Chapter 181: Level Up to A-Class
“…I’m fine,” Lu Weiyi replied, though he was out of breath. Before the apocalypse, he hadn’t been very active, and his physical strength relied heavily on his abilities. Without the ability to run or dodge, he was gasping for air. He took out some crystal cores from his space and handed them to the others to restore their powers, then absorbed a white crystal core himself. The core helped relieve the pain all over his body from the excessive use of abilities.
“This is bad,” Lu Weiyi realized as soon as he absorbed the white core. He sensed his abilities were about to break through to a higher level, and stopping it now could damage the process, making it uncertain when he could level up again.
“What’s wrong?” Antonio asked.
“I’m about to level up. I can’t stop it. It’s up to you guys now,” Lu Weiyi said, then threw out several bundles of explosives, guns, and walkie-talkies from his space before focusing on absorbing the crystal core and preparing to level up.
“Damn, you really know how to pick your spots,” Xu Sa joked, now recovered from absorbing the crystal core. His body was a bit fatigued, but he immediately stood by Liu Rui’s side to guard Lu Weiyi.
“Hey, where are you guys? What’s the situation?” Xu Sa asked into the walkie-talkie, addressing the group that had already moved ahead.
“You guys stopped the rats almost as soon as you got out of the car. We’re waiting around the corner up ahead. How’s it going? Anyone hurt? Did you kill the leader rat?” Wu Yue quickly inquired.
“We killed it. The mutated rats have retreated. Not sure where they went,” Xu Sa replied. “There’s been an accident, so you might need to send a few people to help.”
“What happened?” Li Zhuang asked, starting the car and turning it around.
“Lu Weiyi suddenly needs to level up. We can’t stop it. We can’t move for now,” Antonio answered.
“We’ll be there right away,” Li Zhuang said, stepping on the gas. As they passed the truck, he hesitated for a moment before deciding to go together. In the pitch-black surroundings, staying together seemed like the safer choice.
The two vehicles returned to the village. Along the way, they encountered no more mutated rat attacks. From a distance, they could see the bodies of the mutated rats in a circle, with four people standing in the center.
Li Zhuang drove up to them.
“Did you get attacked?” Antonio asked.
“No, they’ve all disappeared,” Li Zhuang replied, getting out of the car and surveying the group. “Looks pretty intense.”
“My abilities are completely drained,” Xu Sa said. He handed over the responsibility of guarding to Gu Qingji and Ning Yuan, then led Liu Rui away to treat the injuries from the mutated rat’s claws.
“Is this thing hard to kill?” Li Zhuang asked as he used a knife to dissect the head of the leader rat and retrieve a shiny crystal core.
“Its abilities are stronger than Liu Rui’s. If it weren’t for Lu Weiyi’s final burst, you might have been coming to collect our bodies,” Antonio said, looking at Li Zhuang, Lin Yimu, and Xiong Jie, who were casually peeling the rat’s skin. “I think you guys should be more alert and not just focus on eating.”
“We’re on it,” Wu Yue responded, standing on the outer edge, using a long-range flashlight to stay alert.
“Antonio, while we have the chance, let’s modify the truck. Make the cargo area like a mobile home, with a bed inside for resting,” Li Zhuang called out to Antonio, who was still peeling rat skin.
“Okay,” Antonio replied, wiping the blood off his hands. He walked toward the truck with Li Zhuang. The two of them discussed the plan while Antonio continued working.
Lu Weiyi’s level-up process took almost an hour. The others could only watch as the crystal core repeatedly appeared and disappeared in his hands. As time passed, the speed at which the core was consumed slowed down. At first, there was some conversation, but eventually, it fell silent as they waited.
Finally, just before 5 a.m., Lu Weiyi paused in his absorption. Moments later, a powerful surge of energy burst from his body. Fortunately, it wasn’t hostile; otherwise, no one around him would have been able to avoid it.
“How is it? How does it feel?” Xu Sa asked, jogging over to him as soon as Lu Weiyi opened his eyes. “What does being A-Class feel like?”
“It feels… stronger, I guess,” Lu Weiyi replied, though he couldn’t quite describe it. However, he felt he could now try out the derivative skill that Zhuang Mingxu had designed for him in his previous life.
He walked toward the SUV, grabbed Zhuang Mingxu’s hand through the open window, and surveyed the surroundings. The mutated rats were now just piles of flesh, and the crystal cores had been gathered into a small pile. “No more attacks?”
“Looks like the mutated rats were following the rat king’s orders. Now that the rat king is dead, none of them have shown up,” Xu Sa said, stretching. “We’ve been up all night. The sun’s about to rise. Should we leave, or find somewhere to rest?”
“Let’s just go. They’ll finish modifying the truck into a closed-off room, with bedding inside for resting,” Zhuang Mingxu said, glancing at the map.
“Wouldn’t it be great if we had a few RVs? We could sleep directly in the cargo area. That would be so comfortable,” Xu Sa fantasized, handing the prepared crystal cores to Lu Weiyi.
