With their superhuman stamina, the two carved through the horde at an exhilarating pace. The zombies' replenishment speed couldn't keep up with their slaughter, and soon, a massive gap, twenty to thirty meters wide, was forcibly cleared at the front of the originally dense undead swarm. Headless and dismembered bodies littered the ground, and the viscous, dark-red blood dyed the entire floor beneath them. It was a perfect depiction of the phrase—rivers of blood.
"Oh yeah~! I never knew killing could be this thrilling! If I did this in the real world, I'd probably be on the police's most-wanted list as a crazy murderess!"
Chang Ziteng's nerves were something else. Even though this was her first time killing, she had only gone pale for a brief moment before chatting and laughing amidst the mountain of corpses and sea of blood. Even Xu Mo had to admit he couldn't have done the same. At the very least, he had vomited his guts out the first time he took a life.
Xu Mo thrust his sword through an incoming zombie's skull, then kicked the corpse away, remarking, "I wouldn't say the same… Even knowing these are just humanoid corpses, the eerie sensation of slicing through flesh and bone still gives me the chills."
"You just aren't used to it. Kill enough, and it'll stop feeling special." Chang Ziteng casually smashed five or six zombie heads in a row, turning to grin at him.
"Oh? Sister Chang, you talk as if you've killed a lot before?" Xu Mo's heart tensed.
"What are you thinking? I used to kill pigs! When I was a kid, I lived with relatives in the countryside. I did a lot of chicken and pig slaughtering…"
Just as Chang Ziteng was about to proudly share her childhood experiences, a black shadow suddenly shot out from the horde. It launched itself at her with a speed far beyond that of an ordinary zombie, attacking from above so swiftly that reacting was nearly impossible.
In a rush, Chang Ziteng swung her hammer to block, but the shadow twisted in mid-air, gripping the hammer's handle with an eerie dexterity and performing a full 360-degree spin. A claw, at least thirty centimeters long, sliced through the air like a black streak of death, aiming straight for her throat!
"Ah—"
Before her scream could escape, Xu Mo flashed forward, raising his sword just in time to intercept. Sparks erupted as the Spartan short sword clashed with the shadow's deadly claw, and even with his strength nearly four times that of an average human, Xu Mo was forced back half a step.
"This is… a Licker?"
A humanoid form, completely blind with degenerated eyes, an exposed white brain where its skull should have been, skin peeled away to reveal pink, sinewy muscles, and limbs ending in razor-sharp claws—every trait screamed of a terrifying evolution of the zombie species: the Licker!
The creature, having missed its initial strike, suddenly opened its grotesque, tooth-filled mouth. A long, blood-red tongue shot out like a spear.
Xu Mo, well aware of the Licker's primary attack methods, had already anticipated this move. His right hand instantly activated the "Demon's Hand" in a flash of bio-mechanical transformation. With a brutal uppercut, the "Blue Flame Phantom" morphed into a deep-blue iron fist, smashing straight into the Licker's lower jaw. The impact sent the creature flipping backward, causing its tongue to veer off-course and impale the forehead of an unfortunate zombie behind Xu Mo, piercing straight through its skull.
Not letting up, Xu Mo lunged forward as the Licker tumbled through the air. Before it could recover, he drove his sword into its exposed brain. The Licker let out a tortured screech, struggling violently for a few moments before finally collapsing lifelessly to the ground.
Recognizing the creature at last, Chang Ziteng couldn't help but exclaim in horror, "A Licker?! Damn it, there are monsters like this here too?!"
"Yes, and I fear even stronger creatures will appear later…" Xu Mo suddenly recalled the skeletal tiger that had nearly killed him in his last Apocalyptic Mirage. His expression darkened. With a few quick slashes, he cleared the zombies filling the gap behind them before turning to the still-shaken Chang Ziteng. "We can't keep fighting here. In an open space like this, if three or more Lickers show up, I can't guarantee your safety. Gather what we can and retreat to the theater! Using the terrain for defense is our only chance!"
