Apocalypse: I Can See Health Bars
Chapter 30: Survivor

Chapter 30: Chapter 30: Survivor

"Aah!"

Su Qing was walking down the stairs. When she was about five or six meters from the door to 401, she let out a sudden cry, as if she’d just seen a ghost.

The ghostly figure that had suddenly appeared at the door to 401 had given Su Qing a real scare.

The incessant roaring of the zombies downstairs had already put her nerves on edge.

Then, Lin Fan—clad in a white hazmat suit and covered in blood—startled her. She immediately raised the bag of noodles, ready to throw it at his head.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, it’s me, it’s me..." Seeing this, Lin Fan quickly took two steps forward and called out to stop her.

Hearing Lin Fan’s voice, Su Qing blinked hard, only then realizing the figure in white was Lin Fan.

"You...! You scared me to death!"

Furious, Su Qing wanted to rush over and pound on him, but she was repulsed by the blood staining his suit. She settled for standing a meter away, glaring at him angrily.

"I wasn’t trying to scare you," Lin Fan protested innocently. "I’ve been standing here ever since you left your apartment. Didn’t you see me...?"

Su Qing looked at Lin Fan’s earnest expression, which didn’t seem like a lie. Hugging the bag of noodles to her chest, she thought back carefully. She did seem to have a vague impression of something.

’That figure in the hazmat suit was definitely there when I came out, and I think he even waved at me. So why didn’t I notice?’

Su Qing couldn’t figure it out no matter how hard she thought. She just chalked it up to her nerves being frayed from all the stress.

She sighed. Without so much as a word to Lin Fan, she clutched her noodles and dejectedly headed downstairs.

...

Watching Su Qing’s retreating back, Lin Fan deactivated the equipped state of the Stealth Crystal.

’This thing is amazing...’

This little experiment had basically confirmed the crystal’s function for Lin Fan.

It could, to some extent, make others fail to notice you.

According to the description, it should also work on zombies!

’After all, zombies count as observers, right...?’

That explained why he hadn’t noticed the nightstand at all when he first entered that room.

’Incompletely crystallized...’

Judging by the crystal’s properties, it was likely the lowest tier of all crystals—it hadn’t even fully formed.

This was probably related to how he’d interrupted the banshee zombie’s mutation process. After all, it had still been in that "cocoon" when he went in.

Thinking back now, a normal human had 100 HP, and a regular zombie had 300 HP. Wasn’t that odd, partial health bar a sign that it had been in a growth phase?

So, how much HP would a fully crystallized, mature one have?

1,000? 2,000? Or even more...

The test with Su Qing just now had produced pretty good results.

But considering how sensitive zombies were to humans, it was hard to say how effective the crystal would be against them.

The test had only lasted about two minutes, and the [822] in the item description had turned into [820].

It seemed the remaining energy was counted in minutes of use. 820 minutes was just under 14 hours. Fairly durable.

’I have to test this crystal’s effect on zombies when I get the chance. If it works on them too, I’ll be able to walk in and out of the complex like it’s my own backyard...’

’I never expected Mutated Zombies to not only have rich drops, but also treasures like this inside them.’

Lost in his fantasy, Lin Fan looked up and saw the "Fu" character for good fortune on the door of 402 across the hall. He suddenly seemed to realize something!

’Crap!’

"Sister Qing! Quick, bring me the key to 402!"

Lin Fan shouted downstairs as he bolted down the steps and ran toward his apartment!

That wasn’t the only Mutated Zombie he had killed!

...

[Sharpness Crystal]

[Energy Level: Incompletely Crystallized — Damaged (Remaining Energy: 52)]

[Quality: Common (Incomplete Structure, Cannot be Fused)]

[Equippable]

[Sharpness: Equipping this crystal imbues attacks with Sharp Energy. Attacks made while equipped will consume the crystal’s energy. (The degree of sharpness depends on the crystal’s energy level and quality.)]

Forcing down the nauseating stench, Lin Fan finally found the fingernail-sized "glass marble" in a pile of rotten flesh in the corner.

Back then, he had sent the monster’s skull flying with one spear thrust, completely missing this crystal.

He never thought the crystal’s energy would dissipate so quickly. Only two days had passed, and it was already down to 52 energy points...

Lin Fan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Still, having some was better than none. Once he stored it in his inventory, the energy should stop draining.

To test its power, Lin Fan equipped it, took his short spear, and thrust it straight at the nearby wall!

Previously, even with all his strength, he could only make a dent in the wall. Beyond that was reinforced concrete; no matter how sturdy the curtain rod was, it couldn’t possibly pierce very deep.

But after equipping this Crystal Stone, a single strike buried the spear a dozen centimeters into the wall!

And the spearhead wasn’t damaged in the slightest!

He instantly realized that the principle behind this thing was completely different from the potions he’d gotten as drops!

Whether it was the Berserk Potion from before or the other few potions he hadn’t used yet, they all worked by affecting the body.

But the zombie crystals were different. The crystals seemed to apply some kind of energy to directly affect the physical world!

It could envelop his body to lower his presence, or envelop a weapon to make it sharper!

Lin Fan, who had just been worrying about how to get stronger, suddenly saw a new glimmer of hope.

Just moments ago, Lin Fan had been worried that a Mutated Zombie might appear among the horde downstairs. Now, a flicker of anticipation sparked within him.

’It wouldn’t be so bad if one or two Mutated Zombies showed up.’

...

"What are you looking at? See a pretty girl among the zombies?"

Su Qing had finished making dinner and came out of the kitchen. She saw Lin Fan sitting by the window, fiddling with the radio dial while staring blankly at the zombies downstairs.

"No matter how pretty the girls among the zombies are, they can’t compare to the beauty I have at home..."

There were no pretty girls among the zombies, and Lin Fan didn’t turn to look at the beauty at home either.

He was just thinking about how to deal with the horde of zombies downstairs.

Although she knew Lin Fan was just placating her, Su Qing couldn’t stop the corners of her lips from curling up, a ripple of warmth spreading through her heart.

Lin Fan wasn’t in a hurry to eat. It was only six o’clock, but the overcast sky made it seem dark outside.

Besides, after dissecting that disgusting banshee zombie today, he didn’t have much of an appetite.

The horde of zombies downstairs was incredibly tempting. Think of all the items they would drop, and all the HP he could gain.

But there was no way to kill them all. Even if he had god mode on, there were so many that his steel pipe would be bent out of shape long before he could finish them.

Lin Fan scrolled through his inventory again and again, looking for any useful magical items.

After racking his brain, he figured only the gasoline and Diesel he’d recently looted might be of some use...

’A fire attack?’

The idea popped into his head, but he immediately dismissed it...

To start a huge fire right below his own apartment, he’d probably need to know how to borrow the east wind.

Besides, fire is surprisingly ineffective at killing a human body. To burn a moving corpse to death, you’d need an incinerator.

Suddenly, an unusual health bar appeared at the edge of Lin Fan’s vision, immediately catching his attention!

A yellow [63/100]!

’A living person!’

Lin Fan shot to his feet, opened the window, and peered into the distance.

Su Qing quickly trotted over, squeezed into the space beside Lin Fan, and peered out curiously. "Where?"

But she only saw the clusters of zombies downstairs, not a living soul in sight.

Lin Fan pointed about a hundred meters away, at a dark figure that had just squeezed through the complex’s fence. "There!"

...