After finishing everything, Mu Xiaoxiao left her space and went downstairs, only to find Meng Yu watching a zombie movie.
“Xiaoxiao, are you hungry? Come and have some fried chicken, pizza, and cola,” Meng Yu invited with a smile.
“I’m coming. It smells so good!”
She took a bite of fried chicken, followed by a slice of pizza and a sip of cola. It was pure heaven. The discomfort in her stomach from killing zombies earlier disappeared completely.
Meanwhile, the four unconscious members on Gu Jingchuan’s side had already awakened. They had respectively gained strength, earth, metal, and speed abilities, making the other five members incredibly envious.
Seeing that everyone had recovered, Gu Jingchuan told them to rest before heading out to kill zombies. They had already cleared the villa, so they went outside instead. After several days of training, everyone had become increasingly familiar with their abilities.
Watching Gu Jingchuan take down a zombie with a single strike, Cheng Qian praised, “As expected of the boss. Even without an ability, you can still kill a zombie with one blow.”
The others wholeheartedly agreed.
Just as they were talking, a zombie suddenly charged toward them at incredible speed. One of the team members failed to react in time and was knocked to the ground.
Fortunately, he managed to hold the zombie back with his knife, while another team member rushed over and kicked it away.
The zombie was sent flying, but it quickly climbed back to its feet and charged at them at the speed of a running adult. Fortunately, they were all trained, so they still dealt with it easily.
“Boss, that zombie was so fast!”
Gu Jingchuan had noticed it as well. Had the zombies evolved? Judging from its speed, it could run like an ordinary person, and its attacks were much like those of a person fighting normally.
“If more zombies like this appear, handling a few won’t be a problem, but if there are too many, things will become difficult. From now on, don’t let your guard down. Be careful.”
“Got it, Boss.”
Curious, Gu Jingchuan stepped forward and opened the zombie’s skull, finding a white crystal inside.
So they really existed. Those novels were actually quite reliable.
“Boss, what is that?”
“The novels call them crystal cores.”
He had not expected something so beautiful to be hidden inside such a disgusting thing. The white crystal was clear and translucent, almost like a gemstone.
“It looks like a precious stone.”
“These can be used to upgrade abilities,” Gu Jingchuan explained.
“Really? How do we upgrade them?”
Everyone looked at him curiously.
“We’ll talk about it when we get back. The slow zombies don’t have them. Only zombies that move at normal speed or faster seem to have these inside their heads. Keep an eye out on the way back and see if we encounter any more.”
“Got it, Boss.”
If these things could really upgrade their abilities, they hoped to encounter more of them.
On the way back, the group fought their way through the zombies and encountered five or six Level One zombies. Fortunately, they managed to deal with them all without any serious danger before returning to the villa community.
Their return attracted the attention of the other residents. Since Gu Jingchuan and his group had cleared the surrounding villas of zombies, these people finally dared to come outside.
“Hey, brother, wait a minute. You went out looking for food again, right? I can pay you for it. We can negotiate the price.”
A plump middle aged man approached them with a flattering smile. He had been observing them for several days. Every time this group went out, they returned unharmed with their backpacks stuffed full. They clearly had plenty of food.
“Sorry, we’re not selling,” Cheng Qian refused.
“Come on. How about ten thousand?”
Seeing that they did not react, the middle aged man raised the price again.
“Fifty thousand. I’ll buy all the food in your backpack.”
Cheng Qian sneered. “Even if you offered me a million, I still wouldn’t sell it. Everyone knows how important food is now. You can’t buy it with money anymore. If you want something to eat, go outside and find it yourself. There’s plenty out there for free.”
With that, they turned and walked away without another word.
“Hey, don’t go! Help me out!”
Luke drew a knife and blocked the middle aged man’s path, saying coldly, “You’d better stop making us unhappy. Knives don’t have eyes.”
“I don’t want it anymore! I don’t want it! Brother, let’s talk this out. Please put the knife away.”
The middle aged man was so frightened that he immediately backed down.
Luke snorted coldly and followed the others.
Watching them leave, the middle aged man spat on the ground and muttered under his breath, “What’s so great about them? Acting all high and mighty. Let’s see if all that food kills them.”
Luke suddenly turned his head and glanced in his direction.
The middle aged man immediately panicked, rushed back inside, and slammed the door shut.
After returning home, they counted their harvest. In total, they had collected eleven Level One crystal cores.
Gu Jingchuan gave one to each person with an ability.
“Hold one in your hand and give it a try.”
The group obediently took the crystal cores and asked what they were supposed to do next.
“Focus your attention and sense the crystal core in your hand.”
It actually worked.
As they concentrated, the crystal cores were gradually absorbed and turned into powder.
When they opened their eyes, they were amazed.
“Wow, Boss! My ability feels so full of energy now. All the fatigue from earlier is completely gone.”
“Yeah! Boss, how do you know so much? You’re making us look stupid.”
“You spent thirty minutes absorbing them,” Shen Pei commented dryly.
“What? That long? I thought it was only a moment!”
Cheng Qian looked shocked.
“From now on, make sure you’re in an absolutely safe place when absorbing crystal cores,” Gu Jingchuan reminded them calmly.
“Got it, Boss.”
Finally, Gu Jingchuan gave each of them another crystal core and added, “Observe yourselves first and see whether there are any unusual changes. If there aren’t, absorb another one tonight.”
So the boss was treating them like test subjects.
Still, only the few of them had abilities, and they were all testing the crystal cores together. The boss was not favoring anyone, and besides, if these things could upgrade their abilities, how could they know without trying? If Gu Jingchuan had an ability himself, it would not have been their turn to test them first. If their abilities truly improved, their chances of surviving would increase as well.
That afternoon, Mu Xiaoxiao and Meng Yu were watching a movie when they suddenly heard a commotion outside.
The two immediately became alert and went to the window to look through their binoculars.
More than ten people were running toward them in a miserable state, with several zombies chasing after them.
“Xiaoxiao, those people are heading this way.”
The fleeing group had seen the tall walls around their villa and instinctively assumed it would be safe, so they ran toward it.
When they reached Mu Xiaoxiao and Meng Yu’s villa, they began shouting for help.
“Is anyone there? Please open the door and let us in so we can hide for a while. There are zombies chasing us!”
“People outside, please leave. We will not open the door.”
They had led the zombies straight to her home, yet they still expected her to let them in.
Hearing a woman’s voice, several of the men exchanged looks.
“Brothers, look at this house. It’s so nice and must be very safe. If she won’t open the door, we’ll force our way in. Judging by her voice, she’s a woman. There probably aren’t any men inside.”
As they spoke, they began ramming the gate.
“What are you doing? If you don’t leave now, don’t blame us for being rude!”
Mu Xiaoxiao shouted angrily.
The men ignored her and continued slamming into the gate.
Mu Xiaoxiao immediately activated the electric current.
The men who were hitting the gate suddenly cried out as electricity surged through them. Their bodies convulsed before they collapsed to the ground, while the people behind them quickly moved away from the gate.
Seeing the zombies getting closer and closer, one of them shouted, “There’s another villa over there with its door open. Let’s go check it out!”
Since they could not enter this villa, they had no choice but to change locations. Dragging along those who had been shocked and could barely get up, they hurried away.
“Xiaoxiao, I didn’t know you had even installed an electric current!” Meng Yu said in surprise.
“Hehe, I saw people do this in movies and novels, so I had it installed. I was only teaching them a lesson just now. The stronger setting can actually kill someone,” Mu Xiaoxiao explained.
“Sister Yu, I’ll teach you how to use it.”