Chapter 33: The Snake King

Five minutes later, inside the Survival Space, Ethan’s dizziness had completely disappeared.

He started the generator.

Light flooded the enclosed space, driving away the darkness. The women’s tense expressions eased almost immediately.

"I’m going outside to check the situation," Ethan said. "Stay here and wait for me."

He picked up his sword, focused his mind, and returned to the guardhouse.

A faint, sickly-sweet smell lingered in the air. It came from the Vipers rubbing their scales against the metal walls.

Ethan had barely steadied himself when a rustling sound came from beneath his feet.

A Viper as thick as a bowl raised its head from behind a pile of debris. Its forked tongue flicked between its jaws, and its dark-blue fangs glistened.

Ethan’s pupils narrowed.

He activated Spatial Cut.

A flash of white light swept through the air, severing the Viper at its vital point. Its body twitched twice before going still.

Ethan crouched down and reached for the snake’s head.

Then a deafening explosion came from behind him.

Boom!

The entire villa seemed to shake. The ground trembled violently beneath his feet.

Ethan turned.

His blood ran cold.

The roof of Villa 18 had been torn apart from the inside. Reinforced concrete peeled away as if it were nothing more than thin cardboard. A massive snake’s head emerged from the wreckage.

Its body was as thick as a water tank. Dark-brown scales covered its enormous frame, each one thicker than a steel plate and nearly the size of a human palm. Their edges shimmered with a metallic sheen. Two vertical pupils, each as large as a lantern, fixed themselves on Ethan. The snake’s forked tongue slid from its mouth. It was nearly two meters long. When it swept across the broken wall, the bricks instantly corroded, collapsing into honeycomb-like holes.

Ethan’s heart hammered against his ribs.

The Snake King.

Steel bars were wrapped around the creature’s neck. The recent tremors had not been caused by the Viper Swarm alone. The Snake King had been breaking free. But its attention was fixed on the Viper Ethan had just killed.

Run.

That was the only thought in Ethan’s mind.

He turned and sprinted.

The Snake King was still trapped beneath the wreckage of Villa 18. For the moment, the debris prevented it from pursuing him. That was Ethan’s only advantage.

He had barely covered thirty meters when a sharp hiss came from behind. A stream of foul, sweet-smelling vapor shot past his left shoulder and struck a cypress tree nearby. The tree withered in an instant. Its trunk blackened, and the bark peeled away like ash.

Ethan’s left shoulder began to go numb. It felt as though a layer of sticky liquid had been smeared across his skin. He did not dare look back. He pushed himself harder and kept running.

After a while, the Snake King seemed to lose interest in him. The hissing behind him gradually changed into a series of heavy crashes. The creature was concentrating on freeing itself from the remains of the villa.

Ethan ran for nearly two kilometers without stopping. He finally ducked behind an abandoned gas station, making sure the villa district was no longer visible. Leaning against a fuel pump, he struggled to catch his breath.

The numbness in his shoulder had not faded. He looked down and saw a layer of pale-green slime coating his clothes. It was slowly eating through the fabric. Ethan immediately stripped off the contaminated clothing and threw it aside. Then he took out a wet towel and carefully wiped the remaining slime from his arm. Once the residue was gone, the numbness began to ease.

He failed to notice the faint fluorescent glow spreading across the spot where the slime had touched his skin. With every breath, the strange substance slowly seeped deeper into his arm, leaving behind a hidden mark.

Ethan focused his mind. The others appeared beside him.

Debbie had barely regained her balance when she looked toward the distant villa district. A gigantic snake’s head was slowly rising above the rooftops.

"What is that?" Sofia covered her mouth, her eyes wide with fear.

"The Snake King," Ethan said, his voice still unsteady. "It’s at least ten meters tall. I almost became its next meal."

Everyone turned toward the villa district. The enormous snake head swayed above the buildings. A short while later, a series of screams and furious roars echoed from the same direction. Then everything went quiet. The Snake King had likely wiped out every zombie and mutant animal in the area.

"We were lucky to get out," Rose said, gripping Sofia’s hand.

"We need to leave before it expands its territory," Ethan replied. He pointed toward the distant national highway. "We’re heading that way. We’ll find somewhere else to settle down."

They had not gone far when several survivors rushed past them. All of them were fleeing from the direction of the villa district. Their faces were pale, and fear showed in every hurried step.

Sofia glanced around. "I haven’t seen this many survivors running together since the Apocalypse began."

Ethan tightened his grip on his sword. "Where there are crowds, there is usually trouble."

