Chapter 9: The Space Gate
"28… 29… All in!"
With a guttural roar bursting from Xiao Yi's throat, he drove the spear in his hand viciously into a white plastic component beside the off-road vehicle's engine!
Bang!!
A faint pop echoed as a plume of white smoke billowed from the damaged part.
The shrill, grating blare of the horn cut off abruptly!
In the final moment, Xiao Yi had remembered the battery—destroy it, and the horn would lose power, silencing the noise.
It had paid off. He'd bet right!
No time to celebrate. Xiao Yi shot a fierce glare at the SUV, using the recoil to yank the spear free while bolting toward the villa's security door!
He missed by a hair's breadth. A horde of zombies lunged at the spot where he'd stood just seconds before!
"Ughhh~~~ Ugh ugh ugh~~~"
"Grrrh grrr~~~ Grrrh grrr~~~"
"Rooar~~~ Rooar~~~"
The zombies' guttural roars rang crystal clear right behind him, as if they were breathing down his neck!
The stench of rotting flesh slammed into him like a wall!
He knew they were inches away now.
One more second, and he'd have been zombie chow!
"Open the door!!" Xiao Yi bellowed desperately at the villa's security door as he sprinted.
At this range, the moment it swung open, he could dive inside. The zombies hot on his heels wouldn't have a chance to follow!
But the door didn't budge.
Not the slightest hint of movement.
Xiao Yi faltered for a split second.
The cruelest possibility flashed through his mind!
"You bastards! Open the goddamn door!!" he roared again at the two inside, clinging to one last shred of hope in humanity.
By now, he'd reached the door—but it remained sealed tight!
No surprises. No mercy.
"Why?!" Xiao Yi's eyes burned red with rage, his body trembling uncontrollably.
He hated that couple, but he hated himself more!
This was the apocalypse!
No morals!
No laws!
No rules!
Not even right or wrong!
Everything boiled down to survival.
Surviving longer.
Pity for others was cruelty to yourself!
He wasn't really asking Tom Cruise and his wife—he was interrogating his own heart!
Why? Knowing full well what humanity turned into in the end times, why had he still let that pathetic scrap of kindness make him save them?!
Why? Why!!
This wasn't kindness. It was cowardice!!
Only cowards shied from the apocalypse's brutality, slapping the label of "kindness" on their own stupidity!
True courage meant shattering those moral chains, doing whatever it took to survive better!
Forget that weak-ass kindness and laughable pity!
In the end times, no one truly meant you well!
Fueled by fury, Xiao Yi swung his spear wildly, smashing the skulls of the first two zombies to leap at him!
Anger had burned away all fear!
"Sorry! Sir! Your presence here would disrupt our lives! Why don't you find shelter somewhere else!" Nicole Kidman's apologetic voice drifted from inside.
She said "sorry," but there wasn't a trace of guilt in her tone.
"Hope you don't end up zombie food! God bless you, sir! Sorry, but I can't share our food or our peace with you!"
Tom Cruise's sneering voice followed.
This was my shelter!
This food was mine!
They were the ones who'd wrecked his life!
And now these two shameless pricks were claiming he was the intruder?!
Is this what humanity is?
Xiao Yi's bloodshot eyes turned icy cold, the feral rage shifting to a deep, chilling abyss.
"Thanks," he said, his voice like eternal frost. "For helping me fit into the apocalypse so fast. For waking me up to what people are really like here."
Staring at the dense swarm closing in, Xiao Yi felt no fear.
Only battle lust!
Leveraging the narrow stairwell outside the villa, his spear struck like a viper—each thrust piercing true, felling a zombie with precision!
One after another, snowy orbs of energy sank into his body!
Finally, the progress bar projected before his eyes hit 100%!
System charging complete! Congratulations, host—the Space Gate is now unlocked!
Would you like to open the Space Gate immediately?
A soft, sweet feminine voice chimed in his mind. No time to hesitate—Xiao Yi selected Yes!
A flash of light enveloped him, freezing the world in stillness. Then, his figure vanished amid the white glow.
The zombie horde surged forward, piling onto the spot where he'd stood, one after another.
"Is he dead?" Nicole Kidman huddled fearfully nearby, the zombies' roars outside fraying her nerves.
"He must be…" Tom Cruise trembled as he peeked through a corner of the curtain. Seeing the zombies stacked like a burger pile outside, he let out a long sigh of relief. "Even Superman couldn't survive that…"
Tom Cruise swallowed hard, tossing the car remote key aside carelessly.