Natalie Russell
Tenth Layer of the Supernatural Realm
-Bang, pew, bang—
Gunshots rang out continuously. The middle-aged man's marksmanship was very accurate, with almost no shots missed.
What was surprising was that even the large-caliber Desert Eagle could not cause effective damage to the monster.
The monster directly charged forward, shrugging off the bullets, and pounced towards the middle-aged man again. At this moment, Natalie finally saw clearly what the monster was.
Its appearance was very similar to a zombie, with large areas of its body rotting and a hideous face. Even from the wound on the monster's chest, one could see its beating heart.
Natalie recognized what kind of monster it was at first glance. Professor Isabel Grant had taught them that, among the vast zombie population, a small number of mutated zombies would appear, referred to by locals as "Mutated Zombies."
Compared to true monsters, mutated zombies might be weaker. However, once a zombie mutates, its brain becomes active again, develops some intelligence, and it could control ordinary zombies.
Even before, when she heard survivors talking among themselves, Natalie guessed that the monster around the convenience store was very likely a mutated zombie.
Only a mutated zombie can control other ordinary zombies. Thus, the six zombies loitering in front of the convenience store were an obvious clue.
Furthermore, mutated zombies gained certain abilities after mutation. Some had increased strength, others speed. And some could even conceal their presence when standing still.
At this moment, Natalie's gaze was fixed on the mutated zombie. She was analyzing the mutated zombies' strength in front of her because their strength varied.
They evolved over time. Some powerful mutated zombies were even as strong as those terrifying monsters.
...
-Bang
Another gunshot rang out, and this shot was very loud.
Natalie, with her sharp senses and eyes, saw that it was a young woman on the roof behind her who had fired the shot. And the gun in her hand was an AWM sniper rifle.
This sniper rifle was used with .338 Lapua Magnum bullets, which had considerable power. Moreover, the young woman's marksmanship was also very precise. The bullet directly hit the zombie's head.
However, the imagined scene of a head burst did not occur. The bullet actually got stuck in the mutated zombie's skull. The power of this shot could even penetrate steel plates, yet it failed to penetrate the mutated zombie's skull.
Everyone who witnessed this scene was greatly shocked, including Natalie, who was somewhat surprised.
However, there was no time for everyone to ponder at this moment.
Because the mutated zombie seemed enraged.
It let out a howl, abandoning the middle-aged man, leaping up, and jumping onto the second-floor roof before pouncing on the young woman.
From the ground to the second-floor roof, it was at least seven or eight meters high. The zombie's ability to leap up in one go was enough to prove that its jumping ability was very strong.
"Paige, run quickly." A young man shouted, quickly raising his rifle and firing at the zombie.
Others hidden in the dark also opened fire. Given that they have survived until now, the firepower in their hands was indeed not weak.
However, their bullets simply could not stop the Mutated Zombie.
The young woman, Paige, did not panic or run away immediately. Instead, she aimed at the mutated zombie again.
-Bang
She fired again. However, this time, an abnormal phenomenon occurred. The mutated zombie slightly turned its body and actually dodged the bullet.
Everyone was surprised that this mutated zombie had reflexes fast enough to dodge a bullet from a sniper's rifle. And this meant that the reason it hadn't dodged the bullets fired so far was that it didn't see the need to.
Only at this moment did the young woman, Paige, show a hint of panic. She quickly stood up from her prone position, then, clutching the sniper rifle, ran away quickly.
Seeing this, Natalie knew it was time for her to act.
She didn't act earlier because she wanted to assess the team's strength, the coordination among its members, and the mutated zombie's power.
Now, the young woman was about to be caught by the mutated zombie, and if she didn't act soon, her life would be lost.
-Fwoosh
A small flame ignited on Natalie's index finger. Then, Natalie aimed at the pursuing mutated zombie and pointed it with her index finger.
Then a sound like cutting through the air rang out, and the small flame, like a bullet, shot towards the mutated zombie.
Initially, the mutated zombie didn't take the small flame seriously at all. However, when the small flame hit it, it realized it had made a fatal mistake.
-Boom
A sound of explosion rang out when the small flame exploded on the mutated zombie's body, igniting fierce flames.
Instantly, the mutated zombie let out a miserable howl, stopped its pursuit, rolled on the spot, and directly rolled down from the second floor, falling to the ground.
