Xia Mu’s eyes were filled with determination as she brought the small hammer down again and again, shattering the ice while forcing herself to overcome the fear deep inside her heart.
The moment the ice broke apart, the Level 1 zombie regained its freedom to move. It twisted its neck, then stretched out its bent, decaying hands toward Xia Mu.
The Clownfish Handgun in Xia Mu’s hand was already prepared.
She fired a Bubble Round, which exploded over the zombie’s head and completely enveloped it.
The zombie had no consciousness. It relied solely on its sense of smell and hearing to hunt people. Now that both senses had been blocked by the bubble, it had no idea what to do and could only wave its arms aimlessly in front of itself.
The cattle tick clinging to its back, however, merely froze for a brief moment. It hadn’t been trapped inside the bubble, so it quickly recovered and bared its fangs at Xia Mu.
Xia Mu ignored the cattle tick entirely.
It was only a parasite.
Without its host, there was nothing it could do to her.
She fired another Freeze Round, freezing the zombie’s arms so they could no longer move, then gripped the small hammer tightly and swung it at the zombie’s head inside the bubble.
She struck without mercy.
Thinking of her parents’ illnesses, Xia Mu knew she couldn’t afford mercy.
If she wasn’t ruthless, she wouldn’t be able to save them.
The instant the hammer came crashing down, something about her changed.
Her entire presence became stronger.
Brother Ba also seized the opportunity.
With a powerful leap, the dog’s jaws clamped down on the cattle tick’s head at the exact moment Xia Mu’s hammer smashed into the zombie’s head.
The cattle tick struggled violently, letting out shrill cries as sound waves echoed into the distance, as though it were in unbearable agony.
A fierce light flashed through Xia Mu’s eyes.
She continued swinging the hammer.
The zombie’s brain matter splattered across her clothes and face, yet she forced herself to ignore the nausea.
Only when a pink crystal rolled out from the shattered skull did she finally stop.
She bent down and picked up the pink crystal.
At that moment, she suddenly realized…
Killing zombies wasn’t so frightening after all.
As long as she conquered the fear inside herself, killing one felt incredibly satisfying.
Perhaps life in the other world had been too oppressive.
Here, in the Apocalypse, slaughtering zombies gave her a sense of release.
She found herself genuinely enjoying the exhilarating feeling of smashing zombies apart with her little hammer.
Smiling happily, Xia Mu looked at the pink crystal in her hand, her eyes curving into crescents.
Brother Ba wagged his tail as he ran over, spat something out onto the ground, and barked proudly.
“Hmm? What’s this?”
It was a green crystal.
Unlike a zombie crystal, which had an irregular shape, this one was a rectangular green crystal about the length of her little finger.
System 003 had just watched its Host fight so fiercely.
It had been completely won over by her courage.
Its Host was simply too amazing.
Hearing Xia Mu’s question, it immediately replied with a grin, “Let’s take it back and scan it.”
“Right! Let’s head back. Today’s harvest was incredible. I’m so happy, 003.”
Xia Mu beamed happily before lowering her head to look at Brother Ba. She rubbed his head affectionately and praised him.
“Brother Ba was so brave today too. You actually bit the cattle tick to death and even got a crystal.”
Receiving praise and head pats, Brother Ba wagged his tail even faster.
Watching the scene, System 003 couldn’t help feeling envious.
If only it had a physical body too…
Thinking of that, it immediately sent messages to its two big brothers, System 001 and System 002, asking how systems could obtain physical bodies.
“Let’s go home.”
Xia Mu was in such a wonderful mood.
She had originally thought life in the Apocalypse would be depressing and suffocating.
Instead, it allowed her to release all the emotions she had been suppressing.
She found herself beginning to like life here.
When she looked up with a cheerful smile and saw the tall figure standing in the doorway of the side room, her smile grew even brighter.
“Hi, Mr. Shang. Why aren’t you resting? Look, Mr. Shang! This is the zombie crystal I just got from killing a zombie, and this one is the crystal Brother Ba got after killing the cattle tick.”
Her voice was lively and full of excitement as she eagerly shared her accomplishment with Shang Xinglan.
Looking at the dirty, foul smelling Xia Mu, Shang Xinglan extended a slender finger and gently pressed it against her smooth forehead before she could get too close.
