Chapter 55: Who Exactly Is She?

8:00 AM the next morning.

The gunshot wound on the back of Ethan Carter’s shoulder had already scabbed over.

"Finally."

He rolled his shoulder and moved his arm through a full range of motion. There was still a slight pulling sensation, but the pain was manageable.

He could move normally again.

Ethan first checked the area around his current location through his spatial senses. Nothing unusual.

Satisfied, he activated his Space Teleportation Ability and left the Survival Space.

He appeared inside the bedroom where he had hidden the previous day.

After quietly making his way downstairs, he found the building completely empty.

Max Cole’s men were gone.

Even so, Ethan didn’t let his guard down.

He avoided the main road and slipped into a narrow alley instead. Old trash cans, collapsed cardboard boxes, and piles of discarded furniture were scattered along both sides, providing plenty of places for someone to hide.

He had barely walked a hundred meters when a rustling sound came from behind one of the trash cans.

Someone was rummaging through the garbage.

Ethan stopped.

Spatial energy gathered around his fingertips.

"Who’s there?"

A thin white glow formed around his hand.

A head cautiously appeared from behind the trash can.

It belonged to a boy who couldn’t have been more than sixteen or seventeen.

He was wearing a school uniform that was stained with dirt, and he was clutching half a bag of moldy bread.

The moment he saw the sword in Ethan’s hand, the boy’s face went pale.

"I... I only have this."

He hurriedly held up the moldy bread.

"I don’t have anything else."

Ethan frowned.

He dismissed the spatial energy around his fingers.

"Have you seen a woman with golden wings?"

The boy blinked.

"A woman with wings?"

"Golden wings. She’s hard to miss."

The boy hesitated before shaking his head.

"I haven’t seen her myself. But I’ve heard people talking about the Golden-Winged Corpse."

Ethan raised an eyebrow.

"Golden-Winged Corpse?"

"Yeah." The boy swallowed. "Someone said she appeared near the museum in the southern part of the city last night. They said she killed a Mutant Wolf."

Ethan’s expression became thoughtful.

So the Winged Zombie already had a reputation in the city center.

That was useful information.

He reached into his Survival Space and pulled out a bag of compressed biscuits.

He tossed it toward the boy.

"Take this."

The boy caught it with both hands.

His eyes immediately lit up.

"Thank you!"

"Don’t stay here," Ethan said. "Find somewhere safer."

The boy nodded quickly.

Then he seemed to remember something.

"Wait."

Ethan looked back.

"The southern part of the city is dangerous. There’s an indoor zoo over there. I heard there are a lot of Mutant Beasts inside."

He pointed toward the south.

"You should stay away from it."

"An indoor zoo?"

Ethan filed that information away.

It could be useful later.

"Got it."

He turned and continued deeper into the alley.

Finding the Winged Zombie meant finding Clara Hayes.

And finding Clara Hayes meant finding a potential gift target with a Beauty Score of 99.

Ethan had no intention of giving up that easily.

---

Meanwhile, at the entrance of the Underground Casino in the suburban mountains, Dr. Elena Vance stood with a large backpack strapped across her shoulders.

She looked back at the heavy iron door one last time.

Inside was a secure shelter, enough food to survive, and Haley.

She had no reason to worry about them.

As for herself, she now possessed the SS-Rank Extreme Ice Flame Ability.

She had enough power to defend herself.

Her brother, sister-in-law, and niece were still somewhere in the city.

She had to find them.

Elena turned away from the Underground Casino and started walking.

She deliberately avoided the route Ethan had taken the previous day.

He had specifically warned her about it before leaving.

Too many Vipers had been seen along that path, and following the same route could attract unnecessary trouble.

Instead, Elena chose another road.

Before the Apocalypse, it had been a landscaped river running through the outskirts of the city.

Now the river had completely dried up.

The cracked riverbed was littered with abandoned bicycles, broken household items, plastic bags, and other garbage.

Elena walked for nearly five kilometers before she heard something moving behind her.

Rustle.

She turned immediately.

Cold white flames appeared in her palm.

Three Mutant Vipers were slithering through the bushes on the opposite side of the riverbed.

Each one was nearly as thick as her arm.

Their dark-green scales shimmered beneath the sunlight, while their triangular heads rose slightly as they watched her.

Their tongues flicked in and out.

Elena’s grip tightened around her scalpel.

This was the first time she had faced Mutant Beasts completely alone.

Previously, Ethan had always been nearby.

Now there was no one coming to save her if she made a mistake.

She took a slow breath.

"Don’t be afraid."

She remembered something Ethan had once told her.

An Ability is a weapon. It’s not decoration.

Elena deliberately stepped backward twice.

The Vipers immediately followed.

The largest one suddenly lunged.

Elena sidestepped.

Its fangs snapped shut where her neck had been a moment earlier.

At the same time, she thrust her palm forward.

Extreme Ice Flame erupted.

White flames wrapped around the Viper’s body.

The snake twisted violently as frost spread across its dark scales.

Hiss!

A thick layer of ice quickly covered its body.

Elena moved in.

Her scalpel drove into the vulnerable point beneath its jaw.

The Viper convulsed and went still.

Elena immediately turned toward the other two.

She used the same strategy.

Draw them in.

Freeze them.

Finish them at close range.

Several minutes later, all three Mutant Vipers lay motionless on the dried riverbed.

