In a frigid apocalypse, I went on a shopping spree with the reborn.

"Xiao Yi, Xiao Yi, please examine this red stone."

[Consuming one transaction coin, starting the appraisal... Appraisal results are as follows.]

[Name: Level 1 Zombie Crystal Core; Effect: Enhancement +1.]

[The master can consume crystal cores to enhance any living being or item.]

"It's a miracle cure." Jiang Qingyue breathed a sigh of relief after reading the test results.

The effect of this crystal core was more powerful than she had imagined.

"I was planning to rest tonight, but it looks like I won't be able to now."

"Chirp chirp." What does Master want to do?

Jiang Qingyan poked her fluffy rabbit head out of her arms, her two ears perked up to listen.

Long Jiuxing also said, "I'll listen to Sister Xiaoyue."

Jiang Qingyue: "This is what I think. Based on the identification results, if there is a Level 1, there must be Level 2, Level 3, Level 4... In other words, these zombies will become stronger and stronger."

"We don't know the mechanism behind how zombies get stronger yet, but we can be sure that our advantage will diminish as time goes on."

Long Jiuxing nodded.

This level of zombie is no different from a silly goose to her and Sister Xiaoyue now; they can easily defeat it even without weapons, using only their bare hands.

In addition, they have fresh vegetables, so they are not afraid of toxic fumes at all, and even if they are accidentally injured, they can benefit from the essence of plant doctors.

The crystal cores are like freebies.

Jiang Qingyue: "In order to avoid being overtaken by zombies, we need to collect as many crystal cores as possible in the early stages. We should also clear out the area around the shelter so that we can live there with peace of mind."

"Also, Yanbao and Zaizai are growing too slowly. Special items are rare and not easy to obtain. If we had enough zombie crystal cores, we could use quantity to make the two little ones stronger."

The more they talked, the brighter their four pairs of eyes became.

They realized that now was the perfect time.

Since the second cold wave hit and temperatures dropped to minus fifty degrees Celsius, all the vegetables outside have been ruined.

Some capable individuals can grow it, but in small quantities. Moreover, these individuals are powerful figures who need it for themselves or to share with their underlings; they would never sell such a small amount of vegetables.

This has resulted in many people, especially those in small and medium-sized organizations, being unable to even leave their homes.

Breathing is difficult. Although inhaling this toxic fog won't kill you, people are breathing every moment.

The symptoms of dizziness and headache will become more and more severe, as if the disease has reached its terminal stage.

This means that everyone not only has to fight against the poisonous fog, but also against zombies and extremely low temperatures.

But none of these things matter to Jiang Qingyue and her group.

"Chirp chirp." What are we waiting for? Master, hurry up and go.

"Hiss." Master, you've given me practice. I feel like I can beat you.

Both little ones are so motivated, what are we waiting for?

Jiang Qingyue and Long Jiuxing continued their exploration.

However, the idea was nice, but the reality was cruel.

After ten minutes without finding any zombies, Jiang Qingyue exclaimed, "Look at my luck! The zombies aren't even coming near me. If it weren't for the crystal cores, I'd be overjoyed."

Half an hour passed, and they still hadn't found a second zombie. Jiang Qingyue began to feel that something was wrong.

An hour later, the two searched the area around the shelter but couldn't find a single zombie.

Jiang Qingyue's brows furrowed deeply: "Something's not right. Didn't they say they'd release a hundred billion zombies? So I only got one?"

"Is God really that good to me?"

"No, I need crystal cores! Zombies are like walking treasures, and I can't even find any zombies right now, how am I supposed to get crystal cores?"

She discovered for the first time that having too much luck could also have its drawbacks.

Suddenly, a faint smell of blood wafted over. Jiang Qingyue turned her head and saw that Long Jiuxing, who was beside her, had cut his palm with the scalpel he carried with him.

"What are you doing?" Jiang Qingyue quickly went over and pressed on the wound.

Long Jiuxing, however, didn't care at all: "Let's see if zombies like blood, and see if we can attract them?"

"You!" Jiang Qingyue said, both anxious and angry, "Even if you're going to try, you don't have to go this far."

As he spoke, seeing that the wound was quite deep and that pressing on it couldn't stop the bleeding, he quickly stuffed a Herbal Doctor Essence into Long Jiuxing's mouth.

The effect was immediate; after a short while, Long Jiuxing's calloused palms returned to normal.

If it weren't for the bloodstains on the ground and on his hands, you wouldn't be able to tell he was injured.

"Don't be so impulsive in the future."

"Sister Xiaoyue, I'm not in pain." Throughout the entire process, Long Jiuxing's face remained expressionless.

This is just a minor injury; compared to what she's suffered in the past, it's nothing to make her frown.

I don't believe it.

Jiang Qingyue glared at her. "Who isn't made of flesh and blood? Everyone feels pain. When you're in a desperate situation, you can only be strong. There's no other way. Don't try to be brave now."

