Chapter 6 - 4: A Sudden Mutation

Chapter 6: Chapter 4: A Sudden Mutation

The moment the skinny old lady lifted her right foot, lost her balance, and tilted to the right, Xia Yu moved. All the strength in her body erupted in an instant.

In that instant, her speed was no less than her opponent’s.

The two were already close. They rushed toward each other, meeting in the blink of an eye.

Xia Yu abruptly sidestepped to the right. She was betting that the skinny old lady would instinctively attack with her right hand first.

If a human was right-handed before becoming a Mutant, they would subconsciously follow that habit even after turning.

Just as she’d expected.

The skinny old lady instinctively swung her right hand but found she couldn’t reach Xia Yu. Her body was still tilting to the right, so she could only stretch out her left hand as well.

But in that moment of hesitation, she had lost the initiative.

RIP.

Her sharp nails only managed to tear a deep gash across the down jacket on Xia Yu’s chest, ripping through the sweatshirt and undershirt beneath, faintly revealing a white bra.

THUD.

At the same time, Xia Yu swung the safety hammer in her hand, once again striking the shattered spot on the back of the old lady’s head.

This time, she felt much less resistance. Most of the hammer sank into the skull.

The skinny old lady’s whole body trembled.

She collapsed to the ground on the spot.

And stopped moving.

"Huuuh."

Xia Yu let out a heavy breath.

’So this is a Mutant. They’re too powerful, far beyond ordinary people.’

’Even with the element of surprise, it took so much effort to kill one.’

’What chance would anyone else have?!’

...

...

While Xia Yu was dealing with the old woman,

Le Fan seized the opportunity to open a window and swiftly climbed out.

"Ah! Help me... Stay back..."

The pink-haired girl held a box cutter, pointing it at the bus driver. She was trembling violently but didn’t run.

Behind her, the pregnant woman and Ye Qing turned and fled without hesitation.

"ROAR."

BANG.

CRACK.

The three sounds rang out almost simultaneously.

The bus driver shot forward like a cannonball, sending the pink-haired girl flying.

The pink-haired girl slammed hard against the bus’s windshield. A dense web of cracks spread across the once-intact glass, and her body was embedded in it.

She looked like prey caught in a spider’s web.

The bus shuddered violently.

Her face contorted in pain, the pink-haired girl tried to scream, but as soon as she opened her mouth, a gout of blood shot out with a SPURT.

If someone had been standing in front of the bus, they would have clearly seen shards of broken glass completely embedded in the back of the pink-haired girl’s head.

Blood flowed freely.

Her pink hair was dyed red.

"ROAR."

The bus driver was about to pounce and feed, but it noticed Ye Qing and the pregnant woman shoving each other, fighting to escape through a window.

"Get out of my way."

Ye Qing reacted quickly. She shoved the pregnant woman toward the monster while leaning her own body out of the window.

And then...

SQUELCH.

The sound of flesh being torn rang out.

Her body hung limply over the windowsill, twitching uncontrollably.

Her upper body was outside the window, her lower body inside.

Her back, right over her heart, was gouged out.

Her eyes were vacant and unfocused, yet filled with a desperate desire to live. But when she heard the chewing sounds behind her, her face filled with despair.

’Am I going to die?’

She felt the pregnant woman’s screams growing more and more distant.

’Why didn’t that damned monster kill the pregnant woman first? Why did it have to kill me?’

’Why!’

’Why!’

Her consciousness faded into darkness, then fell silent.

As for the pregnant woman...

She, too, was unable to escape the bus driver’s deadly grasp. Her neck was snapped like a toy.

A full 180 degrees.

The screaming stopped abruptly.

Xia Yu, having just killed the old woman, happened to see this scene unfold.

SWISH.

Her gaze turned cold. She spun around, flicked her wrist, and sent the safety hammer flying.

CRACK.

It slammed precisely into the bus driver’s skull.

Unfortunately.

The creature had sensed the threat of death and tilted its head slightly. The safety hammer gouged a deep pit in its left temple.

It staggered. Before it could regain its footing, Xia Yu had already kicked out, striking the safety hammer dead-on.

CRUNCH.

The safety hammer drove deeper into the bus driver’s left temple.

With a shriek, the bus driver stumbled back two steps, tripped over a body on the ground, and fell backward with a THUD.

’An opportunity!’

Xia Yu’s eyes narrowed, and she was just about to charge forward.

"Ah."

