Published: February 6, 2025
Heartless was not truly named Heartless.
It was just that after the apocalypse began, his relatives, lovers, and children died in various ways right before his eyes. He felt as if his heart was gone, so when asked for his name, he said he was Heartless.
He was now just a shell living for instinct.
Previously, Heartless never smoked. He believed that the thousands of yuan spent on cigarettes each year could buy his child two very good toys or buy a second-tier brand bag for his lover.
But now he smoked, and even while using some food and water to undress women far more beautiful than his lover, he continued to smoke.
Heartless felt a sense of addiction when the smoke swirled around him, occasionally flashing images imprinted deep within his soul. Perhaps at that moment, a thought could last forever.
“Brother Heartless, something seems off outside,” a very capable subordinate said, looking puzzled as he approached Heartless.
Heartless immediately straightened his body; he knew that this subordinate wouldn't speak carelessly. In the apocalypse, very few dared to talk nonsense.
He walked to the window and looked outside. Because it was the first floor, the view wasn't great, but it was enough to see the layout of the surrounding streets.
Nothing was there.
No zombies, no mutated plants or animals, and even... not a single corpse.
This was definitely abnormal. In Ying City now, the ground was littered with bones; if any street lacked these things, it was absolutely not normal.
It was too clean!
The Renxing Battle Team had occupied this area for several days. For this trading event, the entire team had prepared a lot. Although the surroundings had been cleared early on, over the past few days, zombies would still wander here. This morning, Heartless had even killed a few from the second floor with a crossbow.
But now, the bodies of the zombies that had their magic crystals extracted were gone!
“Have everyone remain on guard and send someone up to notify the boss.”
The Renxing Battle Team was the top force in Ying City for good reason. Each of Bai Feng's subordinates had their unique qualities, and Heartless was known for his calmness and composure. Of course, at critical moments, he was absolutely ruthless.
With his heart gone, what was there to fear?
Heartless’s direct squad of twenty immediately entered a state of alert. One person quickly ran towards the stairs to inform Bai Feng, who was meeting upstairs, while two others donned thick, homemade armor and cautiously exited through the side door to scout.
Heartless's gaze fixed around him, one hand already turned pitch black.
That was the precursor to his profession as a professional plague sentinel activating.
Hiss, hiss, hiss!
Some strange sounds entered the ears of Heartless and his subordinate. The two people outside scouting also heard it; perhaps because they were outside, they heard it more clearly. They looked up, and their expressions changed drastically.
“Be careful above!”
Heartless noticed his subordinate's expression and knew something was wrong. With a loud shout, he and his team quickly left the window. In the next second, countless small, swift black shadows crashed through the strong tempered glass, rushing towards the survivors in the room.
“What the hell is that?!”
One survivor reacted a bit slowly, and as the black shadow approached, he instinctively tried to swat it away with his hand.
But as soon as his hand touched the shadow, he felt a pain and, in panic, swung his weapon.
While retreating, Heartless caught a glimpse of that subordinate; the black shadow showed no fear of the weapon's attack, rapidly advancing and biting down on the survivor's throat!
There was no splattering blood, no flying flesh; the survivor's body instantly shriveled, and the black creature finally revealed its true form.
It was a monster made of mist, resembling a fox but somewhat like a wolf's head, only about twenty to thirty centimeters long, floating in the air. Its speed was incredible, and its attack power should have been very strong, otherwise that one-star evolver wouldn’t have stood there without resistance.