CHAPTER 551: THE HOUSE

The streets were quieter now, but not in a way that brought comfort.

It was the kind of silence that spoke of the absence of people who had either fled long ago or never made it out at all, which meant they were dead.

Clyde and Mina moved side by side, their weapons still stained from earlier.

The air was heavy with the stench of rot and the faint animal musk of the mutated humans that roamed the city.

Every few steps, something lunged from the shadows. This time who appeared was the weird figures with gray flesh and jagged claws, its movements jerky and unnatural.

Clyde handled them with brutal efficiency, his spear flashing through skulls and torsos with ease.

Mina was as quick and precise, her new dagger leaving long deep gashes that bled profusely before she finished them off. She now fighting using two daggers.

Each kill brought a faint flicker of light before Mina’s eyes.

[EXP Gained.]

[Level Up!]

She was climbing levels fast. Her hands no longer trembling when she slashing with her daggers, her expression growing colder each time she drove the blade home.

Clyde, on the other hand, barely reacted to his own notifications.

Even though he’d killed far more than her, his level barely budged.

For him, each fight was just a means to an end. The thrill of leveling had long since faded and been replaced by the cold calculation of just getting stronger fast and the knowledge that his next level would take far more effort than hers ever would.

Mina glanced at him once between fights, catching the way he didn’t even break stride after killing three mutants in quick succession.

"You don’t even care about the kills anymore," she said, panting slightly.

"They’re just numbers for me now," Clyde replied calmly, stabbing his spear into another mutant’s head and wrenching it free. "For you, they matter a lot and you have to pay attention to it. But for me, they don’t matter until later."

Mina didn’t actually understand what he meant but she didn’t press further.

The streets were empty of human voices.

No cries for help, no footsteps running to safety anymore.

It was as if the whole district had been abandoned.

"Why is there no one here?" Mina muttered, scanning the rooftops.

"They either evacuated," Clyde said, "or they’re already dead."

They kept moving. The key Clyde had found was still in his pocket, and with it came a lead.

It wasn’t hard to see where it belonged.

A small, battered piece of keychain dangled from it, printed with a faded address.

Clyde stopped at the next intersection, holding the key in his palm.

"This isn’t those guy’s house," he said finally. "They won’t bother attaching the address to it if this is their house. Probably taken from someone else."

Mina’s brows knitted. "So they killed the owner and took it."

"Most likely," Clyde agreed. "But the house is still where we’re going. If they kept the key, it means whatever’s inside is worth it."

The walk stretched on, the sun dipping lower behind the skyline.

When they finally reached the address, they stopped in unison.

The house was large, standing apart from the others, with tall stone walls and boarded windows.

But the most striking feature wasn’t the house. It was the creatures that surrounded it.

Dozens of mutants prowled the yard and street, their bodies hunched and twitching, their skin peeling in long strips.

Some dragged broken weapons, others snapped their teeth in the air as if tasting phantom prey.

The air was thick with their guttural snarls.

Mina exhaled slowly, fingers tightening around her dagger.

"That’s a lot of them."

Clyde didn’t respond right away. He scanned the creatures, noting their positions, the gaps in their movements, and the largest ones lurking near the front door.

"We go straight through," he said finally. "No hesitation. Keep moving forward."

Then he stepped into the street.

The first mutant lunged at him and his spear met it in the throat, driving straight through until it dropped twitching to the ground.

Mina was right beside him, her skill activating and her body blurred, her dagger opening a mutant’s throat in a single swift motion before she spun to cut down another.

The street became a killing ground.

Clyde’s spear swept in wide arcs, crushing skulls and splitting torsos, while Mina darted between enemies like a shadow. Her blades leaving trails of crimson in the air.

They fought until the street was littered with twitching bodies.

Blood pooled on the cracked asphalt and the snarls had faded to silence.

Clyde stopped at the bottom of the steps, the front door only a few feet away now.

Without looking back, he said, "Let’s see what they were keeping locked in this building."

Together, they stepped up to the door.

The door creaked open and the stench hit them immediately. Rot, mold, and the sharp metallic tang of old blood.

The entryway was littered with overturned furniture, broken glass crunching under their boots.

Dark smears trailed along the walls and floor, leading deeper inside.

"It’s only been a day," Mina muttered, her voice low. "And people have already turned into this..."

Clyde’s gaze swept the room. The smashed family portraits, the scattered toys, the stains on the carpet. All spoke of what had happened here.

"They didn’t just take the house. I’m sure they also slaughtered whoever lived here. Probably for food, supplies, or just because they could," he said flatly.

Mina’s jaw tightened, but she didn’t answer.

"We split up," Clyde continued. "and search for anything worth taking."

She nodded without hesitation.

Clyde stepped back to the front door, shutting it with a solid click before sliding the bolt into place.

The street outside was quiet now, but that silence was deceptive.

Mina slipped down the hallway toward what looked like the kitchen, her daggers still in her grip.

Clyde moved in the opposite direction, into a living room buried under trash and half-burned papers.

A bloodstained blanket lay in the corner, covering something lumpy. He didn’t lift it. He already knew it wouldn’t be worth seeing.

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