Alex gave her a small nod and an encouraging smile and then proceeded to open the garage door. Xiao Ming watched her like a hawk and clutched the dagger in her hand tighter and tighter.

The weapon glinted in the moonlight and slowly as the door creaked and cranked pulling up, a hideously disfigured face started showing.

The zombie was trapped in between the car and one of the shelves in the garage, with another shelf on top of it. It was almost dead.

However, Xiao Ming who was calm all this time became tenser on seeing the mana zombie and started slashing at it madly.

"Ah! Ah! Ah! Die! Die!"

Alex couldn't help but gulp and take a step back to not get hurt in the process but she didn't say anything. The woman was simply taking some stress out on the creature.

"Is it dead? Is it dead?" She asked after a couple of seconds.

Alex nodded with a small smile. "Long back. If the head is severed from the body, they just collapse."

Xiao Ming nodded and stepped back. She was still breathing heavily and she had not settled down yet. "You should take the mana core also and absorb it." Alex reminded her.

She quickly nodded and did as Alex told her to. This time she did not flinch when she peeled the flesh away and dug around for the big solid stone of energy.

Alex, meanwhile, kept an eye around them, watching for any potential signs of danger. Luckily, the place was eerily quiet with nothing else anywhere close to them.

"Ahhh!" Ming Ming's shrill voice pulled her attention back and she walked over to the woman. "What happened?"

"Alex, this core is… it's glowing in a different color!" She thought something was wrong and decided to check with Alex first.

And just as she had thought, something was indeed different. 

Alex, as well, stared at it for a bit and then the two of them ended up not absorbing it. They clutched the zombie's head and quickly returned back to the hotel where the group was staying. 

"You two are back!" Qiang who was still standing at the entrance of the hotel relaxed slightly on finally seeing the both of them return. "Did something happen? Are there more goblins?"

"No. Nothing like that. You can relax." Alex patted him and then walked inside, with Xiao Ming following her quietly. "Can keep an eye a little longer? I just need one more minute."

Qiang nodded and went back outside while the two women went inside looking for Lu Chen. He was still sitting in the same corner and practicing his ice magic.

He had his eyes close and Alex had to poke him to get his attention.

"Eh? Did something happen?" Lu Chen immediately jolted up to stand and became alert.

"No. No. Nothing yet. We just had this one zombie a couple of streets down." Alex quickly explained. She passed him the zombie's head that she was clutching tightly.

"Here. Can you take a look at this mana core? Does it look a bit violet and weird to you?"

Lu Chen's eyes immediately widened as he clutched the zombie's head very carefully so as to not absorb the mana core. His gaze turned serious and he became silent.

How could he possibly not know what this was? He himself has absorbed this type of violet mana core. This was what had caused Su Yan to fall into his unconscious state!!

Alex could tell just from his face that something was not right. "What happened?" She asked again.

Noticing the disturbance, Qin Hua as well walked over to them. She too looked at the violet mana core incredulously, recognizing the familiar aura emanating from it but her ears suddenly perked up.

She realized that she now had something which she previously did not.

[Woof! Inspect!]

<Ding. Demonic Mana Core; Has a 1% chance to grant fire type ability>

[Woof? Only 1%? What the heck?] Qin Hua was completely speechless. [So when Su Yan triggered the ability in the mana core, he actually managed to get at that 1%?] 

[Hmmm? But why does it not tell me anything about side effects though?]

[Do these have side effects or not?]

She had too many questions and too few answers. 

They probably needed to test these demonic mana cores out several times before coming to any sort of conclusion, but was it worth risking it? Maybe they can find some volunteers?

Qin Hua's eyes casually fell on Luo Zu who was sitting in a corner. He was dozing off without any care in the world by leaning on a wall.

But as if he could feel the pair of fierce eyes on him, the guy instantly stiffened up and woke with a scare as if he had just had a nightmare, only to meet the big bad dog's gaze.

He immediately tensed up and looked very nervous and guilty, as if he had done something wrong. His expression was almost comical, but before Qin Hua could mess with him further, Lu Chen's voice sounded from behind her.

"Little white, do you want this mana core? This one… you know… Su Yan absorbed something similar?" 

He had no idea what to say to a dog or how to communicate with her properly but he decided to ask her first anyways.

Woof! Woof! Qin Hua shook her head. 

Of course, she wanted it! Even if it was just a 1% chance and there were possibly some risks attached to the core, it would still be good to have another skill.

But at the same time, she didn't find the core and she didn't want to hog all the resources. 

Besides, as her strength, the potential side effects far outweighed any possible skill she could gain from the demonic mana core. It was not worth it.

If someone else perhaps so desperately wanted to become stronger that they did not care about these side effects, it would be more helpful for them. 

But how was she supposed to explain this to the human beings in front of her?