The truck thundered down the ruined highway, its engine coughing smoke, its tires crunching over skulls like brittle gravel. The smell of burnt rubber mixed with blood hung thick inside the cabin. The AC had died hours ago, but neither Jiang Rou nor Su Chen cared.
Jiang Rou's knuckles were bone-white around the steering wheel. Her eyes flicked sideways again—she couldn't help it.
Su Chen's right hand… wasn't staying human.
The skin rippled like disturbed water. White bone pushed outward, forming long, needle-sharp spikes. They slid out… then drew back in.
Snick. Schlock. Snick.
It was the sound of something evolving.
Jiang Rou swallowed hard. "B-Boss… w-we're close to the Eastern Industrial District. Smoke everywhere."
"Then keep going," Su Chen said. His hand returned to normal with a shiver of flesh. "Heavy Machinery Factory. It has a secured bay."
[Skill Analysis: Bone Manipulation]
Proficiency: Novice
Integration: 15%
Note: Composite fusion between Bone Armor and Mantis Chitin exceeds conventional steel-grade durability.
Su Chen flexed his fingers. Defense is fine. But ranged offense… if something airborne shows up, am I going to toss bone spears like a caveman? Disgusting.
---
The Steelworks Warehouse
The factory compound loomed ahead—fenced, dark, dead silent.
Su Chen hopped out before the truck even stopped. One clean sweep of his Indigo Blade, and the rusted chain lock fell apart. He shoved the heavy gate open and gestured Jiang Rou inside.
The warehouse interior swallowed the truck whole.
"Park. Seal the windows with those pallets. Don't open the door for anyone."
Jiang Rou scrambled to obey. "Y-Yes, Boss… um… what are you planning to do?"
"Upgrades," Su Chen said. "And an arsenal."
Her eyes widened. "The police station is two districts away. It's completely overrun—"
"I said arsenal," Su Chen cut in. "Not leftovers."
He didn't explain. He simply strode to the manager's office, shut the door, and locked it behind him.
[System Interface]
[Dimensional Travel: ACTIVE]
Target World: High School of the Dead
Time Setting: Local Earth Time – Frozen (Cost: 0)
Arrival Point: Tokonosu City Police Armory
Su Chen exhaled once.
"Let's go shopping."
The world shattered.
---
World: High School of the Dead
Location: Tokonosu City, East Precinct Police Station
Status: Outbreak Day 1 – Two Hours Before Full Collapse
The smell hit him first—not rot, but stale coffee and disinfectant.
Sirens screamed outside. Officers yelled to each other, panic already rising like a tide.
"Units respond! The suspects— they're biting people!"
"Containment! Initiate containment protocols!"
Su Chen stepped out of a bathroom stall like he owned the place.
A sergeant spotted him instantly. "Hey! Restricted area! Show me your ID—"
He didn't finish.
[Agility: 19]
One blur. Su Chen appeared behind the man, tapping the carotid with surgical precision. The sergeant dropped.
Su Chen didn't spare him a glance. He walked straight to the armory cage.
[Strength: 25] + [Bone Drill]
His index finger elongated into a spinning bone key.
Crunch.
The lock disintegrated.
He entered the armory and for the first time today, smiled.
Rows of revolvers. Racks of shotguns. MP5s. Ammunition stacked like bricks.
A buffet.
He put a hand on a shotgun.
[Copied: Ithaca M37 Shotgun]
A touch on the ammo box.
[Copied: 12-Gauge Buckshot (25 shells)]
"Copy. Copy. Copy."
Guns, ammo, vests, batons, gas canisters, riot shields—everything poured into his infinite storage until he'd built a small nation's worth of firepower.
50 shotguns.
100 revolvers.
20 MP5s.
10,000 rounds of ammunition.
Pathetic world. Generous loot.
He left the station and stepped into the chaos outside. Zombies shuffled aimlessly, reacting only to noise.
"Level… half?" Su Chen muttered. "You're barely sentient."
A riot-control armored bus was parked nearby.
He touched it.
[Copied: Armored Riot Bus]
"Perfect. Jiang Rou will cry tears of gratitude."
But he had one more objective.
"Fujimi Academy…" He checked the precinct map. "Time to recruit talent."
---
Fujimi Academy
The school was hell.
Students ran, screamed, died. Blood painted the stairs.
Rei Miyamoto stabbed desperately with a broken broom. Takashi Komuro swung a bat with panic instead of technique.
They were already surrounded.
Takashi shouted, "There's too many—!"
Glass exploded.
A figure dropped into the center of the horde.
Su Chen.
Zombies lunged—
"You're all painfully slow," he said, bored.
He summoned a shotgun.
Click-clack.
BOOM.
A skull vaporized.
And then he moved—firing, pumping, firing, pumping—each shot an exact headshot. It looked less like combat and more like someone demonstrating a bug exploit.
Ten seconds later, silence.
Rei and Takashi stared at him like he was a demon in human skin.
"You… who are you? SWAT? SDF?" Takashi stammered.
Su Chen didn't even acknowledge him.
His gaze was already on the stairs.
A girl with flowing purple hair had just crushed a zombie's skull with a bokken—clean posture, stable breath, impeccable form.
Saeko Busujima.
Behind her, a pink-haired genius analyzed twelve things at once with a single glance.
Saya Takagi.
Su Chen walked up the stairs, boots crunching glass.
"You two," he said. "Potential."
Saeko's grip tightened. "You move like someone trained. Are you here to rescue us?"
"Rescue?" Su Chen laughed softly. "No. Recruitment."
Saya blinked behind her glasses. "Recruitment? In this situation? The city is collapsing!"
"And you'll collapse with it," Su Chen said bluntly. "Or you come with me. Somewhere much larger. Much more dangerous. Much more rewarding."
A thunderous roar came from outside—the main gate broke under the weight of a massive horde.
He racked the shotgun.
"You have ten seconds. I don't carry dead weight."
Saeko smiled—a sharp, hungry smile that mirrored Su Chen's own cruelty.
"I'm not dying here." She stepped beside him.
[System Notice: Saeko Busujima – Interest: 30 (Intrigued)]
[System Notice: Saya Takagi – Interest: 20 (Cautious)]
"Good," Su Chen said. "Follow me. And cover your ears."
He switched to an MP5.
"Let's carve a way out."