The golden glow was faint, virtually invisible unless one looked closely, enveloping Huazhi in a thin, delicate sheen.
“What is this?” Fascinated, Huazhi reached out a paw and slapped another zombie’s head.
Just like before, no filthy grime touched her fur. It remained soft, clean, and completely dry.
Little Gray Rabbit was equally amazed. “I don’t know, but it shouldn’t be anything bad.”
Huazhi nodded in agreement, relieved that she no longer had to worry about getting dirty.
Reassured, the small white rabbit darted among the zombie corpses, tirelessly swatting at their heads. Unlike the zombie animals, these zombies seemed completely oblivious to her presence, showing no desire to attack. Perhaps they simply preferred fresh human flesh.
The others had noticed Huazhi popping up out of nowhere earlier, but with their lives on the line, curiosity took a back seat. Seeing that she wasn’t a zombie and posed no threat, no one wasted energy paying attention to her.
Qi Chaoyang wanted to say something, but with so many people around, he kept his mouth shut. Even so, his gaze kept drifting toward Huazhi, constantly trying to see what the rabbit was up to.
Wind rushed past from behind, sending Qi Chaoyang’s heart into his throat as he rolled instinctively across the ground. When he looked up, nothing was there.
“Focus!”
Turning, he met Feng Jinghuai’s dark gaze. The heavy warning in those eyes made him swallow his excuses, not daring to let his attention wander again.
Feng Jinghuai would only keep him from dying, showing no concern for whether he ended up severely injured or half-dead. That harsh reality had forced him to grow up quickly in the apocalypse.
Meanwhile, landing in the pile of zombie heads was like dropping a mouse into a grain vat for Huazhi.
“Huazhi, get that one too! That one!” The Little Gray Rabbit stared wide-eyed. “Huazhi, those have even more energy!”
The number of zombies dropped rapidly as the slaughter continued, yet no one dared to relax.
“Only these few tier three zombies left.” Qi Chaoyang kept his eyes locked on them, hurriedly swallowing several low-grade crystal core.
crystal core could quickly replenish depleted abilities, but it was merely an emergency measure. Consuming large quantities in a short time carried the constant risk of bursting from the overload.
By now, everyone was filthy and covered in wounds, their clothes shredded by claws, with several people critically hurt.
Only Feng Jinghuai, standing ahead of them, remained immaculate. Not even the hem of his white shirt had been soiled, but…
Qi Chaoyang looked at Jiang Xu and called out in surprise, “Do these zombies pick their targets? Researcher Jiang doesn’t have a scratch on him.”
Glares instantly shifted toward Jiang Xu. It was true. Everyone else had been struggling just to survive, too busy to look out for him, yet he remained completely unharmed. Suspicion flickered through the group.
Jiang Xu’s expression stiffened. He had never intended to let them leave alive, let alone let himself get hurt. Under their probing stares, he discreetly drove the zombies to attack with even greater ferocity.
None of them could be allowed to walk out of here today.
As the zombie assault grew several times more violent, no one had the luxury to question him any longer.
Amid the brutal clash, Qi Chaoyang let out a muffled grunt as a heavy blow sent him flying. Clutching his chest, he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Damn it, out of all these people, why pick on me? Wiping the blood from his mouth, he scrambled back to his feet.
Suddenly catching sight of something behind Feng Jinghuai, Qi Chaoyang cried out, “Look out!”
Before the warning even faded, Feng Jinghuai had already leapt into the air.
Relying on sharp instincts and the sudden shift in the wind, he dodged the surprise attack with ease. Twisting mid-air, he brought his blade down in one clean, decisive strike.
Having failed its ambush against Feng Jinghuai, the dark shadow landed a short distance away and slowly turned its head.
“Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!” Qi Chaoyang’s eyes nearly popped out of his skull. “What the hell is that ugly thing?!”
Shock was written across all eight of their faces.
