Chapter 89 — Sniping and Interception!
“…How am I supposed to dig out crystal cores like this?” Luo Xun couldn’t help twitching the corner of his mouth as he pointed at the vast, bloody, mangled crime scene. Yan Fei raised a hand and “shook off” the unidentified liquid splattered on the metal. Hearing this, his expression softened as he looked at Luo Xun. “No rush. Let’s take it slow.”
They temporarily set up a ring of defensive fortifications around the pile of zombie meat patties using metal. Hand in hand, the couple stepped inside wearing rain boots and began digging for crystal cores.
To be fair, smashing zombies completely flat with massive chunks of metal was indeed extremely lethal. Aside from a few whose heads hadn’t shattered and whose mouths could still twitch a little, even several level-two zombies were crushed to death outright. Thinking about those zombies that could spit fireballs or water balls being killed in one hit without even a chance to struggle—it was really quite pitiful.
Meanwhile, Li Tie and the others quickly used all sorts of odds and ends inside the bank (basically piles of unwanted junk) to stack up the entrances and exits of the defensive structures, building them as high as possible.
Suddenly, they heard a series of thunderous rumbling sounds coming from some unknown direction—one after another—as if the entire street were shaking!
“An… earthquake?!”
“No way! It’s the apocalypse and we’re still getting earthquakes?!”
“Who says there can’t be earthquakes in the apocalypse?”
“Wait—what’s that?!”
The group stared wide-eyed in shock toward a neighboring street. A gigantic iron ball—at least the size of two or three sedans mashed together—was rolling over with a deafening rumble from the other end of the street!!
“…That wasn’t made by them, was it?”
When the huge iron ball rolled near them and slowly came to a stop instead of crashing straight into the bank, Li Tie and the others finally calmed down.
“…Maybe?”
“That’s way too exaggerated!”
Yu Youran stood there dumbfounded, her big, jet-black eyes unblinking for a long while. Song Lingling subconsciously tightened her grip on the little girl’s shoulders. After spacing out for a moment, she finally turned to look at Xu Mei.
Xu Mei was also wearing a helmet, which hid her momentary loss of composure from Song Lingling. She had long known that man’s ability was absurdly powerful, but for him to casually create something this big outside—basically a bowling ball—was really something else.
About ten minutes later, another series of thunderous rumbling sounds came. This time everyone was much calmer. Though they all paused to look over, none of them appeared overly surprised. They calmly watched as unlucky zombies along the way were knocked down and flattened by the massive iron ball like bowling pins, barely even blinking.
Sure enough, two minutes later, Luo Xun and Yan Fei returned.
“Didn’t expect that just wandering around the streets would get us this much metal. We couldn’t bring it all back at once, so we split it into two trips,” Luo Xun said with a grin as he climbed into the defensive structure.
Yan Fei followed him in with a perfectly composed expression, as if those two iron balls had nothing to do with him.
The second giant sphere seemed even larger than the first. With the first one blocking part of the view, they could still see the second behind it.
Ignoring the group’s twisted expressions, Luo Xun patted Wu Xin on the shoulder in front of him. “We found an appliance store over there—refrigerators and freezers and the like. Let’s bring a few back when we head home.”
These weren’t just useful to Luo Xun’s group; Li Tie and the others needed them too. At the very least, harvested vegetables needed refrigeration to stay fresh for more than a few days, or they’d spoil quickly.
“…Alright.” Wu Xin nodded hard, then glanced at his close friends beside him. Should he complain about those two giant iron balls or not??
Before anyone could complain, Yan Fei began absorbing the crystal cores they’d just obtained to replenish his mental energy, while simultaneously directing the two metal balls to rapidly change shape. The first metal sphere instantly transformed under his control into a tall surrounding wall, encircling the bank and the defensive structures within it! Only the front was left open!!
“Get ready to dig traps.” After surveying the surroundings and confirming that most of the nearby zombies had been dealt with, Yan Fei walked over to Little Youran and crouched down. “Want to help uncle dig some pits?”
Little Xiran nodded enthusiastically, her eyes shining as she looked around at the towering steel walls that had just appeared—she wanted to do magic too!
Seeing the towering walls, Li Tie and the others were already looking rather shell-shocked. Unfortunately, they were all wearing helmets, so no one could see their expressions. So that’s what those two iron balls were for??
Luo Xun asked from the side, “Xiran, are you scared being out here?” The terrifying appearance of zombies was obvious—just look at all those people hiding in the base, too afraid to come out. And she was only six years old.
The little girl, wearing a child-sized helmet, shook her head. Luo Xun lifted her helmet slightly to check her complexion. Seeing that her expression was perfectly normal and even tinged with curiosity as she looked at them, he finally relaxed and nodded at Yan Fei beside him.
