Everything was as Zhou Ming expected.
In the journey that followed, the Reincarnators were subjected to continuous attacks.
It was as if all the zombies within a hundred-mile radius of their path were converging on them; no matter how they walked, where they went, in which direction, or how they doubled back and detoured, countless zombies would encircle them from all directions, besieging them, assaulting them, chasing, blocking, and delaying their progress.
With his teammates' injuries not yet healed and the Ultimate Mutant lurking in the shadows, ready to launch a fatal blow at any moment, Zhou Ming remained constantly on guard, unable to fully unleash his power in a major battle.
Various Advanced Mutants and Super Mutants appeared from time to time, putting immense pressure on the Reincarnators' progress and forcing them to change their route and direction multiple times.
This also endlessly prolonged the Reincarnators' journey to Shandar City, as they Advanced over corpses and bloodied bones through continuous slaughter, every step taken with extreme difficulty.
On the first day, they encountered five waves of attacks, killing three Super Mutants, over a dozen Advanced Mutants, dozens of Elementary Mutants, and countless ordinary zombies.
On the second day, they encountered four waves of attacks, killing two Super Mutants, over a dozen Advanced Mutants... On the third day, they encountered six waves of attacks, killing three Super Mutants... On the fifth day... On the seventh day... Seven days of continuous, relentless fighting, slaughter, and narrow escapes left everyone physically and mentally exhausted, gradually becoming numb. Even Whale Shark, the most warlike, no longer found pleasure in battle, with deep fatigue almost permeating his bones.
At night, the group once again found a quiet place to rest.
Zhou Ming leaned back in a lounge chair, gazing up at the starry sky. The wilderness under the night appeared serene and peaceful, and the gentle evening breeze swept away the restlessness in Zhou Ming's heart.
"We're nearing our limit."
Zhou Ming knew very well that this was the current state of everyone in the squad; both their physical and mental conditions had almost reached their respective limits.
If they continued to fight like the past few days, they would either collapse or Break through their limits.
But how easy was it to Break through one's limits?
"Fortunately, if no unexpected events occur, we should reach Shandar City tomorrow."
"Reincarnators might lack anything, but they never lack battles. Opportunities to grow in battle are plentiful; there's no need to necessarily seek a life-or-death Breakthrough in such extreme conditions."
To Break through and then establish oneself, one must first Break through to have the possibility of establishing. If one cannot establish, then the Break through is a complete Break through.
How many people, able to steadily increase their strength through mission after mission, would willingly risk their lives to attempt some kind of extreme Breakthrough?
"However, that guy probably won't just watch us walk into Shandar City."
"If he still wants revenge, he will definitely make his move tomorrow."
"Life or death, it all depends on tomorrow's battle!"
Zhou Ming closed his eyes, slowly alleviating his inner fatigue.
They had fought for a full seven days, utterly exhausted, while the Ultimate Mutant had rested for seven days. With its recovery speed, seven days should have been enough for its strength to reach its Peak.
This battle, from the very beginning, was an unfair one.
But they had nothing to complain about; forever facing endless battles, forever facing unfair battles, until they fell—this was the Reincarnator's fate.
"Captain."
Qin Wumeng's clear yet gentle voice came from beside him.
Days of fighting side-by-side through life and death had softened her attitude towards them, no longer as cold as before.
Zhou Ming tilted his head and saw Qin Wumeng sitting on a wooden step next to him, handing him a cup of hot tea.
"You said that after this mission, you would form a team and invite me to join. I want to confirm again, you're not tricking me, are you?"
This flag he was setting up was like an old general on a stage, adorned with flags... Zhou Ming took the teacup and smiled: "Of course I'm not tricking you. With your qualifications, even those large legions would cherish you. Who would be foolish enough to refuse your joining?"
Qin Wumeng said nothing, merely sitting quietly beside Zhou Ming, looking up at the starry sky.
She asked, "Captain, did you have friends before?"
"What kind of question is that? Who doesn't have a few friends?" Zhou Ming laughed, "Go ask around outside the Main God Space. My younger brothers and older brothers are all over Dongbei; one phone call can summon several vans full of people."
Qin Wumeng was amused by Zhou Ming's words. Perhaps it was because she rarely smiled that when she did, she appeared exceptionally beautiful and moving.
As for the black mask she wore, its supply had run out days ago due to intense combat, so she no longer bothered to conceal herself.
As she laughed, Qin Wumeng said, "I didn't have friends before. No, I only had one, a Doraemon doll. Unfortunately, when I was thirteen, to celebrate my birthday, they took it away."
"???" Good heavens, Zhou Ming exclaimed.
"May I ask, are you a Saintess cultivated by some reclusive Family, or an assassin trained from childhood by some mysterious assassin organization?"
