Chapter 49: Armor
Chu Zhaozhao had complete faith in Lin Fan’s words, and hearing him speak, she stopped worrying.
"Big Brother, we’re going out again?"
Hearing that Lin Fan was going out, she was a little confused, but she still obediently found two folding umbrellas in a corner of the lobby. She opened them and stood beside Lin Fan.
"Hmm..." Lin Fan murmured, gazing out at the downpour as if searching for something.
"Where was it you found me?"
He gestured with his eyes for Chu Zhaozhao to lead the way, then stepped out into the rain.
’The crystal!’
’My crystal!’
’This is the most important reward for risking my life!’
Only after this battle did Lin Fan realize how powerful the Sharpness Crystal in his hand was. He wasn’t sure if the two smaller ones had crystals, but the big one definitely did!
’If I’m even a little late getting it, some of its energy will dissipate...’
The thought made his heart ache for the Sharpness Crystal in his hand, which only had 35 energy points left.
He had to retrieve the crystals quickly, while the potion was still in effect.
The rain grew heavier. Chu Zhaozhao walked ahead while Lin Fan followed, holding an umbrella in his left hand. Before long, he saw the chunks of flesh scattered all over the ground.
The bone-armored Mutant Dog, already heavily wounded, had been torn to pieces by his final attack. ’Hopefully, the crystal wasn’t lost in the mess.’
"Help me look for something... It’s probably a transparent stone, like a Crystal Ball. Sigh..."
As he was explaining to Chu Zhaozhao, it occurred to him that he could just show it to her. He wedged the umbrella between his neck and shoulder, pretended to reach into his pocket, and a small Crystal Ball appeared in Lin Fan’s hand...
"Like this..."
Chu Zhaozhao’s eyes widened as she watched Lin Fan pull a small, crystal-clear Crystal Ball from his tattered pocket as if by magic.
"This... Big Brother, what is this? It’s so pretty!"
"Don’t ask."
Lin Fan didn’t know how to explain it to her, so he just shut down the question.
Seeing that Lin Fan didn’t want to elaborate, Chu Zhaozhao didn’t press him. It wasn’t her business, anyway. But since he’d asked her to look for one,
"Big Brother, where should I look?"
Lin Fan suddenly felt like he’d shot himself in the foot. ’I regret bringing her,’ he thought. ’I should’ve come alone.’
But she was already here, so he could only lower his head and kick at the fleshy chunks on the ground as he spoke.
"In these chunks of meat, or in the organs. It might also be on the ground. Basically, it comes from the monster’s body..."
He suddenly spotted his dagger, bent down to pick it up, and handed it to Chu Zhaozhao.
"Take this. Cut open the bigger chunks and see if there’s one inside."
Aside from the legs, which were somewhat recognizable, the torso had been blown into unidentifiable pieces, so he had to have her check them one by one.
Chu Zhaozhao took the dagger, but the sight of the fleshy chunks on the ground made her feel nauseous, and she hesitated to start cutting.
But when she turned to look at Lin Fan, she saw him with the umbrella still wedged by his neck, his left hand earnestly digging through the chunks of meat on the ground.
’This must be really important to him,’ Chu Zhaozhao thought. Steeling herself against the nausea, she used the dagger to slice open a chunk of flesh and began to inspect it piece by piece.
Finally, as she was cutting into a tumor-like mass of flesh, the blade hit something hard, as if it had cracked open a jar. She pushed harder, and a crystal-clear Crystal Ball rolled out.
"Big Brother, it’s here! It’s here!"
Chu Zhaozhao picked up the Crystal Ball and called out excitedly to Lin Fan.
Lin Fan heard her and thought, ’So it’s true! It’s not just Mutated Zombies; Mutant Dogs have crystals too!’
He walked over to her, took the crystal, and held it in his hand.
[Armor Crystal]
[Energy Level: Incompletely Crystallized — Damaged (Remaining Energy: 2690)]
[Quality: Excellent (Incomplete Structure, Cannot Be Fused)]
[Equippable]
[Armor: When equipped, can form a layer of energy armor on the surface of the body. While active, taking damage consumes the crystal’s energy. (Resistance is based on the crystal’s Energy Level and Quality.)]
(Energy from Damaged-grade crystals will naturally dissipate over time.)
’An Armor Crystal!’
’The effects of equipment crystals are usually related to the monster’s traits. For this Mutant Dog, if you had to pick a trait, besides all that mud, it would be the bone armor that even my Sharpness Crystal couldn’t pierce!’
’It’s just a shame that, for some reason, this one is Damaged grade, just like the other two I have!’
"Big Brother, what’s wrong?"
Chu Zhaozhao watched Lin Fan take the Crystal Ball, but he just froze while holding it, prompting her to ask.
"...Oh, it’s nothing. Let’s go. Take the dagger, we’ll head over there."
Chu Zhaozhao didn’t understand, but she remembered Lin Fan telling her not to ask questions, so she kept her mouth shut and started walking in the direction he indicated.
The moment Chu Zhaozhao turned, Lin Fan focused his thoughts, storing the Armor Crystal in his inventory and equipping it immediately.
In an instant, he felt a strange layer of energy cover his entire body, but a closer look revealed nothing.
Unfortunately, Lin Fan’s current physical condition prevented him from testing its effectiveness.
Besides, this Armor Crystal was Excellent quality, while the other two crystals he had were only Normal. The effect couldn’t be that bad.
He checked the potion timer under his Life Value; there were still over three minutes left. His Life Value had already recovered to[92], so the effects were remarkably good.
’I need to hurry up and check the two smaller ones. The two 800-HP Mutated Zombies from upstairs had crystals, so it stands to reason these 1000-HP Mutant Dogs would as well.’
So Lin Fan led Chu Zhaozhao toward the side of the gas station. He remembered one corpse was there, and the other was near the car wash.
As they were walking, he suddenly spotted a long, stick-like object in a puddle formed by the heavy rain. It was his spear.
"Didn’t think it would be flung this far after getting stuck in that Mutant Dog..."
Bending over to pick it up, he saw that the tip had been blunted, losing its usual sharpness, and the shaft was slightly bent.
Thankfully, there was no major damage to the shaft, so its durability should be unaffected. He unhooked the strap and had Chu Zhaozhao help him sling it across his back.
Even if there were no zombies nearby, having a weapon in hand provided a greater sense of security.
A few moments later, they found the first corpse.
Lin Fan looked at the Mutant Dog’s corpse. It was washed pale by the rain, but its deeper tissues were still a dark, bruised red, and it was torn apart like a ragged cloth. He jutted his chin, gesturing for Chu Zhaozhao to get to work...
"Huh...? I have to do this one, too...?"
Chu Zhaozhao had managed to overcome her mental block when dealing with the chunks of flesh earlier, but facing a corpse at her feet that was still recognizably a dog, she couldn’t bring herself to make the first cut.
She could only give Lin Fan a pitiful look, whining softly to stall for time.
Lin Fan didn’t waste his breath arguing. ’Everyone unfortunate enough to survive and step into this new world has to face this stuff sooner or later. If she doesn’t take this chance to adapt, the world will teach her the hard way. Why should I waste my words?’
So, he thrust his umbrella at her, took back the dagger, and knelt. Carefully applying pressure so as not to strain the wound in his waist, he plunged the dagger into the corpse’s chest cavity and sliced downward.
But at that very moment, the Wild Potion finally wore off. An intense, sharp pain shot through his left arm and waist!