Chapter 72: The Planning Team Takes Turns in Fierce Battle

Because the threat of the third-tier zombie still loomed over them, no one had time to rest in place. After gathering their weapons, they retraced their steps and continued on the road toward the city.

Yet now, compared to before, the group was somehow changed—most notably in spirit and demeanor. Now, even the young Peach, who was only a child, possessed a weapon. After a brief crash course from Skinny Monkey, while they could hardly call themselves sharpshooters, each person now had at least a shred of ability to defend themselves should an ordinary zombie attack.

With this much to protect themselves, the group’s previous state of near-panic finally eased, though the memory of the formidable third-tier zombie kept their awe and caution alive. Ordinary weapons might be useless against such a monster, and so their hearts harbored both hope and a healthy dose of fear.

This blend of reassurance and reverence left everyone surprisingly calm as they followed the leaders on the path to the city. Their burdens might have grown heavier, but the weight seemed to carry with it a sense of hope for the future.

Yet for the Boss and Du Yun, relief was far away. Having faced the third-tier zombie directly, they both understood how dangerous such creatures were. If they encountered a third-tier or even higher-level zombie along the way and lacked enough high-grade energy crystals, their fate would be nothing short of death.

“About that zombie in the armory—I noticed that it killed five or six other zombies, then took the energy crystals from two of them. I think it must have consumed them, because its own crystal was much larger than the others,” Da Zhuang reported during a rest, handing the energy crystal he’d dug out to the Boss along with his observations.

“That’s right! Zombies have their own ranks when they transform, but they can also evolve afterwards. The best way for them to do this is to hunt down and absorb the energy crystals of their own kind,” Dou Zhi exclaimed, as if suddenly enlightened by Da Zhuang’s words.

“Zombies can evolve?” Du Yun’s eyes widened in shock at this news. It was already troublesome enough that there were naturally second-tier zombies. If they could also upgrade themselves by hunting each other, the situation would only become more dire.

“It seems we’ll have to hunt more high-level zombies and strengthen ourselves,” the Boss concluded, tallying up the energy crystals. There were four in total. The largest came from the armory zombie; the other three were dug out from the zombies in the two-story building.

“This one’s for you,” said the Boss, handing the largest crystal to Du Yun. He distributed the remaining three among himself, Da Zhuang, and Skinny Monkey. Clearly, the Boss had come to value Du Yun’s combat strength even more, and, with a certain partiality, gave her the largest crystal.

Dong Tiexhammer watched enviously as the four divided the crystals. Earlier, their sudden burst of courage and power had gone unnoticed, but now the rest of the group had begun to suspect that something on the zombies could instantly boost a person’s fighting ability.

“Wow, what a massive energy crystal! Don’t crush it in your hand to absorb it directly—that would be an utter waste!” Dou Zhi’s voice rang out in Du Yun’s mind as soon as she received the crystal.

“Hold the energy crystal in your hand and absorb it slowly, transforming its energy into your own. When you use it this way, you can recover the energy over time. When we fought the third-tier zombie, we had no choice but to crush the crystal and use it all at once—that’s such a waste!” Dou Zhi’s voice continued to nag in Du Yun’s mind, and after listening for a while, she finally understood how to use the energy crystals.

In fact, for Du Yun, the method was remarkably similar to what she’d read in cultivation novels: like the spirit stones those tales described, except these crystals were dug from zombies rather than mined from the earth.

Whether spirit stones or energy crystals, there were two ways to use them. Absorbing their energy slowly would permanently strengthen oneself, and though the process was gradual, the energy was efficiently utilized. In battle, one could draw on the crystal’s power all at once, but only for a single use—and in the rush, much of the energy would be wasted, which was exactly what Dou Zhi called a waste.

“So, I can use this energy crystal to cultivate myself?” Du Yun asked with a grin, squeezing the crystal and concentrating. Sure enough, after a short while, she sensed a surge of energy flowing from the crystal, and carefully guided it, strand by strand, through her body.

And if you’re wondering why Du Yun dared to channel something dug from a zombie’s body into herself—well, she laughed aloud. When her life had been hanging by a thread, she’d already done it once. If there were side effects, they’d have appeared by now. Even if she absorbed more, what was the harm?

Having witnessed the power of a third-tier zombie, Du Yun felt reckless. If a closed-off rural area with only a few dozen people could produce a third-tier zombie, wouldn’t big cities be crawling with them? Rather than end up as zombie fodder, she might as well start training hard now—better to be tired and sore than dead.

Du Yun quietly absorbed a small portion of the crystal’s energy. As she walked on, she felt lighter, her senses sharper, and nothing about her seemed to be turning zombie-like. Only then did she share the method of absorption with the Boss.

The others followed suit, and sure enough, after absorbing the crystals, both their constitution and reaction time improved significantly.

Since they needed to fight their way to the city anyway, every unavoidable encounter with zombies was now a chance for the group to work together and defeat them. Now, understanding the value of energy crystals, instead of avoiding zombies, they actually sought out areas where they were more concentrated.

Of course, for safety’s sake, they couldn’t all rush in at once. If everyone exhausted themselves and more zombies appeared, it would be suicide.

So, the group divided themselves into three teams. One team would attract small waves of zombies for direct combat, another would provide brute force support to keep more zombies at bay and ensure the first team’s safety, and the third would keep watch and rest.

Every two hours, the teams rotated. The team on the front lines would rest in the next cycle, then take over support, and then return to direct combat. This system not only honed everyone’s fighting skills, but also maximized their chances of survival.

As for the distribution of energy crystals and supplies gathered along the way, allocation was based on contribution, with the Boss and his deputies managing the process.

And so, fighting and advancing, after two days they finally emerged from the mountains and arrived at the small town Dong Tiexhammer had mentioned—the one with the cars.