Chapter Nine: A Bountiful Harvest

As night descended, the entire wasteland seemed to be draped in a pitch-black shroud. Most of the buildings in Chen Village Town had been reduced to absolute ruins; here and there, a few shattered towers remained, now considered prime shelters amid the vast devastation.

At that moment, atop a dilapidated three-story tower with no roof and partially collapsed walls, two young people lay in a deep slumber.

A woman, clad in a tight black suit, her violet hair cascading down, slept with her eyes closed. Her delicate brows occasionally furrowed, as if she were enduring great pain even in her dreams.

She was extraordinarily beautiful—her features as finely drawn as a painting, her skin crystalline and flawless. Yet more remarkable was the subtle, noble aura of valor she carried.

Her faint, rosy lips parted slightly, uttering a barely audible murmur. Her long lashes trembled, then suddenly her eyes opened.

Under the faint starlight, she gazed around, bewildered by the unfamiliar surroundings. Her gaze fell upon the pale-faced, curled-up figure of Ke Bei.

Watching Ke Bei, who clung to himself, trembling ceaselessly, Luo Ling’s heart fluttered unexpectedly. A vivid scene flashed in her mind: a young man, standing steadfast as steel before her, wielding his blade and body to shield her from the onslaught of zombies, not allowing a single drop of blood to stain her.

“How can there still be such foolish people?” she mused, resting her delicate chin in her hand as she sat beside Ke Bei, murmuring softly to herself.

“Father, don’t leave me… don’t leave me…” Ke Bei’s lips quivered, his fragmented cries escaping in his sleep.

“Don’t go!” Ke Bei suddenly reached out, grasping Luo Ling’s small hand tightly.

“You rascal, even in unconsciousness you’re restless…” Luo Ling was caught off guard and failed to evade his grip. Her cheeks flushed with two blooming spots of red. Embarrassed, she tried to pull away, but Ke Bei’s hold was too tight. Seeing the countless wounds covering him, Luo Ling’s heart softened; she ceased her struggle, letting him hold her gentle hand.

“So be it. Perhaps this is your fortune.” A trace of tenderness flickered in Luo Ling’s eyes as she drew forth a silver pill from her bosom.

The pill, the size of a dragon’s eye, gleamed with crystalline clarity, releasing a rich and subtle fragrance the moment it appeared.

“I dislike owing favors. This divine pill is yours. Besides… besides, you’ve taken advantage of me a little, so we’ll call it even.” Luo Ling, feeling a bit guilty, gently withdrew her hand, biting her lip as she hesitated, then suddenly thrust the silver pill into Ke Bei’s mouth.

The silver pill, also known as the Divine Pill, was cultivated within zombies far more advanced than the purple-haired ones, beings with intelligence rivaling humans who called themselves the Divine Race.

Luo Ling had schemed for months, expending endless energy to obtain this pill. She finally managed to kill a novice member of the Divine Race and seized it.

This pill was crucial for Luo Ling. She had reached the pinnacle of a Level Three Enhancer, just a step away from breaking through the bottleneck and advancing to the Transcendent Realm.

Yet because Luo Ling was not only a genetic enhancer, her breakthrough was far more arduous than for others, and the Divine Pill could aid her in overcoming this obstacle. Its importance to her was immense.

Heaven is fair: Luo Ling’s gene mutation granted her mastery over ice, giving her absolute superiority among peers of her level, but likewise, breaking through was far more difficult. The Divine Pill was her hope.

“If fate allows, we’ll meet again—or better yet, perhaps we shouldn’t…” Luo Ling’s cheeks reddened as she glanced at Ke Bei’s youthful face. Her graceful figure turned into a fleeting shadow, departing quietly beneath the starlit sky.

……

Ke Bei felt his sleep was unusually restful. Not until the sun rose and its rays touched his face did he finally open his eyes.

“Ah, so comfortable!” Stretching lazily, Ke Bei felt a warm, indescribable ease throughout his body. All his wounds seemed miraculously healed overnight; his state was unprecedented, and he even sensed newfound strength.

