76

Noises caused all the nearby zombies to react. Small, large, in houses, on the road or stuck in a corner, so long as they were in hearing distance.

The zombies rushed over, waving their arms in excitement. The ones in front who confirmed that there was the scent of blood became even more excited, howling with spittle they rushed over.

"Keep guard. It's up to Zhang Yi and Xu Mei's powers." Luo Xun's voice was relatively calm, his hands held the crossbow aimed firmly at the mob of zombies.

If not for the ability users, Luo Xun would not dare attract so many zombies into their defensive perimeter.

Why were people extra careful after the apocalypse to not let themselves get hurt or bleed?

On one hand is was preventing the possibility of infection, on the other there was fear of touching anything dirty and getting other infections. Finally – the smell of blood would attract groups of zombies.

Luo Xun had selected this intersection after observing that the number of zombies in the vicinity was not much. However even after two periods of clearing out, the number of zombies had not been reduced by much. If someone bled, it would definitely cause zombie riots.

As a result, since there were no large attack groups, the smaller, ordinary teams were not suicidal.

Seeing the mass of zombies rushing from the street corner, Zhang Yi faced the mob and faintly glowed. People subconsciously straightened as wind slowly gathered.

Yan Fei also prepared the heap of metal nearby, ready to take action.

When the first wave of zombies arrived, people with crossbows aimed and fired since they were more dispersed. When the second wave with even more zombies approached within five meters of the group, Zhang Yi erupted.

A strong wind wall rushed out with him as the starting point. The zombies were either blown away or slowed down by the wall. Some even stumbled backwards into wind blades.

The wind caused many wounds as it swept through, some of the weaker zombies immediately lost the ability to act. After Zhang Yi went to temporarily rest, there was a wave of crossbow arrows.

Afterwards, the third wave of zombies organized a vicious attack. Xu Mei conjured a row of small fireballs outside the fortifications. Although each one was not big, creating so many at one time caused sweat to appear on her forehead. At the same time Zhang Yi sent out a gale to push the fireballs forward!

Who knew the reason, maybe wind helped fire but the small fireball burst open down the road! A huge flare blasted out!

The blown up corpses had burned faces and the some even had their heads blown off!

Xu Mei stared at the scene with huge eyes. She did not believe this was the effect of her and Zhang Yi working together. This was the result? It was too explosive!

On the other hand, Song Lingling turned to Luo Xun with a face of admiration. This had been his idea, no wonder he was the captain! He was very experienced in combat!

Luo Xun, who had been mistaken as the captain was secretly surprised but as happy. Zhang Yi was something else, the trick he used was not simple.

The combination of wind and fire was a common pair after the apocalypse. In his past life, Luo Xun had only seen it from afar in the city but did not know the specific principles. However he knew Xu Mei's ability, coupled with his past experience, he quickly figured out how to coordinate the attack.

One should know that Zhang Yi's wind ability was very powerful but not invincible. His blades could cut people to shreds and cause all kinds of bloody horror, but against zombies?

Zombies did not know pain or fatigue. No matter what was cut off, as long as they still had the nucleus in their brain, they would not stop!

Therefore, Zhang Yi's wind abilities were best used in conjunction with other's abilities. Otherwise the lethality would not be optimal.

Another kind of popular power cooperation was water and thunder. Unfortunately the team only had Song Lingling as a water user. There was no lightning user so Luo Xun let her use a crossbow to practice her aim.

When they went and prepared for the excursion, Song Lingling's abilities were better suited to logistics. The water she produced was very clean and did not contain any toxic substances. Water ability users were easily welcomed onto teams going out to collect supplies.

All the clean up work was carried out smoothly, Li Tie and the others had killed quite a few zombies with the crossbows. After a while, the number of zombies attracted by the noise became less and less, gradually there were no more zombies showing up.

The group was secretly relieved. Even if they had the ability to destroy them one by one, they were still nervous about their first time out hunting zombies. Now that the end was in sight, they started congratulating themselves.

Just as the mood relaxed, Luo Xun yelled. "Left!"

