Chapter 76 — Efficiency
The howling grew louder and louder. Zombies trapped in houses, on the roads, and at corners all began to react — especially those downwind and nearby.
One after another, they roared excitedly and charged toward the scent, waving their arms wildly. The ones at the front, upon confirming that the blood smell came from living humans, became even more frenzied — screaming, drooling, and sprinting toward the bank.
“Stay alert. Zhang Su, Xu Mei — it’s your turn now,” Luo Xun said calmly, raising his crossbow and aiming at the densest part of the zombie horde.
If not for the fact that their team included several ability users, Luo Xun would never have dared to lure such a large group of zombies to fight head-on.
Why did survivors in the apocalypse have to be so careful not to get injured or bleed?
Partly because infections were hard to treat.
Partly because contaminated blood could carry the zombie virus.
But most importantly — the smell of blood attracted zombie hordes.
Luo Xun had already scouted this area beforehand. The zombies nearby weren’t that numerous, and they’d already cleared out a fair few. But in truth, the overall number hadn’t dropped much — if anyone bled here, it would definitely trigger a swarm.
That’s why, without large-scale area-attack abilities, small teams like theirs could never afford to take such a risk.
Soon, a large mass of zombies came rushing out from alleys and streets, charging straight toward them. Zhang Su’s eyes flashed faintly blue, his stance straightening as the air around him began to swirl.
Yan Fei focused his mental power on the pile of metal beside him, condensing his energy, ready to act at any moment.
The first wave of scattered zombies was easily taken care of by crossbow fire. But when the second wave — far more numerous — reached about five meters from them, Zhang Su unleashed his power.
A powerful wall of wind blasted forward from his position, slamming into the zombies. The entire front line was forced to stumble and fall backward under the gale’s pressure — and then, the wind sharpened into slicing blades of air.
Wounds split open across every zombie it passed through; weaker ones collapsed, unable to move.
As Zhang Su paused to recover, another volley of bolts flew out from the others.
Then came the third wave — and this time, Xu Mei stepped up. Standing outside the barricade, she conjured a row of small fireballs in midair. Each one was tiny, and forming so many at once made sweat bead on her forehead — but the moment Zhang Su recovered, his wind surged forward again, hurling the fireballs into the air.
Somehow, the wind fanned the flames — and the fireballs suddenly exploded midair, bursting into huge bursts of flame!
The zombies caught in the blasts were scorched — the lighter ones with blackened faces, and the heavier ones with their heads blown apart entirely!
Xu Mei stared in disbelief, eyes wide, half her spiritual energy drained by the effort. That… that was my power? That was incredible!
Beside her, Song Lingling looked at Luo Xun — who was calmly directing Li Tie’s group to keep up the next round of crossbow fire — with deep admiration.
So that’s why he’s the leader, she thought. He really knows how to fight.
Meanwhile, Luo Xun — mistakenly assumed to be the team leader — was also secretly impressed.
As expected of Zhang Su. The effect of his ability really is on another level.
The combination of wind and fire was one of the more common ability pairings among post-apocalyptic ability users. Luo Xun had only seen it from afar during city defense battles in his previous life and didn’t know the exact mechanics behind it. However, since he understood the nature of Zhang Su’s wind ability—and combined it with his own past-life experience—he quickly figured out how to get Zhang Su and Xu Mei to coordinate their attacks effectively.
After all, while Zhang Su’s wind ability was powerful, it wasn’t invincible. His wind blades looked terrifyingly lethal when cutting down humans, but when used on zombies? Those creatures didn’t feel pain, nor did they tire. Unless their skulls were directly sliced open and the crystal cores destroyed, they would just keep moving!
That was why Zhang Su’s ability worked best when paired with others—otherwise, its damage output wouldn’t reach its full potential.
Another popular power combination was water and lightning. Unfortunately, their team only had one water-type ability user, Song Lingling, and no lightning user to pair with her. For now, Luo Xun had her practice with a crossbow instead. Since they were planning to spend the night outside, her ability would be more useful in logistics—after all, water created by ability users was perfectly clean and non-toxic, making water users some of the most sought-after support ability users on scavenging missions.
The team’s clearing operation went smoothly. Li Tie and the others had become much better shots with their crossbows compared to when they first started. Before long, the number of zombies drawn by the noise began to dwindle, until there were almost none left approaching.
