Yan Fei recovered first, raised his hand a metal fence completely stopped the pit desertification. The metal spread directly to the pit bottom.

  The whole pit was covered with Yan Fei’s metal, even grooves were along the walls. As a result, the whole pit was under Yan Fei’s control.

  A heap of metal flew into the pit and erected a steel spike at the bottom.

  At the same time, people were shooting and killing higher level zombies. After a moment the zombies would fall into the trap or other accidents.

  When the last steel thorn trap was set, Yan Fei took out a sealed metal box and glanced to the side. Zhang Yi raised a brow, ready to say something. Yan Fei floated the box above the big pit and opened it.

  The bright red liquid spilled out, with the help of Zhang Yi’s wind, it was spread at the bottom of every pit.

  "Get ready to start." Luo Xun smiled upon seeing all the preparation had been finished whilie the sky had darkened.

  "Good." Yan Fei’s voice was a bit excited, this would be the first time they used this method to lure zombies. Today would be a test to see the results.

  The fence surrounding the large pit suddenly became thin metal board that covered the hole.

  The crowd got up and retreated while watching the excited zombies rushed to the open space. The mob was dense as the monsters charged. Suddenly, the steel plate above the pit disappeared!

  The zombies standing on top immediately fell in, even the following zombies also rushed into the big pit!

  At the bottom, the zombies began to smoke as their limbs began to decay on contact with the lowest layer of needles. The group gasped, some were startled that a zombie had fallen into the pit along with many others. They could not say a word.

  "Yan Fei, cover." Luo Xun’s voice snapped the group out of their shock. The team immediately began to prepare for the next round.

  Yan Fei pumped the metal back to the pit but it was no longer a plate, instead a metal net.

  "Pour the petrol."

  A new order was given, the team evenly poured the gasoline set aside with Zhang Yi’s help. Xu Mei shot a fireball at the net. *Bang* There was a huge flare, as if red flowers were blooming in the night, made people feel dizzy.

  "All right, go back. Today’s work is almost done." Luo Xun languidly said.

  After this evening of burning, zombies that came after would only be barbecued. Only a few could break through the line of defense. What’s more, Yan Fei sealed the front door with remaining metal lest the fire spread into the bank.

  The strong fire burned for three hours before it died down. They woke the next morning and opened the door to see the dark, burned pit. What was inside no longer looked like zombies.

  Silky black smoke occasionally drifted out, Luo Xun and the others pinched their noses but could not see any complete zombie limbs. This was more thorough than the methods other groups used yesterday to kill zombies.

  "Pick up the crystal nuclei and see how efficient yesterday was." Luo Xun smiled and looked at Yan Fei. "You’ll need to pick them up." He pointed at the large pit.

  Everyone looked funny at the darkened pit, although they understood Luo Xun’s meaning. Having Yan Fei deal with the disgusting pit was extremely strange.

  To pick up crystal nuclei, although not as tiring as killing zombies it was repetitive work. A full morning of work, had to deal with the zombie bodies. They had to be piled outside to be burned. But Yan Fei had an easier method to gather the crystal nuclei.

  First he manipulated the metal frame to fly out, the bottom part became a sieve. The mesh was finer than a regular crystal nuclei. He shook the dangling boxes, leaving the intact limbs and the crystal nuclei.

  Because a lot of petrol was used last night, the zombies were thoroughly burned. He harvested the first day’s loot without dirtying his hands.

  There was a hill of crystal nuclei in front of the team. Except for the ones used in battle, they actually got 4000 crystals with half a day’s worth of fighting! 4000!

  All inhaled in shock, everyone looked at the heap with shining eyes, 4000! Three times more than last time!

  Yan Fei proposed, "Here’s a total of more than 4000 nuclei. This time everyone contributed a lot, simply have each group take 1000 – Luo Xun and I, Zhang Yi and Wang Duo, Li Tie’s group of four and Xu Mei’s group of three. The remainder can be divided amongst the three ladies since their contribution was important. Does anyone have complaints?"

  Li Tie’s group looked at each other and said in embarrassment. "Our group does not have much strength, Yan Fei made our weapons and Luo Xun did not train us to hit the zombies……Taking 1000 crystal nuclei is too many……"

  "Right, right." Han Li and the others quickly nodded. Although they hoped for a large harvest, they also knew their own strength.

  Luo Xun smiled and gave advice. "I am also an ordinary person, don’t forget you are a group of four. Coming out to kill zombies is not easy, people can lose their lives. And even if you can’t use it, you can exchange them with us. Yan Fei and Xu Mei have things they could exchange. It would be more cost effective than finding someone outside to trade with."

