“Dad… Dad…”
The Red-Clothed Little Girl’s voice sounded strange and hoarse. Everyone present felt a twinge of unease.
The Old Driver swallowed. “No way.”
Then the sturdy-bodied porter suddenly bent down again to pick up the sledgehammer from the ground before slowly turning around to face the four of them.
His eyes rolled back unnaturally, his gaze unfocused. His mouth hung slightly open in a dazed, mindless expression.
If not for his skin still being its normal color, his demeanor would have been identical to a zombie’s.
Mu Shan and the other three quietly backed away, putting distance between them and him.
“Can you take him?” Mu Shan asked in a low voice.
“You think too highly of me.” The Old Driver gripped his crowbar tightly. “Even all three of us auxiliaries combined couldn’t handle that muscle monster.”
At that moment, the only one with any combat ability, the fortune teller, was still half-crippled and sprawled on the ground.
…What a harsh reality.
The zombie horde had been drawn away by the soccer ball. The Red-Clothed Little Girl hid behind Wang Wei, peeking out to watch them quietly, like a child who had found her parent.
Her eyes clearly lacked pupils, yet Mu Shan felt that she was looking right at her, with a scrutinizing gaze.
She already had her “dad,” so the next one…
“Roar—!” The porter suddenly went berserk. He swung the massive meteor hammer and charged, like a maddened elephant.
The three dodged left and right, unable to counterattack at all.
Wang Wei’s 40 points of strength made every swing of his hammer crater the ground. The bricks Cao Cheng threw were effortlessly crushed, like toys.
Mu Shan relied on her petite frame to duck under his arm and evade the wildly flailing sledgehammer.
“Idiot, snap out of it!” The Old Driver tried to counter with his crowbar but was sent flying by a single hammer blow. He hit the ground and spat blood.
Cao Cheng clutched two red bricks in his hands and retreated step by step, his legs trembling uncontrollably.
“I deduce, aaah, save me—!”
As the porter raised his massive hammer high, poised to smash the Brick Expert’s skull in the next instant, everyone closed their eyes.
…
One second, two seconds.
The anticipated scream never came.
The Old Driver held his breath and slowly opened his eyes. He saw Cao Cheng standing there dumbstruck, legs shaking, wearing a look of lingering terror.
In front of him, the porter sat cross-legged on the ground, head bowed, fiddling with something.
A set of Nine Linked Rings toy had abruptly appeared in Wang Wei’s hands. He fumbled with it clumsily, the iron rings clinking against each other.
【Player Mu Shan (Collector) used item on Wang Wei (Porter): Nine Linked Rings
Opponent player’s mental value below 35 points
Item activated: Forces play of Nine Linked Rings for 1 minute】
Amid the shocked gazes of the others, Mu Shan stood up. She held the Viking Battle Axe, stained with zombie blood, in both hands and slowly turned around.
In the next second, she charged at the zombie little girl with all her might.
【You used skill on mutant zombie: You’re Still Pretty Good
Any attacks from the target toward you are nullified for 1 minute
Daily uses remaining (1/2)】
Mu Shan had never imagined that one day she would go into close combat in front of a mutant zombie.
She swung the axe viciously at the Red-Clothed Girl’s pale eyes. The sharp blade sliced open the little zombie’s body, leaving only a thin strip of flesh connecting her slender arm.
Black blood sprayed across half of Mu Shan’s body. She wrenched the axe free from the bone crevice with both arms and retreated several steps.
In the next second, something terrifying happened again.
Even with her arm nearly severed from shoulder to elbow, the mutant zombie did not die. The arm, connected by just a layer of skin, regenerated in defiance of biology. Reddish-black muscle tissue grew rapidly, as if with intent, knitting back together almost flawlessly in seconds.
The Red-Clothed Little Girl flashed her a pitch-black smile, her mouth shape forming “Mom… Mom.”
Mu Shan gritted her teeth and tightened her grip on the axe handle.
The Old Driver clutched his injured stomach and shakily stood. He shouted hoarsely, “Brick Expert, think of something!”
Cao Cheng was completely dumbfounded. He flailed helplessly, pounding his forehead as he racked his brains. “I think, I think…”
Meanwhile, Mu Shan charged again and kept hacking relentlessly—axe after axe, without pause.
Even as the mutant zombie’s old wounds remained unhealed and new ones piled on, she stood motionless, utterly indifferent to the attacks.
【Skill countdown: 50, 49, 48…】
Mu Shan’s stamina had reached its limit. She panted heavily, drenched in cold sweat.
In front of her, the little zombie’s neck had been severed by the axe. Her entire head lolled onto her shoulder, connected only by a flap of ragged skin at the cervical vertebrae cross-section. Yet she maintained this horrific form and slowly revealed a smile.
