10.000x Doomsday Survival

4. A Ten Thousand Times Rebate

The Horizon apartment building shook violently. A loud, booming sound echoed from the direction of the elevator, followed immediately by an ear-piercing roar. The noise was no longer the typical groan of an ordinary zombie. It sounded far more like a broken, grinding industrial machine.

Rio was still rolling around on the floor, frantically clutching the severed stump of his arm. His blood had already formed a massive pool on the lounge carpet. Cindy could only weep hysterically while desperately trying to swallow sardines straight from the can, exactly as Axel had ordered.

"Axel. Mercy. There is a monster down there! We have to run!" Cindy shrieked, choking on the fish.

Axel completely ignored her. Instead, he focused entirely on the transparent screen that only he could see.

[Warning! Level 2 Mutant Zombie: Crusher, has detected the scent of fresh blood on the 11th floor!]
[Emergency Mission Activated: Mass Rescue!]
[Instruction: Rescue 10 women with a minimum potential of Grade B within 10 minutes. If successful, the Host will receive a 10,000x Critical Rebate!]

"Ten thousand times?" Axel's eyes instantly lit up. "System, you are not joking, right?"

[Answer: The System never jokes. A 10,000x Rebate will yield a mythological-tier item.]

Axel immediately kicked the table in front of him until it shattered to pieces. "Valerie! Get in here!"

Valerie, who had been guarding the door, sprinted inside. She was absolutely shocked to see Rio missing an arm and Cindy covered in sardine oil. "What is going on, Axel? I heard an explosion downstairs."

"A level two zombie is coming. Do you know where any other female survivors are hiding on this floor?" Axel asked rapidly.

Valerie thought for a second. "In the laundry room at the end of the corridor. There are about twelve people hiding in there, mostly girls who live on this floor. But the door is being guarded by the rest of Rio's men."

"Perfect. Let's go there right now." Axel grabbed his sword.

"Axel! Take me with you! Please take me!" Cindy crawled forward, trying to grab Axel's legs.

Axel looked at Cindy with absolute disgust. He then glanced at Rio, who was on the verge of passing out from severe blood loss. "Rio is still alive, right? Good. Valerie, drag Rio along. We are going to use him as bait when that Crusher shows up."

"What? You are insane, Axel! He is a human being!" Valerie exclaimed in shock.

"He is the one who shoved me to the zombies first, Valerie. Now he is just getting his exact turn. Drag him, or I am leaving you here," Axel threatened.

Valerie swallowed hard. She looked into Axel's eyes, which held not a single drop of mercy. Finally, she grabbed Rio's legs and dragged him just like a sack of rice. They sprinted out of the lounge, heading straight for the laundry room.

Just as they reached the corridor, the elevator wall at the end of the hall burst open. A creature standing two and a half meters tall emerged from the rubble. Its body was covered in bulging muscles completely devoid of skin. Its right arm was shaped exactly like a giant hammer made of solid bone.

"Is that a Crusher?" Valerie turned deathly pale.

"Valerie, get them to the laundry room door! I will hold this thing off!" Axel shouted.

Axel sprinted forward, lunging directly at the Crusher. He wanted to test exactly how strong his Dragon Marrow Serum actually was. The Crusher swung its hammer arm. Axel did not dodge. Instead, he parried the blow head-on with his vibration sword.

Clang!

The concrete floor beneath Axel's feet cracked under the immense pressure. Axel felt a slight tingling in his arm, but he did not step back a single inch. His vibration sword began to chew through the Crusher's bone hammer, sending out sparks and the distinct smell of burning bone.

"Is this all you have got?" Axel sneered. He spun his body and delivered a devastating kick right to the Crusher's knee.

Crack!

The monster's knee shattered completely. The Crusher roared in agonizing pain and fell to its knees. Axel did not immediately kill the beast. He needed time to rescue the ten girls first.

"Valerie! Is the door open yet?!" Axel yelled without looking back.

"It is! But they refuse to come out! They are terrified of that monster!" Valerie shouted back.

Axel sprinted away, leaving the Crusher as it struggled to stand back up. He arrived in front of the laundry room door. Inside, there were about ten women crying hysterically. They ranged from college students and housewives to office workers.

"Listen to me, all of you! If you want to live, follow me right now!" Axel barked.

"No! There is a monster out there! And you brought a man covered in blood!" one of the girls shrieked, pointing directly at Rio.

Axel had absolutely no time to argue. He pulled ten packs of premium chocolate bread out of his inventory. It was the rebate result from the moldy bread he had obtained during his journey earlier.

"Eat this! I am giving you energy, but you have to run straight to Elena's room at the end of the hall!" Axel threw the bread directly at them.