Qin Wumeng laughed again, but she lightly brushed over the topic: "Captain, tell me about your friends. You must have many interesting stories with your friends."
"My friends?" Zhou Ming lay back in the lounge chair, enjoying the cool night breeze, his eyes slightly narrowed, as if lost in thought, and spoke softly.
"Hmm, I once had a team. I wasn't the Captain, just an ordinary member of that team. The members were all youngsters my age."
"We carried out many missions together, some easy, some dangerous, some simple, some complicated. We went through life and death together, and we also argued and fell out... Tsk tsk, it wasn't that long ago, but thinking about it now feels like an age has passed."
"Captain, you... have many secrets," Qin Wumeng said softly.
Her Captain, despite appearing to be only a teenager, possessed a calmness and maturity completely at odds with his appearance, and his eyes occasionally revealed a hint of vicissitude.
It was as if he were a man in his thirties or forties who had somehow reverted to youth.
Considering the endless magical exchange items in the Main God Space, such a possibility... perhaps it wasn't impossible?
"Everyone has secrets, some are important, some are not."
Zhou Ming sat up, ending his recollections of the past, and gave Qin Wumeng a smile she couldn't quite decipher.
"It's getting late, go to sleep. Tonight is a rare moment of quiet. Rest well, gather your energy, tomorrow we will reach Shandar City!"
"Yes, for tomorrow's battle!" Qin Wumeng said earnestly.
Zhou Ming was slightly startled, then smiled, "Right, for tomorrow's battle."
... The car sped across the wilderness.
Inside the seven-seater vehicle, Gong He drove, Qin Wumeng sat in the passenger seat, while Zhou Ming and Whale Shark sat in the middle row, both with their eyes closed, resting.
In the back row, Dr. Max's eyes were fixed on the laptop on his lap, his fingers rapidly tapping on the keyboard, completely engrossed in his work.
Xiang Zenan, sitting next to him, watched curiously for a while, but soon felt dizzy and lightheaded. The complex data flashing on the screen reminded him of the fear he once felt in math class.
"Dr., you haven't stopped working this entire journey. It's been so many days, has that experiment still not been completed?"
He couldn't understand it by looking, so Xiang Zenan decided to try and get the answer directly from the Dr..
Perhaps because Shandar City was now visible on the map, everyone's nerves, which had been taut for days, relaxed somewhat, and their suppressed moods brightened, no longer as grim and numb as in the previous days.
Although Dr. Max's eyes remained on the screen, he still explained, "No, that experiment is complete. Now I need to apply the results of the experiment in practice to achieve my desired goal."
"The results of the experiment?" Xiang Zenan thought of the female zombie that had been 'fed' step by step into an Advanced Mutant, and couldn't help but shiver, his gaze towards Dr. Max becoming strange.
"Dr., but as far as I know, the experimental result you developed is to deepen the mutation level of zombies, right! How will it be applied in practice? Is it to promote the evolution of all zombies, let them kill each other, and reduce the number of zombies?"
Dr. Max's hands paused, and his gaze finally shifted from the computer screen for a moment, glancing at Xiang Zenan.
"I did consider that application plan. Zombie mutation requires a large amount of energy. If no other living organisms can be found as an energy supplement, zombies undergoing mutation will indeed heavily prey on and devour lower-level zombies."
"But I quickly abandoned that plan, because this world is not only populated by zombies as a 'life form', and converting a large number of lower-level zombies into a few Advanced Mutants actually greatly enhances the power of the zombies."
"Because in reality, zombies are constantly in a state of internal consumption. This method of intervention would actually reduce the internal consumption of zombies. In fact, if it weren't for the appearance of Mutants, zombies would exterminate themselves within a few years."
"Hmm..." Xiang Zenan understood about seventy to eighty percent of it. To avoid appearing ignorant, he could only pretend to fully understand, nodding repeatedly, and then asked, "So Dr., what method are you researching now?"
"Of course, it's RNA transcription and reverse editing!" Dr. Max said with fervent excitement: "The Compound No. 5 I developed accelerates the mutation of the zombie virus. After reverse editing, what is the opposite effect? Of course, it's inhibiting the virus's mutation!" (Nonsensical biology, do not take seriously)
"As long as this application is successful and released into the atmosphere to spread, the zombie virus will gradually lose its ability to mutate and evolve. Its activity will continuously decrease until it completely hibernates, or even becomes inactive and dies!"
"Including those Mutants, their mutation level will gradually decrease, their power will fade, and they will slowly become like ordinary zombies, and ordinary zombies, ha, only extinction awaits them!"
"This is the potion I developed based on Compound No. 5, a potion specifically designed to eliminate zombies!"
"Once the research is successful, I will name this potion — kenny potion!"
Wow, with the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, I'm getting busier and busier lately.