“Mom… Mommy…”
【Nine Linked Rings countdown: 33, 32, 31…】
The group sweated profusely.
Once Wang Wei broke free from the puzzle toy’s control, he would become the little girl’s “dad,” and they would never get close to the mutant zombie again.
“Can’t kill her at all—what do we do!” The Old Driver’s eyes turned bloodshot with anxiety.
Wang Wei was already furiously close to dismantling the Nine Linked Rings when suddenly Mu Shan pulled something from her backpack, gripped it, and rushed forward.
The zombie little girl stood motionless, smiling at her futile action, as if she had foreseen that this attack, like the dozens before, would amount to nothing—no gore, no severed limbs.
Everyone’s movements froze in that instant.
“Heh heh.” The zombie little girl looked down and saw Mu Shan merely jabbing a syringe into her own chest.
The sharp needle pierced the skin effortlessly, and the blue liquid inside quickly injected into her body.
Two seconds later, Mu Shan released her grip and backed away several steps.
At that moment, the Nine Linked Rings and skill countdowns both hit zero.
The Old Driver gripped his crowbar tightly and watched the porter shakily stand.
Yet he made no further moves.
Mu Shan held her breath, staring unblinkingly at the Red-Clothed Girl in front of her.
Three seconds, two seconds, one second.
The mutant zombie suddenly opened her mouth and vomited a mouthful of black blood with a “wah.” Her body, which had withstood endless blows unscathed, now oozed blood nonstop.
Black blood poured from the zombie girl’s eyes, nose, ears, and mouth, nearly turning her red dress black. Those perpetually pale eyes finally showed a human emotion.
—Fear.
【Item Card: Zombie Serum Tube (consumable)
Quality: Common
Use: Direct injection
Description: One of the research achievements from C City Digital Medical Research Institute
Note: Effects unknown】
In merely ten seconds, the Red-Clothed Little Girl melted into a puddle of viscous black blood and vanished completely before her eyes.
Mu Shan gazed at the stinking, oil-like unidentified mass on the ground, still shaken.
Items from the Card Album were always useful by default. Fortunately, she hadn’t subconsciously assumed this Zombie Serum Tube was a healing drug and misused it on a human…
Once the last finger segment dissolved into black sludge, a system kill notification finally refreshed in front of Mu Shan.
【Player successfully killed Mutant Zombie (Queen Egg)
Mental +30
Gold coins +100
Perfect kill: Gold coins +50, Safe House Gift Pack x1, Penrose Stairs x1
Queen Egg: Psychic mutant zombie. Player approval rating (death rate) 79%
“Just a little more, and I could have become queen.”】
Such a handy item—Mu Shan silently prayed in her heart for another tube of serum to drop.
Though she knew, given the main god’s nature, the chances were slim.
The wind calmed, and the waves stilled.
The hundreds of zombies still surged after the soccer ball, chasing farther and farther away.
The temporarily safe group tacitly collapsed on the ground to rest, no one speaking.
Mu Shan didn’t examine the item attributes closely, nor did she ask if the others had received kill rewards. After this battle, she lacked even the slightest extra strength. Her arms felt as limp as noodles.
Who was that close-combat berserker swinging the axe earlier? Definitely not me.
About two minutes later.
“…Any good Samaritan to give me a hand?”
Porter Wang Wei sat up clutching his forehead. “I feel like puking—like I just finished eighty sets of math tests by force.”
The fortune teller lay on the ground and said flatly, “You might as well go die.”
Wang Wei: “…”
The Old Driver wailed as he stood and limped toward the wrecked minibus. He inspected it front to back and let out a long sigh.
“Totaled. Let’s see how many parts I can salvage.”
“While it’s still early, let’s find another car and head to Building Materials City.”
Only then did the group stir, gathering sluggishly like snails.
“Speaking of which, should we deal with that zombie pile?”
While the Old Driver handled the minibus wreckage, Mu Shan pointed at the horde on the riverbank trampling and biting each other just to chase the soccer ball.
They ignored the fresh flesh right under their noses.
“Leaving gold coins on the table feels wasteful,” she added.
The fortune teller waved dismissively, looking utterly serene in his near-death state. “You guys go ahead. My poison just cleared; I can’t move yet.”
Wang Wei still clutched his head in agony—likely suffering aftereffects from mental control plus the Nine Linked Rings.
The Old Driver was busy dismantling parts, and the Brick Expert gave a shy smile and shook his head, signaling he wouldn’t join.
Mu Shan had no choice but to walk onto the bridge alone. She gazed at the ferocious “soccer superstars” and pondered.