Everyone quietly breathed a sigh of relief. Even though they’d managed to handle the horde, it had been nerve-wracking—especially for first-timers like them. Seeing the end in sight felt like a small victory worth celebrating.
But just as they relaxed, Luo Xun suddenly shouted, “Upper left!”
Startled, everyone looked up—only to see a dark figure leaping toward them from the top of a streetlight!
Zhang Su, who had just finished another large-scale wind explosion with Xu Mei, was pale from exhaustion. He quickly reached into his pocket to grab a crystal core to absorb energy—when suddenly there came a rapid series of sounds: “whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—clang!”
Dozens of steel needles shot out in a dense barrage toward the black figure, immediately followed by a massive metal plate that slammed straight into the zombie and sent it flying!
Li Tie and the others were completely dumbfounded.
A metal plate?! Brother Yan just smacked that zombie with a metal plate?!
Ignoring the group’s wide-eyed disbelief, Yan Fei remained perfectly calm. He controlled the plate mid-air, dragging the zombie as it crashed into the distance. Then came a loud crack—the plate folded around the zombie’s body, the metal near its neck transforming into a pair of sharp shears that snapped its neck clean off. A metal spike then shot out, piercing through the back of its skull and skewering its crystal core!
The zombie’s severed head rolled to the side with a dull thud.
Everyone finally let out a collective “Ohhh!” in realization.
So that’s why he flung it away—he meant to finish it off that way! Genius!
In truth, Yan Fei’s first instinct had been simply to prevent the zombie from falling into their group—even if it got impaled by steel needles, if it dropped among them while still alive, it could cause chaos. So he’d tossed the large iron plate to knock it far away. But midway through, a thought struck him—Wait, can’t I just reshape the plate to finish it off?
Sure enough, the result was spectacular.
“Beautifully done!” Luo Xun exclaimed, so thrilled that he gave Yan Fei a quick hug. He’d always told Yan Fei not to use his power too freely, just in case he ran out of energy—if a second-tier zombie appeared, they’d need him. Luo Xun could only handle the slow-moving types himself; the fast, wind-type variants were another matter entirely.
But now, seeing Yan Fei’s performance, he was more than reassured.
Once the battlefield was cleared, everyone began extracting crystal cores and disposing of the bodies. After burning the corpses and dealing with a few straggling zombies, they finally retreated to the second floor of the bank—to a room with intact doors and windows—to tally their loot and rest.
They tossed their mostly clean raincoats in a corner by the entrance and began counting the crystal cores using a few empty water bottles.
“One hundred and ninety-nine, two hundred and ten… two hundred and thirty-seven! That’s a total of two hundred thirty-seven cores!” He Qiankun shook the bottle gleefully, grinning at Luo Xun and the others. “That’s more than enough to hand in for the mission!”
Xu Mei and Song Lingling both gasped in shock. “Over two hundred?!”
Wu Xin blinked in confusion. “What? Is that a lot?”
The two women exchanged looks, seeing the same astonishment in each other’s eyes. After swallowing hard, one of them explained, “When we usually go out on missions, getting a hundred in one day is already considered a major haul—and that’s for teams that specialize in collecting crystal cores! For supply teams, even with twenty people, getting sixty or seventy in a day is already impressive. That’s why everyone’s been so unhappy since the base raised the mission quota recently.”
In the short-term missions to collect crystal cores, a team must hand in a hundred within three days. If a team includes ability users, they usually depend on those cores to upgrade their powers—who would be willing to hand over so many? As a result, most people now only take on material-gathering missions that don’t involve food. Whatever crystal cores, food, or seeds they find outside the mission requirements belong entirely to the team.
When Xu Mei and the others first arrived at the bank and learned that Luo Xun had taken on a crystal core collection mission, they were worried it might be too difficult to complete. But look at them now—how long had it even been? They’d already taken down over two hundred crystal cores!
Yan Fei remained calm. “That doesn’t include the ones we used during battle, and honestly, this number isn’t that high.” He turned to look at Zhang Su. “We only go out once a month at most, so we should try to collect enough cores to last the entire month in one trip.”
Xu Mei’s hand trembled beside him. Song Lingling, sitting next to her, looked at both Yan Fei and Zhang Su—who nodded in agreement—with disbelief written all over her face. “That’s true. Otherwise, going out once wouldn’t be worth the risk, even if it’s more efficient than trading points for cores back at the base.”
