The blood hadn't yet coagulated. It was fresh, vivid, and that of a living person.
After someone is infected, their blood remains red for only a few hours. Once they fully turn into zombies, it rapidly oxidizes and decomposes, turning jet-black like ink. But now, the apocalypse has already lasted for several days. Unless someone was infected just recently, blood couldn't look like this!
"This can only be a human!" Lin Qingqing's expression changed drastically as she cried out in shock.
But just as she reached out to touch the bloodstain, Huan Tian yanked her back with lightning speed, as if burned by fire, his movement leaving behind an afterimage.
"Don't touch it!" His voice was unusually stern. "This blood contains a high concentration of Nightmare Virus!"
"That's… impossible…" Lin Qingqing looked stunned.
She instinctively crouched down and used her flashlight to examine the barely coagulating blood. Sure enough, its surface faintly reflected a deep blue sheen—a dark, viscous blue that looked like a pool of stagnant, writhing water.
Such a deep shade of blue could mean only one thing: a high concentration of Nightmare Virus!
"But… how could a living person carry that much of the virus and not have turned into a zombie?" Lin Qingqing's voice trembled slightly, her eyes filled with confusion. She instinctively looked at Huan Tian, only to find his brows tightly furrowed and his gaze filled with both confusion and a trace of guarded wariness.
After thoroughly searching the 37th floor, they found no further clues—only a single bullet casing, which Huan Tian instantly recognized. It was a shard from the blue-tinted ammunition used in the fight with Luo Mai—special Nightmare Ammo he had crafted.
That meant someone had scavenged his used gear… or had been secretly watching their battle.
"It seems… we've been watched all along." Huan Tian's heart sank slightly.
But for now, he couldn't tell whether the watcher was friend or foe. He could only keep that knowledge buried deep.
By the time they returned to the small lounge, though exhausted, the substantial haul they'd gathered helped wash away some of the earlier tension.
Huan Tian had dissected the scattered zombie corpses one by one and successfully extracted a large number of Tier-1 Nightmare Crystals, crafting nearly two hundred Tier-1 Nightmare Ammo on the spot. During their corridor search, they even discovered seven mostly intact Six-Legged Black Widow corpses—rare mutants, each still containing a complete Tier-2 Nightmare Crystal!
"Our luck is off the charts," Lin Qingqing murmured in awe.
Huan Tian synthesized two of the Tier-2 crystals into twenty Tier-2 Nightmare Ammo, loading them into a custom Desert Eagle magazine for emergencies.
"If we run into another brute like Luo Mai, Tier-1 Ammo won't be enough," he muttered to himself, face calm to the point of being icy.
But the greatest prize was Luo Mai's enormous, severed right claw.
It took the two of them nearly two hours to strip it clean, but in the end, they obtained:
— One rare Tier-3 Nightmare Crystal
— Four intact Tier-3 ossified claws
— One ossified claw from Luo Mai's peak Tier-2 states
These bone claws were not only extremely hard and razor-sharp, but far superior in edge to any zombie rib or bone blade they'd used before—perfect for crafting powerful weapons.
To store these rare materials, Huan Tian had to clear out a portion of the storage space originally reserved for other tools and supplies.
Lin Qingqing didn't ask any questions as the resources vanished into storage. She simply kept watch in silence, having grown accustomed to Huan Tian's inexplicable secrets.
Ever since she first saw the blue bullets, then the Desert Eagle's strange, mutated form, and now these unbelievable methods… Lin Qingqing had begun to wonder.
"Could he… be like a protagonist from some sci-fi film? Someone who came back from the future, equipped with incomprehensible high-tech gear?"
She bit her lip lightly, heart a storm of emotion.
Meanwhile, Huan Tian was slicing chunks of flesh from the Tier-3 zombie and sealing them into plastic bags with practiced ease. He even cut off a small piece, threaded it with string, and hung one piece each around their necks.
"What is this?" Lin Qingqing asked, startled.
"Scent barrier," Huan Tian replied flatly. "While the smell remains, it will trick nearby zombies into thinking we're one of them. They won't attack."
Lin Qingqing felt a chill crawl through her heart. She glanced down at the bloody piece of meat hanging from her neck, her face pale, but said nothing.
