Chapter 15: Unlocking the Upgrade-Apocalypse Counterattack(Three Old Cats)

Ten days later, in a survivor camp near a wholesale agricultural market about fifty kilometers south of City F, the People's Camping Park was crowded with tents, packed close together like a sea of canvas. Steel fences surrounded the park, and squads of soldiers in uniform patrolled with rifles in hand. Further out, along the main access roads, a dozen watchtowers had been erected, each manned by sentries with mounted machine guns.

It was clear this place was entirely under military control. Within the camp, ragged people wandered the streets; some hawked goods along the roadside, while others—attractive women dressed in scant clothing—enticed passing men, willing to trade their bodies for a bite of food. The apocalypse, after the beast tide broke during the polar night, had revealed its most brutal face. Rumors even circulated about parents exchanging their children for food in secret.

In one corner of the tent district, Li Chengming entered a tent, his brow furrowed with worry. Inside, Mouse, his face drawn with anxiety, greeted him eagerly, “How is it? Did you manage to find a doctor?”

Li Chengming shook his head, forcing a bitter smile. “Mouse, our supplies aren’t enough to get the army’s doctor anymore. And I just heard, the price of food’s gone up by another ten percent.”

“Damn those bloodsucking soldiers! I’ll go find them!” Mouse sprang up, agitated.

Li Chengming grabbed him, holding him back. “Mouse! What’s the point? The army has so many guns—are you going to rob them?”

“Then tell me, what about Brother Wang?” Mouse collapsed onto the ground, tears brimming in his eyes as he looked at Wang Ji, who lay unconscious on the bed.

Beside him, Xiaoyin quietly cried, wiping Wang Ji’s fevered body with a wet cloth. Her small hands trembled whenever she touched his wounds.

“Ah, Mouse… Brother Wang’s condition has been bad. He’s been running a fever since the day before yesterday, and no medicine has helped. I think…” Li Chengming spoke in a sorrowful tone.

Mouse grabbed Li Chengming’s collar, snarling, “Say another word about giving up, and I’ll cut you down myself!”

Li Chengming glanced away from Mouse’s fierce gaze. “We have to survive too. We traded our heavy machine guns to the army for supplies, most of them medicines for Wang Ji.”

“Think about it—we have over a hundred people who still need to eat!” Li Chengming’s voice grew more heated, then he sighed.

“Mouse, I’ll take some people out hunting soon, while we still have a little ammunition and strength left. Take care of yourself.” With those words, Li Chengming glanced at Wang Ji lying on the battered bed, sighed again, and left the tent.

Mouse sat on the floor, his eyes empty, until finally he raised his head and looked at Wang Ji. “Don’t worry, Brother Wang. Our lives were saved by you—I won’t give up!”

Gritting his teeth, Mouse stood. He drew a pistol from his jacket and handed it to Xiao Liu, who sat nearby lost in thought.

“Xiao Cong, keep watch here. If anything happens, you’re responsible!”

Xiao Liu took the pistol, nodding seriously. “Go on, Mouse. I’ll make sure nothing happens here.”

Mouse patted Xiao Liu’s shoulder, grabbed his rifle, and left. He had to go—for everyone's survival.

Wang Ji’s condition was dire. After breaking through the mutated beast’s encirclement, he collapsed near a village while fleeing their pursuit. Saved by Mouse and the others who returned, everyone was shocked by the extent of Wang Ji’s injuries—there wasn’t a spot on him that was unscathed. Fortunately, before losing consciousness, Wang Ji had materialized several special medicines from the X System.

Without hesitation, Mouse used them all on Wang Ji, hoping to keep him alive. They bundled Wang Ji onto a vehicle and fled north toward City F, trying to escape the mutated beasts.

Their convoy originally numbered seven or eight hundred people, but nearly half the vehicles were destroyed during the breakout. Amid the chaos, only Li Chengming and Mouse’s teams remained sizable, totaling almost two hundred people. By chance, they arrived at a military-run survivor camp—the very park where Wang Ji now lay.

To save Wang Ji, Mouse insisted on trading their two heavy machine guns and ammunition for medicine and a military doctor’s attention. Upon seeing Wang Ji, the old military doctor immediately declared him beyond saving, not worth wasting supplies on.

Yet, moved by Mouse’s pleas and tales of Wang Ji’s heroics—how he fought off a mutated wild boar single-handedly to cover their escape—the old doctor conducted a thorough examination.

When Wang Ji began to burn with fever, the doctor never returned, leaving behind only some fever medicine and a somber farewell. “Though his constitution is extraordinary and his recovery remarkable, now that he’s feverish, there’s nothing more I can do…”

He ignored Mouse and Xiaoyin’s attempts to keep him, and left them with a handful of fever medicine.

