Split Operations

"Team Leader Lin, what are you looking at?"

Zhang Tie was big and carefree. Before long, he had walked over to Lin An's side.

"Nothing."

Lin An pulled two prepared potions from his waist and handed them to him.

The pale-purple potions emitted a strange radiance from within the test tubes, intoxicating to behold.

"Team Leader Lin, what are these?"

Zhang Tie instinctively accepted the potions, then stared dumbfoundedly at the descriptions appearing in his player information.

"Beep. Obtained Giant Lizard Extract (Special): After consumption, temporarily increases Strength +1, Physique +1, and Agility +1."

"Beep. Obtained Snake Venom Purified Extract (Special): After consumption, increases explosive power by 50% for a short time, endurance and impact resistance by 30%, and attack speed by 20%."

He was utterly dumbfounded.

As an Awakened, Zhang Tie knew from the changes in his own body alone how important even the slightest attribute increase was.

"This stuff is amazing, Team Leader Lin!"

"Damn, if I had a few more of these, what would I have to fear from zombies?"

"Give me a few more!"

Lin An was helpless.

After deducting the ones he had used earlier, only twenty-four potions remained in his ring.

Although that sounded like quite a lot, they could not support him through many battles.

One person was fine, but if the team grew larger in the future—

They would be completely used up after two or three battles.

"There aren't many left, so use them sparingly."

"Can your Mental Strength support another transformation?"

Zhang Tie was somewhat disappointed when he heard that there were not many left.

He carefully tucked the potions into his clothes as if they were priceless treasures.

"Team Leader Lin, I can support one more Bear Transformation at most. And the duration will be much shorter."

"Approximately?"

Zhang Tie thought for a moment and gave an uncertain answer.

"About twenty seconds."

Lin An slightly furrowed his brows. Twenty seconds was simply too short.

He had already calculated it just now.

No matter how quickly they moved—

Their battle in the inpatient building would last no less than five minutes.

Both places had to be visited.

If the Dispensary really had a Spiritual Energy Node, Lin An could even bring Wen Ya back here tomorrow and help her advance to become an Awakened.

After all, according to his plans, the other awakening site would be difficult to find, and it was located somewhere with a large number of zombies gathered.

Taking Wen Ya inside, with her strength as an ordinary person, would still be highly risky.

Therefore, finding a Spiritual Energy Node in the Dispensary would be ideal.

"Then."

"We'll split up."

"You go to the Dispensary. There are fewer zombies there."

"Tell me immediately if anything seems unusual."

Lin An thought it over and decided to have Zhang Tie go to the Dispensary alone.

Even if the Spiritual Energy Node there had dissipated, there might still be some benefits left behind.

Rather than having Zhang Tie follow him without being able to help much, it would be better to have him investigate the area further.

Zhang Tie hesitated for a moment but said nothing.

He knew that once he could no longer use Bear Transformation, at best he would be a durable, slightly stronger human.

When fighting zombies at close range, he might even become a burden to Lin An.

Not bothering with formalities, he nodded immediately.

However, he suddenly felt somewhat dejected.

After the apocalypse erupted, the team members had always treated him as their big brother and relied on him.

He simply had not expected that, here with Lin An, he could not even help.

The strength he had always been proud of was nothing special in front of Lin An.

He was dispirited and dejected.

Zhang Tie glanced at his left hand.

The severed arm had actually weakened his strength considerably.

Lin An saw what he was thinking and still decided to comfort him.

After all, they would be members of the same team in the future, and they would inevitably need to support one another.

"Zhang Tie, don't lose heart or feel that you're useless."

"Every Awakened is a symbol of power."

"You feel that your strength isn't enough now because we're facing a massive Zombie Crowd."

"Against a Zombie Crowd of this scale, no one would be useful."

Lin An thought for a moment, then added:

"Your Talent Skill is quite good."

"Bear Transformation is much more practical in battle than the abilities of many Awakened."

"Once the duration of your transformation increases and you even advance to the Second Order, you'll be able to gain another skill."

"With a long-duration Bear Transformation and a newly learned skill, your combat power will be quite impressive."

Lin An recalled the other Awakened he had learned about in his Previous Life, especially those who controlled the elements.

They could raise a hand and release Flame or storms.

They looked powerful, and their destructive power was not bad either.

But when their Mental Strength was often lacking in the early stages, they would lose their combat power after using their skills two or three times.

After that, they could only rely on ten Limit Attribute points to fight their enemies.

Compared to Awakened of the Physical Body System or transformation types—

These kinds of Awakened were like a three-move combo: once they used up their skills, they were useless.

Zhang Tie's Bear Transformation allowed him to fight for considerably longer than those types of Awakened.

Although its explosive power was somewhat weaker, it made up for that with lasting stability.

It was like the relationship between an ADC and a mage.

One pursued stable, sustained damage output, while the other focused on short-term bursts.

Zhang Tie felt much better after hearing that, and began looking forward to the strength he would possess after advancing to the Second Order.

Lin An was looking forward to it as well.

After facing large-scale Zombie Crowds several times, he had also discovered one obvious weakness of his own.

He had no area-of-effect skill.

Facing a single enemy was fine.

But once he faced a large number of enemies, relying solely on his body to kill them was simply too difficult.

His Talent Skill was Strength Burst, which was actually not much different from Zhang Tie's Bear Transformation.

Although it increased more attributes, and did so comprehensively—

It was ultimately an auxiliary skill.

In the Doomsday Game, not having an area-of-effect skill was simply too inconvenient.

After all, Mutants might be powerful, but they were few in number.

In ordinary battles, what they truly had to face was still a large number of zombies.

Lin An made up his mind.

After obtaining the equipment, he would deal with the Stitcher. If everything went smoothly, he would definitely advance to the Second Order before establishing the Safe Zone.

Advancing to the Second Order would not only bring about another qualitative leap in strength, but also grant him an entirely new skill.

He already had an auxiliary skill. Lin An refused to believe that the skill he gained after leveling up would also be auxiliary in nature.

Even a single-target burst skill would be better than hacking away with his knife one stroke at a time.

"Team Leader Lin, I've rested enough."

"Are we leaving now?"

Lin An looked at Zhang Tie and slowly nodded.

He had given Zhang Tie two potions. With Zhang Tie's strength, there should be no problem facing the relatively small number of zombies in the Dispensary.

"Bang!"

After deciding on their routes, the two did not hesitate and jumped directly down from the second floor.

One headed straight for the inpatient building, while the other went to the Dispensary.

On the second basement level of the Underground Parking Lot, the rhythmic knocking abruptly stopped.

Not long after, a baby's cry rang out.

In the pitch-black silence, it was sudden and eerie.