Chapter 36: The Dual Core

9:21 a.m.

Ethan Carter stood outside Silvermont General Hospital.

To save time, he had avoided most of the zombies along the way. He only stopped to fight when he encountered mutated animals that might contain Cores. Unfortunately, the two stray cats and the crocodile he had come across had all been useless. None of them had produced a Core.

The sign reading FEVER CLINIC near the hospital entrance was half-covered in dried blood. The zombies scattered throughout the courtyard had long since rotted down to skeletons. Judging by the state of the building, plenty of survivors had already searched the hospital.

Ethan tightened his grip on his sword and pushed open the door to the outpatient building.

The entrance was a mess. Most of the colored glass in the doors and windows had been shattered. Medical records covered the floor, and the pharmacy’s rolling shutter had been bent out of shape. Inside, medicine shelves lay overturned, their contents long gone.

"The oxygen concentrators should be in the inpatient wing," Ethan muttered.

He moved through the building and followed the signs toward the inpatient department. The deeper he went, the worse the smell became. The remains of doctors, nurses, and patients lay scattered throughout the corridors. Their bodies had completely decomposed, leaving behind little more than bones and scraps of clothing. The stairwell reeked of formaldehyde and decay. The stench was so strong that it burned the inside of Ethan’s nose.

When he reached the third floor of the inpatient wing, the building fell unnaturally quiet.

Ethan moved close to the wall, keeping his steps light. Most of the ward doors stood open. The hospital beds inside were empty, and the rooms had already been searched. Only one bed near a window still held a body covered by a white sheet. The shape beneath it was badly distorted. Ethan glanced at it but didn’t approach.

His attention shifted to the nurses’ station at the far end of the corridor. Two silver-gray oxygen concentrators sat behind the counter. Their tubes were still attached to the oxygen outlets, as if the nurses had abandoned them in a hurry.

Ethan walked over and stored both machines inside his Survival Space.

A sharp click suddenly echoed from the end of the hallway. It sounded like bone scraping across the floor. Ethan’s body tensed. He drew his sword and held it horizontally in front of his chest.

The sound came closer. Then came another noise, a slow, grating scrape-scrape as something dragged its fingernails along the wall.

Ethan stepped sideways into a nearby ward and watched through the narrow gap between the door and the frame.

A skeletal figure emerged from the darkness. Its limbs were unnaturally long and thin, almost like bamboo poles. Its skin clung tightly to its bones, revealing dark blue veins beneath its gray flesh. But its fingertips were the most disturbing part. They gleamed with a metallic sheen. Every time the claws dragged across the wall, they left thin white scratches behind.

Ethan’s eyes narrowed. "A Speed Zombie?"

The creature’s body resembled the Speed Zombies he had encountered before. However, the metal-like tips of its fingers suggested that this one possessed another ability.

Before Ethan could examine it further, the zombie suddenly turned its head. Its empty eye sockets faced the ward. The next second, it lunged forward. It moved like a streak of gray lightning. The force of its charge sent loose papers flying through the gap beneath the door.

Bang!

The zombie smashed into the ward door, leaving a deep dent in the wood. Ethan used the impact to push himself backward while activating Spatial Cut. A thin white arc flashed toward the zombie’s rear leg.

Clang!

The attack struck the creature but failed to cut through. A gray-white shell had spread across its leg. The place where Spatial Cut had landed bore only a shallow mark, resembling a cut in old tree bark.

Ethan’s expression darkened. "Hardening Ability?"

This zombie had awakened two abilities. Speed and Hardening.

Instead of teleporting away, Ethan remained in the ward. He wanted to see exactly how dangerous a dual-ability zombie could be. The creature turned and charged the inner door. The wooden frame groaned under the impact. It wouldn’t hold for much longer.

The ward was small, containing only a hospital bed, a bedside table, and a heavy iron IV stand. The window had been sealed with welded bars, leaving Ethan no easy escape route. His eyes settled on the IV stand. An idea formed.

The moment the zombie smashed through the door, Ethan kicked the heavy stand toward it. The creature couldn’t stop its momentum. Its leg struck the stand, and it stumbled forward. The opening lasted less than a second. That was enough.

Ethan moved around its side and quickly studied its body. The hardened shell covered most of its limbs, but its joints remained exposed. The skin around its elbow was still blue-gray and soft.

Ethan’s eyes sharpened. "Now."

He concentrated all his strength into Spatial Cut. A narrow white blade formed at his fingertips and struck the zombie’s elbow joint with perfect precision. This time, there was no metallic clang. Only the wet sound of flesh being severed. The zombie’s right arm dropped to the floor. Black blood splattered across the wall.

