Dragon Transformation in the Apocalypse

Chapter 5 The night before departure

As Li Chenglong descended the stairs, he pondered how to become stronger faster. He then saw several people gathered in the office lobby. Deputy Captain Wang, seeing Li Chenglong come down, pulled him and Yun Qian into the director's office. "Brother Li," he said, "tell us the truth, are you the superhuman we're looking for?" Li Chenglong knew he couldn't hide his abilities now, and besides, he hadn't intended to. He replied, "I was accidentally bitten by a zombie, but I didn't turn into one. Anyway, I evolved into a superhuman, and so did my sister." Deputy Captain Wang and Yun Qian exchanged glances, then nodded. "We came here to investigate superhumans. Meeting you today means we've completed our mission. We plan to head to Jinghai City at 1 AM under cover of darkness. We wonder if you and your sister would be interested in coming with us. If you're unwilling, we won't force you, but we need to report your situation. We hope you understand."

Without hesitation, Li Chenglong replied, "With zombies rampant and some zombie beasts and mutant beasts attacking us, the more people we have, the stronger we are. Let's go together." Deputy Captain Wang was overjoyed and took out his satellite phone to dial. Li Chenglong then remembered the woman's voice saying she'd contacted him again, but he hadn't received a call since. He turned on his phone to find it was out of battery, and with the power grid down, charging was impossible. Li Chenglong thought this was a good opportunity to test his storage space ability, so with a thought, his phone appeared in his mental storage space. At this moment, Deputy Captain Wang had already dialed the number, and a woman's voice came from the other end. The more Li Chenglong listened, the more familiar it sounded. He thought, "Isn't this the woman who called me before?"

Seeing Captain Wang still on the phone, Li Chenglong asked the policewoman beside him, "Who are you contacting?" Li Chenglong was already handsome, and although he had been disabled for a year due to injury, his consistent rehabilitation training had made his physique even more aesthetically pleasing. Furthermore, after awakening, the enhancement of his awakened abilities had further modified his body, making him even more imposing. The scene of him using his powers to save people earlier had left the policewoman staring at him in a daze. "Are you alright?" Li Chenglong waved his hand towards the policewoman's eyes. The policewoman, named Yun Qian, then reacted, her cheeks flushing. "Oh, our captain is in contact with a unit that came to support us from Jinghai Base. I heard they arrived at Jinghai First People's Hospital tonight as planned. I also heard that this Jinghai unit has high combat capabilities, and several people from the Donghai Base have joined them, saying they're looking for someone named Jin Zhanlong."

"Who are you looking for? Jin Zhanlong?" Li Chenglong asked hurriedly. Seeing the strange look on Li Chenglong's face, the policewoman said, "I only heard about it from the captain this afternoon. He said we should keep an eye on this person." Li Chenglong's eyes reddened as he reminisced. Jin Zhanlong was the name he changed after joining the Xiaolong Squadron; Li Chenglong was his name when he was a regular soldier. To maintain secrecy upon joining the Xiaolong Squadron, the organization required everyone to change their names. Because his mother's surname was Jin and his father's name was Li Zhan, Li Chenglong chose the name Jin Zhanlong. Only a few high-ranking officers in the Xiaolong Squadron, the Qianlong Brigade, and the Donghai Base knew this name. After he was discharged due to injury, for secrecy and his own safety, the Qianlong Brigade sealed his records. Therefore, outsiders could only find the name Li Chenglong and a few fictitious military records.

"Brother Li, the people from Jinghai Base want to speak with you," Deputy Captain Wang said, holding the satellite phone. Li Chenglong snapped out of his thoughts, took a deep breath to calm himself, and answered the phone. By then, Deputy Captain Wang had already pulled Yun Qian out of the office. "You're still alive, Captain! We missed you!" A familiar female voice came through, her voice trembling with tears. Li Chenglong stood at attention: "Donghai Base, Qianlong Special Forces Brigade, Xiaolong Squadron, ZGL1111, Jin Zhanlong, please inform your unit." There was a three-second silence on the other end, followed by several voices: "Xiaolong Squadron, ZGL1115, Yun Lan; ZGL1117, Liu Jian; ZGL1121, Wu Gang; ZGL1122, Zheng Aiguo." Then came the sound of what appeared to be a struggle for the phone. A moment later, several men cried out in pain, "No more! No more! How can we ordinary people beat Sister Yun?" It seemed Yun Lan had managed to grab the phone.

