The two of them bypassed several abandoned Dormitory buildings with peeling paint and shattered windows, and a construction site enclosed by a rusted iron fence appeared at the end of their vision.
A large gap had been smashed into the fence, leaving the scene inside completely exposed.
Tangled, rusty rebar jutted out from half-poured concrete pillars.
A few yellow Hard Hats lay half-buried in the dry, cracked mud, their colors faded and covered in stains.
Several tattered green safety nets hung in mid-air, making a monotonous “whoosh-whoosh” sound as the wind blew through them.
A heavy odor drifted through the air, a mix of metallic rust and the acrid smell of wet concrete.
“The reconnaissance results were correct.
Two low-level zombies.” Takagi Saya’s voice was very low.
Hiding behind a broken wall with only half her head peeking out, she pointed not far away.
Akira looked in the direction she was pointing.
One zombie was pacing aimlessly next to a pile of sandbags, dragging its feet with every step and making a rustling friction sound.
The other was in a somewhat comical situation; it seemed to be stuck in a massive black cable drum, its entire upper body wedged in the gap between the cable and the drum, yet its body stubbornly kept lunging forward, making a dull, rhythmic “thud…
thud…” sound.
“Where’s the low-medium level one?”
Akira’s gaze swept across the entire construction site, but he didn’t find a third moving figure.
“I don’t know.” Takagi Saya furrowed her beautiful eyebrows.
“Tactical Reconnaissance can only confirm that it’s in this area, but it can’t give specific coordinates.
Be careful, it might be hiding in some corner we can’t see.”
Akira nodded and said no more.
Lowering his center of gravity, he kept his body low and his footsteps extremely light.
Stepping on the gravel and sandy ground, he made almost no sound as he silently bypassed a row of hollow bricks stacked half a person high.
The combat power of the two low-level zombies wasn’t strong, but since the low-medium level zombie hadn’t appeared yet, he had to be as cautious as possible.
With a flash of his figure, his black Sharp Claws drew several afterimages in the air.
“Pfft!”
Almost soundlessly, two rotting heads soared into the air and rolled onto the gravel-covered ground.
[Killed low-level monster ‘Rotting Zombie’, obtained Survival Points x4]
[Cooperative kill, Takagi Saya obtained Survival Points x2]
“Devour.”
A stream of black-red light, like living vines, surged from his palm and rapidly covered the two corpses.
Under the erosion of the light stream, the bodies decomposed and dissipated at a visible rate, turning into the purest energy to be absorbed by him.
[Devour successful!]
[Strength +2, Agility +2, Physique +2!]
[Name: Akira]
[Strength: 18]
[Agility: 17]
[Physique: 18]
[Spirit: 15]
“It’s done.
Let’s start gathering materials.” He said to Takagi Saya behind the broken wall.
Takagi Saya stepped out from behind the cover, curiously sizing up the surroundings.
The construction site was filled with containers, wooden scaffolding, and many steel coils.
“How do we gather resources?
Surely we aren’t carrying them back on our backs?”
Akira walked over to a scattered pile of wooden scaffolding planks.
Having been exposed to the sun and rain, these planks were already somewhat warped and blackened.
He reached out and gently touched one of them.
An information prompt immediately surfaced in his mind.
[Decomposable Material: Pine Scaffolding Plank]
[Decompose?]
“Yes.”
The moment he confirmed with his mind, the wooden plank beneath his hand suddenly emitted a soft glimmer.
In the next second, the solid plank was instantly crushed into powder as if by an invisible force, turning into countless tiny points of light that surged along his arm into his body and disappeared.
“So that’s how we gather them.
Quite convenient.” Takagi Saya walked over as well, a hint of surprise appearing in her eyes as she witnessed this.
Emulating him, she walked over to a discarded steel pipe nearby and touched it with her fair finger.
[Decomposable Material: Rusty Steel Pipe]
[Obtained Steel x1]
Now that they had confirmed the gathering method, the two of them immediately split up to act with high efficiency.
Abandoned scaffolding, piles of timber, and scattered rebar and iron sheets all became their targets.
For a moment, glimmers from decomposing materials lit up everywhere on the construction site, with countless points of light continuously rising from various scraps and surging into their bodies.
“Tsk.”
Just as Takagi Saya finished decomposing a huge iron sheet used for the fence, a system prompt made her halt, an annoyed expression appearing on her face.
[Weight limit reached.
Continuing to store items will drastically reduce your Agility attribute.]
“My backpack is full.” The young girl curled her lips in annoyance, her tone filled with frustration.
“My Strength attribute is too low, I can’t carry much at all.”
It seemed that it wasn’t just her Spirit attribute that needed strengthening.
She had only decomposed items seven or eight times, which included a few heavy iron sheets, and her backpack space was already warning of weight limits.
The efficiency of gathering resources was far too low.
“You keep watch, I’ll handle the rest.”
Akira’s Strength attribute was far higher than Takagi Saya’s, so his backpack’s weight limit was naturally much larger.
Soon, the amount of materials in his backpack began to rise rapidly.
[Wood x8]
[Steel x9]
By now, he had decomposed most of the resources on the construction site.
“How much steel and wood do you have on your end?”
Takagi Saya checked her backpack.
“Three wood, two steel.”
Added together, they had eleven of both wood and steel, which was enough to upgrade the Dormitory to Level 2.
Just as he was about to stop, his gaze was drawn to something in the deepest corner of the construction site.
It was a blue shipping container, its body covered in rust marks and dried mud spots.
It looked like it had been left there for a very long time.
For such a large chunk of iron, if it could be completely decomposed, the amount of steel obtained would definitely be a substantial number.
He walked up to the container, reached out, and pressed his palm against the cold, rough, and grainy iron sheet.
[Decomposable Material: Shipping Container]
It really works.
Akira’s heart stirred, and he was about to confirm the decomposition command in his mind.
Clang—!
A deafening sound of metal clashing exploded without warning!
The heavy iron door of the container was actually kicked open from the inside by an unimaginable, immense force!
The two iron doors warped and deformed, slamming hard against the side walls of the container with a deafening crash!
Before the swirling dust could settle, a burly figure roared and charged out from the pitch-black interior of the container!
It was taller and sturdier than any zombie Akira had ever seen, its knotted muscles bulging tightly against the blue canvas overalls it wore.
It held a massive piece of rebar in its hand, and it also wore a yellow Hard Hat on its head.
Roar—!
[Monster Name: Worker Zombie]
[Monster Level: Low-Medium]
[Monster Trait: Simple Armament]
[Monster Weakness: Head]