After such a surprise, Ark was overjoyed!

Since Yu Lian's eyes had returned to their normal appearance, this meant his theory might have been proven! With the virus evolving, maybe in the near future, Yu Lian would gradually restore her sanity.

However, after her eyes turned normal, Ark noticed that the speed of Yu Lian's virus mutation had evidently decreased. After three full days, hunting hundreds of zombies only made Yu Lian's power slightly stronger. The mental change Ark expected did not appear at all.

In theory, once a certain condition is met, resulting in evolution, the next breakthrough of viral evolution would take longer than the last.

On the bright side, Ark experienced some changes himself. His zombie-binding ability had expanded, and his spiritual power became increasingly stronger. Under the premise of semi-controlling Yu Lian, he could control more zombies at the same time. After several trials and errors, he succeeded. With slight adjustments as he practiced, Ark’s proficiency in controlling bound zombies increased.

Not only that, two of his bound zombies made a breakthrough in their viral mutation within those three days, slowly enhancing his own fighting ability. Although his progress was slower than Yu Lian's, his rationality allowed him to react quickly and have more flexible movements than Yu Lian. Now he had confidence to protect himself in case Yu Lian became uncontrollable.

But at this time, Ark realized something that left him dumbfounded. His food reserves were running low...

Previously, using bound zombies for battle and collecting necessities meant Ark did not have high calorie consumption. But as he became more involved in battles and used his ability, his energy consumption increased, causing him to eat more.

They were currently halfway through the suburb, heading toward the city center. During the disaster's outbreak, most of the food storage had already been looted, leaving the remaining quantity extremely limited. After repeated searches by survivors, there was very little food left.

The city center had far more supplies stored compared to this area, which was a mix of city and suburb. However, the downside was the densely large population and the likely gathered a larger number of zombie herds.

If not for his sanity to search for his wife’s students and know their fate, Ark had other option in which he would have relocated to the countryside or mountain areas. If that had been the case, he would not have met Yu Lian, and she might have died from starvation.

A city full of zombies would be the next best hunting ground for Yu Lian, Ark, and his other bound zombies to evolve.

However, reaching the city center on foot would take another three days, which they didn't have. They needed to make full preparations. For starters, they needed suitable transportation, food rations, and weapons.

Speaking of weapons, Ark felt a headache as he was having a hard time with his set of arrangements. Food rations were still plenty, and he had prepared a bicycle from one of the parking lots for transportation.

However, his weapon arrangement consisted of common household knives, which always became notched or blunt after a few uses. What he needed was a weapon with long durability and sharpness.

"Right, I remember that Lan's little sister-in-law, Wang Lin, and their household were forgers..."

In the past, Wang Lin was the younger sister of Wang Lan, who lived in the same building as Ark and Wang Lan. She had a pretty face, and on the few occasions he saw her visit, she always wanted to hang out with her big sister. But after Wang Lan passed away, Wang Lin and her parents moved to the city center, and he never saw that little girl again. Now thinking back, he felt bad.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"An energetic girl like her, during this doomsday, even if she didn’t mutate and somehow survived, she was probably having a tough life..."

Early in the morning, Ark sorted out his bag and brought Yu Lian to head towards Wang Lin's family homemade hand tool shop in the city center.

Even though Ark deliberately picked a safer and shorter road to get there, they still encountered and killed dozens of zombies along the way and finally arrived at the completely deserted shop.

Blood spattered on the glass windows, a broken glass door, and a pitch-black interior made the store look terrifying. However, in this doomsday, this was a commonplace sight.

Naturally, the plan was to make Yu Lian go in first while the other bound zombies kept lookout. With her strength, zombies would not be able to attack fast enough.

However, the store was dead silent, and no zombies were lurking inside. Yu Lian and Ark did not encounter any trouble as they walked further in.

Wang Lan and Wang Lin's parents had entrusted him with the address of this store when they decided to move out in the past. The front of the shop had many knives, but most were used as collections with no sharp edge. The secret they entrusted to him was that the back of the store had open-edge knives and swords, just for customers with unique tastes, placed on a special shelf.

"I remember the layout given to me should be around the back..."

