Chapter 5

Stomp, stomp, stomp! The sound of countless footsteps echoed throughout the hallway. Given the number of residents in the complex, it was impossible for there to be this many zombies. Unless all residents were living in the hallways. But clearly, this was not the case. The only explanation was that the external doors were left open, allowing zombies from outside to swarm into the building. Damn it! Wu Heng cursed his luck; he actually ran into this kind of situation. He immediately turned around, planning to withdraw with his skeleton warriors to the rooftop. But as he was turning, his steps halted. The corridor was narrow, his skeleton warriors could actually have the upper hand here. Besides, he would have to clear this area sooner or later. The next hallway might not be safe either. If worse comes to worst, he could retreat to the rooftop and blockade the metal door. After quickly assessing the situation, he felt that they could give it a shot. More pallid, grotesque zombies pushed and shoved as they surged forward. Wu Heng wasted no more time in hesitation and decisively ordered, “Attack.” The skeleton warriors began their charge. Crunch…! A kitchen knife pierced through a skull, and a zombie immediately dropped to the floor. But more zombies were also surging forward. They clawed, pulled, and bit, using all their available methods to tear their target to shreds. The skeleton warriors kept swinging their weapons, hacking at the incoming zombies. The hallway was narrow, only allowing a few zombies to attack side by side. In the chaos, some zombies fell off the railing or were trampled underfoot, struggling to rise. The roars of the zombies, the sounds of tearing and hacking, and the ashen bones snapping echoed continuously in the hallway. “I must learn some long-range skills when I have the chance.” Wu Heng stood behind the skeletons, thrusting his short spear and muttering to himself. This close combat was too exhausting. Many zombies fell during the fight, trampled to death by the zombies behind them. The chaos was escalating. Meanwhile, the number of skeleton warriors was rapidly diminishing. Wu Heng felt a pang in his heart. After all, he had to watch as his skeletons were continuously torn apart, their bones scattered everywhere. Wu Heng stopped the energy-consuming act of thrusting his spear and started using his Bone Manipulation Skill. New skeletons began to rise amidst the ongoing battle. No commands were needed. They automatically threw their punches and plunged towards the zombies. The battle intensified, with the combatants surging and receding like two clashing ant swarms. Both sides pushed and pulled, relentlessly attacking each other. Wu Heng, positioned behind his troops, began to break out in a sweat. In previous battles, he could find time to rest and recover. But this time was different. Using the Bone Manipulation Skill continuously and intensively was pushing him to his limits. Sweat soaked his body as if he was suffering from kidney deficiency, and a throbbing pain coursed through his brain. The matter had once been discussed in the tavern in Black Stone Town. The frequent spell-casting of mages can particularly drain their spiritual power. Overexertion physically only leads to muscle injury, which can be healed over time. However, mental exhaustion can result in severe consequences, such as dementia, or even a vegetative state. [Your level has increased to Level 2, Intelligence +1, Constitution +1, Spiritual Power slightly increased.] The notification rang out in his ear. Leveled up. Just when Wu Heng felt he was reaching his limit, the alert suddenly sounded. The stabbing pain in his brain eased slightly for a moment. “Time to go all out.” At this point, the skeleton warriors have reached the third floor. All they need to do is reach the first floor, close the door, and they would be safe. He continued giving orders, “Attack with everything you’ve got.” Crash!! The skeleton warriors crazily charged toward the fight. Their kitchen knives sliced and bare skeletons forcefully pushed the zombies back. As for Wu Heng, he quickly returned to the rooftop with a few skeleton warriors by his side. His eyes quickly scanned the construction materials, then pointed to a blue iron sheet and ordered, “Pick this up.” One of the skeleton warriors obeyed, holding the iron sheet onto the rooftop’s edge. Under Wu Heng’s command, they threw it off the roof. Bang-crash!! The iron sheet hit the ground, creating a loud noise. Like a signal flare, all the zombies nearby ran towards it in a frenzy. They trampled and scrambled over the blue iron sheet. Wu Heng quickly returned to the hallway. As expected, there were considerably fewer zombies below. “Quick, move forward.” The skeleton warriors continued to charge down the stairs, the battle escalating rapidly. They advanced and finally reached the door. Several