It must be said that for someone like Shen Shanwu, who possesses the ability to alter his physical form, infiltrating a human base is far easier than one might imagine.
After all, humans are most resolute in their belief that zombies have red eyes and black sclerae. This is precisely why Captain Li, who guards the city walls, lets his guard down. In fact, apart from Shen Shanwu, there really are no zombies that display the contrast of black and white pupils.
In the outskirts of the city, there are many secluded and desolate corners where not only is there no one around, but no living creature exists either. Even the moss on the walls was probably devoured long ago by the hungry people of the outskirts.
Shen Shanwu slowly came to a stop, listened carefully to determine that he was the only one in the vicinity, and then silently tore off his tattered robe. He discarded the ridiculously old helmet, revealing underneath a new and tidy sweatshirt and pants, as well as pristine white sneakers and a bulging black backpack slung over his shoulders.
From a pitiable orphan, he had transformed into a pampered young master.
After doing all this, Shen Shanwu took out a small glass vial from the side pocket of his backpack. Inside the vial were three black, fan-shaped nails, each about a centimeter wide with very sharp tips.
He took out one of the nails, tapped it lightly above, and then tossed it onto the ground.
If there were a second person present, they would surely gasp in astonishment. As soon as the nail hit the ground, flesh and bone suddenly began to grow from it. First, a pale finger emerged, followed by veins and sinews extending and attaching to the initially formed white skeleton. Crimson muscles and yellow fat then developed, gradually being encased in bloodless skin.
Hand, arm, torso, internal organs, legs… each was formed in sequence. Finally, a grown man slowly opened his eyes in the dim, concealed alley.
Shen Shanwu looked at the man’s attire with frustration, “Where are your goggles, your mask, your protective suit?”
The man looked down in response to the voice, his black and red eyes revealing his non-human identity. He then opened his mouth, showing a row of sharp, pointed teeth inside. “I don’t need those. You’re the one who needs to disguise yourself to blend in with the crowd and deliver the birthday gift to the CEO’s son. I’m just here to wait in a secluded spot and assist you when you’re done.”
The man chuckled and said, “‘Top Student’, you were quite cute when you were eleven or twelve. What’s that idiom again… oh, ‘as if carved from jade’1Describes a person’s fair skin, as if it has been smeared with white and fine powder, as smooth and delicate as polished jade, generally describing a person’s brilliance.?”
“…Go to hell.” The little jade boy said with intensity. “If I weren’t so bored lately, who would go through all this trouble to deliver a birthday gift to a little brat?”
“I’ve been quite bored lately too…” The man shrugged and suddenly had an idea. “How about after delivering the gift, we head to Wuyou City for some fun? I hear they’ve opened a large entertainment hall there, basically an official brothel. Tsk, indulging in such extravagance in the post-apocalyptic world… I like it!”
“Maybe,” Shen Shanwu said, adjusting his hair and smoothing out the disheveled strands caused by the helmet. Then he remembered he’d need to wear a hat later to fake radiation protection. “But as mutants, we don’t have any use for such places. It’d be pointless for us to go.”
“Isn’t it enough if you can still feel something?” The man countered seriously. Shen Shanwu ignored him, lowering his gaze to hide his mature demeanor. “I’ll head out first. I’ll call you after the job is done.”
“Alright, don’t be stingy with the nails. I’ve trimmed quite a few recently, so feel free to waste them.”
“Got it. Take care.” With that, Shen Shanwu waved his hand and left the alley without looking back.
Mutants are the most unique and rare type of people in the world today, with fewer than a hundred globally and only nine in the country. They were born from zombies but suddenly gained sentience one day, becoming a hybrid of human and zombie, with the cause of their mutation still unknown.
Mutants possess immense strength, incredible speed, and do not need to eat or sleep. They are also unaffected by radiation, making them the most free and powerful beings in this post-apocalyptic world. The only drawback is their inability to reproduce.
They are like a minor branch of human evolution, a small mutation created specifically for the apocalypse, only for God to immediately put a stop to due to their excessively aberrant genes.
Shen Shanwu is one of them. In the first year of the apocalypse, he perished in a zombie tide, but by the third year, he miraculously awakened as a mutant.
Of course, the above is the understanding of mutants from the perspective of humans, and the information mutants are willing to let ordinary people know. Beyond that, they possess some extraordinary abilities, which are well hidden. For example, the man in the alley can use his trimmed nails to teleport, just as Shen Shanwu can easily alter his appearance and form.
At 31 years old this year, he can disguise himself as a 13-year-old, effortlessly blending in with the students around the inner city walls who are preparing to skip class and go out to play.
“You guys are sneaking out too?” Shen Shanwu naturally approached the group of children, his eyes scanning their masked faces, and casually draped an arm around the neck of one of them.
Though the one being embraced showed an expression of ‘Who are you?’, in the apocalypse, a more neatly dressed appearance often signifies a stronger background. After all, only those who are well-fed and worry-free have the time to take care of their appearance. A child like Shen Shanwu, whose sneakers were even without a crease, clearly came from a wealthy or noble family.