"Understood!"
Knowing she wouldn't stand a chance against a Licker in a one-on-one fight, Chang Ziteng abandoned any thoughts of pushing further. Instead, she carefully maintained the gap they had carved, using her warhammer to prevent the zombies from surrounding them while Xu Mo scavenged for Apocalyptic Shards among the corpses.
"Xu Mo, are you done yet?! I'm reaching my limit here!" Though she was one of the rare women with extraordinary stamina, even Chang Ziteng wasn't made of steel. Swinging the heavy warhammer for so long had drained her, and her strikes were growing noticeably weaker.
"Almost! Fall back now!"
With the sheer number of corpses piling up, Xu Mo could only collect the shards visible on the surface. Any buried deeper beneath the dead were simply out of reach.
Hearing that, Chang Ziteng breathed a sigh of relief as if receiving a royal pardon. Without hesitation, she stored her "Earthsplitter" warhammer into her shard space and turned to flee. In mere moments, the dense swarm of zombies completely sealed the gap they had fought so hard to create.
Up above, Du Zhizhang, who had been keeping watch, immediately tossed down a rope upon seeing their retreat. With the help of the other men, he quickly hauled Xu Mo and Chang Ziteng back up to safety.
Ignoring the envious and admiring gazes of the temporary guards around them, Xu Mo wasted no time. He pulled Du Zhizhang and Chang Ziteng into a pre-prepared employee lounge, giving strict orders that no one was to enter before locking the door behind them.
"I'm beat! This is insane… I'm covered in zombie stench and blood. Is there even a place to take a shower around here…?"
As soon as she entered, Chang Ziteng collapsed onto the only folding bed in the room, sprawled out like a lifeless fish on a chopping board.
"You can talk. I nearly had a heart attack back there…" Du Zhizhang grumbled, scolding her before repeatedly thanking Xu Mo.
Xu Mo waved him off. Then, reaching into his pockets, he pulled out two small handfuls of shimmering, multicolored Apocalyptic Shards, scattering them across the table. Du Zhizhang's eyes widened in disbelief.
Even Chang Ziteng, who had stubbornly refused to budge earlier, suddenly sat bolt upright. After a brief moment of shock, she leapt onto the table, scooping up all the shards into her arms with a gleeful squeal. Her eyes sparkled with delight, and she nearly drooled as she muttered, "Ahh~! So much money! My villa! My BMW! My LV! My Chanel…"
"…"
Xu Mo was completely speechless. They weren't even sure if they could escape this Apocalyptic Mirage, yet she was already planning how to spend her fortune… Women really were creatures who valued money over their own lives.
Du Zhizhang awkwardly pulled the money-crazed Chang Ziteng away from the table, wiping the sweat from his brow as he chuckled, "Don't mind her! She just loses all self-control when she sees money…"
"Uh… it's fine. Women, you know, it's understandable." Xu Mo wiped his own sweat away. It reminded him of how his mother reacted when his father received his year-end bonus—though not quite as extreme as Chang Ziteng.
Shrugging, Xu Mo counted the shards one by one before waving the two over. "There are nine shards in total. I'll take four, Sister Chang takes four, and Brother Du gets one. Does that sound fair?"
Du Zhizhang quickly refused. "No way! I didn't do anything. How could I take something you risked your life for? Besides, you saved Ziteng. If anything, you should take the extra one—"
Xu Mo believed in repaying kindness. Du Zhizhang's sincerity only deepened his resolve to share. After all, with twenty-six shards already in his possession, one more wouldn't make much of a difference to his strength. But for the far weaker Du Zhizhang and Chang Ziteng, an extra shard could mean a higher chance of survival.
"Actually… I have a suggestion for how to divide these." Chang Ziteng, reluctantly snapping out of her money-loving daze, separated the three yellow shards from the rest. "We split these six evenly, and the other three… we give them to the guards. What do you think?"