NOVEL NEXT Chapter 39 - Ability Advancement
Other ability users also noticed these blue crystalline objects.
“What is this? So there are things like this inside the zombie’s body.”
“Better not touch it. Zombies are so disgusting, and with so many viruses, who knows if this has any viruses too…”
“It’s quite pretty; it could make a nice necklace…”
“Come on, nowadays any gold shop lets you take whatever you want. Just stroll around, and you could fill your pockets with diamonds. What’s the point of taking this?”
The three ignored the conversation and continued their own tasks: two were digging while one was washing.
A few others came over to dig as well, but when they looked at what they had unearthed from the zombie’s head, the sour taste that rose in their throats was too much to bear, and they ended up vomiting.
Seeing one or two people vomit made everyone even less interested in those ‘things.’
After resting for a while, Hu Haotian stood up to organize everyone before continuing on their journey.
Having gone through such a real battle, everyone had grown much quieter. At this moment, they all just wanted to find a place to settle down properly.
After counting the numbers, they found that a total of nine people had died in the convoy, including two ability users.
Originally, there were only fifty-eight people in the convoy, so this battle had taken out about one-sixth of their number.
“Captain Hu, we’re planning to turn back to City L…”
“Captain Hu, we’ve discussed it and decided to head back to the base in City L…”
“Captain Hu, thank you for taking care of us along the way. We’ll part ways here. If fate allows, we will meet again…”
Several groups of people came to say their goodbyes. After this battle, they had developed a sense of fear toward City A. If things were already like this on the road, what would it be like once they entered the city? No one could guarantee that the military in City A had regained control, and they had no idea where the base in City A was. Setting out on such a aimless journey felt utterly hopeless.
Among those bidding farewell was the man named An Ning and the woman beside him.
Hu Haotian didn’t insist on keeping them, only slightly urged them to stay. Seeing their determined expressions, he expressed his gratitude for their cooperation in the battle and reminded them to be careful on their journey.
He had supplies from two vehicles and, without hesitation, had his bodyguards take out a vehicle’s worth of supplies to distribute to everyone.
Being able to survive and receive supplies made everyone say little more; this defensive battle was essentially a fight for their own survival.
Since they were giving away supplies, it truly showed their kindness.
With one person dead and another leaving, the convoy of fifty-eight people was reduced to just twenty-eight.
A few vehicles had been smashed, and after regrouping, the convoy of more than twenty vehicles was reduced to thirteen.
Bai Qi, Tang Ruo, and Tian Hai returned to their vehicle.
Seeing Bai Qi still looking unwell, Tang Ruo couldn’t help but ask, “Are you feeling unwell? Do you want to drink some more water?”
Bai Qi shook his head and slowly said, “Maybe I’m about to level up, which is why I feel a bit exhausted.”
“Level up?” Tang Ruo didn’t really understand what that meant.
Bai Qi, however, was someone who had experienced a ‘level up’ before and naturally understood the strange sensation of energy within his body. After completely depleting all the energy in his body and replenishing it with space water, this feeling had become even more pronounced.
“Don’t worry, I just need to sit for a while,” Bai Qi said, closing his eyes. He felt as if the energy inside him was about to burst.
“Okay, okay.” Tang Ruo nodded repeatedly, directly enveloping him with two layers of mental power. Worried about safety, she also covered her own vehicle with a layer of mental power.
Although she didn’t know what a level up looked like, she had seen in TV dramas that heroes couldn’t be disturbed during their breakthroughs.
Tian Hai was driving in front and, hearing the term “level up,” wondered, “Sister, can our abilities really level up?”
Tang Ruo focused on Bai Qi and replied, “Yes, not only us, but zombies can also level up.”
Tian Hai’s reaction was similar to Tang Ruo’s when she first heard about this; he was greatly surprised. “If zombies can also level up, won’t they be even harder to fight in the future?”
Tang Ruo nodded. “Yes, zombies will become stronger, so we need to accelerate our own strength to protect ourselves.”
Tian Hai turned his head and said seriously, “Sister, I will definitely work hard to improve my strength and protect you.”
Tang Ruo: “…”
It’s not that she was being arrogant; she had the confidence that she didn’t need anyone to protect her when facing zombies.
While it wasn’t possible for her to wrap her mental power around a group of people, wrapping it around herself was really so easy.
However, hearing her younger brother seriously say that he wanted to protect her was indeed quite comforting.
That sense of pride in having a younger brother growing up was quite apparent.
Bai Qi didn’t take long to level up.
After all, he was advancing to the second level and had experience; as long as no one disturbed him, he would definitely succeed.
A very thin layer of ice enveloped his entire body, and then the ice slowly melted, turning into droplets of water, which were absorbed through his pores…
Just an hour later, Bai Qi opened his eyes.
Tang Ruo, who had been watching him closely, saw him open his eyes and didn’t dare to make a sound, fearing she might disturb him if he hadn’t fully recovered.
Until he smiled slightly at her, Tang Ruo reached out her trembling hand to hold his.
Earlier, she had been quite worried; what if something went wrong like in the dramas…
She didn’t dare to think about it.
“Did it succeed?” she asked softly.
“Mm.” Bai Qi turned his head but noticed the worry etched on Tang Ruo’s face. Realizing the reason behind it, his heart warmed, and he gently squeezed her hand in return. “Don’t worry, leveling up with enough energy isn’t very dangerous.”
In his previous life, he had spent seven months leveling up, but now he had progressed in just over half a month, which was indeed a significant improvement.
Tang Ruo let out a slight sigh of relief, then remembered, “Isn’t the second level of abilities more powerful? Show me what you can do.”
Bai Qi opened his palm, and five ice blades instantly appeared in his hand.
The ice blades were crystal clear, resembling glass. Looking at these tools that didn’t seem like they were meant for killing zombies, they resembled artistic pieces displayed in an exhibition.
“Wow, such exquisite ice blades.” Tang Ruo reached out and picked one up, surprisingly managing to take one off.
However, once it left Bai Qi’s hand, the ice blade quickly melted in the heat of the afternoon.
“Brother Bai’s ability is so cool. I can’t wait until I can throw a thunderball for Sister Tang to play with,” Tian Hai said, glancing at them through the rearview mirror, a look of admiration on his face.
Tang Ruo: “…”
Are you sure the thunderball is safe for me to hold? It won’t electrocute me, will it?
As Bai Qi leveled up to the second tier of abilities, and the power felt even stronger than before at level three, he felt a bit restless. So, whenever he spotted zombies in the distance outside, he would occasionally shoot out an ice blade, piercing through the zombies’ heads.
Pan Dawei, driving behind them, saw the ice blades flying out from their car and sighed while gripping the steering wheel, “Being young is really great. We just had a big fight all night, and today you can still show off in front of your girlfriend.”
Pan Dage’s wife shot him a sideways glance: “Don’t worry, old brother. If I replaced myself with an eighteen-year-old beauty, you’d still be able to show off.”
Pan Dawei: “…”
My heart is so tired!
In this apocalypse, my wife is still worried that I’ll find another woman outside. Even though I’m getting old, my charm is still too strong! What to do?