Dealing with those few zombies wasn’t particularly troublesome, but for safety’s sake, Shen Suian still had Tuntun leave the second-order zombie alive.
High-order zombies had an intimidating effect on low-order zombies, which was why there were so few zombies in the surrounding area.
Shen Suian searched the entire residence thoroughly. If there was anything unusual about it, it was only that it had one more second-order zombie than other places.
“Are you sure there’s something strange about this place?”
Tuntun wasn’t so sure anymore. 【Could I have sensed it wrong?】
Just as Shen Suian was about to speak, she suddenly tilted her head and asked, “Did you hear a strange sound?”
It sounded exactly like a baby crying.
【I heard it.】
Shen Suian narrowed her eyes and walked softly toward the source.
It was an inconspicuous house, made even more unremarkable by its surroundings.
As Shen Suian placed her hand on the door, Tuntun sensed something and hurriedly shouted, 【Don’t open it! Inside is…】 a second-order mutated zombie!
“Arooo—”
A sharp sound pierced their eardrums, causing both the human and the System to feel momentarily dizzy. Shen Suian’s pupils reflected the small figure lunging at her with incredible speed. Instinctively, she raised her arm to shield her face.
Tuntun instinctively activated its skill, but the expected outcome didn’t happen—the infant zombie was even faster.
Before it could think of a remedy, the infant zombie was already within arm’s reach of Shen Suian.
Tuntun closed its eyes in fear, unable to bear watching what would happen next.
Just as the infant zombie’s hand was about to touch Shen Suian, its body was suddenly engulfed in flames. It crashed heavily to the ground and began writhing.
“Aaaah—”
Its mournful, piercing cries seemed to indicate immense suffering.
Shen Suian was stunned.
Tuntun was stunned too.
The two stared at each other wide-eyed, disbelief flickering in their gazes.
“Superpowers?” Shen Suian looked at her fair, slender fingers, her almond-shaped eyes sparkling with tiny glimmers of light.
Tuntun: 【…Could it be that the body’s protective mechanism triggered hidden potential during a moment of crisis?】
It couldn’t think of a better explanation.
Remembering the second dream, Shen Suian snapped her fingers.
“Sizzle—”
Flames sprouted from her fingertips, even dancing cheerfully for a moment.
Shen Suian reached out with her other hand to touch them. There was no burning sensation—instead, it felt warm and comfortable.
After playing with the flames for a while, she lost interest.
The infant zombie on the ground had completely stopped moving. As the crimson flames receded, only a blue crystal remained.
Seemingly refined by the flames, the crystal was translucent and shimmered with a faint halo, looking exceptionally beautiful.
“A crystal core?”
Shen Suian examined it from all angles but found nothing unusual.
“What type is it? Can I use it?”
Tuntun glanced at Shen Suian’s clear, innocent eyes and suddenly felt mischievous. 【Why don’t you try?】
As Shen Suian focused on sensing it, she asked, “How do I use this?”
As soon as she finished speaking, a flash of blue light appeared. With a “clatter,” the dim crystal shattered and fell from her jade-like hands.
Tuntun stared at Shen Suian, speechless for a long time: 【】
Shen Suian blinked innocently, as if feigning ignorance. “Why did it break?”
Tuntun: 【】
It didn’t know how to answer her at the moment.
Shen Suian didn’t expect a response anyway and began exploring her new Superpowers on her own.
Out of the corner of her eye, Shen Suian noticed the restrained zombie not far away. A wicked grin spread across her lips as she leisurely approached.
The zombie caught the scent of a living person and struggled to break free, twisting its already mangled body and growling.
“So noisy.”
Shen Suian pouted, her slender fingers twitching slightly. Instantly, the zombie froze in place, a thin layer of ice coating its body.
Tilting her head, she propped her chin on her hand. “Ice element, huh?”
“Grrr… grrr…”
Controlling her strength, the ice didn’t inflict much damage on the zombie, but it successfully enraged it. However, halfway through its growls, a ball of flames engulfed its entire body.
“…”
Young people these days, no respect for the rules.
[…]
At that moment, Tuntun gained a new understanding of Shen Suian.
Previously, she had come across as rebellious, unrestrained, lazy, and almost unnaturally clever.
Now, she was acting innocent and pure, yet playful and mischievous—her inherently wicked nature couldn’t be hidden at all.
Alright, alright, playing with split personalities, are we?
One moment fire, the next ice—it couldn’t help but shake its head.
Falling into this demon’s hands was truly something to pity.
Second-order zombies were indeed much stronger than ordinary ones. Shen Suian spent quite a while using her skills before finally killing it.
Rubbing her wrist, she sighed. “It’s like playing a game. A beginner’s level, a bit clumsy, and tiring on the hands.”
Tuntun was speechless.
Really? It thought she was having quite a bit of fun.
“Tuanzi, quick, there’s work to do.”
[Didn’t I emphasize it? I’m Tuntun.] Tuntun followed her gaze, its expression management completely failing. [You want me to dig out its brain?]
“Look how offensive you sound. We’re just making use of waste,” Shen Suian said with a straight face, talking nonsense. “It’s hot out now. Even if we don’t do anything, it’ll rot. Rather than that, why not let it show some value before it completely disappears? At least it won’t have lived in vain.”
[…]
Why did that sound familiar?
Knowing it couldn’t win the argument, Tuntun simply fell silent and got to work.
The result didn’t please Shen Suian. There was nothing inside—or rather, there was discolored, mushy brain matter…
It was definitely a scene that would require pixelation, very appetizing.
Shen Suian calmly glanced at it, quickly looked away, and leaned against a pillar, pretending to gag appropriately.
Tsk, how is a pure little flower like me supposed to survive in a world like this?
Hearing Shen Suian’s inner thoughts, Tuntun: []
Your actions don’t match your words?
It strongly suspected Shen Suian was pretending, but her expression showed no signs of it.
Yet, something felt off.
It dawned on Tuntun belatedly: Shen Suian’s fire element Superpowers could instantly incinerate that mutated infant zombie, which was stronger than this second-order one. Why couldn’t she do it now?
Was she doing it on purpose?
Upon realizing the truth, it thought: Impressive!
After recovering for a moment, Shen Suian went to explore the inconspicuous room.
It was messy, extremely messy, and reeked of a foul, fishy stench.
Shen Suian never liked to suffer unnecessarily, so she decisively took a step back. “Tuanzi, go for it!”
[