Towering at over two meters tall, the giant zombie loomed far above everyone in the area. Its skin looked thick and rock-solid, and its bulging arms were thicker than an ordinary person’s thigh. Both its hands and feet ended in razor-sharp claws, resembling a ferocious beast lurking in the night, watching from the shadows until the perfect moment to strike a lethal blow.
Huazhi stared at the zombie as well, noticing that its black aura was noticeably denser than usual. It also looked much more formidable. Compared to the zombies she had encountered initially, this one was entirely on another level.
Suddenly, a heavy, suffocating pressure washed over everyone. Unable to withstand the crushing force, someone collapsed, their knees hitting the ground with a loud thud.
A level gap was a devastating weapon. Facing a zombie nearly two ranks higher than them, just watching it slowly turn around sent a spine-chilling dread straight into their bones.
An icy shudder traveled from their tailbones all the way to their brains, their hearts pounding erratically in their chests. Beside them, some were so terrified that their legs shook, their faces paled, and they slumped limply to the floor.
The crowd’s sheer terror finally restored Jiang Xu’s confidence.
He had not intended to release this zombie so soon, but Feng Jinghuai had completely disrupted his plans. Still, if he could use this opportunity to push it to tier four, sacrificing so many of his other zombies would be well worth it.
So far, Feng Jinghuai looked formidable, but he relied mostly on keen instincts and swift movements to dodge and strike. Jiang Xu refused to believe Feng Jinghuai was at a higher tier than this creature.
Squatting nearby, Huazhi felt the immense pressure as well. Having regularly encountered tigers and lions in the past, however, she handled it fairly well.
Little Gray Rabbit quickly calculated the disparity in their combat strength and urged decisively, “Huazhi, you should run farther away!”
“Are we just going to leave the energy on it?” With such dense black mist swirling around it, it had to contain an enormous amount of power. The aura on this zombie was thicker than on any creature she had ever seen, which explained why those zombie animals barely had any energy left.
Little Gray Rabbit shook its head frantically. “Your life is more important! You definitely can’t beat it right now. Let’s just get out of here.”
“Can he beat it, then?” Huazhi asked, looking over at Feng Jinghuai.
Little Gray Rabbit hesitated. “I don’t know. I can only see your data.”
Huazhi thought for a second. “If I touch it, can you absorb its energy?”
The Little Gray Rabbit nodded. “Yes. As long as you make contact with it, I can drain its energy.”
“How long will it take to drain it completely?”
“Five minutes.”
Huazhi arched her back and stretched her limbs. “Got it.”
Feng Jinghuai glanced down at the little bunny nearby. She had lifted her head, suddenly dropping into a ready stance. Yet her soft white fur fluttering in the breeze and her palm-sized body only seemed to emphasize just how fragile she was.
Noticing her eagerness to jump into action, Feng Jinghuai cast another layer of protection over her.
Instantly, Huazhi was nearly blinded by her own radiant glow.
She blinked her rabbit eyes, taking several seconds to adjust to her sudden golden brilliance. Looking down to make sure her vision was not playing tricks on her, she said in disbelief, “I’ve gotten even brighter!”
The golden halo was as dazzling as the sun. Wrapped inside it, Huazhi felt as though she were a heavenly rabbit descended to the mortal realm.
The warm golden halo radiated a surge of confidence, making Huazhi feel as though her energy channels had burst wide open, granting her an immense boost in power.
Jiang Xu glared at Feng Jinghuai, searching his face for even the slightest hint of fear or panic.
He found nothing of the sort. If anything, Feng Jinghuai looked genuinely intrigued.
Feng Jinghuai was indeed in high spirits. He had expected to hunt down only level two and three zombies this time, but Jiang Xu had surprisingly produced one on the verge of reaching level four.
