Chapter 50 - 42: The Distinguished Guest, Professor Lawson

The village chief had already fled back home, looking out for number one. Toby Warren clutched his bitten neck and had just managed to stand up when Loraine Wallace lunged at him again.

Flora Bloom finally made her move.

She gripped her axe and charged forward, but not before calling out to Neal Wallace.

"This is a Second-level zombie. You can’t handle it. Protect my dad and the others for me."

Upon hearing her, Neal Wallace moved to shield Caleb Bloom. Mervin Warren and Ethan Monroe, despite having no superpowers, also bravely stepped forward to flank Caleb.

Meanwhile, Vert received Flora Bloom’s command. With a kick of its legs, it leaped in front of the zombie about to attack Micah—the very same old man who had berated Flora Bloom earlier.

A single slash from its scythe effortlessly sliced open the zombie’s neck. Then, using the spike on the scythe’s tip, it pierced the old man’s head. The fight ended that easily.

After dealing with the zombified old man, Vert joined the battle against the Second-level zombie.

As Flora Bloom’s axe struck Loraine Wallace square in the face, the edge of the fire axe—her trusty companion for the past few days—actually buckled. The handle loosened as well. She was sure that one more swing and the axe would be completely useless.

Gritting her teeth against the painful recoil from the impact, Flora Bloom swung hard at Loraine Wallace’s head again.

With a loud CRACK, the force of the impact sent the axe head flying off its handle.

’It’d be great to have a Metal Element superpower user around. In the apocalypse, they can use ores to forge incredibly powerful weapons. We don’t have the materials right now, but if they just enhanced a normal weapon, even a basic one could easily split open a Second-level zombie’s skull. I wouldn’t be stuck here, fighting a zombie without a single decent weapon to my name.’

Now weaponless, Flora Bloom was left with no way to attack. She had no choice but to dodge out of the way.

Fortunately, Vert arrived just in time to take over the fight.

This Second-level zombie was incredibly fast and strong. Most importantly, it seemed to know how to dodge fatal attacks.

Each time Vert thrust its scythe toward the zombie’s head, the creature cleverly dodged it.

’This can’t go on.’

The appearance of the Second-level zombie made Flora Bloom, who had been feeling relaxed, tense up once more.

Second-level zombies possessed a sliver of intelligence. They acted as leaders within packs of first-level zombies. Areas with large gatherings of low-level zombies were breeding grounds for Second-level ones. Once a group had a Second-level zombie leading it, they would begin to consciously encircle and hunt humans.

This meant that human survival among zombie hordes would become even more difficult.

Flora Bloom watched anxiously. Although Vert had the upper hand, it couldn’t land a decisive blow. So, she summoned the rest of her team: Monkey Two, Monkey Three, Xiao Jia, Da Kong, Xiao Kong, and Jin Chan all appeared at her side.

Ethan Monroe and Neal Wallace were surprised by the sudden appearance of so many giant creatures, but they took it in stride.

When it came to Flora Bloom, nothing she did seemed strange anymore, no matter how outrageous.

But Caleb Bloom was a different story.

At the sudden sight of so many massive beasts, if not for his military background keeping him upright, his legs would have given out, and he would have collapsed into a trembling heap on the ground.

’When did my daughter become so capable?’

Flora Bloom, on the other hand, felt a wave of relief.

’I might not have a weapon, but I have all these elite enforcers. It’d be a waste not to use them. They’re living in my space, using my resources—it’s only fair they do some heavy lifting, right?’

Of the creatures Flora Bloom had just released, Jin Chan aimed a sonic wave at Loraine Wallace’s head, instantly freezing her in place.

The next second, Vert’s scythe and the claws of Monkey Two and Monkey Three simultaneously pierced through Loraine Wallace’s skull.

The battle was over before Xiao Jia, Da Kong, and Xiao Kong even had a chance to act.

But on the scene, Loraine Wallace’s head was completely obliterated. Brain matter flew everywhere, splattering onto Flora Bloom’s clothes.

Flora Bloom glared at the culprits—Vert, Monkey Two, and Monkey Three—as a wave of nausea washed over her.

"BLECH!"

Leaning against the wall for support, Flora Bloom began to retch violently.

Since she had only had a little water since waking up, she had nothing to bring up but bile. She heaved until she was dizzy and seeing stars, only then did she lift her pale face.

She shot a glare at the culprits—Vert, Monkey Two, and Monkey Three—and forced down her nausea. Walking over to Loraine Wallace’s corpse, she coated her hand with her superpower and began rummaging through the shattered fragments of the zombie’s skull. She pulled out a pale yellow, quail-egg-sized Crystal Core.

