Apocalyptic Crazy Kitty

Chapter 27: The World Has Changed

Suddenly, a massive arc of electricity flared across the surface of the Kun Whale’s body, forming bolts of lightning that thundered toward the clouds in the sky. Its enemies were in there! These bolts of lightning, as thick as water buckets, tore the clouds to shreds, creating a blinding web of electricity across the sky! Every bolt of lightning that struck was as powerful as a heavy artillery shell! The clouds burst apart with a thunderous roar, revealing a tiny silhouette. Zuo Chen’s pupils contracted; he could now see clearly that it was indeed a figure flying through the air—though he had no way of knowing whether it was human or not. Countless arcs of lightning struck its body, yet the figure seemed oblivious, remaining completely unmoved. At the same time, the bony spines on the Kun Whale’s back shot toward the sky like a hail of arrows, obscuring the sun and casting a shadow over the sky. Just as Zuo Chen thought the figure had no chance of escaping this time, the red beam of light appeared once more, piercing through the Kun Whale’s body. This time, the red beam split directly into four, then into sixteen, and finally into hundreds and thousands, forming a web of light that sliced through the Kun Whale’s body. The electric arcs vanished, and the bone spines fell to the ground. Before the Kun Whale could even let out a second cry of agony, it was shattered into countless fragments, turning into a sea of blood and flesh mid-air! A torrential rain of blood erupted from the sky and rained down! The sea within a radius of ten thousand meters was dyed blood-red! A vast amount of blood and flesh also rained down onto the fishing boat, staining the entire vessel crimson. The humans on board were all stunned into silence. They had felt invincible after injecting the evolution serum, only to suddenly realize that their meager strength was as insignificant as that of an ant. “Detected… detected environmental emotion as—awe. Preparing to play the background music ‘He’s a Pirate.’ ” The theme song from *Pirates of the Caribbean* blared instantly, its music blending with the raging waves and the blood rain filling the sky to create an even more spine-chilling effect. “Great King, what should we do? What are we going to do?” Erzi asked anxiously. They no longer had time to pay attention to the background music. At that moment, the Orange Cat perched on the flagpole had become their pillar of strength. Zuo Chen stuck out his tongue to catch a drop of whale blood. It tasted extraordinarily delicious; the blood was like a powerful tonic—swallowing it instantly invigorated him. But a wave of nausea soon followed, causing him to spit it right back out. Suddenly, the sea surface boiled once more. As the whale’s blood fell, bizarrely shaped fish leaped from the depths, frantically scrambling to devour the fragments of flesh and blood raining down from the sky. The sea in this area seemed to be boiling, with all kinds of fish leaping out ceaselessly—and even some crustaceans. Many of the fish looked familiar, but their size and appearance were vastly different from what he remembered. A grouper as long as one meter leapt from beside the fishing boat, its body covered in sharp spines. A swarm of mantis shrimp, each with arms as long as a human’s, leaped into the air, creating shockwaves as they did so. Sharks covered in armor, sea bream with two arms, wolf fish darting like bullets… Countless strange creatures leaped out of the sea, making it look like an exhibition of exotic animals. Many of these strange fish clearly possessed the strength to capsize a fishing boat at a glance, but they were too busy devouring the whale’s blood raining down from the sky to pay any attention to the vessel. “Dark Energy Ingredient detected: Spiny Spotfish. Ingredient Level—Level 3. Gourmet System damage is severe; unable to access recipe database… Dark Energy Ingredient detected: Armored Shark. Ingredient Level—Level 16. Gourmet System damage is severe; unable to access recipe database…Dark Energy Ingredient detected: Shockwave Shrimp, Ingredient Level—Level 9. The Gourmet System is severely damaged; unable to access the recipe database…” Zuo Chen’s Culinary System was now sounding nonstop alarms—many of the marine creatures appearing around him turned out to be Dark Energy Ingredients! With a flick of his tail, he pierced a Spiny Spotted Fish that had just leaped out of the water, then yanked it forcefully onto the deck. The spiny spotted fish struggled relentlessly, its sharp spines piercing holes in the steel deck—its strength was truly astonishing! “Turn back immediately and head ashore!” Zuo Chen ordered. Although these marine creatures were too busy fighting over the whale’s blood to pay them any mind, schools of fish kept leaping out of the water, and many creatures were slamming directly into the bottom of the fishing boat, already punching several small holes in it. If they waited any longer, the boat would likely fall apart. The crew