Before leaving, the group had already discussed how to divide the crystal cores. Luo Xun and Yan Fei formed one unit, taking three shares of the total. Zhang Su and Wang Duo made up another unit, also with three shares. Li Tie’s group of four—whose weapons had been kindly provided by Luo Xun and Yan Fei, and who weren’t as strong in combat—took two shares. As for the two outside helpers, Xu Mei and Song Lingling, since both were ability users with experience outside the base, they also received two shares.
After deducting the hundred cores needed for the mission, Luo Xun’s group would only have about forty left to divide among themselves—not a lot.
Luo Xun frowned, thinking for a while, then stood up and looked toward the street outside. The nearby zombies had already been mostly wiped out, but farther away… “We could set a trap and use blood packs to lure in a large number of zombies,” he suggested. “But it’d be a big project, and we only have two days this time. If we spend all our time building the trap, there might only be enough time for one real battle. If we can’t wipe out a large number at once, we might as well keep doing what we were just doing—taking them out little by little.”
“Brother Luo, what kind of trap?” Han Li quickly raised his hand to ask.
“Dig a pit, bait it with blood packs, and lure the zombies in to trap and kill them.” Luo Xun turned to Yan Fei. “We can line the pit bottom with metal and steel needles. Once it’s full, you can pierce them using your metal control ability, then coordinate with Xu Mei and Zhang Su’s combo attack.” He sighed regretfully. “It’s a pity we don’t have an earth-type ability user. That would make digging much easier.”
The plan was sound, but there were still practical issues. Yan Fei, unlike the others who were already excited to start digging, said calmly, “I can dig the pit with my power, but it’ll burn through quite a few cores to replenish energy. And even then, I won’t be as efficient as an earth user. Don’t forget, the ground outside is asphalt…”
Zhang Su suggested, “Why don’t we just stick to our current method for now? It’ll take us about a month before our next outing anyway. During that time, we can look for an earth-type ability user. Even if we don’t find one, we can collect more metal to take with us. Next time, we can drive deeper into zombie territory and set up traps there.”
They had already fought several rounds since arriving by car, and after wiping out that last wave of zombies, it was now noon. If they started digging now, they might not even finish by the next morning—and they still wouldn’t know how many zombies would actually show up. With limited time, it wasn’t worth it.
“Then let’s stick to this plan for now. Everyone, eat lunch.” Luo Xun wasn’t too bothered by the decision. This trip was mainly to scout the area anyway. It would’ve been great to collect more, but even if they didn’t, the base’s wall-repair division would still provide some supplies afterward. The result, though slightly disappointing, was acceptable.
Zhang Su, however, couldn’t help feeling a bit regretful. Though it was possible to trade points for cores back at the base, despite the countless zombies outside, crystal cores remained premium goods inside. Hardly anyone was willing to sell them.
During the lunch break, Song Lingling used her water ability to provide clean water for washing and cooking, while Xu Mei used her fire ability to light the stove. Luo Xun worked alongside them, helping prepare ingredients. The others—Li Tie and the single guys—had wanted to get close to the two girls, maybe even flirt a bit, but their cooking skills were disastrous. Luo Xun ended up kicking them all out of the kitchen.
The meal was simple: vegetable porridge with pickles, plus coarse multigrain steamed buns bought from the base. They also had some dried beef that Li Tie’s group had traded for at some point.
Holding his large bun, He Qiankun sighed. “Man, the buns at the base keep looking weirder. When we first got there, they were mostly white, maybe a little yellow—probably had some cornmeal mixed in. Then they started turning reddish—must’ve been sorghum flour. But now? Brownish. Who knows what kind of grain they’re using anymore?”
“Not just the color,” Han Li mumbled through a mouthful of bread. “They’re getting harder too.”
“This pickled cucumber’s pretty good, Brother Luo. Did you make it, or is it pre-apocalypse stuff? What brand?”
“Homemade,” Luo Xun replied without even lifting his eyelids. “Once you start growing your own crops and can’t finish them, I’ll teach you how.”
“Nice! Thanks, Brother Luo!”
Xu Mei and Song Lingling exchanged looks, both with slightly odd expressions. He could command, cook, and make pickles? They’d initially thought Luo Xun was the team’s captain, but after chatting with Li Tie and the others, they learned the team didn’t have one at all. Of course—they were a bunch of shut-in guys who barely left the base. What use was a captain to them?