  Xu Mei’s group also nodded. After all if they did not gather 10 people they could not leave the base. Li Tie and the other students might not have strong offensive ability to mass kill but they could deal with scattered zombies. They could take the role of defense while the ability users were resting.

  Without them, the ability users would have no time to rest and replenish energy using the nuclei.

  The second level nuclei were sorted and given according to type. Luo Xun and Yan Fei were surprised – they actually a few second level metal cores! The zombies had not used metal, so they did not know how to use their powers? Otherwise they would have used the large amount of metal in the area to attack.

  Of course, there was also the possibility that they had died under the combined assault of Zhang Yi, Xu Mei and Yu Xinran before being to attack.

  After the team cleared out the zombies, it was around noon. They prepared to eat lunch and then go back. The zombies outside had all been basically cleared away, leaving only a few zombies wandering around the abandoned street.

  Yan Fei got up, ready turn the traps upside down, lest unaware vehicles or pedestrians got caught. Before he exited the gate, the group heard the faint sounds of cars coming from the street.

  "Another passing? I’ll take a look!" Wang Duo grabbed the telescope then ran to the second floor and back.

  "A team followed by a lot of zombies. Luo Xun do we want to fight again?"

  Looking at Wang Duo and the group’s excited appearance, Luo Xun confirmed that the team was only being followed by a few hundred zombies before nodding in agreement.

  Threw out the last blood bag, the trap was ready. Everyone listened as the roar of zombies was heard from the next street and tried to figure the exact numbers. Suddenly, there were car sounds from another direction……

  "Holy cow! What’s going on?"

  Wang Duo and Han Li ran down and pointed elsewhere. "There was a team with several buses from the city with a bunch of zombies, cannot see the tail end!"

  Dealing with the zombies following returning teams for crystal nuclei was a benefit for all but it was bad when everyone was leave after killing the last bit of zombies. Then a big wave of zombies suddenly passed by!

  The zombies that they planned to kill before leaving, Luo Xun made the decision to clear them all up!

  A wave of zombies had been blocked at the gate, more would join them soon. If they wanted to safely leave, it would be best to kill all the zombies first. Even if they returned late today, it was better than venturing out now. They had cars but even if Yan Fei could strengthen the cars, the bases were ordinary vehicles without large horsepower. Without a sturdy car, how could they rush out?

  Even Luo Xun’s second hand car could not be used to hit the zombies. But with level two zombies around, they were waiting to be pulled out from the car!

  Yan Fei quickly completed the trap, the first batch of zombies successively fell into the pit. More zombies tirelessly followed – the reason was the last bag of blood thrown out!

  Luo Xun made note of lesson in his heart, while shooting zombies with the team. It was not convenient to directly ignite the pit because there were more zombies attracted by the cars. It would be more efficient to wait until more zombies have fallen into the holes.

  The bus team seemed to be survivors living in the city who had prepared to flee to base. Although many people immediately escaped danger due to the base, the number of people stranded in urban areas was not small. Some people lived in high-rises – ordinary zombies could not climb up. Once cleared up the building could be lived in.

  If someone in the community was organized, they would also build fortifications. They usually organized the able bodied and ability users to gather food and supplies.

  Zhang Yi lived a life like this outside base. He did not know his former companions went to base for whatever reason and then he killed them.

  The buses were probably moving from the city to the base. After discovering that many of the zombies suddenly switched targets, they guessed that someone was injured and the scent of blood attracted zombies. However they had reached the city’s edge, no one would check the situation.

  Why would they seek out trouble when they finally got rid of the zombies? As for those who were injured and attracted the zombies? Pray for good fortune.

  The zombies raiding the main entrance crowded together and fell into the large pit. Luo Xun had a headache – the number of following zombies was even more than before! The great number of zombies falling in the pit, some of them clawed upwards!

  "The big pit can only hole around a thousand zombies, any more and they will crawl out." In this time of crisis, Luo Xun calmed and turned to He Qiankun. "You and Li Tie check how much gas can be used?"

  Yesterday they had used some to burn the bodies and harvest 4000 crystal nuclei. The ability users killed the rest with their powers! How much could they pour into the pits?

  The two quickly ran back while Zhang Yi and the others worked to kill the struggling zombies inside the pits. There seemed to be level two zombies approaching in the distance.

  Li Tie came back. "Luo Xun I used one-third before. Two-thirds left!"

