Chapter Fifty-Five: The Harvest

Petrified Skin
Skin as tough as stone, offering a certain degree of protection—but do not rely solely on defense, for in this world, many things are harder than rock!

Is this a new trait?

As the blood-red words flowed down before his eyes, Fan Li suddenly felt an itch creeping over his body. He tore off his gloves, only to discover that what was once yellow skin had turned a stony gray, as if a layer of cement now covered his flesh. The itch, however, did not last long; within a minute it faded, and the gray hue slowly receded, returning his skin to its normal color.

Petrified skin—this meant he now possessed some ability to ward off the scratching and biting of zombies.

Of course, such absolute defense only applied to ordinary zombies. Against monsters of a higher order, there remained the risk of his defenses being breached, and of suffering grievous injury.

The monster manual had already offered him a warning about this.

Would you like to seal the monster (Complete Form)?

After slaying the mutant, the familiar phrase appeared before Fan Li once again, but this time, where it once read “Fragment,” it now displayed “Complete”!

Seal it!

Fan Li shouted the word in his heart. At that very moment, the bizarre-looking monster’s entire body splintered into motes of blood-red light, which then darted straight into Fan Li’s chest—right where the monster manual was kept.

He could not help but wonder: with a complete monster sealed within the manual, what new permissions would appear? Would the previous restrictions—unable to summon, unable to command—now be lifted? Could he enslave the monster to serve him?

Fan Li was eager to open the manual and find out, but this was not the time. He was still outside, and the area was far from safe. He forced down his curiosity, deciding to wait until he was somewhere secure before investigating further.

A being deemed a “complete form” by the monster manual—this meant he had just faced a creature on par with the Titan. The proof was in the slaughter value: where killing a normal zombie granted a single point, slaying this monster had netted him thirty.

[92/100]

Just one more evolved zombie, or eight common ones, and Fan Li could unlock the summoning feature—bringing forth a second monster to serve him!

High risk, high reward.

Although this kill had earned him thirty points, Fan Li was well aware of just how perilous it had been.

It was like walking a knife’s edge along a cliff face, one misstep away from plunging into the abyss—no chance of survival.

His understanding of death had changed. When he first arrived in this world, he’d felt lost, fraught with conflicting emotions. But after nearly twenty days in the apocalypse and encountering so many varieties of zombies, he had grown more accustomed.

Fan Li had long predicted that monsters of the Titan’s level were not outliers, but part of a larger, dangerous population.

Repeated encounters had only confirmed his suspicions. Moreover, he had also deduced that zombies did not progress through fixed evolutions; rather, through various coincidences, they transformed into different forms and gained unique abilities.

The Titan’s brute strength.

The Weeper’s endlessly growing hair.

The Vomiter’s acid-like bile.

And the monster he’d just killed had possessed the power to invade the human mind. Though he hadn’t lingered long in that room, the moment he regained consciousness, Fan Li saw the floor littered with corpses whose skulls had been hollowed out.

Unlike the gradually desiccating skin of zombies, those bodies were severely decomposed, pustules blooming on their flesh. Clearly, they had not been zombies in life, but living, breathing people.

Some survivors, by chance, had taken refuge in the pharmacy. Without exception, they all bore the awe and terror of the apocalypse in their hearts. At the instant the door opened, that fear vanished, replaced by visions of everything they’d longed for in peacetime.

Perhaps a lover yearned for day and night, perhaps a family member lost in the chaos—those whom the apocalypse had torn away, whom they thought they'd never see again, now miraculously appeared before them. Who could resist the surge of longing in their heart?

Yet when they rushed into the arms of these “loved ones,” what they received was not warmth, but a chill to the bone. Of course, lost in their beautiful dreams, they never realized their skulls had been pierced, their brains devoured. Compared to those who were gnawed by zombies or lived in constant fear, perhaps this death was a gentler one.

Fan Li felt a tug at his sleeve. Turning, he saw Ellie standing by his side, glancing first at the blood spattered around them, then at Fan Li himself, as if asking, “Did you see my food?”

With the experience he’d gained in nurturing Ellie, Fan Li naturally refrained from doing anything that might damage their rapport. He shook his head emphatically, spreading his hands to show his ignorance of whatever had just occurred.

Ellie was not invincible.

That was an undeniable fact. Whether facing the Titan or the mutant just now, Ellie had at times found herself at a disadvantage. Had Fan Li not intervened, the outcome of their fight would have been a toss-up.

Fortunately, his slaughter value was close to one hundred. Soon, he could summon new help. In a world where disaster could strike at any moment, strengthening oneself was the only true path.

Perhaps prompted by a new thought, Fan Li glanced at the blade of his sword. When he’d hacked at the monster, it had become caked with blood and bits of brain matter. He wanted to confirm his suspicions.

To the naked eye, the red and white gore clinging to the blade began to writhe like tiny worms, then seeped into the metal itself.

Just as I thought.

A few seconds later, when the blood had fully soaked into the blade, Fan Li raised the katana and examined it in the air.

It was as if blood vessels had formed within the metal, a network of crimson veins running along its length.

The world is vast and full of wonders. Especially in this bizarre, apocalyptic era, Fan Li had witnessed too many strange happenings to be surprised that his blade would absorb the blood of a monster above the level of ordinary zombies.

Besides, feeding a blade with blood was not unheard of in history. Famous swordsmen and warriors had used human or animal blood to hone their weapons, keeping them at their peak. Some swordsmiths had even sacrificed themselves, throwing their bodies into the forge in hopes of creating a legendary blade.

Fan Li hefted the katana in his hand. Whether it was an illusion or not, he felt it had grown noticeably heavier.

I wonder, if it continues to devour like this, will its edge grow sharper than before?

He muttered to himself, knowing that only experience would provide the answer.

Before, he’d fought only for slaughter value. Now, in defeating monsters, he found a new purpose: to temper his blade.

He glanced at the watch’s ticking hand. He’d been out for some time already, and the battle between Ellie and the monster must have attracted nearby zombies. While the presence of the monster had suppressed them, now that it was dead and sealed away in the manual, that deterrent was gone, and the zombies would inevitably begin to converge on his location.

Realizing this, Fan Li wasted no time. He rose, intent on grabbing some medicine and making a swift exit. But as soon as he took a step, his legs gave out and he nearly collapsed.

Now that the monster’s oppressive aura had faded, Fan Li could finally feel the sharp pain radiating from his inner thigh. In his desperate flight earlier, he had strained his ligaments!