Ark went around and arrived at a security door behind the counter. After twisting the doorknob, he noticed something strange.

Usually, this kind of door would be easily pulled open, but when he twisted the knob, he realized the door was jammed from the inside.

"Did his father and mother-in-law escape into the workshop room? If so, they might still be alive! Maybe Wang Lin is alive in there as well!"

Thinking about it, Ark suddenly became relieved. He quickly knocked on the door and shouted in a low voice, "Is anyone in there?"

"Bang."

After a moment of silence, suddenly a muffled cry sounded like something had been knocked over.

"They are actually alive in here!"

Ark was overjoyed for a moment and then firmly knocked on the door again, but there was only a "bang" sound, and the door did not seem to open.

Ark's power alone would not be enough to kick and pry the security door open, but with Yu Lian's help, it wasn't a difficult task.

With the sound of a muffled "bang," the door was forced open a small gap. However, a hand immediately stretched from the inside, causing Ark to step back away from it.

Seeing the hand at first glance, Ark's eyes went wide, and he couldn't help but feel disheartened. Based on the scar, it was his father-in-law's hand, but the faint reddish nails and the "crunch" sound emitted when clasping the metal security door were the same as Yu Lian's.

No way! His father-in-law became a mutated zombie?

Although he had already predicted this from the beginning, seeing his father-in-law meet his inevitable fate like Yu Lian left Ark feeling very frustrated.

Judging by the image of a bloody scene inside would be, it seemed like a massacre had occurred. This probably meant Wang Lin might be long gone.

The thought that his father-in-law's hand might have torn his only daughter into pieces made Ark feel a surge of regret, anguish, and anger. He wielded the knife in his hands and slashed down at that hand. As half of the palm hit the floor, blood splattered around, and the security door broke down completely.

After the door fell, an extremely bloody scene appeared in front of Ark's eyes.

Inside the small workshop, the walls and floor were almost covered with bloodstains, fragments of clothing, and scattered human bones and flesh. There were also two complete corpses: one of his mother-in-law and the other a staff member, both face down with empty holes in the back of their heads.

The only one alive was his father-in-law, who was knocked to the ground by the door. As soon as he landed, he jumped up with lightning speed, turned into a shadow, and rushed directly toward Ark.

This was the first time Ark faced an attack from a mutated zombie. Compared to normal zombies, the super-fast speed didn't allow others to react. If it were yesterday’s Ark, he would have been thrown under and killed. But with his expanded abilities, the current Ark was exceptionally calm.

Although the new evolution, mutated zombie moved very fast, Ark's high reaction speed allowed him to respond quickly. Almost in an instant, Ark moved as the mutated zombie lunged.

Backing a half step and slightly twisting his body to the side, he held his knife and slashed precisely in the direction of the mutated father-in-law.

"Poof!"

A big burst of blood splattered as the two alternated positions. Ark turned ninety degrees with precision, cutting through the zombie's abdomen and quickly slashing downward.

If it were an average zombie, they would have been taken down by Ark's consecutive attacks. But mutated zombies were really fast. After Ark turned around, the zombie not only evaded his direct attack but also crashed into him, aiming for his chest.

If caught by the powerful hands of the mutated zombie, it would result in a severe chest injury. In such close quarters, Yu Lian couldn’t come over to help either.

"Courting death!" ( Author: Ark says meaning the zombie was digging its own grave)

In the scenario of life and death, Ark's inner surge of rage was unleashed. Using his expanded power and high reaction ability, he swiftly evaded the attacks and turned his wrist for another slash. He suddenly swarmed up, kneeing the zombie’s chin, causing it to pause momentarily.

Even a really tiny gap of opening was brought an opportunity for fatality. In that moment, Ark quickly forced his sharp knife into the zombie's blind spot.

"Ka!"

A quiet sound followed as the mutated father-in-law's actions halted. Ark, clenching his teeth, twisted the knife hard.

"Pa!" (Snap!)

With a crisp sound, the sharp knife snapped directly, and the part that stayed inside the zombie's body ended his misery while he was standing.

Holding the completely broken knife, Ark now felt his whole body drained. He could help but breath in gasp.