“The zombies are increasing.”
Lin Weiran continuously unleashed her fire-type ability. Only after incinerating all the zombies within her line of sight did she finally allow herself a brief sigh of relief. Her gaze instinctively shifted toward the mayor on the other side.
“Are those Tier 3 zombies really here?”
The mayor’s eyes turned toward the distant high-rises.
There, several dark figures were swiftly leaping toward them.
The mayor’s expression grew serious. “They’re coming!”
As he spoke, the Tier 3 zombies were now only a few hundred meters away from them. Their ghastly pale faces, twisted and mangled with torn flesh, became increasingly clear.
“Ability user Lin, ability user Si, ability user Zhao, and Sun Wan, you all come with me! Focus all efforts on taking down those three high-tier zombies!”
“The rest of you, clear out the regular zombies! Do everything you can to stop them from getting on the bridge!”
At such a critical moment, no one dared to ignore the mayor’s orders.
Even Si Zhe retreated to a position where he could follow commands, instantly unleashing a lightning strike upon the most agile Tier 3 zombie with the highest jumping ability.
For a time, the battlefield was orderly and methodical:
The mayor, a user of earth-type abilities, took on the strongest zombie alone.
Si Zhe and Lin Weiran, Sun Wan and Zhao Zhenyu—two pairs working in silent coordination to deal with the remaining two.
Although Tier 3 zombies were formidable, they hadn’t evolved to an overwhelmingly powerful level.
Five Tier 2 ability users, plus over ten Tier 1 ability users… At their current offensive pace, they would soon be able to claim the three Grade 3 crystal stones as expected.
That is, as long as no one had ulterior motives.
“mayor! Watch out!”
Suddenly, Sun Wan shouted, momentarily halting her attack.
At that critical moment, the zombie she had been dealing with seized the opportunity, springing up violently to evade Zhao Zhenyu’s water blade. With terrifying speed, it leaped onto the bridge and shot toward the distance.
Zhao Zhenyu clutched his injured arm, which had been kicked, and glared at Sun Wan. “You let it go!”
Sun Wan ignored him and ran straight toward the mayor, who was on the verge of losing.
“Mayor, I’ll help you!”
With her intervention, the mayor’s burden was significantly eased, and the arm that had nearly been clawed by the zombie was narrowly saved.
Zhao Zhenyu gritted his teeth in frustration. He wanted to chase the fleeing Tier 3 zombie but didn’t dare to confront it alone.
He hesitated on the spot for a long moment before cursing under his breath, then begrudgingly turned back to continue dealing with the endless waves of ordinary zombies.
This entire scene was clearly witnessed by Si Zhe and Lin Weiran.
Amidst the battle, Lin Weiran leaned against Si Zhe’s back and whispered, “She did it on purpose.”
She deliberately let that Tier 3 zombie escape.
But why? What could the mayor gain from letting it go?
Si Zhe whispered, “There are still two ability users guarding the end of the bridge.”
What use were two Tier 1 ability users?
Wait—Lin Weiran’s mind suddenly sparked.
“If one of them is actually a Tier 2 ability user…”
She abruptly turned her head, glaring furiously at the mayor’s back.
At this moment, she finally understood the mayor’s true intentions.
All that talk about handing over two Grade 3 crystal stones was nothing more than empty words to lure them into fighting to the death!
As long as his people guarded the end of the bridge, they could easily harvest a Grade 3 zombie’s crystal stone. Then, by pretending to have let the zombie escape, they could perfectly pocket the crystal stone for themselves!
“Weiran, stay calm.”
Si Zhe’s steady tone had a strangely soothing effect, and Lin Weiran quickly forced herself to regain composure.
“The most important thing now is to take down the zombie in front of us.”
They had already been played. The only remaining crystal stone—they had to get it!
“I understand.”
The battle at the front of the bridge continued, while those at the rear remained completely unaware of what was happening here.