skeletons rushed outside to distract the horde while the others closed the building entrance. Bang, bang, bang!! Zombies were furiously beating against the iron door, creating a loud hammering noise. After killing the remaining zombies in the corridor, the skeletons moved in more debris to barricade the staircase door once again. Luckily, the zombies clearly lacked intelligence. After pounding on the iron door for a while and noticing no movement from within, they gradually dispersed, lured away by other sounds. They stopped their merciless assault on the poor green door. Wu Heng sat inside a room, leaning forward and gasping for air. The situation had been quite dangerous just now. Thinking back, it was a close call. Thankfully, the staircase door was still blocked– otherwise, things could have become difficult. After resting for a while, he felt slightly better. The corridor was filled with corpses and fragments of bones. He had no intention of using his Bone Manipulation Skill right now. After all, the door was already blocked. There would be time the next day, when he felt better, to come back and summon the skeletons. He stepped over the corpses and started clearing out the remaining zombies in the houses one by one with the remaining skeleton warriors, while also scavenging for supplies. … Inside a room on the third floor. Wu Heng held a black motorcycle helmet, inspecting it meticulously. The room’s owner must have been a motorcycle enthusiast. There were many things related to motorcycles, along with various outdoor equipment. Climbing rope, portable lights, and more essentials were also present. The object that captured his interest the most was the solid helmet in his hands. It had a full-face design, complete with a transparent plastic windscreen that could protect his eyes and mouth from blood splatter during battles with zombies. The material seemed to be composite, very robust, and the helmet’s weight was still tolerable. He took off his leather hat and replaced it with the helmet to test it out. The helmet felt good. Although it was a bit stuffy, he could tolerate it for the sake of safety. He put his leather hat on the Sword-wielding Skeleton. After packing up anything he could use, he left the room to continue scavenging in the next one. Dusk. After returning to Black Stone Town and having a quick meal, he went to bed. He had exhausted too much spiritual power today and decided to rest instead of practicing with the spear. … The next day, around noon. Zombie World. Wu Heng had spent the entire morning converting all the bodies in the building’s staircase into Skeleton Warriors. It took several hours to transform and rest intermittently. At this moment, the rooftop was filled with skeletons. Armed with kitchen knives and hammers, they presented an imposing sight. He counted fifty-two Skeleton Warriors in total. There were fewer than expected, considering the number of zombies they had killed. The transformation had only yielded this many. The Sword-wielding Skeleton had leveled up to 2. [Attributes: Constitution 10, Strength 13, Agility 8.] Strength had increased by one point, with no other changes. The increase seemed to make no difference. But a small increase was better than no increase at all. He hoped the attributes would add up with more leveling up. Normally, more should have reached level two, but the skeletons kept dying in battles. The rest of the Skeletons, mostly a new batch summoned from the ground in the morning, had zero experiences. Leveling up these skeletons was proving to be a challenging task. He needed to carefully plan things out. He should prioritize developing a few higher-level ones first. After distributing a kitchen knife to each new skeleton, Wu Heng opened his own attribute wo panel. [Name: Wu Heng] [Occupation: Necromancer] [Level: 2 (550/900)] [Attributes: Strength 9, Agility 11, Constitution 13, Intelligence 15, Perception 10, Charm 12.] [Skills: Bone Manipulation Skill] He had also leveled up to 2. His constitution and intelligence had increased. It was a little better than the skeletons’, but not by much. Indeed, there was an improvement, but it felt as though there was none. The effect was almost imperceptible. After resting and mostly recovering his spiritual power and energy, he stood up again. He put on the motorcycle helmet, pulled down the face shield, and gave the dull command, “Follow me.” Clattering! A group of over fifty skeletons followed him, forming an eerily impressive entourage. He approached the iron door of the third building. Using the bronze key, he quietly unlocked the door. A cold, rotten smell seeped through his face shield and into his nostrils. The interior of the staircase was eerily quiet, with a few broken corpses on the ground. Seeing the corpses on the floor, Wu Heng frowned. Dead zombies? Could zombies be killed? Were there survivors?