"Captain, we all have so much to say to you. Back then, our Xiaolong squad suffered a defeat, and several brothers sacrificed their lives. If you hadn't taken a bullet for me, I, Yunlan, would have followed them long ago. But when we returned home, we received news that you had succumbed to your injuries. No one in the squad believed it and wanted to visit you, even just to sweep your grave. But the battalion commander refused them all, and even punished a few people according to military regulations. Last month, we were ordered to the Northwest to investigate a suspected virus incident, which is now the zombie virus. However, due to insufficient intelligence at the beginning, several team members were unfortunately infected while helping the infected. Han Yang..." The captain and several others also perished. After being infected, Captain Han Yang told us everything, saying, "You're still alive, but you've already retired. And because the information is blocked, we don't know where you are now. After I came back, a few of us went to find the battalion commander, but even he didn't know the specifics. Checking the records, we found there were no detailed records of where you went last, only that you might have gone to Jinghai. So this time, a few of us applied to join this rescue team at the Jinghai base and came here. I searched through various discharge records and finally found Li Chenglong. Everything matched perfectly, from the timing to everything else. Then I found your phone number..."

Yunlan rattled off a long story, and the more Li Chenglong listened, the heavier his heart grew. Overwhelmed with grief, he asked in a trembling voice, "How many men are left in our squad?" Yunlan paused for a moment before replying, "13 were expected, 5 are present. Four died last month, and three died on the way to Jinghai." Li Chenglong slammed his fist on the table, which shattered with a crash. Li Chenglong took a deep breath and said, "You said you went to carry out the virus mission a month ago, what happened? Didn't this virus just break out in the last few days?" Yun Lan replied, "Yes, actually it started a month ago. Our Qianlong Brigade was one of the first special forces to handle this mission, but precisely because we were among the first, we had very little information, which led to our heavy losses. At that time, the scale was still small, and then, for some reason, it suddenly broke out all over the world." Li Chenglong thought for a moment and then asked, "How is the situation there now?" "The situation isn't good. Right now, including the people from Jinghai Base and the locals, we only have a little over 100 people. And we're currently taking in several hundred survivors. Captain, please come quickly. We're preparing to evacuate the day after tomorrow, otherwise the zombies will gather more and more. They seem to be able to smell living people; the more living people there are, the more zombies and zombie beasts there are." Li Chenglong nodded, "We're basically done here. We're preparing to leave in a little while, and we'll definitely be able to meet up with you by tomorrow afternoon at the latest."

"Captain, with your leadership, we're not afraid of anything," Yun Lan said with a smile. "By the way, do you have any clues about the mysterious person who told you about the effects of the crystals and the small probability that the zombie virus could awaken people?" Li Chenglong asked again. "Actually, we don't know either, but the communication satellite at the East China Sea base received this information first. Some people are even saying it might be a message from aliens," Yun Lan replied. Li Chenglong wanted to say something more to Yun Lan when Yun Qian knocked on the door: "Brother Li, let's get ready for dinner. After dinner, we'll rest for a while before we set off." Li Chenglong concluded, "Tell the others to be careful. I'll be there tomorrow." Then he hung up the phone.

Li Chenglong called his sister and had a simple dinner with a few others before they started packing. Deputy Captain Wang approached Li Chenglong and asked, "How do we get there? The car we brought was damaged by zombies, and this police station only has two old police cars." Li Chenglong thought for a moment and said, "We don't have armored vehicles or anything like that right now. Ordinary police cars won't cut it, and we don't have enough time to upgrade them. Besides, traffic is paralyzed, and cars have a hard time getting around. I know a motorcycle shop about 500 meters from the police station. I'll go to the gas station first to get some gasoline, then we can go to the motorcycle shop together and ride motorcycles." Captain Wang exclaimed, "Going to the gas station alone is too dangerous! I can send two people with you; they can help you carry the gasoline." Li Chenglong said, "It's alright. I have special abilities; I'm not afraid of zombies. Having other people around would just make me hesitant. Besides, I have my own way of carrying gasoline."

