Lin Xinghai's arm trembled. It wasn't from fear, nor from nervousness, but from excitement.
He had a system now, too.
Just then, a translucent screen of light appeared before him, displaying an option to absorb the Blood Qi Power.
'Does that even need a second thought?'
He immediately chose yes!
The next moment, Lin Xinghai felt a strange sensation in his arm, as if some kind of energy was flowing through it and into his body.
At the same time, he noticed that the wound on the back of the zombie's head, which had been seeping blood, had instantly dried up.
It wasn't just the wound; the zombie's skin had also grown paler, as if all the blood in its body had been drained.
"This...!" Lin Xinghai was startled. He pinched the flesh around the wound, but not a single drop of blood could be squeezed out.
'Could this Blood Qi Power just be the zombie's blood?' he guessed, while discreetly glancing around.
Fortunately, no one was paying attention to him. After all, the zombie's wound had been there for a while, so it was normal for the bleeding to have stopped.
Besides, a zombie's skin was already pale, so it growing a few shades whiter wouldn't be noticeable unless someone was staring intently.
DING! "Congratulations, Host. You have absorbed 1 point of Blood Qi Power. Attribute Panel unlocked. Main Quest initiated."
As the system notification sounded, the dialogue box in front of Lin Xinghai changed into an attribute panel.
Host: Lin Xinghai
Physique: 7 points
Power: 7 points
Speed: 9 points
Blood Qi Power: 1 point
Genetic Optimization Level: 9%
'Am I a speed-type?' Lin Xinghai muttered to himself as he looked at his attribute panel.
But with no one to compare himself to, he had no idea if his Basic Attributes were good or bad.
So, after a quick glance at the attribute panel, he looked down at the quest log.
Main Quest: Host, please collect 10 points of Blood Qi Power.
Description: Blood Qi Power is fundamental to increasing your strength. The more, the better.
Reward: Unlock the Investigation feature.
Quest Progress: 1/10.
After reading the quest, Lin Xinghai couldn't help but look delighted. Under normal circumstances, completing such a quest would probably be difficult.
But right now, there were zombie corpses everywhere!
Putting his thoughts into action, he discreetly stood up and walked toward a nearby zombie corpse.
This time, he experimented a bit. If he touched any other part of the zombie, the system didn't react.
Only when he touched a bleeding wound would the system prompt appear.
'Looks like I can confirm it now. Even if Blood Qi Power isn't exactly blood, it definitely comes from it.'
He opened the attribute panel. Quest Progress: 2/10.
Lin Xinghai was instantly filled with motivation. He quickly touched five more zombies, bringing his quest progress to 7/10.
He just needed to touch three more zombies to complete the main quest.
But what he didn't know was that Roger had been secretly observing him the whole time.
The content of this "first lesson" was not only meant to intimidate the members of the Shelter but also to test their courage.
For an organization like a Mercenary Corps, which had to fight zombies, testing for courage was of the utmost importance.
Roger had already been interested in recruiting Lin Xinghai, so naturally, he wanted to observe his courage carefully.
So, when he saw Lin Xinghai voluntarily get in line to touch the zombie, Roger couldn't help but nod to himself.
However, when Lin Xinghai went to touch a second zombie, the expression on Roger's face became a bit peculiar.
But Roger didn't expect that this was only the beginning.
Lin Xinghai then proceeded to touch one zombie after another. With every corpse he touched, the expression on Roger's face grew more and more colorful. 'This guy doesn't have a corpse fetish, does he?!'
And when Lin Xinghai finished touching the seventh zombie corpse, Roger finally couldn't take it anymore and walked over. "What are you doing?"
Lin Xinghai's heart skipped a beat when Roger suddenly appeared in front of him.
But he had already anticipated that his strange behavior might be noticed by someone observant, so he calmly gave his prepared excuse.
"I was a little curious. These zombies were clearly killed by bullets to the head, but why were the backs of their heads cut open afterward?"
The strange look on Roger's face immediately turned to surprise. It was impressive enough for someone to remain calm while touching a zombie for the first time.
But Lin Xinghai had not only noticed something unusual, he was also actively seeking an answer.
In that instant, Lin Xinghai's importance in Roger's eyes rose to a whole new level.
"Very good! To survive in this apocalypse, that kind of insight is essential. As for why we cut open the back of the zombies' heads, I can tell you the reason. It's..."
"Don't tell me," Lin Xinghai quickly interrupted. "I'd like to see it through to the end and find the answer myself."
'Are you kidding? If you tell me the answer, what excuse will I have to keep touching corpses?'
Roger paused for a moment, then a look of admiration appeared on his face. "You're even more outstanding than I imagined."
Seeing that he'd passed that hurdle, Lin Xinghai breathed a sigh of relief and hurried to the next corpse.
Soon, he had touched three more zombies. When his quest progress reached 10/10, the system's voice sounded again.
DING! "Congratulations, Host. Main Quest completed. The Investigation feature is now available. You have also been rewarded with 10 Investigation uses."
Lin Xinghai quickly opened his attribute panel and found that an "Investigation Technique" had been added after his personal attributes.
Investigation Technique: Consumes Blood Qi Power to investigate a target's attributes. The stronger the target, the more Blood Qi Power is consumed. Note: The first 10 investigations do not consume Blood Qi Power.
Besides the addition of the Investigation Technique, the Main Quest had also changed.
Main Quest: Kill 100 zombies.
Description: Taking shortcuts is only temporary. To obtain Blood Qi Power, you must rely on your own strength.
Reward: None.
Seeing the quest reward, a dark line seemed to appear on Lin Xinghai's forehead. 'What the hell is a "None" reward?'
If there's no reward, why should he even bother completing this quest?
However, to his immense frustration, he realized he had to do it, because he was bound to face zombies anyway.
Besides, if he didn't complete this quest, the subsequent main quests wouldn't update. That was the real trap.
While he was feeling frustrated, he suddenly noticed that another part of his attribute panel had changed.
Genetic Optimization Level: 9%+
That's right! A plus sign had appeared after the 9%.
Lin Xinghai immediately tapped on it.
"Consume 1 point of Blood Qi Power to increase your Genetic Optimization Level?"
Lin Xinghai's heart leaped, and he quickly chose yes!
In the next instant, a warm current appeared from nowhere and spread through his entire body, making him feel incredibly comfortable.
But he had no time to enjoy the sensation and immediately looked at his attribute panel.
Host: Lin Xinghai
Physique: 8 points
Power: 7 points
Speed: 10 points
Blood Qi Power: 9 points
Genetic Optimization Level: 10%+
A look of joy spread across Lin Xinghai's face. His Genetic Optimization Level had increased by 1%, and both his Physique and Speed had increased by 1 point.
'This Blood Qi Power really is the key to increasing my strength!'
Having found a way to increase his strength, Lin Xinghai didn't hesitate. He immediately poured all his remaining Blood Qi Power into genetic optimization.
The warm current that appeared this time was even more intense, as if a fire was burning inside his body. But he could also clearly feel his body strengthening at a terrifying rate.
The attribute panel in front of him changed once again.
Host: Lin Xinghai
Physique: 15 points
Power: 13 points
Speed: 19 points
Blood Qi Power: 0 points
Genetic Optimization Level: 19%+
His Blood Qi Power was depleted, and his Genetic Optimization Level had risen from the initial 9% to 19%. At the same time, all his attributes had increased significantly.
Looking at the different increases across the three attributes, Lin Xinghai wore a thoughtful expression.