Chapter 42 The Man in the White Coat

Chapter 42 The Man in the White Coat

At the next intersection, Cao Kun ran into an elderly zombie shuffling along. Cao Kun swiftly turned the creature's body and swiftly wrapped the dagger in his right hand around its neck. The zombie immediately went still.

Cao Kun gently laid the corpse down and glanced at the houses along the way. Piles of yellow earth covered the ground, and fallen trees and dead branches littered the road. Wrecked cars were scattered haphazardly in the middle of the street.

The snow under the cars had not completely melted, trickling down the asphalt to form a dark red stream. On either side were commercial shops with tightly locked roller shutters; prying them open would make quite a noise.

Cao Kun walked along the alleyway, dispatching any zombies he encountered. As the temperature rose, the zombies became more numerous, and Cao Kun’s sweat began to pour down his face.

Cao Kun knew it was time to head back; otherwise, he would face a fierce battle.

Just as he turned, a pale hand brushed through his hair. Cao Kun bent down to block it, grabbed the owner's hair with his other hand, and slammed it against the door. With a swift movement, the blade cut through the pale hair, scattering it on the ground.

Cao Kun carried the corpse inside, carefully slipping through a dilapidated door that he almost missed.

Inside was a narrow, pitch-black corridor. Cao Kun lit a small flame, illuminating a tiny bedroom barely large enough for a 1.5-meter bed and a bedside table.

Beyond the bedroom was a storage room filled with flower wreaths, miniature villas, golden boys and girls, mourning banners, mountains of gold and silver, and stone candles. The floor was strewn with unfinished paper cuts, bamboo weavings, and a toolbox.

"Tsk tsk." Cao Kun enviously clicked his tongue, tearing off the bedsheet to pack the bamboo weavings, candles, and toolbox. He bundled up the quilt and mat with a rope, slung it over his elbow, and put on the old man's only thick cotton jacket before leaving.

The return journey was even more treacherous than the trip out. The zombies seemed to sense his scent from afar and were stumbling towards him.

Cao Kun backed away, but two zombies on the main road spotted him, one lunging at him quickly!

Cao Kun charged forward, leaping at the last moment and landing on the zombie's shoulder, causing it to kneel from the impact. Cao Kun used the momentum to twist and kick, slicing the zombie's neck with his dagger, which cracked slightly—

—just as the zombie's claw tore through Cao Kun's pants, stopping abruptly as sparks flew from its severed neck.

Cao Kun rolled on the ground, sweeping his leg to knock the zombie down. A fireball hit its head, and a wall of flames blocked the path behind him.

Cao Kun zipped up his jacket and escaped the area before the horde of zombies could surround him.

He pulled open the iron gate, locking it behind him and drawing the makeshift curtain made from clothes.

Shenchi: "Who is it?!"

"It's me!" Cao Kun whispered, entering with his large pack. Hearing Shenchi's voice, he thought he had woken up, but moments later, Shenchi fell back into unconsciousness.

It was past lunchtime. Cao Kun took off his jacket and undershirt, folding the jacket neatly on the ground and wringing out the undershirt before hanging it up.

He looked at Shenchi, whose lips were dry, and mixed salt with water, crushed some compressed biscuits, and fed the mixture to Shenchi. He then rewet a sanitary pad and wiped Shenchi's body.

While doing this, Cao Kun did not forget to feed himself, taking bites of biscuits and sips of water.

They had brought only these for sustenance.

The afternoon temperature reached forty degrees Celsius. Cao Kun stayed inside, feeding Shenchi medicine and resting for ten minutes before starting a series of combat exercises using his abilities.

The air-raid shelter was cool, but the outside heat still seeped in. Cao Kun soon found himself panting heavily, but he dared not drink too much water. Waves of exhaustion kept crashing over him.

Cao Kun lay down to rest, waking every half hour to change Shenchi's sanitary pad.

As night fell and temperatures dropped sharply, Cao Kun draped the blanket from the funeral shop over Shenchi, sitting at the edge of the cover while keeping watch and absorbing crystal cores.

He noticed that when he absorbed crystal cores to a certain extent, his head would ache intensely. When he practiced and exhausted his abilities, the pain would disappear.

He speculated that continuous absorption alone would not lead to constant upgrades; he needed to expand his channels like expanding a container. Crystal cores were the filler, and the method to expand the channels involved repeatedly exhausting them until they gradually widened, allowing for greater storage of abilities.

Forcing absorption might even lead to death.

Early the next morning, just as dawn broke, the temperature was still around ten degrees Celsius. Cao Kun ventured out again.

He observed that zombies moved slower during the cold nights, even high-level ones, slowing their movements and stiffening their limbs.

Unfortunately, the darkness made it difficult to navigate, and light sources attracted zombies.

That day, Cao Kun returned empty-handed.

