CH : 24 Fighting Bunch of S1 and L1 Zombies

Just as the two zombies beside Ethan got closer, Draugr swung his axe and cut the two zombies into halves, foul blood splashing everywhere.

Luke had also changed his weapon to the Imitation Tang Sword. He quickly rushed in front of a zombie, and beheaded the zombie beside him was Mortis who also easily chopped heads of zombies using his sharp bone axe.

The quartet had gotten stronger from raising their level many times, and soon killed the 19 zombies. And Mortis even levelled up.

The quartet killing the 19 zombies created some noise. Those Zombies that were attracted by the sound staggered over. The zombies continue to merge, forming a mass of corpses.

The 10 bluish gray S1 and L1 zombies also headed toward the quartet from all directions.

"The left!" Ethan immediately rushed toward the left. On the left there was one L1 zombie moving towards them, this L1 zombie was the one nearest them.

In the span of a few breaths, Ethan had already rushed in front of the L1 zombie.

The L1 zombie rushed forward like a monkey, and very agilely leapt over Ethan's head. A claw trying to hit his head.

Ethan's agility was in no way inferior to the L1 zombie. He evaded the claws of a L1 zombie. A sword with a beautiful arc beheaded the L1 zombie, sending its head flying, foul blood splashing everywhere.

Ethan had just beheaded the L1 zombie, when two more S1 zombies came running over towards him.

At the same time, Draugr who had been following Ethan around like a shadow charged forward. With one swing, carrying the sound of the piercing wind, cut the head of a S1 zombie into halves.

Ethan also took the chance to slashed at the head of the S1 zombie that was approaching. The S1 zombie pulled back slightly, avoiding Ethan's slash. However, its right hand was cut off by the slash.

While on the other duo Mortis and Luke had to work together to take down The L1 and S1 Zombie they weren't soloing zombies like Ethan and Draugr.

Luke took the chance and got behind the S1 zombie who was exchanging blows with Mortis, and Mortis was having hard time keeping up with the strength of S1 Zombie then beheaded the S1 zombie.

After killing three S1 zombies, Luke absorbed the balls of white light and was promoted to level 8. While with Luke's help Mortis killed four zombies also levelling up twice. The seven S1 only dropped seven white treasure boxes and 70 Survival Coins.

Seeing the quartet killed the more then 7, S1 and 5 L1 zombies, the remaining eight S1 and L1 zombies were unafraid and charged towards them. The S1 zombies evolved with strength beyond ordinary humans while L1 evolved with spped beyond humans, but their evolution still lacks the emotion of fear.

With two L1 zombies and A S1 Zombie left behind, five S1 formed a small group rushing towards Ethan's team.

The group of five S1 zombies was a greater threat than a group of 100 ordinary zombies.

"Retreat!" Ethan shouted loudly, leading everyone back.

Draugr, Luke, and Mortis are immediately followed by Ethan's side.

The quartet used speed that transcends ordinary people in retreating, distancing themselves with that huge group of several hundred zombies.

The seven S1 zombie speeds are above the other zombies, and continue to approach Ethan's team.

After 10 seconds, the six S1 zombies were within 10 meters of the quartet.

Ethan in a deep voice shouted: "The Thorns!"

Luke pointed toward the six S1 zombies, a gray ray of light from the Thorn Ring shot out, and hit the ground where the 6 S1 zombies were.

The ground in front of the zombies suddenly rumbled, a sharp thorn of about 3 meters surged out of the ground, directly impaling the head of an S1 zombie, nailing it on top of the thorn.

Draugr and Mortis dashed forward, swinging thier axes with a piercing wind toward a S1 zombie, and cutting its head into two pieces.

Almost in an instant, the three S1 zombies took the opportunity to attack Draugr's and Mortis's body.

After obtaining the Reinforced Bones skill, Draugr bones were no longer weak. The four zombie claws only left scratches, no longer able to remove any bones. On the other hand Mortis had the same skill but he still lost his rib cage bones due it's stats being lower then Draugr.

While the four S1 zombies were occupied with Ethan's summons, Ethan approached a L1 zombie and beheaded it with his sword. Luke also took the opportunity and approached another S1 zombie, decapitating it with his sword.

