Chapter Forty: The Golden Enforcer, No Escape Even With Wings

Behind the military district’s rear gate, a figure crept forward stealthily—it was Zhang Fugui.

“Damn it! I never expected Gu Lang to have so many silver-ranked helpers. Luckily, my skills are strong enough—even the golds couldn’t tell I was playing dead!”

“As for Gu Lang… hmph! If I survive this time, just you wait!”

Zhang Fugui spat these words viciously.

“Oh? I didn’t expect it either—you actually have two skills!”

“Who’s there!”

Zhang Fugui’s face drained of color; he looked up and saw a figure hovering in midair.

Gu Lang!

“You! How did you know—”

“Swish!”

Before Zhang Fugui could finish, an ice lance pierced through him, shattering his skull.

But it wasn’t over. More ice lances rained down, reducing him to a bloody pulp.

Now he was well and truly dead. No skill could revive him.

Gu Lang descended slowly, his gaze fixed on Zhang Fugui’s corpse.

The feigning death skill was far too powerful—even he hadn’t seen through it.

He wondered if he might be lucky enough this time to acquire that skill.

But nothing dropped.

The spot was completely empty.

Gu Lang wasn’t discouraged. The chance of a skill drop was always low, and there were more battles ahead.

He turned and flew back to the rooftop.

“Brother Gu Lang! Look, I think it’s a skill!”

The little girl saw Gu Lang and instantly raised her small hand, revealing a green glowing point!

It dropped!

Zhang Fugui’s skill!

Gu Lang was elated. So the skill had dropped after all—just that the lucky recipient was the little girl.

[Remote Telepathy: Allows communication with a designated person, provided you’ve met and are within 100 kilometers. Each use consumes a small amount of stamina. No cooldown.]

So this was the skill Zhang Fugui used to call for reinforcements?

A pity—it wasn’t the feigned death skill.

Gu Lang pinched the glowing point, a little disappointed, but he used it immediately.

After a simple test, Gu Lang found he could send messages with his mind.

He could even communicate with a group of his wives simultaneously.

“Doesn’t this mean I can command much more easily in the future? It’s practically a nuclear-powered cellphone!”

Gu Lang grinned.

The utility of this skill was immense.

Keeping in touch with multiple wives at once meant he could see things from different perspectives—it was practically a wallhack.

“Lord Gu Lang, this girl is awake!”

Li Muwan announced as the golden-ranked girl in her arms opened her eyes, staring blankly at Gu Lang.

“Gu Lang? Thank you. I was imprisoned by the Red-clad Zombie. If not for you, I probably wouldn’t have made it out… sob….”

The girl threw herself into Gu Lang’s arms, recounting what had happened.

It turned out she didn’t know the woman in red—the latter was a survivor of the apocalypse, a mother who had lost her child.

By a twist of fate, she had mistaken the orphaned girl for her daughter and kept her locked away to protect her.

“But why are you a zombie too? And a gold-ranked one at that?”

Yu Qiuchi asked bluntly.

“Gold? I’m not sure either. We were starving, so we took some unknown medication. The packaging said ‘SPC’…”

“SPC? Damn! I knew there was something off about it!”

Gu Lang slapped his thigh. He’d long suspected SPC.

Last time, there had been issues with the group of survivors at the SPC factory—they were too strong.

Looking back, they must have taken the medication as well.

“Could it be that taking SPC makes you stronger?”

Yu Qiuchi’s eyes widened with excitement.

“No, there are obviously more survivors who took the drug than just these two. If it really made you stronger, the whole world would be full of gold ranks. It must be a matter of probability.”

Gu Lang analyzed calmly, a bold guess forming in his heart.

“Could SPC be the key to the apocalypse? The very source of the zombies?”

The thought sent a chill down Gu Lang’s spine.

Could it be that the end of the world was caused by humanity’s own recklessness?

He shook his head. Now was not the time for such thoughts—enemies still lurked outside the walls.

Gu Lang retrieved a crystal from his storage pouch.

An evolution crystal!

“It’s about time—let’s see if I can evolve to gold rank!”

Gu Lang tried to crush the crystal, but despite all his effort, it didn’t even budge.

[Notice: Evolution conditions vary. The host has not met the requirements. Please fulfill the necessary attributes!]

[Current host: Silver rank. Advancement to gold requires all three basic attributes to be at least 300!]

What?

Three hundred! No wonder the Red-clad Zombie was so powerful, able to kill off a whole group of silvers.

So the attribute gap was that vast?

Damn system, why didn’t you say so earlier!

Now things were grim.

Outside the military district, the Zhang and Wang families numbered at least two hundred.

Among them were at least five silver ranks!

On Gu Lang’s side, his silver puppet zombies were either injured or crippled.

His wives were all exhausted from the earlier battle with the Red-clad Zombie.

Breaking out would be nearly impossible in the short term.

Unless…the girl was willing to help!

Gu Lang glanced at her—she was young, vibrant, petite, and adorable.

He’d saved her; surely she’d feel some gratitude?

“What’s your name, by the way?”

Gu Lang walked over, inwardly urging the system to hurry up and issue a quest to win her over.

“My name’s Wenwen. Brother Gu Lang, don’t worry—since you saved me, I’ll repay you. Just tell me what you need!”

Her face was the picture of obedience—she saw Gu Lang as her benefactor.

Gu Lang was overjoyed. A gold-ranked fighter—just like that!

Boom!

Just then, an explosion echoed from the main gate.

The combined forces of the Zhang and Wang families used grenades to blow the doors open, storming into the military district.

They began slaughtering zombies with impunity.

At the front, the old man and the old woman scoured the area—their target was Gu Lang.

“There they are! Wenwen, help me kill them!”

“Alright!”

…

“Damn it! Who is this Gu Lang anyway? Was there ever such a person in Dawn City? My Fugui hasn’t reported back for ages—don’t tell me he’s been killed?”

The old man clenched his fists, wishing he could dig three feet into the ground.

The old woman chuckled coldly.

“Don’t fret. The Zhang family lost people, and so did our Wang family. If we join forces, even if that brat sprouts wings, he won’t escape!”

Just then, Old Zhang’s eyes widened—he pointed skyward.

“Wings like those, you mean?”

The old man’s jaw dropped, and all the survivors were stunned.

In midair, behind Gu Lang, a zombie embraced him, its flesh wings flapping wildly.

They drifted toward the crowd—not fast, but with supreme arrogance.

“Damn! You must be Gu Lang. You killed my grandson, and now you really think you’ll fly away?”

Old Zhang wasn’t stupid—he guessed at once who the culprit was. He raised his hand and hurled a fireball at Gu Lang.

The fireball, as large as a washbasin, roared toward Gu Lang at terrifying speed.

But Gu Lang was prepared—he responded instantly with his ice lance spell.

Ice collided with fire, producing a cloud of steam that gradually dissipated.

Gu Lang sneered.

“Ha! So busy looking up—why not check in front of you?”

“What!”

Grandma Wang reacted first, but just as she lowered her head, her vision went black.

A small girl leapt past her, pressing a tiny hand atop the old woman’s head.

As easily as poking tofu, a bloody hole appeared in the old woman’s skull.

Dead.

“Damn! They’re not alone—everyone, be on guard!”