Zi-zi-, zi-zi-...

The sound of the electric drill was piercing in the darkness, and with each drill, Lucas's heart thumped along with it.

It had just passed midnight, and fortunately, the areas with a dense population in the city center had a greater attraction for the infected. For now, things were relatively calm here.

Lucas estimated that most of the people in Bincity should have already been infected by now, including other animals like cats and dogs.

Tomorrow, the sun would not appear, and the darkness would envelop the world for the next three months.

Having experienced the apocalypse for eleven years, Lucas knew that the sun hadn't actually disappeared; it was merely blocked by something, similar to a total solar eclipse.

If the sun were truly gone, within a day, everyone in the world would freeze to death without needing any infection.

After using up four drill bits, Lucas finally managed to create several basin-sized holes in the insects' bodies, with the edges of each hole filled with densely drilled perforations.

A nauseating stench filled the air, and after being overwhelmed by the smell, Lucas vomited twice before resorting to using iron rods and knives to dig out the green blood and mucus-filled substances.

After twenty minutes, he finally extracted a fist-sized object that resembled a black crystal from within, which was the insect core.

In the apocalypse, there were two valuable items: the insect cores and crystal cores.

The value of one insect core was equivalent to ten crystal cores.

Crystal cores were crystallizations found on the bodies of infected beings, and there was a chance to find one in three low-level zombies.

At this early stage of infection, it was highly unlikely to find crystal cores on zombies. That's why Lucas had no interest in the zombies piled up in front of the gate of the yard.

Just as he dug out the insect core, the voice of the system rang out.

"Detected one red insect core. Host, would you like to purify one mushroom immediately?"

"Wait!"

Lucas responded to the system while seemingly lost in thought.

"The damage to the bus is severe. What conditions are needed to repair it?"

Lucas looked at the bus wedged in the yard wall, feeling a headache coming on.

"The exoskeleton of the insects can be used to repair the bus. The host can repair it on the bus blueprint by themselves."

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"Calculating bus repair..."

Lucas looked at the panel that popped up from the system, and the blueprint of the bus appeared once again.

The overall damage to the bus reached 57%, which was slightly better than the system's previous estimate of 70%, but the front of the vehicle no longer resembled its original shape.

Many "+" signs appeared on the blueprint, with most of them changing from the initial green to red.

"Purify the mushroom."

Lucas said to the system and lowered his head to study the repair plan for the bus.

At this moment, there was an option next to the bus blueprint.

"Would you like to choose the red insect carapace as the repair material for the bus?"

After Lucas clicked on confirmation, the bus blueprint started to refresh.

Black fragments appeared on the blueprint, with some edges tinged with red, indicating the representation of insect carapaces.

Lucas estimated that the carapace from the killed insect would be sufficient to repair the entire exterior of the bus, and the system even displayed a rendering of the repaired outcome.

It looked good, not to mention it felt cool. The hardness of the bus's exterior shell increased fivefold.

Lucas was quite satisfied but also troubled. He would have to cut the carapace fragments himself.

Furthermore, while the major issue of repairing the entire bus was resolved, he still needed one insect core or five crystal cores to repair the engine.

But there were advantages as well. The performance of the bus, once repaired with the insect and crystal cores, would be enhanced by one to two times.

Looking at the blueprint, Lucas began to contemplate.

For now, forget about the insect core. It's also unlikely to acquire crystal cores in the near future, which is a headache-inducing problem.

Let's start by repairing the bus's exterior.

Lucas made a decision.

At least with the repaired exterior of the bus, covered with the exoskeleton of the insects, it would be difficult for anything in the early days of the apocalypse to cause harm to the bus.

At this point, the system also notified that the mushroom purification was complete.

Lucas directly dug a small pit the size of his palm next to the collapsed yard wall and buried the mushroom flesh in it.

One minute passed.

Thin mushroom sprouts emerged from the ground.

Five minutes passed.

The mushroom's umbrella-shaped head had already reached Lucas's waist.

Ten minutes passed.

A giant mushroom had formed and began to release visible spores.

Lucas was excited and felt the urge to remove his oxygen mask.

If the system was reliable, the infection spores within a ten-meter radius of this mushroom should have been eradicated by now.

Just to be safe, Lucas didn't dare to take off his oxygen mask.

Perhaps it was safe for now. As the mushroom spores spread, there would likely be no infected creatures appearing within a ten-hour period.

Lucas felt more relaxed and set his phone's timer for four hours before climbing onto the bus and falling asleep.

Lucas was extremely exhausted, lacking even the desire to eat. He would almost instantly fall into a deep sleep as soon as he closed his eyes.

During the time Lucas was sleeping, the entire seaside town became a silent place. Ninety percent of the people had been infected and turned into infected beings.

In the illuminated sky, only military helicopters or fighter jets occasionally flew by, dropping bombs and causing violent explosions.

As for the ground, apart from the police, the military had yet to appear.

In Lucas's memory, in the previous world, twenty days later, the leaders of various countries approved a nuclear bomb deployment plan, and almost all cities were destroyed by the bombs.

The construction of large-scale refuge cities only began slowly three months later.

These three dark months were the darkest in history.

What was even more terrifying was that the destructive power of the nuclear bombs remained, but the radiation produced did not spread and was directly absorbed by some unknown force.

On the tenth day after the nuclear bomb deployment, which was one month into the apocalypse, the infected beings began to evolve, and higher-level insects and infected creatures started to appear.

By that time, almost all zombies' intelligence had started to improve, and crystal cores within their bodies began to form.

At the same time, evolved humans also began to appear.

The appearance of evolved humans marked the point when humans gained some self-defense capabilities in the apocalypse.

After that, humans also made technological breakthroughs.

It was during that time period that Lucas was torn apart by the insects, and he had no knowledge of what happened afterward.

At 4:20, Lucas woke up and started eating.

By this time, the fires in the yard and the surrounding area had completely extinguished, and the surroundings were eerily quiet.

Lucas quickly finished eating and fumbled in the dark to find the chainsaw and other items left in the yard.

If all the chainsaws were destroyed, Lucas would have to use a hand saw to cut the insect carapaces, which would be extremely difficult.

The difficulty was too high, and Lucas felt helpless and regretted not buying a cutting machine when he had the chance.

Repairing the bus couldn't be delayed any longer. Lucas only had a little over five hours of safety time left.

The chainsaw had been burned into scrap metal.

Looking at the insects lying there, Lucas pondered for a long time before coming up with a solution.

It seemed that he could find a bug leg to make a saw first and then proceed.

"The beginning is always the hardest!"

Lucas encouraged himself and began to take action.