"Grrrrgh." He leaned weakly against the wall and let out a deep growl. He never expected that because of his momentary kindness, he would be betrayed by the people he trusted in the process of saving them and eventually end up being seriously injured by zombies.
The severe pain from the wounds was rapidly devouring his nerves, making him shake with pain. He tried to stand up several times, but failed in the end.
Looking at the wounds that had turned pitch black due to infection, Ryan's vision gradually blurred and his thoughts went back to three months ago.
Three months ago, New York was still a prosperous city full of bubbling people. There were no disasters, no catastrophic deaths or diseases.
Ryan remembered very clearly that it was on a sunny and calm morning when everything started. Thick rain clouds, reddish in color, suddenly floated over New York, making the sky above the city gray.
No one knew where the clouds came from, since the weather forecast never indicated that it would rain that day.
At first, people in the city did not take these rain clouds seriously since weather forecast showed it would be sunny. But soon, the strange clouds developed into the heavy rain, covering every corner of the city, and the world in general.
After the rainstorm ended, people returned to their normal lives, thinking that the impression of the rainstorm would gradually be forgotten with the passage of time.
But soon, the number of emergency feverish cases caused by the heavy rain began to increase rapidly throughout the city. Almost one-third of people who had been caught in the rain experienced obvious discomfort the next day.
All hospitals became overcrowded with cases seeking treatment with thousands dying in the second day alone.
Some people said that it was a punishment from heaven caused by human beings' unrestrained exploitation and destruction of nature.
Others said that it might be the increasing greenhouse effect that has caused the melting of Antarctic glaciers, releasing many ancient pathogens hidden under the glaciers.
Some even suspected that the rainstorm was a germ warfare launched by a hostile country...
Ryan was undoubtedly one of the lucky ones. Although he had been caught in the rain, he neither turned into a zombie nor evolved. He had been enduring the past three months of hardship in the apocalypse in a miserable way.
Past events flashed through his mind one by one. He struggled to support his body, then reached into his pocket weakly and took out a light gray crystal the size of a thumb.
This gray crystal fell out from a zombie's brain when he accidentally smashed it while fighting with the zombies just now.
People in the end times named it the Zombie Crystal or ZC. They were formed inside the brain cores of zombies. They were the energy sources of these horrific creatures. However, not every zombie may have these gray crystals.
Only a very small number of zombies that have mutated more comprehensively had a very small probability of forming such crystals.
Ryan had to take a big gamble on the crystal. If he swallowed it, there was high possibility that he would turn into a zombie. Ninety percent chance, to be precise. But if he was lucky enough, he could evolve and acquire a potential ability.
Either way, he had no choice. The wounds were rapidly degenerating, causing his consciousness to gradually blur and he was on the verge of death.
With great determination, he put the crystal in his mouth and swallowed it. Unlike what he had imagined, the crystal melted in his mouth, giving him a strange, cool feeling.
But the next second, the excruciating pain as if his whole body was burned by fire quickly overwhelmed Ryan's mind like a tide, causing him to fall to the ground and roll over, letting out a series of shrill howls. “Aaaaargh.”
The powerful energy impacted every inch of his muscles. He felt as if his body was about to be melted into liquid.
The indescribable pain and intense burning sensation made every inch of his skin turn red, and even bursts of white smoke oozed out of him.
This kind of pain was almost fatal. Ryan rolled over on the ground, wailing in agony, feeling his veins and internal organs being torn apart in pain, and his heart seemed to be about to burst.
Was he going to die? Before he completely lost consciousness, Ryan let out a weak howl. It seems that he was destined to be an incompetent loser even in apocalyptic world.
Ryan closed his eyes in pain, waiting agonizingly for death to come.
After a long while, his brain had become completely numb and he lost consciousness.
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When he woke up and regained consciousness, he couldn't even believe that he was still alive. After experiencing inhuman pain and torture, he not only gained the ability to stand up again, he could even feel a powerful energy source in his body and mystic veins.
Although his body wws still a little tired, the severe pain from the wounds had disappeared. When he lowered his head again and looked at the claw marks on his arm, only to find that scars had formed there. The skin, which had turned black due to the virus, had returned to its normal redness and smoothness.
"I... ?" He clenched his fists tightly, feeling his body becoming relaxed, but still found it a little unbelievable.
Just as he was looking at himself in confusion and feeling particularly puzzled, suddenly, a beam of white light flashed in his mind, and another picture overlapping with reality began to jump out.
In his eyes, a special light screen appeared, like some kind of high-tech projection, instantly occupying his entire brain.
"What is this……?" Ryan was stunned, looking at the picture in his mind in astonishment. The next second, a line of strange words appeared on the screen:
[Congratulations to the host for successfully starting the Supreme Evolution System]
Host: Ryan Smiths
Constitution: 6.
Strength: 4.
Dexterity: 4.
Mental power: 3.