Indeed, children were much like adults. When they first encountered zombies before entering the base, they would naturally be afraid. But when you’re surrounded by these things? Sure, they’re ugly, eat people, and claw at them—but after seeing them often enough, anyone would get used to it. For both children and adults, fear usually comes from the unknown and the dark. Seeing these things repeatedly in daylight made them easier to accept. But at night… even if someone suddenly jumped out just to scare them, knowing it was a person wouldn’t stop them from bursting into tears.
Standing behind the defensive structure, Yu Youran felt no fear at all even when she saw zombies staggering toward them in the distance. Luo Xun, standing beside her, always shot down approaching zombies immediately. Before she could even clearly see their terrifying faces, they’d already fallen—how could she be scared?
A small hand reached out through a gap in the fortifications. Yan Fei casually erected a metal protective plate above where the little girl was reaching, just in case of any long-range ability attacks.
“Ranran, see the big circle the uncles drew earlier? Turn all the ground inside it into sand,” Xu Mei said softly as she crouched beside Little Youran.
The little girl nodded vigorously, her bright eyes sparkling. The ground beneath her hand instantly began to writhe!
Layer by layer, wave after wave—the earth in front of and beneath her rapidly started to turn to sand!
For the past half month or so, Little Youran had mostly been living with Xu Mei. The two women hadn’t taken on any outside missions recently—they had plenty of crystal cores on hand, and Li Tie’s group brought them surplus vegetables every day. Plus, the points they’d earned after turning in crystal cores from the last mission were more than enough for the two women to live frugally at home while caring for a child for half a month.
Since both Xu Mei and Song Lingling were ability users, they could easily teach Yu Youran how to control her ability—its range, intensity, and so on. Although today’s output was a bit stronger and the range a bit wider, with an unlimited supply of crystal cores placed beside her to use at will, the little girl had more than enough energy to happily play with sand.
The ground churned violently. Before long, the entire visible area within the big circle they’d drawn earlier had turned into sand. Though no one knew how deep the pit was, it was already sufficient for one round.
Yes—for use.
Luo Xun’s eyes gleamed with excitement as he pointed ahead. “Yan Fei—blood packs!”
Before coming out this time, Zhang Su had swiped five blood packs from his workplace. That’s right—five in total! After all, Luo Xun had said that if things went smoothly, they could do a lot of farming this time.
Yan Fei wrapped the blood packs in metal, tossed them toward the front of the sand pit, and used his ability to remotely pierce them, splattering blood all over the ground.
“Aoo!! Aoo aoo!!” Zombies’ howls rose one after another from afar.
“Zhang Su, Sister Xu—get ready!” At Luo Xun’s shout, the two instinctively stepped forward. Song Lingling carried Yu Xiran away from the exit and sat her on a plastic chair scavenged from the bank, helping her absorb crystal cores.
Drawn by the scent of blood, a massive number of zombies charged over, roaring as they came. Li Tie’s five-man group raised their crossbows and launched the first wave of attacks, taking out the scattered zombies at the front.
As more and more zombies gathered outside, the sniping team retreated, switching places with Zhang Su and Xu Mei.
“Burn it! Zhang Su, get ready,” Luo Xun said, pointing at the massive sand pit before them.
Xu Mei raised her hand, and countless small fireballs rained densely toward the pit. At the same time, Zhang Su lifted layer after layer of sand, controlling it so that not only did it not extinguish the flames, but instead allowed the fire and sand to fully merge together…
How terrifying were combined abilities? Just look at that blazing wind—gusts filled with glowing, burning grains of sand—and you’d know.
Whether it was a simple combination of fire and wind, fire and sand, or wind and sand, any of them could unleash attack power far beyond imagination—let alone a three-in-one fusion!
“Boom—boom boom!!”
Red flames, red sand, and a red whirlwind surged violently toward the massive horde of zombies! As long as there was still firelight burning in the air, it would be swept along by the wind under Zhang Su’s control, continuing to assault any zombies that could still move!
After this wave of attacks, Luo Xun looked at the ground before him, now littered with zombies of every type and shape, and couldn’t help but sigh softly. “The effect is way better than expected…” This had originally just been a mixed attack method he’d conceived after learning about the little girl’s ability. He never imagined it would work this well—almost clearing the field in one go!
“It really is beyond expectations. At this rate, whether we even bother digging traps doesn’t seem to matter much anymore,” Yan Fei said with a faint smile. He raised his hand, and several flashes of metallic light shot out, striking the backs of the heads of zombies that weren’t quite dead yet and were about to resume attacking.
“You two rest and absorb crystal cores to get ready for the next round. Li Tie, you guys take over. I’ll take a look…” After giving his instructions, Luo Xun glanced toward the sand pit outside. Zhang Su’s previous attack had practically cleared all the sand out of it, though the depth still wasn’t enough.