At the far end of the bridge, the two Tier 1 ability users stood guard—one gripping his weapon on alert, while the other lazily sauntered toward Su Su, who was still inside the parked vehicle.
“Get out of the car!”
“Why should I?” Su Su asked calmly. “I have no abilities. If I get out and encounter a zombie, what if I get injured?”
“Don’t worry, I won’t let you get hurt.”
Zhang Er tossed a crystal stone Zhao Zhenyu had given him, grinning slyly. “I was just told to make you suffer a little, that’s all.”
Su Su immediately understood. “Zhao Zhenyu, isn’t it?”
“Doesn’t matter who! The point is, you’re getting out of the car today, one way or another!”
Zhang Er yanked open the car door, grabbing Su Su’s arm forcefully, attempting to drag her out.
“Hiss—”
“AHH! What the hell just bit me?!”
Zhang Er let out a blood-curdling scream. When he looked down, he saw a pitch-black venomous snake coiled tightly around Su Su’s arm!
Its two fangs had just been pulled from his skin. Almost instantly, Zhang Er’s lips turned dark purple and black!
“Bro! Bro! I got bitten by a snake!”
From a short distance away, Zhang Da, who was keeping watch at the bridge entrance, frowned. “What nonsense are you spouting? Where the hell would a venomous snake come from here?!”
Though he reprimanded his brother, his steps still moved toward him instinctively.
Su Su hadn’t expected Xiao Hei to strike so suddenly. She wanted to stop it, but it was already too late. In a hurry, she pushed the black snake back into her backpack.
“Hide quickly!”
She had personally witnessed the lethality of Xiao Hei’s bite. Wu Zhi, a Tier 2 ability user, had died instantly—let alone Zhang Er, who was only a Tier 1 ability user.
He wouldn’t last long. Zhang Da would soon realize that it was Xiao Hei who had killed his brother!
“Bro… gurgle… gulp… save me!”
Zhang Er collapsed halfway to the ground, white foam bubbling from his mouth. His words were already incoherent.
Zhang Da rushed over in a panic.
“What happened? You’re poisoned?!”
He grabbed Zhang Er’s arm and saw the two distinct fang marks from the venomous snake. Looking up, his gaze locked onto the black snake that stubbornly refused to hide in the backpack.
“You little beast! So it was you!”
But in just this brief moment of delay, Zhang Er’s pupils had already dilated, and his body had stopped moving entirely.
Zhang Da let out a grief-stricken roar, his bloodshot eyes snapping toward Su Su. “You wretch! You’ll pay with your life for my brother!”
Sensing danger, Su Su grabbed Xiao Hei, jumped out of the car, and bolted in the opposite direction.
She ran for several hundred meters, but Zhang Da’s retaliation never came.
Instead, she heard a blood-curdling scream.
Turning back, she suddenly saw a Tier 3 zombie within her field of vision.
No one knew when it had arrived. Taking advantage of Zhang Da’s pursuit, it had ambushed him from behind—its evolved hand piercing straight through his heart.
“Ugh!”
Zhang Da stiffly lowered his head, staring at the pale, bluish-white arm that had punched through his chest. A wave of regret surged in his heart.
He shouldn’t have—shouldn’t have turned a blind eye to Zhang Er accepting that bag of crystal stones.
If Zhang Er hadn’t agreed to collude with those outsider ability users, he wouldn’t have provoked the woman the mayor had his eyes on, and he wouldn’t have died to a venomous snake’s bite.
And he, himself, wouldn’t have let his guard down and forgotten that his real task was to deal with the Tier 3 zombie the mayor had let slip.
It was supposed to die at his hands.
But now—it was he who had died at its hands.
Thud.
The Tier 3 zombie yanked out Zhang Da’s heart and stuffed it whole into its mouth.
As for his corpse, it didn’t even spare it a glance before charging straight toward Su Su.
“It’s a Tier 3 zombie!”