The Peashooter was still on cooldown, moisture at (33/100). Besides, its projectiles couldn’t kill the entire horde.
After a thought, Mu Shan pulled out the magnesium fire starter.
This was a basic camping tool. She first scraped off the oxidized layer on the magnesium rod with her multi-tool knife, then struck it hard a few times to produce sparks.
But the sparks fell on the grass and failed to ignite.
It had rained these past couple days; the grass and plants were all sodden.
Mu Shan tried another spot. This time, the sparks landed on the corpse oil from the mutant zombie and ignited instantly, bursting into roaring flames.
That pitch-black, sticky oil made the perfect accelerant.
Mu Shan picked up a relatively dry tree branch, dipped it in the corpse oil to make a torch, and approached the zombie horde.
They “heh heh, aaah”-ed while chasing the soccer ball, utterly indifferent to the fire catching on their bodies.
In a sense: true soccer diehards.
The flames spread from one to a group, quickly turning the hundreds-strong zombie mound into a “living volcano.” Thick smoke blotted out the sky amid the crackling of burning zombie limbs.
Mu Shan watched the spectacular scene from afar.
Too bad about the Old Driver’s soccer ball—a great item, irretrievable now.
【Gold coins +1 +1…】
The system prompts flashed nonstop until Mu Shan selected ‘mute.’
【Player unlocked achievement: Crematorium
Killed at least 200 zombies by burning
Strength +1
Rebirth Mantra x1
Confirmed with a glance: the woman your ex can’t catch.】
The Old Driver salvaged every usable part from the car with a mournful expression. The group found the largest off-road vehicle by the roadside and continued toward Building Materials City.
It was already 11 a.m.
Exhausted and starving, they slumped in their seats, looking more wretched than one another.
Fortunately, all the zombies along the road had been gathered and controlled by the Queen Egg, then burned away by Mu Shan. The path ahead was spotless.
The Old Driver drove with a cigarette in his mouth and remarked wryly, “Daoist, your divination was spot on. Quite the ‘thrilling but safe’ trip.”
The group fell silent. Shu Yongzhi gave a dry laugh.
Feng Wei said sincerely, “All thanks to little sis Mu Shan. Without your final item, we’d probably all be goners back there.”
Cao Cheng nodded too.
Shu Yongzhi straightened up. “You even used an item to save the porter. Good thing this big lug has low mental stats, or he’d already be playing cheap dad to that little zombie.”
Wang Wei’s old face reddened. He scratched his head awkwardly. “…Looks like I still need to work on my brains.”
Mu Shan smiled. “You’re welcome. Actually, everyone put in a lot of effort. Helping each other between players is the most important thing.”
Having just escaped with their lives, the group’s atmosphere relaxed.
Mu Shan took the opportunity to ask the fortune teller, “Big Brother Shu, can your talismans be traded?”
Shu Yongzhi was quite surprised. “Of course you can have them if you want. It’s just that my current skill success rate is rather low, and I can’t draw any attack-type ones for the time being.”
The two discussed it briefly and agreed to complete the trade after returning. Mu Shan exchanged two yellow talismans at the discounted price of five gold coins each—one that boosted speed and one that boosted defense.
Scenery sped past outside the car window. Everyone closed their eyes to rest, and the only sound in the compartment was even breathing.
Mu Shan used a tissue to wipe the zombie black blood from her hands and face, then simply cleaned her jacket before quietly checking the items she had obtained earlier through the system.
She would check the Safe House gift pack after getting back.
【Penrose Stairs (Support Type)
Quality: Rare
Description: A geometric paradox. A staircase that always goes upward or downward, never reaching an end. It can fuse with any scene.
Use: When others’ spirit value is lower than the owner’s, there’s a 100% chance they’ll fall into an infinite loop trap. The probability decreases if it exceeds.
Remarks: Commonly known as ghost hitting the wall】
Given Mu Shan’s current spirit points of as high as sixty-six, she figured its feasibility was very high.
【Rebirth Mantra (Support Type)
Quality: Excellent
Description: After playback, it reduces resentment value for spirit-body monsters and randomly produces an immobilization effect.
Use: Requires a player or musical instrument as a medium.
Remarks: Rebirth amid blazing fire】
At this point, Mu Shan still hadn’t obtained any attack-type items besides the Peashooter.
But these two things were both very useful, and she was quite satisfied deep down.
Another ten minutes passed, during which they encountered no obstacles.
“We’ve arrived at Building Materials City. Get out of the car,” the old driver said.
They parked the vehicle in an abandoned parking lot and got out one by one, carrying small carts, ropes, and other tools.