At this moment.
A group of soldiers, brought back from the base by Lam Pham, looked at the young man before them, spittle flying as he spoke.
"This is the way of life in our Duong Quang shelter. To be able to survive in such a perilous apocalypse, that's also because of our Brother Lam."
"Those zombies, don't they look extremely fierce? In fact, in front of our Brother Lam, they are truly well-behaved. With a raise of his hand and a swing of his blade, it's one zombie per strike. You can all rest easy staying here."
Quan Hao's face was full of pride as he recounted the deeds of his big brother to them.
He wasn't boasting, merely stating the facts.
This group of newly arrived soldiers all nodded. Having personally witnessed Lam Pham hunting zombies, they were astounded as if seeing a celestial being, even finding it hard to believe that what happened before their eyes was real.
Suddenly.
A young soldier muttered to himself.
"If we had known him sooner, perhaps everyone wouldn't have had to die. Little Xuyen ca, Little Minh ca, wouldn't have had to die at the hands of zombies while covering our retreat."
For any soldier, fighting zombies was no different from war, and there's no war without death.
Everyone lowered their heads.
Their expressions were extremely somber.
Even Quan Hao, who had just been praising Lam Pham, had his expression turn serious.
"Did you sacrifice many people?"
Quan Hao didn't know their situation yet. Hearing this, he put away his playful expression and asked very seriously.
"Yes, out of fifteen thousand people, only a little over a hundred of us remain. We once thought that with the crystallization of our human wisdom and the help of various weapons, we could wipe out the zombies. But we underestimated how terrifying the zombies were."
Hearing this.
Quan Hao's mouth fell open. Over ten thousand people, and only a little over a hundred remained?
This…
He could imagine how tragic it must have been.
"Among those fifteen thousand people, there were soldiers and also ordinary citizens. We wanted to protect them, but they didn't need it. They also took up arms and fought alongside us. Although their movements were very clumsy, and they were very scared when facing zombies, none of them backed down."
In the early stages, the number of surviving people was not small, and the probability of encountering them was very high. Under General Chu's search at that time, indeed, quite a few survivors were found.
Quan Hao said slowly: "They were all very brave."
"Yes, all very brave. When we fought the zombies, we fell into critical situations many times. It was always everyone sacrificing themselves, forcefully blasting open a path of survival for us."
Quan Hao felt a bit choked up listening. Although he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, heartbreaking images were already forming in his mind.
Not everyone in the world was as formidable as Brother Lam.
Yet, many people, like Brother Lam, possessed the heart to clear out zombies.
And they could live so well in the Duong Quang shelter because they had Brother Lam's protection. The survivors living outside were still in dire straits.
Quan Hao said: "I believe everything will get better."
They continued to chat.
However, they didn't continue with those frivolous topics but talked about some of the operational modes of the Duong Quang shelter and so on.
The purpose was to let them gain a deeper understanding of the situation here.
For this group of soldiers, as they understood the situation here, they sighed with emotion. This place was truly a paradise, and it also filled them with hope for their future lives.
At this moment.
Tu Dung from Hanh Vun Hao drove over.
"Hao ca."
Tu Dung was let in and waved at Quan Hao.
Quan Hao, who wasn't a big shot in the Duong Quang shelter, also had times when people called him "ca." Tu Dung was Ha Khanh's bodyguard, but seeing Quan Hao, he still had to willingly call him "ca."
"Brother Tu, what's up?"
Quan Hao was quite curious when he saw Tu Dung arrive. He had met him a few times and felt he was quite alright. Moreover, the other person called him Hao ca, which gave him face and added points, so he was extremely polite to Tu Dung, also addressing him as Brother Tu.
Face is mutual, after all.
No problem with that.
Tu Dung said: "Today, something was airdropped near our Hanh Vun Hao. We opened it up, and my goodness, it's all guns, even grenades.
The Ha family, heeding Mr. Lam's call, believes that these firearms drifting outside are a bit dangerous. If obtained by lawless elements, it might cause turmoil. So, the Ha family asked me to come and tell Mr. Lam, to ask when Mr. Lam will send people to take these weapons away. After all, those things are too dangerous, and we don't dare to touch them carelessly."
Quan Hao thought for a moment, "Follow me, I'll take you to see my big brother now."
"Okay."