It wasn't dead yet, and it was desperately trying to extinguish the flames on its body.
Natalie, of course, would not give it this chance. She waved her hand, and a ball of flame landed on the mutated zombie's body. Instantly, blazing fire directly engulfed the mutated zombie.
Everything around was illuminated in red, and the temperature was rising sharply. Even the few survivors farther away felt the heat wave.
The mutated zombie continued to howl miserably in the sea of fire. However, soon, it fell silent. But the flames continued to burn until Natalie waved her hand, dispelling them.
And everyone saw that on the ground, there was no longer any mutated zombie, only a pile of charred residue.
It only took two moves for the mutated zombie to be dealt with. And these two moves were casually released by Natalie. She wasn't even going all out.
Her performance greatly astonished the survivors. They also realized the gap between themselves and the ability users.
It was truly a world of difference.
However, the crisis was not over yet.
The mutated zombie had just let out a few loud howls, which seemed not to be roars of anger, but rather calls to summon the ordinary zombies in the vicinity.
At that moment, everyone heard the sound of numerous heavy footsteps approaching them.
"Oh no, it's a zombie horde."
"Quick, retreat."
"They're all around us, we're surrounded."
"Let's find a stronghold first and wait for an opportunity to break through."
Several survivors seemed very experienced. They immediately gathered together and ran towards a building.
The entrance to this building was narrow, and a window on the second floor led to the rooftop of the adjacent building, making it an easy-to-defend, hard-to-breach, and convenient place to escape.
Natalie did not try to show off and entered the building with these people.
"Paige, hurry up." The middle-aged man suddenly shouted into the street.
It turned out that the girl with the sniper rifle had not immediately joined the group. Instead, she was searching for something among the charred remains of the mutated zombie.
"Coming." The girl responded, using a military knife to continuously search through the mutated zombie's body. When she found a crimson gem, her eyes lit up, and she grabbed the gem and ran.
Not long after, she also went upstairs with everyone.
Everyone began moving things to block the staircase entrance, preventing the zombie horde from breaking through immediately.
The girl then came to Natalie's side and said, "Thank you for saving me just now." Then took out the gem she had just found and handed it over, and added, "This is your spoils of war."
Natalie was curious and asked, "What is this thing for?"
"You don't know?" The girl was a bit surprised.
Natalie quickly found an excuse, "I've been in a shelter before and only recently came out, so I'm not familiar with this thing."
The girl nodded, not surprised. After all, Natalie was so clean. She really didn't look like a survivor who had been wandering outside.
"I don't know its exact name either. We all call it 'Corpse Crystal.' It's a good thing, and only mutated zombies have it."
"It's one of the most important resources for you, ability users. Eating can strengthen your abilities. Even for ordinary people like us, eating it can strengthen the body and increase strength."
Hearing the girl's explanation, Natalie was a little surprised. She hadn't expected that mutated zombies would have something like this inside them. Professor Isabel Grant hadn't taught them any related knowledge before either.
Looking at the red gem in the girl's hand, Natalie thought for a moment and still took it.
"Thank you." She said her thanks but didn't consume it. Instead, she put it in her pocket. Her professor had warned them to be wary of any survivors they encountered.
Although the girl in front of her didn't look like a bad person and seemed sincerely grateful, it was always good to be careful.
Furthermore, even if everything the girl said was true, Natalie wouldn't dare to eat this stuff casually because she was a supernatural person from another world, not some native ability user.
What if this "Corpse Crystal" were only useful for local inhabitants? What if she ate it and got poisoned?
Natalie wouldn't dare to gamble.
Anyway, she had her own methods for becoming stronger, so there was no need to gamble with her life.
Also, since Professor Isabel Grant hadn't mentioned any related information, it was likely that any supernatural beings who consumed this substance met their demise.
If eating this could make one stronger, the news should have spread long ago. The most suspicious reason this news didn't spread was most likely that everyone who ate it had died.
"My name is Paige Cooper. Can I know your name?" The girl asked with her eyes filled with anticipation.
Natalie didn't think much and nodded, "Of course, April O'Neil." She used the name of one of her high school classmates.
She lied because her name was too well-known among the freshmen. If others found out she was near, it might attract unnecessary trouble.
After all, the bounty on her head on the dark web had never been withdrawn.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.207: Conflict Among Native Survivors
Ch.208: Shelter No. 33
Ch.209: To Stay or To Go?