C5 Extraordinary Agility

At that moment, the zombie's head was still gaping, its mouth agape, eager to tear into Chen Cheng, but its body lay elsewhere.

"Even the strongest zombies can be easily taken down with a strike to the head," Chen Cheng noted.

With that, he grabbed his knife and delivered a fierce chop to the zombie's skull.

With a sickening squelch, milky brain matter burst forth. Fighting back his revulsion, Chen Cheng located a fingernail-sized white orb within the skull, secured it in a plastic box, and stowed it in his system space. With the corpse handled, he settled down to rest.

As Chen Cheng drifted towards sleep, a squeak pierced the silence.

His eyes snapped open to find a rat gnawing at the zombie's remains, which were nearly stripped to the bone. The ghastly sight churned his stomach.

A chill crept up Chen Cheng's spine. He hadn't noticed the rodent's entry. If it had launched a surprise attack, would he have survived? Another squeak—the rat had spotted him and lunged.

The rodent was jet black, roughly the size of a cat, with blood-red eyes and an uncanny agility.

Chen Cheng's heart raced. He swung his knife at the rat's head, but the creature dodged with a swift pivot, leaving his strike to cleave the air.

The rat let out a series of squeaks and made another dash for Chen Cheng's feet.

With no time to swing his knife, Chen Cheng's reflexes kicked in, and he booted the rat.

Thud! His foot connected with the rat's face, sending it flying against the wall. The impact left Chen Cheng's toes throbbing, as if he'd kicked a rock.

"Damn, the rats in this world have become insanely tough," he muttered, though his actions didn't pause. Seizing the moment, he charged at the dazed rodent.

Cornered and frightened by the kick, the rat's instincts screamed escape, but Chen Cheng had it trapped.

With a wet thwack, his Mountain-Splitting Blade found the rat's neck, and it let out a high-pitched squeal. It flailed desperately as blood pooled beneath it.

At that moment, Chen Cheng gripped the Mountain-Splitting Blade with both hands, silently waiting for the rat's demise.

Once the rat ceased its spasms, Chen Cheng decisively beheaded it, well aware that rats are notorious for feigning death.

The fight might have looked easy, but Chen Cheng had poured all his energy into it. Exhausted, he collapsed to the ground, feeling completely drained after the consecutive battles.

The system had long since integrated the soul energy into Chen Cheng's body, and this time the sensation was significantly more intense than with the previous cockroach.

"This rat actually has a crystal nucleus."

Upon opening the rat's skull, he indeed discovered a milky-white crystal nucleus inside.

"When killing zombie infants and cockroaches, the system alerted me to the collection of soul energy. Zombies' brains contain a crystal nucleus, and now with the rat, I found both. I'm still unclear on how crystal nuclei are formed in this world."

Chen Cheng looked at the 41 white crystal nuclei displayed on his bracelet and let out a wry smile.

He knew all too well that he needed a thousand to complete the mission.

Through a period of trial and error and a spree of killings, he had amassed 450 crystal nuclei.

He had also become quite familiar with his surroundings, particularly the zombies. They typically lurked in the pitch-black ruins, emerging to feed as the ultraviolet light faded at night.

The presence of zombies in the ruins meant a pervasive, putrid stench of decay in the air.

"Huh! What's that about?"

Through his binoculars, Chen Cheng spotted a crater over ten meters in diameter.

"Could that be the epicenter of the explosion I heard some time ago?"

With that thought, Chen Cheng hurried towards the site.

The area was littered with the dismembered limbs of zombies and some odd-looking carcasses.

A building about seven meters tall stood in the distance, barely intact and on the brink of collapse.

"There must have been a fierce battle here. Huh? They didn't harvest the crystal nuclei from these zombies!"

Excited by the sight of hundreds of bodies, Chen Cheng eagerly began scavenging.

"470520630! Holy smokes, there's a fortune here! Wait, is that a person?"

He scrutinized the decapitated body, his senses on high alert as he scanned his surroundings.

"Why so many humans? Could this have been a gang war?"

Observing the corpse on the ground, it was clear the person had died making a dash for the building.

"Are these guns?"

Chen Cheng meticulously scavenged the battlefield, sparing no valuable item, stripping the bodies down to their underwear.

He retrieved an additional 335 crystal nuclei from the corpse.

"Is today my lucky day?"

The 969 displayed on his bracelet heightened Chen Cheng's anticipation for his burgeoning superpower.

Examining the gun in his hand, Chen Cheng tinkered with it. It was a projectile weapon, akin to modern toy guns, yet its firepower rivaled that of contemporary handguns.

He stashed a total of 43 guns, along with a heap of miscellaneous items, into his system space.

Upon entering the building and finding the entrance obstructed, he reluctantly scaled the floors.

"How odd, there's nothing here."

He pressed on, searching the desolate house.

Atop the building, he stumbled upon a body lying next to a sniper rifle that looked like something out of a sci-fi movie.