In his previous life, Qi Chaoyang had accompanied Jiang Xu’s group alone and perished alongside the others during this very mission. From then on, any mission involving Jiang Xu resulted in heavy casualties among ability users. Yet because Jiang Xu consistently secured abundant supplies, with risk and reward balanced on a knife’s edge, no one suspected foul play. That went unnoticed until the fifth year of the apocalypse.
Feng Jinghuai suppressed his murderous intent. Jiang Xu could not die just yet.
His calm demeanor pushed Jiang Xu over the edge. All at once, the level three zombies on the field charged straight at him.
The howling wind and crushing pressure forced the onlookers to stagger back step after step.
Feng Jinghuai gripped his Tang sword and charged into the fray.
In both strength and speed, level-three zombies far outclassed level-two variants. The onlookers could only see blurred silhouettes and hear the sharp screech of clashing metal. Blades flashed, dozens of moves trading in the span of a breath, leaving the bystanders completely unable to step in.
Jiang Xu could hardly contain his excitement. He had not expected Feng Jinghuai to be this powerful, lasting so long against several zombies at once. If the creatures devoured him, one would surely advance to level four.
Huazhi braced herself to join the fight, but she soon noticed something odd.
Formidable as the zombies were in their joint assault, they lacked coordination, simply lashing out on pure instinct. Feng Jinghuai, though appearing strained, dodged every strike with precise timing and landed clean, decisive wounds across their bodies.
It was as if he were deliberately holding back from killing them right away.
Huazhi could not fathom his reasoning, but she was not about to pass up a chance to harvest whatever energy she could. Spotting an opening, she leaped into the battle.
Dust filled the air as stray abilities and flying zombies repeatedly smashed massive craters into the ground.
Unable to help, the crowd scrambled in every direction to dodge the incoming attacks.
“Move, run! Fall back!”
“Behind you, behind you! Don’t go that way!”
“Holy shit!”
A massive boom rattled the air.
With the battle raging, Jiang Xu could only run along with the rest of them. Suddenly, a zombie slammed down right before him and blew apart into pieces.
Rank blood and shredded flesh burst outward like fireworks. Caught completely off guard, Jiang Xu took the full brunt of the shockwave.
The tremendous blast sent him flying before he crashed hard into the dirt. Filthy, reeking blood and mangled gore plastered him from head to toe. His vision went black, and he passed out instantly.
When the last zombie finally crashed down, everyone let out a collective sigh of relief, slumping to the ground to catch their breath. The sweet relief of survival made even the foul, metallic air seem far more bearable.
Feng Jinghuai remained as clean and composed as ever. If they had not witnessed it with their own eyes, no one would have believed he had just killed those level-three zombies all by himself.
Feng Jinghuai twirled the hilt of his blade, sending every drop of blood sliding off the metal until not a single trace of combat remained on its surface.
Huazhi stared at him with starry eyes, completely in awe. He pushed the simplest moves to their absolute peak. In his hands, cutting through even the most terrifying zombies was as effortless as slicing watermelons.
[Huazhi, hurry up and touch the heads!]
Right, right! Huazhi scampered off at once to pat the zombie heads.
While the others sat on the ground panting for breath, Qi Chaoyang beamed at the severed heads scattered across the area. By their unspoken rule, the crystal core belonged to whoever made the kill. These neatly severed heads were all theirs for the taking.
With the sun dipping low, no one dared to linger. The rest of the team turned back to gather their gear and prepare for the return trip to base.
Once the others had moved away, Qi Chaoyang gripped his blade and began rummaging through a zombie head.
“Wait, where are the crystal core?”
The crystal-clear, rock-hard cores that should have been right there were completely gone.
Refusing to believe it, he sliced open several more heads, only to find every single one empty.
“This doesn’t make sense! I watched the whole time, and no one dug them out!”
Huazhi was still patting the zombie’s head when someone suddenly grabbed the scruff of her neck.
Her feet lifted off the ground, and her red rabbit eyes locked onto a pair of deep, dark eyes.
“She ate them,” Feng Jinghuai said flatly, looking at Huazhi.