An angry roar exploded beside her ear, and Lin Qingqing's mind buzzed violently. For a moment, it felt like her soul had been jolted from her body, and her limbs froze in fear.
"The second rule of survival in the apocalypse—never act on your sympathy. Otherwise, not only will you die, but you'll also get everyone around you killed."
Lin Qingqing bit down hard on her lower lip, but she couldn't bring herself to nod this time.
She still couldn't get past that line in her heart.
But what happened next completely shattered her understanding of the world.
A dozen zombies leapt from the rooftop, crashing down on the construction worker hanging outside the window. He thrashed desperately, managing to kick off three or four of them, but seven others clung to him tightly. Their claws dug into his flesh as they bared their blood-dripping teeth, frantically tearing into him.
Entangled with the zombies, the man swayed mid-air like a grotesque pendulum. Blood sprayed in all directions, dyeing the tempered glass a horrifying shade of red.
"Aaaaaah! Please help me! Someone help me!"
He pounded on the glass frantically, his safety harness swinging wildly as bloody handprints smeared across the window like something out of a nightmare.
Lin Qingqing stood frozen.
Everything had happened so fast—right in front of her eyes—separated only by a single pane of glass.
If she had opened the window in a moment of sympathy, the zombies would've poured in through the huge overhead glass panel straight into the conference room. Lin Qingqing and
Huan Tian would've switched places with the worker outside, becoming the next victim.
"Do you see now? This is the apocalypse."
"If you want to die, that's your choice. Just don't drag me down with you."
Huan Tian's voice, cold as steel, slithered past her ear like a blade of ice—somehow more terrifying than the shrieking undead outside.
"You should be grateful I'm here—and that I just gave you a free lesson."
Outside, the worker's screams blended with the howls of the zombies, but it was Huan Tian's chilling words that echoed louder in Lin Qingqing's heart, slicing deeper than any sound.
She trembled and slowly nodded, tears brimming in her eyes, yet she didn't dare protest anymore.
"I… I understand… From now on, I'll do whatever you say."
Huan Tian looked down, silently examining the woman in front of him.
So far, her performance wasn't just good—it was remarkably good.
From how quickly she adjusted her attitude when he first inspected her body, to how she didn't scream or panic even when faced with the brutal sight of zombies just inches away, she was already beginning to accept this horrific reality.
Even if it was forced, she had adapted far better than he ever had in his previous life.
Back then, Huan Tian had done nothing but hide. It had taken him a whole month, holed up in a corner, before he was finally able to accept the truth of the apocalypse.
"Congratulations,"
"You've earned the most basic qualification to survive in this world."
His voice was as calm and cold as always, but held a trace of subtle approval.
"Now, let me give you another free lesson."
With that, Huan Tian let go of Lin Qingqing, tore open a packet of compressed biscuits, and began stuffing them into his mouth with large, unceremonious bites.
All the while, his eyes remained fixed on the blood-soaked scene outside the window, unwavering in their attention.
"Ignore what's happening out there. Eat. Replenish your strength. That's the only way to survive the apocalypse."
Lin Qingqing stood motionless, as if her soul had left her body. Trembling, she finally spoke, her voice barely above a whisper:
"How… how can you still eat?"
Huan Tian swallowed his food, casting a cold glance in her direction.
"I don't expect you to be like me right away. But you need to start learning to overcome your physiological disgust and fear."
She hesitated as she looked at the biscuit he held out to her. After a long pause, she reached out cautiously, took a bite, and then it happened.
Right then, the construction worker outside vomited a mouthful of blood against the tempered glass.
Blood-stained white teeth, a shredded and mangled arm, and a face with half its skin torn away, revealing ghastly white cheekbones underneath…
Urgh—!
Lin Qingqing couldn't hold it in. The nausea surged up uncontrollably. Her body prepared to retch.
"Don't you dare waste food!"
Huan Tian suddenly clamped a hand over her mouth, fingers pressing against her jaw as he tilted her face upward.
With her throat sealed and head forced back, even vomiting became impossible.
He even pried open Lin Qingqing's eyelids with his fingers, forcing her to watch the final, blood-drenched moments of the construction worker's death.
She could only stare in helpless horror as a zombie clambered onto the worker's back and sank its teeth into his neck.
Blood sprayed like a burst dam, splattering the tempered glass in torrents of crimson. Lin Qingqing's eyes were stretched wide, her mind teetering on the brink of collapse.
A demon. This man is a demon!
Why was he forcing her to watch this? Why was he doing this to her?
"Mmm—! Mmmmmm!"
She thrashed wildly in Huan Tian's grasp, trying desperately to break free from this waking nightmare. But his grip was iron-tight, immovable.
Without a word, he unscrewed a bottle of mineral water, pried her lips open from the side, and began pouring it in.
Two agonizing minutes passed. Finally, he felt her throat twitch—she had swallowed the small piece of biscuit.
Only then did Huan Tian release her. His gaze, now tinged with a hint of approval, fell back on her pale, trembling face.
