Chapter 21: Second-Level Protective Suit

Yue Zhong glanced at the short-haired girl and asked, "What's your name?"

"My name is Chen Qing!" the short-haired girl replied quickly.

Yue Zhong pressed on, "Alright, I'll take you with me. Where is Chi Yang?"

Chen Qing answered promptly, "He's at the girls' dormitory. When the mutation happened, he protected Wang Qian and Zhang Xin and retreated to the girls' dorm."

"Good, come with me!" Yue Zhong, having obtained information about Chi Yang, quickly headed out.

Chen Qing closely followed behind Yue Zhong.

Hesitating for a moment, the bespectacled man and the others chose not to follow Yue Zhong.

Yue Zhong had already made it clear that he couldn't protect them indefinitely, so they were unwilling to leave the small supermarket.

As soon as Yue Zhong and Chen Qing stepped out of the small supermarket, Yue Zhong frowned. He saw Ji Qingwu engaged in combat with eight zombies. Among them was one that stood 2 meters tall, with an extremely burly build. Its speed while moving rivaled that of an ordinary person, lacking the sluggishness typical of zombies.

"Level 10 Strength-Evolved Infected: L1. Possesses immense strength and steel-like skin. Has the skill 'Viral Infection,' which can turn living beings into infected."

"Not good!" Yue Zhong frowned and shouted to Ji Qingwu, "Ji Qingwu, be careful! That thing is a Level 10 strength-evolved monster."

Ji Qingwu's wooden beginner's club moved like a serpent as it struck the heads of the zombies, knocking them aside one by one. She quickly reached the strength-evolved L1 and swung her club hard at its neck.

The blow, which would have knocked a regular zombie's head clean off, only caused the L1's head to sway slightly.

The burly, giant-like L1 immediately raised its massive hand and swiped at Ji Qingwu.

The distance between L1 and Ji Qingwu was too close, and even with Ji Qingwu's agility, she couldn't avoid the attack.

Just as it seemed Ji Qingwu was about to meet her end, she suddenly pushed off the ground with her foot, her speed doubling as she leaped backward, narrowly avoiding L1's deadly strike.

"That must be the skill Ji Qingwu obtained," Yue Zhong thought fleetingly as he charged toward the zombie.

After dodging L1's fatal attack, Ji Qingwu maintained her furious speed, continuously swinging her beginner's club at L1's head.

However, L1's defense far exceeded Ji Qingwu's expectations. Its head took dozens of hits without showing any damage, though its swiping claws couldn't touch Ji Qingwu as she activated her skill.

At that moment, Bai Gu dashed forward, reaching L1 first. With a swing of his axe, he spun like a whirlwind, the weapon cutting through the air as it struck L1.

L1 raised its right arm to block the attack.

Bai Gu's strength far surpassed Ji Qingwu's, and his bone axe was incredibly sharp. With a single strike, Bai Gu severed L1's right arm, and the axe continued down, embedding itself in L1's neck, though it didn't cut all the way through.

Injured at its vital spot, L1 went into a frenzy. It took a step forward and landed a heavy punch on Bai Gu's right arm, shattering the bone and severing Bai Gu's weapon-wielding limb.

"What immense strength!" Yue Zhong's heart chilled at the sight. Bai Gu's body had been fortified through continual enhancements, yet L1's single punch had shattered his arm with ease. If such a blow landed on a human, it would be fatal.

"Keep it busy!" Yue Zhong commanded Bai Gu.

Bai Gu dashed forward, his left hand reaching for the bone axe. Without a weapon, even Bai Gu was no match for L1.

L1 swung its fist at Bai Gu's left arm.

At that moment, Ji Qingwu rushed in from the side, smashing her club into L1's head and causing its body to stagger slightly. Its punch missed its mark.

Seizing the opportunity, Yue Zhong charged forward and swung his imitation Tang sword with all his might, the blade slicing through L1's neck.

With a metallic screech, the imitation Tang sword, driven by Yue Zhong's full strength, severed L1's head from its body.

As L1's head hit the ground, a burst of light surged from its body and flowed into Yue Zhong.

"You have leveled up to Level 8. Please allocate 2 enhancement points."

As the light entered his body, the pleasant sound of leveling up echoed in Yue Zhong's mind.

"Enhance 1 point in stamina and 1 point in agility!" Yue Zhong commanded.

Stamina would allow Yue Zhong to fight longer, while agility would enable him to react more quickly and move faster.

If there were strength-based zombies, there would likely be agility-based ones as well. Yue Zhong needed sufficient agility to handle any future agility-evolved zombies that might appear.

After enhancing his stats, Yue Zhong's gaze fell to the area near L1's corpse.

Near the corpse, a skill book, a bronze treasure box, two white treasure boxes, and a black survival coin worth one hundred had appeared.

Yue Zhong quickly picked up the skill book.

"Level 1 skill: Strength Enhancement! After using this skill, increase strength by 10 points for 30 seconds. Consumes 5 stamina points. Cooldown: None."

Yue Zhong swiftly collected all the treasure boxes, tucking them into his clothes, then rushed onto the school bus.

Ji Qingwu, Bai Gu, and Chen Qing all followed closely behind, boarding the bus as well.

Yue Zhong instructed Chen Qing, "Chen Qing, sit in the passenger seat and guide Chen Yao."

Chen Qing moved to the passenger seat and began giving directions to Chen Yao.

Ji Qingwu approached Yue Zhong and asked, "What skill book was it?"

Yue Zhong tossed the Strength Enhancement book to Ji Qingwu and asked, "Strength Enhancement. Do you need it?"

During the earlier battle, Ji Qingwu had helped to restrain L1, so Yue Zhong wasn't reluctant to share the spoils with a combat partner.

Ji Qingwu glanced at the Strength Enhancement skill book and tossed it back to Yue Zhong. "I need a good blade. This skill isn't very suitable for me."

The Strength Enhancement skill consumed too much stamina, which was a heavy burden for Ji Qingwu. Rather than using this skill, she would prefer to find a good weapon. Earlier, Ji Qingwu couldn't do much against L1 simply because her weapon was too weak to deal effective damage.

Without hesitation, Yue Zhong opened the bronze treasure box—it was the first time he had seen a bronze one.

As the bronze box opened, a flash of bronze light revealed a white protective suit without a helmet.

"Second-Level Protective Suit: +5 to all attributes. Can withstand small-caliber bullet fire. Resists up to 20 attacks from Level 20 infected. Durability: 20/20."

At the sight of the Second-Level Protective Suit's attributes, Yue Zhong's eyes lit up, and he immediately declared, "This equipment is mine!"