Chapter 60: Embracing Sleep
“Hoo—”
After connecting Mask’s head to the Armored zombie’s body, Lin Jiayao swung its massive right arm.
“Thump—”
“Crunch, crunch, crunch—”
The sound of metal meeting flesh and bone echoed as the zombies surrounding the Armored zombie were sent flying, their bones shattered.
Repeating the process on the left side, Lin Jiayao stood up.
“So tall…”
This was Lin Jiayao’s first thought as she controlled the towering body.
Looking around, she felt like the surrounding zombies were children.
Glancing at the extraction time, she saw she had half an hour left and decided to scavenge the battlefield.
She looked at the scattered blood crystals and extended bone spikes through the gaps in the metal plating, picking them up one by one.
These were the blood crystals that had precipitated from the Armored zombie’s body. Some had been consumed by the zombies, who had even gnawed away parts of its flesh.
Other smaller crystals came from the zombies she had killed after they’d fed on the Armored zombie.
It took about three minutes to gather all the blood crystals.
Lin Jiayao couldn’t tell exactly how many grams there were, but she could make an estimate.
Smaller crystals would fuse together, stopping at 500g.
So, a blood crystal that couldn’t fuse any further was exactly 500g.
After the fusion process completed, Lin Jiayao had her answer.
About one and a half blood crystals.
Plus the half she still had in her mouth, that made two.
This Armored zombie contained even more blood crystals than a Nest Zombie.
Of course, this was normal.
The Armored zombie was much stronger than a Nest Zombie.
A Nest Zombie probably couldn’t even penetrate an Armored zombie’s defenses.
And an Armored zombie wouldn’t be able to catch the much faster Nest Zombie.
She spat out the blood crystal in her mouth, let it fuse with the extra half, and ended up with a small, fingernail-sized crystal remaining.
She put the two 500g blood crystals into the safehouse.
She put the small remaining crystal in her mouth to continue repairing Mask’s damaged head.
Mask’s appearance had changed drastically since the encounter with the Nest Zombie.
The changes were significant.
Before, Mask had been an ordinary, albeit pale, zombie head, still somewhat human-looking.
But now, everything below its nose was smooth, jade-like bone.
The bone connected to the remaining skin and flesh on Mask’s face and neck, as if half of its face had been flayed, revealing the skull beneath.
And most noticeably, Mask’s human teeth had been replaced with sharp fangs.
Even without a mirror, Lin Jiayao knew how monstrous she looked.
This was the result of prioritizing combat effectiveness during an emergency, fueled by blood crystals.
But Lin Jiayao didn’t plan to spend blood crystals restoring Mask’s appearance.
So what if it was ugly? Would looking pretty increase its attack power?
More importantly, it would waste blood crystals.
Before, she hadn’t fully grasped the importance of blood crystals. But after using the Hideout and experiencing this battle, she understood.
Whether upgrading the Hideout or fighting, blood crystals were essential for replenishing consumption.
She had to find more.
The thought of finding more crystals reminded her of the half-collapsed building she’d seen earlier.
Several dormant Armored zombies were clinging to it… perhaps she could find a way to eliminate them the next time she logged into Mask.
It was a good idea, but the execution would be extremely difficult.
Fighting just one Armored zombie had almost killed her; facing several at once would be a nightmare.
If she wasn’t careful and they all jumped down at the same time, she wouldn’t stand a chance.
“Thump—Thump—”
Lin Jiayao controlled the Armored zombie’s massive body and walked towards the billboard where she had left her backpack.
Although its movements seemed slow, each step covered a considerable distance.
Almost three or four times the length of an ordinary person’s stride.
Soon, she reached the billboard.
Picking up the backpack and the burlap sack filled with magazines and books, Lin Jiayao looked at her reflection in the billboard’s plastic surface and paused.
Mask’s current form was grotesque; she knew that.
But no matter how grotesque, it was still the size of a normal human head.
Such a small head on such a massive body… it looked disproportionate.
Only because the metal plating on its chest had been ripped open could she see anything; otherwise, her vision would be completely obstructed.
Not that Mask needed to see, of course.
Carrying her loot, Lin Jiayao reached the extraction point – an underground parking lot.
The parking lot was a mess, the ground covered in about half a meter of murky, black water.
It seemed like a drainage problem, years of accumulated sewage.
Lin Jiayao was glad Mask had no sense of smell.
She controlled the Armored zombie to sit down against a pillar and saw the extraction timer begin its countdown.
「Extracting in: 7.7」
As the countdown ended, Lin Jiayao’s consciousness was pulled into darkness.
She saw the illusory giant figure, the small safehouse, and the slightly larger square gray box.
She moved one blood crystal from the safehouse to the warehouse, keeping one in the safehouse as a reserve.
Then, she started moving the other items.
She would move the books to the warehouse and then transfer them to the safehouse and bring them over the next time she controlled the fungal zombie.
