Chapter 2: Anomaly
Xu Le was silent at first, then angry and explosive.
"Damn it! What the hell is this? It never ends."
After the national essence came out, the flame in front of him immediately began to twist, forming a ring of eerie fire-shaped text.
A string of words that made Xu Le feel like a clown.
[You are angry. Anger is bait for all violent species and will attract them.]
"Whew!"
Xu Le immediately shut up, took a deep breath, and quickly adjusted his mental state.
Then he put on a smile uglier than crying.
"Angry? Doesn't exist. I never get angry, really!"
Xu Le's voice got smaller and smaller as he spoke, until he could barely hear himself at the end.
This wasn't cowardice, but rational endurance.
Yes, rationality and endurance!
After his breathing gradually returned to normal, Xu Le calmed down and continued thinking.
The house was in a dilapidated state, with 10 minutes of time remaining.
With the things in his hands, it was absolutely impossible to repair the house under such urgent time and conditions.
Outside the house was endless darkness.
Darkness itself meant danger, making it even more impossible to run out.
So the next thing he would inevitably face was the two Level 1 anomalies appearing after 10 minutes and at 0 o'clock.
So the question was, facing the anomalies.
How should he deal with them?
Or rather... how could he survive?
This question made Xu Le fall silent again.
Given his current physical condition, if the individual strength of the anomalies exceeded that of a 60 kg wolf and they were hostile to him, it would almost certainly result in his death.
Although he didn't know how he had been transferred from the ICU to here, he didn't want to end up here so quickly.
At least now, he had a fairly normal body, except for the wound in his chest.
Since he didn't want to sit and wait for death, he needed to make some selective moves.
For this, as a writer who outlines stories, Xu Le made an impromptu battle plan.
First, he quickly cleaned up the house, throwing out all the useless items to give himself enough space to move.
He checked the weapons he could use.
Fire, dagger, gun.
Especially the dagger and the flintlock, these two items were very important.
There was no information on the anomalies, so there was no specific reference for their abilities.
Ideally, if the so-called Level 1 anomaly was about the same as a normal adult human male, or slightly stronger than an ordinary male.
Then if the flintlock was aimed well enough, it could instantly kill the target with a headshot.
If that didn't work, the dagger could still be used for a final struggle.
Of course, this was a relatively ideal scenario.
If the anomaly's strength completely exceeded this level, with physical power reaching that of lions and tigers in his previous life, or some kind of strange ability...
Then...
"Well, it's actually not that bad.
Some issues shouldn't be overthought, it only adds to the worries.
Even if their strength reaches the level of lions and tigers, maybe I could take them down with one slide tackle.
Internet users are so confident, how could I be worse than those keyboard warriors?"
Xu Le nodded, adjusted his breathing, and recovered his strength.
Then he thought of another point - if the corpse on the ground would mutate into an anomaly.
What if he dismembered the corpse now and threw it outside? Would the anomalies then not appear?
As soon as this idea came up, his mind became a bit chaotic.
Xu Le didn't know if he counted as a ruthless person, but when it came to doing some harsh things for his own safety, he still had the determination.
Standing in front of the corpse again, Xu Le tightened his grip on the short sword in his hand.
Looking at the corpse, his breathing became slightly heavier.
At this moment, the sound of wind and cicadas outside the house seemed to amplify in his ears, like the roar of some beast.
Looking at the corpse before him, Xu Le suddenly felt dizzy.
A strong ringing filled his ears, and his vision became like a spinning spiral rainbow, causing him to vomit violently.
At the same time, it felt like something in Xu Le's brain was reconnecting.
There were some additional feelings of guilt, some memories, but he couldn't recall exactly why he felt guilty.
Fortunately, his mind gained some knowledge about anomalies.
Also, the person on the ground, his name was Lao Zhou.
"The dagger can't dismember at all, dealing with mutations requires a temperature of 1500 degrees, firewood isn't hot enough, fuel oil, where's the fuel oil?
Damn! Which idiot spilled it?"
The fuel oil bottle had shattered, and the oil had seeped through the cracks in the floorboards. Xu Le poked a few times with the dagger, but it was too tiring and didn't work.
"There's no time, don't panic, it can be killed."
He now needed to use what little time he had left to prepare.
Xu Le re-checked the firearms, dagger, and reorganized his surroundings.
Looking at the twisting flames in front of him, he knew time must be running out.
[There is one corpse within the safe zone, death time exceeding 4 hours, the corpse will become a Level 1 anomaly in 1 minute]
Xu Le looked at Lao Zhou's corpse and sighed with slight hesitation:
"One minute left, hope the things I prepared will be useful."
