161 Drawing Lots!

For the sake of the others' survival, this was a helpless move. If they did not kill a companion now, they would ultimately be forced to resort to eating the starved corpses. However, by the time things reached that stage, the others would likely have long been starved to the point of extreme weakness, and their bodily functions would have suffered severe damage. It was far better to draw lots and kill someone early on, as the outcome would be identical anyway.

It was simply that taking the life of a companion chosen by the draw would carry an intense sense of guilt. Before the apocalypse broke out, this group of people had all been respectable citizens. Not to mention killing people, they wouldn't even have touched substandard food.

No one wanted to die, nor did anyone wish to kill their own companions with their own hands. Not everyone in the apocalypse committed evil without a shred of hesitation. There were still many who clung to the most basic human morality.

"Fine, fine, fine. Since you refuse to make a decision, just wait here to starve to death. Once you're dead of starvation, you won't have any psychological burden left," Lin Heng said viciously.

Of course, it was worth noting that Lin Heng did not have to participate in this draw. The reason was very simple: Lin Heng had the biggest fists. As an awakened ability user, he held the power of life and death over the others.

"Um... Boss, you still have quite a bit of food. Share some with me, I don't want to starve to death," a woman said, swallowing hard as her gaze locked fixedly onto Lin Heng's pockets.

Lin Heng's several pockets were bulging, clearly stuffed with food.

"Give it to you? Then what if the others need it too? Won't I starve to death then? I'm not like you lot; I'm a superior human being," Lin Heng sneered, his eyes filled with a chilling coldness.

He didn't take the woman's words to heart at all.

"I... I just want a single piece of candy. Please, just give me one piece of candy," the woman's eyes had already taken on a greenish, desperate gleam.

It seemed that when people were driven to the extremes of starvation, they truly behaved just like wild animals.

Without waiting for Lin Heng to reply, the woman lunged directly at him, appearing desperate to snatch the items from his pockets. At this sight, the eyes of the others lit up as well, as if they were waiting for the woman to succeed so they could scramble for a share of the spoils. After all, with things having come to this, they had nothing left to lose or worry about.

However, the next second, a loud bang echoed.

Thud!

The woman was sent flying violently into the air, crashing heavily against the ceiling. By the time she dropped back down, she had completely lost all signs of life. Fresh blood trickled from the back of her head, rapidly staining a large patch of the floor crimson.

Only then did the crowd fall silent, instantly remembering once more that Lin Heng was an ability user!

They had witnessed it many times before. Lin Heng's ability seemed to be the power to rebound anything and everything that made physical contact with his body.

Ordinary zombies were utterly incapable of touching Lin Heng's skin; they were invariably deflected and bounced away. Relying on this trick, Lin Heng had cleared out all the zombies in Happiness Residential Area and led the survivors there to find a vast amount of food.

Yet this ability possessed a major flaw. That was, if whatever touched Lin Heng's body moved with extreme speed and immense force, Lin Heng would inevitably suffer the impact. Thus, when facing mutated creatures, Lin Heng's ability appeared stretched to its limits and inadequate.

Furthermore, when the corpse tide erupted, their base suffered devastating blows, and a Tier 3 mutated creature had set its sights on this place, forcing them to hide underground.

"Well, there's no need to vote anymore now. There's food right here, go ahead and eat," Lin Heng tossed a small knife down beside the woman's corpse.

"Ugh!"

Someone retched on the spot. Yet their stomach was completely empty, and nothing came up. Not even bile could be produced, leaving only the hollow sound of dry heaving.

No one made a move. It wasn't that they didn't want to live, but rather that they had fallen into complete despair. What good would eating do? It would merely prolong their agonizing existence by a few more days, with the ultimate destination still being death by starvation. If that was the case, there was no need to shatter the final bottom line of humanity just before dying.

"None of you are going to eat? Then this will be my food!"

Lin Heng wore a ferocious expression as he picked up the knife and aimed it at the woman's calf.

It was a slender, resilient calf, still encased in a grey silk stocking. Had the apocalypse not broken out, there was no telling how captivating this leg would be to men. Right now, Lin Heng's gaze was fixed on this very calf.

However, what he had his eyes on was the meat of the calf!

The flesh here was the firmest, and eating it shouldn't produce any unpleasant sensations. Although Lin Heng currently had plenty of food, he intended to consume the fresh meat first, as his stored provisions could keep for a long time. If the meat right in front of him went uneaten, it would soon spoil anyway.

Whatever the cost, Lin Heng was determined to survive. He was a chosen human being; he could not die in a place like this.

The sharp blade pierced into the calf, and blood immediately began to ooze out. Seeing this, the others shook their heads one after another.

Just as Lin Heng was about to carve off a piece of the meat and taste it first, a sudden sound echoed from ahead.

Xue Feng and the Panther had already descended. The moment he stepped inside, he heard the loud commotion, and the Panther quickly tracked Lin Heng and the others by the scent of fresh blood.

"Are those zombies?"

Over on Lin Heng's side, someone had been frightened out of their wits, letting out a voice no louder than a mosquito's buzz, as if fearful of disturbing whatever was approaching down below.

"It's not a zombies! Zombies don't make sounds like that, but someone else might have arrived! Remember, everything listens to me!" Lin Heng threatened viciously.

Hearing this, the others did not dare to utter a sound, nodding hurriedly.

"We are survivors trapped down here! Who are you? Are you human?" Lin Heng shouted at the top of his lungs while turning off his portable lamp, plunging them back into darkness.

No one answered. Only the sound of footsteps grew closer and closer.

Tap.

A flashlight beam illuminated everything before them. Xue Feng looked expressionlessly at the people gathered here.

[Ding!]

[Congratulations to the host for successful intelligence verification.]

[Reward: Host attributes enhanced, all stats +1.]

Another attribute enhancement reward; Xue Feng nodded silently. Recently, eliminating ordinary zombies had made it very difficult to increase his attributes, and the system's prompt had come at just the right time.

Although it was only a +1 increase, Xue Feng at least felt inwardly that his strength had grown a fraction stronger.

Following the beam of the flashlight, Xue Feng also caught sight of the pale faces of Lin Heng and the others, as well as the corpse lying in their midst.

On the verge of starvation...

Xue Feng shook his head and turned to leave. He had seen scenes like this far too often, and by now, he took them entirely in stride.

"Wait a second, brother! How did you get in here? Aren't there any zombies upstairs?" Lin Heng called out hurriedly.

"A Tier 3 mutated creature has already been dealt with. You can come out now," Xue Feng said indifferently.

Hearing this, Lin Heng wore a look of deep suspicion. He had witnessed firsthand the terrifying strength of that Tier 3 mutated creature. How could it possibly have been eliminated by a single person like this?

Yet the others could no longer care about such doubts; they scrambled to their feet, dragging their exhausted bodies as they followed Xue Feng out of the basement.