Seeing the pain on her face, Long Jiuxing nodded earnestly, even though she was used to this kind of pain: "I understand. I will try my best not to get hurt in the future."

"But what if we can't find any zombies now?"

Jiang Qingyue was also somewhat embarrassed upon hearing this.

"Strange, a hundred billion zombies, and the total population of the Eighth Experimental Zone is less than ten billion. If they were evenly distributed, there shouldn't be so few."

"Could it be that that damned god threw all 100 billion zombies into the same place?"

Jiang Qingyue quickly turned on her personal terminal. If her guess was correct, then someone would definitely be terrified by the dense horde of zombies and beg for help.

The personal terminal was turned on, and sure enough, countless people were calling for help on the world channel.

Those nearly killed by the poisonous fog, those terrified by the zombies...

Jiang Qingyue ignored all other information and focused on anything that mentioned the word "zombie".

This one look was quite significant; she actually figured out something about it.

Some say there are countless zombies, while others say there are over a hundred outside the base.

At first, Jiang Qingyue didn't quite understand, but as more and more people talked about it, she gradually realized something was wrong.

The big, well-known factions mentioned a lot of zombies, while the smaller factions whose IDs she had never even heard of mentioned very few.

"Could it be that the number of zombies is related to the number of people gathered together? There are only four of us in our shelter, so we only got one zombie?"

Jiang Qingyue sent two identical messages to Liu Yuyao and Nangong Zhao: "How many zombies are there around you?"

Soon, the two replied.

Liu Yuyao: "There are countless of them. They're everywhere outside the base, and many inside the base are being cleared."

Nangong Zhao: "At least several hundred thousand."

"So many." After receiving the reply, Jiang Qingyue confirmed her suspicions.

"As expected, the zombies weren't evenly distributed; they were deployed based on the number of humans, and their numbers were several times that of humans."

She only had one, and Jiang Qingyue guessed that it was probably luck that played a role.

Otherwise, if the four of them stayed here, even without counting Yanbao and Zaizai, there would be at least dozens of zombies.

Jiang Qingyue and Long Jiuxing exchanged a glance and made their decision.

He pressed Yan Bao's head back into his arms: "Come on, I'll take you guys to steal some kills."

With space to store all sorts of necessities, Jiang Qingyue and her friends embarked on a spontaneous trip.

It took less than an hour to walk from the mountains outside the city to the entrance.

As soon as we arrived at the resettlement housing at the entrance to the city, a stench wafted from ahead.

It was accompanied by hoarse growls and screams from countless people.

"This is it." Jiang Qingyue looked around the neighborhood.

She remembered that this place seemed to be a resettlement housing complex, with each apartment being small but the population density being unusually high.

No wonder it attracted so many zombies to attack it.

"Chirp chirp." I'll give it a try.

"Don't take the risk." Jiang Qingyue pressed Yan Bao's little head back down. "It's not too late to do it after I get some crystal cores to strengthen you. It's dark now, and you're so small. If something really happens, I won't be able to find you in a pile of zombies."

Not only was Yan Bao refused to fight, but the little white snake was also put back into Long Jiuxing's underwear and his collar was pulled up.

The two, wearing headlamps, looked at each other.

Long Jiuxing, wielding the Burning Heaven Fire Staff, charged into the horde of zombies.

He wielded the stick with great force, making a series of loud bangs wherever it went, like smashing watermelons all over the ground.

Even though she was covered in brain matter and filth from zombies, the girl remained expressionless, without even flinching, and became more and more excited as she fought.

"A born killer."

Jiang Qingyue stood a little distance away and saw this scene, feeling only heartache.

As a child who was pampered by her parents, she knew very well how to treat herself well, the kind of person who would insist on enjoying life even if she wasn't fortunate enough to have it.

Seeing someone like Long Jiuxing who doesn't know how to take good care of himself makes me feel sorry for him, as if he has never been properly loved.

It seems I should treat this girl better from now on. No matter how ruthless I am, I must still retain some humanity.

With a sigh, Jiang Qingyue also picked up the bow in her hand.

With two fingers gripping the string, he pulled and released, and a sharp, icy arrow pierced the heads of six zombies in the darkness.

It wasn't because she could only take on six zombies at once, but because there were only six zombies in that straight line.

Inside the apartment building, the people who were shivering were stunned when they saw two star-like points of light in the darkness through their windows.

"Why are there still people downstairs?"

You should know that outside are filled with growling zombies.

Everyone knew nothing about zombies.

Not to mention timid elderly people and children, even strong men are afraid of it.

After all, who knows how strong zombies are? If they're slow-moving and mindless like in the movies, that's fine.

If it runs incredibly fast, has a keen sense of smell, exceptional eyesight, and is also poisonous, then anyone who touches it will die.

Therefore, even though the zombies' growling and scratching at the walls and windows outside were extremely loud, everyone just closed the doors and windows tightly, moved all the furniture they could to block the door, and then hid at home.

Hopefully, the zombies will be gone after the sun comes out tomorrow, or we can make some other plans.

