Chapter 27: Battle (Part 1)

Chapter 27: Battle (Part 1)

In the off-road vehicle leaving the gym, Xiao Hua's mood was quite bright.

On the fifth day of the apocalypse, she had already absorbed six crystal nuclei, much faster than her initial estimated speed.

Xiao Hua was eager to know what level of strength she had reached.

More importantly, according to the description, absorbing around ten crystal nuclei would bring her to the peak of level one, requiring higher-tier nuclei to break through the bottleneck and achieve promotion.

At Xiao Hua's current pace, the bottleneck would arrive in just a few days. She needed actual combat to consolidate her foundation and perhaps get lucky by encountering a level two zombie.

Bai Mu looked at the personnel configuration in the vehicle and pondered for a few seconds before asking Xiao Hua, "Xiao Hua, how do you think your strength compares to Xiao Zui's?"

Xiao Hua didn't hesitate, "I'm stronger."

She paused, then had to admit, "But I can't compare to him in terms of physicality and combat skills."

The gender difference was there, and Xiao Zui was an active special forces soldier, not to mention, Xiao Zui was designed by the story as the apocalypse's solo king.

Even with her enhanced powers, Xiao Hua's physicality had greatly improved, but she was only slightly stronger than her former self and still inferior to Xiao Zui.

Not to mention Xiao Zui, if she were to compare physical strength alone, Xiao Hua probably couldn't win against anyone except Su Mo.

Bai Mu mused, "Then let's start with smaller places to see how we coordinate."

Naturally, no one objected.

……

The off-road vehicle stopped at a deserted street corner.

Su Mo got off first, looking puzzled as she asked, "Xiao Hua, there's no food here, why are we at this place?"

Xiao Hua followed suit and got off, spotting a clinic at the end of the street. "Tsk," she teased, "As top-tier survivors, how can we only focus on food?"

Zhao Ye chimed in, "Hey, Xiao Hua, speak plain English."

Xiao Hua replied, "For a better life, we need food, weapons, medicine, and even gasoline."

But without a strong enhanced individual like Bai Mu, they could only prioritize food.

It was obvious that Bai Mu intended to target the medicine.

Xiao Hua couldn't help but admire Bai Mu's foresight; on the fifth day of the apocalypse, he had already foreseen the importance of medicine rather than shortsightedly collecting only food.

Thinking of this, Xiao Hua felt a bit puzzled. With Bai Mu's intelligence, how could he not have a place in the apocalypse? Yet, he wasn't mentioned in the book at all.

But this world was inherently mysterious, and since she couldn't figure it out, Xiao Hua didn't bother thinking further.

After explaining, Xiao Hua took the opportunity to ask Bai Mu, "Brother Bai, did your storage space get bigger again?"

Bai Mu smiled but didn't answer.

Xiao Hua understood.

Bai Mu must have absorbed more crystal nuclei, giving him more space to use. Otherwise, just the rations for thousands of people in the gym would have nearly depleted him.

The two of them shared a mutual understanding, while the other four were left speechless.

I wanted to say something but didn't know how to start, feeling like my IQ was being insulted.

Bai Mu didn’t give them a chance to speak and issued an order: "Let's begin. Watch out for each other and don't let the zombies touch you."

Zhao Ye, Han Xiu Jie, and Tang Yi immediately spread out, forming a protective circle around Bai Mu, Su Mo, and Xiao Hua.

Impressive, they move fast.

Xiao Hua glanced at Bai Mu, noticed he was unarmed, and realized she should return the gun. "Brother Bai, here's your gun."

Bai Mu was slightly stunned and smiled. "It's for you. No need to return it."

"It's too heavy for me. I can't handle it well."

Bai Mu suddenly realized. "Sorry, I didn't consider that. Next time, I'll find you something more suitable."

Xiao Hua started to protest, but didn’t get a chance to speak.

Before Xiao Hua could reply, Bai Mu kept giving orders: "Ye-zi, don't lose focus. Watch the formation. Xiao Hua, do you want to give it a try?"

Xiao Hua focused on the endless stream of zombies in the alley and nodded. "Yeah, I'll give it a try."

Xiao Hua stepped a few paces forward, out of the protective circle. First, she raised a one-meter-tall ice wall to protect everyone. Then, without any rear concerns, she activated her powers, sending ice crystals raining down into the alley.

The cold spread wherever the ice went, and the zombies were wiped out.

Everyone was stunned.

"What the hell..." Zhao Ye looked at the zombie corpses all over the ground and swallowed the latter half of his sentence.

That was too brutal, even for her.

Bai Mu, seeing Xiao Hua's pale face, couldn't help but worry. "How's your body?"

Xiao Hua took a deep breath and slowly calmed down, her tone light-hearted. "I'm fine. I haven't gone all out killing zombies for days. I'm a bit rusty."

The power she had now was worlds apart from when she first awakened her abilities.

Xiao Hua slightly curved the corners of her mouth, her facial muscles not changing much, but her peach blossom eyes flickered with a glimmer, easily revealing her excitement.

Seeing her expression, Bai Mu didn't say anything more and simply ordered, "Ye-zi and Xiu Jie, go check inside. Xiao Yi, keep an eye on the surroundings. Xiao Hua, recover."

The three entered the clinic. While waiting, Su Mo used her powers to help Xiao Hua recover, which was better than nothing.

After calming down, Xiao Hua suddenly realized the fatal mistake she had made earlier and apologized to Bai Mu. "I'm sorry, Brother Bai. I was impulsive just now."

With zombies rampaging outside, she had exhausted most of her powers, leaving a huge hidden danger.

Despite usually being calm, Xiao Hua knew her recent actions were out of line.

Bai Mu chuckled. "You’re quick to admit your mistake."

"It's the truth. I was indeed wrong," Xiao Hua said without any embarrassment.

Bai Mu also took responsibility. "I'm also at fault for not explaining clearly."

Xiao Hua breathed a sigh of relief and quickly expressed her sincerity. "Brother Bai, don't worry. I promise I won't lose control next time!"

Bai Mu’s expression softened as he asked the probing question, "What if you do lose control?"

What are we supposed to do?

Xiao Hua refused to sign a pledge, mumbling, “...just bring me back, Brother Bai.”

Bai Mu didn’t push further, simply nodding and saying “okay,” letting Xiao Hua off the hook.

Their conversation paused as Xiao Hua focused on regaining her powers, and took the opportunity to thank Su Mo.

Su Mo blushed, “My powers aren’t strong enough; I didn’t really help much.”

Before Xiao Hua could offer any reassurance, gunfire and the sound of a fierce fight broke out inside the clinic.

Along with the chaos came Zhao Ye’s booming voice, “Brother Bai, we’re being ambushed!”

Xiao Hua and Bai Mu exchanged a glance and rushed into the clinic, shielding Su Mo.