Chapter Sixty-Three

Chapter Sixty-Three

Lin An was lighter than an average man of his age, yet for a dog, his weight was more than several times its own.

Little Fu bit down on Lin An's clothes, desperately dragging him to the side where the ground near the wall was smooth, with only small stones scattered about, Little Fu was fast, but the shadow overhead grew larger.

The zombified Lin An was unappreciative, struggling against the unknown creature that had toppled and was dragging him, even attempting to bite the dog, but Little Fu’s grip on the collar was firm, and Lin An couldn’t reach him no matter how he twisted.

The descent of the massive stone was a matter of moments, from Little Fu's arrival to him pulling Lin An, and even with its swift action, it couldn't escape the stone's reach.

The dog, intent on saving its master, strained every muscle, tail stiffened, as the stone loomed closer, still far from safety.

If Little Fu let go of Lin An now, it could escape the stone's path at its previous speed, but it stubbornly attempted to carry the uncooperative Lin An with it.

Finally, realizing escape was impossible, Little Fu let go and lay on top of Lin An. Intelligent as it was, the dog knew they both would die if the stone fell on them; it nestled into Lin An's embrace, squinting its eyes in fear.

As the massive stone was about to fall, Lin An, oblivious, eyed the offering of food, his first instinct to grab and devour.

In the nick of time, a torrent of golden metal flowed like liquid, piling up beneath the stone and instantly transforming into a thick wall, while countless metal shapes hurtled towards the stone, diminishing its size.

When the stone hit the ground, the entire underground city trembled, a dull sound accompanied by billowing dust rose from the impact, shrouding everything in its wake.

After being flung away, Shen Xiuzhe noticed the falling stone; too far to reach Lin An, he desperately shifted the pyramid's gold to cushion the impact, fighting for a chance for Lin An and Little Fu.

Xu Fang broke into a cold sweat; though baffled by Lin An's sudden zombification, at the sight of danger, he reacted like Shen Xiuzhe, using his power in an attempt to save them.

It was uncertain if his powers had any effect given the vast distance, he couldn't be sure of success.

The ninth level of the underground was now a haze of dust and silence, leaving the fate of Lin An and Little Fu unknown.

Wu Duo was the first to run towards the stone; the youngest, her experiences after the apocalypse had matured her beyond her years, and with medical supplies in her space, she was ready to tend to any injuries.

The others, coming to their senses, ran towards where Lin An was.

Shen Xiuzhe was wounded, Lin An's attacks were relentless, and he was restrained in his response. The force of the attack he had received this time was too much, even for him. Seeing the others running, he too got up, urgently wanting to find Lin An.

Xu Fang ran ahead before realizing he had left his leader behind. He quickly returned and helped him walk towards the others.

"Brother An! Little Fu!"

Wu Duo called out into the distance, hoping for a response, but only silence greeted her, along with her own echo.

The gold here was of high purity and thus very malleable; the massive stone's impact could have flattened the piled gold into thin sheets, meaning Lin An might have been crushed to death.

Yet, no one present believed this was likely; Lin An was too formidable to die so easily.

The excessive silence, however, unsettled everyone.

Ouyang Dong, though heavyset, was the fastest, searching around the giant stone. The dust hadn't settled, reducing visibility, and a complete round of searching left his heart sinking.

No sign of them.

Neither Lin An nor Little Fu were found.

"Did you find them?" Wu Duo asked Ouyang Dong, who stood there motionless.

Ouyang Dong didn't respond, his face painted with distress.

The others arrived to a scene of devastation; even with a thick bed of metal laid below, the impact had flattened the metals, and the ground around was cracked.

Xu Fang, supporting Shen Xiuzhe, was almost in tears.

"They're alive, I can feel it." Shen Xiuzhe suddenly spoke amidst the heavy atmosphere, his voice filled with conviction.

Everyone hoped Lin An wasn't truly gone. Encouraged by Shen Xiuzhe's words, they began to figure out how to move the enormous stone.

Having expended a great deal of his powers, Shen Xiuzhe was weakened, his body marred with wounds. He tried to move the metal under the stone, hoping to shift both, but his attempts were in vain.

Standing beside him, Wu Shuangxue hesitated before asking, "Lin An, why did he change like that?"

They had all seen it clearly; Lin An had taken on the appearance of a zombie. Everyone had been hopeful he would eventually return to human form, yet in less than a day, what had happened?

Shen Xiuzhe's brows were tightly furrowed, eyes downcast. He opened his mouth, struggling for words, before finally saying, "He was... triggered."

What kind of trigger could have caused Lin An to transform in such a way?

Wu Shuangxue was perplexed, but Shen Xiuzhe had no intention of elaborating, nor did she continue to inquire. Instead, she quickly surmised that Lin An had come here in search of his parents. Could it be related to them? When they arrived, only Shen Xiuzhe and Lin An were present, which likely meant Lin An's parents had already perished. Was this the reason?

Wu Duo tried to fit the stone into her spatial storage, but it was too large to accommodate. She searched within for tools to transport or cut the stone, but after trying several items to no avail, she decisively took out all the weapons they had obtained from the Mechanical City, rummaging through them with everyone else.

Xu Fang and Ouyang Dong's special abilities were of no help either. While searching for tools, Xu Fang unearthed a robot among the items.

A robot?

Staring at the familiar robot, Xu Fang suddenly remembered it was a gift from Professor Lin, which they had named Da Fu. Usually kept in their space, he had forgotten about this little fellow.

However, the robot was of no use either, so Xu Fang set the little robot aside and continued sifting through the pile of weapons.

