Chapter 0008: Encirclement

Zhou Yulong glanced at the completed staircase, humming a tune as he carried a hammer to the rooftop. He was still unaware of the situation outside. As soon as he stepped onto the rooftop, without even needing to use binoculars, everything before him made him feel particularly powerless and dejected

Fortunately, fortunately! Brother, I am still a hundred percent pure man... the subject of humanity..." He chuckled self-deprecatingly. Although the mutation in his arm saved his life at a critical moment, he still hoped that such a mutation would not occur again. After all, he always wished to be a human, not a zombie or some mutated species. In the past, when watching movies and reading novels, he always thought how cool and handsome it was for those protagonists to gain various mutation abilities. However, when faced with the situation, he realized that he actually wished to be the most ordinary person, not seeking anything grand, but simply hoping for peace and safety. This is also the deepest desire of a homebody.

It is unclear how much time has passed, but Zhou Yulong gradually woke up. At this moment, the zombies downstairs were still roaring, a sound he had become accustomed to. For him, as long as it did not threaten his life, no matter how much they roared or how foul they smelled, he could endure it.

Zhou Yulong turned over, preparing to rub his still slightly aching head. Suddenly, he felt as if he was suspended in mid-air, falling downwards. Startled, he instinctively grabbed the railing beside him, and only then did he slowly open his eyes. Upon seeing this, he gasped in shock.

Could it be that all the zombies on the entire street have come?

Uh, it hurts... it hurts so much!

He quietly stood up, not even glancing at the zombies not far from him. For now, he was temporarily safe; ordinary zombies lacked the ability to cross the more than two-meter gap. He was utterly exhausted, cold, and hungry. At this moment, he wanted nothing more than to return to his warm bedroom, enjoy a hearty meal, and then get some sleep. However, to prevent any zombies from crawling over, he firmly secured the iron door at the entrance of the fifth floor. This way, if only one or two zombies approached, it would be difficult for them to break through the door. Moreover, if any zombies happened to enter the library, he would be able to react in time and find a way to escape.

After finishing the last seven packets of instant noodles and sipping a few mouthfuls of hot soup, Zhou Yulong patted his slightly bulging belly, letting out a satisfied groan as he walked into the bedroom and collapsed onto the bed. ... Surrounded by the strong stench of decay and the incessant howls of zombies downstairs, he fell into a deep sleep ...

Zhou Yulong weakly groaned, gazing at the endless sea of corpses below and listening to their unified roars; he suddenly felt a bit exasperated.

Looking down at the hordes of zombies below, he suddenly felt much more at ease. Although he was not currently capable of defeating all these zombies, as long as he became stronger, his chances of escaping from their encirclement would significantly increase. Zhou Yulong gathered his spirits and continued with the demolition work. He swung the hammer vigorously, each strike bringing down a large piece of the staircase, crushing one zombie after another below. In less than five minutes, he had expanded the original two-meter gap to five meters. With the sloped design of the staircase, even if the zombies could jump, they would not be able to get over it now. For the time being, he was safe!

He was currently half-lying at the break in the staircase between the fifth and fourth floors. If he hadn't grasped the handrail at the last moment, he would have already fallen to the ground below due to the struggle with the *illustration* book. Below him was a dark mass of zombies, roaring and lingering, unwilling to leave, constantly reaching out in an attempt to grab Zhou Yulong, who was above them. Less than two meters in front of him, there was also a large group of zombies pushing and reaching out towards him. Continuously, some zombies squeezed to the edge of the broken stairs and fell down, only to rise again in the sea of corpses and climb back up. A foul stench of decaying bodies surrounded him, making him feel nauseous. If it weren't for the fact that he had killed too many zombies the night before, the stench clinging to him would have rendered his nose nearly numb, and having not eaten or drunk anything for a long time, he would have already vomited profusely.

Returning to the bedroom, he took out the last few packs of instant noodles. These were the only remaining packs he had, as there were no vegetables at home to accompany his meals, apart from some rice and a little chili and other seasonings. Thus, these last few packs of noodles had become his carefully treasured possessions. This brush with death had left him exhausted and weary, and he decided to eat all of the remaining packs of noodles as a reward for himself. Zhou Yulong boiled drinking water on the gas stove while reflecting on the abnormal state his body had experienced before he lost consciousness. If it weren't for the staircase that broke off over two meters and the few zombies that had turned into meat sauce, he would have thought that the scene unfolding before him was merely a hallucination caused by his severe headache.

"What was that explosive airflow at the end? Why did my right arm suddenly become so muscular?" Zhou Yulong muttered to himself. He then raised his right arm and began to examine it closely. The right arm looked the same as before, with slightly pale skin and only a bit of muscle that had developed after more than a month of intense training. There was no sign of a Terminator-like appearance. Yet, everything that had happened before he lost consciousness felt so real. He suddenly shivered: "Could it be that I have mutated?" Although he could accept being modified by the blue liquid and having his physical abilities enhanced, he absolutely did not want to exhibit any traits that deviated from humanity. He always believed that one day, the great People's Army would sweep away these zombies with sharp weapons to rescue them, the survivors. If he were to mutate, he would surely be captured; even if it wasn't a death sentence, it would lead to a life sentence, being used as a test subject for research. As he thought about this, he became increasingly fearful and felt he needed to observe more carefully. However, no matter how he recalled or tried hard, his arm remained the same, with no other changes. He only felt it was slightly stronger, but there were no signs of mutation, at least not on the surface. This finally allowed him to let out a long breath.