“Next time, if we come across a place with bunk beds, we can bring a few beds with us. We can rest on the top,” Antonio suggested, pointing to the truck, which had already been closed off. “We could install glass in these spaces.”
“Keep an eye on the road,” Lu Weiyi said, switching to a different truck. He gathered the mutated rat meat and the group quickly drove out of the village. By the time it was light out, they found a safe spot to stop and have breakfast.
On their first day of travel, everyone was covered in scratches from zombies or mutated animals, fully embodying the meaning of “unlucky.” But there was no turning back now; they had to keep moving forward.
The two trucks separated according to their abilities and vigilance: Lu Weiyi drove with Lin Yimu in the passenger seat, while Zhuang Mingxu, Zhuang Ai Yi, and Ning Yuan sat in the back. In the second truck, Wu Yue drove with Li Dongsheng, Lu Xi, and Bai Miao, and the others were grouped together, currently resting in the cargo area.
“When we passed through the city of Qingyuan, I saw that many places were flooded, and a significant portion of supplies must have been lost. It’s definitely going to be even harder to dig up supplies from submerged areas. In the future, they’ll probably find it much more difficult to gather resources,” Ning Yuan said, gazing out the window at the desolate, withered landscape.
“Searching for supplies isn’t a long-term solution; we need to focus on production and the supply cycle,” Zhuang Mingxu said. “Right now, everything is in disarray. Every industry is lacking talent, and we just don’t have the resources to integrate things properly.”
“Surviving is already difficult, so who has the energy to think about development? Just look at the situation we’re in these past couple of days. The rats and snakes have become a threat. Who knows what other bizarre things we might encounter next?” Ning Yuan thought about their “good start” and felt a little uneasy. “But… it seems like we haven’t seen any zombie animals for a while, right?”
“Mm,” Lu Weiyi replied, “Maybe they’ve disappeared.” In fact, after the heavy snow, no zombie animals had appeared. Instead, mutated animals had emerged like mushrooms after rain, growing and reproducing, eventually becoming a powerful enemy to humans.
“Let’s hope so. Otherwise, it would be zombies, zombie animals, and mutated animals. There would be no way to survive at all,” Ning Yuan said, then remembered Lu Weiyi’s ability. “How many crystal cores did you use to level up to A-Class?”
“Over two thousand,” Lu Weiyi replied.
“Wow, looks like we’re going to have to hunt zombies urgently. Otherwise, just upgrading this group will cost tens of thousands,” Ning Yuan slouched in his chair. “Tens of thousands of zombies! How long would that take, working day and night?”
Zhuang Mingxu gave Ning Yuan a look, as if thinking, “Are you dumb?” “The best solution is to obtain the supplies others need and exchange them. Back when we had the trading hall, we were making hundreds of credits every day. But places like the Capital, where there are more capable people, will have even more resources. Scarce resources… we’ll have to think carefully about that.”
“Plant crystal cores,” Lu Weiyi answered.
“Mm?” Zhuang Mingxu looked at him.
“We need plant crystal cores,” Lu Weiyi said, staring ahead at the bumpy road. “Leveling up requires a large number of crystal cores, but absorbing too many from zombies can cause an energy outburst. Only plant-type crystal cores can calm this outburst. When upgrading, if we have plenty of plant crystal cores, it can increase the success rate of the upgrade.”
In his past life, plant crystal cores often fetched sky-high prices. The higher the level, the rarer they were. In fact, when mutated plants appeared in certain places, people would fight over them.
“But… don’t we just have that mutated plant in Gu Qingji’s hands? We’re not going to sell the crystal core we dig out, right?” Ning Yuan said, then added reassuringly, “I think Qingji really likes that mutated plant. I’ve even seen him secretly feed it with crystal cores before. Maybe… we should forget about it.”
Lu Weiyi gave him a glance and sighed in disbelief. He took out a deep green crystal core from his space and handed it to Ning Yuan.
“This? Is this how plant crystal cores look?” Ning Yuan asked, examining the core carefully. “We’ve only encountered one mutated plant, and it ended up with Qingji. We’ve never seen a plant crystal core before.” He then took out a wood-type zombie crystal core and compared them. “Hmm… it doesn’t look that different. Just a darker color.”
“That’s a wood-type crystal core, but it’s been enhanced with some extra elements to disguise it,” Lu Weiyi explained. This was a crystal core he had obtained by soaking a wood-type crystal core in snow water. Compared to a regular wood-type core, this one contained a lot of snow energy, which was infused into the crystal. It worked similarly to a plant crystal core. When absorbed along with regular crystal cores, it could help calm energy surges and increase the success rate of upgrades.
Lu Weiyi had known for a long time that crystal cores would always be in short supply, so he had been thinking of ways to earn more. Hunting zombies for them wasn’t his ideal source, since their small group had limited capacity to gather them. But taking snow energy directly out into the open could attract trouble, so he had decided to hide it in the crystal cores and disguise them as mutated plant cores. Although rare, this approach was less likely to make them targets.