When they arrived, Lam Pham was taking Captain Loi for a stroll around the shelter, talking about recent events. First, he gave Captain Loi a copy of the Zombie Picture Book and also told him about the successful development of the serum.
For Lei Dung Chi.
He appeared utterly shocked.
He hadn't expected the serum to have already been researched.
And those Awakened ones with various abilities further opened his eyes.
He never thought there would be such things.
In the meantime.
He thought of a young soldier. Previously, when they were carrying out a clearing mission, they encountered danger and were chased by a very terrifying type of zombie. Just when they didn't know what to do.
A young soldier stood up, saying he ran very fast, and requested to lead the zombies away.
He thought it was impossible.
How could humans outrun zombies, especially since zombies seemed to run with inexhaustible stamina? Eventually, they would still be caught by the zombies.
It was just that the situation at that time was already very dangerous. He personally saw that soldier disappear like a wisp of smoke with the zombies, resolving their urgent crisis.
In his eyes, that running speed seemed to have surpassed what ordinary people could comprehend.
At this moment.
"Big brother, Tu Dung is here."
Quan Hao brought Tu Dung to Lam Pham, talking about the airdrop. These weapons were also sent out by Captain Loi and his men when they were at a dead end.
Tu Dung stood before Lam Pham, awaiting instructions.
As Ha Khanh's bodyguard, he already knew the Ha family's choice and future development direction, which was to survive in the apocalypse with Lam Pham as the center.
Suddenly, a large batch of firearms appeared before them. Anyone seeing them would be excited for half a day. With these things, who could withstand a direct "rat-tat-tat"?
But unfortunately, Lam Pham's existence was like a great mountain, appearing before everyone, visible, tangible, yet impossible to shake his significance and status.
Lam Pham thought about how to arrange things.
"Captain Loi, could you perhaps have some soldiers go to the Tang Dao side? There's also a shelter there, where Tang Le, formerly Hoang City's richest man, lives with his family and a group of survivors. There is arable land there, and they need to grow food, which is still very important."
Captain Loi said: "No problem. After the apocalypse, food is the priority. Although Hoang City has granaries, their shelf life is a concern. In the future, self-cultivation is still the long-term plan."
Very quickly, Lam Pham had thought it through.
The weapons that landed at Hanh Vun Hao, he would leave some for Ha Khanh. He already trusted that Ha Khanh wouldn't act recklessly just because he had these weapons.
Although Hanh Vun Hao was very close to his side, leaving some weapons on hand could also prevent many things.
"Go back and tell Mr. Ha that someone will go over tomorrow to receive them, and also let him keep some for himself," Lam Pham said.
"Yes."
Tu Dung acknowledged and turned to leave.
After Tu Dung left.
Diep Thien came over and asked expectantly, "Brother Lam, can you give me a sniper rifle?"
Captain Loi looked at the girl before him. My goodness, he didn't expect a girl to like playing with sniper rifles. However, sniper rifles weren't that easy to play with. Without rich experience, even with a scope, one might not necessarily hit a zombie.
Lam Pham smiled, "Captain Loi, let me introduce you. This is Diep Thien, a psychic Awakened, capable of condensing her spirit into bullets and firing them through a gun."
Hearing Lam Pham's introduction, Captain Loi looked at Diep Thien with some surprise. He didn't expect there to be such an ability. Didn't this mean that if she had a gun in hand, she wouldn't even need to change magazines and could just fire infinitely?
Lam Pham continued to answer Diep Thien.
"Of course, no problem."
Diep Thien smiled and said: "Thank you, Brother Lam."
Captain Loi said: "Miss Diep, do you need me to find an expert to teach you how to use a sniper rifle more accurately?"
Diep Thien said: "Thank you for Captain Loi's kind intentions, but I don't think it's necessary. I know that to hit a target, one needs to consider various factors, but my ability can ignore these factors. As long as I can aim, I will definitely hit the prey I'm aiming at."
Captain Loi stared at Diep Thien.
This wasn't scientific.
Lam Pham gently patted Captain Loi's shoulder and smiled, "That's just how it is."
Captain Loi didn't know the wonders of Awakened ones. It must be very hard to imagine, but if he could experience it himself, he would know that many abilities of Awakened ones were unrealistic.
Diep Thien waved her hand and happily went to choose a sniper rifle. She had long wanted a sniper rifle to silently hunt zombies from an extreme distance.
