Watching Yang Bin get chased around like cornered prey, the others were frantic.

If Yang Bin died, they were all dead too.

Zhao Kun's eyes darted around the rooftop, searching for anything they could use.

Then he spotted the ladder lying on the ground. He thought for a second and said, "I've got an idea. We hold the ladder sideways-two on each end-and ram it straight into that thing. Four of us together should have enough force to knock it down. Once it's down, we pin it with the ladder."

Chen Hao's eyes lit up.

"That could work!"

They grabbed the ladder fast, two gripping each end, holding it horizontal like a battering ram. Then they charged straight at the struggling pair.

"Bin-ge, get down!" Chen Hao yelled.

Yang Bin reacted instantly, throwing himself into a roll across the ground.

Bam.

The midsection of the ladder slammed into the zombie's torso and sent it crashing backward.

Before it could rise, all four of them drove the ladder down on top of it.

The middle pinned the zombie flat. Two people on each end bore down with everything they had.

The zombie thrashed beneath them, but four bodies' worth of weight was more than it could overcome. It couldn't break free.

"Nice!" Yang Bin said.

But before anyone could feel relief, a sharp crack split the air.

Their eyes went wide. A fracture had appeared in the middle of the ladder.

Yang Bin's stomach dropped. He didn't hesitate-he rushed forward, raised the steel pipe, and brought it down on the zombie's skull with everything he had.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Dull, heavy impacts. Every swing was full force. Every swing landed precisely on the head.

Finally, blood appeared. But the zombie's thrashing only intensified.

The crack in the ladder widened. Everyone's hearts climbed into their throats.

Yang Bin didn't stop. Didn't look at the ladder. He kept hammering the same spot-the wound, over and over, driving the pipe into it like a piston.

The steel pipe bent out of shape in his hands. He didn't care. Those wet, meaty thuds made everyone's skin crawl.

Finally-after god knows how many strikes-the zombie's resistance weakened. Slowed. Stopped.

Yang Bin stood over it, the pipe in his hand warped beyond recognition. Red and white matter covered him head to toe. He looked like something that had crawled out of hell.

Except for Chen Hao, the other three stared at him with naked fear in their eyes.

This time, they'd watched it happen right in front of them. He'd caved in a zombie's skull with raw, frenzied violence. That image wasn't leaving their heads anytime soon.

Yang Bin dropped to the ground where he stood, chest heaving, sucking in air.

That zombie had been terrifying. If it had broken free, they'd all be dead. That was why he'd gone berserk. In that moment, the only thought in his mind had been: kill it, or die.

Once the adrenaline faded, a burning pain lit up across his body. He looked down, and his expression darkened.

Torn wounds. Multiple. Claw marks from the zombie's thrashing-he didn't need to guess.

The others saw it too. Their faces changed.

"Bin-ge, you... you're gonna be okay, right?" Chen Hao's voice shook.

Yang Bin said nothing. He activated True Vision Eye and looked at the wounds.

Gray energy seeped inward from each gash, worming into his body. But deeper inside, another energy pushed back-resisting, blocking the invasion.

He exhaled.

Same as Chen Hao. He had something inside him that could fight off the zombie virus.

He just didn't know where it came from.

Getting scratched or bitten meant turning. That was established fact by now.

But both he and Chen Hao were immune. That was strange.

He thought it over. The only thing that set them apart from everyone else-they both had Special Abilities.

"Is that the reason?" he wondered.

"Bin-ge... say something. You're scaring me."

Chen Hao was on the verge of panic.

Yang Bin snapped back, shook his head, and smiled. "I'm fine. You didn't turn, did you? Why would I?"

"Oh thank god..." Chen Hao let out a massive breath. "You scared the hell out of me."

"You're sure you're fine?" Zhao Kun and the others still watched him warily.

"What-you thinking about pushing me off the roof?" Yang Bin's eyes narrowed.

"No, no no-just checking on you," Zhao Kun said, awkward.

As if. This psycho could crack skulls open barehanded. Nobody was pushing him anywhere.

"Bin-ge, what was the deal with that zombie? How was it that strong?" Chen Hao asked, lingering fear still in his voice.

"No idea."

Yang Bin shook his head, then activated True Vision Eye and turned it on the corpse. He was just as curious.

He scanned the body from head to toe. Near the top of the shattered skull, something caught his eye-a tiny red crystal, no bigger than a grain of rice.

Curiosity flickered in his gaze. He walked over to the corpse, swallowed his disgust, and reached his hand into the ruined head.

"Hurk-"

Zhao Kun and the others, who'd been barely holding it together, lost the fight. They doubled over retching.

Nothing came up. Their stomachs were already empty. Just bile-less dry heaves.

Chen Hao's face went pale. He wavered-should he go help? He'd sworn he'd follow Bin-ge no matter what.

"But this is way too disgusting," he thought.

Luckily, Yang Bin pulled his hand free a moment later. Between his fingers: a red crystal the size of a grain of rice.

He examined it closely. Unknown material. Warm to the touch. Strangely pleasant against his skin.

"Bin-ge, what is that?" Chen Hao crept closer, voice low.

Yang Bin shook his head and activated True Vision Eye again, focusing on the crystal.

Under True Vision Eye, the crystal was pure condensed energy. No impurities. Nothing else-just raw, concentrated power.

And-maybe it was his imagination-his body craved it. Like hunger, but deeper.

He thought for a moment. Then he clenched his jaw, wiped the crystal on a clean patch of his clothes, and-while Chen Hao watched in open-mouthed horror-popped it into his mouth and swallowed.

"HURK-"

Chen Hao finally broke. He hit the ground on all fours, retching violently.

It wasn't that he was weak. It was that Bin-ge was absolutely insane.

Zhao Kun and the others-who'd only just stopped heaving-saw it happen and went right back to vomiting. Bile this time. Actual bile.

Yang Bin ignored all of them.

Because what was happening inside his body had his full attention.

The crystal dissolved the instant it hit his throat, converting into energy that flooded through his limbs, his bones, every fiber of muscle.

It felt incredible. His body was strengthening-he could feel it in real time.

When the energy finished absorbing, Yang Bin estimated his physical capabilities had nearly doubled.

And the gray energy-the zombie virus that had been gnawing at his wounds-was gone. Completely purged.

Power surged through him. A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth.

Then something else happened.

Something new appeared in his mind.

He closed his eyes and focused. A dim image materialized in his consciousness: the Nine-Star Big Dipper Map. Nine faint stars arranged in a pattern-and one corner of the first star glowed with light.

Yang Bin's eyes snapped open, shock written across his face.

He'd seen this map before. Last night.

He'd assumed it was the alcohol-blurred vision, drunken hallucination. But the arrangement in his mind right now was identical to what he'd seen in the sky.

Two extra stars between Dubhe and Polaris, bridging the Big Dipper's seven stars to the North Star. Nine stars total.

"Coincidence... or causality?"

Yang Bin fell into deep thought.

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