Chapter 68: Trouble Comes Knocking (Part One)
There was one use left for the Fishing Hole, but Kong Zhe had depleted all his mana. He could only leave for now, planning to return once his magic recovered to fish that last time. Before departing, Kong Zhe gathered some branches and dry grass to cover the hole, laying a layer of snow atop it until the spot blended seamlessly with its surroundings. Only then did he brush the snow from his hands and nod in satisfaction.
This should keep it hidden for a while.
...
The magical beasts in the residential complex had all been slaughtered by Kong Zhe, granting the survivors a little freedom to move about nearby. On his way back, Kong Zhe saw many awakened and ordinary people venturing out in search of food. The once silent neighborhood now pulsed with a semblance of life.
Of course, disputes over supplies happened frequently. Not far from him, three men were wrestling a backpack from a middle-aged man. The man clearly had just found some food nearby and clung desperately to his bag, the four of them locked in a tangled struggle.
Kong Zhe ignored them entirely, hurrying toward Xue Feifei’s home. He had already spent too much time outside; if another awakened entered their building, things could go terribly wrong.
Soon, Kong Zhe reached the vicinity of the apartment building and, upon seeing the situation from a distance, his expression darkened.
As feared, trouble had arrived.
The entrance to the building stood wide open, with a cluster of footprints at the threshold—a clear sign others had gone inside.
“Woof woof!”
The little dog bared its teeth at the distant building, ears pricked, having clearly heard something.
Kong Zhe waved his hand, and the dog shot ahead, darting into the building. Kong Zhe followed close behind, pausing briefly at the doorway. The door hadn’t been opened from within, but rather kicked open from the outside. No ordinary human could muster such force; it was certain that an awakened had entered.
Without time to think further, Kong Zhe rushed upstairs.
By the time he reached the fifth floor, he could already hear arguing from above. Ascending, he saw a crowd gathered before the door of unit 601. They brandished kitchen knives, sticks, and even a few guns. Most were ordinary people, but at the front stood an awakened.
Yet they hadn’t breached the door. Not far from the entrance, the little dog blocked their way, teeth bared.
“Well done, Cerberus, attack—tear them apart!” (Cerberus: the three-headed hound of Hades in Greek myth.)
Inside, Tuantuan stood arms akimbo, blue flames covering her entire form, pointing at the door with a mocking smile.
...
It was clear that, apart from the dog—a level-three magical beast—the aura simulated by Tuantuan, mimicking a level-ten strongman, played a vital role in holding the intruders at bay.
“...Even if there’s food, it belongs to us. Why should we give it to you?”
Inside, Hong Ling and Xue Feifei glared angrily at the crowd at the door. Yet, faced with so many fierce men, fear gnawed at them. Little Lei hid behind the two women, her large eyes glistening with tears, body trembling.
“Brother Han, what do you think? Should we just charge in?”
A young man in uniform at the entrance asked the person beside him.
The one addressed as Brother Han remained silent, rubbing his chin and glancing about, evidently weighing the situation.
Han Ke had been a security guard at the complex gate—an idle job, but with a meager salary and the ever-present threat of fines if security faltered.
One morning, a young man suddenly sprinted into the complex, startling him. To save his wages, he and his colleague chased after the intruder, exerting themselves to the utmost, but the youth was too quick and soon outpaced them.
Just as the two men, cursing, were about to return, the apocalypse descended.
Blizzard and terrifying magical beasts appeared, shocking them senseless. Yet, that young man’s intrusion had drawn them away from the gatehouse, indirectly saving their lives. They hid in a nearby building, barely escaping disaster.
Han Ke was but a humble security guard, though ambition burned within him. He envied the powerful, the luxury cars and beautiful women passing daily. Reality’s cruelty had buried his dreams, but now, the apocalypse opened the floodgates.
He learned online that this was a global catastrophe, and after a day with no improvement, his darker impulses blossomed.
Yesterday, Han Ke was enveloped in golden light—and suddenly found himself gifted with superhuman strength. He could punch holes in walls, run faster than any sprint champion, as if he’d stepped into an American superhero film.
When an ambitious man gains superpowers, the outcome needs no explanation.
Han Ke first persuaded his colleague Li Feng, then began kicking down doors throughout their building. Residents resisted desperately, but none could withstand an awakened’s might; Han Ke’s kicks deformed steel security doors.
Within half an hour, Wang Ke had completely dominated that building. He collected all the food, bound the residents, and for those who dared resist, punished them severely—or threw them from windows to feed the beasts.
After that, no one dared utter a word, and many cunning individuals pledged loyalty.
He soon recruited a dozen able-bodied men from nearby floors and found several old guns in the neighborhood’s armory, forming a sizable force. With this group, he hunted magical beasts nearby to level up.
Even so, they only dared operate near the entrance. If surrounded by beasts, annihilation was guaranteed.
Though Han Ke had indulged himself with women these days, the problem of food remained. With so many followers, supplies dwindled quickly, even after looting neighboring buildings.
Until this morning, they noticed the magical beasts in the complex rapidly dwindling—even those below their own building had been cleared. Then the system issued a regional quest. Han Ke rejoiced, immediately accepting the task and mobilizing his men to search for food and seek out potential awakened.
Such people were rare; after much searching, he’d only found four or five, all mediocre.
Recently, a middle-aged man joined him, bringing news with him.
...
In Building 17, a family possessed a large stockpile of food.
When Han Ke brought his men here, he was delighted to discover not only food, but several beautiful women, two of whom possessed high awakening potential—far superior to those he’d previously recruited.
He immediately claimed the women and food in his heart. But what troubled him was the presence of another awakened in the house.
He frowned at the little girl standing at the door.
It was uncanny. The girl was only level one, yet radiated a terrifying aura that even he found intimidating. More importantly, the name displayed above her—a long, strange string—was precisely the name broadcast earlier as Jincheng’s second awakened.
Meaning she had awakened more than a day before him.
Though she appeared harmless, being one of the city’s earliest awakened, she could not be underestimated.
And then a level-three kobold stormed up the stairs, barking at them—it seemed to be the girl’s pet.
Han Ke wasn’t afraid of a level-three magical beast, but with the inscrutable girl, he dared not act rashly.
“You’d better not try anything. If my husband comes home, you’ll all be finished!”
Hong Ling, though frightened, forced herself to speak resolutely.
The men at the door snickered, but Han Ke said nothing, and for a moment, no one dared enter.
Han Ke’s gaze flickered, catching an important clue in Hong Ling’s words: the family had a man, currently out. At such times, people went out for two reasons—either to search for food, but this household clearly lacked nothing; or, more likely, the man was an awakened, out hunting magical beasts.
“Heh heh, rabble! Do you know who I am?”
Tuantuan wore a mysterious smile, one hand akimbo, pointing disdainfully at the crowd: “I am the queen of the bloodline, a vampire who has survived ten thousand years—Lecis, Bey, Maria, Huang, Saint Ma—huh?”
Before Tuantuan could finish, she suddenly felt herself lifted and flung away, tracing a graceful arc through the air before landing face-first on the distant sofa.
At the door, Kong Zhe withdrew his hand and stood arms folded before the crowd.
He regarded them coldly, inwardly grateful for Tuantuan’s help in stalling them. Otherwise, who knows what might have happened.
Moreover, with the delay, the awakened at the front hadn’t yet noticed Tuantuan’s eligibility for the escort quest—a prompt that only appeared within a certain range. So Kong Zhe quickly tossed her further away to avoid trouble.
...