As the sun slowly dipped below the horizon, its last golden rays staining the sky, the two of them found a room with intact doors and windows to settle in for the night. Huan Tian locked everything, then carefully smeared Luo Mai's flesh into every gap and crevice to block any trace of human scent.
Once everything was secure, he finally sat down and pulled out a syringe from his gear. Inside was a pale-blue liquid that shimmered faintly with a metallic sheen.
"Qingqing," he said, his voice low and serious. "What if I told you… I could give you a chance to become stronger. Would you believe me?"
Lin Qingqing froze, her eyes meeting his solemn gaze. Something stirred in her chest.
A flood of memories rushed through her mind:
The back that shielded her during moments of peril.
The precise, deadly shots were fired in the chaos of zombie attacks.
The moment he shoved her to safety during that final corridor explosion…
She realized something: from the very beginning, Huan Tian had never once let her truly face despair alone.
She bit her lip, then nodded. "I believe you."
Her voice was firm, with not a hint of hesitation. Lin Qingqing paused for a moment, then looked at the syringe. "Is this… what you meant?"
She pointed to the injector, her tone slightly unsure, but her eyes gleamed with a fire that hadn't been there before.
For some reason, her body craved the serum, like a parched traveler yearning for water.
"This is a Tier-1 Genetic Enhancement Serum," Huan Tian said seriously. "It reconstructs your genetic code to drastically improve your physical capabilities. If you trust me, close your eyes. I'll administer it."
Lin Qingqing took a deep breath, lay flat on the floor, and slowly closed her eyes.
"Deep breath. Relax. This is a cardiac injection… it'll hurt a bit."
Without pause, Huan Tian plunged the needle directly into her chest.
"Ungh!" Lin Qingqing gasped, her body convulsing as a cold sweat broke out on her forehead. The moment the serum entered her bloodstream, it spread through her entire body, and with it came a searing burn, like fire racing through every muscle and nerve.
Her entire being was being reforged.
After observing for a full ten minutes and confirming that the serum was taking effect within Lin Qingqing's body, an intense excitement surged in Huan Tian's eyes.
Even without enhancement, Lin Qingqing's Spirit attribute had already reached 15 points—her level of brain development likely rivaled that of elite scientific prodigies. Now, with the added effect of a perfect-grade Tier-1 Genetic Enhancement Serum, her mental capacity was destined to rise to terrifying new heights. Her potential would become limitless—perhaps even surpassing anyone Huan Tian had ever known in his former Demon Hunters squad.
She was a raw gem, and all he had to do was wait for her to awaken.
Unlike the feverish and unstable reaction he had experienced, Lin Qingqing showed no signs of abnormality. After thirty minutes, her body temperature gradually stabilized, hovering at 38°C—mildly elevated, but not dangerous.
Once he was sure she was safe, Huan Tian quietly lay down and pulled out a different syringe—his own Tier-1 Gene Unlock Serum.
As the cold liquid pierced his heart, a jolt of numbness surged through his body, followed quickly by a wave of blistering heat that seemed to set every nerve and muscle ablaze.
Even though he had mentally prepared himself, the effects of the perfect-grade serum still exceeded his expectations. As the serum flooded his body, his consciousness began to blur, like a boat adrift in a stormy sea.
He clenched his teeth, fiercely guarding the last sliver of clarity in his mind. But the moment the serum crossed the blood-brain barrier and entered his brain, it detonated—an explosion of mental force shook his consciousness to its core.
It felt like a psychic storm had erupted out of nowhere. His awareness, now fragile and flickering, was being tossed and torn apart within this tempest, barely holding on.
"The Spirit attribute… It's too high…" Huan Tian's body tensed violently. He struggled to resist the storm's shredding force, clinging to the last thread of his identity.
But just then, a soft voice echoed near his ear.
"Huan Tian… Huan Tian…"
"I'm so hot…"
"Lin Qingqing!"
Suddenly, a warm body collapsed onto him. He forced his eyes open, only to be met by a pair of burning, vivid red lips pressing down on his.
Boom.
The psychic storm exploded like wildfire. The final remnants of his rationality were ripped apart like a butterfly caught in a hurricane.
In that moment, everything collapsed into chaos.
And in the darkness, only the sounds of their heavy, interwoven breathing remained…