Chapter 12: Ways to Awaken Power (Part 2)

Volume 1 “Year of Calamity”

With just a simple kick, the security door of the room was sent flying by An Sheng’s violent power, knocking down several zombies downstairs. The huge noise startled Old Zhang and the other two, who were busy blocking the stairwell passage. What they saw next was An Sheng emerging from the room—his skin purple, his body enveloped in blood-colored mist, and demonic horns growing from his head.

Unlike the first time they witnessed An Sheng’s transformation, this time not only had his height increased, but a pair of horns had also appeared on his head. What had changed as well was An Sheng’s aura—a violent and bloodthirsty momentum, its powerful pressure accompanied by rolling waves of heat, making the three feel intense oppression. When An Sheng turned to look at them, all three instinctively tightened their grips on their makeshift weapons.

An Sheng merely gave them a slow nod. Most of his energy was focused on suppressing the intense, violent, bloodthirsty emotions within him; he couldn’t even manage to speak. The nod was simply to reassure the three, to show them that he was still An Sheng and wouldn’t harm them.

After this gesture, An Sheng leaped directly from the third floor. This jump not only shocked the three blocking the stairs but also stunned the survivors upstairs who were secretly observing the situation.

Landing steadily, the immense force even cracked two small fissures in the cement ground, yet An Sheng’s body remained completely unharmed.

Then, the slaughter began. Without any flashy moves, the man transformed into a demon demonstrated what a demon truly was.

The man-eating zombies became mere toys to be manipulated before the demon. A single punch would make a zombie’s head explode; a single kick would send two zombies flying far away. Brains, internal organs, and foul-smelling blood covered the entire small square of the Tube-Style Apartment Building. In less than half an hour, hundreds of zombies were reduced to piles of fragments—not a single corpse remained intact.

The survivors upstairs were dumbfounded. Someone, unable to bear it, started vomiting first, and then as if infected, almost everyone began to vomit. Some were even so terrified by the hellish scene that they lost control of their bladder and bowels.

Even Old Zhang, with the strongest mental fortitude, turned pale and eventually couldn’t hold back, vomiting all over the ground. The massacre only ended after all the zombies in the Tube-Style Apartment Building had been killed.

With his power vented, An Sheng gradually regained his senses, though the lingering bloodthirsty impulse still left him somewhat unsettled.

Now, he was in a room on the second floor, staring blankly at his reflection in the mirror. Purple skin, blood-colored eyes, demonic horns—the monster from his dreams had appeared again, only this time the monster was himself.

He could no longer be considered human. The sensation from earlier was still fresh in his memory—the ecstasy brought by killing was like a drug, making him dependent and obsessed. Was this the price of gaining power? Losing humanity to become a demon? Perhaps in this apocalypse, humanity and morality had become luxuries.

“Xiao An, can you hear me?”Old Zhang’s voice snapped An Sheng out of his contemplation. Turning his head, he saw Old Zhang and two others, along with Su Yao and more neighbors, already waiting at the doorway.

“We’ve been calling you for a while. You were spacing out—are you okay? Do you feel anything wrong with your body?” Su Yao entered the room, her face full of concern as she asked An Sheng.

Her actions brought a faint warmth to An Sheng’s heart. While everyone else feared his current state, this delicate woman showed no fear and was still caring for him. Last time, it was also this woman who had carried him back to the room and taken care of him for three days.

An Sheng smiled slightly, looking at Su Yao with gratitude as he said, “I’m fine, sis. I’m okay.”

“That’s good. Well… Old Zhang suggested that while you’re still in this state, maybe we should go get the vehicles from the parking lot first.” Su Yao’s words carried a hint of apology, since An Sheng had just been fighting for over half an hour—though “fighting” wasn’t quite accurate; it was more like a slaughter.

“Mm, okay. I’ll go right away.” An Sheng turned and walked out of the room. Seeing him emerge, the survivors gathered outside instinctively stepped back to avoid him. An Sheng didn’t take it to heart; after all, even he was somewhat frightened by his own appearance now.

“I think I’ve figured out how to transform. Tomorrow, we’ll go search for supplies.” With those words, An Sheng leaped directly from the second-floor corridor. On his way out of the Tube-Style Apartment Building, he didn’t forget to lock the iron gate behind him.

The parking lot was only three hundred meters from the Tube-Style Apartment Building. Along the way, An Sheng killed a few more troublesome Zombies before smoothly arriving. What puzzled him was that, aside from ordinary Zombies, he hadn’t encountered a single Mutated Monster on the way.

