Chapter 34: Cooperation—Fighting a Tier-2 Zombie

With a single strike, both sides were forced back.

But the zombie only staggered half a step. Bian Changxi, on the other hand, landed on the slick floor and tripped right into a pile of pajamas—and onto a girl. She snapped coldly, “Don’t get in the way!”

The girl, trembling, pointed at the zombie and stammered, “Look!”

A chill swept over the back of Bian Changxi’s head—something was wrong. Without looking back, she yanked the girl aside and rolled away. The spot where they’d just been was now pinned by two massive icicles, cold air visibly wafting from them.

An ability! This zombie had evolved powers! No wonder there weren’t any other zombies on the street—this one had become the overlord.

Bian Changxi cursed inwardly. Zombies with abilities were not only smarter, but also much harder to deal with than ordinary ones of the same tier. Judging by its strength, this one was already evolving toward Tier-2. She herself, a fragile wood-type, had never even managed to kill a Tier-1 zombie before. This was bad!

But despite her thoughts, she had no intention of backing down. She told the girl to stay far away, then turned to see the zombie’s mouth twitching, about to launch another icicle. She quickly sent out a vine, wrapping it tightly around the zombie’s body and arms several times over.

The zombie’s ability was interrupted, and it let out a disgruntled growl. With a casual flex of its arms, it snapped the vine as if it were nothing.

But Bian Changxi seized the opportunity. With a low shout, she leapt up and swung her axe at the zombie’s forehead with all her strength, burying it a centimeter deep. The zombie finally flew into a rage, roaring and tearing free of the vine, then swung its arm at her.

She was slammed against the wall, tumbling down through layers of bras before hitting the floor. Her organs felt displaced, her head spun, and she clutched her left ribs, cold sweat pouring down from the pain.

No need to check—at least two ribs were broken.

But the zombie wasn’t doing well either. In the instant she was struck, Bian Changxi twisted the axe handle with all her might, tearing open half of the zombie’s skull. Rotting, foul-smelling brain matter splattered everywhere, exposing a mess of decayed brain tissue.

The zombie went berserk, its roar nearly lifting the roof. Bian Changxi struggled to crawl into a corner, hoping to hide for a moment, but the zombie’s hatred was locked onto her. With a sudden twist, it strode toward her.

Bian Changxi gave a bitter smile, ready to retreat into her farm space, when the girl—who’d been cowering in fear—suddenly screamed, grabbed a steel rod, and started wildly bashing the zombie.

Startled, Bian Changxi saw the zombie’s attention shift as it turned to grab the girl. She shouted, “Run!”

The girl opened her eyes and, seeing the zombie’s claws inches from her face, shrieked and swung the steel rod frantically as she fled.

One ran, one chased—one screamed, one roared. Bian Changxi’s heart was in her throat; she knew the girl wouldn’t last more than a few seconds. Taking a deep breath and gritting her teeth against the pain, she forced herself upright and sent out another vine, this time wrapping the zombie’s raised left arm. She grabbed the fire axe and hurled it with all her strength.

“Get down!”

Without thinking, the girl ducked aside.

The fire axe flew with incredible force, severing the zombie’s left arm and continuing on, smashing through the glass door and skidding several meters down the street outside before finally coming to a stop.

The zombie, thrown off balance, crashed to the ground.

Bian Changxi bent over in agony, but didn’t dare linger. “Stab—stab its brain! Mash it up! Don’t let it get up!”

“Oh, okay!” The girl hurriedly grabbed the steel rod again and stabbed at the exposed, half-destroyed skull, stirring and mashing until the rotten brain was nothing but mush. The zombie’s struggles weakened, then ceased entirely.

Bian Changxi staggered to her feet, drew the straight blade from her back, and checked the zombie. “Alright, you can stop now.”

Without another word, she hacked at the zombie’s neck, chopping seven or eight times before finally severing it. She collapsed to the floor, her face ashen. After catching her breath, the pain in her ribs was still unbearable, and her throat tasted metallic and sweet, as if something were stuck. She coughed, finding her voice hoarse.