In the past, she definitely wouldn't have had such thoughts.
Mainly because the strength of her ability couldn't support spiritual bullets flying too far.
But as Brother Lam continuously provided them with crystals.
Their abilities skyrocketed after gnawing on them.
Night.
Lam Pham sat at the computer desk, continuing to compile the content of the "Zombie Picture Book."
After a trip to the base.
He came into contact with two more types of zombies.
[Fusion-type Zombie]
Annotation: Based on speculation, it can absorb the abilities of other zombies and integrate them into itself. It possesses a bug-like recovery ability, psychic attack methods, and can predict events a few seconds into the future. It belongs to an extremely formidable type of zombie, with an extreme danger level.
Danger Level: The most dangerous zombie species in the Zombie Picture Book.
Hunting Method: Don't even think about it.
Spoils: Multi-colored crystal; one color might represent one ability.
He looked at the photographed images and nodded with great satisfaction. Any survivor who had seriously read the Zombie Picture Book would definitely be able to distinguish various types of zombies.
After painstakingly organizing the unrecorded zombie species.
He then took out another sheet of paper and began to record truly important things. The pen tip touched the paper, and soon, a few words appeared.
[Awakened Ability Advancement Tiers]
This was something he gradually thought of after communicating with Diep Thien and the others. There might be some errors, but there shouldn't be too many major problems.
[A newly awakened Awakened who has not used crystals to enhance their ability can be called Tier 0. Their overall condition begins to surpass the limits of ordinary humans.]
[After Tier 0 is Tier 1 Awakened. Based on actual data, using twenty white crystals can allow the ability to reach Tier 1. At this stage, an Awakened can effectively hunt evolved zombies.]
[For a Tier 1 Awakened to become a Tier 2 Awakened, black crystals are needed. However, at the first stage, wanting to hunt zombies like Tyrant Zombies faces a relatively high degree of difficulty. Using white crystals is also effective, but the effect is too minimal. The specific number of white crystals needed is temporarily unsupported by data, but similarly, using twenty black crystals can enhance the ability, reaching Tier 2 Awakened.]
[Based on known crystal colors, there are a total of six types: white, black, light yellow, golden, red, and multi-colored. The implied meaning might be that abilities can be enhanced up to Tier 6 at most.]
[The previously provided uses of crystals, especially when imbuing crystals onto weapons, showed that twenty crystals are a threshold. The required crystals are all white. After breaking through twenty, the reason for being unable to pick them up should be the same as the Awakened tiers; one's own awakened ability has not met the standard, hence the inability to pick them up.]
[The above statements are conclusions drawn by Hoang City citizen Lam Pham based on some data. The specific actual situation still needs everyone to discover together. If there are any errors, please forgive them.]
Lam Pham looked at the content he had written and nodded with some satisfaction.
During the day, he had discussed with Captain Loi. Captain Loi highly praised his "Zombie Picture Book," praising him to the point where he felt a bit embarrassed, saying that the "Zombie Picture Book" was an apocalyptic bible. If it could be obtained by other survivors, it would be of immense help to them, even changing the fate of many.
So Captain Loi's suggestion was to mass-copy the "Zombie Picture Book" and disseminate it using the transport plane, just randomly scattering it without a specific target. If even one out of ten thousand copies was picked up by a survivor, then the value of those ten thousand copies would manifest.
"I hope this can help you all, and that you can fight your way out to either Hoang City or Huong Son."
Lam Pham stood up, walked to the balcony, and looked at the brightly lit street. He could still see survivors sitting on the ground chatting, with laughter occasionally drifting over.
There were also people on patrol on the rooftops, staying up late to keep watch, observing the situation outside even at night.
Perhaps no danger was encountered.
But everyone knew this kind of happiness was hard-earned and didn't want any accidents to happen.
His ears twitched slightly.
He heard sounds coming from the room where Co Hang was staying, seeming like Brother Hang was chatting with Duong Tue.
It sounded like Brother Hang was saying, "You know my feelings for you."
Brother Hang said, "No, those are mistaken feelings."
Blah blah blah, they talked a lot.
Lam Pham didn't intentionally listen. This was Brother Hang and Duong Tue's private matter. How it would be resolved specifically depended on them. After all, in the current Duong Quang shelter, many men and women had hit it off and started new families.