The small robot, relegated to the side, booted up from standby mode, its eyes glowing blue as it began to scan the surroundings.

"One injured individual detected, one trapped animal, one zombie. Prioritizing the elimination of the zombie," it stated matter-of-factly, unheeded by the others.

The ignored robot, speaking in a flat tone, made its way towards the boulder with short, swift steps. Red laser beams emitted from its round, stubby arms, sweeping across the middle of the boulder.

By the time the others took notice of the small robot, the massive stone had been split in two. The laser that emanated from the little robot's short arms sliced through the rock as smoothly as if cutting through tofu.

The stone, which had fallen from the ceiling, was thick in the middle and thin at the edges. Once the thicker part was cut, it lost balance and toppled to the sides, a loud crash followed by a cloud of dust engulfing them all.

The few amidst the weapons were still in shock when they were smothered by the dust, coughing one after another.

"Zombie detected, requesting elimination. The zombie is holding an animal hostage. Prioritizing the elimination of the zombie to rescue the restrained animal," the robot continued.

This phrase seemed vaguely familiar. As the group waved away the dust before them, they saw the robot's other arm transform into a sharp large blade, dashing towards the crevice in the boulder.

"Chase it, quick!"

"Don't kill it!"

"Catch the robot first!"

Xu Fang and the others hurried after it, astonished by the small robot armed with a blade and a laser. Despite being less than a meter tall with a round head, its fierce and formidable demeanor was simply breathtaking.

Had Professor Lin given them a formidable weapon? If they had known of this little one's prowess earlier, they would have used it when fighting the zombie tree.

It was Wu Duo who acted smartly. Seeing that they couldn’t catch the diminutive robot, she simply used her powers to pull it into her spatial storage from afar.

As the dust around them gradually cleared, they could finally discern their surroundings.

The ground, sliced open, revealed a thick layer of gold, with a huge pit in the center. Lin An lay on his side in the pit, seemingly unconscious, with Xiao Fu beside him. From above, it appeared as if Lin An was clutching Xiao Fu close, the two nestled together.

Xu Fang clenched his fist excitedly, exclaiming, "Success! I created this pit with my ability. From such a distance, I thought I'd fail, but I finally exceeded my limits at a crucial moment."

Observing Lin An and Xiao Fu safe and sound, Ouyang Dong breathed a sigh of relief as if a weight was lifted, and then had the mind to bicker with Xu Fang: "Look carefully, there's water under the pit. Maybe Lin An saved himself at the critical moment."

"Ah, never mind, as long as they're alright," Xu Fang, not in the mood for verbal sparring, jumped down the pit to check on Lin An.

Lin An's skin had returned to its original light grey, and since he wasn't breathing, it was hard to tell if there was any problem. Xiao Fu, however, was awake but nestled in its owner's embrace, ignoring Xu Fang's calls to come out, glancing with big eyes before burying its head back, as if glued to its master.

Because of Lin An's obsession with cleanliness, Xiao Fu had never been this close to him, now embraced by its master, it obviously wanted to stay close.

Eventually, it was Xu Fang and Ouyang Dong who carried the stuck-together zombie and dog back up.

Throughout the process, Lin An remained unconscious. His breathless state made him appear dead, but after a few hours, he started to run a fever.

His body temperature was very high, hot enough to cook an egg. His companions were puzzled, having never seen a zombie with a fever.

Despite the chaos and debris from their fight in the underground city, including a large chunk of stone nearly crushing Lin An, the structure remained remarkably intact, showing no signs of collapse. Everyone decided to stay there, waiting for Lin An to awaken.

The space was large, and Wudo retrieved a camper van from her space, placing Lin An on the bed for continuous physical cooling.

"I remember I had a fever when I first awakened my abilities. Is An going to awaken a new ability too?" Xu Fang pondered, bald head tilting from side to side.

"From my observations, whether a human becomes a zombie with abilities or a special type of zombie is predetermined at the moment of transformation. It's not like humans who gradually awaken abilities in the first month of the apocalypse. Lin An's symptoms are strange. As a zombie, he's technically dead and shouldn't be able to have a fever. I'm not clear on what's happening now," Wushuangxue sat by the bed, her face filled with confusion.

"Anyway, it's good he's alive. Speaking of which, Xiao Fu, you've been lying on the bed for so long, aren't you going to come down?" Ouyang Dong folded his arms, looking at Xiao Fu resting its head on Lin An's stomach.

The dog glanced at him, then silently turned its head away, showing no interest in responding.

They didn't insist on making it move. After all, Xiao Fu had been impressive today. Not only did it suddenly manifest abilities, but they were also speed-related. Just its desire to protect Lin An in a crisis was already remarkable.

Wondering where such a smart, protective, and ability-endowed dog was found, they wished they could have one too.

Shen Xiuzhe, sitting on the other side, had his wounds all bandaged. Seeing no signs of Lin An waking up, he left the room.

He returned after a while, carrying two large backpacks and a golden canister.

"Boss, what are you carrying?" Xu Fang asked casually.

"Lin An's parents' ashes and personal belongings."

Everyone turned their gaze towards him as Shen Xiuzhe placed the backpacks on the table, followed by setting the canister down with solemn care.

It suddenly became clear why Lin An had lost his reason so abruptly. In this post-apocalyptic world, everyone had experienced the loss of loved ones, and could empathize with the agony of such a loss.

In fact, accompanying Lin An here, they had all braced themselves for this outcome, yet none had foreseen him changing in such a way.

Now, all they could do was pray for his swift return to consciousness and sanity.