She summoned what little wood-type energy she had left to heal herself. After a few breaths, the pain eased slightly. She reached out, grabbed two pajamas, tossed one to the girl, and used the other to wipe her face.

“Clean yourself up. Everything on a zombie is poisonous.”

The girl, still in shock, stared at Bian Changxi for a long moment before realizing she was covered in brain matter. Shuddering, she quickly wiped herself off. “That was terrifying. I had no idea zombies were so… I nearly died!”

After muttering to herself for a while, she finally calmed down. Noticing Bian Changxi’s pallor, she quickly produced two bottles of mineral water out of thin air, handing one over. “Here, wash up. Wiping isn’t enough.”

Bian Changxi glanced at her in surprise.

“I—I have an invisible space where I can store a lot of things,” the girl said, smiling shyly and nervously.

“I figured,” Bian Changxi replied calmly, accepting the bottle without hesitation. She took a couple of sips, then used some to wash her face and hands.

The girl was surprised by her composure. “Ah—have you met others with this ability?”

“Yeah, I have.”

The girl let out a sigh of relief, muttering to herself, “So a lot of people have it. I guess it’s not that rare. That’s good.” Then she smiled. “You’re amazing. I was with that zombie for so long and never noticed anything. You saved me. My name’s Lin Rongrong. Can I know yours?”

“Bian Changxi.”

“You’re Bian Changxi?” Lin Rongrong looked shocked.

“You know me?”

“I go to S University too. I haven’t met you, but I’ve heard about you.” Realizing they were from the same school, Lin Rongrong relaxed, eyeing Bian Changxi up and down with her big, pretty eyes. “You’re not at all like what people say.”

Even at S University, where rich kids were everywhere, it was rare to find a female student with a reputation for partying, causing trouble, and driving teachers and counselors crazy. Bian Changxi was practically a cautionary tale—rumored to be a hopeless case, a parasite on society. But most of that was just jealousy over her family background and looks.

Strictly speaking, she just changed boyfriends often, was a bit arrogant, and supposedly not very filial—at worst, a rebellious girl, not even a true delinquent.

Lin Rongrong had only heard the gossip. Now, seeing the real person, she sensed a calm, unfathomable strength. This was someone truly formidable and brave—much more impressive than herself or the group she’d previously followed.

Bian Changxi smiled faintly. “I haven’t heard of you, though.”

“I’m just an ordinary student. There are tens of thousands of people at S University—how could everyone be known?” Lin Rongrong, hearing Bian Changxi’s hoarse voice, asked worriedly, “Are you alright?”

Bian Changxi shook her head. “I’ll be fine.”

Judging by Lin Rongrong’s performance, she wasn’t outstanding, but she wasn’t a pampered, helpless girl either. And she didn’t ask why Bian Changxi was alone, or how she could summon vines—either she was very thoughtful or well-mannered.

Bian Changxi searched her memory, certain she’d never met Lin Rongrong in this life or the last, and let the matter go.

She dug around in the zombie’s skull and scraped out something. Lin Rongrong nearly gagged, pinching her nose and eyebrows in curiosity. “Changxi, what are you doing?”

Bian Changxi rinsed it off with mineral water, revealing a glowing green crystal core.

A wood-type green core!

She was stunned, then secretly delighted—only to smile wryly a moment later.

Because this was a Tier-2 green core.

Crystal cores are ranked by color, size, and purity (how many impurities they contain). Experienced people can tell the grade at a glance; if not, powerful bases will eventually develop machines to test them. Bian Changxi could tell at once this was Tier-2.

The problem was, she’d only awakened her ability a day ago and was still at the very beginning of Tier-1, without even a single Tier-1 green core. The energy in this Tier-2 core was far too much for her to absorb right now.

And since it was a wood-type core—her own attribute—she couldn’t bear to just feed it to her farm for absorption. If it were a white core, she wouldn’t hesitate; she’d just use it to upgrade the farm and not feel a thing.

******

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