198: Crystal nucleus

"And us, our family must stay together wherever we go," Ai Guosheng and Li Shilan said.

Ai Yue nodded, then looked at Gong Qiuqiu and said, "We can't follow you to Songzhou Safety Tower anymore. Once we finish things in Yingjin, we'll head over to your place."

There was no reluctance on Gong Qiuqiu's face; he still looked warm and gentle. "It's fine. It just so happens we don't have anything urgent back home. The two of us brothers will accompany you to Yingjin Safety Tower, and then we can all head back together."

Hearing this, Ai Yue also nodded in agreement.

And so, with Mo Li's meddling, the group diverted their path together toward Yingjin Safety Tower.

The further they walked toward Yingjin Safety Tower, the more Zombies they encountered. Moreover, as more time passed, the Zombies' bodies began to rot, emitting a foul stench.

"How are these Zombies getting more and more disgusting? The smell coming off them could practically choke someone to death!" Gong Qiumu said nasally, covering his nose.

"Yeah, it's worse than the foulest thing in the world! It's making me sick," Ye Rui said with a pale face.

Ever since she smelled the spreading scent of the Zombies two days ago, Ye Rui had vomited several times. Tortured by it, her body was currently very weak.

"It will only get more foul from here on out. You must force yourselves to accept it; it's better to overcome it early!"

"Sister Ai Yue, why are you completely fine? Everyone else's face looks more or less awful, so how do you look like nothing's wrong?" Ye Rui asked in discomfort, clutching her chest.

Even though there were no Zombies or smells around them, as long as she thought about it, it was as if she could smell that rotting, foul stench.

It was agonizing; she felt nauseous and was retching constantly.

Ai Yue's eyes flickered with a moment of confusion. Why?

Simply because she had grown used to it in her previous life. Now, thinking back, those dark memories felt like something that happened in a dream, hazy and unclear.

But smelling that familiar scent reminded her that what she had experienced wasn't a dream; it was all real.

Ai Yue was accustomed to this unbearable stench. Once, to survive, she had steeled herself and hidden directly inside a pile of Zombies, narrowly escaping a crisis.

Beneath the pile of Zombies, the stench was several times worse than usual, making her eyes and nose run uncontrollably. Yet, she didn't make a single sound, holding out for an entire hour purely through sheer willpower.

Perhaps because the exposure was so intense, from then on, Ai Yue was no longer afraid of the Zombies' unbearable stench.

When she smelled it again, she could remain calm.

Thinking of this, Ai Yue patted Ye Rui. "Smell it more; you'll get used to it over time."

"Ugh..." Hearing this, Ye Rui couldn't help but retch again.

Seeing this, Gong Qiumu also felt a wave of nausea.

The others looked away one after another, their eyes avoiding the retching Ye Rui.

Even the always composed Gong Qiuqiu didn't dare look directly at Ye Rui, fearing that the effort he'd put into enduring it for days would go to waste.

Their current location was still a day's journey from Yingjin Safety Tower. Thinking about the countless Zombies outside the tower, everyone's expressions darkened.

Previously, the Zombies they encountered were only in small groups. Even then, the smell they emitted was hard for everyone to handle, let alone the stench of countless Zombies altogether.

Just thinking about it made their skin crawl.

"Alright, let's keep moving. Let's not waste any more time," Ai Yue said, taking the lead and walking forward.

The others followed behind her as if resigned to their fate.

Even Mo Li, who had tricked them into going to Yingjin Safety Tower, was slightly pale. He squeezed his eyes shut and followed with determined steps.

After walking for less than an hour, the group encountered a large swarm of Zombies, numbering around two hundred.

"Whoa... that's quite a lot," Ai Guosheng remarked, clicking his tongue.

"Oh no, they're coming!" As the wandering Zombies caught the scent of humans, they all began to sprint frantically toward them. Ye Rui, desperate to keep them away, let out a scream and rubbed her hands together. A thick bolt of Lightning descended from the sky, striking the Zombie swarm.

The Zombie swarm was hindered by the Lightning and slowed down, but it didn't stop their advance.

Seeing that the first wave of Lightning wasn't effective, Ye Rui quickly called down an even thicker and larger bolt onto the Zombies' heads.

At the same time, Ai Yue and the others weren't idle either; one Superpower after another struck the Zombie swarm simultaneously.

After a flash of light, the Zombies all collapsed. Just then, a figure suddenly leaped out from among them, moving with incredible speed.

Before anyone else could react, the fast-moving figure was right in front of them in the blink of an eye.

The others also reacted, but it was too late. Just as the figure was about to pounce on Gong Qiumu...

...Ai Yue suddenly flashed in front of Gong Qiumu and sliced off its head with a single stroke.

Behind her, the shaken Gong Qiumu was pulled back by Gong Qiuqiu.

Gong Qiuqiu was also badly frightened, his palms drenched in sweat.

If Ai Yue hadn't saved him in time, his fate would likely have been grim.

Ai Yue didn't bother comforting them. Instead, she calmly squatted down and used her military knife to gouge into the Zombie's head.

With a flick of her hand, she extracted a white crystal, her movements so practiced it looked like she had done it thousands of times.

Ai Yue's actions left the others completely stunned.

"Ai Yue... what... what did you just dig out?" Mo Li stammered, at a loss for words.

Coming to his senses, Gong Qiumu also asked curiously, "Sister Ai Yue, how did you know there was something inside this Zombie? And what is this white crystal? It couldn't be the same as the transparent stone inside the Ancient Centipede, could it?"

Ai Yue tossed the white crystal in her hand and said with a bit of joy, "It's a good thing. This is even better than a transparent stone."

Gong Qiuqiu raised an eyebrow, his interest piqued. He took the white crystal from Ai Yue and held it up against the sun.

Staring closely, he discovered several colorful threads constantly drifting inside the white crystal.

"What is this?" he couldn't help but ask.

Ai Yue looked up, and after a long pause, she said, "This is the core of a Zombie. With it, Zombies become even more powerful. I call it a crystal core!"

"crystal core? How do you use it?"

"You use it the same way you use a transparent stone!" Ai Yue didn't hide anything. Since upgraded Zombies had already appeared, it wouldn't be long before someone figured out how to use them; it wasn't a secret.

"If it's so useful, we've killed so many Zombies before—why didn't you dig them out? What a waste!" Gong Qiumu cried out in a strange voice. After complaining, he dashed into the pile of Zombie corpses and began cracking open skulls one by one, searching for white crystals.