The next day, Cao Kun left earlier when the temperature was only five degrees Celsius. This time, he traveled twice the distance and finally, five minutes past the designated time, found a ransacked clinic. He discovered six bags of glucose hidden beneath the cash register drawer.

Seeing this, Cao Kun breathed a sigh of relief, whistling excitedly.

Two days had passed since Shenchi fell unconscious, and he still had not woken up. The water had run out, and only Shenchi's share of compressed biscuits remained, with little salt left.

Cao Kun opened the salted peanuts, eating a few at a time to replenish his salt intake, and fed Shenchi small amounts of glucose.

Late at night, Cao Kun collected a bag of snow, melting it into two pots of warm water to wipe both Shenchi and himself clean.

He boiled another pot, collecting the steam, condensing it into water, and repeating the process several times. Exhausted, Cao Kun drank a few sips from the half-pot of water and gave Shenchi a salted sip.

He stuffed the remaining snow into a pot and continued the distillation process.

Gradually, he realized he could control the fire's intensity and temperature, though not very accurately. Sometimes, he would accidentally cause the fire to flare up or become too cautious, sweating profusely.

In the darkness, Shenchi’s closed eyelids suddenly twitched.

"Are you awake?"

Cao Kun, who had been dozing, snapped his eyes open. Despite days of poor sleep, his eyes remained alert and clear.

Cao Kun met Shenchi's eyes and reached out to touch his forehead. The temperature of his hand was cool, no longer scorching.

Cao Kun let out a sigh of relief and asked softly, "How do you feel?"

"A lot better." Shenchi reached up to remove his gas mask, his voice slightly hoarse.

Cao Kun took the water bottle nearby, carefully heated it, and handed it to him.

Shenchi sat up slightly. Cao Kun reached out to support him, and as Shenchi looked up at him, Cao Kun naturally pulled the blanket that had slipped back up.

Shenchi withdrew his gaze, drank some water, and his throat wasn't too dry due to someone frequently giving him water. "How long have I been asleep?"

Cao Kun said, "Two days and two nights."

Shenchi frowned, recalling the scene in the dormitory building. "How did you figure out we were set up?"

Cao Kun got up to stretch his stiff shoulders. "Because of the USB drive. A program to control a timed bomb was implanted into it. As soon as it was picked up, the bomb would activate. During my last mission with him, the USB drive exploded, destroying all evidence against Jin Shufan."

Recalling what happened, Cao Kun's eyes darkened, and he sneered, "He was showing off his power and warning me."

Shenchi thought of Xia Yi, who was left alone in Jiu Zhou City, and felt a sense of unease. "Rest for a while; I'll keep watch tonight."

Cao Kun guessed that the other wouldn't be able to sleep right away, and considering he hadn't rested well in recent days, he really needed it. So, without being stubborn, he lay down next to Shenchi and told him to wake him when it was morning.

Shenchi ate the cookies bit by bit, flashes of memory from before he fell from the roof appearing in his mind. He was dealing with a Level Three zombie when he caught sight of Jin Shufan, Zhao Zizhou, Sun Yong, and a man in a white lab coat leaving the research room.

The man was tall, and from the side, Shenchi could see he wore gold-rimmed glasses. His lab coat was spotless, likely the researcher surnamed Zhong whom Jiu Zhou City wanted brought back. Seeing his straight back, Shenchi was momentarily distracted, almost getting caught by a Level Two zombie!

That silhouette was too familiar.

It belonged to the man who always conducted experiments on him, turning around to handle data while spouting grandiose, righteous words!

When dawn broke, Shenchi didn't call Cao Kun, but the latter woke up on his own.

Cao Kun first went outside to fetch water, then after eating a few bites of cookies, he handed Shenchi a bag of glucose. "Drink this."

Shenchi took the glucose and drank some. "You've been outside. How is the situation?"

"There are many zombies. Within a two-kilometer radius, there are at least a hundred thousand. The number of Level One zombies is astonishing, but that Level Three zombie hasn't shown itself since." Cao Kun furrowed his brows. "I didn't expect that its evolved ability would be to summon its kind to protect it."

Shenchi said, "Once there are no more people here, the Level Three zombie will leave this city, triggering a massive horde of hundreds of thousands of zombies!"

Cao Kun's worst fear was confirmed by Shenchi. "Looks like we need to leave this city as soon as possible."

Shenchi handed the glucose back to Cao Kun, who waved it off, saying he had already drunk some.

Shenchi believed him but guessed that he hadn't had much, evident from his chapped lips.

He took a water bottle, and energy slowly gathered in his palm...

Seeing this, Cao Kun frowned. "Your body isn't fully recovered yet. Don't push yourself."

---

Thank you, little angels, for watering the nutrient solution for me.

Thank you to the little angel who watered the nutrient solution: Luomeng's Little Forest (1 bottle)

Thank you very much for your support. I will continue to work hard! ^_^