Chapter Sixteen: Advancement, First-Rank Fighter

Fang Xia sat alone in the living room, lighting two candles for illumination. He then lit a cigarette, hoping to calm his nerves. If he were still the person he had been at the beginning of his previous life, he would have acted without hesitation. But after six years of bloodshed and storms, his will had become as firm as iron and stone.

He took a deep drag and slowly exhaled.

In his past life, after six years of struggling and crawling through the apocalypse, Fang Xia had never managed to marry. When he finally had a moment of respite, he thought about finding a girl to face the end of the world with, surviving together, and then, when it was all over, getting married and having children—a life filled with happiness.

Gradually, Fang Xia began to think of his former companions, his brothers-in-arms, and the girl whose name and face were already fading from memory.

"Unfortunately, they all died before me. I thought that by dying in my last life, I could finally join them on the other side, but... alas."

"This time, if I can find them again, maybe we can complete the wishes we left unfulfilled in our previous lives."

He pulled himself from these thoughts, stubbed out his cigarette, and took out ten upgrade crystals. There were too many people he wanted to protect now, and the only way forward was to grow stronger himself.

Only by becoming stronger could he ensure that those he wanted to protect would survive.

There was nothing complicated about using the upgrade crystals. All he had to do was put them in his mouth.

He swallowed one, and a warm current rose within him; he felt himself growing stronger. Without hesitation, he swallowed a second, then a third, until all ten were gone. At last, a qualitative change swept through him.

He had become a First-Tier Combatant. No one needed to tell him; it was as if he were born knowing it—everyone who swallowed ten upgrade crystals would understand.

A First-Tier Combatant’s overall abilities doubled. This was a true doubling of all attributes: strength, speed, endurance—everything.

If your punch used to have the force of 150 pounds, now it was 300. If you used to run a hundred meters in sixteen seconds, now you could do it in eight.

Moreover, Fang Xia had already taken a high-grade genetic enhancer, which had tripled all his physical abilities. Now, as a First-Tier Combatant, his strength was doubled again on top of that enhanced foundation.

The power was overwhelming. No wonder the top ten experts in his past life could so easily hold their positions. This strength was truly unmatched among peers.

Fang Xia began to look forward to other top-tier supply drops. Now that he had seized the initiative, he needed to find more as quickly as possible.

If he could find a suitable martial arts manual from one of those drops, he would truly have struck it rich. Even if he didn’t, a couple more high-level enhancers would suffice.

To advance from a First-Tier to a Second-Tier Combatant required a full hundred First-Tier upgrade crystals. That was no small number—conservatively, he would have to kill at least a thousand zombies.

Advancing further would require even more: a thousand First-Tier crystals or a hundred Second-Tier ones, but only Second-Tier zombies had a chance of dropping those.

Upgrade crystals had their own exchange rates. In his previous life, they became hard currency—everything was bought and sold with them.

One Second-Tier crystal equaled ten First-Tier crystals; the same pattern held for higher tiers. This value was based on their effects. But in practice, upgrading didn’t always follow that straightforward exchange.

An ordinary person could swallow ten First-Tier crystals to become a First-Tier Combatant, or just one Second-Tier crystal, but a Third-Tier crystal would kill them, their body unable to withstand it.

Likewise, a Third-Tier Combatant could use a hundred Third-Tier crystals or a thousand Second-Tier crystals to upgrade, but First-Tier crystals would have almost no effect—maybe if you swallowed a hundred thousand, you might get somewhere.

So, in the later stages, lower-tier crystals were mostly used as currency, while higher-tier ones remained precious and rare.

Second-Tier zombies wouldn’t appear for another month. For now, Fang Xia was effectively invincible. With sixfold enhancement to all attributes, he no longer needed to worry about being outnumbered.

Feeling elated, Fang Xia opened a bottle of beer. Outside, the occasional strange sound drifted in—perhaps some unfortunate soul had exposed their location and drawn the zombie horde to their door.

Living on a high floor had its advantages—even if the zombies broke into the hotel, it would be difficult for them to climb so high.

He sipped his beer and opened a pack of spicy peanuts. Life, for the moment, was good.

Suddenly, the door opened, and Bai Xing walked out, wearing Fang Xia’s oversized clothes.

“Aren’t you going to sleep?” she asked.

By candlelight, she looked even more hazy and beautiful, and with her half-coquettish tone, Fang Xia almost lost his composure.

“I’ve had enough sleep. I need to plan tomorrow’s route. If you’re hungry or thirsty, help yourself. There’s no need to be so reserved here—I’m not a cold person.”

Bai Xing sat down beside him. Fang Xia didn’t look at her, just continued drinking his beer and eating peanuts, quietly gazing out the window.

The two of them sat in silence. Bai Xing wasn’t sure whether to feel happy or disappointed. Happy, because even after lying next to him and holding him, Fang Xia hadn’t touched her—clearly, he wasn’t like Yang Li. Disappointed, because she’d practically thrown herself at him, and he still hadn’t made a move. Did he simply not like her type?

As Bai Xing’s mind wandered in circles, Fang Xia quietly listened to her thoughts. Neither of them spoke.

Strangely, even in silence, Bai Xing felt an overwhelming sense of safety enveloping her.

She studied Fang Xia, finding him more and more mysterious. The careful, composed man from the day now had a hint of weariness on his face, and the faintest trace of sadness at his eyes—eyes that seemed to have seen too much.

He was only twenty-one, yet he carried the world-weariness of a man twice his age.

"Can I have some beer?" Bai Xing finally broke the silence.

Fang Xia opened another bottle and handed it to her, pushing the peanuts in her direction.

"Thank you—for saving me. Twice."

"Twice?" Fang Xia looked at her.

“The first time, you took me with you. If I’d been on my own, who knows how long I would have survived—maybe I’d have starved, or been eaten by zombies. And then, when those men tried to tear me apart, you didn’t abandon me. You killed Yang Li, and avenged Xiao Tian for me, too.”

Fang Xia took a long swig, then turned to Bai Xing.

“Once I decided to bring you along, I was never going to leave you behind.”

Only Fang Xia himself knew the real reason: he felt indebted to her, for he’d taken the supply drop that ought to have belonged to Bai Xing.