“Huh? What’s going on? Wasn’t I injured?” Ke Bei stared in confusion, clenching his fists and marveling at the impossibility. He remembered clearly—his chest bone had been fractured, his left leg pierced, his body riddled with wounds. Yet now, all injuries had vanished mysteriously overnight.

Unable to fathom what had happened, Ke Bei could only shake his head and temporarily set aside his doubts. He was bewildered—not just by his miraculous recovery, but also by how yesterday’s rusty machete had suddenly become so sharp. The whole ordeal seemed like a dream.

“Luo Ling… where did Luo Ling go?” Ke Bei was startled, surveying his surroundings, but found no trace of her.

“Could she have healed me?” He frowned. The only plausible answer was that Luo Ling had cured him, though he’d never heard of a medicine capable of mending broken bones overnight. Still, it was the only possibility.

“Side quest to rescue Luo Ling… I suppose it’s done?” Ke Bei was uncertain. He had no idea where Luo Ling had gone—whether she was alive or dead. Immersing his consciousness in his mind, he confirmed that the system clearly indicated the quest was complete.

If the quest was complete, Luo Ling must have been rescued. Since she was gone, she must have already left.

“What treasure did my father leave me in this blade?” With the quest finished, Ke Bei shifted his focus from Luo Ling to the knife.

He ran his palm gently over the still rusty blade, incredulous that yesterday this broken knife had truly transformed into a divine weapon.

“Should I test it?” With a mix of anticipation and excitement, Ke Bei raised the machete and eyed the wooden door beside him.

Bang!

A dull impact rang out as the blade struck the door, as if hitting a stone—the miraculous power to shatter metal and stone was gone.

“Damn, what’s going on?” Ke Bei froze, holding the machete dazedly for a long time.

“Was I dreaming yesterday? No, the quest is clearly done…” Ke Bei was utterly baffled, unable to understand why yesterday’s divine weapon had reverted to its ordinary form today.

“Damn, I forgot something important!” Ke Bei slapped his forehead and swiftly leapt from the ruined tower. Suddenly, he remembered that yesterday Luo Ling had slain nearly a thousand red-haired zombies, plus a purple-haired one—those were all worth money!

“Thank goodness, they’re all here!” Seeing the corpses of zombies strewn across the ground, Ke Bei breathed heavily in relief, unable to suppress the smile blooming on his face.

“All right, time to get to work.” He rubbed his nose, rolled up his sleeves, and began to dig through the bodies, laboriously searching for crystal coins.

Three hours passed. Sweating profusely, Ke Bei labored for three hours before finally extracting all the coins.

“A bumper harvest!” With his pockets bulging with heavy red crystal coins, Ke Bei’s face was radiant.

“Nine hundred seventy-eight red crystal coins, plus one purple crystal coin!”

“Tsk tsk, total value nearly two thousand coins!” Ke Bei rubbed his hands in excitement.

“That’s more than enough! Why should I fear the Great Purge? Isn’t it just a thousand coins?” The heavy weight pressing on his heart was now broken; with enough coins to trade for contribution points, he could continue living in the base city.

“I wonder how many red-haired zombies I killed yesterday?” Thinking of his quest, Ke Bei quickly immersed his consciousness in his mind.

“Eighty-four red-haired zombies slain!” Seeing the golden words flashing on the system disk, Ke Bei frowned slightly.

Half the time had already passed, and only eighty-four zombies had been killed. That meant the remaining five days required the slaying of two hundred sixteen more—an average of at least forty-three per day!

“Ah, if only this broken knife could become sharp again…” Ke Bei lamented, twirling the machete.

“What secret does this blade hide? I must study it carefully. If I can discover the cause, hunting zombies will become much faster!” With pockets heavy with crystal coins, Ke Bei set out toward Lingfeng City.

Sharpening the blade never delays the chopping of firewood! Ke Bei resolved to thoroughly research the machete. These two days had yielded more than he’d ever imagined, and he was satisfied—his only regret was not yet understanding what secret lay within the blade.