Evolution: Primary (One Star)
Special ability: Crystal Devouring.
Allocable Attribute Points: 5.
Experience Points: 1.
"What is this?" Ryan was stunned for a moment. Although he knew very well that the mysterious system that suddenly appeared in his mind might be related to the abilities he gained after his evolution and awakening, he was still as dumbfounded as he could be when he opened this magical system for the first time.
Before this, Ryan had come into contact with people with special abilities before, but as far as he knew, other people with special abilities didn't seem to have such an internal system in their bodies?
"Could it be... that this system is part of my evolution?" Suppressing his shock, Ryan swallowed hard and looked at the contents on the system panel again.
Ryan knew that the first four attribute points were his overall attributes.
Constitution meant physical stamina, including endurance, defense and blood recovery ability.
Strength, on the other hand, represented the maximum destructive power that he possesses as an ability.
As for dexterity and mental strength, they were easy to understand. But Ryan was still a little confused about the purpose of the remaining 5 points of attribute allocation.
Just as he was ruminating, another dialogue popped up on the panel.
[The remaining 5 attribute points can be allocated by the host. You can choose your own way of adding points according to your own requirements and the environment]
[Please note that once the system attributes are assigned, they cannot be changed. Please consider carefully to avoid choosing the wrong evolution method]
"Oh..." Ryan immediately perked up, thinking back to his few years of experience in online gaming, and immediately learned how to operate it. His eyes continued to move down and stopped at the item of "integral points".
He frowned again. "What was the purpose of this integral point?"
[Points are your growth progress. Host, you can think of it as the experience points you need to accumulate to complete the next evolution. Every time you kill or devour the core of a zombie, you can get corresponding points. When the points reach a certain target index, you can proceed to the next upgrade]
[In addition, the host can also open the mysterious mall in the background of the system and use the points to exchange for items. The mysterious mall has all kinds of goods necessary for survival in the end times. As long as you pay the corresponding points, you can get the tools you need]
"I see." Licking his dry lips, Ryan couldn't wait any longer.
With a thought, the system screen immediately scrolled down and jumped to the mysterious mall in the background.
There was a large number of dazzling goods hanging, including various foods and clean water, as well as electric batons and daggers used to attack zombies: medicines for treating external injuries, antibiotics... and so on.
However, under each commodity, the points required to redeem it were marked. Different commodities have completely different points required to redeem them. The cheapest dagger only requires 3 points, and the most expensive one was a pill that quickly healed wounds, which requires 50 points.
"Oh my god." Ryan glanced at the system background in bewilderment. After browsing it casually for a few times, he fixed his eyes on a mysterious caption.
"Mystic veins?" He was stunned for a moment, and asked himself.
[All deviants have their own mystic veins in accordance to their abilities]
"Oh..." Ryan nodded and said woodenly. He suddenly became curious about his own mystic veins, so he quickly asked, "Anything you can tell mec about my own mystic veins?"
[The host has no Mystic Veins]
"No?" Ryan cursed in silence. "Damn you...."
No wonder, even though he had been caught in that kind of rain, Ryan’s abilities had yet to surface. Not to mention evolving into a something more. It seemed that the reason why he had been unable to evolve wws because he did not have the mystic veins in his body.
Just when he was feeling frustrated, the system notified him.
[The host's evolutionary ability is to activate the supreme system and the zombie crystal devouring skill, which was not consistent with ordinary deviants]
In other words, if ordinary people like himself wanted to become a deviant, they must awaken their mystic veins, and then gradually accumulate energy through the absorption and transformation of their mystic veins, and finally complete their evolution.
But Ryan didn't need to go through so much trouble. He didn't have the ability of mystic veins, so he couldn't absorb energy from nature, but he could meet the needs of evolution by constantly swallowing brain crystals which were extremely difficult to acquire.
Although he luckily awakened the supreme system and barely stepped into the ranks of deviants, he didn't possess the necessary combat power to fight zombies yet.
Thinking of this, Ryan immediately asked. "Is there any way for me to obtain mystic veins of my own?"
[Yes, as long as the host accumulates fifty points, he can purchase a bottle of !ystic Veins Cleanser through the backstage. The medicine can evolve your existing veins and generate a new mystic ones. Nevertheless, the new mystic veins may still amount to nothing. Everything depends on the host's luck]
Damn you, bloody system. There was always something attached everything. Ryan patted his forehead, looked at the price marked below the mystic veins cleanser, and suddenly felt a little dizzy.
He only had two points now, and he still needs forty-eight points to buy a bottle of the cleanser. How many zombies did he have to kill and how many zombie crystal cores did he have to devour? Moreover, not every zombie could possess zombie crystal cores.
Ryan was also extremely lucky last time. He only managed to grab a gray crystal of the worst quality when he was on the verge of death. It eas impossible for the God of Luck to favor him every time.
Just when he was having a headache, another message popped up on the system:
[Inbound: a zombie tide]