Outside the Village of Kawayan, Nile was having the hardest battle of his life.

If not for the occasional consumption of System Foods, Nile might have already fallen by now.

Enemy attacks keep on coming from all directions and Nile could just barely dodge them.

His body was already littered with minor wounds and bites. Fortunately, he had the System Store to immediately buy items that he needed to use. Just like for example, the green peas that enhanced the consumer's 'Will' for a few minutes.

The Level One° clothes he just bought were now also tattered, with many holes and torn parts all over.

The peak Level One° weapon was also having a hard time as they were now having some signs of cracking and breaking.

It couldn't be helped though. As even if the peak weapons do have a self-repairing ability, they couldn't just cope with the intense and continuous battle that Nile had gotten himself into.

But, did Nile regret his actions? Nope. He was even happier that he made such decisions.

Nile leaped a few steps back and evaded the paw of a furious zombie bear. He waves his hand and three lollipops materialize at his palm.

"Max. Croc. Catch!" He threw the two lollipops away and put the remaining one towards his mouth.

Maximo and Croco leaped to the air at the same time and instantly caught the flying lollipop with great familiarity. They both made a wink to Nile before dashing away to continue their own killing spree.

Nile had already lost count on how many times he did it. He had already lost count on how many lollipops he had already melted inside his mouth. He had already lost count how many buckets of energizing water he bought from the System.

But, does it matter? Nope, it doesn't.

Nile is already a rich man. Gone were the days where he was thrifty towards his Apocalypse Points he owned.

Apocalypse Points: 3069.

Is what was written on Nile's stats profile. His Apocalypse Points were so high that he no longer cared about spending some of them just to buy energizing waters to take a bath.

After another hour of fighting, Nile finally had a breather as the zombie pers continued to decrease.

Nile thought that this might be because it was already night and the zombies were already resting, or it might be because all the remaining zombie pets had already passed by him and the one he slew just now was the last one.

Croco and Maximo had also finished killing their last prey, so they moved towards Nile to regroup.

The three met at an open field where bodies lie everywhere. The three of them were bloody and their clothes were now tattered as if it was already a century-old antique.

Nile bought three meals, the extravagant types of meals. Nile just spent an hour killing just for these three foods. But Nile didn't mind it too much. This is a reward for himself as well as for his two hardworking pets.

Nile patted the two animal's heads as they wholeheartedly ate the most delicious dish they have tried for the rest of their life.

The three patted their bloated stomach in satisfaction. The three luxurious meals were really worthy of their titles.

Besides their delicious taste, the meal also comes with the function of lowering the time used during evolution and while also boasting the success rate of evolving.

As Nile was evolving soon, he purposely chooses those kinds of meals to aid him(excuse). Not to mention, his two pet's names were also blinking with green light, meaning, they were ready to evolve to the next level as well, just like their owner.

[Maximo(Pet): Middle Stage Level One° Mutated Carabao.

Metallise Horn.

Thick Metallise Hide.

Armored Neck.

Status: On the process of evolving to the next stage. Minor Wounds.

Upgrade Requirement: Level One° Sledgehammer.

Upgrade?

Y/N

]

[Croco(Pet): Middle Stage Level One° Mutated Crocodile°

Spikey Armored Back

Metalized scales.

Front Arm-Blades.

Status: In the process of evolving to the next stage. Minor Wounds.

Upgrade Requirement: Mutated Snake Hide.

Upgrade?

Y/N? *Requirement not fulfilled yet.

]

Nile felt happy that his pets were not lagging that far behind him.

He was even hoping that the two would evolve to Level Two° directly. Nile must admit, the two were a big help to him.

He reckoned that he wouldn't even reach the 2000+ mark of Apocalypse Points without the two pets' help.

Nile gives the two a pat as well as one stick of lollipop to heal their minor wounds.

Nile's body still had many minor and big wounds so he also bought one item that aids his healing as well.

What Nile bought was chewing gum with a cool menthol flavor in it. Every chew that he made, Nile felt his body get refreshed and rejuvenated.

It didn't take long for his injuries to heal, except for the big ones, as the big ones hadn't been fully healed yet.

Nile thought that they already rested enough, and it was now time for a triple upgrade.

Nile rode Maximo towards the village to search for a good place to evolve. He even thought of the bunker but knowing there are people there, he opted that place out.

The only place Nile could think of was the Village. He reckoned the house the women resided in before, it should be empty by now. That place was also hidden nicely, Nile thought that it was the perfect place for him and his pets to evolve.

After a few minutes, Nile and his two pets finally arrived at the Village of Kawayan's entrance.

Maximo was about to enter the village already when Nile stopped him by pulling the reins.

Nile heard a commotion in front of them. They were not that far and due to his peak Level One° hearing, he heard them clearly just like they were beside him.

Multiple and hurried footsteps were what entered Nile's ears.

A moment later, dozens of figures appeared at the village entrance. Each of them was holding bloody weapons and based on their appearance, Nile guessed that they had just come out of a fierce battle.

Nile guessed that they were the Village of Kawayan's survivors and they might have just come out from fighting the zombie pets, as well.

However, Nile didn't know them and doesn't have a plan on knowing them. As what was imprinted in his mind, survivors were troublesome, it was especially so if they were gathered and had already formed a group of their own.

Nile pulled the rein on his left, telling Maximo to turn around. The Nile wanted to go the other way around to avoid them.

However, unfortunately for him, the other party won't let him leave that easily.

A man suddenly pops out from the crowd, he staggers forward as if someone had just pushed his back. He fell to the ground but he immediately stood up a moment later.

He then looked forward and stared at Nile intently with scrutinizing brows.

A moment later, when Nile was just preparing to leave, the man suddenly pointed at Nile with trembling hands before saying, "That's him. I saw it with my own eyes. He's the one who attracted those mutated animals and zombies."