Chapter 120

Chapter 120

"......"

After a brief silence, Zhao Lei turned to Cheng Jing:

"Cheng, did you set the temperature too high?"

Apart from Jiang Nian, the others also looked at Cheng Jing.

Cheng Jing glanced down at his hand, momentarily confused, but quickly shook his head in response:

"No... I had it under control. It’s not my first time running this procedure. Besides, this thing couldn't be damaged even if you shot it at point-blank range—you all know that."

Even though they were just ordinary zombie nuclei, once formed, they were truly impervious. They needed to be soaked in a special solvent and then cut with a laser. Superpower Zombies' nuclei were even tougher.

The group then remembered how they had burned them in the chemical vat last time without any issue, so they could only frown and look back at the floor.

These two cores were ridiculously brittle.

Jiang Nian crouched down, applying his Superpower on the shattered core fragments—no reaction. He picked them up and pinched them. What should have been rock-hard crumbled like sun-baked adobe at the slightest touch. He murmured under his breath:

"There’s nothing left... This isn’t normal..."

He then rubbed some of the powder between his fingers and sniffed it—odorless. He nearly tasted it but found the idea too disgusting.

Eating questionable substances was one thing, but he still had to kiss Brother Jing later, so he decided against it.

The others also reached out to touch the nucleus dust, their expressions filled with confusion.

Normally, once zombies developed nuclei, their speed would evolve to become faster, matching or even surpassing that of normal humans.

But these two seemed to have regressed—completely aberrant.

No need to guess—it had to be related to their "friable" nuclei.

"......"

Tang Yi hesitated slightly before speaking:

"Could it be that after zombies develop nuclei and evolve to a certain point, the nuclei become fragile and lead to their demise? Like what Nian speculated before."

The others also considered this possibility.

Cheng Jing knew it couldn’t be that simple. He looked at Jiang Nian, whose brow was furrowed:

"Nian Nian, what do you think is going on?"

He didn’t know how to explain this either.

"...Nuclei are a symbol of stable energy. Zombies forming nuclei in less than a year should still be at their peak—they wouldn’t deteriorate this rapidly."

Jiang Nian shook his head as he spoke, then pulled out a thumb-sized vial and carefully collected the powdered remains. Staring at the vial for a moment, he added:

"There must be another reason for this abnormality. Maybe it’s connected to how we haven’t seen any zombies on the surface since entering the hospital... These nuclei feel like they’ve been drained of energy, leaving behind nothing but inert, nutrient-less exoskeletons."

He had never heard of such a thing in his past life. A foreboding stirred in him, but so did a faint tinge of anticipation.

The more unusual, the more research value it held—his contrarian impulses were kicking in. Besides, the extraction of nucleus energy implied a paradigm shift!

But until we figure out the reason, it's best not to speculate too much.

"Alright, let's keep moving. Everyone, stay alert and head to the second floor as quickly as possible."

Cheng Jing scanned the surroundings with his light source, too preoccupied with the immediate situation to dwell on speculation. Something felt off, and he signaled the team to descend to the 4th floor.

Zhao Lei led the way with a steel shield shaped by his superpower, while the others remained vigilant, their powers ready to go.

The 4th-floor corridor was crowded with dozens of zombies, just like the two on the 5th floor—slow and weak, but with energy cores that crumbled into powder at the slightest touch, piling into small mounds of grayish-black sand.

However, this time, Jiang Nian picked up traces of lingering energy from the pile of crystallized powder.

After confirming he wasn’t mistaken and carefully considering it, he shared his theory:

"We haven’t found any traces of others along the way, so I suspect a Superpower Zombie might have used some ability here to drain the energy from the other zombies' cores. Before they could recover, they were attacked and ended up like this."

Energy cores form to store energy and fuel zombie evolution, so it’s natural for them to be consumed and replenished.

Just like superpowered humans, they recover over time after overusing their abilities.

It’s just rare for humans to encounter zombies that drain their core energy to exhaustion.

"..."

"Huh?"

"This..."

The team’s faces fell at the revelation. The ability to drain crystallized core energy was terrifying:

Superpower Zombies are mutated from Superpowered humans. If they can drain zombie core energy, they can surely do the same to human Superpowered individuals.

Talk about nightmare fuel.

They were all Superpowered—they all had cores!

"Everyone, stay on high alert."

Jiang Nian’s tone was grave. This core-draining ability likely required some form of mental assault, so he began pushing his own superpower to its limits.

As long as they avoided mental attacks, his teammates would be safe.

Using his ability under such pressure would also hone his abilities.

The further they descended, the more zombies they encountered. The entire 3rd-floor hallway was packed with shambling zombies—some in white coats, others in hospital gowns or staff scrubs, men and women, young and old.

Among them were four Superpower Zombies: two with enhanced physiques, one fire-based, and one wood-based. Yet, they were still fragile and weak, couldn't even use their powers.

With a rotation of ice spikes, vines, steel needles, and Thunder Fire, the team cleared the hallway, leaving only ashes and the acrid smell of char.

Though the four Superpower Zombies' cores didn’t turn to powder at a touch, they were extremely fragile, crumbling to pieces with a slight squeeze.

After clearing all the zombies, Jiang Nian gathered the broken core fragments in another small vial.

Then, he cautioned the team once more:

"The lingering energy signature here is even stronger, and the signs are recent. Whatever did this is close."

Logically, the pharmacy building shouldn’t have such a varied group—they were probably zombies that either broke in or got drawn here after turning.

Cheng Jing thought for a moment and said:

"Up next is the pharmacy on the second floor. No signs anyone’s been here, but there should still be some supplies. Let’s search quickly, grab what we can, and leave... But safety first. If we spot any danger, retreat immediately—no unnecessary risks. We’ll regroup and plan again once we’re back on the surface."

A superpower this sinister is nothing to mess with. One wrong move, and they could fall into its trap.

"Understood."

They answered together. Leaving a nasty zombie down here was just asking for trouble. Eliminating it would be best, but if not, they’d report back to the command center and return later.

The atmosphere grew tense as the team descended the slanted staircase.

Jiang Nian—not exactly the offensive powerhouse—cocked his gun with a *click*, feeling fully prepared to lead the charge. He was ready to use his superpower to assist in suppressing fire and engage in a frenzied fight.

Sure, he was scared—but there was a sick thrill too.