Volume One: The Apocalypse Descends. Chapter 18: Come On Over, You Lot.

On the second day of the apocalypse, at 7:30 in the morning, Xiang Chenguang and his family of four stepped out of their home once again.

As the gate of the residential complex clicked shut, Xiang Chenguang could sense his father’s disappointment. He, however, held a different view.

A full day had passed, and despite everyone being well aware that his family had the capability to eliminate monsters and scavenge for supplies, not a single person had stepped forward to use moral coercion against them. Having read his fair share of apocalyptic web novels in his previous life, Xiang Chenguang found this outcome quite surprising.

Therefore, he was actually satisfied with the behavior of his neighbors. Supporting characters who do not actively stir up trouble are, by definition, good supporting characters.

The situation outside the complex gate was largely consistent with what Xiang Chenguang had observed earlier. Within his line of sight, only seven mite-monsters were wandering the streets. Even the giant cockroach that had flashed past the gate the day before was nowhere to be seen.

This situation left Xiang Chenguang with a slight headache. In other apocalyptic novels, protagonists are usually overwhelmed by the sheer number of monsters; why did it feel like there were not enough for him to grind here?

Would he have to take his family further afield to hunt and level up? That would significantly increase uncontrollable risks. Or, perhaps to avoid scaring these monsters away, should he clean up their carcasses after each kill?

Xiang Chenguang stood guard while Xiang Dongliang let loose in his fight against the mite-monsters. At his peak, he handled three at once, relying on his shield and agile footwork to fend them off without any mishaps.

Within minutes, all seven mite-monsters lay dead beneath his riot-control prong, transformed into psychic energy points for his advancement.

Standing in front of the gate with a backpack on his back and a homemade meteor hammer in one hand, Xiang Chenguang said, "Alright, you all should head back. I suggest you stay at the entrance of our building's stairwell and guard that monster spawn point."

"This way, if you encounter flying monsters, you can immediately retreat into the stairwell and use the terrain to restrict them. Facing flying monsters in an open area without mid-to-long-range weapons puts you at a severe disadvantage."

Xiang Dongliang simply nodded without speaking.

He Wan said with concern, "You must be careful out there alone. Make sure to return by 5:00 PM at the latest."

"If there are too many monsters, retreat early. Our situation is already better than most people's. I believe that with our family's joint efforts, we can survive this so-called apocalypse."

Xiang Chenguang smiled. "Don't worry, Mom. I will be cautious; safety comes first."

Xiang Dongliang patted his shoulder and turned to open the gate.

Just as the gate swung open, a buzzing sound came from overhead. A giant mosquito, its sharp proboscis nearly half a meter long, dove toward them.

Another new breed. However, judging by its flight speed and size, the giant mosquito seemed weaker than the giant dragonfly.

Seeing Xiang Xiaoxiao holding her riot-control baton and looking eager to join the fray, Xiang Chenguang shook his head slightly and swung the meteor hammer in his right hand, which was attached to a bicycle chain.

The strike was controlled with exquisite precision, grazing the root of the giant mosquito's wing and tearing off the one that was vibrating at high speed.

Watching the giant mosquito fall to the ground, spinning in circles as it struggled with only one wing left, Xiang Chenguang said, "I'll leave this one to you."

With that, he strode toward Jianxin Street.

Xiang Xiaoxiao, who had not exchanged a single word with Xiang Chenguang, ignored the struggling mosquito and instead stared at his retreating back.

He Wan pulled Xiang Xiaoxiao back into the complex, sighing as she patted her head. "You girl!"

Turning right at the eastern end of Fuqian Street led to Jianxin Avenue, though the cluster of hardware and building material stores was about 1.5 kilometers ahead.

As soon as they turned onto Jianxin Avenue, the density of monsters was incomparable to that near their complex. The first five meters past the intersection were as empty as Fuqian Street, with no monsters in sight.

Beyond that five-meter mark, the density of monsters surged. Because there was a relatively steep slope ahead, one could see over thirty monster-insects wandering along a hundred-meter stretch of road. Mite-monsters were the most numerous, while the giant centipedes and spider-monsters had mostly climbed onto the buildings on either side.

Xiang Chenguang turned to look behind him; the situation on the other side was much the same. Including the road and bridge visible up to the point where the view was blocked by the Lihe Bridge, there were roughly seventy to eighty monsters in sight.

Very well. To avoid being caught in a pincer movement, and to save the monsters in the direction of Lihe Bridge for his parents and his bratty sister to level up, Xiang Chenguang accelerated and charged toward Jianxin Street.

As his meteor hammer whirled, any monster-insect that lunged at him—whether spider-monster, mite-monster, giant cockroach, or giant centipede—could not escape the fate of having its head crushed and being transformed into psychic energy points.

After running nearly forty meters, Xiang Chenguang felt that the monsters were not lunging at him as quickly as he was killing them. His display of force had caused some of the spider-monsters and giant centipedes to hesitate, some even showing signs of wanting to flee.

Caught up in the thrill of the slaughter, he shouted at the hoard ahead, "You lot, come here!"

Perhaps those words truly carried a mysterious power of provocation, or perhaps the numerical advantage gave these slightly intelligent insects the courage, but the monsters in the distance that had been hesitating began to swarm toward him.

At the same time, his roar attracted two giant dragonflies and another giant mosquito.

Xiang Chenguang’s left hand, which held another meteor hammer, began to rotate and build momentum. This was the original rope-based meteor hammer he had fashioned.

He released over a meter of rope, letting the hammer spin above his head at an incline like helicopter blades, leaving enough space for the bicycle-chain hammer in his right hand.

He moved forward, brandishing both hammers. Any monster that lunged at him was smashed to pieces by the rapidly rotating five-kilogram cast-iron heads.

When he finally stood at the top of the slope, a pile of shattered insect carcasses lay in his wake. He did not even know how many he had killed in the process.

Throughout his advance, flying monsters and others attracted by the commotion continued to throw themselves at him like moths to a flame.

Only when there were no more living monster-insects around him did Xiang Chenguang stop his hands, letting the rotation of the two hammers slowly subside.

He took a deep breath, adjusting his ragged breathing. This was the first time since becoming transcendent yesterday that he felt a sense of fatigue.

In just over a hundred meters and two or three minutes, although the hammers relied mainly on inertia once they were spinning, he had to control both of them to accurately strike the monsters that posed a threat. It was a dual drain on his physical strength and mental focus.

He opened the attribute panel of the Apocalypse Survival System. The character rank flickered with yellow light once more, displaying the text: Rank 0, Level 3 (675/200).

In other words, in the last two or three minutes, he had killed over forty monster-insects—more than the total number he had killed throughout the entire previous day.