“Yeah, that’s right.” Although the child was young, he quickly understood the importance of aligning with influential figures and responded eagerly, “Today, a very impressive team from the coastal base came to give a welcome speech at the school auditorium, so we took the chance to sneak out and have some fun. Are you here for the same reason?”
“Yeah, but I realized halfway that I forgot something,” Shen Shanwu sighed with apparent disappointment. He then took a few steps back and waved to the group of students. “Never mind, I need to head back to the school.”
“Guess it’s goodbye then?” The child, confused, bade farewell to this unexpectedly familiar peer and then turned to his friends, bewildered, trying to figure out who this person was.
Behind them, Shen Shanwu looked at the student ID he had just acquired, curled the corner of his lips into a smile, and sighed inwardly, thinking how easily deceived young kids could be.
Compared to the harsh duty of guarding the outskirts, working at the inner city entrances is a coveted job among wealthy youths. It’s not only less strenuous but also occasionally comes with some ‘under-the-table’ benefits.
Identity checks aren’t performed at the inner city entrances because the Central Alliance leaders, in order to maintain their political position, promote the ideal of never engaging in division or segregation. To demonstrate that “inner and outer city areas are one family,” they warmly welcome all outsiders into the inner city.
However, the personnel at the inner city entrances scrutinize the attire of those entering, much like how beggars are barred from high-end establishments. Outsiders from the outskirts, dressed in rags, are stopped and subjected to stringent questioning by the inner city guards, who almost seem to be intentionally making things difficult. Ultimately, these individuals are expelled for minor infractions.
Ideals are one thing, but reality is another.
And someone like Shen Shanwu, from a ‘wealthy family,’ was respectfully allowed entry. Around the inner city walls, a massive filtration system was built, with filter cartridges replaced every week, tirelessly purifying the radiation for the inner city.
There is only one school within the Central Alliance, so Shen Shanwu had no worries about making such a blunder. He swiped his student ID at the gate and stepped through calmly. Thus, a mutant marked by illegal status from head to toe seamlessly infiltrated the Central Alliance, a place symbolizing the future and hope.
If Shen Shanwu wanted, he could, within half an hour, slaughter everyone gathered in the grand auditorium, and then use his nails to teleport away, unharmed, to a heavily irradiated area a thousand miles away, escorted by his companions.
That’s what mutants are like—powerful to the point of defying reason.
—But unfortunately, the purpose of his visit was simply to deliver a birthday gift to a child who had just turned fifteen.
Mutants cannot reproduce, so this child is the offspring of Shen Shanwu’s other companion, the ‘CEO,’ born before he became a zombie, with his wife. True to his name, the ‘CEO’ was the CEO of a publicly listed company before the apocalypse, with assets exceeding a hundred million. He was quite a notable figure before the end of the world, but all those external possessions turned into worthless numbers after the apocalypse.
Shen Shanwu’s title, ‘Top Student,’ is somewhat of a misnomer; he was merely a university student who never graduated due to the onset of the apocalypse. However, because his alma mater was one of the top universities in the country, other mutants humorously refer to him as a ‘Top Student.’
The man who played with his nails was called ‘Wolfdog,’ as he had kept four German Shepherds before the apocalypse, and it was said that each of them ate more than he did.
It seems mutants have a penchant for using characteristics from their human lives as their nicknames. Whether it’s a matter of habit or a way to commemorate something that can never return, it remains unclear.
The entire school was securely protected by isolation glass and radiation-proof walls, with small filters positioned every twenty meters. The measuring instruments standing in the open spaces consistently displayed a green reading.
Students and teachers going about their day were dressed casually and not wearing masks. Shen Shanwu also followed suit, removing his hoodie and mask to reveal a face that bore a striking resemblance to his adult self. He avoided the crowded auditorium and slipped into the adjacent administrative building.
His powers only allow him to transform into any stage of his own appearance from childhood to adulthood, even extending up to fifty or sixty years old. However, no matter how he changes, it’s always still his own face.
The relationship between mutants and humans is highly strained, and this has caused the bond between the ‘CEO’ and his wife to gradually fade. Their correspondence, which occurs only once every six months, has become more like a formality, with the content being distant and polite. His wife has also found a new emotional connection within the Central Alliance.
The only link between them was their son.
Even when asking Shen Shanwu to deliver a gift to his son, the CEO couldn’t immediately recall which grade or class his son was in at school.
Shen Shanwu examined the letters exchanged between the couple over the years, trying to deduce the necessary details from the polite and formal language. After much effort, he still couldn’t find a reliable answer. In the end, he had no choice but to say he would adapt as best as he could.
The so-called “adaptability” meant that today’s infiltration coincided with the school’s opening ceremony in the grand auditorium. With few people in the adjacent administrative building, Shen Shanwu could now confidently enter the teachers’ office to find the student roster.
He casually ascended the stairs, greeting the occasional teacher with a friendly “Hello, Teacher,” clearly accustomed to similar infiltration tasks.
Thanks to his nonchalant demeanor, Shen Shanwu faced no suspicion from anyone until he reached the office of the head of teaching on the third floor.
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