70: Vladimir

Chapter 70: Vladimir

System: "Ding, stop trying to trick me with your petty schemes; they're still a bit lacking."

"Then just tell me, be a good person." Xu Jingzhe played pitiful.

System: "Ding, speaking of which, your bone density is remarkably strong."

"Normal steel has a hardness of 100, common alloys 200, but your bone density is directly 250."

"You've got some skills."

Xu Jingzhe rolled his eyes, utterly disdainful of the clumsy topic change.

"The moon tonight is truly beautiful." Xu Jingzhe stretched, he could change topics too.

It was almost dawn, so he needed to find a place to rest.

The reason he set off at night was to avoid encountering powerful Contaminators during the day.

Half an hour later, Xu Jingzhe found a few abandoned brick and tile houses. The wooden doors had long since rotted away, with clusters of small mushrooms with yellow caps and white stalks growing in the severely decayed areas. The area around the houses was overgrown with waist-high weeds, their tips swaying gently.

Xu Jingzhe walked straight in, and as long as he could catch a nap, he didn't mind. He turned and left, caught a dozen spiders the size of washbasins, killed them one by one, and roasted them by the fire.

Before long, the aroma of meat filled the air.

To condense a golden pollution core, Xu Jingzhe's body required a large amount of energy. As long as he wanted, he could eat continuously, without even needing to go to the bathroom in between.

After finishing the spiders, he leaned against the wall, one hand behind his waist, and fell into a deep sleep.

In his dream, that bizarre dream returned.

On a bus, Xu Jingzhe watched himself outside the window being hit by an out-of-control truck, then falling heavily to the ground, blood spilling everywhere.

Before he on the bus could react, he was shot in the head by a robber.

Another version of himself, passing by, stood on the curb, watching it all expressionlessly... When he woke up again, it was evening.

A blood-red sunset hung in the west, glowing like a freshly cooked meat patty.

Xu Jingzhe had eaten plenty of these when he was in the orphanage.

He used to think they weren't tasty, but now he craved them and couldn't have them.

He dusted himself off and continued on his way.

Behind him, a figure emerged from behind a tree, watching Xu Jingzhe's receding back. On his paper-white face, four sharp fangs were revealed, and a blood-red tongue licked his crimson lips.

He moved, always staying in the shadows, never appearing in the sunlight.

As the last ray of sunset dipped below the horizon and darkness gradually encroached upon the land, he no longer concealed his form.

"Whoosh!" Bat-like wings unfurled behind him, stretching two meters long, but they were bare, without a single feather.

He pushed off with his toes, instantly soaring into the air, opening his mouth, and biting towards Xu Jingzhe's nape.

Xu Jingzhe sensed something amiss and, in the same instant he turned, swung his dagger forward.

"Rip!"

The Vampire dodged with a sidestep, his sharp claws grazing Xu Jingzhe's shoulder, tearing his clothes and leaving three bloody marks.

He hovered in mid-air, flapping his wings, a little surprised; his sharp claws could easily pierce through rock, yet they only scratched his skin!

At this moment, Xu Jingzhe was also very surprised. What was this thing? A mutant that looked just like a Vampire from the movies?

These claws were incredibly sharp, yet they had scratched him!

"A Vampire?!" Xu Jingzhe asked.

System: "Ding, mm."

"If you get bitten, do you really become a Vampire?" Xu Jingzhe was very curious, completely ignoring the flapping creature in front of him.

System: "Ding, if that were the case, wouldn't the entire Blue Star be full of Vampires?"

"Mating and reproducing offspring."

Xu Jingzhe nodded, so that was it.

"Whoosh!"

Taking advantage of Xu Jingzhe's distraction, the Vampire attacked again, his featherless wings flapping, stirring up gusts of cold wind.

His seven or eight-centimeter-long nails gleamed coldly, reaching for his throat.

He craved blood too much; drinking human blood could increase his strength. This little lamb today was just his hundredth for the month. If he drank his blood, his pollution core might condense its ninth ring.

"Clang!"

Sparks flew as fingertip and dagger collided.

The immense power forced Xu Jingzhe back several steps, his chest aching uncomfortably.

"This flapping moth, his strength is incredible!" Xu Jingzhe praised.

System: "Ding, although you can be considered to have bronze tendons and iron bones, your strength isn't that great."

"Then what do we do? Can we beat him? If not, we run." Xu Jingzhe suppressed the metallic taste in his throat, gripping his dagger, and said seriously, "I want to pick on the weak ones."

System: "..."

One shouldn't be too much like Xu Jingzhe!

System: "Ding, he has wings, how can your two legs outrun him?"

"I'll risk it!" Xu Jingzhe gritted his teeth, gripping his dagger, and ran, actively charging towards the Vampire.

Under the moonlight, he used a half-meter-high rock as leverage, pushing off with his legs, leaping three meters high.

"Hehe..." The Vampire chuckled sinisterly, his spread wings contracting, clinging to his body. He twisted like a slippery loach, circling behind Xu Jingzhe.

He grabbed Xu Jingzhe's shoulders, his nails piercing several bloody holes in his flesh, and flew higher and higher, reaching hundreds of meters in just a few breaths.

He intended to drop Xu Jingzhe to his death.

Xu Jingzhe grimaced in pain but remained calm. He put away his dagger, grabbed the Vampire's arms with both hands, used his waist for leverage, and performed a carp flip.

Then... an action occurred that almost made him squat to pee for the rest of his life.

He clamped the Vampire's head between his legs, intending to squeeze him half to death. The Vampire didn't tolerate it, opening his mouth to bite.

Grazing the edge, he bit into Xu Jingzhe's inner thigh, directly tearing off a large chunk of flesh.

With a 'gulp,' he swallowed it whole.

Xu Jingzhe's eyes welled up with tears from the pain. He clamped his legs even tighter, hanging upside down in mid-air, then unleashed a powerful punch to the Vampire's abdomen. The Vampire's body trembled, his grip loosening. Xu Jingzhe seized the opportunity and flipped himself on top.

He straddled the Vampire, his left arm around his neck, his right hand forming a fist, repeatedly striking his temples.

The Vampire saw stars, his head spinning. He truly became a bird with broken wings, his body plummeting straight down.

Xu Jingzhe's body tensed, the wind whistling past his ears. His left hand gripped the Vampire's neck tightly.

His right hand desperately twisted the Vampire's facial skin, twisting it into a braid.

The excruciating pain stimulated his nerves, his eyeballs almost bulging out of their sockets. He flapped his wings and finally regained altitude about a meter from the ground.

Xu Jingzhe pulled out the dagger from behind his waist, pressing the tip against the Vampire's blood vessels, threatening, "Descend!"

The Vampire was not foolish; he knew descending meant certain death. Instead, he flapped his wings and flew even higher, the mountains appearing like mere houses in the distance.

Xu Jingzhe, frustrated, put away his dagger and punched him in the head again, venting his dissatisfaction.

But this time, he learned his lesson and didn't strike too hard. Dying with a Vampire was not worth it!