A thousand enlightenments in one night, starting from being a menial apprentice.

Chapter 599 Born and Raised Here
So far, Duan Rong has been able to determine two basic characteristics of the zombies.

First, they are sensitive to sound and will move towards areas with continuous noise. Second, after a zombie becomes zombified, its eyeballs will be covered with a white film. This film makes them sensitive to the infrared radiation emitted by living beings, so they will immediately pounce on any living person they see.

The company's access control system can be opened by scanning a fingerprint. Although there's been a zombie outbreak and the whole city is without power, the fingerprint attendance machine is still charging and has plenty of power.

Duan Rong glanced at Jiang Hanyan beside him and said, "I will open the access control in a moment. This zombie is yours to handle."

Jiang Hanyan nodded, her hand already gripping the hilt of the Longquan sword. Her eyes were fixed nervously on the zombie clinging to the gate, its neck twisted at an eerie angle. Although she had seen several zombies before, she still wasn't used to them; sometimes she couldn't tell if they were human or monsters.

Guo Tian and the others looked at Duan Rong with some curiosity. The pair of glass doors in front of them were quite strange, with neither doorknobs nor locks. Duan Rong said he was going to open the doors, and Guo Tian and the others were curious about how he would do it, since the zombies were lying on the doors.

Duan Rong walked to the time clock on the wall beside the door, twirled the entrenching tool in his hand, and pressed his right index finger onto the time clock. Immediately, a clear female mechanical voice sounded.

"Duan Rong, employee number 056, clocked in successfully."

As the mechanical sound rang out, the access control suddenly opened!

The zombie then tried to rush in!
The moment the access control opened, Jiang Hanyan's Longquan sword was already drawn. With a flash of cold light, the sharp blade sliced ​​through the zombie's head.

Before the green brain fluid could even splatter, Jiang Hanyan raised her foot and delivered a flying kick.

The zombie flew backward, and at that moment, Jiang Hanyan slapped the scabbard in her left hand, and the half of its head that had been sliced ​​off in mid-air was also slapped away with a bang.

The whole process was clean and efficient, with only a few drops of green falling onto the carpet at Jiang Hanyan's feet.

Duan Rong waved to Guo Tian and the others who were still standing there in a daze, and said, "Let's go, let's get out!"

Guo Tian and the others were stunned, not because of Jiang Hanyan's swift and decisive victory over the zombie—they had already anticipated that she wielded the sharp Longquan sword and was quite skilled in swordsmanship. They were stunned by the eerie human voice they had just heard.

To Guo Tian and his group, it was as if they had seen a ghost.

At this moment, Duan Rong and Jiang Hanyan had already walked out, and Guo Tian and the others immediately followed.

Jiang Hanyan's swift actions cleaned up the entrance area, but a long trail of that foul-smelling green liquid was spilled down the corridor, making one want to vomit.

The group walked by with frowns; the stairs were at the other end of the elevator corridor.

Duan Rong stood at the top of the stairs, suddenly looked behind him, and said in a deep voice, "Guo Tian, ​​you cover our retreat! Be careful!"

After Duan Rong finished speaking, he and Jiang Hanyan walked into the staircase and climbed up the steps!

Duan Rong stepped aside, letting Jiang Hanyan walk in front. With the sharpness of the Longquan sword, killing the few scattered zombies on the stairs was as easy as cutting melons and vegetables.

Lu Chu and Du Wan walked in the middle of the group without any weapons. Guo Tian was at the back of the group, clutching a fire axe and keeping an eye on the movements behind him.

It was early morning, and each corner of the staircase had a small window, so the light was quite good and not dim.

As Duan Rong and Jiang Hanyan reached the first corner platform, they saw a zombie in a suit suddenly rush down the stairs above.

The zombie's body stiffened, and it tripped and tumbled down the stairs. It moved with incredible speed, already upon him!
Jiang Hanyan's beautiful eyes were cold and sharp. The Longquan sword in her hand flashed with a cold light and slashed through the somewhat narrow stairwell.

The zombie suddenly fell to the ground right in front of everyone with a thud. Everyone's eyelids twitched, but no one moved, because when the zombie fell, Jiang Hanyan had already shaved off its head, leaving it as a headless, dried-up corpse!
At that moment, Jiang Hanyan lightly flicked her longsword, revealing a human head at the tip—clearly the head of a zombie.

The head was still gaping open, emitting a hoarse, thirsty roar from its throat, but without a body, it could not move at all.

A look of disgust flashed in Jiang Hanyan's eyes. With a light hum and a flick of her longsword, the head flew away. In the flash of cold light, it was already sliced ​​in two. In an instant, viscous green liquid splattered all over the stairs.

The group then climbed the steps and stepped over the disgusting, viscous liquid.

