In the first “dad” from Xu Song, there was a hint of surprise and joy, but in the second “dad,” it was filled with terror.
Yue Zheng quickly turned around and saw Xu Song sitting dazedly on the bed, staring straight at another person standing in the room.
And that person was none other than Xu Song’s… father, who had already died, lying on the ground bleeding from seven orifices just moments ago.
No wonder he had felt that something was off! Bleeding from seven orifices but with a complete body, weren’t the reanimated corpses he had seen in the past few days the result of such a transformation? It was only because it was daytime… No, that’s not right! The green plants had almost completely blocked out the sunlight in the room. Could it be that’s why he could get up?
Should he be grateful that the father didn’t attack them when they were nearby just now?
The corpse of Xu’s father stood in a strange posture, facing Xu Song. His eyes were tightly closed, and dried blood stains were hanging from the corners of his eyes, mouth, and below his nose.
He was already dead, manipulated by an unknown energy. Now, he had turned into a reanimated corpse that sought to take the lives of others.
As Xu Song looked at the faint black mist enveloping his father’s body, he felt his scalp tingling.
He had seen more than one such corpse in the past few days, and he had even burned one with his own hands. But now, he was facing his own father!
His hands trembled uncontrollably, his mind went blank, and as he looked at the pale-faced corpse, he knew, he understood that this body was being controlled by something unknown. Only by completely eliminating it could he let his father rest in peace. But now, he couldn’t even lift his hand.
“Urgh…” A low growl came from the corpse’s throat. Because the room was too small, the door was tightly closed, and the windows were completely occupied by those plants, the reanimated corpse couldn’t go out hunting last night. But now, there were two fresh living beings in the room, and the vitality emanating from them attracted it. Therefore, despite the daytime being unfavorable for its actions, it still took the risk of coming out. As long as it consumed them, absorbing the lively energy from their bodies, it could break through the walls at night and leave this place, hunting in a broader area…
The pale corpse raised its stiff arm and slowly approached the closest prey. The daylight slowed its speed and made its movements sluggish, but when food was within reach, it couldn’t resist, even if it was slower. This terrified prey, frozen in fear, could still become its meal!
“Splat!” From left to right, a tremendous force pierced through diagonally, splitting its body into two halves. The congealed black mist twisted a few times on the corpse, seemingly wanting to continue controlling its actions. However, it found that the body, now split in half, couldn’t move anymore. Reluctantly, it broke free and attempted to crawl into a corner, waiting for darkness to fall so it could find another body to use as a puppet.
Xu Song watched as his father’s corpse slowly fell down. The wound cut open by Yue Zheng’s strange ability didn’t produce any blood, indicating that the blood had already coagulated. The black mist detached from his father’s corpse, trying to escape.
It’s that thing! The reason why the corpses attack humans is because of this black mist!
As the realization struck him, Xu Song’s eyes turned red. He stood up from the edge of the bed and lifted his hands without hesitation. Fiery red flames burst forth, engulfing the black smoke.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Walking a few steps to the bedside, Yue Zheng patted Xu Song’s back. He didn’t know what to say at this moment, so he silently walked out of the room, leaving the space for the father and son. He went to the window in the living room and continued making phone calls.
Faint voices could be heard from the living room. After a while, Yue Zheng returned. Xu Song had calmed down a lot and was squatting next to his father’s corpse lost in thought. When he saw Yue Zheng return, he looked up at him and hoarsely asked, “Did you get in touch with your colleague?”
“Yeah, they’re over in Dongcheng, rescuing people trapped under the buildings,” Yue Zheng replied. Seeing that Xu Song had calmed down, he breathed a sigh of relief. With such a major incident happening in the city, even the military and armed police were mobilized to rescue the wounded, let alone their group of detectives.
Xu Song lowered his head and looked at his father’s bisected corpse, whispering, “I want to cremate my father.”
“Using your ability?” Yue Zheng asked.
“Yeah.” Xu Song smiled bitterly as he looked at the corpse split in half.
“In his current state, it’s not suitable for anyone to see.” After all, it was Yue Zheng’s ability that had caused the split. If anyone saw it, who knew if there would be trouble?
“I’m sorry…”
“No, I have to thank you again.” Xu Song smiled and looked up, his smile somewhat distorted, tinged with the pain of losing a loved one.
“You saved me once again, and at that moment… I couldn’t do anything either.” Yes, if it had been a stranger, Xu Song might have unleashed his power at that moment. But facing his own father, right after experiencing his death, he probably wouldn’t have been able to react.
Taking a deep breath, Xu Song stood up and raised his hand forward, whispering, “There might be quite a bit of smoke.”
“It’s fine, control the angle, just don’t burn the furniture.” Yue Zheng whispered back.
Fortunately, Xu Song’s father’s corpse wasn’t leaning against any furniture, so there was no need to move it. Fiery red flames spewed out, completely engulfing the entire corpse, not a bit more, not a bit less.
As they watched the billowing smoke, Yue Zheng furrowed his brow slightly, worried that it might attract the neighbors or trigger a fire alarm. After thinking for a moment, he raised his hand uncertainly, and a strange void appeared above the thick smoke. The smoke seeped into it but never came out again.