Recognizing what it was, Su Su’s eyes widened in horror, her body instinctively trembling.
She wanted to run—but her rational mind screamed at her: she couldn’t escape.
At this short distance, it would only take an instant for it to leap in front of her and rip her heart out the same way.
Su Su forced herself to stay calm.
“I still have my ability… I can control it…”
All the remaining white light within her body surged wildly toward the Tier 3 zombie.
The moment it made contact, the zombie, which had been leaping at high speed, suddenly froze mid-air, then crashed straight to the ground.
It worked!
Su Su’s eyes lit up, but almost immediately, she felt her ability draining at an alarming rate.
The zombie on the ground seemed to realize it had been restrained. It struggled violently, roaring in fury, its arms pressing against the ground as it attempted to push itself up.
Large beads of sweat rolled down her forehead.
Su Su clenched her teeth, desperately squeezing out every last drop of her ability, but the white light continued to fade.
No! She wasn’t even a Tier 1 ability user!
Against a Tier 3 zombie, this was already her absolute limit!
As she watched the zombie lift half of its body off the ground, despair crept into her heart. Had she been reborn, only to die even sooner than in her previous life?
Had she been too reckless? Should she not have followed these ability users out here?
No! What was wrong with fighting for her own survival?!
A powerful refusal to submit erupted from deep within her, and in that instant, the white light flared again.
The zombie’s eyes clouded with confusion for a few seconds.
But it was nothing more than a final burst of strength from an exhausted bowstring. She had no means to finish it off.
She didn’t even dare to approach. It was still struggling, its arms clawing wildly at the air—if she got too close and let her guard down for even a second, it could rip her heart out in an instant.
Desperation filled Su Su’s chest.
Her trembling hands reached for Xiao Hei, intending to throw it far away—preferably off the bridge, where no one could find it.
But she grabbed at nothing.
At some point, Xiao Hei had slithered off her body.
“Xiao Hei!”
Su Su shouted in panic, only to see the snake “gliding” across the ground, heading straight for the Tier 3 zombie.
“Xiao Hei! Come back! It’ll tear you apart!”
But the black snake ignored her.
Its cold, vertical pupils stared at the zombie for a few seconds—then suddenly, its mouth opened wide!
A massive blue fireball erupted forth!
In an instant, it engulfed the restrained Tier 3 zombie.
Under the suppression of the white light, the zombie didn’t even have the strength to resist. It let out a final, agonized howl as it was reduced to ashes.
Su Su stood dumbfounded.
She had completely forgotten that Xiao Hei could breathe fire.
It was a snake with an ability!
“Xiao Hei…”
Su Su’s legs gave out, and she collapsed to the ground.
She stared blankly at the snake, now visibly weakened after unleashing its fire.
Summoning all the strength she had left, she crawled over to where the zombie had turned to ash and scooped Xiao Hei into her arms.
“Thank you… thank you so much!”
Tears pattered down uncontrollably. She was not a strong, brave, or rational warrior—she had made it this far purely by refusing to give up.
But at the brink of death, it was this seemingly insignificant black snake that had saved her life.
Only after the overwhelming fear and gratitude subsided did Su Su finally remember to check Xiao Hei’s condition.
“Are you okay? Did you get hurt anywhere?”
The black snake lay limply in her arms, its crimson tongue flicking out weakly.
Su Su lifted it up, carefully turning it over to examine for injuries, but after a long look, she found nothing visible.
“Did you exhaust your ability?”
If that was the case, a few hours of proper rest should be enough for it to recover.
Finally breathing a sigh of relief, Su Su relaxed her arms and shifted backward—only to press down on something hard.
“Wait… what’s this?”
A strange feeling surged in her chest. Lowering her gaze, she saw the “stone” lying among the ashes.
But it wasn’t just a stone.
It was an orange-colored crystal.
Orange—a Grade 3 crystal stone.
Su Su’s heartbeat instantly sped up.