The remaining two S1 and zombie did not have a chance to react, when Draugr and Mortis struck with their axes, cutting the zombie into 2 parts. Intestines and foul blood falling all over the floor.

The last two L1 and S1 zombies charged at the quartet.

The pressure that Ethan felt toward the remaining two S1 and L1 zombies was a lot lighter. Ethan facing the six S1 zombies alone was indeed very difficult. But facing a S1 and a L1 zombie while wearing the 2nd Degree Protective Garment and having level so many times was not a difficult task.

Mortis took a step forward, and with one strike, directly splitting the S1 zombie into two parts, foul blood splashing everywhere.

Ethan took out the Stinger Pistol, took a step forward, aimed at the head of the L1 zombie that was running towards him and pulled the trigger.

"Boom!"

With a loud boom, the head of the L1 zombie instantly exploded when struck by the stinger bullet, as if it was struck by an artillery shell. Black brain matters and blood flies everywhere.

"This is an amazing gun! You could call it a portable cannon." Looking at the exploded zombie's head, Ethan's eyes sparkled. With the Stinger Pistol, if the Hunter's head is hit by the stinger bullet, it will be blown to pieces. Even if he can't hit the Hunter's head, he can still shoot at any of the Hunter's body parts.

The Stinger Pistol's recoil was not as great as Ethan had imagined. The recoil was like a normal Type 54 pistol's recoil, and not monstrous.

"You have been promoted to level 14, earning 2 stats points, please assign the points."

After the gun blasted off the head of the L1 zombie, a sweet sound ringed in Ethan's head.

"Assign 2 points to Agility." Ethan quickly selected.

When the world changed, Ethan has been increasing Power and Stamina. That is because using the novice club to kill zombies consumed too much stamina. He wanted enough power and stamina to fight the zombies. But now fighting with the evolved zombies, especially the level 5 Hunters type 1, what he needs the most is agility when using a firearm.

The six S1 and two L1 zombies that were killed, dropped a skill book, eight white white treasure boxes, and 80 Survival Coins.

Ethan quickly picked up all the items and loots on the floor, then retreated with Luke.

The S1 and L1 zombies were killed by the quartet, the rest of the zombies were of no threat to them.

Ordinary zombie is extremely slow, even slower than the average person. The speed of the power evolved L1 zombie was only that of an average person. They could not keep up with Ethan and Luke who had been strengthened from leveling up many times.

Ethan, and Luke used Draugr and Mortis as the core, first killing all the L1 zombies. Fighting while retreating, they killed all the ordinary zombies.

After Draugr and Mortis worked together they strengthened the team, only in battle can they show their ferocity. Ordinary zombies could not hurt Draugr and Mortis at all. Draugr and Mortis in the midst of the group of zombies, wielding their sharp bone huge double sided axes, easily slaying the surrounding zombies.

Without Draugr and Mortis acting as a shield to draw the attacks of the zombies, Ethan and Luke would not be able to fight the zombies for too long. Fighting while retreating already consumed a lot of stamina.

The quartet killed more than 150 zombies, then quickly withdrew, heading towards Grace.

The stamina consumption when fighting a group of zombies is completely different from fighting a single zombie. Even after leveling many times, killing 100 zombies would be somewhat tiring.

But if surrounded by 300 zombies, Ethan after killing 60 zombies would consume a lot of stamina. There was no way he could kill all the zombies.

Speeding all the way, soon returned to where Grace was.

Upon returning to a safe place, Ethan and Luke each ate an Apple of Vitality?

Grace walked beside Ethan and asked: "How is it?"

Ethan in a deep voice said: "The evolved zombies have been cleared up. About 200 ordinary zombies left."

Of course there are more than 400 residents on Xing Ning Road. It was about 2PM when the world changed. At that point in time, most of the people gathered at the shopping district on the other side of Lei Jiang Bridge. A street exclusive for pedestrians.

Those who survived fled to the surrounding area, causing the zombies to turn to other places. At the same time, Lei Jiang was shrouded by a mysterious force. The zombies on the other side of the bridge could not get through, which is why there were so few zombies on Xing Ning Road.

Grace with eagerness in her eyes, stared at Ethan and said: "Now we'll go clear them up?"