He had barely finished speaking when three ordinary zombies stumbled out from an intersection ahead. They blocked the middle of the road. Ethan did not slow down. He swung his sword horizontally. Three flashes of white light cut through the air. The zombies’ heads fell almost simultaneously.

"Watch out!" Daisy suddenly shouted.

A two-meter-long mutant dog burst from the greenery on the right. Its jaws opened wide, revealing rows of sharp, pale teeth. Ethan shifted sideways to avoid the lunge. As the animal passed him, he brought his sword down on its skull. The mutant dog hit the ground and twitched. A grayish-white Core rolled from the split in its skull.

Ethan bent down to retrieve it. Before he could reach the Core, two men rushed out from the side of the road. Each held a steel pipe.

"Kid, leave the Core!"

Ethan looked at them without saying a word. His Metal Manipulation had been consumed during the fusion, but Spatial Cut remained. He glanced toward Debbie.

"Debbie, take Nina and turn around."

His voice was cold. The murderous intent left behind by his encounter with the Snake King still clung to him. Debbie immediately turned away and pulled Nina close.

Ethan flicked his fingers. A flash of white light passed through the air. Thin bloodlines appeared across the two men’s necks. Their heads rolled onto the road, their faces frozen in terror.

Ethan had learned something during the fight. When his Ability energy was full, he could use Spatial Cut five times consecutively. Once that energy was depleted, none of his spatial skills could be used. He needed to conserve it from now on.

Ethan picked up the mutant dog’s Core and stored it in the Survival Space.

---

They traveled another kilometer before finding an off-road vehicle parked beside the road. Its engine was still running. Near the open driver’s door, a male zombie and a female zombie were feeding on a headless corpse. Above them, a mutant owl flew into the distance with a human head clutched in its beak.

Ethan stepped forward. Two swift strikes ended the zombies. He then checked the vehicle’s fuel gauge and tested the engine. It started without a problem.

"Everyone, get in," he said. "Buckle up. We’ll cover more ground this way."

The off-road vehicle joined the national highway and continued forward for nearly half an hour. Along the way, two mutant crows swooped toward the vehicle. Sofia raised her hand and fired two sharp water arrows. The birds were struck midair and fell onto the road.

Later, the sound of the engine attracted more than a dozen ordinary zombies. They staggered into the road and formed a barrier. Ethan stopped the vehicle, got out, and dealt with them one by one.

He was turning back toward the car when Daisy suddenly shouted.

"Ethan, look out! Something is coming from the alley on your left!"

Ethan turned sharply. An elderly zombie rushed out of the alley. It moved far too quickly for an ordinary zombie. Its speed made it obvious that it had consumed a Core. Ethan sidestepped and swung his sword at its head.

Clang!

The blade struck the zombie’s skull and bounced away. The zombie did not even stagger.

"What the hell?" Ethan stared at it. "Your head’s harder than steel?"

The creature lunged again. Ethan kept moving, dodging its attacks while searching for a weakness. Nothing worked. Its body was fast, durable, and relentless. Finally, Ethan spotted an opening. He used a cheap but effective trick and struck the zombie where it hurt most. The attack worked. The zombie collapsed onto the road, twitching helplessly.

Inside the vehicle, the women stared in stunned silence. Then their faces turned bright red. Ethan ignored the struggling zombie, climbed back into the driver’s seat, and drove away.

---

As they continued, the number of survivors on the highway gradually decreased. Near the national highway, they encountered another group attempting to rob them. Ethan killed the attackers before they could get close. Not long afterward, he found a middle-aged man surrounded by zombies and helped him escape.

The off-road vehicle continued for another ten minutes before the engine sputtered. The fuel tank was empty. Everyone climbed out. Ethan placed the vehicle inside the Survival Space.

"Once we find fuel, we can use it again," he said.

Daisy looked ahead. "There’s a water station up there." She closed her eyes briefly and extended her Mental Ability. "I don’t sense any emotions inside."

The facility turned out to be a water treatment plant. Its iron gate was tightly shut, and the perimeter wall appeared to be in relatively good condition. Beyond it stood a two-story office building that looked secure enough for a temporary shelter.

"Let’s go in and rest," Ethan said.

He stepped toward the gate and forced it open. The group quickly entered the courtyard and shut the gate behind them.

None of them noticed the man standing on the roof of an abandoned residential building about a kilometer away. He held a pair of binoculars and had watched Ethan store the off-road vehicle inside the Survival Space. His eyes flickered with interest. When the gate of the water treatment plant closed, the man lowered the binoculars, turned around, and disappeared from the rooftop.