Chapter 121

Chapter 121

However, when they pushed open the stairwell safety door on the second floor, they were met with a surreal scene:

The corridor of the second floor was still packed with swarms of Enhanced Zombies, stretching all the way to the stairwell leading downward on the other side. The doors of the various pharmacy storage rooms were also open, revealing that they, too, were filled with zombies.

The floor looked ready to buckle under their mass.

Yet, at this very moment, these zombies were frozen eerily, like statues, showing no reaction to Jiang Nian's superpower or the team's lights. Their heads were tilted back, mouths agape, venting a ghostly vapor.

A pure white, faintly glowing vapor drifted from the mouths of the grotesque zombies, some thick, others wispy.

With so many zombies venting this white mist, the entire second floor was steeped in a sickly white luminescence.

Worst of all, the white mist exhaled by the zombies all converged toward the center of the corridor.

There, a disheveled female zombie in a white lab coat stood with her head similarly tilted back and mouth open. The difference was that she was absorbing the energy-charged haze exhaled by her fellow zombies—and the closest to her were several Enhanced Zombies.

An unnatural pulse of energy emanated from her, casting the entire scene in a chillingly occult atmosphere, both horrifying and fascinating.

"This... ugh..."

Huang Qian gasped.

"Damn, what kind of Black Mountain Hag crap is this?!"

Liao Yu muttered under his breath, fighting a full-body shiver.

The others were equally horrified:

The zombies with drained cores had indeed been drained of their energy!

Zombies evolved and grew stronger because of the energy in their cores. Without it, they reverted briefly to their initial, fragile state.

"She's using her superpower to absorb the energy from her fellow zombies' cores, accompanied by mental hypnosis," Jiang Nian quickly warned the team. He’d nailed it—the female zombie's ability involved mental onslaught.

His teammates, shielded within the range of his superpower, couldn't sense it, but he could feel the resistance as his own ability battled hers.

After a quick assessment, Jiang Nian confirmed through his superpower that the female zombie was absorbing core energy after mentally hypnotizing her targets. As long as they avoided her hypnosis, they'd be safe—the situation was still under control.

Exchanging glances and hand signals, the team held their breath and observed for the moment, holding off on attacking immediately.

Mainly because the female zombie's ability was too damn freakish—she could hypnotize her own kind and forcibly siphon off their core energy, even disregarding their superpower attributes.

The real question was whether she had possessed this ability while alive or if it had mutated after she turned into a zombie.

Everyone had the same thought, and Zhao Lei whispered:

"If a human had this kind of superpower, why fear zombies at all? Just suck ’em dry and mop up."

No matter how powerful a zombie was, once its core energy was exhausted, it would turn back into weak-ass rookies.

Lu Ningzhou chimed in:

"Exactly. Zombies don’t have anything like Brother Nian’s Purify to assist them. Against this kind of attack, they’d be sitting ducks—just waiting to get juiced."

"..."

The team agreed it could work. Although Jiang Nian concurred, his mind went in a different direction:

This Superpower was indeed an excellent way to weaken evolved zombies, but even if successfully transplanted, it could only be used by one person at most.

However, if applied to energy extraction and conversion, and further research into the transplantation of Superpower Cores, it could create an entire Superpowered army—wouldn’t that be even better?

One person’s strength, no matter how great, was ultimately limited.

"......"

Locking eyes with the female zombie, Jiang Nian’s thoughts spun fast, his eyes gradually gleaming with excitement:

A drained Superpower Core grows brittle. Similarly, if energy was constantly absorbed or over-compressed beyond its limit, the core would explode.

In his previous life, some Superpowered individuals trapped in desperate situations had used their own Superpowers to force their cores to self-destruct—that’s how it worked.

Unless the energy hit a breaking point and was released again...

And if a Superpower Core could freely absorb and release energy, then it’s basically a conduit!

"......"

As the others watched, Jiang Nian swallowed hard, fighting back excitement as he whispered to his teammates:

"Later, attack the other zombies first. Don’t rush to deal with it—I want to observe whether it can release the absorbed energy again."

To avoid getting our hopes up for nothing, this confirmation was necessary.

"Absorbing and then releasing again... You mean?"

As Cheng Jing spoke, he also seemed to realize something, his breath catching briefly.

Jiang Nian took over:

"Right. If it can absorb Superpower Core energy and then release it again, then its Superpower Core possesses the properties of an energy medium."

Seeing the others’ somewhat confused expressions, Jiang Nian added:

"We’ll discuss this in detail once we’re back on the surface. In short, this ‘beauty’ zombie’s core is crucial—we must obtain it!"

"Got it!"

"Understood..."

"......"

The team exchanged knowing looks. Calling it a ‘beauty’? They were dead set on getting that core.

"......"

As the fog the zombies were spewing grew thinner and finally stopped, the female zombie, having absorbed her kin’s energy, spotted them. In the next second, it screeched—a sudden, ear-splitting wail without warning.

"!"

The team’s eardrums stabbed with pain. Without Jiang Nian’s Superpower shielding them, they would likely have been dazed for a few seconds and then been zombified.

The shriek was so loud, it was probably audible even on the surface.

The zombie horde seemed to snap to attention, their eyes locking onto them before surging forward in a frenzied rush.

Among them were many Superpowered Zombies, but having just been drained of energy left them badly weakened.

Gunfire and the explosive sounds of superpowered attacks instantly echoed through the hallway.

Though the female zombie was the leader, its attacks were weird, and with Jiang Nian present, it couldn’t touch them.

As the zombies were being eliminated, the female zombie continuously let out ear-splitting shrieks before stretching out its hands and placing them on two nearby Superpowered Zombies.

It released the white mist of energy it had absorbed earlier from its palms, returning it to its fellow undead.

"Holy shit! It can actually give the energy back!"

Liao Yu exclaimed. Guessing was one thing, but seeing it firsthand was a whole other level of shock.

The effortless absorption and release of highly stable core energy was just like in those martial arts flicks where skills were transmitted—truly an eye-opener!

"Bang—"

With a gunshot, Jiang Nian, having observed enough, blew the female zombie’s head off to forcibly interrupt its 'casting.' Then, he excitedly shouted,

"Alright, let’s do this!"

After speaking, he raised his gun again and opened fire at the zombie horde.

At the same time, the two Superpowered Zombies that had just reabsorbed energy underwent a transformation:

One’s hands turned into axe and sword blades, while the other’s rotting body bulked up and tensed.

With loud roars, they charged toward them at high speed.

With the zombies activating their superpowers, guns became less effective. Jiang Nian fell back, though his gaze remained fixed on the trampled female zombie:

That wasn’t just some random core—it was the turning point for humanity’s fate in this apocalyptic world!

At this moment, emotions running high, he felt like some kind of novel protagonist—seizing the initiative, securing resources, and turning the tide.