Chapter 403 - 401: The Place Is Very Different This Time

By dawn, just after 7:00 in the morning, the lab had already produced and delivered over a hundred bullets.

They also mentioned they had kept a small portion for other research.

That didn’t matter. Cole Kensington and the others made it back to the raft just in time.

Faye Yardley told the two of them about the upcoming Dungeon run, which brought varying degrees of pleasant surprise to both Lucy White and Cole Kensington.

For them, days with combat felt more secure, and it also meant they could improve faster.

’Only through battle can we prove our worth to her.’

Once the raft was back out at sea, Faye Yardley first called Logan Langdon. She told him directly that her researchers found his ore quite interesting and saw some potential for development, but the quantity was too small. She wanted to purchase a batch.

Logan Langdon had never met someone so frank in business. After a moment’s thought, he quoted a price he considered quite high.

gold coins for one ton.

Faye Yardley didn’t ask for much, just three tons.

Each piece of ore weighed a little over a pound.

That’s right—small in volume, but high in density and mass.

The transaction went smoothly. Faye Yardley didn’t think much of it, but Logan Langdon felt he’d sold it for too little.

She listed the item on the trade market, arranging for Shawn Lawler to pick it up on his way back from Lumina and deliver it to Franklin Yardley.

As for herself, she kept 20 pieces and gave them directly to Master Veridian.

Then she sent a team invitation, and the next time they saw each other, they were already in the Dungeon.

They had all put on masks beforehand, but upon entering, they still found the smell inside the Dungeon overpowering.

Master Veridian spoke softly, "I received the things you gave me. But it’s strange... your bullets can’t be made from just this one type of ore, right? There must be others. How about you give this old Daoist a little more?"

"I forgot. We’ll talk about it after we get out of the Dungeon. Right now, let’s figure out where we are and kill some zombies," Faye Yardley replied cautiously. She had to be careful; every time she entered a Dungeon, the system adjusted the difficulty based on her strength.

Fortunately, the place they arrived in was always a safe house—albeit only temporarily.

Without her needing to say a word, Cole Kensington and Lucy White were already carefully scouting the safe house.

The Wooden House was genuinely small, only about five or six square meters.

A simple wooden bed, a small square table with a missing corner, and that was it.

Even so, they managed to find a hatchet under the straw mattress on the wooden planks.

’Is that really all there is?’

Faye Yardley poked at the floorboards but found nothing unusual. Peeking through the small window, she came face-to-face with a pair of pitch-black eyes.

"There’s someone outside. Get ready."

The words had barely left Faye Yardley’s mouth when, with a BANG, the person outside smashed the small window open with a single punch.

Before the person outside could pull their fist back, Faye Yardley had already slashed down with Light Wound.

A blackened fist fell to the floor with a THUD, followed by a bloodcurdling scream from outside.

Cole Kensington had already slipped out through the broken window, moving like a shadow.

Soon, a chorus of screams rose and fell outside.

Faye Yardley and the others threw open the door, rushing out to join the fight.

Anyone who wanted to communicate peacefully wouldn’t have just smashed the window; they would have called out first.

Since they didn’t, and chose to solve problems with their fists, they had to be prepared for the backlash.

Only after all 13 people outside the Wooden House were dead did the Master ask uncertainly, "Were those all zombies? They looked like they’d returned to human form."

It wasn’t that the attackers were weak, either. After all, their own team was powerful, yet the attackers had put up a fight.

Lucy White crouched down to examine the bodies. "I don’t know. Their eyes have no whites. Maybe they’re mutated humans."

It was her first time killing zombies, so she didn’t know what the ones others had encountered were like.

Zephyr Sterling scrambled up the tallest nearby tree in a few quick movements. He scanned the area, his brow furrowed, then jumped straight down. "This isn’t good. We seem to be in a mountain forest. That Wooden House was probably a temporary rest stop for hunters or forest rangers."

The others had, of course, already taken in their surroundings, but they wondered if it might just be a large forest park.

Lucy White, however, was staring curiously at the corpses. "Faye, do you think the virus that turns normal people into... this... could also affect plants—"

FLAP FLAP FLAP—

A massive flock of birds, both large and small, dove at them from all directions.

A handful of talismans appeared in Master Veridian’s hand. With an unknown gesture, he tossed them upwards toward the flock. He shouted a single word, "Blast!" And just like that, the talismans exploded one after another like bombs. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

With a few leaps, Lucy White was already dancing across the treetops, her whip cracking as she reaped the lives of flock after flock of mutated birds.

"We need to pick a direction and go."

Faye Yardley glanced at Zephyr Sterling and the others. "Then follow me."

With that, she chose a direction and took off at a run.

The other four quickly followed.

In the forest, they naturally encountered all sorts of animals. The mutated birds, in particular, came in wave after wave; they seemed endless and fearless.

However, the group of five cut down everything in their path. The Blast Talismans were effective, but they made too much noise, quickly attracting even more mutated birds and beasts.

Although the journey forward was troublesome, they were all happy to see that trouble convert into points.

After all, the success of a Dungeon run was determined by the number of points earned.

On the peak of an adjacent mountain, three people stood watching the direction of Faye Yardley’s group through binoculars.

"Village Chief, the ones stirring up the mutated animals seem to be people. Yes, people—untainted by any pollution."

"How did they manage to stay completely uninfected by the virus?"

"Village Chief, should we go help them?"

The lean Village Chief, who had been silent until now, lowered his binoculars and shook his head slightly. "They don’t need help. And judging by their combat strength, each one of them is at least as strong as we are, if not stronger. It’s better to keep our distance."

"But... I think the older girl is the one we met in the city before. The one who left us good food..."

"And you want to let them see us in this ghastly state? Even if we told them we were normal, I doubt they’d believe it."

Hearing this, the man who had been advocating for a rescue lowered his binoculars. He hung his head, touching his own swollen scalp. None of his exposed skin was intact. With a sigh, he chose to remain silent.

After killing a mutated squirrel that had latched onto her, Faye Yardley felt something and looked toward the opposite mountain. Her gaze seemed to cross the vast distance and meet directly with the eyes of the person on the other side of the binoculars.

This startled the man, causing him to jump back and hastily lower his binoculars.

"Yardley, there are people over there. Should we go over?"

"No. They’re probably not High Tier Zombies. Let’s not bring them any trouble."

High Tier Zombies wouldn’t panic the moment you meet their gaze. They would only be cold and murderous.