Lucien ran through the streets at high speed, dodging hordes of zombies and firing arrows at the few mutant animals that tried to ambush him. It wasn't long before he reached a residential area full of mansions. Lucien had to run a little further, but after getting his bearings in the apocalyptic environment, he finally spotted a familiar high wall covered in vines.

He wasted no time heading to the gate and simply jumped over the wall with agile movements. When he reached the beautiful garden where he and his friends had received most of their supplies, he barely recognized the place.

During the short, one-month break, the garden of William's family mansion had been overrun with tall grass and various other weeds. Lucien found the phenomenon a bit odd, as he wasn't sure if this type of growth was normal or another strange effect of the apocalypse.

After crossing the back lawn, he entered the residence through the servants' back door and finally spotted his friend William, standing in the living room near the first-floor staircase, seemingly thinner.

"WILLIAM!"

Hearing Lucien's shout, William turned around. His once innocent, smiling, and jovial face was now replaced by a pale, contorted face with red eyes. There were bloody tears on his face, and he grunted inhuman sounds.

"GROAAHH"

Lucien's eyes filled with tears as he confirmed that his friend had already transformed, but he quickly choked back his tears.

"Yes, I have the system cure, just wait a minute—"

While Lucien quickly opened the Creation Shop and purchased the cure, hoping William hadn't been bitten by a Level 2 zombie, a muscular man wearing a yellow construction helmet, an orange vest, and various PPE equipment approached William with a baseball bat and struck him hard on the side of the head.

"BAMM"

"CRACK"

Lucien was several meters away from his friend, but he could still hear the powerful blow followed by a terrifying crack.

The chubby William collapsed onto the ground without any resistance after the blow to his head. Lucien's eyes widened, and he opened his mouth in shock. The vial containing the ZY virus cure fell from his hand to the ground, but luckily, it didn't break.

The man, who looked like an ordinary construction worker, wasn't satisfied; he raised the bat with both hands above his head and struck the young zombie on the head once again.

"NOOO!"

After the scream, Lucien acted in a quick, unconscious reflex. A reddish-white bow and a thin arrow made of white bones appeared in his hands, firing a quick shot at the man before he struck William a third time.

The arrow struck the man's neck, causing the third strike he had prepared to fail. The metal staff fell from his hands, and he knelt, choking on his own blood as he tried to remove the arrow from his neck.

Lucien ignored the dying man and ran to his friend. All he saw was William, motionless on the ground, his red eyes wide open.

"WILLIAM!"

"WILLIAM!"

"JUST HOLD ON, IT'S GOING TO BE FINE..."

Lucien saw a lot of blood coming from his friend's head. This made him desperate. He took a level 2 crystal from his inventory and placed it in his friend's mouth, hoping it would help his wounds. He then got up, running to where he had dropped the bottle of zombie cure.

After returning, he carefully knelt beside William and lifted his head off the ground, gently holding the back of his skull.

When his hand touched his head and he felt that his entire skull was "soft," despair spread across Lucien's face, tears streaming uncontrollably from his eyes. He began to sob loudly as he poured the cure into his mouth, refusing to accept what he had already realized.

[Sigh…]

The system had already realized that spending the 5,000 Creation Points was useless. But it chose to remain silent and not interrupt Lucien.

Lucien continued to cry for a long time. He had known William since preschool, and they had always studied together, played together, and even been bullied together. The absence of their parents due to work and the lack of siblings were something they and Nina had always shared. This caused the three of them to form a deep bond...

Just as Lucien was beginning to calm down, he saw a level 2 crystal drip from William's mouth and fall to the floor. It was the crystal he had used to try to heal him.

The recent memory of his friend's happiness and anxiety at the possibility of gaining powers by consuming a crystal today made Lucien's tears start again, even louder than before.

He hugged his body tightly for a long time, oblivious to the passage of time.

With less than two hours left until dark, Lucien finally gently laid William's body on the floor. He carefully supported his injured head as he let him lie on the living room floor, fearing further aggravating the injury and disfiguring his friend.

When he went to reposition his arms, he noticed something written in dried blood on his left forearm. The letters were so rough, but Lucien still understood what the three letters meant:

"Mom."

Lucien's eyes widened, still red from crying. He finally snapped out of his stupor, remembering his friend's mother. He turned his head, looking around the room, expecting to find her. But all he saw were several overturned pieces of furniture, cookie wrappers, chocolates, and snacks scattered around the room, and, of course, two bodies.

The first was a red-eyed zombie with a small pocketknife stuck in one eye, likely the culprit behind William's transformation. And the second corpse was the construction worker he had killed.

Just as Lucien was about to get up and look for William's mother, he heard static, followed by a voice coming from the worker's body.

"Hey, Carlson, why are you taking so long to bring the drinks? The boss said we can all try the Madam of the Mansion after him..."

Upon hearing the phrase, Lucien's expression was completely distorted, a mixture of shock, anger, horror, and fury. He finally understood who the "Madam of the Mansion" coming from the radio voice could be.

But as soon as that expression formed, it quickly disappeared within seconds. His face calmed down, returning to normal until it was completely listless. The only change that stood out in Lucien was his eyes; they lit up like two luminous white suns...

In his fury, he had activated Nexus Mode again...

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