Chapter 28: Cooperation, Battle with a Tier-2 Zombie

With a single clash, both sides were knocked back.

But while the zombie only staggered half a step, Bian Changxi landed awkwardly, slipping on the smooth floor and tumbling right into a pile of pajamas—and onto a girl. She snapped coldly, “Don’t get in the way!”

The girl, however, pointed at the zombie, lips trembling. “Look!”

A chill crept up the back of Bian Changxi’s neck. Sensing danger, she didn’t even look back—just yanked the girl aside and rolled away. The spot where they’d just been was now pinned by two massive icicles, cold mist still curling off their surfaces.

An ability! This zombie had evolved an ability! No wonder there weren’t any other zombies on the street—this one had become the overlord.

Bian Changxi cursed inwardly. Zombies with abilities were smarter and far more difficult to deal with than ordinary ones of the same tier. And judging by its strength, this one was already evolving toward Tier-2. She herself, a fragile wood-type, hadn’t even managed to kill a single Tier-1 zombie yet. This was bad!

But even so, she had no thought of retreating. She told the girl to stay back, then turned to see the zombie’s mouth twitching—about to launch another icicle. Quickly, she sent a vine lashing out, wrapping the zombie’s body and arms several times over.

The zombie’s ability was interrupted, and it let out a disgruntled gurgle. With a casual flex, it snapped the vine as if it were nothing.

But Bian Changxi seized the opportunity. With a low shout, she leapt up and swung her axe at the zombie’s forehead. This time, she put all her strength into it—the blade sank in a full centimeter. The zombie finally flew into a rage, roaring and breaking free of the vines, then swung its arm at Bian Changxi.

She was sent flying into the wall, crashing down through layers of bras and landing hard. Her organs felt like they’d shifted, her head spun, and she clutched her left side, cold sweat pouring down from the pain.

No need to check—at least two ribs were broken.

But the zombie wasn’t doing well either. As Bian Changxi was struck away, she twisted the axe handle with all her might, the embedded blade flipping half the zombie’s skull open. Putrid brain fluid sprayed everywhere, revealing a mass of rotten brain tissue.

The zombie went berserk, its roar almost shaking the roof. Bian Changxi struggled to crawl into a corner, hoping to hide for a moment, but the zombie’s rage was locked onto her. It whipped its head around and lunged at her.

Bian Changxi gave a bitter smile, ready to escape into her farm space, when suddenly the girl—who’d been cowering in terror—let out a scream, grabbed the steel rod, and started wildly beating the zombie.

Bian Changxi was startled. The zombie turned its attention to the girl, reaching for her. Bian Changxi shouted, “Run!”

The girl opened her eyes and saw the zombie’s claws inches from her face. She screamed again, swinging the steel rod frantically as she tried to escape.

The two of them—one running, one chasing, one screaming, one roaring—made quite a scene. Bian Changxi broke into a cold sweat for the girl, knowing she couldn’t last more than a few seconds. Taking a deep breath and gritting her teeth through the pain, she sat up and sent another vine flying, this time wrapping the zombie’s raised left arm. She grabbed the fire axe and hurled it with all her strength.

“Duck!”

The girl instinctively ducked to the side.

The fire axe flew with tremendous force, severing the zombie’s left arm and smashing through the glass door, skidding several meters down the street before coming to a stop.

The zombie, carried by its own momentum, crashed to the ground.

Bian Changxi bent over in agony, but didn’t dare pause. “Stab—stab its brain! Mash it up! Don’t let it get up!”

“O-okay!” The girl hurriedly grabbed the steel rod again and jabbed it into the gaping hole in the zombie’s skull, stirring and stabbing until the rotten brain was nothing but mush. The zombie’s initial struggles weakened, then ceased altogether. It lay still.

Bian Changxi staggered to her feet, drew the straight blade from her back, and approached the zombie. “Alright, you can stop now.”

Without another word, she chopped at the zombie’s neck—seven or eight times before finally severing it. She collapsed to the ground, her face deathly pale. Even after catching her breath, the pain in her ribs was unbearable, and her throat tasted metallic, as if something was stuck. She coughed twice, her voice coming out hoarse.

She summoned what little wood-type energy she had left and directed it to her wounds.

