35: Loot and Sweep

To gather items and intelligence faster, the three of them split up, each rushing toward a different building.

Lin Fei chose a two-story building that looked like a grocery store.

He kicked open the rotting wooden door. Inside, the shelves were toppled, and merchandise was scattered across the floor, covered in a thick layer of dust.

The air was filled with dust and a faint scent of blood.

"Woof! Woof!"

The moment he stepped into the shop, a black shadow lunged from behind the overturned shelves! It was extremely fast, carrying a foul stench.

It was a mutated Doberman, nearly twice the size of a normal one. Its fur had fallen off, revealing rotting muscles and grayish-white ribs.

"Zombie Hound?" Lin Fei said in surprise.

The Zombie Hound's sharp fangs were stained with dark brown, filthy blood.

If it were an ordinary person facing an attack from a Zombie Hound the size of a calf, they would likely be knocked down and have their throat bitten through on the spot.

You have to know, this thing doesn't feel pain, and once it bites, it won't let go.

But who is Lin Fei? Five times the Hulk!

He didn't even blink. The instant the Zombie Hound lunged at him, he seemingly casually raised his right leg, moving after it but arriving first, and delivered an incredibly precise whip kick that landed squarely on the Zombie Hound's waist!

Bang! It sounded like a grenade exploding; the power of the kick directly shattered the air. A snow-white shockwave, much like in anime, swept in all directions.

Snap! Accompanied by a teeth-grinding crunch of bones, the fierce Zombie Hound let out a short whimper. Its massive body flew backward like a twisted cannonball, its waist unnaturally contorted and deformed, crashing heavily into the opposite wall.

Boom! The entire wall cracked, and the Zombie Hound exploded, turning into a smear of zombie hound paste all over the wall!

【Killed Infected - Berserk Zombie Dog, gained 150 EXP.】

【Endless Source passive activated, Spell Power +2.】

"Oh ho!"

"Killing these grants more Spell Power, not bad!"

Lin Fei shook his leg and continued deeper into the shop without changing his expression.

Behind the shelves, an old cash box was half-open. Inside were some moldy paper bills and a dozen scattered, coin-shaped copper objects emitting a faint glimmer.

These paper bills glowed slightly, clearly items meant for collection. When Lin Fei touched them, he discovered that they were actually physicalized killing coins!

【You have obtained 153 killing coins.】

"Every little bit counts."

Next, he rummaged under the counter and found half a box of dusty 9mm Tier 3 pistol ammo, as well as a bottle of rubbing alcohol with a blurry label. These things were useless to him.

"Honestly, if I hadn't come in here with ten-thousand-fold vitality, this would have been really difficult!"

"The amount of guns and ammo you can scavenge here is pitifully low. This map is definitely much harder than the previous two."

The difficulty of this map lies in the fact that resources aren't as abundant as in a modern city. Plus, the zombies don't feel pain, are very aggressive, and have thick health bars.

On the other side, Lin Mengzi was even more relaxed. She stood at the entrance of a residential house, not entering herself, but raising her slender, jade-white finger to command her loyal Undead Counter-Strike soldiers.

"Go in and collect everything of value," Lin Mengzi ordered.

The five undead soldiers first saluted. Unfortunately, they didn't say the word "Loyalty!" This left Lin Mengzi slightly disappointed.

Then, they marched in one after another with neat yet stiff steps. They knew no fatigue and feared no danger. They were perfect scouts and porters.

"Hrrgh—!" As they pushed open a bedroom door, a zombie's roar suddenly erupted from inside!

Immediately after, a female zombie wearing pajamas rushed out of the bedroom, acting incredibly crazed. She lunged with bared fangs and brandished claws at the nearest Undead Counter-Strike soldier.

However, a strange scene occurred. As the female zombie reached them, her cloudy eyes seemed to freeze for a moment. She looked at the "peer" in front of her, who also exuded Death Qi but was well-equipped.

A look of confusion actually appeared on her face? It was as if she were saying: "Huh? One of us?"

The Undead Counter-Strike soldier didn't care about any of that. It had no thoughts of chivalry either. Its programmed combat instructions activated instantly.

It raised the assault rifle in its hands, aiming the cold muzzle at the female zombie. Bang! Bang! Two muffled gunshots rang out.

The bullets, empowered by Lin Mengzi's 180+ points of Spell Power, had power far exceeding ordinary firearms and emitted a faint, ghostly purple hue as they whistled through the air.

The female zombie's head exploded like a watermelon, spraying red and white matter everywhere.