He turned to look at Little Youran in Song Lingling’s arms, crouched down in front of her, and asked, “Youran, can you keep making the sand pit?”
The little girl nodded vigorously, her sweet voice coming from inside the oversized helmet. “I’m full! I can make lots more sand!”
Seeing the crystal cores in her slightly plumper little hands these past couple of days, and recalling her words “I’m full,” Luo Xun was momentarily speechless. He laughed and patted the top of her helmet. “Alright then—Uncle and Auntie will all be counting on Ranran!”
The little girl scampered back to the opening again, stretching her small hand through the gap—the iron plate Yan Fei had put up above was still firmly in place, unmoved.
A series of rustling sounds followed as the soil at the bottom of the pit transformed once more. Under the control of the now “fully fed” Little Youran, it rapidly turned to sand again with a crash. Just how deep was the pit? No one could tell yet, but it was definitely very deep. The upper layer that Little Youran had just created was already at least half a meter deep. If the lower layers were just as deep, then doing this two or three more times would likely meet the deep-pit requirements Luo Xun and the others had planned earlier.
The blood plasma thrown out earlier was still doing its job. As Little Youran continued sandifying the pit, more zombies began to wander in from the distance. These zombies had originally been farther away, but now, following the scent carried by the wind, they staggered over one after another.
The first few leading the way were surprisingly fast.
Seeing those swift-moving zombies, Luo Xun immediately lowered his voice. “Get ready—speed-type zombies.”
Yan Fei had already replenished the mental energy he’d spent creating the massive metal wall. Hearing this, he immediately prepared himself—he hadn’t used up all the metal earlier, and the remaining stock was just right for this moment.
Several zombies charged rapidly toward the group. When they realized that there was no food at the source of the scent they’d initially detected, but that an even more enticing smell was coming from a gap in a pitch-black structure not far away, they adjusted their direction mid-run and sprinted straight for that opening.
“Bang! Bang bang!”
Several loud crashes rang out abruptly. The three speed-type zombies at the very front, moving too fast for their own good, slammed straight into a massive black iron plate that had suddenly risen out of thin air!
Luo Xun and the others clearly saw Yan Fei manipulating the metal piled to one side, erecting a not-too-thick metal wall directly in the path of the charging zombies. Then, after the sharp impact, they watched in astonishment as those three zombies actually rammed three human-shaped bulges into the iron plate (bulging toward the side where everyone was standing)!
Yan Fei immediately raised his hand again, commanding countless steel spikes to sprout from the metal and stab straight into the zombies still stuck on the wall. With a firm clench of his hand, the spikes twisted and contracted, crushing the three “flies” like insects—squeezing them to death alive!
Luo Xun took a deep breath, his gaze toward Yan Fei practically glowing. His upgraded lover was even more brutal than before! But that kind of brutality was honestly so cool!
Behind those three speed-type zombies came several stamina-heavy ranged monsters—fire-type, water-type, and the like. These ranged ability zombies were not something Li Tie’s group could handle at present, so under Luo Xun’s command, the five university students immediately retreated, making way for the ability users.
Luo Xun also took up his crossbow and special ammunition loaded with mushroom extract, crouching beside Little Youran. The little girl still wore a serious, determined expression as she continued to forcefully sandify the soil at the bottom of the pit.
The three ability users—metal, wind, and fire—stood at the outermost perimeter. Among them, Yan Fei reacted swiftly, raising metal shields in midair to block the trajectory of incoming abilities just as the zombies were about to unleash them. Because those metal plates were formed directly from the metal that had crushed zombies earlier and remained scattered along the way—and were not connected to the nearby metal wall—even Yan Fei himself, the controller, wasn’t affected at all by the lightning-type zombie’s ability!
Yan Fei raised his eyebrows in surprise. Back when he was building the city walls, even he had occasionally been affected by attacks from lightning-type zombies. He’d thought that lightning was truly the natural counter to metal-type abilities, even during long-distance manipulation. He hadn’t expected that as long as he operated the metal remotely in midair, the problem could be completely avoided.
Now that he’d confirmed this, he let loose without restraint. The “shields” that had just served a defensive purpose instantly transformed into countless long steel spikes, which he hurled violently toward the zombie horde!
The wind-type ability rose in response, accompanied by dozens of small fireballs blasting straight ahead. When the shockwave of burning air swept over the steel spikes embedded in the zombies’ bodies, the conduction of heat deepened their wounds—metal and fire abilities could also be combined to greatly increase lethality!
At the same time, Luo Xun raised his crossbow and aimed at a clearly thick-skinned, tough-bodied second-level physique-type zombie. Though injured, it still possessed formidable offensive power. The crossbow bolt in his hand, coated with mushroom extract, shot straight into the zombie’s gaping mouth!