But as she moved the books, she frowned.
Each book occupied a single grid.
She had taken twenty books, now occupying twenty grids.
This made the previously spacious 10×10 warehouse seem slightly cramped.
These books are taking up too much space…
Then, her gaze fell on the burlap sack the Armored zombie had been carrying.
After transferring the remaining magazines from the sack to the backpack, she put the empty sack into the warehouse.
The folded sack occupied a single grid.
Then, she moved one of the children’s books onto the sack.
As she watched, the sack unfolded, now occupying four grids.
Lin Jiayao started moving the books, one by one, into the 2×2 sack.
After transferring all twenty books, the 2×2 sack finally turned gray, indicating it was full.
A 2×2 sack… containing items that originally occupied twenty grids?
What kind of space-folding magic was this?
Lin Jiayao blinked, looking at the similarly sized 2×2 safehouse.
Is… is this a bug?
A system bug?
She felt a new possibility opening up.
Could she put smaller bags within larger bags, pouches within vests, wallets within pouches, exploiting this system bug to maximize her storage capacity?
She would have to experiment.
There weren’t many items for her to test with now. She exited the space and returned to reality.
But the moment her consciousness returned to her body, she felt a wave of dizziness.
An overwhelming nausea, like being incredibly drunk.
She pushed away the blankets, struggling to reach the edge of the bed, wanting to lean over the side.
But she couldn’t control her body properly.
Her hand missed the edge of the bed, and she fell to the floor.
“Thump—”
Her upper body hit the floor, her head striking the hard surface, but her legs remained motionless on the bed, as if pinned there.
“Yaoyao? Yaoyao?! What’s wrong?” Lin Xiwan, who had been sleeping beside her, woke up and quickly rolled over, lifting Lin Jiayao back onto the bed.
The impact had intensified the dizziness, and the nausea was so overwhelming that Lin Jiayao had even forgotten her sister’s habit of holding her legs while sleeping.
Only after being placed back on the bed did the nausea and dizziness slowly subside.
Replaced by a bone-deep exhaustion.
“I… I’m fine…”
In the darkness, Lin Jiayao couldn’t clearly see her sister’s expression, but she could sense her worry.
But her reply didn’t sound convincing.
Her sister clearly didn’t believe her and scrambled to light a candle.
Lying in bed, Lin Jiayao wondered why she was suddenly feeling this way.
Food poisoning?
It seemed possible…
But she knew it wasn’t that.
If it were food poisoning, she would be experiencing stomach cramps, or at least some discomfort.
But all she felt was a slight dizziness and overwhelming mental fatigue.
It was likely due to mental exhaustion.
Was it the battle between Mask and the Armored zombie?
Her weak mental state worried her.
Would there come a time when she logged out and couldn’t wake up?
If this continued, getting worse each time, it was a real possibility.
“Do you want some water? Is your stomach upset? Was there something wrong with the canned food we had for dinner?”
Lin Xiwan crouched beside the bed, her voice full of concern.
Lin Jiayao noticed that in her haste, her sister hadn’t even put on her shoes before lighting the candle and bringing her a glass of water.
“Maybe…” Lin Jiayao said softly, looking at her worried sister. “But I feel much better now.”
“Really?” Lin Xiwan blinked, looking at her sister for a long moment before holding up the glass. “Want some water?”
“Mm.” Lin Jiayao nodded.
Lin Xiwan helped her sit up, placed the blanket on her outstretched hand, and watched her slowly drink the water.
Her sister’s frail appearance made Lin Xiwan’s heart ache.
If it weren’t for this damned apocalypse, her sister would be receiving better care, better medical treatment. She might even have a chance to walk again.
It was all the fault of these damned zombies and the apocalypse…
It was a foolish dream, but she wished she could restore the world to how it once was…
The name “Survivor’s Light” surfaced in her mind.
Thinking of that organization, Lin Xiwan felt that perhaps, just perhaps, her dream wasn’t so foolish after all.
“What are you thinking about?” Lin Jiayao asked, seeing her sister lost in thought.
“Nothing, it’s nothing,” Lin Xiwan shook her head and caressed her sister’s face.
Suddenly, as if making a firm decision, she looked at her sister with newfound determination.
“Don’t worry, Yaoyao, I’ll get you to Donghai Province safely,” she said earnestly. “There’s a safer environment there, stronger Awakened. Maybe they can even find a way to heal your legs.”
Lin Jiayao opened her mouth to speak but couldn’t find the words.
Because her sister was right.
Donghai City was indeed the safest place for her now.
It had become a paradise for fungal zombies, and she, thanks to the system, had become the “mother” of the most powerful fungal zombie there.
The thought made her feel slightly dizzy.
Even Survivor’s Light, considered the safest place, had become a forbidden zone for most humans.
Was there still hope for humanity?
Where did their future lie?
That night, the two sisters embraced each other, holding on tight, not letting go until morning.
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