’I have to keep this Second-level Crystal Core safe. When my Initial Stage superpower hits a bottleneck, a core like this will let me break through quickly and become a Second-level Superpower User.’

This was a lesson learned from cultivating her superpower in her past life. When a superpower user hit a bottleneck, using a Zombie Crystal Core one level higher than their own was far more effective for breaking through than using countless same-level cores.

Although a Second-level Superpower User was still considered an Initial Stage user, the strength of their superpower was doubled.

After the apocalypse, awakened superpower users were divided into three stages.

Initial Stage, Middle Level, and High-level.

Each stage was divided into three levels, from 1 to 3.

Leveling up was simple; one only needed to accumulate energy from Crystal Cores to break through. Advancing to the next stage, however, was not so easy.

At the sight of Flora Bloom rummaging through the zombie’s skull, even the military-trained Caleb Bloom started dry-heaving off to the side—though Neal Wallace and Ethan Monroe were already used to it. After all, even a soldier couldn’t remain completely unfazed watching his own daughter mush someone’s brains into paste, even if that person was already a zombie.

This scene also hit Toby Warren and Micah, who had both been bitten by Loraine Wallace, right in the gut. Their stomachs churned violently, and they each turned aside and began to throw up.

The pungent smell of their vomit—who knows what they ate—mingled with the unique, putrid stench of zombie brains, making Flora Bloom’s stomach churn all over again.

The three men and Flora Bloom were all at the gate, vomiting their guts out. It wasn’t until Jade, finished with cooking, came out and saw the carnage in the yard—the ground covered in blood and brains.

Seeing her daughter, her husband, and the other two men retching violently, she dropped her spatula and rushed to help Flora Bloom into the house. "You’re a grown man," she grumbled at Caleb Bloom. "Your daughter is this sick and you don’t even help her up? You’re just over there throwing up yourself."

Flora Bloom was someone who saw the world in black and white and always repaid her debts. Victor Warren had wronged her family, but she owed Toby Warren a debt of gratitude. If Toby hadn’t warned her that night, allowing her to arrive in the nick of time, her mother might have been burned to death by Wu Shangjin and his men.

So, as her mother was helping her into the house, she told Neal Wallace and the others to bring Toby Warren inside as well.

"Wait, miss, please wait a moment."

The speaker was Micah.

Flora Bloom frowned, looking at him with disgust. He was covered in filth, and the dark blood on his neck had already congealed. He was just plain dirty, and she didn’t want to get near him. What’s more, he knew Wu Shangjin. That alone gave her a bad first impression, so she didn’t bother being pleasant.

Micah saw the look of disgust on Flora Bloom’s face and her clear desire to ignore him, and he felt a sense of helplessness. ’But I saw what this girl can do with my own eyes,’ he thought. ’That zombie was so powerful, yet she didn’t even have to lift a finger. Her group of monsters—no, pets—took care of it for her.’

’Maybe she can help me?’

"Miss? You’re the ’miss.’ Your whole family are ’misses.’"

Flora Bloom shot him a massive eye-roll and was about to head inside when he called out to her again.

"Young lady, I mean no harm! I was just wondering if you could take me in? I... I can pay for my stay! Any amount, I don’t care how much."

As soon as Micah finished speaking, Flora Bloom suddenly started laughing.

"Do you think money is of any use in this world now?"

Micah’s face went pale. In truth, he didn’t just want her to take him in; he wanted to see if this girl had a way to save him.

"I... I... please, young lady, just be a good person and help me. I don’t dare go back to that Wu Shangjin’s house. If more monsters show up, this old man is a goner."

Seeing the genuine sincerity on his face, which lacked the grasping, opportunistic look she associated with Wu Shangjin, Flora Bloom asked, "What’s your relationship with Wu Shangjin?"

Micah had figured it out already. Among the three men and one woman, one was her father, but this young girl was the one calling the shots. He answered honestly.

"My name is Micah. I’m a scientist. I originally came to Sinia City just to do some sightseeing with my granddaughter. But who would have known we’d run into so many zombies as soon as we arrived? My granddaughter went missing, and I got trapped here."

"Don’t get the wrong idea. Wu Shangjin was just someone assigned from Argent to host me. I have no real connection to him."

Everyone present was a bit surprised by Micah’s claim to be a scientist. Flora Bloom, in particular, pressed on, "A scientist? What’s your field of research?"

Micah suddenly grew wary, looking at Flora Bloom, unsure if he should say more. There were strict official regulations requiring him to keep his work confidential. But now...

Seeing Micah fall silent, Flora Bloom didn’t press him. She just said, "Follow me inside."