In a lazy tone, he said, “Boss Xia, shouldn’t you wash yourself first… and your dog too?”
Xia Mu blinked her large black eyes.
She lowered her head for a look.
“Ah!”
Her face instantly turned bright red.
Then she looked back at Shang Xinglan.
He was wearing a wine red set of loungewear, looking neat and elegant.
Compared to him, she was filthy, bulky in her protective clothing, and covered in grime.
She looked absolutely disheveled.
“I… I’ll go wash up right now.”
Grabbing Brother Ba by the scruff, Xia Mu hurried toward the attic as fast as she could.
She felt so embarrassed she wanted to disappear.
At the same time, she began reviewing her battle.
Could she kill zombies more elegantly next time…
Without ending up looking so filthy and miserable?
Shang Xinglan leaned casually against the doorframe, watching the young woman disappear into the attic.
He shook his head, rubbed his slightly curly red hair, then wandered back to the shopping mall to browse what could be purchased.
That shopping mall was practically criminal.
He wanted almost everything inside.
The only problem was…
It was all so expensive.
Back at the base, he would never have found himself in this situation.
Yet inside this tiny, magical rental house, he had actually experienced the frustration of not having enough money to shop.
It was a faintly melancholy feeling.
It seemed the Dark A Squad would have to head out and kill many more zombies.
Even the female owner of the rental house personally hunted zombies.
As a man, he almost felt embarrassed by comparison.
After returning home, Xia Mu grabbed a fresh change of clothes and took Brother Ba downstairs.
Fortunately, Shang Xinglan had already gone back inside.
Otherwise, she would have died of embarrassment.
Money! She needed more money.
She had to kill more zombies, collect more zombie crystals, exchange them for Interstellar Federation Credits, and renovate the side room in her house.
Her little attic desperately needed its own bathroom and shower.
She bathed Brother Ba first until he smelled nice and clean before sending him out so she could wash herself.
Once his fur had dried, Brother Ba jumped onto the sofa, yawned lazily, and closed his eyes for a nap.
He looked completely comfortable.
Meanwhile, his tail transformed into a power plug and connected itself to an electrical outlet, quietly recharging his energy.
Today’s battle had consumed quite a bit of power.
He needed to recharge as quickly as possible.
After finishing her shower, Xia Mu tossed her dirty clothes into the washing machine before hurrying back up to the attic and returning to her parents.
Father Xia and Mother Xia were sitting in the courtyard playing Chinese chess and chatting with the neighbors.
After taking a glance, Xia Mu walked over.
The elderly men and women sat there fanning themselves with handheld fans.
When they saw Xia Mu, they merely glanced in her direction.
She walked over to Mother Xia.
“Mom.”
“Finished with work? Are you hungry? I’ll make you something to eat.”
Mother Xia’s voice remained as gentle as ever.
Xia Mu shook her head.
“I’m not hungry. Aren’t you working today?”
Mother Xia nodded. “I took the day off. I’m staying home today.”
She clearly didn’t want to say any more, so Xia Mu didn’t press the matter.
Just then, the annoying Aunt Zhou looked at Xia Mu and asked,
“Xia Mu, your mother said you’ve taken on some kind of online part time job. What exactly do you do? Does it pay well?”
Xia Mu’s expression remained calm.
“I’m just customer service. It doesn’t pay much for now. Certainly not as much as Sister in Law Zhou earns from her livestreams.”
Aunt Zhou’s face immediately darkened.
Everyone knew Sister in Law Zhou’s livestreams were rather difficult to watch.
She spent her time chatting with viewers while wearing revealing clothes.
Although she earned a great deal of money, she, Brother Zhou, and Aunt Zhou argued constantly because of it.
Strangely enough, despite all their fighting, she and Brother Zhou never divorced.
They even had a son and a daughter together.
Hearing her daughter’s reply, Mother Xia looked at Xia Mu in surprise.
In the past, Xia Mu would never have answered like that.
She would either smile politely or tactfully change the subject.
What happened today?
Then Mother Xia remembered everything Xia Mu had told them.
Not only had Fourth Uncle deceived both of them, he had even humiliated their daughter.
Her mood immediately worsened.
Her expression became even gloomier.