Chapter 70: Zombies Refining Zombies
"I say, Brother Whale Shark, do you have any thoughts? At least offer a couple of opinions."
Xiang Zenan saw that Whale Shark had been standing with his arms crossed and a cool expression since the beginning, showing no change, and deeply suspected that he wasn't a magnetic field madman but a severe social phobic. So he spoke, wanting to draw him into the group interaction.
"My opinion... is very simple."
Whale Shark lowered his crossed arms, grinned, raised his clenched fist, and a powerful Aura began to emanate from his entire body.
"The strong are not bound by rules, nor do they need to overthink. Fists are our most powerful weapon, far surpassing all schemes and intellect."
"Look outside, tens of thousands of zombies are waiting for us to kill. A mission worth only a few thousand reward points, why should we even care?"
"If ten thousand zombies aren't enough, we'll kill a hundred thousand. If a hundred thousand isn't enough, we'll kill a million. If a million isn't enough, we'll kill a hundred million, damn it! Endless zombies, endless reward points—that's our true battlefield!"
Xiang Zenan: "..."
Gong He: "..."
Whale Shark's unconventional thought process left them speechless, yet it also gave them an epiphany.
The requirements for the main mission in this world were incredibly lenient; not only were there side quests, but they could also earn reward points by continuously farming monsters.
Perhaps, what Whale Shark said was another way to get through the plot world?
No matter the main mission, just focus on grinding points. If the mission fails, let the reward points be deducted; as long as they could earn, it was fine.
In a way, this Whale Shark might truly be a Genius.
Just then, two shouts, sounding in unison, interrupted the two men's increasingly wandering thoughts.
"Found it!"
Zhou Ming and Qin Wumeng shouted out at the same time, then looked at each other simultaneously.
Zhou Ming smiled and nodded to Qin Wumeng, saying, "You first."
Qin Wumeng didn't decline, pointing to the magazine in her hand and saying, "There's an interview with Dr. Max here, which mentions he lives in New Sunset City, Dick State, but the exact address is unknown."
"Does Time magazine have personal interviews?"
"I don't know, I haven't read Time magazine. Have you?"
"I haven't either."
...Ignoring Xiang Zenan and Gong He's whispers, Qin Wumeng looked at Zhou Ming.
Zhou Ming, however, smiled and laid out several books: "'Fifty Years of Development in Sparrow City,''Sparrow City, the Automobile Capital,''Soul of Xavier'... Unless the owner of this office has a special affection for another city, it can be confirmed that this is Sparrow City."
"Wait, I can understand the first few books, but what the hell is'Soul of Xavier'? It sounds like Dark Souls..." Xiang Zenan asked curiously.
"A book introducing Xavier's corporate culture, stating that Xavier's corporate headquarters are in Sparrow City. Hmm... considering that such books are usually only found on bookshelves within the company, I reasonably suspect this is Xavier Corporation's headquarters."
Zhou Ming walked to the desk and picked up a pen from it.
"Tsk tsk, a gold-plated custom pen. Ha, look here, it even has the Xavier Corporation logo printed on it."
Xiang Zenan picked up'Soul of Xavier,' looked at the corporate logo on the cover, then looked up at the pen, finding it hard to believe that Zhou Ming could so easily see the tiny text engraved on the pen.
"Okay, the route is settled now. I suggest we get a vehicle first. You don't want to walk to New Sunset City, do you?"
Zhou Ming said, having already walked around the large desk and stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, looking down.
'Tsk tsk, at least thirty stories high. It's a pity I haven't found a suitable flying Gu worm, otherwise I could just fly down from here.'
Watching the stumbling, aimlessly wandering zombies below, Zhou Ming thought with some regret.
"I agree." Qin Wumeng also came up, looked down, then turned and walked towards the door.
"Click!"
It wasn't Qin Wumeng who first turned the doorknob, but Whale Shark, who was faster than her.
An impatient expression already showed on his face. As he opened the door, he shot out like an arrow from a bowstring.
"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"
Several dull thuds, like ripe watermelons being exploded, rang out in quick succession within a very short time.
This was followed by a series of "clatter, crash" sounds of various objects colliding and glass breaking.
At the same time, Whale Shark's excited shouts came through: "Hahaha, you bunch of losers, how can you stop my Whale Shark's advance! Die for me! Yeah!"
"Damn, this madman..." Gong He cursed under his breath and quickly rushed out the door.
According to the usual tropes of zombie movies, zombies excel at horde tactics.
Whale Shark made too much noise, which could easily attract an endless stream of zombies, causing the battle to escalate continuously until they were worn down and killed.
They were still new Reincarnators in only their third mission!
Xiang Zenan and Qin Wumeng also realized the seriousness of the situation and quickly followed. Lastly, Zhou Ming followed unhurriedly, still pondering something.
When he stepped out of the room, an endless stream of zombies was pouring up from various stairwells. His four teammates fiercely attacked, zombies fell one by one, and then more rushed up, brave and unafraid of death.
"Hmm, everyone's quite energetic. Looks like I don't need to make a move."
