Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Armory

"Advanced power progression completed. Host, please experience the explosive sensation of power output yourself." Hearing the voice in my mind, I finally relaxed, and with a sudden force, hurled the bone blade in my hand. In that instant, I could clearly feel my strength was astonishing.

The bone blade I threw sliced through the resistance of the water and plunged into the head of the corpse creature entangling Huo Bing. Water resistance is inherently strong; an ordinary person would find it impossible to throw anything underwater, and even if they did, its power would be greatly diminished.

But after advancing my strength, the sense of weakness in my heart vanished abruptly. I believed that this strike would pierce directly into the creature's skull.

After throwing the blade, I didn't bother to check on Huo Bing. Instead, I swung another bone blade at a different corpse creature, killing it. Then, another one rushed over and grabbed onto my back.

That disgusting thing—I could even feel its soft, rotten flesh against me.

With all my might, I kicked several times underwater, forcing my floating body to twist around. I caught its head in my arm.

"Crack!"

The fragile skull of the low-level corpse creature was crushed instantly by my grip. Without time to marvel at my newfound strength, I kicked backward, sending another creature—its mouth aimed at my rear—away, and finished it off with a swift stab.

When I finally turned to look for Huo Bing, I found she was gone, along with the bone blade. Had she died and sunk to the bottom of the reservoir?

Well, I could only do so much. The danger in the water was extreme; if she really had sunk to the bottom, there was no way I could swim out while carrying her.

The most likely outcome would be both of us perishing in the water.

Thinking quickly, I made an immediate decision to swim upward first. Soon enough, I saw the water's surface illuminated by dim grey lights.

With a splash, I surfaced and glanced around. This was a large pipe, wide enough for three or four people to walk side by side. We were still beneath the armory; to ascend, we'd have to climb a ladder.

Next, Si Ye emerged from the water, a half-chewed finger clenched in its mouth. Seeing me, it hurriedly swallowed the thing.

I shook my head with a wry smile, thinking that the creature must have eaten its fill by now.

Well, a full belly means better work—an eternal truth.

Fortunately, I hadn't found anything else in the pipe so far. Most importantly, Si Ye hadn't given any warning. It lay beside the platform, licking its fur, showing no sign of danger.

I tidied myself a bit. After crushing the creature's skull, sticky filth had splattered all over me, so I cleaned up by the water's edge.

Most of all, I waited for Huo Bing. She had vanished along with my bone blade, yet I still held a shred of hope for her—hoping she would reappear alive.

"Heh..."

Gripping the bone blade warily, I watched the calm water surface. Si Ye suddenly got up, pacing around the edge of the water.

There was still something filthy beneath the water. What was going on? Why did a reservoir have so many corpse creatures?

As if to confirm my suspicions, a dozen heads slowly surfaced from the water, all with red and white eyes—every one of them a corpse creature.

But now, I was on solid ground, freed from the restraint of being underwater. If they wanted to eat me, they'd have to come ashore. I held the advantage—what was there to fear?

With a splash, the horde of creatures swam toward me. Suddenly, I realized I'd overlooked something: why could corpse creatures swim?

At the dawn of the lost era, people hid on water surfaces because the creatures couldn't enter the water—they would sink!

It seemed that over the past year, humanity had rapidly evolved to survive, but these walking corpses hadn't been idle either—they were slowly evolving.

I swung my blade at the first creature to reach shore. The bone blade in my hand felt weightless, as if I were swinging through air.

My arm too felt light and effortless; I could strike without tiring—an ordinary person would soon feel their arm aching, unable to lift it.

But I felt I could keep swinging forever.

One strike, and the creature was cleaved in half. Another rushed at me, and I punched with my left hand, sending its head flying off, neck and all, vanishing from its body.

Miraculous strength!

After dealing with these creatures, the water finally quieted, but there was still no sign of Huo Bing. It seemed she was dead beyond doubt—so many corpse creatures underwater, she must have been eaten.

I couldn't quite describe the feeling in my heart; perhaps a bit of sympathy or regret, but not pain. In the lost era, death was all too common.

With no guarantee of my own survival, how could I be overly concerned about others?

I looked at my fist, then slammed it into the stone wall.

Boom!

I stared blankly at the spiderweb-like cracks smashed into the wall—who could withstand this? It was truly a real-life, one-punch knockout.

Yet, despite the terrifying increase in strength—more than ten times that of an ordinary person—my resilience hadn't improved much. My fist fractured the stone, but the skin on my hand was scraped raw.

"Brother Cao..."

Suddenly, the sound of someone surfacing came from behind, along with Huo Bing calling my name. I turned hurriedly. The young woman, clutching the bone blade, struggled out of the water.

"I thought you'd vanished, that you'd sunk to the bottom and died," I said with a light laugh.

Huo Bing didn't mind. She handed the bone blade back to me and said earnestly, "Brother Cao, thank you. But fortunately, I didn't take your bone blade before entering the water, otherwise you wouldn't have been able to save me."

I chuckled. Seeing Huo Bing alive lifted my spirits—at least there was another familiar survivor to talk to, and the sense of regret faded away.

"If I had only one bone blade, I wouldn't have thrown it—otherwise, I couldn't have defended myself. In the end, you saved yourself; not accepting the blade I offered saved your life." I tousled Huo Bing's wet hair and laughed.

"No matter what, you saved me again. If I ever get the chance, let me repay you." Huo Bing smiled too, though her smile was tinged with bitterness, tears glimmering in her eyes.

It seemed the ordeal had truly frightened her.

"Let's go, we can't delay any longer. Let's head up and see—today, I want to find out what exactly is happening in this armory."

Standing beneath the ladder, I signaled for silence, then closed my eyes and listened closely, hoping to hear any movement above the manhole cover.

After a long while, I opened my eyes—nothing. Now, the only thing separating us from the interior of the armory was this thick cover.