Setting out

Bai Yaoyao had never felt so happy. Every one of her comrades was here.

She took a moment to settle her emotions, calmed down, and analyzed the team's abilities.

With his skin hardening and earth ability, Stone would definitely be the team's main tank, focusing on defense and holding the front line to protect the "squishies" while they dealt damage.

She had a strength ability, Fat Brother had a metal ability, and Doggie's strength as a mutant beast was not to be underestimated either. They could all take hits and dish them out, making them ideal for initiating fights, drawing zombie aggro, and serving as fighters who could withstand pressure.

She, Xiaomi, and A-Dai were also fast and agile, better suited to providing support or cleaning up the battlefield, much like what people commonly called assassins.

Lulu's lightning ability, Monkey's water ability, Xiao Shiliu's wind ability, and Dada Juan's fire ability made them more like powerful mages. Their ranged attacks could deal devastating damage, but they had little ability to protect themselves, so they needed to wear enemies down from a distance and stay away from the center of the battlefield.

Peiqi's healing ability focused on recovery, Keke's wood ability on crowd control, and Chenxuan's amplification ability on support...

After sorting everything out with a clear head, Bai Yaoyao suddenly felt that her team's lineup was practically invincible!

In terms of team abilities, they had almost no weaknesses and complemented one another perfectly. How could such a coincidence exist?

Bai Yaoyao quickly came to her senses. This was no time to obsess over it. What mattered was getting outside, collecting crystal cores, and quickly building up their strength.

So she said, "We're getting ready to head out. We'll clear the area around the Villa first, then head toward the city center!

"Practice your abilities as much as possible. Don't just kill them with knives or guns. Level-zero zombies may be weak, but they're still stronger than ordinary adult men. Their reactions are just slow, so don't get careless.

"After killing a zombie, remember to stick a dagger into its brain and dig out its crystal core. Those are what we use to upgrade our abilities.

"Get your gear on quickly and meet at the entrance!"

"Yes! Understood!" everyone shouted in unison.

Bai Yaoyao took twelve sets of black combat uniforms and low-cut combat boots out of her storage space, along with twelve daggers for digging out crystal stones.

Everyone quickly grabbed their clothes and changed.

Seeing Doggie staring at her resentfully, Bai Yaoyao patted Doggie's head. "I'll make you a set too when we're back and I have time!"

The instant everyone stepped outside together, sunlight washed over them. Bai Yaoyao glanced at her comrades beside her and felt strength coursing through her entire body. Remembering how each of them had died horribly in her previous life, she involuntarily clenched her fists.

Just you wait. I, Bai Yaoyao, am! Back!

"Awooo! Awooo! Awoo, woof, woof, awooo!"

Just as Bai Yaoyao was getting into the moment, Doggie's howling ruined it. She looked at Doggie, who had bounded to the front, eager to head out with everyone, and rolled her eyes helplessly.

She threatened, "Doggie, you'd better be careful not to get scratched by a zombie, or you'll turn into a zombie dog and never get to eat big bones again!"

Doggie gave a wicked grin, waved a paw, pointed ahead, and continued forward with head held high and chest puffed out!

Brother Doggie will lead the way! The rest of you, follow!

They soon encountered their first zombie. Judging by its clothes, it had probably been a security guard in the villa complex.

Its face was ashen and hideous, its body twisted. It was crouched on the ground, tearing into a corpse with its blood-drenched maw. An indescribably foul, bloody stench hit them.

Catching the scent of humans, the zombie immediately turned around and roared fiercely at Bai Yaoyao and the others, slowly approaching them.

Unfortunately...

Not one of them was afraid. Their expressions were mostly disgusted, though they still moved closer to examine it carefully.

"So this is a zombie? Doesn't look too bright," Monkey quipped.

"Holy shit, it stinks! It fucking stinks!"

"What do you say, Sister Yaoyao? Who's fighting it?"

"Hey! Comrade Zombie, you're surrounded!"

Bai Yaoyao wasn't surprised by their reactions. After so many years as assassins, they had seen far too many bloody scenes. Even if the organization maintained certain principles regarding Huaguo, it had never shied away from killing people abroad.

So she said, "Don't rush to kill it. Everyone except Peiqi and Chenxuan, kite it together and get familiar with your abilities. Get some practice in actual combat. There'll be too many zombies downtown for you to have a chance-"

Before Bai Yaoyao could finish, Doggie suddenly charged out and sliced the zombie's head clean off with sharp claws, then gave everyone a disdainful look. What are you all yapping about? Just get on with it!

Everyone: ヽ( ￣д￣;)ノ

"Lord Doggie! This one's for everyone to practice on. I didn't tell everyone to charge together. Don't go rushing in, or you won't get any food!" Bai Yaoyao threatened.

At the mention of no food, Doggie instantly sat down on the spot and started acting cute, becoming an adorable little darling-provided one could ignore the rotting zombie flesh on those claws...

Xiaomi split the zombie's head open with a knife, stirred around inside, and picked out a crystal stone. It was a little smaller than a tiny baby's fist, transparent, and actually quite pretty. It was impossible to associate it with a zombie.

Xiaomi casually tossed the crystal core to Bai Yaoyao. "Sister Yaoyao, this thing's a crystal core, right?"

"Right. A level-zero, attributeless crystal core," Bai Yaoyao said.

"In the novels I've read, crystal cores are all poisonous. You can't absorb them directly. You have to soak them in the spirit spring inside the protagonist's portable space first!" Peiqi suddenly said.

Bai Yaoyao rolled her eyes. "What protagonist? What spirit spring? They're not poisonous! Just hold one and absorb it. Let's go. Time to get to work!"

"Understood!"

Starting from the Villa, everyone swept through the surrounding area bit by bit, clearing out thirty-six zombies and obtaining fourteen crystal cores. Some zombies had no crystal cores, but they were relatively weaker too.

Everyone tried fighting a zombie alone while the others watched, learned, and compared notes. Bai Yaoyao stood nearby, guiding them and pointing out the essentials.

The whole scene looked exceptionally strange yet harmonious.

A middle-aged couple spotted them through the window of a nearby villa and hurriedly opened it. The man shouted, "Help! Save us! There's a zombie in our house! Hurry over and kill it!

"We'll pay you whatever you want! Hurry, hurry!"

Perhaps because Bai Yaoyao and the others seemed so unhurried, the woman shouted too. "What's wrong with you? Get over here! Don't try to jack up the price! Don't push your luck!"

Unfortunately, no one paid them any attention. Upon hearing there was a zombie, everyone had initially wanted to go kill it and see whether it had a crystal stone, but the couple's attitude put them all off.

"Bastards. Who gives a shit about them? Let's go, let's go," Xiao Shiliu said.

But Doggie took offense at the dog-related insult and lunged over to bite Xiao Shiliu's trousers. Only after Xiao Shiliu apologized did Doggie finally let go, give a cold huff, and head to the front to lead the way.

Xiao Shiliu spread both hands toward everyone with a helpless smile.

Since the villa complex had been sparsely populated to begin with, there were practically no zombies left to fight after that sweep. But everyone was getting into it. They had only just started getting a feel for combat and hadn't had their fill yet.

So Bai Yaoyao took out three vehicles, and everyone drove toward the city center. Each vehicle had a walkie-talkie for easy communication. Whenever they encountered zombies along the way, they took turns getting out to practice.

By now, everyone except Peiqi had become quite proficient with their abilities, though they still lacked power. As the fights went on, those with nature abilities grew irritated and couldn't help rushing up to smash the zombies' heads, ending the fights outright.

A tiny flame here, a faint breeze there, a little trickle of water-they weren't worth shit and only wasted time...