Chapter 186: Chitchat

Chapter 186: Chapter 186: Chitchat

Yvonne Ford squeezed Sean Barnes’s hand in return, letting out a soft chuckle as she leaned against the man’s broad shoulder.

She knew very well that Captain Dawson not only had to plan the superpower upgrades for every member of the squad but also had to feed several mutated plants and animals. If they didn’t seize every opportunity to farm Crystal Cores, there simply wouldn’t be enough resources for everyone to level up. It was true what they said—you never realized how fast Crystal Cores were consumed until you were the one managing the household.

Now that their Fierce Tiger Squad had been integrated into the Special Operations Department, all Crystal Cores obtained from killing zombies would be centrally collected by the logistics department. Any Crystal Cores subsequently needed by Superpower Users to rank up or restore their superpowers would be allocated and arranged entirely by Dylan DuPont.

Furthermore, since the authorities had already bombarded several uninhabited zones on the outskirts of the cities with heavy weaponry, the military and the Superpower Users of the Special Operations Department had never been short of Crystal Cores. At least during this initial period, they didn’t have to worry about running out of supplies.

Inside the Marauder, the group leisurely admired the unique apocalyptic scenery outside the windows.

The woods beyond the glass had long lost their former appearance, unfurling instead into a wild landscape of explosive biological growth.

Once tiny and pure white, the dandelions now grew taller than a full-grown adult. Their fluffy seed heads were the size of millstones. When they swayed in the wind, they didn’t scatter light, airy seeds, but silver-grey needles that gleamed with a metallic sheen, capable of piercing tiny holes into the withered grass where they landed.

The creepers clinging to the tree trunks had also completely mutated. Their emerald leaves had swollen into fan shapes the size of a human hand, lined with jagged, backward-facing hooks along the edges, while the vines themselves were as thick as a grown man’s arm.

The surface of the vines oozed a thick, dark purple sap. Whenever mutated insects accidentally brushed against them, they would instantly be tightly ensnared. Pungent black smoke would quickly rise wherever the sap dripped, making one’s scalp tingle with dread just watching it.

In addition, large, never-before-seen species could occasionally be spotted darting through the woods, and the flocks of birds in the sky had grown increasingly dense.

But these ubiquitous plants and animals had long since departed from the forms etched in human memory, becoming so bizarre that they were nearly unrecognizable.

Luna Dawson retrieved the exterior thermometer and checked it. Negative eighteen degrees Celsius.

Just as she pulled her hand back, she caught sight of a group of red frogs, each the size of a basketball, their skin gleaming with an eerie luster. As they hopped away into the woods, an inexplicable sense of unease rippled through her heart.

She frowned. "What’s the date today?"

"The twenty-third. Why?" Miles Dawson was the first to react, answering quickly.

Kevin Keane let out a soft sigh. His gaze fell upon Luna’s face as he spoke with a solemn tone, "The Dry Summer Season is coming. The climate is about to change completely."

Lynn Shelby was still engrossed in the interface of the wristband on his arm. He had just uploaded the video of last night’s giant Fourth Rank zombie to the Mutation Circle, and he now looked up with a complicated expression.

"It’s not just the climate. The flora and fauna have already completed a massive population boom during the Cold Wet Season. If we transition into a dry season, the scarcity of water and vegetation will likely make these mutated animals much more irritable, and their aggressiveness will spike."

Aaron Palmer drove with intense focus, his ears twitching slightly as he silently listened to the group’s conversation.

"It’s so weird. Why don’t any of these plants or animals get infected by the zombie virus? Only humans mutate into zombies!" Miles said, his face full of worry as he recalled the gruesome state of the zombies they had encountered before.

Kevin wrapped an arm around Miles’s shoulders, softly comforting the younger man. "You should be thankful that not every species gets infected. If plants and animals turned into zombies too, it would only be harder for humanity to survive."

Luna leaned back, adjusting into a more comfortable posture. Her gaze swept over everyone in the vehicle before she spoke slowly. "Ever since the virus carried by the meteorite landed on Blue Star, it’s as if humanity has become a species abandoned by the Creator.

