Elegance

They rested for the night.

The next day.

Mia and her team burst out of the convenience store, and zombies immediately surrounded them.

Mia led the charge with a firefighter's axe in hand.

Laura, still wielding her military knife, maintained her elegance even in the heat of battle. Occasionally, she performed a mid-air split, her high heels crushing a zombie's skull.

Sibley, well, she swung her weapon like a magic wand, still managing to deal some damage.

Pearl's team, armed with automatic crossbows, quickly moved out.

They helped disperse the zombies along the way, heading into nearby shops to find elevated positions.

These nearby shops had two floors and windows facing the street, making them perfect vantage points.

Soon, everyone was in position.

Born observed from the second floor, while the little girl beside him looked on in exasperation, wondering how she ended up with someone like Born.

She was also curious about where Born had gotten those automatic crossbows.

Knowing that questioning him would only lead to evasive answers, she chose to stay silent.

Thwack, thwack, thwack!

Crossbow bolts flew out, zombies falling in response.

The zombies moved, moaning and groaning.

For some reason, Born couldn't shake the feeling of a familiar BGM playing in the background.

Mia and her team, deep in the zombie horde, did not pause for a moment.

Their goal was to draw the zombies' attention, allowing the ranged team to pick them off.

Born kept a close watch on the zombie horde ahead, unable to stay seated.

Thankfully, with a sweep of the firefighter's axe, the three managed to break through again.

However, their speed had noticeably slowed. At this rate, they would be surrounded by zombies.

Born quickly opened their status panels.

He increased each of their stamina by 1 point.

The next moment, the three of them surged forward with renewed speed.

Crossbow bolts followed swiftly, taking down the zombies trailing behind them.

Born finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Stamina affects endurance, strength, and speed.

High-intensity combat rapidly depletes stamina, so increasing their stamina by 1 point gave them more endurance.

The battle continued for some time.

When Born felt it was enough, he waved his hand and shouted, "When you run out of crossbow bolts, switch to melee and quickly support Mia's team."

Affirmative responses echoed from the surrounding shops.

Born handed Angelica a stick and smiled, "Let's go, help out."

Angelica had tried killing zombies before, but without the mental fortitude, her combat ability was weak.

Though soft-spoken and seemingly delicate, she didn't fear killing zombies.

However, she often got injured.

Soon, Born also charged out and joined Mia and her team.

Along the way, he retrieved some crossbow bolts and returned them to Pearl's team when they regrouped.

Despite this, the situation remained dire.

"Speed up, once we reach the school building, things will improve a lot."

Born picked up a hammer and joined the fight.

The distance from the main gate to the school building was only about 200 meters, but a large number of zombies followed them, creating a daunting scene.

Seeing zombies regroup ahead, Born frowned deeply.

"This isn't working. I miscalculated. We don't have enough bolts; we should have used guerrilla tactics!"

Just as he finished speaking, a scream rang out.

A girl on the flank was dragged away by zombies. Before being taken, she threw her weapons and automatic crossbow to her companions.

Recruitment count: 9/10

Born's heart tightened. Someone had died!

Once recruited, a member could not be recruited again.

The maid legion members were not immune to the virus; once infected, they were incurable.

Only clearing the toxins before full zombification could save them.

This was why Born always emphasized returning to him immediately after getting injured.

Despite his precautions, a mistake had still occurred.

There was no time to think. Born roared in anger, swinging his hammer to crush zombies, venting his frustration.

The death of their teammate spurred everyone's fighting spirit.

Soon, they reached the entrance of the school building.

Fortunately, the door was not locked, and a large iron chain lay nearby.

Apparently, someone had tried to lock it but was attacked and killed by zombies, failing in their attempt.

Born quickly rushed inside and picked up the chain.

As the others entered, they immediately pulled the iron gate closed.

Born followed up by locking the main door with the chain and securing it with his hammer.

Zombies were left outside the iron gate, relentlessly pounding against it.

Born exhaled a sigh of relief, but they now faced a new problem.

Their collective attributes had decreased!

The 10-member maid bonus that added 100% to base attributes was gone due to the death.

They needed to recruit new members inside the building.

He felt a deep sense of responsibility.

He had thought he had considered all possibilities, but the combat plan was flawed.

He could have swept through the area, killing scattered zombies to improve everyone's attributes.

He could have filled the team with 15 members before making the assault.

They could have used more crossbow bolts and guerrilla tactics to kill zombies in batches.

Any of these plans would have been better than the one he chose.

Pearl walked up, hugging Born gently and patting his back.

"Master, you've done very well. Don't blame yourself."

"Without you, we would have died when we turned into zombies."

Born felt like he was enveloped in a warm pillow, a double-sided one that completely wrapped his head.

But gradually, he started to struggle.

When Pearl realized something was wrong and released him, Born was already rolling his eyes.

Everyone hurriedly attended to Born.

Fortunately, this little episode helped improve his mood.

Mia walked over to him and patted his shoulder. "I watched my sister die to these monsters too. I still haven't gotten over it."

"Maybe I can't comfort you, but I can tell you this: stay alive and keep moving forward."

Born nodded, murmuring to himself.

He patted his face to clear his mind.

"Something's off. Why aren't there any zombies on the first floor?"

The main door was open, so some zombies should have wandered inside.

But the first floor was eerily quiet.

Born signaled to everyone.

Mia took the lead and headed to the second floor.

Still no zombies!

The third floor—none!

The fourth floor—none!

Born took a deep breath. The building had only five floors.

The fifth floor still had several large classrooms.

Could they all be gathered upstairs?

"Be careful. Mia, you're fast. Go take a look."

"Miaow!"

Born was puzzled and was about to tell Sibley to stop messing around.

But then, he saw a furry paw coming down the stairs from the fifth floor.

It was a cat!?

But Born was shocked. Was it a cat or a tiger?

From its head, it looked like an ordinary tabby cat, but why did this stray cat have the size of a tiger?

"Miaow!"