After a few breaths, the pain eased a little. She reached out and pulled over two pajama tops, tossing one to the girl and using the other to wipe her own face. “Clean yourself up. Everything on a zombie is toxic.”

The girl was still in shock, staring blankly at Bian Changxi for a long moment before realizing she was covered in zombie brain matter. Shuddering, she hurried to wipe herself off. “That was terrifying—so terrifying! I didn’t know zombies were so… I thought I was going to die!”

After muttering for a bit, she finally calmed down. Noticing how pale Bian Changxi looked, the grime on her face all the more striking, she produced two bottles of mineral water seemingly out of thin air, handing one to Bian Changxi. “Here, wash up. Wiping isn’t enough.”

Bian Changxi gave her a surprised look.

“I—I have an invisible storage space. I can keep a lot of things in it,” the girl said, smiling shyly and a little nervously.

Bian Changxi replied coolly, “I noticed.” She didn’t refuse, twisting open the bottle to take a couple of gulps before pouring some out to wash her face and hands.

The girl was puzzled by her calmness. “Ah—you’ve seen other people with this ability?”

“Yeah, I have.”

The girl let out a sigh of relief, muttering, “So lots of people have it. I guess it’s not that rare. That’s good.” Then she smiled. “You’re amazing. I was with that zombie for so long and never noticed anything. You saved me. My name’s Lin Rongrong. Can I know yours?”

“Bian Changxi.”

“You’re Bian Changxi?” Lin Rongrong looked astonished.

“You know me?”

“I’m from S University too! I’ve never met you, but I’ve heard about you.” Realizing they were from the same school, Lin Rongrong relaxed a bit, giving Bian Changxi a once-over with her pretty eyes. “You’re not like what people say at all.”

Even at S University, where there were plenty of rich kids, there weren’t many female students who partied, caused trouble, and gave the teachers endless headaches. Bian Changxi was practically a cautionary tale—many whispered she was hopeless, a parasite on society. But really, most of it was jealousy over her background and looks.

Strictly speaking, her only real “faults” were changing boyfriends often, being a bit arrogant, and supposedly not being very filial—at most, a rebellious kid, not even a real delinquent.

Lin Rongrong had only heard the rumors, but now, meeting the real person, she could tell at a glance that Bian Changxi was someone with hidden depths—a strong and courageous girl.

Stronger than her, stronger than the group she’d been with before.

Bian Changxi gave a faint smile. “I haven’t heard of you, though.”

“I’m just an ordinary student. There are tens of thousands at S University—how could everyone be known?” Lin Rongrong noticed Bian Changxi’s hoarse voice and asked worriedly, “Are you alright?”

Bian Changxi shook her head. “I’ll be fine.”

From Lin Rongrong’s actions, Bian Changxi could tell she wasn’t outstanding, but neither was she a pampered, useless girl. She hadn’t asked why Bian Changxi was alone or how she could summon vines—either she was very discreet or just well-mannered.

Bian Changxi searched her memory, certain she’d never met Lin Rongrong before, in this life or the last, and let the matter go.

She dug around in the zombie’s skull, scraping out an object. Lin Rongrong nearly gagged, pinching her nose but still curious. “Changxi, what are you doing?”

Bian Changxi rinsed it clean with mineral water—a green, glowing crystal core.

A wood-type green core!

Bian Changxi was stunned, then secretly delighted, but soon gave a wry smile.

Because it was a Tier-2 green core.

Crystal cores are graded by color, size, and purity. Experienced people can tell the grade at a glance. Later, powerful bases would develop instruments to measure them. Bian Changxi could tell at once this was a Tier-2 core.

The problem was, she’d only awakened her ability a day ago and was still at the very beginning of Tier-1. She didn’t even have a single Tier-1 green core yet. The energy in this Tier-2 core was far too much for her to use.

And yet, it was a wood-type core—perfect for her. She couldn’t bear to just feed it to the farm for absorption. If it had been a white core, she wouldn’t have hesitated to use it to upgrade the farm, but this… she just couldn’t bring herself to waste it.

Happy May Day, everyone! Don’t forget to check for updates during the holiday. If you can spare a vote or a tip, that would be wonderful. Okay, just ignore that last part~~ o(>_"