On the upper staircase platform, Duan Rong saw four or five cigarette butts on the ground, indicating that the zombie had turned into a zombie while smoking there.

After they walked up several flights of stairs, Jiang Hanyan asked, "Are we going to keep going up?"

Duan Rong pointed to the numbers on the wall next to him and said, "Let's go to the fifteenth floor. If I remember correctly, there's a fire axe on the fifteenth floor too!"

They continued up the stairs, and the rest of the way was peaceful; they didn't see a single zombie.

As Duan Rong walked along, he was filled with emotion. The stairs were covered with small advertisements for sewer repair and locksmith services, and it was precisely these details that brought back memories of his past life.

As Duan Rong was thinking, he looked up and realized that they had already reached the fourteenth floor. One more floor and they would be on the fifteenth floor.

Just as they reached the corner platform, they saw a dark figure stuck in the stair railing, its neck twisted at an eerie angle, its mouth wide open, letting out a hoarse roar at Duan Rong and the others. The zombie was wearing a sanitation worker's uniform, yet somehow it was stuck there. It must have fallen and gotten stuck in the gap in the railing, unable to get out. What an unlucky zombie!

The moment Jiang Hanyan walked over, she deftly slashed the zombie's skull with her Longquan sword.

The viscous green liquid, like wine spilled from a gourd, flowed down, initially spraying out in a large gush before turning into a slow, continuous stream.

Everyone walked around the wall.

Duan Rong and Jiang Hanyan walked from the stairwell into the elevator corridor on the fifteenth floor.

Upon entering the corridor, two zombies were seen wandering around. One zombie was dressed in an office lady uniform, somewhat like a receptionist, while the other was wearing a baseball cap.

Duan Rong remained calm and composed when he saw the two zombies.

A flash of cold light appeared, and Jiang Hanyan decapitated two zombies with a single sword stroke. A pungent, viscous green liquid flowed between the two corpses on the ground.

Duan Rong's eyes suddenly lit up, because he saw a toolbox on the ground next to the open glass door, with the words "lock picking" clearly written on it.

He then discovered that the company's access control system was not the kind that automatically opens with a fingerprint scan like theirs; instead, it was locked.

It seems the receptionist came to the company, suddenly realized she had forgotten her keys, and called a locksmith.

Duan Rong stared at the lock-picking toolbox, his mind racing. Within the illusionary space, he couldn't use his soul-devouring techniques, but his ability to absorb artifact spirits remained unaffected.

Moreover, this lock-picking skill is clearly quite useful in this zombie-infested apocalypse.

Duan Rong then slowly walked over, opened the toolbox, and, under the strange gazes of Guo Tian and the others, touched each tool one by one.

"Duan Rong, what are you doing?" Du Wan asked after watching for a while.

As Duan Rong placed the tools one by one at his feet, he said, "I need all of these."

With Duan Rong's current divine soul, it won't take him much time to digest the spirits of these minor skills.

After Duan Rong finished devouring the tools, he put them into the backpack on his back and then led them to sweep through the company again.

As dusk approached and the light dimmed, Duan Rong and his group finally returned to the eighth floor, the company Duan Rong had worked for in his previous life, a place he knew best.

Duan Rong swiped the access card to open the door, and the group entered. By then, it was already getting dark. After their sweep, each of them had a bulging backpack and a weapon in hand.

Duan Rong gave the fire axe he found on the fifteenth floor to Xu Hui.

Then they found a Tang sword, and in the restaurant on the sixteenth floor, they killed seven or eight zombies and found two rather sharp cleavers.

The two cleavers were used by Lu Chu and Du Wan, while the Tang sword was given to Su Xinjue.

Although the cleaver is sharp, it is relatively short, making it extremely dangerous when dealing with zombies.

The blade is short, so to cut off a zombie's head you have to get close, and getting close means you risk being bitten by the zombie.

The Tang sword, on the other hand, is much safer.

Lu Chu and Du Wan were, after all, men, and they couldn't very well compete with Su Xinjue for that Tang sword.

In the end, both of them willingly gave the Tang sword to Su Xinjue using their cleavers.

After the gate was closed, they took off their backpacks. After a nerve-wracking search, they were all hungry. There was a lot of food in their backpacks, so they found a place to sit down and started eating.

Jiang Hanyan first found the half-empty bottle of cola she had drunk earlier and couldn't wait to gulp it down.

While everyone was eating, Duan Rong walked alone to the other side.

Du Wan was munching on potato chips when she saw Duan Rong about to turn and called out, "Duan Rong, where are you going?"

Duan Rong paused briefly, then smiled slightly and said, "Wait a minute! I'll treat you to barbecue!"

"barbecue!?"