Zhou Ming stood by and watched for a while, then suddenly extended his hand, and a bluish-black Iron Vine flew out, binding a zombie that had just rushed up from the stairwell, quickly dragging it to Zhou Ming's feet.
His teammates were startled by Zhou Ming's sudden action, all dodging away and looking at Zhou Ming with strange eyes.
Then Zhou Ming pointed, and a Corpse Refining Gu flew out, exploding into a ball of black light and landing on the zombie, which was tightly bound by the Iron Vine Gu.
The zombie immediately stopped moving, its body stiffening, and long white hairs quickly grew on it.
In two or three breaths, the zombie's body was completely covered in white hair. At the same time, Zhou Ming felt a subtle connection with this zombie.
No, it could no longer be called a zombie, but a corpse.
This was the lowest-level White Corpse, its strength not even comparable to an ordinary wild beast, practically no different from a common zombie.
"What the heck is this!" Xiang Zenan yelled.
"A Corpse." Zhou Ming said matter-of-factly, "As a legitimate inheritor of the Xiangxi Corpse-Driving School, it's very reasonable and logical for me to summon a Corpse on the spot."
"Ah? You're from the Xiangxi Corpse-Driving School?" Xiang Zenan looked surprised, "You didn't already know this before entering the Main God Space, did you?"
"Yes, I was much thinner back then."
"That's great." Xiang Zenan was very envious, turning to Gong He: "Uncle Gong, aren't you also a Daoist? Why don't you summon a couple of Corpses to play with?"
"I can't." Gong He said with a straight face.
"Even those from the Xiangxi Corpse-Driving School can, how come you, a Daoist from the Main God Space, can't?"
"I just can't!" Gong He's face darkened, "You believe him just because he says he's from the Xiangxi Corpse-Driving School? Are you stupid?"
..."Go!"
Zhou Ming pointed at the zombie horde, and the newly refined Corpse minion immediately hopped and bounced towards the zombie horde, looking very much like love.
Although it had changed from a zombie to a Corpse, perhaps because they were both "dead," the Corpse minion was not actively attacked by the zombies. It was jostled and swayed, wobbling amidst the zombie crowd.
Zhou Ming's mind stirred, and he gave the Corpse minion an attack order.
The Corpse minion immediately slapped a nearby zombie. Instantly, as if attracting monster aggro, the surrounding zombies immediately shifted their attack targets.
The next moment, the Corpse minion was pounced upon by the ravenous zombies, who frantically tore at its flesh, quickly dismembering and devouring the Corpse minion.
This scene disgusted the others, making them even more merciless in their actions. Gunshots echoed continuously, and zombie bodies piled up layer upon layer on the floor.
Gradually, fewer and fewer zombies appeared at the stairwell until none appeared at all.
All the zombies that had entered this floor were completely slaughtered by the four, numbering nearly a hundred upon a rough count.
Zhou Ming took this opportunity to refine several more Corpses. A row of white-haired Corpse minions stood neatly behind him, like a gang boss on an outing, with a full entourage.
Such an arrogant display naturally attracted the attention of his teammates, who looked at Zhou Ming with rather strange expressions.
However, in the end, they didn't ask anything. They were all Reincarnators; who didn't have a few secrets? If someone wasn't willing to talk, casually prying was taboo.
"Why are there so many zombies?" Xiang Zenan kicked away a corpse blocking the path and stepped over it.
"Zombies are sensitive to sound. The gunshots were too loud, probably attracting those from the floors above and below."
Gong He said with narrowed eyes, "This is good news. Maybe we can go down a few floors unhindered."
"With our skills, we could actually go down steadily without such intense firefights." Xiang Zenan glanced at Whale Shark and whispered.
If it weren't for the huge commotion Whale Shark caused at the beginning, the few of them could have really gone downstairs quietly without attracting zombie attention.
"The thoughts of the strong are never understood by others. You blame me, I don't mind." Whale Shark said loudly, crossing his arms.
"However, since you think I'm wrong, then let me walk in front, use my body to block all attacks, and send you downstairs without needing to fight, let me... prove your mistake!"
"No, no need, no need!" Xiang Zenan and Gong He were both terrified and quickly stopped him.
Are you kidding? In just this short time, zombies from several floors had been attracted.
If Whale Shark caused another ruckus, they would probably have to kill all the zombies in this office building.
Gong He: "He's joking, don't take it to heart."
Xiang Zenan: "Ah, yes, yes, yes."
Gong He: "He's still a child, don't mind him."
Xiang Zenan: "Ah, yes, yes, yes."
Gong He: "He's stupid, which village doesn't have a fool? Why argue with a fool, just let it go."
Xiang Zenan: "Ah, yes... Yes my ass, you're the fool!"
Zhou Ming interjected at this point: "How about we use my Corpses to clear the way? You've seen it, zombies won't actively attack Corpses. And if a Corpse dies, I can just summon another one, no heartache."
Xiang Zenan's face lit up with a smile: "Ah, yes, yes, yes."