Chapter 377: Chapter 176 HP Soars_3
But now, things had changed. If the flames were alone on the zombies, they might not burn for long before going out. However, the current flames were on the weeds, and these weeds were highly flammable. The zombies couldn’t avoid the flames amongst the weeds at all. As long as the weeds didn’t stop burning, they could burn the zombies to death.
“Let’s wait it out,” Wang Tao said, “hopefully by tomorrow the fire will have died down…”
None of the three, including Wang Tao, were planning on sleeping.
After all, with the current situation, sleep was out of the question, and since their level 2 ascension, the necessity for sleep had greatly diminished. An occasional all-nighter wouldn’t impact their mental state much.
They spent the whole night in the car, watching the fire burn.
It wasn’t until the light of dawn began to appear that Wang Tao finally let out a sigh of relief.
What he was most worried about were the Night Demons coming at night.
Wang Tao was uncertain whether the three of them could take on a level 3 Night Demon alone. But he knew if there were more than two, they would have to run. Night Demons weren’t solitary zombies—they tended to come in groups… Luckily, nothing happened that night.
The flames in the reservoir were still burning, but had significantly weakened and were now mostly concentrated in the middle of the reservoir. Everywhere else was a bare and charred stretch. Among the ashes, many crystal cores sparkled under the reflection of the flames.
“Let’s go, pick up the crystal cores!”
The surroundings were empty, any dangers could be seen at a glance, so Wang Tao led Jiang Shixue and Xu Xiaojun down without hesitation.
“Level 2 Rush, Level 2 Self Detonation, Level 1 Self-heal…”
Looking at these crystal cores, Wang Tao’s grin was almost ear to ear.
And it wasn’t just the crystal cores—they also found loot packs from the zombies they had killed before. Only after gathering these packs did Wang Tao realize that yesterday, he had killed 32 level 2 elite zombies!
Then, comparing the number of packs to the amount of crystal cores, Wang Tao realized he had only killed a small fraction of them! Together, the three of them had picked up more than eighty crystal cores!
Which meant that at least fifty or more zombies were burned to death,
Thinking about it, he felt somewhat pained—after all, that was potential HP and loot packs! If he had killed those zombies too, Wang Tao’s HP would definitely be close to 30,000!
At the same time, Wang Tao was a bit worried in his heart.
Given the current state of affairs, it was clear there must be at least one level 3 zombie here!
And it might be similar to the Green-eyed Zombie, one that could cultivate other zombies!
Such a zombie could perhaps be called… a “Mother” zombie?
Wang Tao felt this moniker was very fitting.
As for where this Mother zombie might be… Wang Tao looked towards the center of the reservoir, where the flames were still burning. If nothing unexpected happened, the Mother zombie might be right there!
What puzzled Wang Tao was that the other party didn’t roar or make any moves, as if it had been burned to death.
But that seemed unlikely, considering that the level 1 and level 2 zombies had all put up some resistance, yet this level 3 zombie showed no sign of struggle whatsoever?
After clearing up the area, Wang Tao and his two companions returned to the shore.
“Let’s wait a bit longer. Once that central fire dies down, we can see what’s going on inside,” Wang Tao said.
“Okay.”
Both Jiang Shixue and Xu Xiaojun naturally had no objections.
But their wait lasted until noon.
Wang Tao had just drunk a few bottles of nutrient fluid when Jiang Shixue pointed towards the reservoir and said,
“It’s out.”
“Let’s go take a look!” Wang Tao said without hesitation, grasping his axe as he walked.
In the very center of the reservoir was a pile of ashes, looking as if a lot of weeds had been there before.
After scattering the ashes, they found no crystal cores.
“Could there really be no level 3 zombies? Impossible…”
Wang Tao was puzzled; he felt that his guess should have been correct…
Xu Xiaojun, wielding his Giant Axe, was clearing the ashes when he accidentally hit the ground.
Thud—
Something about that sound was off!
Xu Xiaojun suddenly exclaimed,
“There’s a hollow underneath!”
“Hollow? Could the level 3 zombie be hiding underground? Keep digging!”
Soon, they revealed a large slab underneath the ashes.
The slab had holes in it, and looking through the holes showed pitch darkness within, unclear what was inside.
Wang Tao glanced at it but didn’t see any HP information.
“There is more to this than meets the eye…,” Wang Tao hesitated for a moment before telling Xu Xiaojun, “Smash it open!”
“Okay!”
Wang Tao and Jiang Shixue stepped back a bit as Xu Xiaojun lifted his Giant Axe high and brought it down hard on the underground slab.
Bang!
Crumble—
After a loud sound, dust rose, and the surface slab shattered instantly.
Prepared for what would come, Xu Xiaojun immediately ran to Wang Tao’s side.
The three prepared for combat.
But after a moment of waiting, nothing seemed to happen. Once the dust settled beside the broken slab, Wang Tao cautiously approached.
“Hmm? An entrance?”
Wang Tao was somewhat surprised.
He had thought there might have been a pit of some kind with zombies hiding inside.
But to his surprise, there was a slanted hole leading downward, large enough for him to fit through.
“Is the level 3 zombie hiding in there?”
Wang Tao’s eyes glinted green as he noticed the hole wasn’t straight but curved, making it impossible to see to the end.
Wang Tao hesitated about whether to go in.
Rationally speaking, he shouldn’t. The risk didn’t seem to match the potential reward – he knew neither the possible benefits nor the dangers inside.
If there was an undamaged level 3 zombie inside, they might not even be able to defeat it.
However, just then, Wang Tao spotted some plants deep within the hole at a glance. Upon closer inspection, they were mushrooms and they had a name!
[Strength Mushroom x1]
[Strength Mushroom: Crafting material, edible. Eating it provides a temporary boost in strength, but causes hallucinations for a certain period.]
“Strength Mushrooms? That sounds familiar… Aren’t they the core ingredient for crafting a small Strength Potion!”