The crowd quickly looked up and saw a shadow jump over from the top of a street lamp!

Xu Mei and Zhang Yi were slightly pale after having launched a large scale attack. They hurriedly grabbed some nuclei from the bag to absorb when suddenly dozens of steel needles flew towards the target!

Immediately followed by an incredibly large piece of metal! The zombie was smashed away!

Li Tie and the other's jaws dropped, an iron plate?! Yan Fei could actually direct an iron plate to fly at the zombie!?

Yan Fei ignored the startled looks, with calm control while the zombie was falling, the iron plate changed form. Wrapping around the zombie's neck like a pair of scissors, it snapped its neck! Then an iron thorn stretched out and stabbed the head to remove the crystal nucleus!

*Thump* The zombie head rolled aside.

Seeing the scene, the students chorused, "Oh-" So Yan Fei had this in mind when he sent the zombie into the air, aim for the head!

In fact, Yan Fei had been worried that with just the steel needles, the zombie would still fall to them. If it was not dead it would certainly bring a lot of trouble. Therefore it would convenient to throw a large enough piece of metal to send the zombie flying instead. Then he had an epiphany – couldn't he manipulate metal? Why not let the iron plate change and kill the zombie directly?

Sure enough, the experiment was a great success!

"Good job!" Luo Xun excitedly gave Yan Fei a hug.

He had not let Yan Fei randomly use his power. He was afraid of what would happen if a level two zombie showed up after his energy was consumed. Wind ability could deal with the slower moving zombies but a speed type was not easy to combat. Yan Fei had no trouble dealing with it!

As soon as the battlefield was cleared, the group began to dig out the nuclei and deal with the corpses. Dig out the crystal nuclei after burning the bodies, eliminated a few sporadic zombies. Luo Xun and company returned to the bank's second floor with intact windows to rest and recover.

A relatively clean poncho was thrown at the corner of the gate. They were holding several empty bottles of mineral water.

"210, 211...237! 237 all together!" He Qiankun waved the bottle and happily said to Luo Xun, "Enough to hand over for the task!"

To the side, Xu Mei and Song Lingling exclaimed. "Incredible! More than 200?!"

Wu Xin asked in confusion. "What? Its just 200?"

The two women looked at each other in shock and swallowed. "We usually come out to do missions, getting 100 in one day is a big harvest. This is specifically for teams who went to collect nuclei. Those who are mainly looking for supplies, teams of around 20 getting sixty or seventy is a big harvest. So when the base recently increased the number of nuclei to pay, people were very dissatisfied."

The shorter crystal nuclei task required 100 nuclei within three days. Even if the team had miracles, people still expected to upgrade their powers using the nuclei, who was willing to pay so much?

So more people went to pick up items other than food, ending up with nuclei, food and seeds that the team could keep for themselves.

Xu Mei had worried about not finishing the task when they heard Luo Xun had picked to collect crystal nuclei. But now? After how long? They already had more than 200 nuclei!

Yan Fei's face was calm. "Don't count the number just yet, this is not too much." He turned to look at Zhang Yi. "At most we come out once a month. It's best to get enough nuclei for one month."

Xu Mei's hands shook and Song Lingling looked incredulously at Yan Fei while Zhang Yi nodded in approval. "Ah, otherwise coming out once is too uneconomical. Having crystal nuclei is important on base."

Before coming out they had already decided on the proportional distribution of the crystal nuclei. Luo Xun and Yan Fei were considered a group and accounted for thirty percent of the nuclei. Zhang Yi and Wang Duo counted as a group, also thirty percent. Li Tie and the others accounted for twenty percent because their weapons and other things were given by Luo Xun and their combat effectiveness was relatively poor. Xu Mei and Song Lingling got the remaining twenty percent because they were experienced ability users.

In this case, after deducting the amount for the task, Luo Xun and the others would only get around 40 nuclei, not much.

Luo Xun frowned for a moment then suddenly turned to look at the street outside. The nearby zombies had almost been wiped out but in the distance...

