33: First hunt, system initial activation

Chapter Thirty-Three: First Hunt, System Initiation

Lin Zhou crouched in the shadow of a gap in the fence, his back pressed tight against the mottled earthen wall, his eyes locked onto the hunched figure of a zombie in the yard.

Summer sunlight filtered through the sparse leaves, casting mottled patterns on the ground and illuminating the faded floral shirt on the zombie—clothes Grandma Li had worn most often when she was alive. This mutated body moved with a sluggishness bordering on clumsiness; with every step, its joints emitted a "creak-creak" friction sound, like rusted parts struggling to operate. Its arms hung limply at its sides, swaying, and its fingertips occasionally twitched open to reveal greenish-black nails. From time to time, it let out low, raspy roars into the air, voices devoid of any human breath.

Lin Zhou kept his breathing extremely light, his right hand slowly reaching for the Compound Bow behind him while his left hand pulled a Carbon Arrow from the quiver. The cold touch of the fletching calmed his frayed nerves slightly. He knew very well that the back of the head was the only fatal weakness when dealing with zombies; he had to kill it with a single strike to keep the noise to a minimum—the roars from down the mountain were becoming more frequent, and any extra sound could invite total disaster.

Just as the bowstring was about to be fully drawn, a very faint sound of rolling leaves came from the corner of the backyard. Out of the corner of his eye, Lin Zhou saw his father clutching a heavy steel pipe, shrinking into the shadows and giving him a reassuring look. He didn't step forward, but stood sideways to protect the room where his mother and Lin Xi were, clearly unable to rest easy and quietly following to provide support.

The government martial law order that had popped up on his phone earlier was still clearly etched in Lin Zhou's mind: City-wide martial law, survivors must not go out, lock doors and windows to wait for rescue, strictly forbidden to hunt Mutants privately. But the zombie was right next door, less than twenty meters from his house; waiting for rescue was waiting for death.

Lin Zhou took a deep breath, tension and resolve intertwining in his chest, as his fingertips slowly released the trigger.

"Whoosh!"

The sound of cutting through the air was short and sharp. The Carbon Arrow, carrying a gust of wind, pierced accurately into the back of the zombie's head.

The hunched figure suddenly froze, a muffled "ho-ho" sound squeezing from its throat as greenish-black liquid slowly seeped out along the arrow shaft. Its body swayed like a piece of chopped dead wood before crashing heavily to the ground, kicking up a bit of dust.

Almost the instant the corpse hit the ground, a faint silver light suddenly emanated from it, quickly spreading to envelop the entire body. Then, a terrifying scene occurred—the zombie's body dissolved at a speed visible to the naked eye. Flesh, bone, and clothing all turned into tiny motes of light and dissipated into the air, leaving not a trace of blood or residue behind, as if it had never existed.

Before Lin Zhou could recover from this eerie sight, the system light screen dormant in his mind suddenly flared with a piercing white light, and lines of cold, mechanical text rapidly surfaced:

Killed Low-level Zombie (Weak Type) ×1

Gained energy points: 100

energy points threshold reached, Red Alert Base system officially unlocked!

Core Mechanism: Mechanical Resonance Mutation—Designate 1 existing modified vehicle to connect, activating the base mobile vehicle core program (Consumes 100 energy points)

Unlock Blueprint: Micro Fusion Power Station (Requires 300 energy points), self-sustaining Dark Energy Core, no external power source

System Rules: Killing zombies automatically devours remains, eliminating pollution hazards; buildings must be deployed on flat terrain, sufficient power unlocks subsequent permissions

Lin Zhou's heart jolted, and the breath he had been holding finally escaped. He immediately locked onto his target—the SUV he had bought with zero down payment. To save money, he had only done basic modifications at the 4S shop after taking delivery: replacing the underbody with a thickened off-road skid plate and AT all-terrain tires, and removing impractical decorations like the ambient lighting and rear entertainment screens. Lin Zhou concentrated all his will on that SUV and clicked the confirm connection button on the system interface in his mind.

The next second, a silver-white energy beam struck the car body with precision.

