Satisfaction

"Luo... Di?"

Luo Di, who was supposed to be recovering from his injuries, had actually appeared here. The hole through his arm was still there, having received only a simple alcohol disinfection.

He approached the struggling zombie's head with almost no expression on his face.

He dropped to one knee.

With his left hand, he firmly grabbed the zombie's foul, sticky hair and pulled upward, tugging its head slightly out of the ground and revealing its diseased, rotting, snarlingly ugly face.

Luo Di did this only for the sake of "angle." The angle between the zombie's head and body was currently about 32.5°.

Everything was ready.

He raised the butcher's cleaver high in his right hand. Beneath the darkness of night, his face was almost impossible to make out, as though he wore a black mask.

The blade came down.

The sound of it slicing through the air was piercing.

Crack!

With a single strike, he severed the zombie's cervical vertebrae, the blade sinking completely into the flesh.

Anna, who was holding the zombie down, widened her eyes. With that kind of strength and blade work, one more strike would surely be enough to decapitate it.

Then—

Yin Energy gathered.

The silver needle embedded in the Fengfu acupoint at the back of its head was forced out once again.

Just as Gao Yuxuan prepared to insert another needle, Luo Di shot him a look, signaling that Gao Yuxuan only needed to hold down the zombie's body. There was no need to reinsert the needle.

The second strike fell, cutting perfectly into the neck along the first wound.

Clang! A metallic impact rang out due to the hardening.

But hardening was hardening; it could not completely prevent damage.

The cut went another centimeter deeper.

As if it sensed death, the zombie began struggling madly, black vapor continuously seeping from its body.

Yet under the combined restraint of the three of them, its body remained firmly pinned to the ground. No matter how it struggled, the raised butcher's cleaver always fell with unerring precision.

The third strike...

The fourth strike...

Every strike seemed like a replica of the last, chopping deeper into its neck along the previous cut.

The fifth strike!

This time, there was no more metallic impact. The wildly struggling zombie also suddenly stopped at that exact moment.

The three people restraining it noticed the abrupt silence as well.

Their gazes slowly traveled up the zombie's body. Above its blackened neck, there was no longer a head.

Under the night sky,

Luo Di slowly rose from his half-kneeling position.

The pale Waning Moon hung directly above his head.

He held the zombie's head aloft, as though declaring victory, or displaying a trophy.

The sight completely dispelled the tension in everyone's hearts. It was over!

The class monitor paid no attention to the filth splattered across her body while restraining the zombie. She sprang to her feet and gave Luo Di a hard slap on the back.

"Luo Di, you really are something! We had some related combat training in Physical Education Class at school, but it was only the basics.

Have you studied blade techniques systematically?"

Luo Di, still holding the zombie's head, had been enjoying a sense of completion similar to the ending of a movie. The class monitor's words abruptly pulled him back to reality.

"I haven't. I just chop vegetables and cook at home often.

You had already fully restrained this thing. If I couldn't even manage the most basic chopping, then I wouldn't be qualified to take part in this practical exercise."

The class monitor's attention shifted again. "Cooking, huh~ You've mentioned it several times already. I definitely have to try your cooking next time... Also, hurry up and throw away that thing in your hand. It's disgusting~"

Only then did Luo Di realize that he was still holding the zombie's head.

However, he did not throw it away directly. Instead, he cautiously placed it on the ground, raised the Machete again, and split it into four pieces to prevent any possibility of it coming back to life.

Rumble!

Lightning flashed through the clouds.

Heavy rain, much like the daytime downpour, fell once more. It was as though the research institute could precisely control the weather in the mountains, using it to wash away the grime covering everyone.

At the same time, an announcement echoed from the forested mountainside:

≮The Simulated Anomaly has been eliminated. This practical exercise has concluded ahead of schedule. Participants, please gather your personal belongings and descend the mountain as soon as possible. Our vehicles will take you to the nearest research institute area for a brief rest, after which a final summary of this practical exercise will be conducted.≯

Upon hearing the announcement, the weight hanging over everyone's hearts finally lifted, and they freely let the rain wash over them.

"Wow! I didn't expect us to finish early. That means we get an extra day to enjoy our vacation. Hurry, go get your backpacks from the bedroom and let's go receive the research institute's praise.

Once we get back, I'm treating everyone to a huge meal!"

At the class monitor's call, everyone straightened their slightly exhausted bodies and returned to the old house, heading to the master bedroom to pack their things.

Luo Di covered the wound on his right arm. Although it had been disinfected with alcohol, black matter still remained inside the wound. If it was not treated quickly, it could lead to a serious infection. However, he was still immersed in the moment of slaughter from earlier and felt no pain at all.

While returning to the bedroom, Gao Yuxuan also focused on his own arm—more precisely, his prosthetic arm. The synthetic skin that had been scraped away would need money to repair after they returned, though fortunately, the alloy itself had not been damaged.

Back in the bedroom,

The class monitor appeared to be packing her backpack, but she took out a medical kit she had prepared in advance and grabbed Luo Di's arm.

"Eugh! One of these holes has nearly rotted down to the bone, and you could still swing your arm. A lot more rainwater got inside just now too. It needs to be disinfected immediately."

The class monitor poured an entire bottle of iodine disinfectant over it, then took out a large roll of medical gauze and wrapped his arm. These were all basic procedures from school medical classes, but her movements were especially skillful and as gentle as possible.

Luo Di could not help lowering his head to look at the class monitor as she bandaged his wound.

His eyes did not dart away as they usually did. Instead, he watched her for a long time, seriously observing someone for the first time.

Her high ponytail was messy and soaked through, and zombie grime stained her body. Yet the class monitor somehow looked even more delicate than she did in his usual impression of her.

As she cut the gauze, the class monitor said,

"Good thing someone in our group likes drinking. If the alcohol hadn't disinfected it beforehand, your hand might have needed to be amputated. Then you'd have to get a prosthetic limb like Xiao Gao."

Gao Yuxuan, who was packing his backpack nearby, seemed particularly sensitive to this topic. He immediately turned his head, about to say something, when—

His pupils seemed to catch sight of something, and his entire face froze as if it had been iced over.

His brain urged his throat to deliver the crucial message:

"Dodge!!"

Whoosh!

The axe came down.

The sound of bone breaking and flesh tearing spread through the room.

When the class monitor heard the shout, she shifted her body slightly. She only felt an icy sensation in her right shoulder, which then turned into searing pain.

She turned her head and looked.

Anna's Tactical Axe had sunk completely into her shoulder, nearly reaching her chest.

Luo Di, whose wound had just been bandaged, immediately supported himself on the ground with one arm and kicked the attacker in the abdomen, sending her flying hard into the side wall of the master bedroom.

The axe remained lodged in the class monitor's shoulder.

Everyone was stunned.

Because the attacker was Anna, the person closest to the class monitor in the group.

They could not understand why Anna had become like this, nor did they know when the change had happened.

Anna, who had been kicked against the wall of the master bedroom, stared at the wound on the class monitor's shoulder and revealed an exaggerated smile that did not belong to her.

Inside her mouth, pulled wide by that smile,

Everyone could clearly see her curled tongue pressing against the roof of her mouth before striking down forcefully.

Click!

A disturbing tongue-click echoed through the master bedroom.