Chapter 11 The Big Picture
When the golden divine light tore through the atmosphere, turning the beautiful Earth into a hell, it not only brought a virus that mutated living beings, the Land of Death, and endless slaughter to the world. It also brought a new way of evolution, the Doomsday Roulette, and the hope of survival.
Among these hopes was the enclave.
Yes, enclave. In his previous life, William had only heard of the enclave and had never seen it.
The key to the enclave and the enclave it represented were among the most powerful entities on Earth.
In the last decade of the previous world, William, a mere Six-Star Evolver, clearly did not have the qualifications to covet the enclave.
But that didn't stop the legend of the enclave from being mentioned over and over again, leaving a deep impression on William.
He remembered that someone who had once encountered the enclave said that the enclave was a space corresponding to the areas of death. The areas of death represented danger, death, and terror. The enclave, on the other hand, represented hope and life.
It was also from this person that William learned how the key to the enclave appeared - descending from the sky along with the golden divine light's attack.
No one knew how many of these enclaves existed, but one thing was sure. These enclave keys had descended to various corners of the Earth on the day of the disaster, just like the one that had fallen in the distance now.
Facing the Doomsday Roulette, William might still be able to remain calm, but when faced with the key to the enclave, he felt excited.
The enclave was one of the most precious things in the apocalypse! Inside, people could obtain many unexpected powerful items and benefits. For William, who had survived for ten years in the apocalypse, its allure was deadly.
He immediately abandoned the idea of hunting First-Level zombies and instead set out to obtain the key to the enclave.
Just a few hours into the apocalypse, with the strength of a One-Star Evolver, he had a great chance of obtaining the key.
Estimating the distance, he realized that the key to the enclave had landed in his school.
Thinking about the number of zombies in the school gave William a headache. The campus was not a residential area, and there were fewer people around before the end of the workday. The university had tens of thousands of students studying and living there, with mutants and infected individuals numbering in the thousands at least. The danger there was much higher than at Oasis Luxury.
But often, the most dangerous places held abundant wealth. Facing danger at every moment was almost a norm for everyone in the apocalypse, something William had long grown accustomed to.
Gripping the machete in his hand, he quickly dashed up to the second floor. The windows here had no protective bars, so he leaped out of the window and landed on the grass behind the building.
But just as he took a few steps, he heard a thud behind him, followed by a woman's voice. William turned around to see the long-haired woman jumping down as well.
Seeing William looking back at her, the woman, despite the pain in her buttocks, ran over to him. Surprisingly fast, she pitifully said, "Don't... don't leave me."
In the apocalypse, some women were powerful, like Sienna, a Nine-Star Powerhouse, one of the strongest individuals. And Emily Ward, also a woman, though only an Eight-Star Evolver, stood at the pinnacle of the world because she could control marine creatures. Then there was Elena Brown, the Queen of the Wind, not only strong herself but also commanding a powerful faction due to her high intelligence, making her widely known in the evolver circle.
However, these were just a few. Due to the physical differences, women had been in a disadvantaged position since the apocalypse began, a fact that had never changed. They often became appendages to men, devoid of dignity and status. Most women lived in misery, relying on flattery and offering their bodies in exchange for food and water. In the eyes of many strong individuals, they were merely tools for reproduction with no other role.
Having lived through ten years of the apocalypse, William was somewhat influenced by these notions. Apart from future powerhouses like Sienna, he habitually saw other women as burdens, bringing him danger and trouble rather than help.
Under this mindset, his attitude was naturally not very good. However, he was not the kind of evolver who disregarded human life. He couldn't bring himself to kill someone just because that person might pose a danger. So, he merely pointed the bloodied tip of his blade at her and said sternly, "You can follow me, but I can't guarantee your safety. And if you make a sound, I won't hesitate to kill you."
The woman quickly nodded. In just a few hours today, she had seen too many people run away or fight back, only to die without exception. This man, killing those disgusting monsters as easily as cutting vegetables, was the only one left. For the sake of survival, she could only follow him. Not to mention staying silent, she would even be willing to do everything.
With his direction set, William began to move stealthily toward his school. The distance from here to the school's courtyard wall was not far, only a few hundred feet.
Under the cover of night, William began his slaughter. He tried to slow his pace, not attracting the attention of the zombies. When he encountered solitary zombies, he would ambush and kill them, extracting Magic Crystals. If he encountered a large number of zombies, he would rather take a detour.
By the time he reached the edge of the residential area, he had collected eleven Magic Crystals in his pocket.
William turned around, thinking that the woman had been left behind. After all, as a One-Star Evolver, he was much stronger in terms of speed and stamina than an ordinary person. However, to his surprise, the woman, though looking disheveled, had not been left behind but was only about 165 feet away from him.
It made William appreciate the woman a bit.
Although the distance was not far, keeping up with William was a test of physical and visual endurance. This seemingly fragile woman had not lost track of him.
It seemed that she was someone who usually paid attention to exercise and had good mental resilience. Otherwise, if it were another woman, she might have been eaten by a zombie long ago.
But William was only slightly surprised. In the apocalypse, many outstanding and even powerful individuals had ultimately perished. Based on the woman's current performance, she was only slightly stronger than an average person. The likelihood of her surviving long-term was not high.
Turning his gaze to the campus just beyond the wall, William couldn't help but think of Heidi in his rented room in another direction. She should be with Xavier now. Xavier's parents were wealthy merchants, so she should have been protected immediately.
Shaking off these distractions, William climbed over the wall and jumped down. It was an empty space behind the school cafeteria, usually filled with miscellaneous items and leftover food scraps that hadn't been taken away, rarely visited by anyone.
But before his feet touched the ground, something rushed toward him at high speed. William turned nervous, realizing he had been careless.