Elena stood there breathing heavily.

Cold sweat had soaked through her clothes.

She looked at the bodies.

"I really need more practice."

A motorcycle engine suddenly roared from the opposite side of the river.

Elena’s expression changed.

She immediately crouched behind a pile of abandoned bicycles and watched through the gaps.

A woman wearing a black leather jacket rode past on a motorcycle.

A rifle was strapped across her back.

Her face was cold and expressionless.

Bloodstains covered parts of her jacket, while several fresh scratches marked the rifle.

She had clearly been through plenty of fights.

Elena recognized her.

Morgana Sykes.

The motorcycle slowed.

Morgana had noticed her too.

For several seconds, the two women stared at each other across the dried riverbed.

Morgana’s eyes moved over Elena’s backpack before settling on the fading ice flames around her hand.

"The city center isn’t somewhere you should go."

Her voice carried clearly across the empty riverbed.

There was a slight roughness to it.

"The people there are more dangerous than the zombies."

Morgana didn’t wait for a response.

She twisted the throttle.

The motorcycle roared and disappeared beneath the bridge ahead.

Elena remained still for several seconds.

She knew Morgana was telling the truth.

But she had no choice.

Her brother and sister-in-law were researchers at the City Museum.

When the Apocalypse began, they had been inside the museum organizing artifacts.

Elena had spent weeks telling herself they were probably still alive.

She couldn’t stop looking for them now.

She tightened her grip around the scalpel.

Then she continued toward the city.

---

By evening, Ethan had reached the southern edge of the city center.

He had spent most of the afternoon moving cautiously through abandoned streets and buildings, avoiding unnecessary fights whenever possible.

He eventually entered an abandoned shopping mall.

The place was dark and almost completely deserted.

He searched the basement supermarket and found a case of unopened mineral water along with two bags of rice.

Ethan smiled slightly.

"Not bad."

He reached toward the supplies.

Then...

Click.

A sharp sound came from behind him.

Someone had stepped on broken glass.

Ethan’s entire body tensed.

He immediately grabbed his sword and held it horizontally across his chest.

He turned.

Nothing.

Then a dark shape flashed between the shelves.

Fast.

Far too fast.

Rustling came from somewhere deeper inside the supermarket.

"Who’s there?"

Ethan’s voice echoed through the empty building.

"Come out."

Spatial energy gathered around his fingertips.

There was no answer.

The figure moved again.

Ethan narrowed his eyes.

The presence was extremely faint.

It didn’t feel like a zombie.

It didn’t feel like a Mutant Beast either.

It felt more like a human.

One of Max’s men?

Or perhaps another survivor?

Ethan slowly approached the shelves.

He kept his sword ready and carefully watched the gaps between them.

Just as he reached the end of the aisle, the dark figure suddenly sprang from the top of the shelves.

Ethan barely had time to react.

The figure moved like a blur.

It shot toward the mall entrance.

Ethan immediately chased after it.

At the same time, he released a Spatial Cut.

A thin white line tore through the air toward the figure’s ankle.

Missed.

The figure had shifted half a step before the attack arrived.

Ethan’s eyes narrowed.

It predicted my attack?

"Interesting."

He accelerated.

The figure rushed out of the supermarket and disappeared into a nearby alley.

Ethan followed.

But when he reached the entrance, he stopped.

The alley was empty.

There was nothing except an old trash can.

A Mutant Cat sat on top of it.

The black-furred creature watched Ethan with amber eyes, its throat producing a low purr.

Ethan’s expression hardened.

He raised his sword.

The Mutant Cat suddenly meowed.

Then it jumped from the trash can, squeezed through a hole in the wall behind it, and disappeared.

Ethan lowered his sword slightly.

He rubbed his chin.

That figure’s speed had been impressive.

It was even faster than the Speed Ability users working for Max.

Yet it hadn’t attacked him.

It had simply avoided him and escaped.

Friend or enemy?

Ethan slowly looked around.

He had the strange feeling that he was still being watched.

Someone was out there.

Somewhere in the darkness.

He tightened his grip around his sword.

He decided not to chase.

Whatever that thing was, he would deal with it later.

The city center was dangerous enough without voluntarily walking into an unknown trap.

---

As darkness settled over the city, Ethan used Spatial Cut to slice through the lock on the roller shutter of an abandoned clothing store.

He entered the building and searched the second floor.

A fitting room provided a decent hiding place.

He laid out a mattress, checked the surrounding area one more time, and prepared to spend the night there.

Just as he was about to lie down, he heard something downstairs.

The faint sound of fabric brushing against fabric.

Ethan opened his eyes.

He immediately got up.

Without making a sound, he walked toward the stairs.

He stopped at the top and carefully looked down.

Moonlight poured through the large glass windows on the first floor, illuminating rows of clothing racks.

A slender figure stood in the children’s clothing section.

She was holding a pink dress.

Her fingers slowly brushed across the fabric.

Ethan’s breathing stopped for a moment.

A woman?

His heart gave an unexpected beat.

There was something strangely familiar about her silhouette.

She looked a little like the Winged Zombie.

But there were no wings.

There was no rotting smell.

No corpse-like appearance.

Instead, a faint, delicate scent drifted through the air.

Ethan narrowed his eyes.

He tightened his grip around the sword.

Who exactly is she?