Still, a man like that gave off a strong sense of security—and being so good at housework, he’d make a decent husband too. The two women both felt a twinge of regret before quickly shaking the thought off. Neither of them knew yet that Luo Xun and Yan Fei were a couple, but even so, both had long since lost faith in men. The fact that they could work alongside men calmly at all already showed how rational they’d become. Thinking about relationships again? Not a chance. They’d had enough pain already. Better to stay single. Even before the apocalypse, plenty of older single women lived just fine—so what if they stayed single after the world ended?
As they were eating, the distant sound of engines reached their ears, growing closer. Everyone instantly became alert, moving to the windows cautiously. A convoy of vehicles was driving from the deeper part of the city toward their direction. After passing the bank, they headed toward the base. Behind them trailed countless zombies, near and far.
“They’re all ordinary vehicles—only two of them are modified. Not military.” Luo Xun quickly reported what he saw. “There are a lot of zombies following them. Stay sharp in case a Tier-2 zombie spots us and comes up here. Eat fast—after this meal, we’ll take out that wave too!”
Thanks to that convoy passing by, Luo Xun’s group had a new batch of zombies to hunt. The faster, stronger ones chased after the cars, while the slower Tier-1 zombies and other types were left scattered along the streets.
After quickly finishing their meal and taking a brief rest, Luo Xun’s group checked outside again. Seeing no sign of obvious strength- or speed-type Tier-2 zombies nearby, they headed back downstairs to get to work once more.
Some zombies had gathered outside the fortifications after catching the scent of humans. When they saw Luo Xun and his group, they immediately came out to “welcome” them—ah no, to “fight” them—waving their arms frantically as they tried to climb over the fences and get close to their “guests.”
After fighting the entire morning, everyone had become quite skilled at using their crossbows to eliminate the zombies surrounding the main gate one by one. Luo Xun then used his old trick again—he tossed out another iron rod smeared with fresh blood. The zombies that had been staring longingly in the direction of the base suddenly became frenzied and turned back toward them as if injected with chicken blood.
Another round of battle began…
—
In less than two days, the group finally returned to the base. They had left around eight in the morning the previous day and only managed to pass through the base gates at about five in the evening the next day.
Seeing the familiar buildings and the armed soldiers inside the base, Xu Mei and Song Lingling both felt so light-headed with relief that they were practically floating as they walked.
They followed the soldier assigned to escort them to a temporary waiting area and stayed there for two hours—this was part of the base’s new inspection protocol. Anyone without injuries only needed to wait two hours before being cleared to reenter the base and go home.
As for the vehicle, it had already been parked safely nearby—they could retrieve it later.
Glancing around at the other people in the waiting area and the occasional unfriendly stares, Xu Mei leaned close to Song Lingling and whispered, “Next time we go out, let’s dress like Brother Yan and the others, okay?”
Hearing that, Song Lingling nodded firmly—leather jackets, jeans, rubber boots, helmets, plus a rain poncho. After taking off the helmet, they could even choose to wear a mask. Sure, the look was low-class to the extreme, but it was safe when fighting zombies! And it could also help deter unwanted attention after returning to the base!
These two girls, who generally despised most men, immediately decided to copy Luo Xun’s team’s style. As for why their dislike of men didn’t include Luo Xun’s group—it was because, after spending the past two days together, they’d realized that although Li Tie and the others still occasionally treated them a bit differently due to their gender, Luo Xun, Yan Fei, and Zhang Su—the three strongest men—didn’t treat them as women at all. Because of that, the two girls actually respected and trusted them even more.
They chatted far more often with Luo Xun’s trio than with Li Tie’s group. Poor Li Tie and the others wanted to be friendly but had no idea how to get close. Luckily for them, Luo Xun’s group happened to be gay; otherwise, those four college boys would probably be quietly stabbing voodoo dolls of them out of jealousy.
As for why the two girls were a little dazed right now… it was because after paying the base’s entry fee of one hundred crystal cores, their team still had 1,265 crystal cores left in hand.
Yes, you read that right—over a thousand crystal cores earned in just two days! That didn’t even include the ones they’d used up, nor had they sorted out the differently colored second-tier cores yet.
Over a thousand! Even well-known teams in the base couldn’t harvest that many in such a short time! What kind of “otaku team” was this? They were practically zombie-killing machines! Only the army could compete with that efficiency!
Thank you for reading 🙂 I hope you all liked my translations. If you enjoyed my work, please consider buying me a Ko-Fi 😉
