Chapter 113: Attraction to Zombies
Lily Hart had no choice but to indulge her, teasing, "King, King? King, what are you up to?"
King was speechless. ’Suddenly, that name sounds really terrible.’
She stammered, "Well, one day, two men were passing by, and I overheard them chatting. I really liked the name, so..."
"Alright, alright." Lily Hart was bent over laughing, just about to mock her mercilessly.
Frost Shaw’s expression suddenly turned grim. He quickly pulled Lily Hart behind him, and the smiles on both their faces—the human’s and the flower’s—vanished instantly.
The two of them and the flower all stared at the broken wall. Lily Hart whispered, "Zombies?"
"Yes. I’ll take care of them." Frost Shaw stepped forward and froze the entire wall solid.
BANG— The ice wall exploded, shattering into chunks of ice mixed with fragments of brick.
At the same time, Frost Shaw raised a faint, misty Protective Shield, enveloping the two of them and the flower to prevent them from getting caught in the crossfire.
Behind the broken wall were two zombies. Even a novice like Lily Hart could tell at a glance that they were High-level Zombies.
Aside from their scarlet pupils and sharp claws, they were nearly indistinguishable from normal humans.
Lily Hart’s mind began to drift. ’If zombies evolve to the highest level, will they become just like humans...’
’...completely losing all zombie traits? That would be too dangerous. What would happen if they infiltrated a base?’
"A Fourth Rank and a Fifth Rank," Frost Shaw said in a low voice. "Can you protect yourself?"
Lily Hart quickly ordered a handgun from the system’s shop. Even though she didn’t know how to use it, having it for self-defense was better than nothing.
’Once I leave the RV, it’s like I lose all my support and protection, becoming a completely ordinary person.’
’I should also order a few quick-use superpowers from the shop. Speed, for example—good for escaping. And maybe intelligence, to figure out better escape routes and methods...’
She nodded. "I’ll be fine. You just go fight."
Frost Shaw gave her a worried look, but then he remembered her speed at Nutwood Base. ’Was that a superpower?’
He relaxed slightly and added several more layers to the misty Protective Shield around Lily and the flower. It would be impossible to break unless the attacker was a higher rank than him.
Then, he advanced a few steps and engaged the two zombies in battle.
Fifth Rank was a watershed. Whether for zombies or humans, reaching it was a qualitative leap in power.
Furthermore, it was harder for zombies to advance than for humans, which meant their strength naturally surpassed that of a superpower user of the same rank.
Frost Shaw was struggling slightly but still managing. He started by freezing the Fourth Rank zombie to buy himself time.
But against a Fourth Rank zombie, the ice only held it for two or three seconds.
That was enough. In those brief two or three seconds, Frost Shaw’s ice blade had already severed the Fifth Rank zombie’s left arm.
But unexpectedly, while Frost Shaw was occupied with the Fourth Rank zombie, the Fifth Rank one picked up its severed arm, lined it up, and simply pressed it back into place.
Lily Hart watched, dumbfounded. ’What, it can regenerate a limb? No! It just stuck it back on!’
’That’s completely absurd! Ridiculous!’
"Go, Frost Shaw, go!" Lily Hart shouted instinctively, though she could barely see the scene outside through the faint, icy mist.
Her voice was like a shot of adrenaline, instantly reigniting Frost Shaw’s fighting spirit. He used his old trick again, trapping the Fourth Rank zombie in an Ice Prison.
This was much harder to escape. It held the Fourth Rank zombie for nearly five seconds, and on the battlefield, an instant can change everything.
The Fifth Rank zombie’s left leg and right arm were severed, and Frost Shaw, manipulating his ice blade, chopped the limbs to a pulp.
’Let’s see you reattach them now,’ he thought. But in the process, the Fifth Rank zombie clawed his abdomen, leaving four deep, bloody gashes.
Bright red blood, mixed with the zombie’s foul-smelling green virus, trickled down slowly, making the wound look severe.
It wasn’t just his abdomen; the sleeve on his right shoulder was also shredded, and the attack had nearly torn his whole arm off.
The battle raged on one side, and Lily Hart’s cheering was just as fierce. But then, she suddenly heard a faint crunching sound from behind.
Lily Hart spun around to see a zombie sprawled on the ground, gnawing on the icy mist! Her eyes met its scarlet ones.
A jolt went through her, and she instinctively took a step back. Her back hit the edge of the misty shield, and the icy touch shocked her senses back to full alert.
’As long as its rank is lower than Frost Shaw’s, it can’t break through this mist.’
Lily Hart knew that, but... ’Why is this zombie eating it? CRUNCH, CRUNCH... It sounds like it’s chewing on my skull! My skin is crawling!’
"It’s fine, it’s fine. It can’t get in," Lily Hart told herself.
But then she watched, wide-eyed, as a small hole was chewed through the base of the misty shield. A sharp zombie claw poked through, as if testing the waters.
Without hesitation, Lily Hart activated a strength superpower. Squeezing her eyes shut, she stomped down hard, letting out a "Nngh... HAH!" to psych herself up.
But contrary to her expectations, there was no sound of cracking bones or a pained shriek. Lily Hart slowly opened her eyes and looked down. Great. She’d stomped on nothing but air.
The zombie had already retracted its claw and started gnawing again! So brazen! ’It’s completely ignoring me, Boss Hart!’
The CRUNCH, CRUNCH sound made Lily Hart’s scalp tingle and gave her goosebumps. The moment the zombie’s claw poked through again to test the opening, she stomped on it.
She put all her strength into that one foot. A delightfully crisp CRACK echoed.
Lily Hart quickly looked down. Sure enough, half a claw lay broken on the ground. Her confidence instantly surged!
Little Red Flower, perched on her shoulder, swayed its five petals. It was partly cheering her on and partly trying to hypnotize the zombie, but that trick didn’t seem to work on them...
She was now Level 5, so she could only buy superpowers of a corresponding level.
The zombie outside the mist let out an inevitable shriek. It started gnawing on the shield faster, but it had learned its lesson and didn’t stick its claw back in.
Meanwhile, Frost Shaw’s fight with the two zombies grew more intense. His tactic had worked; once the limbs were minced, they couldn’t be reattached. This enraged the Fifth Rank zombie, which intensified its assault.
Gashes deep enough to expose bone appeared on Frost Shaw’s left thigh and right arm. Blood flowed from them ceaselessly, speckling the surrounding weeds with red.
"Time to end this," Frost Shaw said softly.
He raised a hand, and countless pearl-sized ice spheres materialized in the air, shooting toward the two zombies at incredible speed.
In an instant, the ice spheres riddled the zombies’ bodies. A dense pattern of bloody holes appeared on their flesh. With two heavy THUDS, the zombies collapsed.
He had been diverting some of his focus to prepare this attack from the start, only unleashing it once the two zombies were nearly worn down.
Only after stepping forward and digging the Crystal Cores from the zombies’ heads did Frost Shaw relax. He turned to walk back toward the misty shield, but after a single step, he heard an unusual sound.
"Stupid zombie! You stinking zombie! Goddamn zombie!" Lily Hart was cursing as she fought the zombie outside the shield, having bought herself a Wood Ability.
The Wood Ability granted a natural connection with plants; she could control any plant of a rank lower than her own.
And so, Lily Hart was manipulating the weeds on the ground, binding the zombie’s body tightly. If one snapped, another would take its place. The weeds were endless...