Chapter 19: Her Purpose

If possible, Daniel Hale would have preferred Ben Stone not to die.

At least not in his house.

It was a huge taboo for a businessman, and besides, Vera Coleman was pregnant.

He had been planning to find some masters to perform a cleansing ritual, but then he saw Ben Stone’s limbs twitch.

Ben Stone was clearly still alive!

"Don’t go closer. Let’s wait and see."

Nina Jacobs stopped Daniel Hale from going any closer.

Jenna Sullivan also noticed that Ben Stone, whose body had already stiffened, was starting to move.

To be precise, it was more like convulsing.

Ben Stone’s body arched high, his arms spasming into a bizarre curve. He looked to be in extreme pain. The sight, combined with his half-rotten face and scalp oozing pus, gave the nearby Jenna Sullivan a terrible fright.

"Son, son, wake up.

Are you okay, son?"

Jenna Sullivan touched Ben Stone’s forehead. It was completely ice-cold.

Just as she realized something was wrong and instinctively tried to back away, Ben Stone suddenly spewed a mouthful of black fluid and his eyes shot open.

"AHH!!"

Jenna Sullivan saw Ben Stone lunge at her and screamed in terror. A moment later, a sharp pain shot through her.

RIP!

Ben Stone had actually bitten a chunk of flesh from Jenna Sullivan’s shoulder!

"Wh-wh-wh-what’s happening?"

Leo Hale saw this, and the hand holding his phone began to tremble.

A wave of nausea and dizziness washed over him.

He could only watch in horror as Ben Stone swallowed the chunk of flesh!

"Ben Stone, what are you doing? That’s your mother!"

Daniel Hale thought Ben Stone’s fever had made him delirious. Otherwise, how could anyone bite off a chunk of raw flesh like that?

Jenna Sullivan was still screaming and struggling. Just as Daniel Hale was about to go forward to help her, he was pulled back by Nina Jacobs.

"Uncle Hale, I’m so scared."

Nina Jacobs’s words immediately brought Daniel Hale back to his senses.

’Right, what if that Ben Stone attacks the kids?’

"Quick, quick, get out first."

Daniel Hale shut the door to the room. The basement had been converted into a recreation room, so the door was made of tempered glass. Even from outside, they could see everything happening inside.

"Dad... don’t you think Ben Stone is like... a zombie from one of Vincent Lynch’s movies?"

Leo Hale’s voice was still trembling.

Now that Leo mentioned it, Daniel Hale had to admit the resemblance was striking.

Ben Stone didn’t stop gnawing on her until Jenna Sullivan stopped moving.

"Is... is she dead?"

Daniel Hale’s face was ghastly pale. A large pool of blood was spreading out from under Jenna Sullivan. The scene inside the room was horrifying.

*GURGLE...*

A strange sound came from Ben Stone’s throat. He raised his head, a piece of Jenna Sullivan’s flesh still hanging from his mouth.

Suddenly, he stood up and charged at the people outside the door!

BANG!

The tempered glass door was instantly smeared crimson.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Ben Stone’s mouth gaped open as he pounded on the glass door, looking like he wanted to tear the three of them to pieces and devour them.

Leo Hale and Daniel Hale could see clearly.

Ben Stone’s eyes were covered by a milky white film, completely obscuring his pupils, and his fingernails had turned black.

What was even more nauseating was the putrid stench of rot wafting from inside the room.

Like a damp corpse that had been sealed away for half a century.

*GURGLE... ROAR!*

Another beast-like roar came from behind Ben Stone.

Jenna Sullivan, covered in blood, had also transformed into the same terrifying creature as Ben Stone!

"AHH!!"

Leo Hale broke out in a cold sweat. He instinctively grabbed Daniel Hale and started to run.

After running just a few steps, he remembered Nina Jacobs was still standing there, so he went back to pull her along with them.

"Why are you running? They can’t get out."

