Chapter 5 Sigh

“Click.”

墨初’s movement froze for a split second. She immediately held her breath.

From outside the door came another faint rustling sound—something sharp and restless scraping against the surface again and again, irregular yet persistent.

She knew that sound too well.

It was the unmistakable noise of a zombie’s claws dragging across metal or wood.

There was a zombie outside.

But it didn’t seem to have noticed anyone inside the warehouse yet. If it had, it wouldn’t be idly scratching—it would already be attacking the door directly, trying to break in.

This was probably just an accidental encounter. A passing presence. A mindless wandering.

But 墨初 couldn’t let it continue.

In the dead silence of the night, even the slightest sound could attract the ravenous undead from the early days of the apocalypse. One zombie might draw more. And once a small group gathered… they wouldn’t leave on their own unless something forced them away.

If she let it go on, it wouldn’t be long before a whole swarm surrounded the warehouse.

And then it would be a deadlock—her, a useless first-tier healer, and 厉沉, whose life or death was still uncertain… both trapped inside with no way out.

Dealing with one zombie was manageable.

Dealing with a horde was suicide.

She chose quickly.

One zombie.

Not a group.

墨初 glanced once more at 厉沉.

Without making a sound, she picked up the dagger she had set aside, then pulled out the remaining rope she had used earlier. She tied one end around her waist, climbed onto a folding ladder placed against the wall, and pushed open a small top window—barely large enough for one person to squeeze through. She secured the other end of the rope to the window frame.

Her movement had already alerted the zombie outside.

But she didn’t give it time to howl and summon others.

She dropped straight down from the two-meter-high window.

Her knee slammed into its neck with brutal precision.

At the same moment, she drove the dagger cleanly through its skull.

A hard object met the blade.

墨初’s wrist twisted slightly—and she hooked out a translucent crystal from the back of its head.

A crystal core.

Her luck wasn’t bad this time.

She pocketed it, then stood up—

—and immediately staggered.

Pain flared sharply in her knee.

She rolled up her pant leg. The kneecap she had used to crush the zombie’s neck was already swollen red. The impact had been far too forceful; it looked like it might swell even further.

She let out a faint, bitter laugh.

Coming back from the sixth year of the apocalypse… she had grown used to a body at peak sixth-tier strength. Her combat instincts were still there, but her current physical body simply couldn’t keep up.

If she had her old strength, that single strike would have snapped the zombie’s neck cleanly.

Instead, she had only injured herself—and still needed a second strike to finish it.

She lowered her pant leg, steadied herself, and climbed back up the rope into the warehouse, sealing the window behind her.

But in the short time she was gone—

厉沉’s condition had worsened.

His face had taken on a faint greenish hue, already approaching the color of the undead. His fingernails had lengthened visibly, darkening into a dull gray—becoming more and more like a zombie’s.

墨初 instinctively activated her ability.

A faint blue glow gathered in her palm and pressed into his body.

But it sank in like a stone dropped into the ocean—no reaction, no response.

Only then did she remember.

She was no longer the “Doctor 墨” who could save anyone with a single hand.

She was useless.

She withdrew her hand.

Then, silently, she forced herself to think.

Even in her previous life, 厉沉 had survived when he was completely alone. Whatever he endured then… must have been far worse than what she was seeing now.

He would survive.

He had to.

She closed her eyes briefly, then pulled out the two crystal cores.

Absorbing zombie cores was the key to evolution.

In her past life, there had been a theory: humans and zombies were both infected beings. The difference was that zombies were defeated by the virus, while awakened humans defeated it instead.

Zombies evolved by consuming flesh—even their own kind.

Humans evolved by absorbing crystal cores.

The two paths were fundamentally similar.

Whether the theory was true or not, one thing was certain:

Crystal cores were the only way for humans to level up.

In the earliest days of the apocalypse, advancing from first tier to second tier was easy—four to six cores were usually enough.

But “easy” was relative.

