For a while, Ethan consistently hunkered down at home, eating meat ceaselessly and, in his free moments, training his zombie Minions.
The progress of the Minions was astonishingly fast.
They had mastered the use of weapons, upgrading from Machetes to Crossbows.
Over those three days, Ethan consumed a phenomenal amount of flesh, digesting and absorbing energy quickly. He had conservatively eaten at least ten whole cows!
His body was rapidly evolving, and his physical strength grew increasingly formidable.
Now, Ethan's skin was as tough as rubber; a dagger dragged across it left only a faint, shallow white mark.
Conventional human weapons could no longer injure him.
"My brain is so itchy, feels like something is trying to grow…"
Ethan held his stemmed glass, rotating his neck.
This was the precursor to his promotion from C-Class to B-Class. Once he reached B-Class, a Crystal Core would condense inside his zombie skull.
His overall strength would vastly increase, and he would awaken a unique ability.
Every zombie's ability was different. Some were basic, such as rapid self-healing, super infection, or growing bone spurs. Others were extremely esoteric, like inducing hallucinations, dream infiltration, or psychic control.
Zombies with esoteric abilities could kill people without a trace, making them a headache for all living creatures.
Ethan didn't know what ability he would awaken because, in his previous life, he lacked the sufficient supply of blood and flesh to evolve to this level and died before he could even emerge.
Now, he raised the stemmed glass and took a sip.
His posture was perfectly elegant.
Energy was being absorbed.
Through his consumption of flesh over the past few days, Ethan had concluded that beef tasted the best, followed by pork, and finally, chicken.
However, when it came to blood, chicken blood tasted the best.
People often used the phrase, "pumped up on chicken blood," for a reason.
After drinking the chicken blood, Ethan's cells became more active, absorbing energy faster, to the point where a slight flush of color would appear on his otherwise deathly pale face.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Ethan was sitting on the sofa sipping his 'beverage' when loud, rhythmic pounding echoed from the street below. His acute zombie hearing easily picked up the noise.
"Who's causing that ruckus?"
Ethan moved to the windowsill, leaning down to look at the street.
He saw a group of humans, heavily armored. Their arms were wrapped tightly in layers of newspaper and duct tape to prevent zombie bites.
They carried weapons like wrenches, crowbars, and one guy was even holding a frying pan…
The leader, a stocky man about six feet tall and nearly two hundred pounds, was wielding a Fire Axe, smashing it against a locked roll-up security door.
Eighties! Eighties! Eighties!
He swung the axe fiercely, each strike sending sparks flying.
The door he was attacking belonged to the supermarket Ethan used to own.
It was obvious.
After days of consumption, these people were desperate for food.
They were forced to risk their lives venturing out for supplies.
"This place was fully stocked before the crash! If we break it open, we're good for food and water!" the bulky leader, let's call him Hammer, roared, eyes bulging as he slammed the door without pause.
They knew the loud noise would certainly attract the infected.
"Boss, hurry up! The zombies are coming!"
A man, let's call him Nervous, shouted in a panic.
On the blood-soaked street littered with corpses, five or six zombies had been drawn by the sound, snarling as they sprinted toward the group.
Some zombies, ravaged by starvation and lack of replenishment, were already rotting, their hair mostly gone, looking like overworked screenwriters.
In their state of extreme hunger, the zombies were monstrously terrifying, sending shivers down the spine.
"Oh my God! They are truly horrifying!"
A man, Wrench, was so scared his legs gave out.
Hammer grit his teeth, forcing out the words:
"You guys hold them off! The lock is almost broken!"
"Fine! Let's fight!" shouted Crowbar.
He swung his crowbar and charged the incoming zombies.
The four men fought the infected. The zombies were low-tier, their movements stiff and less agile than the humans, and they were frequently struck in the head.
Blood flew, and bodies began to fall.
But the sheer number of zombies was overwhelming. They poured in from all directions; some even jumped from the rooftops like rain.
The men's stamina quickly failed.
Under full exertion, an ordinary person was lucky to last two minutes.
"It hurts… I've been bitten! Help me!"
Nervous was grabbed by a zombie on his hand, his face contorted in agony.
"Nervous!"
The others wanted to help but were too busy fighting for their own lives.
And a zombie bite meant infection.
They could only watch as Nervous was swarmed by four or five zombies and torn apart.
The man's agonizing screams echoed across the city.
Upstairs, Ethan took a sip of the crimson liquid, observing the commotion. He wondered why they were making such a futile effort to smash his supermarket…
Everything inside had been transferred to his spatial dimension long ago.
The screams faded as Nervous was consumed. Hammer's face showed a flicker of grim triumph.
"The lock is broken! Get inside, now!"
CRASH!
He yanked the roll-up door open.
The remaining men heard the sound like salvation, their faces lighting up with relief as they scrambled backward to squeeze through the opening.
But as Wrench was running, a half-torso zombie grabbed his ankle.
THUD!
He hit the pavement hard, scrambling desperately toward the opening.
"Guys, quick! Help me!"
The two men who had gotten inside (Hammer and Crowbar) grabbed his arms, pulling frantically.
But the zombies behind were piling onto Wrench.
No matter how hard they pulled,
They couldn't drag him in.
The fallen man's body was perfectly wedged beneath the door, preventing it from closing.
A few zombies were already squirming through the gap, trying to force their way inside.
"Hammer! What do we do?" Crowbar asked urgently.
Hammer swung his Fire Axe, crushing a few zombie heads. He bit down hard.
"We can't save him! Throw him out! We have to close this door now!"
"What?! No!" Crowbar looked horrified, reluctant to abandon his comrade.
But instinct took over, and they both simultaneously let go.
"You… you save me!"
Wrench looked utterly despairing. He was being dragged backward by the horde, but his survival instinct made him clamp his fingers desperately onto the edge of the roll-up door.
With his eyes hardening, Hammer raised the Fire Axe.
And chopped straight down onto Wrench's hands!
SPLAT!
The man's hands were severed, and he screamed in raw, horrific pain as his body was finally dragged out and instantly buried under a cacophony of snarls.
The roll-up door slammed shut with a final CLANG!
"Quite resourceful, aren't they…" Ethan thought from his window.
He judged their performance as quite good, managing to break into his supermarket at the cost of only two lives.
Especially the leader, Hammer; his final action was brutally pragmatic.
Too bad for them...
His store was completely empty.