"We can set traps and then use the blood bag to attract a lot of zombies. However it will take a lot of preparation and we only have two days. I am afraid the trap would only catch enough zombies for us to fight one last time. If you can't kill multiple zombies at once, its fine to kill one at a time."

"Luo Xun, what traps?" Han Li hurriedly raised a hand to ask.

"Dig a hole, then use the blood bag to kill all the zombies at once." Luo Xun looked at Yan Fei. "The pit can be lined with metal and steel needles so you can directly pierce them once inside. After Xu Mei and Zhang Yi can finish off with a combination attack.

He sighed with some regret. "Too bad the team does not have an earth user." Or they would not have to dig a hole themselves.

The feasibility of the method was very high but there were other problems. "I have the ability to dig pits but it would consume a lot of crystal nuclei. I'm certainly not as efficient at digging compared to earth users. Plus, the ground outside is paved..."

Zhang Yi suddenly added, "If not we can use the previous method to attract zombies. When we come out next month we can see if there is a suitable earth user. Even if there's no one we can bring some metal back. Next time go somewhere with a lot of zombies to dig pits to make traps."

They had fought a couple of times since they drove here. At noon they had just dealt with the wave of zombies. Now they had to dig a hole, they were afraid that they would not finish even by tomorrow. Still could not determine how many zombies would gather. By the time they could shoot...it could be too late.

"Then let's have lunch first." Luo Xun was not stubborn. They had come out just to explore, getting more stuff was better. They would still get supplies from working at the wall.

It was somewhat regrettable but they would grab what they could.

Zhang Yi actually felt some regret, although points back at base could be used to exchange for crystal nuclei. Despite there being so many zombies outside, inside the base, nuclei were high price goods. Plus people were not willing to sell!

During the lunch break Song Lingling was responsible for creating water to wash their faces. Xu Mei used her fire to start cooking with Luo Xun. The three of them dealt with the food.

The others did want to help, Li Tie and the other bachelors wanted to cultivate feelings but their skills were not enough so Luo Xun shooed them away.

The meal was a simple vegetable porridge with assorted pickles along with the large steamed bread from base. Plus some beef jerky that Li Tie and the others did not know when it was bought.

He Qiankun looked at the steamed bread in his hand with a sigh. "The color of the steamed bread has become more and more strange."

Just after arriving on base, the bread was mainly white, only slightly yellow (they suspected cornmeal had been added). Then the steamed bread was slightly red (suspected sorghum noodles were added). At present the steamed bread looked sort of brown, who knows what had been added this time?

"Not only color, but the taste has become worse." Han Li added while chewing on the bun.

"The cucumber is delicious. Luo Xun did you make it or buy before the end of the world? What brand?"

Luo Xun did not bat an eye. "Pickled, wait for yours to grow enough to eat and I will teach you."

"Great! Thank you Luo Xun!"

Xu Mei and Song Lingling gave weird glances at Luo Xun. He could command, cook but also make pickles...They originally thought Luo Xun was the team's captain but from what Li Tie had just spoken about...*cough cough* There was no captain at all!

They were a group of otaku spending everyday in the base. Not even going to the base gate since the captain had to check!

But this kind of man was very safe and good at housework. A good choice for a husband. The two women regretted a moment before caution set in. Although they did not know that Luo Xun and Yan Fei were together, their hearts were trampled on by men.

Not going psycho at the sight of men was already pretty good. How would it be possible to see a man now? Hadn't they already lost so much? How many people's lives were good before the apocalypse? So what if they were single during the apocalypse?!

While eating food, the sound of cars came from the nearby window. The group immediately went to the window and cautiously looked at the bunch of cars. They had come from the city depths towards the base gate. Chasing after these cars was who knew how many zombies!

"They are all ordinary cars, only two have been modified, not military." Luo Xun told the group. "There are quite a few zombies, everyone stay vigilant in case there is a level two zombie that finds us upstairs. Eat quickly, finish your meal and go kill some zombies!"

This sparked the team into action, this would add to the number of killed zombies. The fast moving, higher ranked zombies were mostly at the back. The slower ones were scattered around the streets.