Some people once had complete families, but they were shattered by the apocalypse. After the comfort of time, they gradually returned to a normal life, thinking of having a home.
Such a situation was also very good.
Only with a home can one be full of hope for the future.
Early morning.
Lam Pham took the Zombie Picture Book he had prepared last night and directly had A Hai and Vuong Khai find people to start the printing work.
Print as many as possible.
Naturally, the more, the better.
A Hai and Vuong Khai had always been very earnest about the tasks assigned by Brother Lam. The current Duong Quang shelter was no longer the Duong Quang Residential Area of the past, where everyone lived in a small area. Instead, it had expanded to resemble a small-sized community. Work had to be done seriously and quickly to contribute to the shelter.
Brother Khai was an old-timer in the shelter, but he had always worked hard and never acted high and mighty because of his seniority. Instead, he was diligent and hardworking, setting a good example for all survivors.
Captain Loi, upon arriving in an unfamiliar place, also quickly familiarized himself, picked up a gun, and began patrolling. Especially when he saw Officer Hoang in uniform, he was even more dazed.
He had heard Lam Pham mention yesterday that there were two zombies in the shelter, one was Dong Dong, and the other was Officer Hoang. Especially Officer Hoang, who had always been protecting the peace of Hoang City.
When he heard that, his expression was one of utter disbelief.
But in the meantime.
He recalled a scene he had once witnessed: a former comrade had turned into a zombie and seemed to have been constantly fighting other zombies, eventually being destroyed by the zombie horde.
Could it be... Thinking of this, Captain Loi sighed heavily.
Perhaps that was conviction.
Even after turning into a zombie, one still held onto their own beliefs, doing what they once wished to do.
Hop Thanh City.
In streets filthy to the extreme, a zombie exuding a domineering aura stood like a king, leisurely observing the situation before it.
One Tyrant Zombie continuously swung its flesh scythe, slaughtering another Tyrant Zombie in front of it, while beside it were six Strength-type zombies, swinging their fists, ruthlessly landing blows on the Tyrant Zombie.
The surrounded Tyrant Zombie was already completely bewildered by the current situation. It really couldn't figure out why these compatriots wanted to attack it.
And they were truly going for the kill, not giving it any chance to survive at all.
Splat!
The Tyrant Zombie controlled by Zombie Vuong Tu Hien, with the coordination of six Strength-type zombies, severed the Tyrant Zombie before it at the waist with one strike. With a loud thud, the Tyrant Zombie collapsed to the ground, roaring angrily at its Tyrant Zombie compatriot in front.
Splat!
The controlled Tyrant Zombie directly smashed its compatriot's head, took out the black crystal within, and respectfully walked before Zombie Vuong Tu Hien, presenting the crystal.
"Ge ge wu..."
Zombie Vuong Tu Hien shrieked, seeming very satisfied with the current situation, then contentedly swallowed the crystal. Feeling the energy contained within the crystal, in an instant, its body trembled, and a surge of energy caused it to evolve.
A moment later.
Zombie Vuong Tu Hien shrieked excitedly, as if its path to becoming the zombie emperor was getting closer and closer.
Supported by the Tyrant Zombie and six Strength-type zombies.
It walked very arrogantly on the streets of Hop Thanh City. Ordinary zombies around, seeing this scene, roared at Zombie Vuong Tu Hien.
It was unknown whether they were saying "Welcome Zombie Emperor Vuong Tu Hien."
Or saying, "Damn, he's so cocky, I really want to bite him to death."
However, at this moment.
A strange zombie, as if strolling down the street, appeared from around a corner, blocking Zombie Vuong Tu Hien's path.
In Vuong Tu Hien's eyes, this zombie had slender limbs, a bald head, a pale body, and bone spurs growing from its back.
If Lam Pham were here.
He would definitely exclaim in shock.
It was actually a Mature-stage Hybrid-type zombie.
Zombie Vuong Tu Hien rolled its eyes, staring at the zombie that appeared in front, then growled at a Strength-type zombie, as if saying, "Go test the waters for me."
It had its own thoughts.
Thinking that it was the future zombie emperor, how could it be blocked by other zombies? To it, this was a humiliation.
The Strength-type zombie, having received the order, walked towards the Mature-stage Hybrid-type zombie.
With its massive physique and explosive strength, it had just arrived in front of the Hybrid-type zombie.
Splat!