Chapter Twenty: A Swift Resolution

By the time Yang Xueli led the group to Lin Lei’s position, Lin Lei had already exchanged for a second pig leg bone to continue luring the zombies.

The zombie lure volatilized incredibly quickly, so much so that even the system couldn’t preserve it—it could only be exchanged for and used one time per use.

“What is that smell? Just sniffing it makes me feel like I’m on the verge of a breakthrough,” a first-level Evolver said, his face intoxicated as he gazed at the pig leg bone hanging in the air.

Ordinary people might not sense it, but Evolvers—especially those about to reach a new level—were extraordinarily sensitive to it.

“It’s just an illusion. It can’t increase your cultivation, so don’t be fooled, or you’ll end up like those zombies,” Yang Xueli warned them.

She herself had nearly fallen for it earlier, so it was necessary to remind the others. If anyone got greedy and tried to shoot Lin Lei for it, she’d be in a very difficult position.

“To think there’s actually such a magical tool for luring zombies! What a pity there are only three—if we had more, we could wipe out all the zombies in Haifeng City easily,” Yang Chunxi sighed.

He’d already gotten a rough idea from Yang Xueli, so he wasn’t as shocked as the others, but couldn’t help expressing his amazement. Lin Lei’s surprises never ceased.

“Let’s get to work—these zombies are all supplies!” Chen Haonan urged impatiently. He cared for nothing but food and ammunition.

“Everyone, spread out, fix bayonets. Quick and decisive!” Yang Chunxi ordered.

He knew that their window for safe combat was only twenty minutes. Once the lure wore off, if they hadn’t wiped out most of the zombies, they’d be in for a bitter fight.

All two hundred or so men closed for melee combat. At first, everyone was tense, crowding together to guard against a zombie counterattack. Then, someone accidentally knocked over a zombie, and when it got up without attacking him, everyone realized that the zombies had truly lost all reason—their only goal was the unreachable lure in the sky.

So the group spread out, slaughtering the surrounding zombies. Some of the bolder, ordinary survivors even followed the Evolver squads, hoping to reach the base of the corpse mountain and reap their share.

The outer ring of the corpse mountain was swarming with zombies. They formed a thick wall, expanding the base of the mound, making it hard to reach the real foot of the pile.

Yang Xueli, wielding the laser greatsword, charged at the front. With a single swing, seven or eight zombies perished instantly. A flash of white light, and the bodies vanished, leaving a small gap in the corpse wall.

But in less than a second, other zombies were jostled into the gap by their fellows, filling it instantly.

“Like to squeeze, do you? I’ll let you squeeze all you want! Big Brother, focus your attack on the zombies to the left—leave the right side to me!” Yang Xueli had an idea and gave her instructions to Yang Chunxi.

His younger sister was already a third-level Evolver, and with such a weapon in her hand, there was no danger in facing mindless zombies. Yang Chunxi agreed, leading his team to attack the left.

Dozens attacked at once, each killing a zombie, quickly opening a five or six meter gap.

Then, a laser longsword thrust forward, slaughtering three zombies at once and coming to rest on the far right of the gap. Any zombie squeezed in from that side and touching the blade vanished in a flash of white light.

Yang Xueli didn’t even need to swing; the zombies ran into her sword themselves.

“Keep attacking! Don’t let the gap close!” Yang Chunxi ordered again.

As long as the gap stayed open, zombies would keep forcing their way in. Yang Xueli hardly needed to exert herself—zombies came to die at her feet.

At the same time, widening the opening gave everyone more room to fight—a win-win.

With over two hundred people, there was no need for frantic searching or desperate struggle. Hunting zombies became easy and fast.

On average, each person killed a zombie every five seconds—2,400 in a minute. In just over ten minutes, the corpse mountain was leveled. The only ones left were those outside a five hundred meter radius, scattered in small groups, who hadn’t caught the scent of the lure—easy enough to mop up.

The speed of the battle was thanks in part to the lure, but the automatic collection function was equally crucial. There was no need to climb the corpse mountain—just stab wildly at the base with bayonets, and the mound gradually melted away.

However, this led to tremendous waste. They didn’t care if the zombies were dead or alive—if they hadn’t vanished in a flash, they’d stab them again, chopping many trampled zombies into chunks.

“System, can you recycle zombie fragments?” Lin Lei, hovering in the sky, couldn’t help but ask.

“Not just fragments—even minced flesh! As long as you can put them in your storage space one at a time, I can recycle them at full price,” the system replied.

The system calculated by material value, not object value—a pound of flawless porcelain or a pound of shattered shards were the same to it.

“Damn! If they’re all in bits, when will I ever finish collecting them?” Lin Lei complained.

He wasn’t a cultivator and couldn’t use spiritual sense to gather them all at once. He could only rely on his hands.

There were hundreds of corpses in pieces on the ground. How long would it take to pick them all up by hand?

“Forget it, I won’t bother. Most are only level one zombies, worth just a few contribution points anyway.” In the end, Lin Lei decided to be extravagant.

Level two zombies were tougher, and few were crushed to death—let alone the deeply buried level three strength-type zombie, who was still vigorous when dug out, focused only on grabbing the pig leg bone from Lin Lei.

Level three strength-type zombies had formidable defenses, impervious to normal weapons, and it was Yang Xueli’s laser greatsword that finally beheaded it.

Descending from the sky, Lin Lei manually collected four level three zombies, a few relatively intact level two corpses, and then ignored the pile of shredded meat.

“Lin Lei, why don’t these zombies vanish automatically?” Yang Chunxi, watching Lin Lei collect bodies, couldn’t help but ask.

“These ones died from being trampled by their own kind, not by us—so they can’t be auto-collected,” Lin Lei replied.

“That’s some impressive power, being able to distinguish suicide from homicide. But… those three level three zombies, my sister and I killed them—why can’t you collect those?” Yang Chunxi pressed.

“The power of contract can’t collect zombies above level three,” Lin Lei improvised.

“What’s this contract power?” Yang Chunxi persisted.

“Why should I tell you? Why so many questions?” Lin Lei replied impatiently.

“Hey! Don’t get cocky with me! We’re about to be family, so I need to get these things clear. Otherwise, how can I trust you with my sister?” Yang Chunxi retorted, refusing to give in.

He knew prying into others’ secrets was taboo, but the man before him was about to become his brother-in-law—he couldn’t afford to lose ground.

“Family?” Lin Lei was dumbfounded.