There are actually people down there now.

"Look everyone, they seem to be actively killing zombies."

The unit on the far side was closer, and even in the darkness, the light above Jiang Qingyue and the others' heads was enough to make them see each other's movements.

"Should we go too?"

"Go away, those two idiots down there are showing off. Not everyone is Jiang Qingyue, who can make zombies die on the spot."

"Just wait and see, they'll be eaten clean by the zombies in no time, not even a bone fragment will be left."

"Then let me ask you, after they were all eaten, who was next? There were so many zombies that we were almost surrounded, and we couldn't even run away."

The person being asked hesitated for a moment, then said defiantly, "Maybe zombies are afraid of light. Aren't all these dark things afraid of light? When the sun comes out tomorrow, they might just run back into the sewers to hide."

Nobody paid any attention to his stubbornness.

The fact that we are not strong does not mean we are stupid.

When zombies first appear, they are always at their weakest.

At this point, they didn't have the courage to confront them. As the zombies grew stronger, things would only get harder for everyone.

Although they now belong to the "I Am King in the Apocalypse" team, their captain, Nangong Zhao, practically leaves them to their own devices, rescuing only the core members.

These nominal team members, besides trying to save themselves, can only wait to die.

There are people attacking from below now. Whether their purpose is to rescue them or not, everyone's goal is the same.

Besides, anyone who dares to provoke zombies at this time can't be weak, right?

"I'm going to give it a try. Whether I stick my neck out or not, I'll still get hurt. Besides, I've gained ten points in physique; I should at least have a fighting chance. Anyone want to join me?"

After a moment of silence, voices of agreement rose from different residential buildings.

Count me in.

"I'll go too."

"And me too."

Some people were carrying sticks, and some were carrying kitchen knives.

Apart from the elderly and children, almost everyone, whether woman or man, came out of their homes.

Some people were unlucky and encountered zombies in the stairwell. Some were eaten by the zombies, some got the crystal cores, and some killed them in a panic without even having time to touch the crystal cores, or didn't even know that crystal cores existed.

Seeing the people pouring down from the residential buildings, Jiang Qingyue shifted the tip of her bow slightly to avoid accidentally injuring anyone.

Fortunately, zombies are attracted to the smell of blood and human presence, just like cats swarming towards the scent of blood.

This saves them the trouble of searching everywhere.

An hour later, not a single zombie could be seen in sight.

Jiang Qingyue had just arrived at Long Jiuxing's side, who looked even more like a zombie than a zombie himself.

The girl was in a bloodthirsty rage, covered in blood, which terrified the residents who had just been brave enough to fight the zombies.

"We are human beings, we are all human beings, please don't kill me."

"Yes, yes, calm down, hero. We just inhaled the poisonous fog and look pale, but we are real people. Please don't kill the wrong person."

Jiang Qingyue's lips twitched: "You know how many zombies you killed. Those are yours to collect the crystal cores from. Those that got blown off in one hit are our spoils. Anyone who dares to dig up an extra one will have their hand chopped off."

Everyone nodded eagerly.

These two are simply killing gods. So many zombies were wiped out in minutes. Even if they had a hundred times the courage, they wouldn't dare to steal their spoils.

Seeing that they had behaved themselves, Jiang Qingyue and Long Jiuxing lay down on the ground to touch the crystal cores.

She was easy to find; the one with a little red inside the white ice was it. Once she found it, she gently crushed the covering ice and obtained a crystal core.

Long Jiuxing killed so many that he had to search through a pile of brains.

It took a full half hour just to touch the crystal core.

After confirming that nothing had been missed, Jiang Qingyue waved his hand and said, "Let's go, next place."

"Um, wait a minute."

A very soft voice came from behind, sounding extremely uneasy.

Jiang Qingyue stopped.

From a corner of the corridor, a middle-aged woman slowly walked out, holding five crystal cores in her hand, looking at Jiang Qingyue with some fear.

"Great hero, I only have five crystal cores. I know it's not much, but I really have no other choice. My child is still young, and the window in my house was broken before. The air that came in at dawn was poisonous, and my child is now unconscious. Could I exchange some fresh vegetables with you to help detoxify my child?"

After speaking, he waited expectantly and nervously for Jiang Qingyue's reply.

Jiang Qingyue: "How can you be so sure I have vegetables?"

"I saw the announcement. Both Jiang Qingyue and Long Jiuxing, two powerful individuals, completed the hidden mission. One obtained a staff, and the other obtained a bow."

Jiang Qingyue looked at the bow in her hand, then at the woman.

He took the five crystal cores from the other party and took out a large cabbage from his spatial storage, the kind with the old leaves still attached to the edges.

"Give."

[Congratulations to Jiang Qingyue, the leader of Jiang Qingyue's Little Nest, for completing the hidden quest: The Kind-hearted Black-hearted Merchant. Reward: 60,000 Transaction Coins, Special Item - Corpse King Skull]