The Tier-2 zombie was finally enraged by Huan Tian. It suddenly dropped to the ground, and a massive crack split open beneath the Tier-2 Nightmare Crystal embedded in its back. Its entire spine stretched outward like a pair of bat wings unfolding. One by one, the ribs that had been hidden beneath flesh burst out through its back, transforming into sharp, bone-white blades.
Bang!
With a dull, explosive sound, the zombie's back muscles contracted violently. The first rib shot out like a launched projectile, spinning through the air like a deadly blade aimed straight at Huan Tian.
Huan Tian leapt to the side just in time. The sharp rib whizzed past the spot where he had stood an instant earlier and pierced straight through a rubber car tire resting on a nearby rack. If it had hit him, it would've impaled him clean through and nailed him to the wall.
"Damn it! It's a Special Mutated Variant!"
Special Mutated Variants—monstrous outliers among all zombie types, appearing at any stage—were the hardest to deal with. Their mutations were wildly unpredictable, with bizarre and lethal attack methods that weren't limited to any single organ or limb.
Ignoring the risk of worsening his chest injury, Huan Tian pushed off the ground and sprinted to the right at full speed. Behind him, a series of piercing whistles tore through the air.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Bone spikes shot after him one after another, each one spinning like a flying dagger. Their tremendous force blasted apart anything they struck—splintering crates, shattering metal, even punching deep into reinforced concrete walls.
Relying on sound alone to track the attacks, Huan Tian dodged and weaved like a shadow. He darted through the warehouse with the agility of a monkey, locked in a desperate race against death. Then—his ears twitched—he caught a subtle sound behind him.
Instantly, his sprint shifted into a slide. As his body dropped low, a bone spike screamed past just inches above his head, the sheer force of it sending a gust of wind that stung his eyes shut.
Thunk!
The spike slammed into the wall with a violent crunch. Still sliding, Huan Tian twisted his legs and planted his feet against the floor, skidding to a stop. Then, using the wall for leverage, he kicked off and grabbed hold of a bone spike embedded nearby. With a swift pivot, he flung himself behind a shelving unit, vanishing from sight.
"Raaaaghhh!"
The zombie let out a series of furious, primal howls, as if ready to tear the entire warehouse apart.
Seeing Huan Tian vanish behind the shelves, the Bone-Spike Zombie let out a furious roar. Its back muscles rapidly contracted, returning to their normal state, and it lunged toward the spot where Huan Tian had disappeared. But with half of its ribs now gone, its movements became noticeably sluggish. The coordination of its limbs began to falter, and its run degraded into a clumsy crawl on all fours.
Meanwhile, Huan Tian had circled the warehouse and finally reached the shelf where his Desert Eagle had fallen. He drew the weapon in one swift motion, turned, and fired two quick shots.
With its ribcage no longer providing defense or support, the zombie's chest was as vulnerable as raw flesh. The Nightmare ammunition detonated deep inside, maximizing its destructive effect. The blasts tore two gaping wounds the size of bowls into the zombie's torso, sending it crashing to the ground in a spray of blood and gore.
The Bone-Spike Zombie howled in rage, its back splitting open once again to fire more spikes—but Huan Tian had already anticipated this move. The moment he saw the zombie flare its back open, he turned and ran, leaving it to scream impotently behind him.
"So it's just a stationary turret... that makes things easier."
A cold gleam flickered in Huan Tian's eyes. With the warehouse packed full of shelves and debris, he had more than enough cover to drag this fight out. Once the zombie fired off all its ribs, it would be his turn to strike.
The zombie's howls grew increasingly hysterical as it realized Huan Tian had no intention of engaging it head-on. Every time it opened its back to attack, Huan Tian turned and walked away, giving it, at most, time to fire two spikes. That wasn't nearly enough to land a hit.
Eventually, Huan Tian even started slowing his pace deliberately, giving the zombie just enough time to expose its bone spikes before slipping out of range again.
Driven mad by frustration, the Bone-Spike Zombie's howls reached a crescendo. But then—suddenly—it froze. The killing intent in its eyes flickered into confusion. Its back had opened once again... but no bone spikes launched out.
It instinctively reached for its chest and finally realized: all of its ribs were gone.
At that same moment, Huan Tian's expression stiffened as well. He had just discovered that all three of his Desert Eagle magazines were empty!
There was no time to reload now.
ROAR—!
