Chapter 31: Chapter 31: Departure

Under the air conditioner box outside the building hung a hunchbacked, monkey-like creature with hard, black skin and no hair.

Its dark red eyes stared fixedly at Su Changxing, seemingly pondering why this human was in this location.

“What the hell is this thing.”

Without thinking, Su Changxing quickly climbed down, sensing that the creature was swiftly closing in. A gust of wind passed, followed by a burning pain on his back.

Looking back, Su Changxing saw the creature’s claws covered in blood, its speed far exceeding his expectations.

He quickly realized that he was at a significant disadvantage on the wall and that it would be best to enter the room. He aimed at a tightly closed window nearby and smashed it with his Steel Saber, producing a crisp sound.

The glass shattered, dancing in the air.

He then leaped inside, rolling on the glass-strewn floor, his body cut in several places. Looking back, the creature had also jumped in.

At the same moment, Su Changxing stood up swinging his saber, clashing with the creature still in mid-air.

[Killed a Corpse Monkey, earned 10 Points]

“Corpse Monkey? A zombie transformed from a monkey? Very fast, but relatively weak in Power.”

Su Changxing looked at the creature on the ground, its head split open.

Black matter spilled from its brain, emitting a putrid stench, indistinguishable from the contents of a Zombie’s brain.

However, now was not the time to hesitate; Chenxi’s people would surely have noticed the commotion and could arrive at any moment.

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“He spent the night here, probably injured, and not lightly. Judging by the dust traces, he brought a sleeping bag.”

“And he just left not long ago, through the window.”

A woman in a tight black uniform cat-walked toward the window, her light and soft figure exuding grace.

As she prepared to look outside to confirm that no one was on the building’s exterior wall, she heard the sound of shattering glass and a monkey-like screeching.

“What’s that on the fifth floor.”

The woman in black leaned out to look down, just in time to see glass scattering and falling from the sky.

“The perpetrator really is bold, still here.”

Her red lips slightly upturned; her eyes glinted with cruelty. Immediately, she led four or five people in a rush downstairs and instructed others by phone to block the stairs.

She felt a hint of disrespect from the perpetrator. Since becoming Captain, it had been a long time since anyone dared to underestimate her, except those who had already died.

······

Su Changxing climbed out the window again, looked up, and seemed to see someone above, likely Chenxi’s people, prompting him to climb down even faster.

As Su Changxing neared the ground, nearby Zombies seemed to sense something, becoming restless and beginning to wander around.

Su Changxing couldn’t help but mentally grumble; these Zombies were like they had radar in their heads. Clearly not seeing him, yet still sensing his presence.

Wait, isn’t that similar to the Perception Attribute?

Is it possible that these Zombies actually possess Perception Attributes, allowing them to inexplicably sense human presence at times?

A reasonable thought, and following this line of reasoning, Su Changxing found that many of the Zombies’ behaviors could be explained.

For instance, on the first night at the building, he hid in the storage room, where he theoretically should not have been discovered by Zombies, yet he found one wandering the corridor the next day.

So while these Zombies lack intelligence, they possess a Perception Attribute most humans don’t. They might have a Perception of 1 or 2, but their Spiritual Power is only 1 or even 0.

Su Changxing tended to think this value was zero because the Zombies he’d seen had no logical thinking ability, only some retained instincts from life.

With about five or six meters remaining, Su Changxing jumped down from the air.

At the same time, the woman in black and her subordinates arrived at the scene, seeing a monster’s corpse with a smashed-open head.

“Used a long-blade weapon, it’s him.”

Looking at the shattered glass on the ground, she suddenly realized that the perpetrator didn’t intend to escape via the stairs but was merely forced into the room by this strange creature.

He had still left by climbing the wall.

The woman in black quickly walked to the window and looked outside, just in time to see a young man swinging a Steel Saber in mid-air, landing a slash that deftly split a Zombie’s head into two pieces.

The young man ran a few steps forward, seemed to sense something, suddenly stopped, turned to look at them and waved as if in farewell.

The woman in black clenched her delicate fingers, grinding her teeth; she had let a killer slip right under her nose, someone who had killed Captain Chenxi.

This was a humiliation of the highest order, a disgrace to the name “Criminal Investigator.”

Ultimately, she did not order the killer to be pursued. It was neither rational nor meaningful; their squad was not equipped to chase someone who could freely move at night.

Though Chenxi could, it was unnecessary; it was clearly a losing proposition.

Finally, this eased Su Changxing’s mind somewhat.

Chenxi was certainly giving him trouble; this force was like a hedgehog, where everyone approaching would get pricked. He had no choice but to choose strategic retreat.

Following the street, Su Changxing retraced his steps, planning to first return to the A01713 Mysterious Shop before making any further decisions, ideally located just outside the Chenxi’s territory, with the option to advance or retreat.

During the day, the Zombies’ Speed and Perception decline, so Su Changxing ran along the street without pressure, even with seven or eight Zombies trailing behind him. Compared to last night, this was a small scene.

Still, Su Changxing noticed the Zombies were faster than yesterday, quite clearly so, matching a normal human’s Speed.

This meant that by tomorrow, Zombies might be faster than ordinary humans, erasing humanity’s Speed advantage completely.

However, in a head-to-head fight, humans would still prevail against Zombies because they could use weapons and possessed intelligence.

Humans with intelligence could defeat beasts several times stronger than themselves and could defeat Zombies, though many currently lacked the courage to face them.

Just past a crash site, Su Changxing saw seven or eight people up the road clearing Zombies.

However, their weapon-wielding postures were clumsy, lacking combat experience, clearly not people from the Chenxi group.

“They must be an independently formed group.”

Su Changxing analyzed.

This was within his expectations; it was an inevitable trend, as banding together would be easier than surviving individually.

Su Changxing wasn’t planning to reveal himself, exchange greetings, or establish a presence; at least he wouldn’t join such a small group, unless they formed a large settlement.

Weakness drives humans to band together, but what if one is already quite strong?

Su Changxing pondered for a moment, turned, and ran toward the alley, warning himself to stay low-key, low-key, and even more low-key; quietly thriving was the truth.

When everyone thinks you are weak, but you are strong, this is the safest state.

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