77: Chapter 77 Why didn't you say so sooner?

The residential complex gate was tightly shut, with fifteen or sixteen zombies wandering inside.

"Someone's finally here." A man popped up at the security booth window.

Xu Yu walked over and pushed the window open, "Are you a soldier?"

"Yes." The man stepped out of the security booth. Originally, orders were given for everyone to retreat, but in reality, one person had been left in the security booth of every residential complex, along with enough food to last a month.

"My name is Qiao Quan. Are you a survivor squad or an official squad?" Qiao Quan observed them carefully; this group looked somewhat like they had professional training, but also somewhat not.

Xu Wanning looked at him, "A survivor squad, the Dawn Squad." Qiao Quan—she hadn't met him in her past life and didn't know if he was strong, "Have you awakened a Supernatural ability?"

Qiao Quan nodded, "Yes, but it's not a very powerful ability. It's the speed type." He said, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Wen Shuyang laughed, "That's actually quite powerful. At the very least, when you encounter danger, you can run faster than others."

Qiao Quan nodded, "You're right about that."

Xu Yu stared at Qiao Quan for a long time, "Are you coming in with us? We've accepted a mission to clear this residential complex."

This guy's physique was on par with his brother-in-law's. It was truly enviable; he had spent so much time at the Gym and still hadn't reached that level.

"No, I'm responsible for recording the squads that come to the complex and whether they actually complete the mission. Once you've finished clearing it, just let me know, and I'll stamp the mission sheet, and that'll be it."

Qiao Quan held up the stamp in his hand, "It's a mandatory procedure."

Everyone nodded, understanding. This was the authorities' way of preventing people from pretending to go around for a walk, when in reality they hadn't done anything, and then returning to claim points.

Now that the internet was cut off, there was no way to transmit information back in real-time, so it had to be done manually.

Xu Yu spotted a loophole, "You can stamp it while you're alive here, but what if the soldier left at another complex has mutated into a zombie? Wouldn't that make it impossible to get a stamp?"

Qiao Quan glanced at the driver who had driven them over, "That won't happen. The driver also has a stamp, and he has to stamp it too."

The driver of the minibus smiled and shook the stamp in his hand. They were only responsible for their own duties and didn't care about anything else.

"Let's go, let's get in." Xu Wanning took two steps back, then took a running start, braced herself against the gate, and jumped over.

"Cool!" Xu Yu praised loudly, then followed his sister's example, stepped back, took a running start, and leaped over.

The others also began to prepare; although they didn't know if they could make it, they had to try.

After being stunned for a moment, Qiao Quan raised his hand, "Um, I can open the small gate here directly; you don't need to climb over."

The group, who were just about to climb over, collectively lost their momentum, nearly twisting their ankles and falling flat on their faces, "Why didn't you say so earlier?"

Qiao Quan walked over to open the gate, "You guys didn't give me a chance to speak." He had known for a long time that the gate in the complex had both electric and manual access; he just assumed everyone knew.

He went over and pressed a button, the small gate opened immediately, and the group filed in.

Xu Wanning pretended not to hear what they were saying, focusing her energy on killing zombies.

In her past life, she was used to using a sword, so using a bow and arrow suddenly felt like it couldn't keep up with her rhythm.

She simply put the bow and arrow away, took out the sword Grandpa Zhou had given her, and charged at the zombies.

Xu Yu followed excitedly, as if playing a video game, only it was the live-action version.

"Everyone, pay attention! Attack the zombies' heads. Cutting off their necks is best; if you can't, stab them in the brain."

Zombies in the early stages of The Apocalypse had crystal nuclei, but they were low-level. They were basically all ordinary crystal nuclei, with very few Supernatural ability crystal nuclei.

Upgrading a Supernatural ability required quite a few crystal nuclei. Upgrading to Level 1 required 100 primary crystal nuclei, and upgrading to Level 2 required 100 Level 1 crystal nuclei. Furthermore, survivors could only absorb at most 10 crystal nuclei per day, meaning it would take at least 10 days to level up.

This was under the premise that they could get crystal nuclei every day; most people couldn't get them at all.

All squads performing missions were required to hand in the crystal nuclei, which would then be distributed.

Ordinary people didn't need crystal nuclei, so they were exchanged for points. Ability Users who needed crystal nuclei could use points to exchange for them, creating a circulation system.

Xu Wanning's squad was given special treatment and didn't have to hand over the crystal nuclei.

Since it was everyone's first time killing zombies, they were more or less hesitant to strike. Xu Wanning set an example for them and then stepped aside.

Grandpa Zhou, Zhou Ke, and the apprentices were bolder and rushed over immediately. They were all martial artists and were very comfortable using swords and blades.

Early-stage zombies moved slowly and reacted slowly, making them very easy to kill.

"Grandpa Zhou, you guys step back. Those who didn't take action earlier, come over and use your weapons to dig the crystal nuclei out of the zombies' brains." Xu Wanning pointed at the six zombies on the ground.

Wen Shuyang, Lu Zhiyu, and the others widened their eyes. Asking them to dig into zombie brains... they, they really didn't want to do that.

But as established before, Xu Wanning was the team leader, so everything was up to her. Besides, she was having them dig for crystal nuclei to train them.

After steeling themselves mentally, the group walked over to the zombies' heads and plunged their blades in.

"Ugh."

"Ugh."

Sounds of retching rose one after another. It wasn't just the people digging who were vomiting; the people watching on the side were vomiting too.

Once all the crystal nuclei were dug out, they used their sword tips to rake them together. They looked like diamonds and were actually quite pretty, all milky white.

Xu Wanning collected the crystal nuclei directly into a box. She wouldn't wash them yet; she would wash them after they returned. Washing crystal nuclei required water from a Water-Type Ability User; ordinary water couldn't clean them properly and could easily leave viral residue.

Outside, it was better to save their Supernatural ability; she would have Zhiyu use her water to wash the crystal nuclei after they got back.

The group made their way to Building 5 and looked up at the building.

"Sis, do you think that brat Jiang Heng is still alive?" Xu Yu leaned over to Xu Wanning's side. He was smiling, but his eyes were full of worry.

"He's alive." Xu Wanning didn't believe that the big shot from her past life would die so easily in this lifetime.

Sure enough, just as she finished speaking, the window of 501 on the fifth floor was opened. Jiang Heng poked his head out and waved downwards, "Sister Ning, I'm here!"

Xu Yu raised his arm and waved vigorously, "Wait there! We're coming to get you right now."

"Got it!" Jiang Heng ducked back inside.

Their voices attracted the attention of survivors on other floors. Some opened their windows, saw them, and shouted excitedly, "Save us too!"

Xu Wanning took out a loudspeaker, "All survivors, pay attention! We are here to clear out the zombies. If you have zombies in your home, stick a piece of paper on the window. If you know the number, write it down; if you don't, you don't need to write anything."

She did this to know in advance which homes had zombies and to be mentally prepared, so as to avoid being attacked by hidden zombies after entering.

The survivors began to post papers one after another. Some people, in rooms without paper or pens, used lipstick or similar items to write numbers on the windows.

Xu Wanning raised the loudspeaker, "For those without paper, use something colored; lipstick or anything like that on the window is fine. We are starting the cleanup now. Everyone don't panic, we will go to every building."

After speaking, she handed the loudspeaker to Chen Lei (the apprentice), "Chen Lei, Zhao Kai, Zhiyu, Yangyang, you four stand guard at the entrance. If anything goes wrong, use the loudspeaker to shout."

"Yes!" The four of them immediately stood on both sides of the entrance.