To seasoned survivors, it was simple. For those who still panicked at the sight of a zombie and instinctively ran… it was anything but.

And not every zombie even had a core.

Worse, absorption carried the risk of re-infection.

In her past life, it had taken her half a year after the apocalypse began before she ever obtained her first crystal core.

This time, she could be faster.

Much faster.

She had six extra years of experience.

She could reach tier three quickly.

She could break the cycle she had once been trapped in.

Even if she was still “useless,” she could still become a fighter.

Her gaze sharpened.

She absorbed one of the cores.

A surge of icy energy flooded into her palm and rushed into her body—so cold it felt like it was freezing her blood. Frost began forming on her skin.

Inside her, something strange stirred.

She felt her strength rising… and at the same time, something deeper and more dangerous seemed to awaken—something whispering that if she surrendered to the power, it would break free, consume her body, and erase her soul.

This sensation was familiar to her.

But foreign to this body.

She tried to pull her mind back.

But the core’s energy was like an abyss pulling her downward, whispering endlessly:

“Jump in… and you’ll have infinite power.”

“Jump in.”

“Jump in.”

But she knew what waited below.

An eternal abyss.

She forced herself back—painfully, step by step—dragging her consciousness out of that seductive pull.

When she finally opened her eyes again, only seconds felt like they had passed in her mind.

But in reality—

Half an hour had gone by.

No wonder people said the first absorption of a crystal core was no different from being infected again.

Her body was drenched in sweat, yet inside she was ice-cold.

She glanced at the clock.

Half an hour.

She exhaled slowly.

Even she—someone who had reached tier six in her past life and was already familiar with this process—had nearly lost herself.

No wonder her first time back then… she had blacked out entirely after absorbing a core. She didn’t even know how she survived it.

So that’s how dangerous it really was.

She set the remaining core aside.

One was her limit for today.

If she pushed further, before 厉沉 even stabilized… she might turn into a zombie first.

She sat beside him until dawn, only resting briefly in between.

When morning came, his fever still hadn’t broken.

This had already exceeded the normal awakening window.

Ordinary infected humans either evolved or turned within a night.

But his condition continued to fluctuate—zombie traits appearing, then fading, over and over.

At its worst, his entire skin turned a corpse-like gray. At its best, it briefly returned to normal.

墨初 could almost see him fighting at the edge of the abyss.

After sunrise, she fed him the last half bottle of water she had found.

He clenched his teeth tightly in pain, but even unconscious, he seemed to restrain himself—refusing to make a sound, as if afraid even in delirium of attracting zombies.

At first, his jaw was too tight to feed him.

But the moment water touched his lips, he instinctively relaxed slightly, letting her in.

When she finished, she felt a little relief.

At least he still wanted to live.

That was enough.

Because after this, they had nothing left.

No supplies.

No water.

Only her.

And him.

She wrapped him in a thin blanket, tied it tightly around him, picked up her dagger, and prepared to leave.

She had to find supplies.

Leaving him alone wasn’t safe.

But staying meant starving together.

She had no choice.

She turned—

And suddenly, a hand grabbed her wrist.

Tight.

Very tight.

墨初 startled and turned back immediately.

“厉沉?”

But he didn’t respond.

His face was still flushed with fever, eyes shut, unconscious.

She tried to pry his hand open—but the grip only tightened.

Even in this state, he clung to her with stubborn, almost desperate strength.

“…” She looked at his hand, confused.

Then, slowly, something clicked.

She leaned closer and said softly, “厉沉… I’m going out to find food. I’ll be back soon.”

His grip loosened slightly.

Just a little.

She hesitated, then added in an even lower voice, “I won’t abandon you.”

Something firm settled into her tone—quiet, but undeniable.

This time, his hand slowly… gradually… released her.

Only then did she move.

But she didn’t leave immediately.

She stood there, looking down at him, her expression complicated in a way even she didn’t fully understand.

And then—

She let out a very soft sigh.