Ice Age Apocalypse: I Hoard Billions of Supplies

Chapter 485: Silent Night

Chapter 485: Silent Night

Swish!

The Loong Roar Sword appeared in Zhang Yi’s right hand as he activated his superhuman ability, enhancing his speed and reflexes to eight times their normal level.

After months of personal training with Liang Yue, Zhang Yi’s close combat skills had improved significantly. The combination of a powerful weapon and formidable abilities made him a dangerous opponent, even in the cramped environment of the abandoned building.

Cautiously, Zhang Yi moved forward. The office door was blocked by vines. Instead of cutting through them, he sliced an opening in the wall with his blade and crawled through.

But what awaited him outside made him freeze in shock.

The center of the entire building had been hollowed out into a massive pit. The hallway beneath his feet had mostly crumbled, leaving only a narrow, one-meter-wide path to stand on.

However, Zhang Yi’s attention was quickly drawn to something else.

In the center of the building stood a massive, dark-red plant. It stretched from the deepest part of the structure to pierce through the ceiling, connecting all the way to the rooftop.

But the plant before him was clearly not that. While the world had once harbored even larger trees, Zhang Yi could tell that this giant plant was a mutation, having grown to such a scale in just a few months.

What made it truly eerie was its appearance. The entire plant was blood-red, its bark pulsing as if it were breathing. Beneath its black outer layer, bright red veins ran like human blood vessels, making it appear less like a tree and more like a living creature.

Swallowing hard, Zhang Yi wondered if the mutated plant was hostile. He stayed as quiet as possible, observing his surroundings carefully.

The vines and leaves covered every corner of the building. Clusters of blood-red fruit, the size of a fist, hung from the branches. Meanwhile, the curled leaves formed oval pods resembling insect cocoons, dangling from the walls and ceiling. Whatever lay inside those pods was a mystery.

The scene was unsettling, sending chills down Zhang Yi’s spine.

Taking a few deep breaths to calm himself, Zhang Yi began weighing his options.

He had uncovered a significant secret of the Followers of the Snow God. Now he faced a choice: quietly leave and act as if nothing had happened, or collect some of the fruit, branches, and maybe even open one of those cocoon-like pods to investigate further.

The second option was risky. If caught, the Followers of the Snow God might fight him to the death.

But Zhang Yi reasoned that in such a critical moment, they might not dare. After some hesitation, he decided to take the gamble.

Approaching the branches, he carefully plucked two blood-red fruits while keeping an eye on the plant for any reaction. When nothing happened, he relaxed slightly, cutting a few branches and leaves to take with him.

Still unnoticed, Zhang Yi turned his gaze toward the cocoon-like pods hanging from the walls.

“What’s inside those? Big bugs?” he muttered, uneasy.

Like most people, Zhang Yi had an instinctive aversion to insects. The thought of slicing one open only to find a giant bug oozing green slime made his stomach churn.

But he couldn’t resist his curiosity. Gritting his teeth, he decided to take one.

He made his way to a pod along the fractured hallway, sliced through its supporting vine, and quickly stored it in his spatial storage.

Satisfied, Zhang Yi immediately activated Dimensional Gate, retreating from the building without hesitation.

Back in the snow vehicle, he pretended to rest, though he couldn’t sleep all night.

The next morning, Zhang Yi observed the Followers of the Snow God for any signs they had discovered his actions.

To his relief, everything seemed normal.

Zhang Yi surmised that his intrusion would be hard to detect. Spatial superhumans were rare, and the Followers of the Snow God likely hadn’t considered the possibility of someone bypassing their tight security.

Feeling more at ease, Zhang Yi resumed his routine, returning to the building he had chosen for defense.

But the lack of zombie activity was deeply unsettling.

Initially, Zhang Yi’s group had expected only small zombie groups in the early stages of the conflict. However, Tianhai City’s surroundings were known to harbor significant numbers of zombies, yet not a single one had shown up.

The regular followers of the Snow God celebrated, convinced that peace was near and that the human forces protecting them had scared the zombies away.

However, the leaders of the factions, including Bian Junwu, didn’t see this as good news.

“The zombies’ inactivity suggests they’ve detected our plans and are strategizing,” Zhang Yi said during a meeting behind the cathedral that evening.

“This could mean their intelligence, especially that of the Zombie King, is higher than we anticipated.”

Xiao Honglian frowned. “These creatures are far too clever. If someone told me humans were guiding them, I’d believe it.”

“If they never show up, are we just supposed to stay here indefinitely?”

Bian Junwu crossed his arms, his expression calm. “Any news from your bases?”

The group shook their heads.

“No unusual activity has been reported. While our people are in underground shelters, surface monitoring hasn’t detected any zombies,” someone replied.

A thought occurred to Zhang Yi, and he turned to Bian Junwu. “Could it be because you killed a Zombie King?”

The Zombie King was a special existence, serving as the core of a zombie horde. When one was killed, the horde it controlled would descend into chaos.

If Tianhai City had multiple intelligent Zombie Kings, they might be connected in some way. Killing one could have alerted the others.