Chapter 121: The Plan to Annihilate Voodoo
Lin Jiayao had intended to use the spores to communicate; they had implanted spores in each other for easier “private messaging.”
But the spores could only transmit simple phrases, feelings, and fragmented thoughts, often difficult to understand.
Like now, Lin Jiayao, frowning slightly, was trying to figure out what Huayibai meant by “flying car.”
Unable to explain clearly, Huayibai shared a few images, like snapshots, not enough to overload Lin Jiayao’s mind.
And Lin Jiayao saw a giant insect with a red mushroom on its head, a car dangling beneath it.
A flying car tour?
This was what Huayibai meant by “driving a flying car”?
“Uh…” Lin Jiayao, after a moment of speechless contemplation, patted Huayibai’s head.
She was getting used to this.
Huayibai’s words and actions always surprised her, its thought process clearly different from a human’s.
“Still feeling carsick? We might be driving all night. We should reach Yun Province tomorrow,” Lin Xiwan asked, looking at her sister interacting with Huayibai through the rearview mirror, a smile on her face.
Seeing them getting along so well pleased her; she’d been worried her sister wouldn’t accept this new addition.
Of course, Huayibai’s cuteness and sweet-talking might also be a factor.
After five years of isolation, her sister had become increasingly withdrawn, rarely showing warmth towards anyone but her.
She’d worried it might affect her sister’s mental state.
But now, with Huayibai, who seemed only a few years younger, to keep her company, there was no need to worry about her being lonely.
“It’s okay, I feel much better after that nap.”
Lin Jiayao stopped petting Huayibai, but the little girl’s chin, still resting on Lin Jiayao’s hand, followed as she withdrew it, its eyes fixed on her expectantly, as if wanting more.
Like a clingy kitten.
“That’s good.” Lin Xiwan, steering with one hand, looked at the orange sunset and sighed softly. “I wonder how Sister Wanzi is doing… if she managed to escape…”
Although their time together had been short, Wan Zi and the Qingzhou University Camp had left a good impression on her.
She still remembered the peaceful evening on the viewing platform, watching the moon with her sister.
Except for the mosquitoes, of course.
If not for the apocalypse, perhaps their lives would be like that, spending summer evenings at their old home, looking out at the rice terraces in the distance.
If only there were no apocalypse, no Voodoo Cult…
“I hope they’re alright,” Lin Jiayao said softly after a moment.
There was nothing they could do; they were too weak to help.
And her only B-rank zombie, the fifth, was in Japan.
If it had been in Guangdong Province, she would have sent it to deal with the Voodoo Cult; even a smaller B-rank could cripple them.
5…
Thinking about the fifth zombie, an idea sparked in Lin Jiayao’s mind.
She remembered that the fifth zombie hadn’t evolved while she was logged in, but after she extracted, the system had given her the option to retain its evolution.
Could she feed a zombie blood crystals even while not logged in?
Then she could give Mask and A4 a few crystals now!
They had both been in battles recently, A4 especially.
Mask might not be ready to evolve yet, but A4 was probably close, just needing more blood crystals.
Evolving while not logged in wouldn’t waste time on extraction, wouldn’t risk the zombie dying, and wouldn’t drain her mental energy.
Perfect.
Before, she couldn’t have done this, not across hundreds of kilometers.
But she had Huayibai now.
Huayibai could deliver the crystals for her.
This realization opened up new possibilities.
“System, are evolving zombies… immobile? Can I log in while they’re evolving?” She asked a seemingly obvious question, receiving the system’s predictable, concise answer.
「No」
“And what about you?”
「The system will not interrupt evolution unless absolutely necessary. If interrupted, compensation will be provided.」
“Oh?”
「…」
The ellipsis suggested the system knew what she was planning.
Lin Jiayao smiled faintly, seeing the system’s hesitation.
“What’s so funny?” Lin Xiwan, who’d been glancing at her sister, noticed her smile and asked.
“Nothing, just… thought of something amusing.”
“What is it?” Lin Xiwan was curious.
Nothing amusing had happened recently.
“There’s a Coca-Cola factory in Kun City,” Lin Jiayao said.
“How do you know that?” Lin Xiwan blinked, her foot easing off the accelerator as she looked at her sister, surprised.
“I read it somewhere,” Lin Jiayao said, gently pushing her sister’s face back towards the road. “Safe driving, please.”
“Read…?” Lin Xiwan then remembered all the books she’d brought for her sister, perhaps it was mentioned in one of them, or on a map.
She quickly dismissed the thought, but her sister’s desire for Coca-Cola… she made a mental note of it.
After five years, only canned cola would still be… somewhat drinkable, though long expired.
Just sugary water, not very sweet, but it wasn’t about the taste or the nutritional value, but the memories, a taste of the pre-apocalypse world.
Like the satisfying hiss of the opening can, a small sound, but still… a reminder.
That sound was truly… satisfying.
