Come Daybreak

Nangong Rui (iii)

Sima Lei's manor was located in a wealthy neighborhood with high security.

Of course, after the meteor shower and the entire world was put to sleep, the security was as good as nonexistent.

The fact that there were fifty or so zombies that had gathered inside Sima Lei's mansion and the reasoning behind such an event naturally happening was questionable.

After all, even if the total population in the community consisted of the wealthy homeowners in addition to their hired hands and the security guards, how could so many zombies possibly be gathered in one massive mansion when the distance between each residence was so substantial?

Although the man who killed Sima Lei certainly hated him very much, wouldn't it be too inefficient to personally run far distances to attract zombies just to gang up on one person? Furthermore, it was unreasonable no matter which way one looked at it since if he truly wanted Sima Lei to die or turn into a zombie, he didn't need a horde to do it.

That was why Feng Xinya felt that the zombies possessed superior senses and perhaps even a sixth sense that could detect the fluctuations of an ability-user's power.

The only materials he could work with were the fact that Sima Lei's ability exploded right before his death, as well as his own currently unstable ability, and the crystal nuclei he'd dug from the corpses on the staircase earlier.

The shockwaves of Sima Lei's strong ability could have resonated with the zombies, attracting them to his location.

As for the initial strength of abilities upon awakening at the beginning of this apocalypse, Feng Xinya could not say. After all, he only had Sima Lei to work from and even Sima Lei's ability was akin to fireworks blooming beautifully before disappearing. Due to that occurrence, Sima Lei's memories of his ability were not useful in gauging its initial power level upon awakening.

Furthermore, Feng Xinya wasn't sure if the ability's level was set in stone from the beginning or if it would have room to grow just based on his knowledge of the existence of crystal nuclei. This was something only time would tell.

Feng Xinya's ability was leaking from his body, but it was terribly weak and almost undetectable to the point that he couldn't even use it anymore. He felt that only the more sensitive zombies would be able to find him if they were truly capable of perceiving the fluctuations in the air caused by abilities.

Regarding the crystal nuclei that were extracted from the undead, Feng Xinya theorized that since Sima Lei had a crystal nucleus that was akin to a medium to use his ability, the zombies should probably have something similar. Of course, just because they had a nucleus did not mean they possessed abilities like Sima Lei's or even sensing abilities. This was because the energy from the nucleus could be fueling the corpses rather than serving as a medium for abilities.

The only way he could confirm the function of the zombies' crystal nuclei was to observe them personally.

Feng Xinya let Xiao keep the fifty small, gray nuclei within the system space before he strolled out the tall doors of Sima Lei's manor.

The distance between Sima Lei's manor and its gates normally took about five minutes to cross by car, but as he wasn't in a rush, Feng Xinya decided to walk. This would give the zombies ample time to approach if they could detect him. Moreover, Sima Lei's garage was probably also ransacked by his killer, so it wasn't as if he had a vehicle to drive in the first place.

So, Feng Xinya took a scenic walk through his own front yard full of trees, grass, and shrubbery. Sure enough, there were the occasional stragglers wandering around, and as soon as they noticed his figure they would saunter over at full speed.