from the Post-Apocalypse, neatly organized. The spaces were not large, mostly filled with treasures they had scavenged from outside.
On the eleventh floor, the entertainment level, there were no other transactions or clashes of power; everyone here was simply looking for fun.
The men brave enough to fight in this world had gone out to secure their fortunes, while attractive women flaunted themselves in hopes of securing a meal. If they could find a Rich Tycoon to take them under his wing, that would be even better.
Even the goddesses of the Post-Apocalypse, pure and pristine maidens, found themselves hoping to be taken in by someone, even if it meant being treated like a pet; for them, it was a way to survive.
The girl in his arms slept soundly, completely at ease. A mere bag and a half of milk would be enough to restore her digestive system for quite some time. The entire recovery process could even take several months.
Zheng Yifan continued to hold her as he strolled through the Eight Great Alleys of the Apocalyptic World.
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