Feeling a bit sentimental, Memphis pulled out his backpack and stuffed all the found items inside. After some thought, he searched through 5 of his colleagues' wallets, hoping to have something to hand over if he met their families.
He also took Hughie's coat, a long and thick one, perfect for protection.
Using Miley Cramer's skirt to wrap his hand and Jonny Byrne's remaining cap, Memphis finally covered himself completely.
He looked around the office one last time, seeing the rotting corpses of his comrades, quietly mumbling:
"Sorry... I will avenge you all..."
He turned towards the door, a determined plan forming in his mind.
But first, he had to escape this building.
Memphis's office was located at the end of the hallway on the third floor of the building. To reach the staircase on the other side, he had to pass by the secretary's office, the director's office, the second office, and then the separate security room along the hallway, before finally reaching the emergency exit stairs.
He carefully moved the storage cabinet, pressed his ear against the door, and listened intently.
Wheeze... wheeze...
"There are people, no, there are zombies, and more than one..."
Memphis mumbled in the room. He heard rustling and wheezing sounds outside, and there were two to three different sounds, likely coming from different zombies.
Gently turning the doorknob, trying not to make any noise, Memphis peered out.
Right outside the door was a zombie in a company uniform. From the shape of its back, it seemed to be Fergus Clark, a colleague from the neighboring office.
Three meters away were two zombies, one male and one female. The zombie on the left had its chest gnawed to a ragged state, with only one cyan, swollen breast remaining, looking like it was about to burst. The zombie on the right was tall and muscular, clearly one of the company's security guards.
As soon as Memphis cracked open the door, the Fergus Clark zombie turned around, as if it smelled fresh human flesh. Its blood-smeared mouth opened wide, and its single red eye glared at him.
With quick movements, Memphis immediately swung the door wide open, holding his breath, and swung the bat forward.
Thud!
Since Memphis had the advantage of preparation, the zombie didn't have a chance to resist. Its ugly head was smashed, and its rotting body collapsed to one side.
The remaining two zombies instantly heard the noise, turned with hissing sounds, and quickly advanced towards him.
Among them, the security guard zombie clearly moved faster, almost as quickly as a normal person walking, with its arms outstretched, ready to grab its prey.
Memphis felt a bit tense. This zombie was two heads taller than him, with a bulky body, making it difficult to deal with. Its long arms swayed threateningly, and if he got caught, escape would be nearly impossible.
He initially wanted to maneuver around it, attack from behind, but the narrow hallway and the zombie's flailing arms made that impossible. He had no choice but to strike its wrist with the bat.
Thud!
The baseball bat hit the zombie's arm but bounced back, causing Memphis some pain. He quickly retreated, with the zombie in hot pursuit.
Roar...
A beast-like growl echoed, and Memphis struck two more times, one hitting the zombie's throat, but it still didn't kill it. It only broke one of its arms, making Memphis silently curse his luck.
He could only muster his willpower, and a sharp two-meter-long ice spear appeared in his hand, which he thrust into the zombie's eye socket.
Thunk!
The ice spear easily pierced through the zombie's skull, freezing its entire head solid, preventing any blood from spurting out. The zombie instantly froze, its body collapsing to one side, dead beyond doubt.
Memphis quickly pulled out the ice spear, his hand channeling energy as he threw it at the remaining female zombie.
However, his spear-throwing skills were terrible. The spear only hit the zombie's chest, piercing through it, causing it to pause momentarily before it continued to stagger forward, albeit at a much slower pace.
Memphis focused his mind again, and a second ice spear appeared in his hand. This time, he didn't throw it but instead directly thrust the ice spear into the female zombie's head, ending its miserable existence.
'Still, it cost me 1 point of intelligence.'
Memphis calculated in his mind. So, simply conjuring an ice spear would cost intelligence points. His plan to spam ice spears from a distance was dead before it even began.
He quickly stopped maintaining the skill, and the ice spear in his hand evaporated rapidly, leaving only a faint puddle of water.
At this moment, Memphis noticed an item dropped beside the guard zombie's corpse. It was a small, white, ethereal book about the size of a fist, clean and free of blood.
"What is this?"
