062 Robert’s Resolve

Li Dan Niu had not expected that, despite aiming carefully and firing without a tremor in his hand, he still missed. Watching as the startled deer changed direction and prepared to flee, he grew furious. He yanked the rearview mirror from the car beside him and, raising his arm, hurled it with force. The mirror traced a straight path through the air and struck the haunch of a running deer perfectly.

Bang!

The unlucky deer’s rump burst open, and it collapsed to the ground, staggering for a moment before failing to rise.

“Oh my God, what did I just witness?” Robert, who had just run over, saw the miserable deer and exclaimed, “Buddy, you literally blew up a deer’s rear!”

Dan Niu was savoring his prowess and precision when Robert’s ambiguous comment suddenly caught him off guard.

“Could you be a bit clearer?”

“I mean, you blasted it, not…inserted anything,” Robert replied awkwardly, then asked, “Buddy, what did you use? How did you manage that?”

“The car’s rearview mirror.” Dan Niu shrugged. “Before disaster struck, I used to practice shot put.”

“That’s wild. Buddy, you’re incredible.” Robert was enthused. “I really think you’re not cut out for guns. I heard you fire several shots just now, and none hit. Maybe we should find a sporting goods store and get you a dozen shot puts instead?”

“I think we should deal with the deer first.” Dan Niu pointed to the three lions watching them. One of them was gripping its prey tightly, eyes fixed on their group.

“I almost forgot about them,” Robert said. “We’ve dealt with them many times before. By now, they’re practically citizens of New York. But we don’t need to worry too much—they already have food and won’t attack us easily.”

Though Robert claimed there was nothing to fear, he still led Dan Niu toward the fallen deer. Sam, the dog, kept his eyes on the three lions.

“Your dog is remarkably brave,” Dan Niu praised, admiring the courage to face such fierce beasts head-on.

Bang!

Robert finished off the still-breathing deer with a shot and answered, “Of course. You know, when I was out scavenging once, I ran into two Darkhound mutants—infected dogs. If it weren’t for Sam’s help, I couldn’t have handled them alone.”

No wonder, Dan Niu thought, recalling how in the movie this dog faced three Darkhounds and saved Robert’s life—it had prior experience.

“Buddy, give me a hand. Let’s carry it to the car together.”

At Robert’s call, Dan Niu stepped forward without a word, hoisting the deer onto his shoulder.

“Let’s go.”

Robert stared in amazement at Dan Niu’s easy, casual strength.

“Buddy, you’re really strong! That deer must weigh over a hundred pounds.”

“You know, shot put athletes are trained for strength,” Dan Niu replied half-heartedly, though in truth his strength might not actually surpass Robert’s. After all, Robert had trained daily for three years under the threat of death.

Anyone facing death for three years and working out would be strong. But Dan Niu had internal energy, and with the Nine Yang Divine Skill, he could ignore such weight completely.

With Robert’s admiring gaze upon him, Dan Niu carried the heavy deer nearly a hundred meters to the car without breaking a sweat.

Robert fetched a knife from the car and opened a cut in the deer’s artery, speeding up the bleeding.

“The Darkseekers have incredibly sensitive noses, so we have to drain as much blood as possible, or we might attract them.”

After waiting a while and seeing the blood had nearly drained, Robert took a large travel bag from the car, preparing to butcher and pack up the deer.

“Let me,” Dan Niu said, seeing Robert hack at the deer’s hind leg without success. He took the knife, channeled a bit of internal energy, and severed the leg in one stroke.

“I’d forgotten—I’m not alone anymore, I have a strongman at my side,” Robert laughed with delight.

Dan Niu didn’t respond. Truth be told, it was a little embarrassing; since mastering the Nine Yang Divine Skill, he’d hardly used it properly. Aside from healing Zhang Wuji, he’d spent his time traveling or robbing the rich to aid the poor, and now he was reduced to hunting with internal energy. He wondered if the founder of this skill would blame him for squandering such power.

Soon, Dan Niu had the deer cut into seven or eight pieces. After packing up with Robert, they set out for Robert’s home.

“If it were an ordinary day, I’d still be out searching for supplies at this hour,” Robert said as he drove. “But today, we need to deal with the deer, so we’re heading back early. I’ll cook you a feast tonight.”

Dan Niu looked out the window at the ruined landscape of New York and asked, “You’ve spent three years alone in this city?”

“Yes,” Robert replied, suddenly falling silent, perhaps reminded of his wife and child.

Dan Niu didn’t savor the quiet. He was infected, after all, and needed to know more about Robert’s research.

“Why not leave? We could travel together, search for other survivors. Someone might have established a survivor base.”

“Leave? Survivor base? Ha…” Robert chuckled bitterly, sadness in his voice. “Do you know, sometimes I still think I’m dreaming, and you’re just a figure in my dream. When I wake, it’ll be only me again.”

“Before the disaster, I was already researching this virus. Its fatality rate is ninety percent. In less than a month, all 5.4 billion people worldwide died. Of the ten percent who survived, only one percent had immunity; the other ninety percent became Darkseekers.”

“Do you realize how vast the world is? And of that one percent, how many are in America? Moreover, as the epicenter of the outbreak, America has more Darkseekers than anywhere else. How many immune survivors could have lasted three years here?”

“Survivor base? You’re too naïve. Maybe the whole world is just the two of us now.”

Though Dan Niu knew the movie’s plot and these figures well, hearing them from someone who had survived the apocalypse stirred something within him.

“If you don’t try, how would you know?” Dan Niu turned to Robert. “If I hadn’t tried, I couldn’t have found you. I haven’t seen a living person in two years. I once believed I’d die alone in a basement, rotting into a pile of bones. But now, I don’t think so. Since you’re alive, and I am too, surely there are more out there. We can rebuild this world.”

With that, Dan Niu couldn’t help but praise himself—his acting skills could easily land him a speaking role in the industry.

Robert was silent for a moment, then said, “I won’t leave. I need to stay and develop a cure. That’s my duty, my purpose.”

Survival demands not only material needs but also spiritual ones. Dan Niu now understood why Robert could endure three years in this apocalyptic world after watching his wife and daughter die.

“A cure?” Dan Niu empathized with Robert’s plight, but his own concerns took precedence. Seeing the conversation turn to the cure, he pressed further.

“Yes. If I succeed, maybe I can turn the Darkseekers back into humans!”

“If Darkseekers can be restored, we won’t have to worry about finding others,” Dan Niu mused, voicing a question that had troubled him.

In the original film, Robert’s cure could indeed revert Darkseekers to humans, but Dan Niu had no desire to become a Darkseeker and then be cured. Who knew how long the process might take? If he didn’t change back in time before his journey ended, it would be tragic.

“But the virus is already in the air, in the water. What about newborns? If we have no offspring, extinction is inevitable.”

“No need to worry. My research aims to transfer my immunity to others. So it’s not just a cure—it’s a vaccine! Once injected, people will gain my immunity and won’t turn into Darkseekers.”

“That’s fantastic. Is there anything I can do to help?” Dan Niu was elated to hear the answer he’d hoped for.

“Uh…to be honest, virus research really has nothing to do with athletics.”