He had prepared himself for a fifteen-minute standoff, but she had already submitted.
"Cough! Cough—You bastard! You actually... cough, cough, cough!"
As soon as he let go, Lin Qingqing collapsed to her knees and dry heaved violently, her face flushed red from the effort. When she looked up at him again, her eyes held nothing but raw, unfiltered fear.
"One day, you'll thank me."
Huan Tian's tone was calm, almost gentle.
He was starting to genuinely admire her.
Just as he debated whether he should offer her a few words of praise, a sudden crack snapped through the air beside their ears.
The sound was faint—but to Lin Qingqing and Huan Tian, it might as well have been a gunshot.
"Shit! It's about to break!"
They both looked up in unison.
The massive sheet of tempered glass above their heads was spider-webbing with fractures, the cracks spreading rapidly. Collapse was only seconds away.
"Damn it. I should've dealt with them first."
Huan Tian suddenly yanked Lin Qingqing up from the floor. With a burst of six-point strength, he flung her behind him with one hand—her barely 110-pound frame like a feather in his grip.
At the same time, he swiftly retreated, putting distance between himself and the danger to avoid being showered by falling shards of glass and blood.
Lin Qingqing crashed heavily onto the floor behind him. The moment she lifted her head, her eyes widened in horror—
The slanted tempered glass that had shielded them just moments ago shattered with a thunderous crack. Countless fragments rained down like snowflakes into the small conference room.
The construction worker's corpse swung in the air, suspended by the safety rope, while the seven zombies dropped to the ground one after another.
"Raaaargh——!"
"Grrrrhh——!"
The zombies had lost all interest in the already-dead worker. The instant they landed, they let out savage roars and lunged straight at Huan Tian.
"Stay back and don't get yourself killed."
Huan Tian's voice was cold and sharp. He hurled the short spear in his hand—the weapon tore through the air and struck the zombie nearest the window square in the chest.
The impact wasn't enough to cause fatal damage—it wasn't aimed at a vital point—but the force of the throw sent the zombie stumbling back a step.
And that single step caused it to misplace its footing and fall straight off the edge of the office floor.
Almost simultaneously, the Desert Eagle appeared in Huan Tian's hand.
He raised his arm and fired.
Bang! Bang!
Two Nightmare Ammo sliced through the air and slammed into the heads of two approaching zombies.
The moment the bullets pierced their skulls, the warheads exploded—brains and blood burst forth as their heads blew apart like watermelons. The corpses were thrown backward by the sheer force of the blast.
But that brief window only allowed Huan Tian to fire three bullets.
The remaining three zombies had already closed the gap!
Instead of backing away, Huan Tian charged forward. He kicked the first zombie in the chest, sending it sprawling, then turned mid-motion to grab the second zombie by the arm. With a brutal twist, he dislocated its joints—
The creature dropped to one knee, its entire posture distorted.
Its jaw landed squarely against the muzzle of the pistol Huan Tian had already positioned.
He shut his eyes and bowed his head slightly.
Bang!
The gun roared. The zombie's head exploded into a mist of blood and gore.
The zombie's skull cap exploded with a heavy crack against the ceiling, splattering blood all over Huan Tian's head and face. Yet, even with his eyes tightly shut, his expression remained completely unmoved.
"Watch out! Ah—!"
Lin Qingqing let out a scream. In the brief moment Huan Tian's eyes were closed, two more zombies lunged straight at him.
But Huan Tian's ears twitched as he pinpointed their positions. With a swift reverse swing, his armored forearm slammed into one zombie's face, then he spun and swept the other zombie off its feet with a powerful leg sweep.
Unfortunately, zombies knew no fear. They scrambled back up instantly, continuing their relentless attack.
As Huan Tian opened his eyes, he snatched a short spear from his waist and drove it straight through one zombie's eye socket into its brain, pinning it firmly to the ground.
The other zombie lunged for Huan Tian's side, but he deflected its claws and grabbed its left arm with a reverse grip, preparing to use the same joint lock technique to bring it down.
However, this zombie's elbow had been mostly devoured before it turned, its flesh and muscle nearly gone. When Huan Tian applied force, the elbow joint shattered immediately, and the power never transferred to the rest of the body.
In that instant, Huan Tian lost the upper hand.
The zombie with the broken elbow lunged wildly toward Huan Tian's waist—An unprotected area!
"Watch out!"
Lin Qingqing screamed, instinctively grabbing an ashtray from the conference table and hurling it with all her might.
Bang!
The ashtray smashed squarely into the zombie's head, staggering it back.
Seizing the opportunity, Huan Tian maneuvered behind the zombie, locking his arms around its neck like a vice.
Then, without hesitation, he twisted sharply—
Crack!
The zombie collapsed, completely immobilized.
Yet its bloodied jaws still snapped furiously at the air, the last vestige of its primal instinct refusing to die.
Huan Tian's eyes hardened as he brought his foot down with crushing force.
Crack!
The skull shattered. The zombie fell utterly silent.