Summer did not waste a single second. The moment the smoke cleared around her new boots, she activated the active ability of her Iron Brawler Gauntlets.
A shimmering, enlarged, invisible fist manifested around her right hand. She lunged forward with explosive speed, using her high Agility attribute to close the distance before the giant zombie could even swing its massive claws.
The feral zombie let out a furious roar, attempting to bring its heavy arm down to crush her. But Summer was far too nimble.
She slid smoothly under its bulky sweep, pivoted on her heel, and drove her invisible fist straight into the creature’s lower spine.
BANG!
The force of the impact snapped the giant’s thick backbone with a loud crack, sending the three-meter-tall beast collapsing hard onto its knees.
Before the zombie could recover, Summer leaped onto its heavy back, grabbed its head with both hands, and forcefully twisted it backward.
With a swift, ruthless jerk, she ripped the giant’s head completely off its shoulders, ending its life in a matter of seconds.
Dark, thick blood splattered across the ruined roof.
Summer tossed the severed body aside, tore into the forehead of the head, and pulled out the pulsing orange core.
She had been searching through the city streets for a long time to find another one of these rare creatures, and now she finally had her prize.
She popped the shiny crystal directly into her mouth and swallowed it whole.
A rich wave of cool energy washed through her veins, instantly settling into her core.
[Feral Zombie killed.]
[EXP gained: +50]
[Evolution Progress: 1/100 (Feral Zombie Cores consumed)]
Summer stared at the floating blue notification and pouted her pale lips. Eating the core had satisfied her hunger, but the requirement to evolve to Tier 2 was absurdly high.
She needed to hunt down and consume one hundred feral zombie cores. To make matters worse, she looked down at the dead monster and noticed that no glowing loot box had appeared above its chest this time.
"Where... box?" she rasped out loud, her voice quiet and confused.
[Item drops from feral zombies are random, in fact, very rare. Gear and skill drops are not guaranteed upon every kill.]
Summer let out a soft sigh, her dark eyelashes fluttering in slight disappointment. So the drops were completely based on luck.
She turned around, her glowing crimson eyes locking onto the four humans cowering near the broken ledge.
Mary, Ella, and Ilas were trembling violently, shrinking backward as far as the concrete wall would allow.
The dark-haired zombie girl had just mercilessly killed a massive monster and eaten its brain matter right in front of them without showing a single trace of emotion or fear.
However, as the silence stretched across the rooftop, Ella suddenly gasped and pointed a shaking finger at Summer.
"You... you speak!" Ilas stammered, her voice cracking with terror.
Summer blinked her large, red eyes. A visibly confused expression appeared on her pale face as she tilted her head to the side.
"Mm..." Summer hummed softly.
"But you are... a zombie..." Ilas gulped, her throat dry as she clutched her jacket.
"Hm." Summer nodded her head earnestly, taking a small step forward.
Scared by the sudden movement, Ilas immediately shrank back, hiding herself completely behind her mother’s back.
"We... please don’t kill us!" Mary cried out silently, tears streaming down her dirty face as she held both of her daughters close to her chest.
Summer tilted her head to the other side. She raised her pale hands and shook them slightly, nodding her head repeatedly to reassure the crying woman.
"Mm..." Summer made a quiet, agreeable sound. She had no interest in hurting them, and her naive, earnest expression looked almost cute on her pale, youthful face.
It was just that she was a Zombie.
Jacob was the only one who did not shrink away. He studied the dark-haired girl closely from his position on the floor.
Even though minutes had passed since the brutal fight ended, and despite her clear identity as a zombie, she had not shown a single shred of aggression toward his family.
Jacob quickly analyzed the situation in his head. It was safe to say this strange zombie was either completely full, or she simply did not consider humans as food at all.
If the second reason was true, he could potentially use this to his family’s advantage.
But to carry out any plan, he needed to confirm her intentions first.
"Why did you save us?" Jacob asked, keeping his voice calm and steady.
He knew she had likely come here solely because of the giant zombie, but asking indirectly like this would allow him to see if she viewed them as future prey.
Summer pointed her slender, clawed finger at the headless body lying on the concrete.
"To eat..." she answered plainly in her raspy voice.
Jacob gulped, taking a slow breath. "Will you eat us too?"
The zombie girl immediately furrowed her dark brows. She shook her head side to side with a firm, pouty look on her face.
"Why?" Jacob pressed further, leaning forward slightly.
Summer fell completely silent. She stared blankly at him, her simple mind unable to construct a long, logical explanation for why she did not want to eat human flesh.
Jacob noticed her silence and quickly shifted his approach. "Let’s forget that reason. I don’t care about the answer anyway. Since you came straight to this giant zombie the moment it appeared, it seems you are actively searching for them, right?"
Summer nodded her head fast.
"It only came out because of the helicopter, or more precisely, because of us," Jacob said, pointing to himself and his family. "What if those big monsters can sense the danger you pose? What if they are actively hiding and avoiding you, which is why you haven’t been able to find any for a long time?"
The logic instantly clicked inside Summer’s brain. Her red eyes brightened, and she stared at him earnestly, waiting for him to continue.
Jacob lowered his head slightly, hiding a small, triumphant smile from her sight.
The hook had landed.
"How about I make an offer?" Jacob proposed, his voice growing confident. "If you kill us all now, we will be completely useless to you. I am sure whatever you receive from eating those big zombies is far higher than what you would get from us, mere humans. So it is much better to use us to hunt them."
Summer raised a brow, her sharp ears catching the strange words. "Use... you guys?"
"Yes," Jacob said firmly. "I will be the bait. I will attract those monsters out into the open for you."
"Honey—" Mary gasped in terror, but a single, sharp glance from Jacob stopped her from speaking further.
"Hm!" Summer nodded her head quickly, a small, genuine smile appearing on her pale face as she looked at Jacob. "You... good... people."
"But that is not free," Jacob added quickly, watching her face for any sudden sign of anger.
Luckily, her soft expression did not change at all. "As a price for being your bait, you will have to protect my family from every danger."
Summer looked past Jacob’s shoulders, glancing at the terrified woman and the twin girls huddled together on the concrete floor.
In the first place, she had never intended to kill them anyway, as doing so provided her with no real benefit for her evolution.
She had simply planned to harvest her orange core and walk away to continue her search elsewhere.
However, this human man’s offer did not sound bad at all. Having a human to lure out the rare feral zombies would save her a tremendous amount of time and effort.
"Deal," Summer smiled brightly, her sharp white teeth gleaming under the dim sky.