The creature released a piercing roar. Its remaining hand shot toward Ethan’s throat, its metal-tipped fingers flashing dangerously. Ethan leaned away from the attack. The claws passed within inches of his neck. He immediately stepped in and swung his sword downward. The blade sliced through the unprotected skin beneath the zombie’s jaw and sank deep into its cervical vertebrae. Ethan gritted his teeth and drove the sword upward. The tip burst through the top of the zombie’s skull.

The creature convulsed twice. Then it collapsed.

Ethan backed away, breathing heavily. Cold sweat soaked through his shirt. If he had reacted even half a second slower, those metal claws would have torn open his throat.

He waited a moment before approaching the corpse. With a sharp pull, he freed his sword from the skull. Something rolled out and struck the floor. A Core. It was roughly the size of a pigeon’s egg. One half was silver-white, resembling metal, while the other was blue-gray, matching the hardened skin of the zombie. The two colors slowly swirled inside the Core, giving off a strange, shifting glow.

Ethan crouched and picked it up. "Evolved Zombies have Cores too?" He wiped the blood from the Core with a piece of cloth and stored it in his Survival Space. The energy inside was noticeably stronger than the Core he had obtained from the mutant dog earlier.

Daisy’s gift cooldown had also just ended. This Core might be enough to trigger another reward. If her Spiritual Power range increased, the underground casino would become much safer.

Ethan didn’t leave the hospital immediately. He searched several more wards and eventually found an unopened first-aid kit in the last room at the end of the corridor. Inside were bottles of antiseptic and several rolls of bandages. He had just stored the kit in his Survival Space when several dark shapes flashed past the window. Sharp, harsh cries followed.

"Caw! Caw!"

Ethan rushed to the window. Three mutant crows had landed on the roof of the building opposite the hospital. Their wingspans were nearly a meter wide, and small bone spurs lined the edges of their wings. The spurs glinted in the morning sunlight. One of the crows tilted its head toward Ethan. Its yellow eyes held a disturbing, predatory hunger.

"Just my luck," Ethan muttered.

He had already fought the dual-ability zombie, and his Space Teleportation Ability had not fully recovered. He had no desire to waste more energy on three birds. He turned toward the door. The crows suddenly spread their wings and dived.

Ethan stepped back just as the first one swept past him. A bone spur grazed his shoulder, slicing through his clothes and leaving a thin line of blood. The wound wasn’t deep, but the pain was sharp. Ethan swung his sword. He missed the first crow’s neck, but the blade severed both of its wings. The bird crashed to the floor.

The other two crows shrieked and tried to retreat. Ethan moved before they could escape. He cut through the wings of the second crow, then used the remaining energy in his body to activate Spatial Cut. A white flash crossed the room. The third crow was sliced cleanly in half.

Ethan went downstairs and searched the heads of all three birds. There were no Cores. With nothing else to gain, he left the hospital.

On the street corner, he spotted a maternity and baby store. Ethan stepped inside. The shop had already been searched, but several packages of infant clothing remained scattered among the shelves. After digging through a collapsed display, he found a sealed box containing twelve cans of infant formula. His eyes brightened.

"This is perfect. Nina won’t have to worry about running out of food."

He stored the formula in his Survival Space. With more infant food secured, he could also use the Healing Essence without worrying about exhausting Nina’s supply. Ethan’s consciousness swept over the two oxygen concentrators inside his Survival Space. With those machines, he could begin replenishing the air inside the space. He still couldn’t grow crops there, but at least he would be able to remain inside for longer if he ran into serious danger.

As Ethan stepped out of the store, a faint rustling sound came from behind him. He turned sharply. The street corner was empty. Only broken glass, weeds, and abandoned vehicles remained.

Was that my imagination?

Ethan frowned and tightened his grip on his sword. His instincts told him otherwise. Something had been there. There might even be an Evolved Zombie nearby. He didn’t stay to investigate. Instead, he prepared to lock onto his Space Anchor Point and teleport back to the underground casino.

But when his consciousness brushed against the dual-ability Core inside his Survival Space, he stopped. An idea had suddenly occurred to him. He abandoned the plan to use Space Anchor Point and started walking toward the underground casino instead. He had just thought of a way to give Daisy the Core and trigger her Bonus Drop.

Shortly after Ethan disappeared down the road, a mutant viper slowly emerged from beneath a pile of rubble at the street corner. Its body was as thick as a large bowl. Its crimson eyes remained fixed on the direction Ethan had taken. A cold, vicious hunger burned in its gaze.