24 Level One Strength Zombie

That pair of eyes did not possess the grayish-white hue common to other zombies; they were entirely black, devoid of even a sliver of white.

The spear made of water hovered a centimeter before its face, unable to advance any further.

Crap! It had actually woken up!

Only then did Li Xiaoxiao realize, belatedly, that this intelligent zombie was the very one that had leaped down from the rooftop earlier. Unlike the others, it was unaffected by the rain and could move freely. At this moment, the rest of the zombies remained motionless, including the Strength-type zombie beneath it.

She could not wait for all of them to wake up; this intelligent zombie had to be eliminated!

Li Xiaoxiao once again condensed water into ice. Several ice spikes materialized before her and, in the next instant, shot toward the intelligent zombie at high speed.

Intelligent zombies possessed strong mental energy and wisdom, allowing them to manipulate other zombies, but they were physically fragile—absolute "glass cannons." A direct melee encounter meant certain death.

Thus, as the ice spikes surged toward the intelligent zombie, Li Xiaoxiao also lunged forward like an arrow released from a bow. Her form partially dissolved into the curtain of rain, flickering in and out of sight as she dashed toward the creature.

This was the "Water Shadow Technique" Li Xiaoxiao had created herself. By merging her body with the water, she achieved a state of semi-invisibility, which simultaneously boosted her movement speed. However, it required the presence of water—making the heavy downpour the perfect environment.

She moved with incredible speed, reaching the intelligent zombie at the exact moment the ice spikes arrived. The creature tried to flee, but it was already too late. Li Xiaoxiao had launched the ice spikes specifically to stall it.

One of the intelligent zombie's weaknesses was its inability to handle close-quarters combat. A second weakness was that whenever it came under attack, it would use its mental energy to form a barrier, rendering its body immobile during the process.

Li Xiaoxiao stood before it and swung her blade at its neck, but an invisible barrier clearly shielded it.

This creature’s mental energy was truly formidable. It had to be destroyed!

Li Xiaoxiao unleashed another assault, wielding both blades at once. This time, the intelligent zombie could no longer defend itself and was decapitated.

But in the next instant, Li Xiaoxiao felt a tremor beneath her feet. How had the Strength-type zombie awakened? She guessed it must have been roused by the intelligent zombie just before it died.

Under her relentless attacks, it would have been unrealistic to wake all the zombies, but focusing on waking just one was entirely possible. Especially for the one closest to it, the constant output of mental energy increased the probability of waking it exponentially.

Fortunately, she had killed the mastermind first. Now, she only needed to focus her full strength on the Strength-type zombie.

[Level 1 Strength-type zombie: Three meters tall, immense physical power, slow movement. Signature move: Powerful Strike. Weakness: Fears water; cannot exert force while submerged.]

Hearing the system’s announcement, Li Xiaoxiao smiled. So, this brute was afraid of water. No wonder she hadn't encountered a Strength-type zombie on a rainy day in her past life; they must have all gone into hiding.

But this rain was the first step of the mutation—there was nowhere to hide.

Time to strike while it was vulnerable!

The Strength-type zombie had already awakened and was swiping its massive palm toward Li Xiaoxiao. She was standing on its shoulder, close to its neck. However, because these zombies had poor mobility and were easily engaged in close combat, their defensive stats were remarkably high.

For Level 1 and Level 2 Strength-type zombies, the core was located in the forehead—the area with the weakest defense. To kill it as quickly as possible, that was where she had to strike.

Reaching out, she manifested another water spear. Before the giant hand could grab her, she leaped, tapped her toes on the back of the zombie’s hand for leverage, and vaulted high into the air, landing on top of its head. She drove the water spear into the creature's forehead with all her might.

The Strength-type zombie let out a roar and slumped to the ground, dead. Li Xiaoxiao stepped forward and pried open its skull. The Lucky Cat immediately trotted over, tapped the core with its tiny paw, and the crystal vanished.

The core of the intelligent zombie had already been collected.

"Master, Master, come here! There are so many cores! *Hiccup!*"

Little Vine’s voice echoed in Li Xiaoxiao’s mind, followed by a satisfied belch.

"Be careful, or you'll get indigestion from eating too much."

With most of the zombies in the area cleared, Li Xiaoxiao used the Water Shadow Technique again to head toward another section. Using water-based abilities during a downpour was twice as effective with half the effort, and the energy consumption was virtually negligible.

"Hey, hey, hey! Where did this stinky cat come from? Trying to snatch my cores! Go away!"

The Lucky Cat had arrived at Little Vine’s location first, only to be shooed away by the plant. Little Vine had moved too quickly earlier and hadn't seen the cat, so it didn't recognize it.

"Little Vine, that cat is one of our own. Let it collect them."

"Ah! Master, how could you have another pet behind my back! Waaah, Little Vine is heartbroken."

Li Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes. A vine shouldn't be capable of heartbreak, but she still had to comfort it.

"Be good! Let it collect them, and I’ll give you a reward later."

Hearing the promise of a reward, Little Vine stopped its feigned sobbing. "Alright then, I’ll listen to Master."

The Lucky Cat ignored Little Vine entirely. It tapped the pile of cores with its paw, collected them, and turned to leave.

As Li Xiaoxiao finished off the last zombie in the square, she looked up and saw the Lucky Cat walking away with elegant strides. Raindrops hitting its fur were automatically deflected by a transparent halo, not a single hair getting wet.

She had always loved cats, especially ones as beautiful as this. She desperately wanted to pet it. Sensing her ill-intentioned gaze, the Lucky Cat jumped far away the moment it finished collecting the cores, refusing to get anywhere near her.

In the nursery space, her daughter showed signs of waking. Li Xiaoxiao turned decisively and rushed back to the hotel. The female zombie was still standing by the flowerbed at the entrance.

Once inside the lobby, Li Xiaoxiao conjured clean water to rinse herself from head to toe before sprinting upstairs to her room. To avoid waking Lin Qiu and the others, she had chosen a room further away. The entire floor had already been cleared; not a single zombie remained.

She picked up her daughter, resigned herself to the routine of changing diapers, feeding, and singing her back to sleep, eventually drifting off while holding her soft, warm baby.

[Congratulations, Host. Through a night of hard work, you have obtained 2,160 Level 1 zombie cores. With the Lucky Cat’s doubling effect, you have gained a total of 4,320 Level 1 cores.]

[Additionally: two mental-type cores, two strength-type cores, and two fire-type cores.]

Early the next morning, as soon as she opened her eyes, Li Xiaoxiao was greeted by this pleasant surprise.

"There are fire-type cores too?"

"Master, Master, it was me! I killed them!"

Little Vine raised its head from Li Xiaoxiao’s wrist, swaying as if asking for credit.

"Good job!" Li Xiaoxiao said, placing her hand over the vine. After a soft green glow pulsed, the vine looked even more vibrant, and a small flower bloomed on it, looking quite lovely against her wrist.

"Thank you, Master! I love you most! Master, Little Vine is going to sleep now."

The tip of the vine rubbed against her arm before curling back onto her wrist and falling still. The Lucky Cat curled up in the corner of the quilt, lazily licking its paws.