immediately turned the boat around, revved the engines to full power, and raced toward the shore. The Kun Whale—which had emerged from the sea like an apocalyptic beast—the mysterious entity that had slain it, and the endless stream of mutated creatures in the ocean had all left them in a state of shock; they wanted nothing more than to get out of there as quickly as possible. The boat had already begun to sink slowly… Fortunately, they weren’t too far from shore. Just as the water had risen onto the deck and was about to engulf the entire ship, they finally reached the shore. The group leaped onto the shore; only when their feet touched the sand did they feel a sense of relief. Zuo Chen flung the spiny-spotted fish onto the shore, then stood at the water’s edge, gazing out at the bay, which had turned into a sea of blood. Most of the Kun Whale’s flesh had already been devoured; if it weren’t for the seawater still being a faint shade of red and the overpowering stench of blood, he would have suspected that everything that had just happened was an illusion. The world had changed—it was no longer just an ordinary time of peace, nor even an ordinary post-apocalyptic world overrun by zombies. During the years he’d been trapped in the ruins of Yancheng, the entire world had undergone earth-shattering changes. Although he’d learned a bit about it online before, it was only now that he truly grasped just how immense these changes were. The earlier turmoil on the sea’s surface had gradually subsided, though many creatures, having devoured the whale’s blood and flesh, had begun turning on one another, sending massive waves crashing across the water. Zuo Chen extended his long, sharp bony claws, plunging them into the spiny-spotted fish and swiftly gutting it. The grouper’s flesh was very tough, and instead of the expected white and red hues, it was green, with what appeared to be a network of nerve tissue running through it. It was clear that this creature was not a normal grouper as he remembered it, but rather a zombie-like creature infected with the zombie virus—a form of evolved life. All zombie-beast creatures infected with the virus were highly toxic and completely inedible—but what exactly did the Culinary System mean by “Dark Energy Ingredients”? He then opened the Multidimensional Information Communicator and began searching for information related to zombie beasts. Sure enough, zombie beasts are actually similar to zombies—they’re all infected with the zombie virus. You could say they’re essentially nests of the zombie virus; whoever eats them dies. They’re infected before they even have time to die, and their taste is absolutely dreadful. This spiny-spined fish was one such example. Since he couldn’t figure it out, he decided to put it out of his mind for now. He had originally thought that traveling by sea would be more convenient and safer, but now it seemed far riskier than traveling by land. “Let’s go. Get on the highway and head to Jicheng,” Zuo Chen ordered. A little over half an hour later, the group entered the highway and headed toward Jicheng. The highway was littered with abandoned vehicles and all sorts of debris. When the biohazard crisis first broke out, large numbers of people had driven here trying to escape, but most of them turned into zombies right on the road, causing massive accidents that completely blocked the highway—and now all sorts of zombies were wandering about. All the main roads leading out of the ruins of Yancheng were in this state; in contrast, traffic within the city proper was still barely passable. Therefore, this time they had no choice but to walk to Jicheng on foot. Once they left the city, the surrounding buildings gradually disappeared, replaced by wilderness. Zuo Chen was still perched on Erzi’s head, and the seven Evolved were sprinting swiftly along the highway. After evolving, their speed rivaled that of an ordinary car; although they had to rest after running for about an hour, they were still moving extremely fast. They had already left the ruins of Yancheng behind them; all around were towering shrubs and trees that blocked out the sky, their massive canopies completely obscuring the highway above. The further they went, the more astonished they became! What had once been a plain of farmland had now transformed into a primeval forest stretching as far as the eye could see! Moreover, the plants growing in this forest were all completely unfamiliar to them—or rather, they looked nothing like the plants they remembered. If they weren’t following the highway, they would surely have gotten lost shortly after entering the forest. Suddenly, the system’s mechanical voice rang out in Zuo Chen’s mind once more: “Beep… Dark Energy ingredient detected—Bigen Sweet Potato. Ingredient level—Level 2.” “Stop,” Zuo Chen ordered. The seven people, who had been running, immediately came to a halt in unison. Zuo Chen leaped from Erzi’s head into the nearby undergrowth, landing about ten meters away. This was the spot indicated by the Gourmet System…