【Soul Siphon: Absorbed Soul fragments, Spell Power increased by 1 point.】

【Current Spell Power: 186 points.】

Lin Mengzi nodded in satisfaction. The undead continued their search mission, soon bringing out some canned food, a few bottles of clean water, and a small jewelry box from the house.

The canned food indicated it could restore some health and could be used as a consumable. As for the water, it could quench thirst or perhaps stave off hunger. Only the jewelry box could be exchanged for some killing coins upon extraction. The other items weren't very useful.

As for Xu Zhengyang, he was quite lucky. He carefully searched a garage and found some usable wrenches and screwdrivers. While prying open an old safe, he actually found an item emitting a purple light.

It was an antique teacup valued at 70,000 killing coins!

"Pretty good luck!" Xu Zhengyang quickly stuffed the item into his secure case. This way, even if he died, he could still bring this item out to reality, sell it, and exchange it for killing coins.

"After going out, this can be exchanged for 70,000 killing coins; that's almost the profit of an entire mission. This is awesome!"

Moreover, he was very lucky; the place he entered didn't have many zombies.

Meanwhile, toward the western entrance of the town, the sound of gunfire became increasingly intense.

"Fire the... Boom!" Boom! A grenade exploded! A small group of zombies was blown away, flames soaring into the sky, but they didn't die.

The three members of Blackwater Team 2 were currently backed against several abandoned cars, struggling to fend off the zombies swarming in from all directions.

"Damn it! Who the fuck told you to shoot? You've drawn all the zombies in the area here! You idiot!" The Team 2 leader, a mercenary with a slicked-back hairstyle, roared at a young team member beside him while reloading his magazine.

"Sorry, Captain! I saw the zombies lunging over and fired instinctively!" The young team member said, his face pale as he tried to defend himself.

"Shut up! You have zero common sense!" "Use Tier 3 ammo! You moron!" Another team member pushed him, his tone anxious.

"Tier 3 ammo is so expensive! It's too wasteful to use on these ordinary zombies! Besides, I don't have much Tier 3 ammo left!"

"It's all your fault! If it weren't for your reckless shooting, how would we have ended up surrounded!"

"What was I supposed to do? The zombies were lunging over! If I didn't shoot, I would've been bitten to death! Besides, you should be blamed for not watching that direction!"

"Holy shit! You're still talking back!"

The team was shifting blame among themselves, and their firepower significantly weakened. The zombies were closing in, and the stench of decay was almost about to drown them.

"Stop arguing! Is this the time for arguing?" the Team 2 leader cursed angrily.

"Woof! Woof!" Several faster Zombie Hounds lunged from the side!

"If you don't want to die, shut your mouths and fight!"

Rat-tat-tat! They poured out their firepower, but even with great difficulty taking down the Zombie Hounds in front, it was useless. The intense gunfire had already drawn even more zombies.

Watching the roaring horde of nearly a hundred zombies surrounding them, the three of them felt a bit desperate. Just at this critical moment!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Three grenades with flaming trails whistled in from behind them like precision artillery shells!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Violent explosions erupted within the zombie horde! Flames soared into the sky, and severed limbs flew everywhere! The dozen or so zombies at the very front were instantly blown to pieces!

The shockwave of the explosion even sent the Blackwater team members staggering.

Barton's two-meter-tall, burly figure appeared at the street corner. He was holding that modified heavy gun painted with flame patterns, the muzzle still smoking.

As for these grenades, they didn't consume his own ammo; it was a skill he had just unleashed at Lv5, called Grenade Strike. It recharged once every 25 seconds, and could fire three rounds at once!

"A bunch of trash! You can't even handle a few ordinary ones!" Barton's voice was like a booming bell, his face filled with anger and disdain.

He rushed forward in a few steps, his heavy assault rifle roaring, its powerful firepower sweeping down a swathe of zombies like mowing grass.

But the number of zombies was truly too high. Just as he cleared an open space, more zombies from behind filled it up.

"Retreat! We can't waste ammo here! The places to resupply ammo in this area are limited! We must conserve it!" Barton roared. Although he had saved Team 2, he clearly didn't want to continue tangling with this group of zombies either.

"Let's go!" Barton spat, and after regrouping, he led Team 2, fleeing in a sorry state toward another direction.

His team member threw a gasoline barrel they had picked up earlier and shot it, causing it to explode. Pfft! The barrel exploded, igniting a ghostly blue flame that instantly turned into a temporary wall of fire to block the zombies.

Although those zombies didn't feel pain, faced with the wall of fire and thick smoke, they still instinctively wanted to go around.