"Every living creature on the globe has undergone varying degrees of mutation. After mutating, ninety percent of plants and animals contain certain neurotoxins within their bodies. And these toxins are only harmful to humans. Other flora and fauna can coexist harmoniously with these toxins; whether it’s absorbing or metabolizing them, they process them completely normally.

"The biological food chain has long been rearranged. Plants grow and evolve faster than animals, and animals survive and reproduce better than humans. You could say that humanity is now truly at the very bottom of the food chain.

"Therefore, animals can eat these mutated plants normally, but humans can’t. Zombies are different, however. They are already dead things, relying entirely on the primal instincts of their brains to devour carriers containing Crystal Cores in order to rank up and evolve.

"Everyone should have noticed earlier that zombies will actively devour mutated cockroaches containing Crystal Cores. Yet, a cockroach bitten by a zombie won’t turn into a zombie cockroach.

"This morning, I revealed to Francis Grant that my space has a preservation function and that I have some original, unmutated seeds, fruits, and vegetables stored inside. After hearing that, he directly gave me three Fourth-stage Crystal Cores in exchange for providing some samples to the base’s Academy of Agricultural Sciences. I’ve already agreed."

Hearing this, a flicker of worry inevitably flashed across the faces of everyone in the car.

Miles was so anxious he raised his voice. "Luna! How could you agree to that? Aren’t you afraid they’ll slice you up for research?"

Kevin lightly rapped Miles on the head and sighed helplessly. "Your sister’s value alive is far greater than if she were sliced up for research. Besides, our base’s style of doing things isn’t completely without a bottom line."

Miles rubbed the spot where he’d been hit, looking bewildered. "Brother Finn, how do you know that?"

"In the early stages, thermal weapons could inflict massive, widespread damage on zombies. Do you think the commander just casually ordered the bombing of urban areas? Every single zone he ordered to be bombarded had already been completely evacuated of all survivors beforehand," Kevin explained. He then patted Lynn, who was sitting in the passenger seat. "How large is the base’s population now?"

Lynn immediately operated his wristband to access the official channel, refreshed the data, and replied, "Nine hundred and twenty thousand."

"You see, Cameron Grant hasn’t even given up on searching for those potential survivors scattered all over the place. Let alone a first-tier spatial Superpower User with immense talent like your sister. The leadership will be too busy treating her like a treasure; how could they possibly risk offending her?" Kevin added.

Luna blinked, looking at Kevin with a half-smile. "It seems the two of you have been studying my wristband quite seriously. Don’t worry. Next time, I’ll figure out a way to get wristbands for everyone, so that every person in our squad has one."

"Yeah! That’s awesome!"

"Luna, you’re the best!"

Aaron and Miles immediately cheered in excitement. Their voices of gratitude rang out one after another, as if the wristbands were about to be delivered right that very second.

Luna was speechless. She had just fed them an empty corporate promise, yet they were showering her with emotional validation.

Lynn turned around and addressed the group seriously. "Actually, that Fourth Rank Aberrant from last night wasn’t an isolated incident. Over in South Kensington, similar mutated zombies have appeared before in two zones that had already been evacuated. It’s just that the photos and videos released after the bombings only featured zombies at the Third Rank and below. Their sizes were nowhere near as massive as this Fourth Rank one."

As he spoke, he operated his wristband to pull up the relevant footage, paused it, and held it out for everyone to see.

"It actually has an exoskeleton?!" Luna clicked her tongue as she looked at the seven-to-eight-meter-tall zombie corpse in the video, half of its body blown away to reveal a white, gleaming exoskeleton. "Did it put all its rank-up skill points into defense?"

"That’s roughly the idea," Lynn nodded in explanation. "After the bombings concluded, the people from the research institute specifically instructed the logistics team of the Special Operations Department to harvest and retrieve these exoskeletons. They’re hoping to use the materials to manufacture vehicle armor and combat suits to boost our defensive capabilities."