Chapter 172. Simultaneous Leveling Up

Jacob responded languidly as he slowly approached Hubert. A brief shudder overcame him as his eyes took in the two zombies reduced to lumps of meat scattered on the ground. Hubert’s handiwork was brutal, a far cry from the gentle soul Jacob had once known. Hubert had lived through two apocalypses, trampling over countless zombies.

For that reason, he felt nothing toward these grotesque heaps of flesh. But Jacob was different. It wasn’t fear he felt but a growing unease. Hubert’s fearlessness seemed only to amplify Jacob’s own apprehensions, pushing him further away emotionally. A rift was growing between them, one that Jacob despaired of ever bridging.

The realization was heartbreaking. Once, Jacob had Hubert within reach, only to deceive him, driving him farther away. Now, with Hubert hailing from two millennia ago, the emotional distance between them stretched even wider. And although Hubert said he still wanted to share sleep, Jacob knew what his actual intentions wer