And so, one set fire while the other absorbed smoke. Perhaps the temperature of the extraordinary flames was different from normal fire. After about ten minutes, the body was completely burned to ashes, leaving nothing else behind.
Exhaling a breath, Xu Song slumped weakly onto the bed behind him, and Yue Zheng felt a bit dizzy as well, sitting down at the edge of the bed.
“Your ability can even absorb smoke?” After a while, when Xu Song felt that his head was no longer spinning, he asked.
“I don’t know either. I just tried it earlier, and a hole appeared,” Yue Zheng said, looking at his palm in confusion. He wondered what kind of ability he possessed. Can he split people, cut them, and even absorb smoke?
He tilted his head to look at Yue Zheng, but could only see his straight back. He tugged at his clothes and said, “Come on, try making a smaller one right in front of us.”
Seeing that Xu Song didn’t intend to sit up, Yue Zheng reckoned that he might still get dizzy if he used his abilities again, so he simply lay back and raised his hand. He lightly swiped his finger in front of them, leaving a colorful and blended trace.
“Can you maintain it?” Xu Song quickly grabbed his hand and found that the trace could move along with his finger.
“Hmm,” Yue Zheng concentrated his mind and maintained the trace, which was only about an inch long.
Frowning, Xu Song looked left and right, but couldn’t figure out anything. After thinking for a moment, he grabbed a pillowcase and brought it close to the mysterious trace.
As the pillowcase touched the trace, the spot it touched immediately split into two halves without making any sound.
“Stop!” Xu Song called out, and he spread out the pillowcase. His eyes lit up as he said, “Look! Isn’t it strange how the part that was cut is different?!”
“Huh?” Yue Zheng was puzzled. He furrowed his brow and didn’t understand. Wasn’t it just cut in half? What’s so strange about it?
Xu Song pointed at the trace and said, “It can’t be put back together! This trace didn’t simply cut through the object, but everything within the trace has disappeared!”
As he spoke, Xu Song suddenly sat up and grabbed a notepad from the bedside table. He tore off a sheet and said, “Come on, cut it in half again, just half is enough.”
Yue Zheng lightly cut the paper in half as instructed, and Xu Song placed the paper flat on the bedside table. With the brown cabinet underneath, this time Yue Zheng clearly saw that the part that was cut wasn’t simply divided in half, but there was a missing strip of paper! It was small, but it was indeed gone!
“It’s not cutting, but… taking away?”
Xu Song nodded vigorously, his eyes shining as he looked at Yue Zheng. “When you created the hole earlier, the smoke went in and never came out.”
Yue Zheng began to understand Xu Song’s meaning. “You mean, my ability is not a direct attack, but more like being able to ‘take away’ a part of things, so the remaining part naturally breaks?”
“Yes!” Xu Song pondered for a moment and suddenly said, “Where did the missing things go? I think… your ability might be related to ‘space’… Whether it’s the missing paper or the smoke that was sucked away, they probably went into another ‘space’.”
Raising an eyebrow in disbelief, Yue Zheng couldn’t find any counterarguments at the moment. After all, even the ability to control fire had appeared, so it wouldn’t be impossible to have this kind of ‘space’ ability.
“Why does it feel like the world has turned into a game?” Yue Zheng laughed helplessly, pointing at Xu Song, “Fire ability,” then pointing at himself, “Space…?” Space what? In terms of abilities, it could be considered a type of mage, but he thought of himself as a close-range fighter.
“If it really is a game…” Xu Song’s smile carried a hint of bitterness as he looked at the pile of ashes on the ground, “If it’s a game, we could respawn…”
Yue Zheng’s heart sank as well. He raised his hand and put it on Xu Song’s shoulder, giving it a firm pat. “Check if your father’s phone is fully charged.”
Yes, he needs to check on his mother!
Even though he dared not hold too much hope in his heart, he couldn’t completely give up either. Xu Song picked up the phone that had finished charging. His hands were trembling, and he felt Yue Zheng pat his shoulder twice. Taking a deep breath, he pressed the power button.
The startup animation seemed particularly lengthy, followed by one prompt after another…
“July… 6th… 6 p.m.?!” Xu Song’s eyes widened suddenly, and he turned to look at Yue Zheng.
“The explosion in the ancient tomb should have happened around 1 p.m.” Yue Zheng gave a confident answer. He had just made a phone call that day, and the ancient tomb exploded right after. He still remembered the time.
Earlier, the broadcast mentioned that the anomalies seemed to occur on the afternoon of July 6th, almost simultaneously throughout the country. And the last incoming call was after that. So, it meant that his mother was likely safe?!
There were a total of eleven missed calls on Xu Song’s father’s phone, and nine of them were from his mother’s number. The remaining two were from employees at his father’s store.
Moreover, the calls were concentrated between 1 p.m. and 6 p.m.
Ah, space ability! Who knew…
I didn’t 😭
Yeah Okay Theory Confirmed akxbsjxhs see at first i thought the black mist came second (like the zombies emitted it) but then last chapter it clicked that its probably the other way around. interesting….
Ah the MC for once in an apocalypse novel had an ability diff from the stereotype ability most MCs have (Space, Plant, Mental ability) always the convenient ones lmao I was like thats a refreshing change its 🔥… But then ML was like SIKE. Got em with the ol switcharoo