Chapter 179. (Patreon)

Various thoughts ran through Zac’s head as he leveled an even stare at Sui, to the point that she quickly started to get flustered.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to surprise you. Your face and body are different, but your energy feels the same. I only know it because my class has given me some unique skills. The others don’t know. I promise I won’t tell, so please don’t do anything drastic,” she quickly explained in a hurried flurry of words.

“I understand. Thank you for your discretion. You can call me David,” Zac said after a while and closed his eyes, once again using the nickname he chose on the other side of the Dead Zone.

The silence might have been a bit oppressive to the Purifier because she quickly got out of the van as well as soon as she was done imbuing him with another round of energy. That left Zac alone in the van, going over what she said. In the end he felt it wasn’t a big deal that she knew. If she didn’t even tell those in her team she wouldn’t tell anyone else.

Since he was alone for a while he quickly took out a bunch of dried meat and stuffed himself, almost inhaling the strips made from high leveled beasts. Sui’s efforts was very effective in keeping the bead happy, but that alone wasn’t enough. His body felt as though he’d been starving for months, lacking not only energy but nourishment.

With his attributes he had an extreme metabolism, if he didn’t eat a lot he’d only get worse. In just seconds Zac actually managed to stuff his face with over a kilo of high-grade meat and a couple of litres of water from a canteen. After a brief hesitation he took out another flask and took a small sip from it. 

It was actually extremely diluted Cosmic Water, containing roughly one percent of the high energy liquid. As it entered his body he felt the familiar burn through his pathways, but with the low amount of water it was just a small flash of warmth before it turned into Cosmic Energy. 

It was the highest concentration he dared to drink at the moment, but even this mixture was harmful if imbibed to much. It did however give a small boost to his completely depleted reserves of Cosmic Energy, which improved his bodily functions in general. 

Drinking it was partly to invigorate his body, but mainly in order to stay prepared. While Sui seemed nice enough, he didn’t really trust the others. If it came to it he needed to be able to protect himself. Besides, they were still in the Dead Zone, anything could happen.

Zac would have liked to continue eating, but approaching voices told him his feast was over, so he quickly put away his Cosmos Pouch again. The trip was largely uneventful after that, as they only traveled on roads far away from civilization. They entered a sort of routine where nothing really happened apart from Sui infusing some energy into Zac every hour or so.

They never stopped driving, and kept going non-stop. The only times they stopped was when they found abandoned vehicles, where they tried to salvage some leftover gas with practiced ease. It was the middle of the night when they made another such stop, and the Old man jumped out of the back of the truck with a hose and a can. 

However, it didn’t take long before the calm of the night was interrupted by multiple roars from zombies. 

“Attack!” a shout from outside came, and within seconds the rest of the people in the truck were up on their feet and outside.

Zac had to admit that these people seemed to have more combat experience than even his Valkyries. Perhaps trying some recruiting in the area would be a good idea. For a second he thought about going out to help, but a quick check told him his body was in no condition yet. The energy he got from the Cosmic Water was just to keep him going at full power for a couple of seconds, and he didn’t want to waste it on some mindless zombies. 

Instead he took the chance to once again replenish his body. He stuffed his face with dried meat, and once again downed it with a mouthful of diluted Cosmic Water. It was simply too hard to restore energy naturally in the Dead Zone, as most of the Cosmic Energy was converted into miasma. Taking out a bunch of crystals would be suspicious as well, leaving him with only this option.

“Aren’t you relaxed, having a drink while we’re out here risking our lives,” a grunt suddenly came from outside. 

Surprised Zac quickly looked over, and to his annoyance it was the man who sat opposite to him, Wang Fang. It appeared that the man had actually snuck back toward the truck while the fight was still going. Zac could only say that the man’s name was completely apt, as he had been a complete wang since Zac woke up.

“Unfortunately I’m not in shape to help at the moment,” Zac could only respond, as what the man said was in a sense true.

“Even worse, you’ve also been hiding rations while enjoying ours,” the man pressed on as he jumped into the van. “Makes me wonder what else you have been hiding. I knew we should have frisked you when Sui picked you up.”

Zac’s brows scrunched up, and he started to wonder if he would have to waste the little energy he’d restored in order to break some bones. He couldn’t have the man search him, even if it meant that he’d have a falling out with the people in the truck. The wealth on his person was beyond anything they could imagine, and it would create chaos. 

Zac slowly started to rotate his cosmic energy through his parched pathways, getting ready for a quick surprise strike. However, he was relieved to hear that the fighting had died down outside, and footsteps were approaching the truck.

Wang Fang tsked in annoyance, but quickly snatched the flask out of Zac’s hand and backed away with a triumphant sneer. However, face quickly changed as the sweet aroma from the Cosmic Water drew his attention, and he unhesitantly took a swig from the canteen.

“You really shouldn’t drink that. It is poison, and it will be the end of you,” Zac said with a frown.

However, Wang ignored him and greedily swallowed one mouthful after another with a blissful expression on his face.

At this moment the others entered the truck, frowning at the scene.