Memphis, curious, poked the book with his baseball bat. Seeing no danger and realizing it resembled a loot drop, he eagerly picked it up.
"Ding! Passive Skill Book Level 1: Scout's Eye! Skill Attribute: Allows scouting of basic monster attributes. Skill Activation: No consumption. Note: Scouting power depends on the skill level and the owner's level."
"Ding! Learn now?"
Damn, this is a great skill, no consumption, and it allows clear scouting. Memphis delighted, immediately chose:
"Learn! Quickly learn!"
"Ding! Learning successful!"
Following the mechanical voice, Memphis felt a slight warmth in his eyes. He tried looking down at the two corpses at his feet.
"Infection Type Level 1, can infect living beings into the same type."
"Infection Type Level 3, can infect living beings into the same type."
"Huh, level 3? No wonder it's stronger than usual. Wait, does this mean I get more experience?"
Memphis looked at the corpse at his feet and quickly pulled up the attribute table.
"Host Memphis Jackman. Purebred Human.
Occupation: Commoner.
Level: 2 (Exp 5/20)
Strength: 8/10
Agility: 7/10
Stamina: 8/12
Intelligence: 6/10
Recovery: 7/10
Endurance: 7/10
Breakthrough: 11%
Active Skills: Ice Manipulation.
Passive Skills: Scout's Eye.
Skill Points: 1
Potential Points: 0
Bright Points: 9
Weapons: Baseball bat."
Looking at the attribute table, Memphis understood a bit more. It turned out his experience gained was proportional to the monster's level. So, the stronger the zombie he killed, the greater the benefits, and there was a chance of loot drops!The breakthrough point increased to 11%, but he still didn't know its use.Taking a deep breath, Memphis cautiously stepped forward, his eyes constantly scanning for information on zombies, ready to respond quickly.Next to his office was the secretary's room. Holding the bat in one hand, Memphis carefully turned the lock with the other. He wanted to see if Amanda was still human or had turned into a zombie.If she is human, Memphis thought, he would try to investigate her situation a bit. If she is a zombie, he wouldn't mind giving her a whack to gain some experience points.Click, click...Click, click, click...The door suddenly opened, and Memphis's body tensed into a defensive stance. However, after observing, there was no one inside. Maybe
He reached for the card but didn't examine it immediately, instead swinging his bat again to brutally smash the head of the dumb level 1 zombie still hissing in a daze.With that, the fight ended, and he couldn't help but exhale. Good, he had only spent 2 stamina points and gained 11 experience. Including before, his experience bar was now 15/20.Memphis turned to look at Lionel and Amanda, who still bore expressions of fear and bewilderment, and calmly said:"Chairman Hester, I want to resign."In the blood-soaked room, the atmosphere suddenly fell silent.This was something Memphis had wanted to say for years.Lionel, who initially intended to praise Memphis out of habit, was taken aback when he heard this, his mouth twitching. He suppressed his anger and quickly put on a sincere smile:"Memphis, you saved our lives, whatever you say goes. Isn't that right, Amanda?"Lionel, being the director of a scam company, was extremely cunning and shameless. In that brief moment, he had though
After reaching a mutual understanding, Memphis immediately said:"Prepare yourselves, gather all the food and drinks, and wear more clothes to protect yourselves. As for other useless things, I suggest not taking them."To Memphis, things like money or gold were relatively useless at the moment and would only add weight.Lionel and Amanda both nodded, hesitantly agreeing. They first checked their phones, feeling even more anxious when they saw the signal bars were dead.Ignoring them as they packed, Memphis moved towards the door, peeking through the peephole.It was impossible to see inside from the outside, but from the inside, he could easily see out.Outside, there were indeed zombies attracted to the noise. Moreover, there were more than one."Infectious form level 1, can turn living beings into the same kind.""Infectious form level 2, can turn living beings into the same kind."Relying on his scouting vision, Memphis confirmed that the two zombies were relatively normal. They w