Luo Xun and company quickly ate, drank and got some rest while observing the situation outside to confirm that there were no speed type zombies. They were downstairs ready to start again.

Some of the zombies had come after smelling the scent of humans from outside the fortifications. Seeing them, Luo Xun prepared the greet the guests...ah no it was a fight as they struggled to climb over the fence in order to get inside.

After a morning of fighting, they were all familiar with using crossbows to kill zombies around the entrance. Luo Xun got a fresh blood iron bar and threw it out, causing some zombies in the distance to riot and rush back.

Another round of fighting began...

Less than two days of work, the group left base at eight in the morning and returned to the gate at around five o'clock the next evening.

Looking at the base with familiar buildings and armed soldiers, Xu Mei and Song Lingling felt like they were walking on air.

They were guided by soldiers to the temporary waiting area for two hours – this was the latest rule on base. If not wounded, the person would wait two hours before re-entering the base.

As for the car, it had been parked in a safe place, ready to fetch later.

Looking at the glances towards the group, Xu Mei and Song Lingling whispered, "Next time we go out, should we dress the same as the others?"

They wore helmet, uniform leather jacket, jeans, rain boots and poncho and also masks...Although the image was a bit extreme, it was for protection against zombies! They were back in base!

The two women who were extremely disgusted with the vast majority of men were determined to resemble Luo Xun's equipment. Why did their dislike of men not extend to Luo Xun and the others?

It was because...during the two days, although Li Tie and the students would subconsciously try and care for them, Luo Xun, Yan Fei and Zhang Yi the three strongest did not regard them as women to look at. Thus the two women treated them with sincerity.

The two of them had spoken with Luo Xun with a much greater frequency than Li Tie and the students. Poor Li Tie and the others wanted to come near but to no avail. Fortunately Luo Xun and the other two were all gay, otherwise the four university students would secretly think them villains.

As for why the two women were in a trance, that was because they had 1265 cores in their hands after they had paid the 100 required cores.

That was correct, they took two days of work to get more than 1000 crystal nuclei! Not counting the ones they had consumed over the course of two days, and it also did not count the level two nuclei with different colors.

More than 1000...Even some of the well-known teams on base could not get so many crystal nuclei in such a short period of time! A nerd squad? More like a squad of zombie killers! Their efficiency could compare with that of the army!

77

"Oh my God, I am so tired." He Qiankun immediately laid down in the drawn circle of the waiting area and was unwilling to move.

Li Tie and the others had no other way. They could only sit around and poke his jiggly belly.

"True, who knew that more and more zombies would come after the ones chasing after the car. We had to fight for a full two days without rest! If we could not take turns to sleep or we would not have come back alive." Li Tie also heaved a sigh.

Luo Xun smiled on the side. "What? Are you not coming out next month?"

The students looked at each other and nodded vigorously. "Go! It's only going out once a month anyway!"

Hearing the voices, everyone else in the circle looked at them with disdain – they would only go out of base once a month? Were they a team of scrap wood? Wouldn't they lose their nerve in a month's time?

They also saw their team unexpectedly had two young women in addition to the group of what looked like students. Beside, there was also a man who was more pleasing to the eye than a woman (it was Zhang Yi, Yan Fei wore his helmet with his white face mask). This simply...was a waste!

A person the circle next to them whistled at Xu Mei. With dirty eyes, he scanned her chest. "Beauty, why follow this group of wastes? Why don't you come with me..."

The guy had not finished speaking when a big fireball flew forwards. Luckily he was able to avoid the attack but even then half the hair on his head was burned off.

The person jumped and patted his hair. A lively group of spectators laughed. "Every rose has thorns when provoked. He's lucky to not have been killed by the fireball."

"Right? Last time I remember a man was completely burned in front of the base. His clothes, even his hair was all gone!"

The man had a hard time putting out the fire. After hearing those words his face turned green and white. He dared not speak to Xu Mei again.

Luo Xun asked Xu Mei curiously, "Thorn Rose?"

Xu Mei was somewhat bashful, her face turned slightly red. "They coined the name."