In the suddenly emerged memories, there was some knowledge about mutations.
If human corpses were not cremated in time and were exposed to an environment without enough light, they would mutate after 4 hours.
If there was enough light, this time would be extended to 72 hours.
During the mutation process, one couldn't approach the anomaly, as they would be contaminated by ancient multi-energy. Once contaminated, even if they returned, they would be killed by the guards.
Over eighty percent of the anomalies that mutated from human corpses were undead.
Undead should be something similar to zombies, but influenced by ancient multi-power, they were stronger and faster than zombies.
Exactly how fast and how strong, there was no reference point, and Xu Le had never seen them.
He only knew from memory that ordinary humans were very unlikely to resist undead barehanded.
But he had fire, a knife, a gun, and twenty-two bullets.
If he prepared well, there should be a chance!
He didn't push the corpse out, watching it mutate, facing it with preparation should be much better than being ambushed in the darkness.
Xu Le took a deep breath, he had already surrounded the corpse with fire pits, not knowing if this could slightly hinder the other's movement, but he did it anyway.
But before the anomaly appeared, Xu Le heard whispers in his ears again.
This time Xu Le heard clearly, the other's words were in an accent similar to a dialect, very strange.
[Gua, are you still looking for me? But you don't have any offerings, how should I help you?]
Xu Le was stunned at first, then he quickly responded:
"What are offerings?"
No one answered, but Xu Le didn't give up, continuing to ask:
"Hey! Mr. Who Needs Offerings, are you still there?"
Still no one answered, and he didn't dare to turn around because he saw the corpse not far away seemed to move a bit.
Well, it really moved!
In his previous life, wouldn't this be a clear case of a corpse coming back to life?
His fingers trembling slightly, Xu Le immediately touched the charcoal ash by the bed.
Although dirty, this could make his fingers dry, preventing excessive hand sweat from affecting his ability to pull the gun bolt.
The flames surrounding the corpse began to dance.
[All anomalies will taste fear, your fear will attract them.]
Damn it... the weird eye is about to brush against my face, can't we have something more normal?
Crack!
Lao Zhou's corpse on the ground had already stood up in a weird posture, with its back to Xu Le.
The posture was so strange that Xu Le even heard several bones breaking.
Xu Le's heart almost jumped to his throat.
Lao Zhou's corpse suddenly twisted, this 180-degree rotation would surely break his neck and cervical spine, causing death, but what if he was already dead?
At this moment, Lao Zhou's eyeballs had turned completely white, and his nails, which could almost reflect light, reminded Xu Le.
If he got scratched by those, he'd probably be done for.
Lao Zhou opened his mouth, and amid the crisp sound of breaking bones, sharp teeth protruded.
Xu Le felt that this guy... might be a bit stronger than a zombie.
Well, is it really just a bit stronger?
Hah!
Lao Zhou, who had turned into an undead, let out a low growl at Xu Le, and the smell of decay began to spread in the room.
Fortunately, Xu Le's psychological quality was still decent. After preparation, although frightened, he also felt some extreme excitement.
His shoulders trembled slightly, this time not from fear, but from adrenaline surging.
This was a signal his body sent him, telling him he was ready for battle.
Just when Xu Le thought the undead would leap over the flames towards him, it stopped in place, twisting its arms.
Then, with a sound of bones breaking and skin tearing, its arm stretched out like a tentacle.
Xu Le was dumbfounded:
"Damn, normal zombies can't do this."
Without time to be surprised, Xu Le grabbed the nearby dagger and dodged the corpse's claw with a swift move.
With a "swoosh", Xu Le pinned the claw to the wooden bed with the dagger.
The undead's strength was great, this kind of defense couldn't last more than a few seconds.
And it was already charging over!
Xu Le stepped on the dagger's hilt, pinning down the undead's arm. This not only suppressed its attack but also fixed its movement trajectory.
Taking this opportunity, Xu Le raised the flintlock in his hand.
The safety was off, and the bolt was pulled back.
Now all he needed to do was to put the muzzle to its face.
Watching the undead charging straight at him, Xu Le released his arm, kicked the other's chest, squinted his eyes, and pushed the gun forward.
Bang!
The muzzle flashed, and the bullet entered the other's forehead without any resistance.
The undead's head exploded like a sudden burst watermelon, with red and white matter splattering all over the ground.
The power of the flintlock was quite satisfying.
After letting his emotions settle, Xu Le's expression gradually became serious, and he slowly spoke:
"Is that all?"
New author, new book, please add to your favorites!
(End of Chapter)