Chapter 243: Progress

The moonlight was hazy, clear and cold.

Four slanted shadows stretched long on the road into the city.

Lin An led Zhang Tie and three others on foot into the city.

Driving would hinder maneuverability; the city streets are littered with wrecked cars and corpses everywhere.

Motorcycles are too noisy, easily attracting hordes of zombies.

Although we're not afraid, being surrounded by a corpse horde is still troublesome.

The main point is that killing zombies yields no benefit, except that their bodies can be thrown into the Spirit Energy Tower to provide spiritual energy—but they need to be "fresh".

Ordinary zombies contain faint spiritual energy; left too long, they rot into a pile of flesh.

Moreover, with our current physique, bursting at full speed far exceeds driving speed.

Therefore, Lin An stashed the motorcycle in his ring and planned to lead the group into the city to search for traces of mutants.

"Captain Lin, is this the corpse mountain you saw before?"

Zhang Tie stared, shocked, at the corpse mountain blocking the city entrance, unable to bear looking directly at it.

Gao Tian's face turned pale; he almost couldn't hold back his vomit.

For some reason, no zombies have wandered here.

Perhaps the lingering aura of a suspected third‑level mutant still lingers, leaving the area around the corpse mountain deathly silent.

Rotting, stinking skulls piled up in layers.

The thick corpse stench refuses to dissipate.

Wind and sun beat down; rainwater soaks.

The bodies in the corpse mountain are no longer recognizably human; green corpse fluid pools across the ground.

Maggots burrow in and out of the brains; the lowest corpses have begun to grow white hair.

The ground is littered with twisted, broken limbs—a scene like hell.

The outermost edge.

The corpse ring formed by the circular spiritual shockwave draws attention.

Lin An led the four around the corpse mountain with a heavy gaze, then spoke slowly:

"That's right—you see the cleared path and the circular corpse ring, don't you?"

"When I first saw the corpse mountain, the bodies here were still fresh, and these marks were already present then."

"The corpse ring is likely the effect of a third‑level mutant; the cleared path was probably made when it led the zombies away."

"These past few days, while searching for mutants, we should try to avoid heading toward the city center."

"So as not to run into it."

Gao Tian and the others felt their hearts tighten, nodding heavily.

Such a scene is too horrifying.

Just looking at the surrounding traces, one can imagine how horrific the scene was back then.

Back then, anyone who fled the city from this direction likely didn't survive.

Lin An carefully surveyed the corpse mountain before him, frowning slightly.

For no reason, he suddenly recalled Yun Lin, the saintly policewoman, and her words.

Was he looking for something on the corpse mountain?

Perhaps he should have brought her here to compare whether it resembles this kind of corpse mountain.

Never mind; if he didn't bring her, then he didn't.

That woman is just trouble.

Although she's been quiet lately, Lin An still had her taken back to the base and placed under soft detention, to be used as a mere tool thereafter.

As for that, Yun Tian had no reaction.

He also knows his sister's flaws; letting her go out would probably get him killed.

After suppressing his thoughts, Lin An's group strode quickly straight into the city.

Along the way, he silently calculated the search route.

Now, I still need two second‑level mutants or five first‑level mutants to reach the second level.

One second‑level mutant gives four points of spiritual energy; a first‑level gives one point.

I am currently five points short of the needed spiritual energy.

Even staying in the Safe Zone yields 0.1 point per day, but that's still too slow for Lin An.

Without actively hunting mutants, one cannot level up before the zombie tide attacks.

Moreover, humanity's strength in my past life only began to explode about a year later—for this very reason.

Most players who can't kill mutants can only stay in the Safe Zone, waiting for a "natural" level‑up.

It's slow, but safety wins.

That's why all players yearn to join the Safe Zone, even if it means working like oxen and horses.

In my past life, the first Safe Zone was built half a year later; relying solely on absorbing the base's spiritual energy, rising from zero level to second level takes about 200 days (4+16=20 points).

If the spiritual energy nodes were of a lower rank, this time would increase further.

Merely trying to reach third level by absorbing the base's spiritual energy is nearly impossible—except for players like Gao Tian.

One reason is that advancing from second to third level requires as much as 64 points of spiritual energy (each promotion multiplies the required experience by four; moving from first to second level needs 16 points).

Relying solely on natural level‑up, climbing from zero to third level takes 200 + 640 days—nearly three years.

On the other hand, unlocking the Gene Seal requires passing through the Trial Tower.

When a second‑level peak player clears a certain floor of the Trial Tower, they can then use its power to attempt to awaken the Gene Seal.

Success means advancing to third level.

Failure leads to mutation into a mutant.

Moreover, the players who were the Six Kings in their past life, each of them, as long as they clear a certain number of floors, can 100% unlock the gene lock.

It can be said that their probability of reaching third level is 100%.

Six first-level, or two second-level.

Lin An plans to catch two second-level mutants and fuse them to create a peak second-level mutant.

Then kill another second-level mutant to accumulate enough for the upgrade.

Anyway, experience won't be wasted.

Of course, if time is insufficient and we can't find that many second-level mutants, then we'll have to settle for killing first-level mutants.

Compared to second-level mutants, first-level mutants are really too 'poor'.

Upon reflection, since my rebirth I actually haven't had much time to level up.

First-level mutants killed by my hand: two Lickers, Bloody Witch, Marrow Sucker Spider, two Human-Faced Crabs, and the Overlord (totaling 7 points of psychic experience).

Second-level mutants: Tank, Rat King (totaling 8 points of psychic experience; the Stitcher died at the hands of the Black Dragon, and the psychic experience gained was used to charge the gloves).

Like Scaled Beast and Spider Maker, they belong to mutated Awakened Ones, and their experience is not counted.

Although we have obtained a lot of equipment and props, the experience is indeed scarce.

This also means that although Lin An's strength far exceeds that of other players, his level is not much higher.

Speaking of which, using a peak second-level mutant to level up is something only Lin An dares to do.

Under normal circumstances, hunting first-level mutants offers the best cost-effectiveness; even if the loot is poor, leveling up is fast.

However, after holding off the zombie tide in the Safe Zone, Lin An plans to go on a frantic leveling spree for a while.

Only by reaching third level can one be considered a true powerhouse.

At third level, one can suppress a region and virtually ignore all conventional weapons.

Moreover, the first player to advance to third level will also receive generous system rewards and enjoy the honor of a global announcement.

When that time comes, it will be the day he displays his terror to the world.

Any doubt and mockery will become a joke.

Only by surpassing everyone's strength can one shut the mouths of this bunch of trash.