"Hum—"

A low roar sounded, and the SUV's headlights lit up on their own without a key. The car body began to vibrate violently; the 4S shop-modified skid plate extended rapidly, locking firmly with the frame to form a solid protective layer. The treads of the thickened tires deepened instantly, and the sidewalls thickened, with grip increasing visibly. The space inside the car where redundant parts had been removed was quickly filled by mechanical structures spawned by system energy, and a simple control panel slowly rose from the center console. Those removed decorations had been dead weight anyway and didn't hinder the system's transformation at all.

In less than half a minute, this SUV underwent a complete transformation. It didn't become flashy; instead, it retained its original simple and practical qualities, just with a higher chassis and thicker protection. A short probe antenna rose from the front, and red alert's iconic military emblem slowly appeared on the side of the car, turning it into a miniature version of a heavy base mobile vehicle.

The system light screen refreshed again: Practical modified carrier detected, Mutation Buff—Weight reduced by 15%, Terrain adaptability increased by 25%, Energy consumption reduced by 10%

"Is this... your SUV?" His father's voice trembled with disbelief as he reached out to touch the car, feeling the hard, cold surface.

"It's the system's ability." Lin Zhou watched the energy points value on the light screen drop from 100 to zero, his tone unable to hide his excitement. "It borrowed the SUV's mechanical foundation and replaced the core with the Red Alert Base program. Removing the decorations and modifying the chassis and tires back then was really a stroke of luck!"

He reached out to touch the holographic operation panel that popped up from the base mobile vehicle. The cold sensation registered, and the panel immediately completed the identification binding, popping up a prompt: Flat terrain detected three hundred meters ahead—the original village threshing floor. Deploy Construction Yard?

"Deploy!" Lin Zhou gave the command without hesitation.

The base mobile vehicle emitted a low mechanical roar and slowly drove out of the garage. The modified thickened tires had plenty of grip, the thickened chassis easily rolled over the gravel on the road, and the car body, stripped of redundant decorations, drove exceptionally smoothly. The two of them cautiously observed their surroundings; fortunately, aside from the distant roars, no other zombies appeared for the time being.

After arriving at the threshing floor, the base mobile vehicle slowly came to a stop. Following Lin Zhou's command, the vehicle body began to unfold. Four support legs extended from the chassis, burrowing firmly into the soil. The probe antenna at the front rose higher, scanning the surrounding terrain. The control panel inside extended out to sit perfectly flush with the ground, forming a simple console. Moments later, the SUV's silhouette vanished completely, replaced by a compact, grey Construction Yard that exuded a style of pure utilitarianism.

Lin Zhou couldn't wait to find the blueprint for the Micro Fusion Power Station on the Construction Yard's interface. But when he clicked the build button, the system popped up a cold prompt: Insufficient energy points, Current 0/Required 300

Lin Zhou wasn't surprised; he had already seen the required energy points value. He turned to look at his father, who was full of shock, and said with a solemn gaze, "Dad, the power station needs 300 energy points. We need to hunt more zombies to save up now."

His father's hand clutching the steel pipe slowly relaxed, and his eyes shifted from initial shock to determination. He looked at the Construction Yard not far away, then back toward their home, and nodded heavily. "Alright, I'll go with you. Modifying this car was worth it; our whole family is counting on it to survive."

The two quickly returned inside. As soon as they pushed the door open, his mother came to meet them, her eyes slightly red. Lin Xi threw herself directly into Lin Zhou's arms, saying with a sob, "Brother, I'm so scared."

"Don't be scared, it's okay now." Lin Zhou patted his sister's back and comforted her softly. He briefly explained the existence of the system and the SUV to his mother, and how energy points could only be obtained by hunting zombies.

His mother covered her mouth as tears fell, but she didn't ask much. She just hugged Lin Zhou and Lin Xi tightly. "As long as the family is together, it's fine."

Lin Zhou looked out the window. The sun was already setting, dyeing the Construction Yard at the threshing floor a golden-red.

Rescue from the martial law order was still nowhere in sight; no one knew when rescue would come, or if it would come at all. But he knew very well that this was only the beginning. The SUV with the modified chassis and tires had become their family's steel fortress in the apocalypse. To unlock the fusion power station that didn't need an external power source and to deal with those stronger, potentially evolving zombies in the future, he had to act quickly.

Night slowly descended, and the roars of zombies a few kilometers away seemed to be getting closer, vaguely mixed with the miserable screams of survivors.

Lin Zhou gripped the Compound Bow in his hand, his gaze as sharp as an eagle's.