The zombie's furious bellow thundered through the warehouse, shaking the air. It rose to its feet and charged straight at Huan Tian, brandishing a fire axe high above its head. The steel blade glinted with a murderous, bone-chilling light as it came crashing down!
"I need to teach Lin Qingqing how to reload for me next time."
Huan Tian's cold gaze swept the area, searching for something—anything—that could kill this monster in a single blow.
But there was nothing. Not a single thing!
With a roar, the fire axe came crashing down. Huan Tian rolled to the side to evade, then twisted mid-motion and grabbed the Bone-Spike Zombie's ankle with both hands—his full strength erupting all at once.
Crack!
A sickening snap echoed as the zombie's ankle was forcibly dislocated by sheer brute force. Losing its balance, the monster toppled along with Huan Tian, both crashing to the ground in a tangled heap.
But Huan Tian's expression tightened—he had aimed to cripple the leg entirely, yet even with that strength, he had only managed to twist the ankle. The bones of a second-tier zombie were far tougher than he anticipated.
And that split-second delay was all it took.
A surge of wind screamed past his ear—Huan Tian jerked his head to the side just in time as the bloodstained fire axe slammed into the ground, its blade burying itself less than an inch from his nose.
Reacting instantly, Huan Tian kicked off the zombie's torso, flipping backward onto his feet. No sooner had he moved than the axe swept horizontally across the floor, carving a deep arc into the concrete, sparks flying.
The zombie, already hampered by the loss of its ribcage, now had a dislocated leg as well—it was completely unable to stand.
"ROAR! ROOOOAR!"
It let out maddened, unwilling howls and dragged itself forward, still swinging the fire axe with terrifying strength. Each blow slammed into the ground near Huan Tian's feet, forcing him to retreat step by step.
Then—suddenly—Huan Tian heard something behind him: the sound of heavy metal being dragged across the floor.
"Huan Tian, use this!"
The long-absent voice of Lin Qingya rang out. She appeared from behind a shelf, dragging something into view—a semi-new, lightweight chainsaw!
Huan Tian's eyes lit up. "Well done, Lin Qingqing!"
He snatched up the chainsaw and instantly noticed—the fuel tank was already filled to the brim. Lin Qingqing had prepared everything.
Vrrrrrr—VRRRRRR!!
With a sharp pull, the chainsaw roared to life, its rotating blade screaming through the air. The sound was like a beast unleashed—fierce, unstoppable.
Huan Tian gripped the handle tightly, the saw's cold gleam reflecting in his razor-sharp eyes.
Revving the chainsaw to full throttle, Huan Tian seized his chance—he stomped down hard on the Bone-Spike Zombie's right arm just as it swung the fire axe.
The moment the chainsaw touched flesh, blood and muscle exploded outward.
With a deafening roar, the zombie's entire arm was severed at the shoulder.
Without hesitation, Huan Tian brought the chainsaw down again—this time straight into the zombie's skull.
Splurt!
A fountain of blood burst into the air, drenching Huan Tian in crimson from head to toe. He looked like a man baptized in gore.
Lin Qingqing, despite mentally preparing herself, couldn't help but go pale at the sight. She stumbled back instinctively.
"Huan Tian, we—"
"Urgh!"
Huan Tian turned around, his face a mess of red and white. A fragment of a shattered skull had even landed on his shoulder.
Lin Qingqing instantly lost it. She dropped to her knees and started dry-heaving uncontrollably.
Huan Tian didn't even blink. He wiped the mess off his head with one hand and said casually,
"You did well today. But this is still nothing. You'll see far worse in the future."
"C-Can you please… just stop talking for a second? Let me breathe—urgh..."
Lin Qingqing clutched her chest, gasping as she pounded her sternum, then pulled out a water bottle and gulped it down desperately. It took ten full minutes before a hint of color returned to her face.
By then, Huan Tian had already cleaned himself up. Shirtless, he was crouched down, prying the second-tier Nightmare Crystal from the zombie's remains.
The brilliant shard gleamed in his gloved hand, glowing with a cold, haunting light even through the plastic bag.
[Ding! Tier-2 Zombie killed: 1. Demon Hunt Points gained: 10. Current total: 60.]
[Mission Complete. Reward: 5 cubic meters of survival storage. You may now bind the system to store items within.]
[Tier-2 Nightmare Crystal detected. Tier-2 Desert Eagle Nightmare Ammo can now be crafted at a 1:10 ratio. Proceed with crafting?]