Li Chenglong greeted his sister, telling her to play with Officer Yun Qian for a while, and then climbed over the wall out of the police station onto the street. Two zombies rushed at him immediately. Li Chenglong flicked his fingers, shooting out two light orbs that knocked them down. After checking and finding no crystals, he immediately headed to the gas station. Along the way, Li Chenglong killed over sixty zombies but only found four ordinary crystals, lamenting the low crystal drop rate. Just as Li Chenglong was observing the gas station from a two-story building, a female gas station employee saw him and rushed out for help. Suddenly, a monster nearly three meters tall, covered in blood and resembling a skinned frog, leaped over and swallowed the woman whole. Its long tongue swung up and down, and its brain seemed to be missing, protruding from the exterior. It resembled the Licker from Resident Evil.

Li Chenglong immediately jumped off the house and hid next to a car to avoid attracting the Licker's attention. The Licker was positioned in the middle of the furnace, its sharp claws easily slicing open the car door, searching for survivors. Several survivors who were feigning death were ripped out by the Licker's claws, wrapped in its tongue, and stuffed into its mouth. As the Licker ate more and more people, its size seemed to be gradually increasing. Li Chenglong knew this couldn't continue; if the Licker continued to evolve, he wouldn't be able to stop it. Suddenly, the Licker seemed to sense something; blood dripped from its terrifyingly large mouth, and its two nostril-like noses began to sniff frantically.

Suddenly, the Licker charged towards Li Chenglong, sending nearby cars flying. Knowing he'd been spotted, Li Chenglong immediately fired three explosive energy blasts to halt the Licker's advance. He then jumped onto a car and onto the second floor of a nearby building. The energy blasts temporarily halted the Licker's progress, but it continued its charge. Li Chenglong quickly used a third of his stamina to unleash a powerful attack. The Licker was getting closer, but the charging time for the attack wasn't enough. Just as things were about to reach their limit, a large rock slammed into the Licker's thigh, causing it to fall flat on its face. Li Chenglong seized the opportunity to launch his own powerful attack; his index and middle fingers glowed brightly, unleashing a laser beam that shattered the Licker's head. Instantly, Li Chenglong's body flashed with light, and the second Power Tower shone with dazzling golden light, bursting through the gate of the third Power Tower. Li Chenglong felt his body had fully recovered. Checking his stats, he found his constitution at 60, strength at 55, agility at 55, and spirit at 54. All his stats had increased significantly. "Level three," Li Chenglong murmured.

Only then did Li Chenglong have a chance to look at the person who threw the boulder. He had assumed that someone who could throw such a large boulder must be a strong, powerful man, but it turned out to be a short but energetic-looking middle-aged man. Li Chenglong said, "Thank you very much for your help. My name is Li Chenglong. May I ask who you are?" The middle-aged man smiled and said, "I'm just helping those in need, especially since that was an ugly zombie beast. I see you're going to the gas station. I'm going there too. Let's go together." After saying that, the two of them walked towards the gas station together.

During their conversation, Li Chenglong learned that the man's name was Lin Ruyi. He was originally a truck driver who had been bitten by a zombie on his way back from a trip the previous day, but had become a superhuman with superhuman strength, capable of lifting and throwing objects weighing hundreds of kilograms. Upon learning that Li Chenglong was also a soldier, he said, "When I was in a car accident years ago, several soldiers lifted me out of the mangled cab. I'm very grateful." Li Chenglong replied, "It's my duty." The two fought off the zombies as they ran, reaching the gas station in less than two minutes. Lin Ruyi first asked Li Chenglong if he wanted anything to eat, but Li Chenglong said he only needed gasoline and nothing else. Then, she put the snacks and other necessities from the gas station's small shop into a large bag and helped Li Chenglong transfer gasoline from the tanker truck to the gasoline drums. In no time, they had both finished their work. Li Chenglong activated his spatial ability, storing the several oil drums in his storage space. Lin Ruyi was amazed but didn't say anything more, as she herself had also awakened superhuman abilities.

“Brother, want to join us? A few of us are planning to merge with the troops in Jinghai City. You'll definitely be safe if you come with us,” Li Chenglong said to the man. Lin Ruyi smiled and said, “My mother is bedridden at home and can't move around easily, so I'm sorry I can't come.” Then the two said goodbye and went their separate ways.