Level Two Zombies

Bai Yaoyao said to Crooked-Neck Tree, "How about I give you a name? We're going to be partners from now on. You have a big brother too, named Doggie. I'll introduce you tomorrow."

The Willow Tree waved its branches in agreement, its leaves trembling with anticipation.

Bai Yaoyao thought long and hard. She had been far too careless with Doggie's name, so this time she needed something more sophisticated.

"I'll suggest some names. Shake your leaves if you like one."

"Rustle, rustle, rustle!"

"Little Tree?"

"Rustle!"

"Little Willow?"

"Rustle, rustle!"

"Little Green?"

"Rustle, rustle, rustle!"

Bai Yaoyao gradually lost patience. "Little Crook it is, then. That's settled. I need to get home and sleep!"

Little Crook desperately wanted to whine and protest again, but Bai Yaoyao had already left the space and had no intention of paying attention to its silent cries.

Oh well. At least it sounded better than its big brother's name, Doggie.

Accepting the name Little Crook, it obediently took root beside Spring Water and slowly digested the energy within its body.

In high spirits, Bai Yaoyao drove back home. Now that she had taken Little Crook with her, it might not encounter the same opportunities or gain the same strength as in her previous life, but either way, humanity had one less formidable opponent.

"A beautiful spring day is no match for a dream, where the grass smells sweet~"

Bai Yaoyao hummed as she sped along, occasionally running over a Zombies. The journey wasn't boring at all.

Only halfway back, Bai Yaoyao noticed something wrong and quickly stopped. For safety's sake, she got out and stored the car in her space.

Bai Yaoyao had been scanning the road ahead with her Mental Power the whole time and had detected a powerful surge of energy up ahead.

Suddenly, a sharp pain stabbed through her head. This was a Psychic Zombies, at least level one—possibly even level two!

Bai Yaoyao felt that far too many things in this life differed from her memories. Special-type zombies hadn't appeared until at least six months in, yet this was only the first day of the apocalypse, and both enhancement types and special types had already emerged.

Fortunately, her spatial ability had leveled up, allowing her to teleport short distances. After being attacked, Bai Yaoyao quickly moved toward the psychic zombie.

But the Psychic Zombies...

Actually ran away!

These fucking low-level zombies already have minds of their own? What kind of joke is this?

Although she knew it might be a trap, Bai Yaoyao still gave chase. Not finding out what was going on would leave her itching with curiosity.

She chased it to a clothing factory. Seeing Level Zero Zombies closing in from every direction and the Psychic Zombies leaning against the wall by the factory entrance, Bai Yaoyao initially wanted to throw a bomb and slip back into her space.

But a bomb powerful enough to blow the zombies apart would probably destroy their crystal cores too. Unwilling to waste so many cores, she pulled out her large machete and prepared for a tough fight.

Level Zero Zombies were weak, but there were simply too many of them. Bai Yaoyao went from needing three slashes per kill to just one, and the impacts left her hands numb.

Little Crook kept communicating with Bai Yaoyao, asking her to let it out. Once she had gotten enough practice, she tossed it out.

In the fighting that followed, she and Little Crook worked together seamlessly. Little Crook restrained the zombies with its branches while Bai Yaoyao hacked them down, more than doubling their efficiency.

However fierce the battle became, Bai Yaoyao kept her Mental Power fully extended, watching out for the Psychic Zombies. It had to be at least level two to control so many Level Zero Zombies. Surely this wasn't all it could do.

"Little Crook, can you handle them on your own?" Bai Yaoyao wanted Little Crook to hold off the Level Zero Zombies while she killed the source. Otherwise, it could keep calling in reinforcements forever, and no matter how strong she was, her stamina would eventually run out.

"Rustle, rustle, rustle!" Little Crook replied enthusiastically.

Bai Yaoyao noticed that Little Crook had grown considerably larger, and even its crooked trunk had straightened a little. She suspected it was the spring water's doing.

Bai Yaoyao slowly edged toward the psychic zombie without drawing attention. Once she was within ten meters, she sprinted forward and teleported, appearing right in front of it.

As she swung her blade, she sensed danger behind her. She immediately abandoned her attack and dodged the strike from behind. This thing doesn't fight fair! Having minions wasn't enough-it had to bring a fucking bodyguard too? Even celebrities aren't as full of themselves as you!

She turned around. Holy shit, another Level-Two Zombies!

And it was an Enhancement Type Speed Zombies!

Bai Yaoyao fought the Speed Zombies while using her Mental Power to resist the Psychic Zombies' attacks. Before long, she could clearly feel her stamina plummeting.

Her attacks kept missing. The Zombies were too fast, making her waste a great deal of energy. Finally, she had no choice but to divert a small portion of her Mental Power and focus it on countering the Speed Zombies. At last, she found an opening, drove her blade into its eye, and quickly twisted it hard.

Without wasting a second, she used Teleportation to appear directly in front of the Psychic Zombies and chopped off its head with a powerful swing.

Seeing Little Crook still tangled up in battle with the "minions," she went back to help. Working together seamlessly once more, they finally brought the battle to an end.

The instant all the zombies fell, the woman and the tree slumped onto the ground. They were exhausted!

They were so tired they couldn't have lasted another minute. Bai Yaoyao took a drink of water and rested for a long while before recovering a little strength.

If she truly couldn't win, she would naturally hide in her space. But if she could fight, she had to give it a shot. Ability users who gained their power solely through crystal cores were useless. Compared with ability users tempered in combat, plenty of them ended up killed by opponents of a lower level.

That was why Bai Yaoyao had chosen to fight it out.

Seeing how exhausted Little Crook was, she felt a pang of sympathy. This was only the first day of the apocalypse, and it wasn't the mighty Willow Emperor yet. Without Little Crook today, she could have escaped this fight, but she couldn't have won.

They were partners now, after all, and Bai Yaoyao was never stingy with her partners. She put it straight back beside the Spatial Spring Water in her space and let it drink all the newly accumulated spring water.

Little Crook trembled excitedly and dipped all its branches into the water again.

In less than five seconds, the spring was empty again!

Bai Yaoyao had already started collecting crystal cores. Looking at the Zombies corpses strewn across the ground, she felt an urge to call in some help. What a happy burden.

"Rustle, rustle, rustle, rustle!"

"Why do you want to come out?" Though puzzled, Bai Yaoyao still let Little Crook out.

Little Crook immediately put all its branches to work, rapidly collecting crystal cores. One stab, one scoop, one toss, and each core landed at Bai Yaoyao's feet.

Bai Yaoyao planted her hands on her hips and laughed excitedly. "You're freaking awesome, buddy! Thumbs up! You're absolutely killing it!"

"Rustle, rustle, rustle!"

Bai Yaoyao personally dug out the two level-two zombies' crystal cores, then sat down where she was and took out a serving of fish-fragrant shredded pork over rice. She ate while waiting for Little Crook to finish collecting the cores.

The surroundings didn't put her off her food. She was used to it, and it tasted pretty good. One serving wasn't enough, so she also ate a tub of Braised Beef Noodles.

By the time Little Crook finished digging out the crystal cores, Bai Yaoyao was full too. After putting both the cores and Little Crook into her space, she took out the car and drove home!

Bai Yaoyao checked with her mind: 222 cores, nearly as many as the team could collect in a day. It had been exhausting, but the rewards were truly sweet. Time to go home and level up!

A loving mother had to treat all her children equally. Now she could raise her psychic ability to level two!