For a moment, no one knew what Duan Rong was up to. Although they were exhausted, they struggled to get up and headed towards where Duan Rong had gone.

As the group turned the corner, they saw Duan Rong walk into Qin Yuan's office.

Guo Tian and the others frowned slightly. They had already searched that area thoroughly, but there was nothing there!
The group was quite puzzled, so they went inside as well.

When they entered Qin Yuan's office, in the dim light, they saw Duan Rong holding an entrenching tool in one hand and a silver dragon more than a meter long in the other, which shimmered faintly in the dim light.

It has already been killed by Duan Rong with an entrenching tool!

Duan Rong's stomach was rumbling with cravings, so he decided to try his hand at eating Qin Yuan's precious silver dragon!
As soon as he saw everyone enter, he smiled slightly, looked at Jiang Hanyan, and said, "Hanyan, your Longquan sword is sharp, help me chop some firewood!"

Jiang Hanyan pouted and said, "How can such a precious sword be used to chop wood?! You're wasting such a valuable resource!"

Duan Rong said, "If you're not going to chop it up, then don't eat it! Let me tell you, the meat of this silver dragon is incredibly fresh, and it's even more delicious when roasted. Paired with that kind of 'happy water,' it's simply the best enjoyment in the world!"

Jiang Hanyan couldn't help but swallow hard at Duan Rong's words.

She suddenly drew her Longquan sword with a whoosh, and with a flash of cold light, a corner of the mahogany desk was sliced ​​off and fell to the ground with a thud!
"Hey everyone, don't just stand there, chop some firewood!" Duan Rong called out to the men with fire axes.

Seeing that Guo Tian and the others had already started chopping wood, Duan Rong began to deal with the silver dragon in his hand!

Soon, Duan Rong had cut the processed silver dragon into about ten pieces, each piece as big as a plate.

Meanwhile, Guo Tian and his group had already chopped the firewood.

Duan Rong walked to the bookshelf behind the desk, took out a few books that Qin Yuan had never read, and then walked to the woodpile.

He tore the book apart, then took out a lighter and lit the paper on fire.

When Guo Tian and his group first saw the lighter during their raid today, they were quite curious. Duan Rong then told them that this thing was a tinderbox for this world.

The burning paper slowly ignited the solid wood firewood, and the fire rose brightly, illuminating the room. Meanwhile, the last rays of light outside had faded, and the dark night was about to begin.

After the fire was lit, they began to grill the fish.

The flames from burning solid wood were very powerful and had a faint fragrance. The silver arowana was quickly grilled until it was fragrant and sizzling with oil.

Duan Rong sprinkled the prepared chili peppers and salt on the fish, then took a bite of the fish and ate it with cola.

He almost cried after taking that bite.

It's not just because it tastes good, but because the familiar flavor evokes a sense of nostalgia.

If it weren't for this magical illusion, he would never have been able to return to Earth. Although Earth was now a zombie-infested wasteland, it was still the place where he was born and raised. Originally, he could have told himself that this was just a magical illusion, but after a bite of barbecue and a glass of cola, he couldn't deny it anymore.

Everyone was puzzled as to why Duan Rong suddenly started crying. Lu Chu handed Duan Rong a bottle of soda water and asked, "What's wrong? Did you choke?"

Duan Rong reached out and took it, saying thank you. He wasn't actually choked, but since Lu Chu had given him a way out, he simply let it go.

He drank a glass of soda, wiped away his tears, and then began to eat heartily.

A large silver dragon, over a meter long, ate until all seven of them had bulging bellies and their mouths were dripping with oil.

By this time, it was getting late.

Zombies can still see people at night because the white membrane on their eyes can sense infrared light. However, once night falls and the entire city experiences a power outage, human visibility is greatly limited, making encounters with zombies at night extremely dangerous.

Clearly, in this zombie-infested apocalypse, one can only move around during the day, and must find a place to hide at night.

After the seven of them had eaten and drunk their fill, they each found a place to rest. There were several offices available, more than enough for them.

Jiang Hanyan and Su Xinjue were naturally together.

Lu Chu and Du Wan had also discussed it together.

The two rested together, so that they could look after each other in case of any unexpected events.

The remaining three were Guo Tian, ​​Duan Rong, and Xu Hui, who stayed together. At this moment, Duan Rong suddenly looked at Guo Tian and Xu Hui and said, "You two can stay together. I want to stay alone and think about a plan to go to the suburbs."

Now, each of them has a weapon to kill zombies, which can be considered as initial armament. Moreover, the food they have scavenged can last for at least several days. Now is the time to start thinking about and devising a plan, and at this time, Duan Rong needs absolute silence.

He didn't want his deep thinking to be interrupted by Guo Tian or Xu Hui's snoring, so it was better to sleep alone.

(End of this chapter)