“What’s going on?” the old man, who appeared to be some sort of leader, asked.

“Our little guest has been hoarding treasures all along,” the Wang Fang said and showed them the flask triumphantly. “I found him drinking from this when I looked inside. It’s some magical water that restored instantly restored all my cosmic energy from just a few mouthfuls.”

Some murmurs erupted from the others as they greedily looked at the flask, apart from Sui who looked aghast at the situation. Wang seemed emboldened by the attention and Zac’s silence so he kept going.

“Not only that, the flask itself is a treasure, as it contains an endless amount of the Treasure Water,” he said, looking at Zac with a sneer. “I bet this thing is why you had to flee into the Dead Zone. You probably stole it and got chased.”

“I’ll give you a final warning,” Zac said with a shrug. “That bottle contains diluted Cosmic Water. It will restore your cosmic energy, but it will also ruin your pathways. I only took a small sip to restore my depleted energy, but that was because I had no alternative. Drinking it like you did will only end in tragedy.”

“You stole it from David? Fang, what kind of man have you become?” Sui said with disappointment. “Return it immediately.” 

“It’s okay, it’s nothing valuable,” Zac said with a wave, before he looked at the others in the truck. “You were benevolent and helped me in my time of need, so I wish you no harm. Stay away from that liquid.”

“Not wanting us to waste your treasure?” Wang snorted. “I bet you’re planning to steal it back. Sorry, but it will stay with me from now on. This will be what push our squad to greatness.” 

Zac shook his head, not wanting to bother with the fool any longer. If he wanted to kill himself he was welcome to. Besides, the flask was nothing expensive, just a liter of Cosmic Water and normal water. It was nothing compared to the small lake of the stuff he possessed. 

Instead he closed his eyes and rested. In the end a few others tasted the water, and all marveled at its magical effects. However, the Old Man, Sui, and another man declined instead opting to slowly restore themselves with Nexus Crystals. Since they didn’t take it any further or trying to frisk him for any more treasures Zac let the matter end there. 

Between Sui’s help and his slow recuperation he was over 15% restored by now by his own account. It wasn’t optimal, but it was enough to rebuff some zombie hunters if it came to that. But Zac felt that what they would go through in the future was punishment enough. He remembered how addictive the water was, it felt like one could keep going and fight forever with the stuff. But reality would catch up with them soon enough. 

After the confrontation the atmosphere in the truck got quite oppressive, with no one really in the mood to speak up. Zac knew that if it wasn’t for Sui he would have been attacked, or at least thrown out by now. It was lucky for him that no one wanted to anger the purifier, as it might result in their death tomorrow from lack of treatment. 

Zac considered whether he should just start to bring out his meat and some crystals, and beat them up if they got greedy for his things. But in the end he gave up on the idea, as he didn’t want to rock the boat. He needed to get infused by the energy from Sui, so he decided to stay put until they arrived at the monastery. 

Instead they sat in silence, the hours feeling like days. Zac wasn’t sure how long they’d driven, but suddenly his eyes opened due to a change in the atmosphere. The concentration of miasma was rapidly declining, to the point that it was almost gone after 20 seconds of driving. 

The others in the truck sensed it as well and stretched their legs as they cracked their necks. The truck stopped only a minute later, and everyone quickly got out. This time Zac didn’t stay behind, and for the first time in over a day he got up on his feet and walked out of the stuffy truck.

By now Sui had infused him over 30 times, and his body finally didn’t feel like it was teetering on the brink of collapse. Even better, the air was completely free from miasma, and Zac felt his body slowly start to absorb energy to deplete his wrung out body.

With a grunt he jumped out of the truck, but he immediately froze when e looked at the area, and he couldn’t help but gape in awe. As he looked around it almost felt like he was in a dream, standing on the foot of Mount Meru. 

The sky was an intense blue, the gloomy clouds of the Dead Zone just a memory. The surroundings were draped Lush greenery, with rice paddies covering most of the base of a towering mountain that rose to the skies. The fields were tended by at least a hundred monks, dressed in simple kasayas, and it was easy to forget that they were surrounded by zombies from the pastoral scenery. 

The greenery actually stopped some ways up the mountain, being replaced by sheer walls and cliffs. More amazingly the mountain itself was almost completely covered text, huge letters leaving barely any surfaces unaltered. 

It was not the fractals of the system or any foreign species Zac knew from a glance. He was by no means an expert in the area, but he was pretty sure it was some sort of Indian text, likely Sanskrit as it was a Buddhistic mountain. 

However, Zac had never heard of something like this magical mountain before the integration. Engraving a whole mountain was an unfathomable undertaking, and the carvings would have made it world renown. So Zac could only guess that the engravings were added after the the world got integrated, which made sense since something like this should be a lot easier when one’s attributes had improved.

More surprisingly he felt that the Sanskrit wasn’t just decoration, as there were hints of power in the letters. They held a subdued but intractable strength, making Zac even doubt he could cause a crack in the stones. Together they formed something unfanthomable giving the whole mountain almost a divine aura.