Chapter 234: Not Good News
The sight of zombies teaming up to climb a mountain was slightly comical.
It might have been due to their stiff limbs, but in any case, the ones that managed to charge up the mountain were not the lowest-level zombies. They had to have been evolved to some degree.
But for some reason, the zombies coming from that tunnel were a mixed bag—the strong were incredibly strong, and the weak were incredibly weak.
Although Faye Yardley’s team only had five people, and Cole Kensington would even disappear into the shadows from time to time to assassinate High Level zombies, they didn’t find the fight to be too difficult. It was still well within their capabilities.
Of course, zombies with Natural Abilities posed a slightly greater threat, but those were a minority, and besides, Cole Kensington was there to deal with them.
So, they were able to maintain control of the battle.
’Once we deal with this wave,’ Faye Yardley thought, ’we have to get into the city and find an armory to resupply.’
’Bombs are really useful against zombie hordes.’
During lulls in the fighting, Faye Yardley made sure to take a Physical Potion and an Energy Potion.
This kept her in peak combat condition at all times.
The others did the same. This was no time to be stingy with potions.
Zachary Pierce and the other two even helped cover Cole Kensington’s share, since his special combat abilities were always surprisingly effective.
The more High Level zombies he killed, the less pressure there was on the rest of them.
Time ticked by, second by second. Soon, the hillside and the valley floor were piled high with zombie corpses.
Faye Yardley, wielding Light Wound, picked through the corpses, searching to see if the so-called Energy Crystal Cores had formed inside the heads of the High Level zombies.
But strangely, there were none. Not in their hearts, either.
It seemed all their energy was concentrated in their burning Soul Fire; once the Soul Fire was extinguished, the energy vanished completely.
’What’s the principle behind that?’
She could understand why they might have evolved this way, though. ’If High Level zombies really produced Energy Crystal Cores, they would likely become targets for many other species.’
’Of course, it’s a real shame,’ she thought. ’That’s a major source of energy we’re missing out on.’
But then she thought of Yvonne Lynch, and suddenly it seemed like a good thing.
’If Yvonne Lynch became a target for others to hunt... just the thought of it was awful.’
’Fine, no Energy Crystal Cores. But is there really nothing useful on these High Level zombies at all?’
’And where in the world is their main nest?’
"Yardley, what are you looking for, exactly? I can’t see anything of value on these zombies besides their bones," Zachary Pierce said, having also completed a search.
He had gathered the remains of all the High Level zombies in one pile.
Meanwhile, Finn Ford and Caleb Colby were healing and resting. Cole Kensington was in a similar state. He had overused his superpower, which he wasn’t particularly skilled with yet, and was now sitting with the others, recuperating with his eyes closed.
"Mr. Pierce, why don’t you take their remains back to study them?"
Zachary Pierce was speechless.
"I suppose I could."
Faye Yardley looked up at the sky and saw Bella leap down from the mountaintop, bounding toward her.
"Bella! That’s great, you’re back. Is it far to the city from here?"
Bella nuzzled her hand and shook its head.
"Not far? Is it a long way from where we first entered this place?"
Bella nodded.
"Looks like we’ve reached the other side of the city."
Zachary Pierce, who was collecting some of the more unusual remains, nodded in agreement. "Right. We need to get out of here. Let’s just burn this whole area. Otherwise, who knows what these remains will eventually become."
Ever since that strange, divine presence had vanished from the valley, it had become extremely easy to start a fire.
"Bella, take them out first. Just get them to the road outside the mountains. Then come back here for me."
Bella was reluctant, but it did as it was told.
It even managed to carry all three of them away at once.
Faye Yardley stood and scanned her surroundings, then looked up at the darkening sky.
"What is it?"
Shaking her head, Faye Yardley stared in the direction of the valley’s Teleportation Array. "The people of this world are so strange. They were clearly on a technological path, yet they also have a fantasy-style Teleportation Array like this."
"Perhaps their technology became so advanced that it led to the creation of spatial teleportation."
"Oh, that’s one way to explain it, I suppose," Faye Yardley sighed. "It’s just that because technology advanced so far, the Demons in some people’s hearts were unleashed. It seems humanity is always willing to sacrifice anything in the pursuit of eternal life."
"Don’t overthink it," Zachary Pierce said. "Our own world can’t get any worse than it is. Our priority now is to work hard and build a new home."
Faye Yardley took out a torch and some Oil, smiling. "Unfortunately, not everyone is a fan of peace. And not everyone wants a ’so-called’ new home."
"That’s always a tiny minority," he countered. "Most people yearn for peace and stability. And everything we do is for the good of the majority. We can’t betray the will of the many for the sake of a few."
On this point, Zachary Pierce’s stance was always firm.
Faye Yardley nodded. ’If he weren’t a man of such firm conviction, she probably wouldn’t have been able to trust him.’
She handed the torch to Zachary Pierce, then took out her Longbow and used it to fling the Oil in all directions. When Bella arrived, she vaulted onto its back and casually tossed the torch.
The fire grew fiercer after they left, flushing out even the mutated small animals and insects hidden beneath the vegetation.
Then, Faye Yardley and her team heard the sound of notifications for "points +1, +1, +1..." popping up endlessly.
They turned to look back. The mountain behind them was a swirl of billowing smoke and fiery red.
A few lone zombies who had been wandering the mountain were also flushed out by the flames.
The mountain fire also drew the attention of the zombies in the city.
Caleb Colby was wrapped from head to toe in Bandages, but he was clearly in decent shape, as he was still able to say, "Let’s find a place to rest. We haven’t eaten all day, we’ve just been getting by on potions."
Faye Yardley produced another vehicle. "You guys get in. Bella and I will keep up."
In the end, they found a house on the outskirts of the city.
"Huh? The pot in this kitchen is hot! Is someone else here?"
Finn Ford’s voice called out from the kitchen, and everyone else tensed up instantly.
They hadn’t sensed anyone else’s presence, but the pot was hot, meaning it had just been used.
The realization that other humans might still exist in a world like this was, in itself, quite terrifying.
After all, with zombies everywhere, what could other humans possibly eat or drink to survive?
To them, this was just a Dungeon. But what about the people who originally lived in this world?
No matter how ruined it had become, it was still their home.
It was just like how Aquaria had fallen into eternal night. Didn’t they want to go back and see it? Didn’t they want to stay there?
But for Faye Yardley and her team, the actual existence of ordinary people was not necessarily good news.