The precise bolt flew into the zombie’s oral cavity and pierced through to the back of its head. Crimson fluid burst and splattered from its skull and mouth. A sizzle sounded as faint white smoke rose, mingling with the smoke caused by fire-type scorching. The level-two physique-type zombie staggered just a couple of steps before collapsing headfirst to the ground!
A broad grin spread across Luo Xun’s face as he immediately trained his crossbow on another physique-type zombie that had escaped the sea of steel spikes and fire. His current crossbow was perfectly suited for dealing with these thick-skinned monsters!
Now Luo Xun was certain that as long as he continued using this weapon, even if zombies evolved to level four or five in the future, he would still be able to use the repeating crossbow to first break through their skin defenses, then immediately fire special bolts into their bodies to kill them. After all, this mushroom extract would corrode the target instantly even if it only struck the skin.
He had already tested the effectiveness of this new “sandwich” ammunition while building the outer wall earlier. But back then, it hadn’t really counted as a true battle—shooting nearly stationary targets from atop a wall hardly qualified as real combat.
Only now could they be said to have truly verified the power of these rounds.
The group’s coordination was swift and seamless. Li Tie and the others also attacked the isolated zombies outside through gaps in the metal wall that Yan Fei had deliberately opened for them. When this wave of level-two zombies was mostly wiped out through their joint efforts, Yan Fei and the other ability users once again retreated to absorb crystal cores and recover, while outside—
Another massive wave of zombies arrived!
This time, the zombies seemed endless—drawn from farther away by the earlier noise and the heavy scent of blood.
Li Tie and his group stepped up again, doing their best to snipe them down. Little Youran also finished this round of sandification and was carried to the rear by Song Lingling to absorb crystal cores and replenish her mental energy.
The zombies outside gathered in ever-greater numbers, gradually advancing to the large pit that Youran had turned to sand. Some of the zombies at the front actually began to fall into it!
“What a pity—the pit still isn’t deep enough,” Luo Xun said with some regret as he watched the zombies struggling in the sand pile, now nearly waist-high. Turning to confirm that Yan Fei and the others had finished recovering, he waved his hand. “Another round!”
This time, the combined attack of sand, wind, and fire was launched again, now with Yan Fei’s steel spikes woven into the mix. Like sand, steel had excellent heat conduction, and once boosted by wind, its speed became even more terrifying. However, because the steel spikes were too fast and too heavy, Zhang Su could only accelerate them—he couldn’t freely redirect or precisely control them midair the way he could with sand.
That said, whether the steel spikes hit their targets or not, Yan Fei could still manipulate them afterward for follow-up attacks. There was no need for Zhang Su’s careful control.
Round after round passed. By the time the group had finally dug the pit to a satisfactory depth and lured in and slaughtered nearly all the zombies within a certain radius, dusk was beginning to fall. Just then, Wang Duo, who was on guard duty on the second floor, suddenly shouted down below, “Convoy! More than a dozen vehicles—and a lot of zombies behind them!”
“Everyone rest in place and recover your stamina. Prepare to set up the trap.” Since different teams left the base at different times, their return times naturally rarely coincided.
If someone wanted to go out hunting crystal cores like Luo Xun’s team, the best choice was not to dive deep into the city, seize the high ground, and fight slowly there—that would only risk being completely surrounded by zombies. Once ammunition ran out, how would anyone still have the strength to collect crystal cores to replenish mental energy?
The optimal approach was exactly what Luo Xun and his group were doing: occupy a mandatory route near the base and set traps there. This not only allowed them to deal with nearby zombies, but also to intercept the zombies “led” over by passing convoys.
Generally speaking, convoys rushing back to the city to turn in their missions wouldn’t compete with teams like this—who were essentially “setting up a post and waiting for rabbits to run into it”—for zombies. On the contrary, when they noticed such a team, they were often happy to let them deal with the zombies trailing behind. Likewise, teams heading out of the base were usually eager to get inside and start their missions and wouldn’t waste time competing over a spot with uncertain returns.
Luo Xun and the others had stayed here for nearly a full day. Three convoys returning to the base had already passed by, and the zombies following them had all been conveniently cleaned up by the group. It was truly a win-win method.
Sure enough, when Yan Fei tossed out another blood pack to lure the zombies, at least half of the zombies that had originally been trailing the convoy were drawn away. Because there was still an intersection between the street the convoy traveled and this location, those people didn’t really understand why the zombies behind them suddenly left. But since the zombies’ departure benefited them greatly, the convoy simply floored the accelerator and rushed back to the base—no one even thought to come over and check what was going on.
This intersection was also deliberately chosen by Luo Xun. It wasn’t completely unused, but most people entering the city preferred another, more direct and wider road, so their activities didn’t attract much attention. Coupled with the fact that they only came out like this once a month, there was even less need to worry about being targeted or having their spot seized.
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