"Yes," Elias thought firmly.
The moment the command left his mind, the blood-red crystal in his palm dissolved into tiny particles of crimson light.
The liquid light seeped directly into his skin, flowing into his retinas.
[Red Core Absorbed!]
[Current Inventory: 1 Red Core]
Elias felt a subtle warmth spread through his chest as the core was stored into the System's virtual vault.
Outside the visiting room, the chaotic din of gunfire, agonizing screams, and guttural roars echoed through the concrete corridors.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
"Rat-tat-tat-tat!"
Heavy automatic gunfire rattled the concrete walls of the Maximum Security Compound.
Elias crouched near the shattered window, his enhanced 3x Peak Human senses picking up every movement.
Muntinlupa New Bilibid Prison's Maximum Security Compound was a fortress within a fortress.
It was heavily guarded by elite PNP-SAF (Special Action Force) operators inside the inner perimeters, Philippine Marines at the main outer gates, and armed BuCor (Bureau of Corrections) officers controlling the blockades.
However, the apocalyptic crimson rain had struck without warning.
Seventy percent of the heavily armed guards and soldiers had turned into flesh-eating monsters in a matter of seconds.
Worse, the surviving human soldiers were in absolute disarray!
They were panicking, screaming in horror, and hesitating to pull their triggers against their own turned comrades!
"No! Don't shoot! That's Corporal Mendoza!"
"Aaagh! He bit me! Shoot him! SHOOT HIM!"
"Boom!"
Elias listened to the chaos with a cold, calculating gaze.
Should he summon an Infantry Squad right now?
He immediately shot down the idea.
The Maximum Security Compound was still crawling with surviving armed personnel and turned military zombies.
If he suddenly manifested a 12-man squad of heavily armed soldiers out of thin air, the panicked surviving troops would instantly mistake them for hostile insurgents or a prison break, opening fire on them.
Exposing his System now was pure foolishness.
He needed to hunt alone in the shadows, harvest Red Cores, and let the chaos consume the compound!
Elias stepped over the dead female zombie and approached the fallen BuCor guard on the floor.
He unholstered the guard's heavy Taurus 9mm service pistol, checking the magazine.
Ten rounds left.
He also snatched a heavy steel tactical baton and strapped a spare magazine to his belt.
Elias approached the heavy steel door of the visiting room.
The lock had been blown open by the initial seismic shockwave.
He kicked the door open and slipped into the dim, blood-stained hallway of the Maximum Security block.
"Crunch... Crunch..."
A turned PNP-SAF operator stippled in black digital camouflage staggered around the corner!
His tactical vest was soaked in dark blood, and an R4A3 assault rifle hung uselessly from his tactical sling.
His milky white eyes locked onto Elias!
"Roar!"
The SAF zombie lunged forward, opening his blood-drenched jaw!
Elias didn't even flinch.
In his eyes, the monster's movement was painfully slow!
Relying on his 3x Peak Speed, Elias blurred forward, stepping inside the zombie's guard!
He swung the heavy steel baton with the terrifying strength of three peak adult men!
"Whack!"
"Crack!"
The heavy steel pipe smashed squarely into the turned SAF operator's temple!
The impact shattered the skull instantly, sending black blood and brain matter spraying across the concrete wall!
The SAF zombie collapsed like a sack of bricks.
Elias immediately crouched beside the corpse, plunging his fingers into the shattered skull without hesitation.
He pulled out a second pulsing crimson crystal!
[Detected: Low-Grade Red Core x1]
[Red Core Absorbed!]
[Current Inventory: 2 Red Cores]
Elias unhooked the dead SAF operator's combat belt, taking two fresh rifle magazines and a sharp combat knife.
He didn't take the assault rifle yet—firing loud gunshots in an enclosed hallway would draw the entire block's zombie horde onto him.
Silent, brutal killing was the key.
He moved quietly down the corridor toward the main courtyard of the Maximum Security Compound.
The sight before him was pure purgatory!
Dozens of turned BuCor guards and SAF zombies were tearing into a group of cornered human officers!
"Reloading! Cover me!" an uninfected SAF sergeant roared, his back pressed against the iron gate.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
He fired frantic shots into the chest of a turned guard, but the zombie kept rushing forward, completely ignoring non-lethal torso wounds!
"Aim for the head, damn it! Aim for the head!" another surviving guard shrieked before a turned inmate slammed him to the ground, tearing his throat open!
"Splatter!"
The surviving soldiers were falling fast, overwhelmed by fear and their refusal to accept that their brothers were gone.
Elias melted into the shadows along the courtyard pillar.
He was like a phantom reaper entering a battlefield of sheep and wolves.
A turned inmate rushed past his hiding spot, lured by the screams of the dying guards.
Elias reached out, grabbed the inmate's head from behind, and violently twisted his hands!
"Snap!"
The zombie's neck snapped with a sickening crunch!
Elias dragged the corpse behind the pillar, extracted the Red Core, and absorbed it instantly.
[Red Core Absorbed! Current Inventory: 3 Red Cores]
Before the body hit the floor, Elias was already moving!
He sprinted behind a turned SAF gunner who was biting into a fallen officer.
Elias drove the heavy tactical knife straight up through the base of the zombie's skull!
"Pfft!"
The blade pierced the brain stem instantly!
The SAF zombie went limp. Elias pulled the knife free, scooped up the pulsing Red Core, and absorbed it!
[Red Core Absorbed! Current Inventory: 4 Red Cores]
Five zombies... eight zombies... twelve zombies!
Elias moved through the courtyard like a ruthless shadow, executing turned personnel one by one with lethal precision!
His intermediate combat instincts allowed him to strike vital points effortlessly, while his 3x Peak Strength made every blow fatal!
"Bang! Bang!"
A surviving BuCor guard slumped against a bloodied concrete pillar fired a pair of panicked shots, his hands trembling uncontrollably!
The bullets whizzed past Elias's shoulder, ricocheting loudly off the steel barricade!
"Clang!"
This was Senior Officer Gabriel Torres, a veteran BuCor guard who had barely survived the initial outbreak in the Maximum Security wing.
Torres wiped the sweat and blood from his eyes, staring in absolute disbelief at the silhouette standing in the dim crimson light!
He had just watched this figure move at a terrifying, inhuman speed—side-stepping a lunging SAF zombie, twisting an inmate's neck with one hand, and driving a combat knife cleanly through a helmeted skull!
"Who... Who's there?!" Torres shouted, his voice shaking violently as he re-aimed his service pistol with unsteady hands.
"Freeze! Don't move!"
Torres squinted, his mind racing in total confusion.
The man wasn't wearing a BuCor officer uniform, nor the black digital camouflage of the SAF operators.
He wasn't even wearing the bright orange jumpsuit of a Maximum Security inmate!
He was wearing simple civilian clothes!
A civilian?! Inside the highest security compound of Bilibid Prison?!
How could a regular civilian move faster than elite Special Action Force operators and execute monsters with his bare hands?!
Torres doubted his own sanity, his finger trembling against the trigger.
Elias slowly turned his head, his cold, sharp eyes locking onto Officer Torres through the shadows.