Bang! Bang! Bang!The door shook continuously, then with a crack, it burst open, the lock unable to withstand the zombie's monstrous strength.A tall zombie with a rotten, slimy face stepped out of the room."Aaah... Mmm mmm..."Amanda couldn't help but scream in horror, immediately being silenced by Lionel beside her.Though Lionel was equally terrified, he feared attracting more zombies even more.This tall zombie seemed to be Devlin Leyton, Kieron Leyton's brother. It hissed threateningly, its heavy footsteps moving towards Memphis and the others."Its speed isn't too high, but its monstrous strength is immense!"Memphis quickly assessed the situation. As the zombie's claw came down, he used his superior speed to dodge, gripping the machete and slashing upwards, striking its arm joint.Crack!The zombie's claw was severed on the spot.The zombie didn't feel any pain and swung its remaining hand towards Memphis's head. He quickly crouched, rolled through its legs, and moved behind i
Having made their decision, the three of them lined up and left, heading straight for the stairwell. Memphis took the lead, Amanda in the middle, and the portly Lionel brought up the rear, his hand trembling as he gripped the baseball bat.Kheeze… Kheeze…At the staircase landing between the 3rd and 2nd floors, two zombies were kneeling, gnawing on a body. Hearing the footsteps of the three people coming down, one of them immediately turned its head and then crawled over."Infectious form level 2, can turn living beings into the same kind.""Infectious form level 2, can turn living beings into the same kind."Just two level 2 zombies. Memphis swung his sword, shattering the skull of the crawling zombie, then casually chopped off the head of the other one still engrossed in eating.His experience points had risen to 12/40.He turned to Lionel and Amanda:"If you have the courage to face them, you can gain greater power. These zombies are disgusting and dangerous, but they're also relat
Right at this moment, a jet-black baseball bat struck, knocking that arm aside.It was none other than Amanda Owens, who appeared to be the most frail and harmless.At the critical moment, she stood up, wielding the bat towards the strongest zombie.Memphis seized the opportunity, conjuring a second ice spear in his hand, gritting his teeth as he plunged it into the eye socket of the large-handed zombie, piercing through its skull.One fatal move."Kheeze... Kheeze..."The two newly emerged zombies were not frightened by their comrade's death, continuing to crawl up, their large mouths gaping like blood basins ready to bite.Memphis had a chance to catch his breath, quickly pulling the ice spear out of the large-handed zombie's eye socket, and thrusting it straight into the mouth of an approaching zombie.At the same time, Amanda swung the baseball bat, hitting the top of the other zombie's head with a "bop" flattening it.The two level 1 and level 2 zombies were killed before they co
Watching Amanda use her skill and excitedly explaining, Lionel hurriedly stammered:"Can... Can you recover me too? I'm so tired, only 2 stamina points left..."He had spent half an hour in the office fighting off 3 or 4 zombies and was nearly exhausted.Amanda awkwardly said:"It will be 5 more minutes before I can use it again."Memphis looked at him for a moment, then said:"Just wait a bit. This time she served me, next time it will be your turn."His words were somewhat strange, causing all three to fall into a brief silence. Memphis coughed and led the way down:"Let's go, you two need to be a bit more careful."Lionel and Amanda shook off their random thoughts and quickly followed Memphis.As soon as they exited the emergency stairs, a level 2 zombie approached.Memphis casually slashed it, then calmly ordered:"Watch the situation behind us, keep me informed, I'll lead the way.""Got it!"The outdoor parking lot was on the left side. Memphis glanced over and immediately saw a
The big-handed zombie let out a cry, its other hand swatting over, immediately deflecting the ice spear, causing it to only pierce its right shoulder.But that was enough for Memphis. He immediately spent a point of intellect, shooting cold air into the wound, freezing the zombie's shoulder quickly, then with a pop, it shattered into small pieces, leaving half its body in fragments.Even so, it didn't die, nor did it feel pain, letting out a loud cry, its swollen arm grabbing the ice spear, trying to pull Memphis closer.Memphis immediately let go, spending another point of intellect to create an ice hammer, decisively smashing it into its head.Bop!The heavy ice hammer crushed the zombie's head into pulp, and it immediately fell to the side, unable to even groan.Only then did the remaining three zombies notice the commotion, all simultaneously shuffling over, reaching out their monstrous claws towards Memphis.6 seconds to maintain the skill.Memphis's head was a bit dizzy, the ice