But then she noticed her sister was lost in thought again, her hand still resting on her face.
“Nom—” Lin Xiwan playfully nibbled on her sister’s hand, pretending to bite.
The sound instantly brought Lin Jiayao back to reality.
But instead of pulling her hand away, she paused, then placed her finger in her sister’s mouth.
“Mmm?” Lin Xiwan slowed the car again, looking at her sister, bewildered.
“Hmm?” Lin Jiayao also looked at her, puzzled by her sister’s surprised expression.
And Huayibai, in the back, watched them, its eyes wide with envy.
Yibai wants to eat Mommy’s hand too…
“Ah… I thought you were sleepy and wanted to… suck on my finger…” Lin Jiayao said, slightly embarrassed, withdrawing her hand and wiping it with a tissue.
“What?” Lin Xiwan stopped the car completely.
She couldn’t follow her sister’s logic.
Why would she suck on her sister’s finger if she was sleepy while driving?
Oh, right, her sister’s entire body had healing properties now… but…
Why was she so… casual about it? No hesitation, as if willing to do even more… if asked…
This… this lack of boundaries was dangerous!
Then, realization dawned.
Besides trusting her completely, it was also… a matter of education, or rather, the lack thereof.
She’d never really given her sister “the talk,” not even basic sex education, let alone about… this. Her sister had learned everything from books.
I have to teach her… explain that even her older sister can’t always be trusted.
Especially when under the influence of drugs or… other things.
Otherwise, something like the warehouse incident might happen again.
“Hoo… it’s fine, but don’t do that again,” she said, her tone now serious, adopting an older-sisterly tone. “If I really… need something… I’ll ask you first.”
“Okay.” Lin Jiayao nodded, watching her sister restart the car.
Lin Jiayao hadn’t been thinking about any of that. She’d been planning.
A plan that required Huayibai’s cooperation.
Every zombie, under certain conditions, after consuming enough blood crystals, would enter an evolution state, and the duration varied.
For her, thanks to the system, any evolution outside a login session was fixed at six hours.
Whether E-rank to D-rank, or C-rank to B-rank, always six hours.
Mask’s initial blood crystal evolution had only taken an hour or two.
So, for lower-level zombies, evolving outside a login session was a disadvantage, but for higher-level zombies, six hours was… a bargain, even an advantage.
And most importantly, the system wouldn’t interrupt a zombie’s evolution unless absolutely necessary, and even then, compensation would be provided.
This meant…
She could have Huayibai transport A4, while it was evolving, to the Voodoo Cult’s headquarters…
Even time it so that A4 arrived right as it was breaking through to B-rank…
A C-rank A4, under the system’s control, had been able to infiltrate and escape the Voodoo Cult’s headquarters; what could a B-rank A4 do?
The thought made her smile.
But there were two major obstacles: the blood crystals needed for the evolution, and transporting them.
She had a plan:
-
Continue using the Zombie Loot Box to acquire evolutions.
-
Put all nine of her remaining blood crystals in the safehouse. After Huayibai delivered A4 to the extraction point, she would log into Mask and have Huayibai take Mask to A4.
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Have Huayibai use the giant insect to protect Mask while it collected blood crystals in Xin City.
-
Have Mask consume the blood crystals and try to evolve. If it failed, have Huayibai take the remaining crystals to A4. If it succeeded, have her take the evolving Mask to A4.
-
Have Huayibai’s insect transport both Mask and A4 to Chongyu City.
A good plan, but difficult to execute.
Firstly, Mask might not be ready to evolve, and secondly, she might not be able to gather enough blood crystals in time.
Her sister had used three blood crystal stones to reach C-rank. How many would she need for B-rank…?
Even selling Goldie wouldn’t be enough for both A4 and Mask to reach B-rank.
I need more blood crystals…
Lin Jiayao considered her options.
Goldie could collect some; there were plenty of blood crystals in the sea creatures along the coast of Japan.
But controlling a B-rank zombie during a battle was mentally exhausting; she might faint afterwards, wasting valuable time.
Another option was to eliminate the head-Hive zombie with Goldie. If she could defeat it, the blood crystals would be more than enough.
If that failed… well, she could always harvest Goldie’s tentacles; they should be worth quite a bit.
As for transporting the blood crystal stones, that was easier.
She could use the safehouse, seemingly limited to nine crystals at a time, but she could exploit the system’s “space folding” glitch, nesting bags within bags, and transfer them to Mask.
If this worked…
She could airdrop two system-controlled, powerful zombies into the Voodoo Cult’s headquarters…
And then have Huayibai… “accidentally” start a fire…
That might be enough to cripple them.
Blood crystals, blood crystals… I need more…
The last Zombie Loot Box had yielded three blood crystals, bringing her total to eleven… not nearly enough.
Focus on the simulations, hopefully, she could defeat Goldie’s nemesis; with her rapidly improving combat skills, she was confident she could conquer this “dungeon.”
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