Grace in the past was a fencing expert, she also has a great desire to get stronger. Those days in bed had greatly held her back.

Grace alone can not deal with 200 ordinary zombies. But with Ethan, Luke, Draugr, and Mortis help, they absolutely can kill more than 200 ordinary zombies if they spend some time without getting too tired..

Ethan nodded: "Yes."

After resting for more than two hours, Ethan's team once again walked toward Xing Ning Road.

Once on Xing Ning Road, the six of them quickly took care of the zombies that they encountered, cleaning up all the scattered zombies.

Ethan, Draugr, Mortis, Luke, Grace, and Sydney each one of them is not weak. After a long time, the six of them were able to clear Xing Ning Road of zombies. And Sydney wasted too many bullets knowing full they were low on bullets.

After they cleared up the zombies on Xing Ning Road, there were only a few zombies left scattered around the area. Most of those zombies were trapped in apartments, offices, and shops.

Having killed more than 200 zombies, Grace, and Luke were extremely tired and could no longer fight. Ethan did not force it and returned home with both of them.

Ethan was lying on top of the bed on the fourth day, when Lei Jiang City's power grid stopped working. The electricity in the apartment building was completely shut off. In the afternoon, they had to retreat into the apartment.

[Note: They are talking about the 4th day that he was healing, not 4 days after he just killed hundreds of zombies.]

After ten harrowing days since the world plunged into chaos, the moment everyone had dreaded finally arrived—the power grid went down. The flickering lights that had offered a semblance of normalcy blinked out, plunging the cities and countries into deep, ominous darkness. The hum of electricity that had once been taken for granted was silenced, leaving only an eerie stillness in its wake.

The loss of power was more than just losing light; it was the end of everything they had known. The grid had been their last lifeline to the world before the apocalypse. For ten days, it had somehow held on, a testament to the resilience of infrastructure no longer maintained by human hands. But no amount of automation could keep it running forever. When the lights first flickered out, it took a moment for the gravity of the situation to set in. But this time, there was no flicker back to life. There was only silence—a heavy, oppressive silence that seemed to press down on everything.

In the pitch blackness, memories of the old world rushed back—memories of a time when the city was alive with the buzz of activity, when darkness was a peaceful respite rather than a terrifying unknown. But now, those memories felt like a cruel joke, a reminder of how far they had fallen. The darkness brought a new level of urgency. The world was descending further into chaos, and with no power, the little comfort and security they had managed to carve out was even more fragile than before. Food would spoil, water systems would fail, and the cities and countries would descend into an even more brutal fight for survival.

The psychological toll was immediate. The darkness was suffocating, a constant reminder of how isolated and vulnerable they had become.

The loss of the power grid meant more than just the end of light and electricity. It meant the end of communication. Radios that had once crackled with the occasional broadcast now emitted only static. Phones were useless without the ability to charge them. The connection to the outside world, already tenuous, was now completely severed. If there were any other survivors out there, they might as well have been on another planet.

The loss of power was the loss of hope, the loss of a future that didn't feel like an endless fight against the inevitable.

For Ethan and his group, the darkness brought a new level of urgency. The world was descending further into chaos, and with no power, they knew that the little comfort and security they had managed to carve out for themselves was even more fragile than before. The roads would be more treacherous, the nights longer and colder. Food stored in powerless freezers would spoil, water systems would fail, and the cities and countries would descend into an even more brutal survival of the fittest.

The psychological toll was immediate on girls locked in rooms. The darkness was suffocating, a constant reminder of how isolated and vulnerable they had become. The group could no longer rely on the conveniences that had once made their survival easier. The loss of power was the loss of hope, the loss of a future that didn't feel like an endless fight against the inevitable.

Their minds were warping with the desire of survival. the faint glow of determination and the burning need to survive.

But in that darkness, a fierce determination to survive stirred within them. The world might have taken everything from them, but it hadn't taken their will to fight. He would find a way to endure, to adapt to this new reality, and to reclaim whatever fragments of the old world they could.

Back home, after supper, Ethan sat on the sofa and quietly looked at the skill book in his hand.

{Level 1 Skill: Critical Strike. After using the skill, 7 points of stamina will be consumed, the next attack will have double the destructive power (weapon damage is not considered)}