There weren't many zombies in the stairwell. These monsters were drawn to sound, and the deafening screams outside made them overlook the relatively quiet stairwell.
"Grrr!"
Shi You reached the underground parking garage without a hitch. Before he could even push the door open, he heard the clang of metal being battered and the roar of zombies.
Shi You listened carefully. Once he confirmed that the source of the noise was still some distance from the door, he pushed it open with ease.
The parking garage was brightly lit. The lights made the luxury cars look even more expensive, but at this moment, every one of those pricey cars was nothing more than scrap metal.
In one corner of the parking garage, more than a dozen zombies were surrounding a sedan. Two terrified faces were visible inside.
The zombies savagely pounded the car doors and windows. Under their tremendous Strength, the sedan shook nonstop, yet the windows didn't even have a single crack.
Bulletproof glass, huh?
Shi You gave the two people in the car a polite smile, ignored their pleas, and walked off in another direction.
The ventilation system running in the underground parking garage emitted a low hum that completely masked Shi You's footsteps.
There were far too many zombies during the early stages of the apocalypse. There was no need to risk fighting more than a dozen of them. As for the people in the car? Well, he wasn't exactly a good person to begin with. Watching someone die without helping didn't weigh on him in the slightest.
Shi You followed the signs hanging from the ceiling. The underground parking garage was enormous, and the floor was covered in bloodstains. Yet there were only the few zombies he'd seen earlier.
The survivors must have been infected and turned into zombies, then drawn away by the loud noises coming from the exits and entrances. The trail of blood leading outside was the best evidence.
Shi You didn't hurry to leave. He found a storage room in the parking garage and cut through the lock on the door with a single swing of his saber. Once inside, he used the clutter within to barricade the door.
The first day of the apocalypse was the most important, but it was also the most dangerous.
There were simply too many survivors, and most of them were out on the streets. Before they were all infected or managed to escape, the streets would be utterly chaotic.
This was an extremely dangerous period. There was a high chance of being surrounded by dozens, or even hundreds, of zombies.
Just wait until the unlucky and the idiots had died in droves. After that, the survivors who couldn't fight zombies would all hide themselves away.
By then, the number of people on the streets would drop drastically. Those brave enough to venture outside would also be much more cautious. It would be safer then, and this period wouldn't last long—just two hours. After that, the unlucky and the idiots would be almost completely dead.
Shi You wasn't in a hurry. It was only two hours, after all. Besides, he was already Level 2. Waiting a little longer wouldn't hurt.
Even so, Shi You didn't waste any time. He took out his phone and looked at the map of the city he'd downloaded in the restroom earlier.
The communications equipment was down. That meant he couldn't make calls, there was no signal, and there was no internet, but it didn't affect the phone's other functions.
In his previous life, Shi You had never left this city—not even by the time he died. It was only after his death that he followed the protagonist out. Although that meant he knew little about the outside world, he knew the resource locations throughout this city like the back of his hand.
Important treasure chests, large dungeon spawn points, places like that—in spite of having forgotten some details, what he still remembered was more than enough to give him an advantage over everyone else.
He had to use his information to increase his power as much as possible before the protagonist arrived.
It was true that he couldn't kill the protagonist because of the protagonist aura. In this life, he should prioritize finding a way to destroy that aura. But all of that depended on him having enough power first.
Otherwise, even if he managed to destroy the protagonist aura but still couldn't win the fight, that would be incredibly stupid.
One had to understand that before the protagonist lost his aura, he was the person with the best progression in the entire world.
Shi You thought over the various resource locations on the map, pondering for a moment where he should go first.
What was the most useful thing in the apocalypse?
Food? Water? Equipment? Skills?
It was true that all of those things were extremely important, but in Shi You's eyes, there was one consumable item that mattered far more than any of them.
Zombie Virus Cure—Type II.
It was commonly available later on, but extremely rare in the early stages.
Its effect was simple, just as its name suggested. Zombie Virus Cure—Type II could ensure that its user would never again be threatened by the zombie virus.
Whether they accidentally ate food contaminated with the zombie virus, drank water contaminated with it, or were even scratched or bitten by a zombie, they wouldn't have to worry about becoming infected with the zombie virus.
There was also a Type I cure. It could halt an infection after someone contracted the zombie virus, before they turned into a zombie, and grant them immunity to the zombie virus for seven days.
There were three ways to obtain Zombie Virus Cure.
The first was by killing zombies. There was a chance they would drop a card, but setting aside how tiny that chance was, Shi You had killed countless zombies and only gotten two cards. One was a bottle of mineral water, and the other was half a steamed bun.
The drop rate was truly abysmal.
The second way was by opening treasure chests, like the semi-legendary treasure chest from earlier. It didn't have to be that high-level, either. Gold-tier treasure chests also had a chance of containing the cure.
The third way was to enter a designated dungeon.
As it happened, Shi You knew of a place with a dungeon that could drop this cure. In his previous life, he had occupied that dungeon for a long time, even though it was a little far away.
"It'll take at least four days."
There were no vehicles during the apocalypse. Along the way, he would have to kill zombies or flee from hordes of them. Add in factors such as blocked roads forcing him to take detours, and managing to get within ten kilometers of his destination each day would already be pretty good.
That dungeon was nearly sixty kilometers from this mall. He would have to cross all of Yanjiang City. The reason he thought he could get there within four days was that he expected his travel speed to increase after leveling up.
Over such a long distance, simply killing zombies and traveling would be a waste of time.
There were also a few low-level treasure chests along the way. If he came across one, he might as well open it. Having some crappy equipment on hand was still better than having nothing at all.
Shi You spent twenty minutes planning his route, then turned off his phone. In the darkness, he took bread and mineral water from his bag. Once he left the parking garage, he had no idea when he'd get another chance to rest. Even though he wasn't hungry or thirsty yet, he should replenish his energy in advance.
"Aaaaah!"
Suddenly, a horrifying scream rang out from outside. It came from the entrance. It was probably a cornered survivor who had run down into the underground parking garage.
Unfortunately, this wasn't a safe place. There were still more than a dozen zombies near the stairwell.
Before long, two groups of roars rang out from opposite directions. One group was at the stairwell, and the other was at the entrance.
Shi You had already imagined how those people would end up, but what exceeded his expectations was how agile they seemed to be. The zombies didn't catch them within a few minutes, and their footsteps rapidly approached the storage room.
Shi You raised his right hand. The moment he touched the door, a force pushed against it from outside. But with Shi You's increased Strength after leveling up, combined with the objects piled against it, the storage room's metal door didn't budge in the slightest.
The people outside had nowhere to run. They pounded on the door frantically, crying miserably.
Shi You kept a blank expression. He put bread into his mouth with one hand while bracing the door with the other.
Not until he swallowed the last bite did...
The world...
fall silent once more.