With his current strength, perhaps only those Mutated Monsters could pose a threat to him. Old Zhang and the others had said he easily killed over twenty Mutated Monsters, but that was just hearsay. He hadn’t experienced it himself—how powerful those Mutated Monsters truly were would only be known after a real fight.

For example, that Lizard Monster had nearly killed him with just a tail swipe. In reality, An Sheng’s worries were unnecessary for now. The powerful Pheromones he emitted after his mutation had made this area his territory. Unlike ordinary Zombies, Mutated Monsters possessed a certain level of intelligence.

They were especially sensitive to the scent of Pheromones and instinctively avoided intruding on the territory of powerful creatures. This was an animal instinct, though An Sheng wasn’t aware of it yet.

The parking lot was filled with many vehicles, mostly dump trucks and semi-trailers with high railings. However, there were also a few large box trucks, which were An Sheng’s target.

Although there were vehicles, there were no keys. But this didn’t stump him—after all, he had worked as a taxi driver for some time and had a bit of experience with vehicle maintenance.

Using brute force, he broke open the panel under the steering wheel, found the ignition wires, and successfully started a box truck by imitating methods he’d seen in movies. It was a single-unit box truck, 9.6 meters long, with an empty cargo container in the back—perfect for their supply-gathering vehicle.Additionally, several diesel generators were found in the parking lot rooms—these were valuable finds. After siphoning several barrels of diesel from other vehicles’ fuel tanks, An Sheng packed the diesel along with the generators onto the box truck. Thanks to the immense strength granted by his demonic body, he could effortlessly lift even the heavy large diesel generators—something his former self would have struggled with.

Once everything was prepared, An Sheng’s Demon State dissipated. After the transformation wore off, an intense hunger gnawed at him, but this also provided further insight into the workings of his Demon Form.

The transformation could be maintained for approximately one hour, and the trigger for activating it was physical injury! To his surprise, this time after reverting, An Sheng noticed a change in his physique. Since his upper garment had torn earlier, his torso was now bare. His skin tone had returned to normal, and his previous flabby physique and belly fat had vanished, replaced by eight rock-hard abdominal muscles.

The return journey was uneventful. When An Sheng drove the box truck back to the Tube-Style Apartment Building, nearly all the survivors had gathered at the main entrance waiting. The moment they saw the truck slowly parking at the gate, cheers erupted from the crowd. To them, this wasn’t just a vehicle—it represented their hope for survival in this man-eating world.

After nightfall, An Sheng’s home was filled with people. Old Zhang, Baldy, Little Old Man, and several members of the temporary rescue team were all present. The evening meal was lavish: steamed buns, flatbreads, cured meat stew, and even a ten-jin jug of bulk baijiu that Old Zhang had contributed from his personal stash. Su Yao handled the cooking, and honestly, her culinary skills were remarkable. Everyone ate with heartfelt satisfaction.

In the past, these would have been ordinary dishes, but to these survivors who had endured life-and-death calamities, they now tasted like exquisite delicacies.

“Xiao An, this toast represents all the survivors in the Tube-Style Apartment Building. You’ve given us hope for survival!” Old Zhang stood up excitedly, raising his glass to An Sheng.

This was already his fifth toast to An Sheng that evening. Truth be told, An Sheng originally had low alcohol tolerance, but tonight he had consumed half a jin of baijiu without any noticeable effects—likely because his mutated body had become stronger, increasing his resistance to alcohol.

An Sheng returned the toast and said somewhat sheepishly, “Brother Zhang, you’re giving me too much credit. Your contributions have been the greatest. If you hadn’t organized the temporary rescue team from the beginning, far fewer people in our building would have survived.”

“That’s true,” Baldy chimed in. “Xiao An is our savior, and Old Zhang and Old Liu are too. It’s just that Old Liu… ah.” His shop had been next to Old Liu’s, and they had been closest friends. Remembering his departed friend and family, he could only sigh to vent the sorrow in his heart.Baldy’s words plunged everyone at the dining table into silence. Since the disaster struck, fear and sorrow had been the dominant emotions weighing on their hearts. Su Yao, who had been quietly shedding tears with her two children, felt particularly helpless and terrified. As a single mother, she was acutely aware of her vulnerability, especially when imagining the fate awaiting her young children if anything were to happen to her.

Suddenly, Little Old Man stood up and declared loudly: “Let us toast to our departed loved ones and friends! We must survive—survive with resilience! With comrades like Xiao An and Old Zhang among us, as long as we unite our strength, no challenge is insurmountable!”

As the eldest at the table, he played his role perfectly. His words ignited everyone’s spirits. Fueled by alcohol, they began shouting the names of those they wished to remember—family, friends, lovers… Though the departed were gone, the living must courageously carry on, even in this apocalyptic era.