"Die!"

The pink-haired girl, enduring the immense pain, tore herself free from the windshield. Her hair was matted with glass shards, her scalp nearly peeled off, but she ignored it all. Gripping the box cutter with both hands, she plunged it straight down into the forehead of the Mutant as it tried to get up.

She was smart and very observant. She had noticed that Xia Yu kept attacking the monster’s head, often killing it with a single blow, so she did the same.

"ROAR."

The bus driver let out a roar.

It still wasn’t dead!

However, it was critically wounded and struggled feebly.

Xia Yu didn’t intervene. This Mutant was sure to die and posed no further threat. She gave the pink-haired girl a surprised look.

’I thought I’d be seriously injured in this fight, but I never expected it to end like this.’

’Humans truly are a species with immense potential. They can often unleash terrifying power in desperate situations.’

Ten years into the Apocalypse, facing invasions from countless creatures from a Different Dimension Space, humanity not only avoided extinction but carved out its own place, becoming a force that could not be ignored.

Then, she sensed a large amount of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Power gathering at the pink-haired girl’s wounds, repairing them rapidly. ’This... her natural physical talent is at least at the Upper Middle level of all Spiritual Transformers. At this rate... she’s not going to die!’

’If this woman lives, how am I going to explain my situation to the authorities?’

’Tell the truth?’

’No.’

Having been reborn into this life, Xia Yu trusted no one.

’If I’m the only one left alive, can’t I just make up any story I want about what happened here?’

She pulled out her safety hammer and walked over.

SQUELCH.

CRUNCH.

She smashed it down without hesitation. The sounds of tearing flesh and cracking bone rang out simultaneously.

"What... what are you doing?"

The pink-haired girl watched in shock, fear, and utter confusion as Xia Yu smashed through the foreheads of the other passengers.

"Just in case."

Xia Yu said calmly.

Corpses could also turn into Mutants. It was a bizarre phenomenon that hadn’t been explained even after ten years of the Apocalypse, but it was common knowledge, so of course she knew.

So...

She continued her work.

The pink-haired girl said no more, simply turning her head away. She was extremely weak and severely injured; she couldn’t worry about anything else.

She pulled the box cutter from the bus driver’s forehead, muttering ’I’m sorry,’ but was stunned to see that no blood flowed out. Her eyes went wide.

"That’s a good quality box cutter."

Xia Yu remarked nonchalantly, then turned and opened the bus door. As she walked toward the bodies of Zhao Shuang and the others, safety hammer in hand, she considered how to handle the aftermath.

’For now, the only way to explain everything is to say I secretly practice martial arts, am extremely observant, and like watching zombie movies.’

Just as she was about to look for the body of the flat-topped fitness guy, a scream rang out.

Xia Yu decisively rushed toward the sound.

Following the sound into the white mist, she saw two figures tangled together. Le Fan noticed Xia Yu’s arrival. Ignoring his own injuries, he summoned a burst of vicious strength, locking his arms tightly around the Mutant’s neck. He yelled, "Do it, kill it! Kill it!"

’Even if I die, I’m taking it with me!’

CRACK.

Xia Yu had always been decisive. With a single strike, she shattered the creature’s skull.

Feeling the monster on top of him go still, Le Fan let out a huge sigh of relief as his consciousness began to fade.

"You’re not going to make it."

Looking at his condition, especially the large chunk of flesh missing from his carotid artery, with the blood vessel exposed and gushing blood, Xia Yu spoke.

Even with the pink-haired girl’s speed of absorbing Heaven and Earth Spiritual Power, he wouldn’t survive.

"If I’d known... I... I wouldn’t have gotten off the bus... I... I still haven’t gotten... gotten your number..."

As he spoke, Le Fan went still, his body twitching unconsciously.

Xia Yu stepped forward and brought the safety hammer down hard.

Back inside the bus.

A chewing sound could be heard.

The pink-haired girl was drowsy and her mind was fuzzy. The chewing sound was faint, so she didn’t notice it at first.

At a certain moment,

The chewing stopped, followed by a sound like pigskin being sliced open.

She vaguely saw the pregnant woman’s stomach moving. She froze for a moment, then saw a palm-sized, skin-and-bones ’infant’ with an indistinct face tear through the down jacket and come into view.

Her heart suddenly lurched in terror!

The pink-haired girl was instantly wide awake and was about to scream for help.

WHOOSH.

The infant had already latched onto her face...