  Luo Xun nodded. "Leave two barrels and bring the rest. Help them get the gas in the pit same as before……"

  Suddenly Xu Mei shouted. Luo Xun turned to see brilliant red light disperse from her body.

  "Level two?!" The sight was similar to the metal ability users leveling up before.

  "Level two?! Xu Mei really leveled up?!" Song Lingling looked with surprise after using water arrows against zombies.

  Xu Mei paused then nodded. "Yes, level two, I am completely filled with energy all of a sudden!" She looked down at her hands holding a few first level nuclei with annoyance. "I rushed to absorb crystal nuclei and accidentally grabbed a level two nucleus……"

  She had not used the level two nucleus when the mission was done. At the time she could not absorb the higher level nucleus so she left it alone. This crystal was from the bunch they had divided, the level twos were mixed in and she grabbed one for absorption.

  "How many first level nuclei did you use to get to level two?" Yan Fei asked.

  Xu Mei thought. "Around……four or five hundred?"

  Yan Fei simply nodded. "I think that rising past level two will need even more."

  He turned to Song Lingling. "You need to level up as quickly as you can. I think that leveling up will not change the shape of your abilities but you might have a more effective way of attacking."

  Song Lingling just nodded while Zhang Yi frowned. "Why was absorbing the level two nucleus useless for me?"

  Yan Fei glanced at him with a smile in his eyes. "You’re probably in the same situation as me – mutated common ability. The number of nuclei needed is more than normal. I did not count but it seemed like it cost two times as many nuclei compared to Xu Mei."

  "……Thousand." Zhang Yi silently turned, raised a gust of wind to sweep some sand at the zombies.

  He did not have enough nuclei then, now he had enough, 1000 pieces. But it was not possible to absorb them today!

  Li Tie and some others opened the lid of the gasoline. Zhang Yi sent petrol into the pit. Xu Mei was excited, her powers were upgraded, can make more fireballs than before. With a nod from Luo Xun, she waved a hand and lit a grand bonfire with a small fireball.

  The flames were burning but there was still a steady stream of zombies rushing over. The group could not turn back to rest like last night.

  Luo Xun brought out his crossbow and shot at zombies outside the pit. Xu Mei manipulated the fire from the pit to attack the zombies.

  "It’s much more energy saving than firing my flames." Xu Mei exclaimed, a huge blazing fire dragon reared up and charged at the zombies. The dragon was bigger than one she got out of her level two ability!

  Luo Xun looked around and said to Song Lingling. "You and Ran go over there, cool down with water. Turn the land there into sand, then cooperate with Zhang Yi and Xu Mei for an attack!"

  "Okay!" The two and moved as directed.

  Zhang Yi also used his wind to make the flames burn more violently. Occasionally blew some flames to burn opposing zombies.

  The faces of the people near the fire were baked red. Fortunately they had Zhang Yi, they did not have to worry about oxygen levels, or who would dare stand so close to such a large fire?

  The sand and metal needles were heated by the fire and then shot towards the zombies by violent winds, killed in one shot……

  The battle lasted until the evening when the fire gradually burned out and the streets were filled with bodies.

  Although very tired, the group that would be returning to base tomorrow still had energy. The opened the door and cleaned up the zombie corpses.

  It took until 10 o’clock in the evening to clear up all the zombies. This round of hard work netted them more than 2600 crystal nuclei.

  Once again, they divided it roughly into four, one for each team. Took their respective cores and dealt with the zombies near the bank. They cleaned up the metal and sand on the ground, Song Lingling spread a light drizzle while Li Tie walked on the wet sand. Finally Zhang Yi blew away the leftover sand. Everyone climbed into their own cars – ready to return to base.

  "Next time we should not come out on the last two days." Luo Xun yawned. "Get Li Tie and the others a day off in advance, so this does not happen again."

  Yan Fei smiled and opened the car. "I know, they can figure something out when we get back. See if they can get another rest day."

  Only Zhang Yi would get a good rest since he still had a day off. The others had work early tomorrow morning……Ah Xu Mei’s team had free time so they could rest at home tomorrow.

  Not long after the cars crossed a commercial street, Luo Xun suddenly remembered – they had not gotten any freezers!

  There were still poisonous mushrooms at home waiting for storage. It would be a waste to not take a freezer back! Several people went off to move a freezer while Luo Xun walked under a tree with Yu Xinran.

  Yan Fei used some metal to divide the trees into chunks and tied them directly to the car. Future mushroom wood would depend on this tree.