[Beep beep beep! Commander has lost excessive blood! Multiple fatal injuries detected! S-class emergency protocol initiated!]

[Beep beep beep! Protocol initiated… automatically consuming available energy points to activate commander’s bodily potential…]

Before Wang Ji passed out, leaning against a wall, he heard only those two sentences from the X System before his consciousness faded.

During their escape, Mouse helped apply medicine, and Wang Ji intermittently received messages from the X System:

[Ding! Commander’s exterior received basic injury treatment. Condition downgraded to A+, S-class emergency protocol continues…]

…

[Ding! Energy points depleted. Activation of commander’s bodily potential suspended…]

…

[Ding! Final backup energy engaged. Continuing S-class emergency protocol…]

…

[Ding! Host’s potential development approaching level one gene lock condition…]

[Warning! Warning! Backup energy points almost depleted…]

…

[Ding! Forced level one gene unlocking… commencing…]

[Ding! X System energy exhausted… entering shutdown… please… commander… replenish…]

[Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep——]

The continuous voice prompts left Wang Ji feeling as though he were sinking to the bottom of the ocean, crushed from all sides, struggling to break free but unable to escape.

When the X System announced the start of gene unlocking, his fever flared—his body temperature soared, his skin flushed, and the heat was so intense that Xiaoyin thought Wang Ji might start smoking. She could only keep wiping him with water.

From morning till night, Xiaoyin nursed him, never eating a single grain, her face pale as she watched Wang Ji burn with fever.

Xiao Liu watched anxiously from the side. The high temperature seemed to make Wang Ji’s skin peel, but no one in the tent was surprised—everyone believed Wang Ji was at death’s door, tears streaming down their faces.

“So tired!”

“So hot… so hot… Am I stuck here forever?”

“No! I can’t! I just made up my mind! I just found my resolve! The people I must protect!”

Wang Ji roared inwardly, and the overwhelming pressure seemed to ease slightly.

“Mm… what a cool feeling… astringent and soothing…”

“Water… water…” Wang Ji’s heavy eyelids twitched, and he heard a gasp of surprise. Then a refreshing stream of liquid poured down his throat.

Wang Ji drank deeply, like a thirsty ox, and felt comfort wash over him as he drifted into sleep.

He dreamed of a future, where he lived in a small house with a garden, married to a beautiful woman, and had a darling child.

One day, while tending the garden, his lovely wife stepped out carrying their child, calling to him, “Brother Ji! Mouse called, he’s coming over for dinner.”

Wang Ji smiled, stood up, and replied, “Alright, I’ll be right there.”

He turned to see his wife more clearly, but the morning sun dazzled his eyes, revealing only a graceful silhouette.

Just as he tried to see her face, he suddenly awoke.

“Ah—!”

“Big brother! Sob… sob…”

Before Wang Ji could react, a small figure threw herself into his arms—it was Xiaoyin, who had watched over him all night and been startled awake when Wang Ji sat up.

“You’re… Xiaoyin?”

Wang Ji stared around in disbelief, but the girl in his arms was real, confirming he was awake.

“I thought I’d died… gone to heaven… and my wife…”

“No, no! How could you die, big brother!”

Xiaoyin clung to Wang Ji, crying for a long while, the commotion in the tent soon drawing Xiao Liu and the others.

Seeing Wang Ji awake, everyone was overjoyed, laughing and crying in relief.

“Don’t be like this, don’t be like this—I’m fine now, see?”

As more people crowded in, Wang Ji got up and pulled Xiaoyin outside, lest the small tent burst from the crowd.

Standing outside, Wang Ji surveyed the tent camp with curiosity. “Where are we? How did I get here?”

Xiao Liu wiped his tears excitedly. “Brother Wang! This is the camping park in City F. It’s a safe zone under army control. You don’t know—Mouse insisted on coming back for you. We finally found you near the village, and your injuries scared me half to death—there wasn’t a single spot on you that was whole!”

This scrawny young man wept like a girl, sometimes dancing in excitement.

With Wang Ji awake, it felt as though the sky had been restored.

“Ah! I’ll go tell Mouse—they were just heading out hunting!” With that, Xiao Liu ran off.

Soon, the survivors from the Hope Camp, those who’d stayed, gathered around Wang Ji, greeting him warmly. Elderly folks pressed what little food or valuables they had into his hands, offering words of comfort.

Wang Ji was overwhelmed by their kindness, his heart warmed as he listened and learned about everyone and the state of the camp.