Chapter 24: Another Harvest of Blood Essence Power

It must be said that this method of cutting houses into sections and hauling them away is crude, yet highly practical.

Watching architectural structures weighing dozens of tons being moved, it likely takes only a minute or two to clear a path for the convoy. Of course, a minute or two is quite fast under normal circumstances, but the problem is that they are currently deep inside Tianshan City, very close to the city center.

The density of zombies here is extraordinary, and to make matters worse, they have been charging through the city, with a massive horde trailing right behind them. While zombies typically stop pursuing once a target has outpaced them by several hundred meters, it is impossible to shake them all off. At this moment, there are at least three hundred zombies following the convoy.

The First Squad, positioned at the rear, inevitably bears the brunt of the onslaught.

"Hand cannons, prepare for area-of-effect bombardment!" Roger ordered immediately.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A flurry of roars erupted instantly, creating a defensive line woven with explosions and flames. However, because there were too many zombies and the First Squad was undermanned, more than half of the horde broke through.

They were met by a hail of lethal bullets from Ripper rifles. Still, as mentioned, the First Squad is far too small; even with Lin Xinghai, there are only twelve people. Eventually, zombies reached the armored vehicle.

Roar!

The zombies clawed and bit frantically. Their talons were truly terrifying, sending sparks flying against the vehicle's plating. If the armored vehicle were made of ordinary steel rather than high-strength alloys, it might have been breached. But there were no "ifs"—against the thick, sturdy armor, the zombies' attacks were in vain, at least until a high-level zombie appeared.

Lin Xinghai, however, frowned as he watched a zombie pressing against the firing port, desperately trying to squeeze inside.

Squelch!

Roger cleaved the zombie's head off with a blade. "Don't just stand there! Kill more of them and try to contain the horde here. The armored vehicle can withstand a siege, but that doesn't mean the two multi-purpose off-road vehicles at the front of the convoy can."

Lin Xinghai sprang into action, lifting his foot to kick the headless carcass away. But halfway through the motion, he stopped abruptly. Something seemed to cross his mind, and his eyes lit up. "This is... a golden opportunity!"

He switched from kicking to pushing, specifically pressing his hand against the wound.

"Ding! Blood energy detected. Do you wish to absorb it?"

While delightedly selecting "Yes," he shoved the corpse away and waited for the next zombie to offer itself up. He intended to seize this chance to farm a wave of blood energy.

He barely had to wait; as soon as the body was pushed out, another zombie took its place. This time, before the zombie could even stick its head in, Lin Xinghai thrust his vibrating dagger forward. Zombie bone is incredibly hard, so to ensure a one-hit kill, he activated the vibration mode.

Hum!

With the blade vibrating at high frequency, it pierced the zombie's skull with almost no resistance. The zombie died instantly. As Lin Xinghai withdrew the dagger, he lightly brushed his finger against the wound.

"Ding! Blood energy detected. Do you wish to absorb it?"

The melodic system prompt sounded—another point of blood energy secured. With that, Lin Xinghai’s motivation soared to 200% without anyone even needing to prompt him. He occupied two firing ports, dealing a fatal blow to any zombie trying to climb in, all while harvesting blood energy on the side.

Roger watched this behavior with confusion. Was it really necessary to go through such trouble when a single shot would suffice? However, since Lin Xinghai was quick and his kill efficiency remained high, and considering it might help him get used to the vibrating dagger, Roger didn't say anything.

The harvest of blood energy was joyful, but it was short-lived. The "Sky-Splitter" and "Frost-Heaven" mechs were incredibly efficient, clearing a passable road in just one minute. The convoy started up and quickly pulled away.

For everyone else, this was great news, but for Lin Xinghai, it was undoubtedly a tragedy. Still, he couldn't call for a halt. He silently opened his system panel, and after a quick glance, his mood improved significantly. His blood energy had reached 76 points. Including the two unconsumed genetic stimulants, he effectively had 86 points of blood energy. He only needed 14 more points to achieve a breakthrough and awaken his ability.

A piercing alarm pulled Lin Xinghai back to reality. He glanced at the screen: two high-level zombies had appeared simultaneously. He had noticed long ago that the closer they got to the city center, the more frequently these high-level zombies appeared. But he hadn't expected them to appear together; the situation was becoming increasingly dangerous.

To deal with the crisis, Roger and Xu Hao split into two teams, calling over two other members with good marksmanship for support. In the end, the crisis was averted without incident. However, with the First Squad so small, having four people tied up dealing with high-level zombies meant they were severely stretched thin when handling the rest of the horde.

It was then that the other members realized that Lin Xinghai, whom they hadn't previously included in their combat assessment, had quietly developed marksmanship no worse than their own. Especially when shooting targets within ten meters, he was nearly perfect, greatly easing their defensive pressure.

"Didn't he just start learning marksmanship? Heavens! How is that even possible?"

"I noticed it just now. His progress is incredibly fast. It's like he improves with every shot he takes."

"Does a high genetic rating improve learning efficiency? I've never heard of that."

"You call this learning efficiency? This is basically cheating, isn't it?"

The people in the vehicle buzzed with discussion. Hearing their comments made Lin Xinghai feel a bit guilty; he wondered if he had been too obvious. However, he also noticed that their curiosity remained limited to talk and they didn't dig deeper. As for their actual behavior, they became even warmer toward him. They no longer saw him as a rookie, but as a reliable teammate they could truly depend on.

"With your rate of improvement, I suppose the responsibility of sniping high-level zombies can be handed to you on the next mission," Roger remarked with a sigh.

He had come to terms with it. When the gap in talent reaches a certain point, there is no room left for jealousy. He just wanted to wonder: is this guy even human?