"This person has no wounds. How did they die?"

While pondering, Chen Cheng removed the armor and various oddities from the body.

"Damn! It's a woman."

The sight of her made a bead of sweat trickle down his forehead as he struggled to swallow.

Beneath her arched brows were fierce, commanding eyes, a prominent nose, and petite cherry lips. Her patchwork underwear clung to her well-endowed chest, and her thighs and buttocks were as striking as a top model's by modern standards.

Suddenly feeling his pants tighten, he thought, "This is a dead person!"

Chen Cheng quickly dismissed his inappropriate thoughts.

He felt the woman's slightly slick skin, still retaining a hint of warmth.

"Bad news, she's not dead yet," he realized while checking her pupils.

"What to do? I can't just dial 911 here."

Finding a living person, especially a stunning beauty, left Chen Cheng frantic.

"Wait, she might be starving!"

He noticed her cracked lips and, taking out a bottle of water, he gently poured it into her mouth.

The water went down, but feeding her food was another challenge. "Well, it's worth a shot."

Chen Cheng opted for the most aromatic approach, chewing the food before feeding it to her mouth by mouth.

To keep her from catching a chill, he wrapped her in his arms and carried her into the tent.

"Your fate will determine if you make it through this," he said.

With that, Chen Cheng stepped out of the tent to sort through his recent haul.

Eventually, the crystal nucleus was fully assembled in the woman's embrace, with a surplus to spare.

Glancing at the woman, still unconscious, Chen Cheng entered the system space.

"System, the mission is complete. Time to hand out the reward," he addressed the robot.

"Ding! Mission accomplished. Reward: Beginner Superpower Light."

A jolt ran through Chen Cheng, as if he'd been shocked, and he sensed something new in his mind.

Back in the real world, he directed the peculiar energy from his mind at a nearby rock.

Whoosh! A beam of light zipped by, but the rock remained intact, contrary to his expectations.

"No way, it can't even break a rock? This power is practically useless," he muttered.

Approaching the stone, Chen Cheng reached out to grab it but quickly withdrew his hand, scorched by its heat.

"Never mind, it does have some use, after all."

He began to experiment with delight, transforming into a light bulb, a web of light, a sphere of light... "The strength isn't impressive, but I can manipulate it at will with my mind. The system calls it a beginner-level ability; I've got to figure out how to enhance its power."

Chen Cheng continued his explorations.

Ten minutes later, he groaned, "What's happening? I'm so dizzy! Did I overdo it?"

His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed, unconscious.

When he came to, his limbs were bound.

"What's going on here?" he wondered, surveying his surroundings.

There stood the armored woman he had rescued.

"Your name?" she demanded, her face pale and her hair disheveled, as she rudely brandished a dagger at Chen Cheng's throat.

"Chen Cheng," he replied, nervously swallowing before revealing his name.

He was groggy and hadn't quite recovered from the recent events.

He had definitely overexerted his powers yesterday.

The woman arched an eyebrow and asked, "Why does your name sound so effeminate?"

Damn it, I didn't choose my name. Besides, what's so effeminate about it?

But that was a thought to keep to himself. Voicing it might just get his throat slashed.

"My parents chose my name, hoping I'd be successful in my career."

"Don't change the subject. I couldn't care less about your name."

The woman, dagger in hand, gave Chen Cheng a once-over.

Damn, it was you who asked! Chen Cheng silently cursed. His mind was now fully alert.

"You know, your skin is even fairer than mine. You could pass for a pretty boy."

The woman cracked a slight smile, then leaned in close, her expression serious. "Answer my questions truthfully. Lie to me, and I might just castrate you."

Chen Cheng went white as a sheet.

He hadn't even been with a woman yet! Had he known, he wouldn't have saved her.

"Where are you from?"

She squinted at him, her voice low and steady.

"I'm from down south, a little place."

Chen Cheng bluffed.

"Where did all this food come from?"

Her voice was charged with excitement.

Chen Cheng sensed a hint of greed in her gaze.

"That's my food, and you've eaten it all!"

"Cut the crap. Don't interrupt, or I might just follow through on my threat," she said, pressing her foot down on Chen Cheng while pressing the blade a fraction deeper.

A bead of sweat trickled down from the nape of Chen Cheng's neck. He inhaled deeply and said, "I can't explain."

If push came to shove, he'd just retreat to the system space. The mission was complete, after all. He could afford to lay low in his own world for a couple of weeks.

As for using his powers, Chen Cheng hadn't even considered it. They were far too weak.

"Do you have a death wish?"

"Is this how you repay the man who saved your life?" Chen Cheng challenged, his tone harsh.

It wasn't often he encountered another living soul, so Chen Cheng had to take a chance.

If she was the type to kill without a second thought, he'd retreat to his space immediately. But if she was decent, or had a conscience, he could use her to learn more about this world.