[Ding! You have given 10 packs of Bread to 10 Grade B and A Targets!]
[Mission Conditions Met!]
[Triggering 10,000x Super Critical Rebate!]
[Congratulations! You have obtained: Automated Logistics Warehouse, 100 Bottles of Star Evolution Serum, and the Mythological Weapon: Spear of the Thunder God!]

Instantly, Axel felt a massive surge of power rush into his brain. Data regarding a logistics warehouse capable of manifesting any kind of food synced directly into his mind. But the absolute craziest reward was the short spear now resting at his waist, actively emitting sparks of blue electricity.

"Eat the bread right now, or I will let that monster inside!" Axel threatened again.

The girls finally scrambled for the bread. They began sprinting down the corridor, escorted closely by Valerie. Cindy ran at the very back of the group, her face still covered in sardine oil.

The Crusher was already back on its feet. The monster was absolutely furious. It charged blindly toward the group of running women.

"Your target is me, you idiot." Axel stepped right in front of the Crusher. He no longer wielded his sword. He drew the Spear of the Thunder God from his back.

The spear instantly elongated to two meters. Axel twirled the weapon, generating a vortex of electricity that made the air in the corridor scorchingly hot.

"Die."

Axel thrust his spear straight into the Crusher's chest. The exact second the tip of the spear touched the monster's skin, thousands of volts of electricity detonated simultaneously.

BOOM!

The entire eleventh-floor corridor lit up blindingly bright. The deafening sound of the explosion echoed all the way down to the ground floor. The Crusher did not even have the chance to scream. Its massive body exploded into black ash in a fraction of a second. A giant hole was blown right through the wall behind the monster, revealing the burning cityscape of Cyber-Vane down below.

[Ding! Level 2 Mutant killed. Contribution Points +100.]
[Host Level increased to Level 5!]

Axel took short, rapid breaths. He stared at his spear. "Insane. This weapon could literally level an entire building if I do not hold back its power."

He turned his head around. Valerie and the ten girls had stopped running. They all stared at Axel with looks reserved for a god. They had never seen a human unleash pure lightning and obliterate a monster of that size in a single strike.

"Axel. Are you. Are you really human?" Valerie asked, her voice trembling.

Axel walked closer. He saw Cindy cowering behind Valerie's back. Axel flashed a faint smirk. "I am human, Valerie. Just a human holding a very deep grudge."

Axel approached Rio, who was still sprawled out on the floor. Rio was deathly pale. His eyes had completely rolled to the back of his head, but he was still taking short, shallow breaths.

"Rio, did you see that? The monster you were so terrified of just turned to dust in my hands," Axel whispered directly into Rio's ear.

Rio could not answer. He could only wince in pain. Axel pulled out a single bottle of the Star Evolution Serum he had just obtained from the ten thousand times rebate.

"System, if I give this serum to Rio, do I get a rebate?" Axel asked.

[Answer: No. The target must be a female with specific genetic potential. Providing serum to a male will not trigger a rebate and will only waste resources.]

"Perfect. That means you truly do not deserve to get anything, Rio." Axel stood up. He stomped down hard, directly onto the bleeding stump of Rio's severed arm.

"AARGHHH!" Rio let out one final, agonizing scream before completely passing out from the pain.

Axel turned to Valerie. "Take these girls to Elena's room. Give them some water from the gallon jug in there. I am going to sweep this floor for a minute. I feel like there is still some 'treasure' left behind."

"But Axel, what about Cindy? She has been crying and calling your name this entire time," Valerie asked.

Axel looked at Cindy. Cindy attempted to flash a sweet smile, even though her face was still filthy. "Axel, I know you still love me. Please forgive me for earlier. I will do absolutely anything for you now. Anything, Axel."

Axel walked slowly toward Cindy. He grabbed Cindy's chin, tilting her face up so she was forced to look into his eyes. "Anything, Cin?"

"Yes, anything! I promise!" Cindy answered eagerly. She genuinely thought Axel's heart had softened.

Axel's smirk grew even wider. "In that case, run down to the tenth floor. Go get my bag that I left behind. There are still plenty of zombies down there, but you said you would do anything, right?"

Cindy's face instantly dropped. "But Axel. There are so many monsters down there."

"Then your words are absolute trash." Axel released Cindy's chin so roughly that she fell backward. "Valerie, drag her along too. If she acts lazy, just kick her out the window."

Axel walked away, leaving them all behind. He had a brand new mission from his system.

[Ding! New Mission detected: Search for Scarlett Thorne in the basement! She is the second SSS-Grade Target!]
[Reward: God Fortress Blueprint Stage 1!]

"Another SSS Target? Highly interesting," Axel muttered. He sprinted straight toward the elevator shaft that had been busted open earlier. He leaped down into the pitch-black darkness of the basement without a single ounce of fear.

Axel landed in the completely dark basement. But his system suddenly blared a loud warning: "Warning! This area is a Zombie Queen's nest! Scarlett Thorne is currently being used as a host!"