Nina Jacobs refused to run.

"B-b-b... but aren’t you scared?"

Leo Hale watched as Nina Jacobs picked up the phone from the floor and took a few high-definition photos of Ben Stone and Jenna Sullivan.

And the expression on Nina’s face as she looked at the photos was more akin to someone admiring a masterpiece.

"Of course I’m scared. But aren’t you curious why he ended up like this?"

’Ben Stone is just an ordinary zombie. He can’t stir up much trouble.’

’Her goal, however, was the system’s Healing Potions.’

’Whether or not she could become self-sufficient with Healing Potions all depended on this moment.’

Nina Jacobs used Leo Hale’s phone to post a few videos.

And added a caption:

"This is terrifying! My friend, who was rescued from the acid rain, turned into this. Is this some kind of side effect? Everyone, please be careful!"

’It didn’t matter whose device she used. As long as she posted it and it had the desired effect, she could reap Healing Potions from the system.’

Right after the videos were posted, they didn’t attract many viewers, because everyone’s attention was still focused on the acid rain.

However, Daniel Hale really came through. He must have pulled some strings with his wealth, because the videos Leo posted suddenly went viral.

"Was this really caused by the acid rain?"

"You must be bored out of your mind at home to make such a disgusting video."

"What zombie movie is this? It looks pretty realistic. Movie title, please."

"This is terrifying, my roommate too!! He’s been drinking water like crazy these past few days!!"

"No, you guys, stop joking around. This doesn’t look fake."

"Don’t scare me! My husband got caught in the rain a little, and for the past two days, he’s been drinking water nonstop and can’t even eat!!"

"No way getting a little rain on you does this. Some people are so gullible."

"Things are chaotic enough already. I really wish the people creating this kind of panic would get off this platform."

"..."

Most of the commenters didn’t believe the video at all, until Nina Jacobs had Leo Hale post the full story they had documented over the past few days, including Ben Stone’s daily changes.

In an instant, the comment section exploded.

[Detected: Host’s actions will save 37,219 human lives in 3 days. "Selfless Savior" title triggered. Reward: 37,219 bottles of Healing Potion!]

[Detected: Host’s actions will save 8,367 human lives in 3 days. "Selfless Savior" title triggered. Reward: 8,367 bottles of Healing Potion!]

The system seemed a little excited. Nina Jacobs felt like it was just short of praising her for a job well done.

’Is that all out of over a billion people? Still, it’s not a small number.’

Nina Jacobs’s goal had been achieved.

Injuries were a constant in the apocalypse. In her previous life, she’d taken Renee Strong under her wing.

’But now, only four days into the acid rain, she already had over 60,000 bottles of Healing Potion!’

’From now on, she wouldn’t have to rely on anyone else.’

And as the video continued to gain traction, the system’s Healing Potion rewards were still increasing.

But it wasn’t long before the video was taken down by the platform.

Even Leo Hale’s account was banned.

The reason given was for spreading gory and false information.

"Why? It wasn’t even up for half a day before it was taken down?"

Leo Hale hadn’t expected this outcome.

Nina Jacobs stood to the side without saying a word. In truth, she had already anticipated this.

’The entire world was in chaos because of the acid rain. It was hard for their post to gain much public attention, so it was understandable that the platform would deem it misinformation.’

"They were probably afraid of causing unnecessary panic, but at least some people have been warned."

Daniel Hale looked deeply troubled.

He had hoped to attract the attention of the authorities, who could then take Ben Stone and his mother away. But now, with two monsters locked in his house, he doubted he’d be able to sleep at all.

"Don’t worry, Nina. The basement has several doors.

They probably can’t get out."

Vera Coleman thought the silent Nina Jacobs was scared.

"I know."

’Ben Stone and his mother are useless now. I never planned on letting them survive the night anyway.’

’Besides, this is a good chance to practice killing zombies with my Fire Element Superpower.’