Chapter 30: The Venomous Demon Spider

These people had watched the battle outside by moonlight last night. Although the stronger one wasn’t An Ziheng, An Ziheng owned three large dogs—dogs that had mutated and become incredibly fierce. Plus, An Ziheng had spent the entire night helping everyone, so they had come to believe he would stay and protect them. None of them expected that he would actually want to leave now.

How could they possibly accept that?

An Ziheng understood their fear, but he knew he had to go. He was no saint, and just because he had a hero system didn’t mean he was obligated to protect everyone. Most importantly, his parents were still out there in danger. If it hadn’t been so perilous at night, he wouldn’t even have stayed yesterday.

He also thought of Xu Qian and spoke up, “Those monsters outside aren’t as strong as you think. Even a woman could hack one to death with a kitchen knife. You can go home, get weapons, and kill them. Besides, their flesh contains energy—eating it will make you stronger.”

“What? You want us to eat monsters?”

“They eat people! Who would dare eat them?” the others protested fiercely.

“You can leave, but what about your dogs? Can you leave them here? I’ll give you a hundred thousand,” said a man wearing a Rolex.

At those words, An Ziheng’s face turned cold.

“I’m done talking. I’m leaving now. Take whatever you want here. You can even eat this serpent demon—if you do, you’ll get stronger. Believe it or not, that’s up to you.”

He turned and walked away.

March and April, who had already eaten the serpent demon’s flesh, were both clever; they immediately followed An Ziheng.

The man with the Rolex scowled, raising his voice. “I’ll give you a million! You can have my apartment on the second floor as well! This place is rented, right? Do you know how much property costs here? It’s worth millions—aren’t you making a fortune off the war? What’s one dog?”

An Ziheng’s expression darkened further.

“My dogs are worth more than people like you. Stop dreaming—do you really think the world will ever go back to the way it was? Money is just paper now, and property is worthless. Someone like you isn’t even worthy of shining my shoes in the world to come.”

He sneered. He knew exactly who the man was—he kept a mistress, a rather beautiful woman, on the second floor, having bought her an apartment here and visiting often. Even now, the man thought money could buy everything. Pathetic.

After years of living in comfort, people like him would probably have a harder time surviving the apocalypse than ordinary folk.

Thinking this, An Ziheng realized it wasn’t worth being upset with someone like that. There was a stronger opponent waiting for him downstairs.

With his two cats in tow, An Ziheng turned and left.

After the neighbors’ demands for meat, and the rich man’s outrageous requests, An Ziheng began to wonder if, in this apocalypse, it was time to put away any excess compassion.

Their argument had been overheard word for word by Qin Hao downstairs—after all, he had bat-like hearing now, making every sound much clearer.

“I’ll go with you,” Xu Qian said.

She had just dug a grave in the lawn of the complex and buried her child, carrying nothing but a longevity lock and a dagger. Alone, but exuding a murderous aura.

Qin Hao did not object.

It was just on the way—he wouldn’t slow his pace for anyone who couldn’t keep up.

“You’ll guide us,” Qin Hao said, taking out the liquid metal device. With a thought, it transformed into an RV.

Xu Qian’s eyes widened—her entire worldview seemed to crumble.

Even An Ziheng was stunned.

“What is this? Alien technology? Did the Peace Alliance give it to you?” An Ziheng pressed.

“Get in,” Qin Hao said.

An Ziheng hurried aboard. Xu Qian followed, and soon the three giant dogs and two cats filled the RV.

“Give directions,” Qin Hao ordered.

“We can’t drive outside…” An Ziheng started, only to see the vehicle lift off, hovering above the ground and gliding smoothly out of the complex onto the street.

After a day of catastrophe, the entire city lay shrouded in darkness, the air thick with the stench of burning. In the past, citizens might have cursed the high PM2.5 levels, blamed the city’s rapid development at the expense of the environment, or complained about garbage and pollution.

But now, no one cared about those things. All anyone wanted was to avoid being discovered by monsters and simply survive.

The streets were silent, deserted—no more cries, only congealed blood and scattered human limbs everywhere.

The fanged demons and serpent demons were fewer now, but no one knew when one might appear and deal a fatal blow.

The sudden appearance of a flying vehicle was like dropping a stone into a still pond, sending ripples everywhere.

Sensing the hero’s presence, the fanged demons and serpent demons began to chase madly, but they couldn’t keep up and were soon left far behind.

After all, this vehicle was transformed from a divine-level artifact.

Qin Hao knew nothing about this city, nor did he need to—he simply used the mission system to locate the serpent demon. To find people, though, he needed An Ziheng’s guidance.

In An Ziheng’s memory, because of the city’s traffic, the journey should have taken at least two hours—four times longer than his trip back from the pet park. Even with stronger pets, he doubted it would be easy.

But now, the road was utterly clear. They reached their destination in only fifteen minutes.

It was proof enough of the speed of Qin Hao’s machine.

They had barely arrived when a distant rumble echoed from a nearby supermarket.

An Ziheng’s expression changed.

There was a large plaza in front of that supermarket, where people often strolled and exercised in the morning—a routine his parents kept.

He dared not imagine what might have happened.

At that moment, Qin Hao sensed something different in the air.

“Go home and check on your family. I’ll look over there.”

“No, let’s go there first!” An Ziheng insisted.

Qin Hao didn’t object. The vehicle turned, circled around a building, and they saw the familiar sign of a Carrefour supermarket.

In front of the store lay a huge square, now soaked in blood, with countless twisted corpses strewn about.

It was clear what kind of battle had taken place here the night before.

A chill settled in An Ziheng’s heart at the sight.

And yet, to their astonishment, there were still people moving in the square.

Not only that, but an overwhelming, oppressive aura filled the air.

This presence had appeared in the live broadcast two nights ago.

It was the Venomous Demon Spider.