Chapter 31: Discovering the Crystal Core

Tan Ziyan had thought she wanted the gun, but it turned out she only wanted to try it out, so he agreed immediately.

Just as he was about to lead the Military Dog that was a head taller than him, Liu Mu took the dog and walked toward the settling dust a step ahead.

Luo Sanlin didn't even have time to stop her, but upon second thought, with Tan Ziyan and Niu Boyi there, there shouldn't be any danger.

At this moment, a soldier beside him bumped his arm, "Brother, is that your sweetheart? You're so nervous, she wouldn't happen to be your girlfriend, would she?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? She's my old classmate," Luo Sanlin denied hurriedly; he couldn't handle someone like Liu Mu, and if things went wrong, she might sell him out and he'd still be helping her count the money.

But his squad mates didn't believe him at all, and while staying alert, they couldn't help but tease him a bit.

As they drew closer, the atmosphere at the scene grew tense again, especially for the squad in the lead; even Tan Ziyan slowly placed his finger inside the trigger guard, cold sweat dripping down his forehead.

Because they all heard several heavy breathing sounds; the noise was like stones grinding against sand, full of pain in every rise and fall, yet carrying an absolute sense of threat.

Niu Boyi also bared its teeth, and if it weren't for Liu Mu holding it back, it would have likely charged out long ago.

As the distance closed, Liu Mu also realized something was wrong, but what worried her more was that these soldiers might misfire and accidentally injure her; she said, "What a pity, if the meat of these big rats were edible, it would be enough for your Base's rations for two or three days."

Upon hearing this, the soldiers really wanted to ask what was so pitiful about it; not to mention those rats they had already smashed to pieces, even the rats themselves were covered in filth and pus—who the hell could stomach eating them even if they were cooked?

But Liu Mu's words also eased their tense nerves somewhat, and Tan Ziyan even replied, "Who's to say it isn't? With this fire burning, the crops are all gone."

"Stop!" Liu Mu spoke suddenly, startling everyone; visibility in the surroundings was less than three meters, and someone immediately expressed dissatisfaction, "Why stop?"

Liu Mu slowly pulled off the useless mask on her face, "One piece of good news and one piece of bad news, which one do you want to hear?"

As she asked, the soldier beside her noticed Niu Boyi had changed direction, actually emitting a threatening sound toward their rear.

Tan Ziyan pursed his lips, which were dry from nervousness, "There are some behind us too?"

"Half right; we're surrounded. You'd better tell the convoy not to provide fire support, or they'll end up wiping us out," Liu Mu licked the pad of her index finger and held it up in the air, seemingly discerning something.

A soldier beside Tan Ziyan immediately used his walkie-talkie to communicate with the convoy, while Tan Ziyan smiled and asked, "What about the good news?"

"The good news is," Liu Mu suddenly squatted down and pulled a Nepali knife from her clothes, "you're going to get a great opportunity for close-quarters combat against Mutated Animals!"

Tan Ziyan saw the beautiful and regular patterns on her blade, which indicated that the knife was forged from Damascus steel; it was a good blade, and no wonder she just wanted to touch a real gun—it turned out she had good things of her own.

"Prepare for combat," Tan Ziyan said this with a serious attitude, just like every order he had given in the past; he never joked about combat, and even less about the lives of his soldiers.

Liu Mu didn't care what formation they were going to use to attack; she let go of Niu Boyi and charged out, gripping her knife.

An average person would be hindered to some extent by this level of visibility, but at this moment, she could determine the location and movement trajectory of the big rats relying solely on her hearing and senses.

She wasn't joking either; this was indeed a rare opportunity for real-world combat, both for Niu Boyi and for herself.

Tan Ziyan and his men stood in a fan formation, originally intending to protect Liu Mu, but who knew that in the blink of an eye, the girl had charged out herself, and it was too late to stop her.

He cursed under his breath and raised his gun to follow, and immediately after, he heard the hoarse, miserable shrieks of the big rats... sounding simultaneously from the directions of both Niu Boyi and Liu Mu—these two fellows had actually charged in opposite directions.

Liu Mu didn't care about that; if she waited for the soldiers to act, where would she have any chance left?

She charged at the nearest big rat, hand rising and blade falling, slicing off the head of the rat that was still 'growing'. Because it was her first time, her arm was splattered with quite a bit of blood; it was foul-smelling and also irritated her skin, as if even the blood had undergone Mutation.

Then, she heard the soldiers move as well, footsteps following one after another, sounding perfectly coordinated.

Liu Mu had originally wanted to take a closer look at what these rats looked like now, but she had to find her next target; sigh, the competition was just too intense, she couldn't afford to delay.

The second big rat looked like it had finished digesting; its size was almost as large as a newborn calf, yet its movements remained agile. Perhaps knowing it was being targeted by Liu Mu, it ran into a black afterimage in the air, kicking up more dust to hide its figure.

If this were anyone else, they could only be anxious, but unfortunately for it, it had encountered Liu Mu—a New Human who had watched countless battles in her past life, understood the characteristics of hundreds of types of Mutated Animals, and had already undergone Mutation herself.

Liu Mu, who had been running in one direction, suddenly turned, ran two or three meters, and then slashed down; she saw the big rat seemingly run right into her blade, its scalp sliced open, and it squealed in pain.

The injured big rat was not afraid in the slightest; instead, its ferocity was fully exposed, and it turned to bite at the arm Liu Mu was holding the knife with. But the arm, which was clearly right in front of it, sank as if it had a premonition, and then the blade cut upward, opening a wound over two feet long and deep to the bone on the big rat's neck.

At this, the big rat finally realized it was no match for this human; it wanted to flee, but the opportunity had already passed, and the next strike fell quickly, cleaving straight into the back of its head and severing the spine connected to its body.

The big rat charged forward two meters and collapsed into the dust with its head hanging low.

This time, Liu Mu didn't rush to find the next target; when she had slashed the back of the big rat's neck, she seemed to see something fall out.

Following the trajectory of the rat's dying charge, she quickly found a lump wrapped in blood and flesh among some broken bricks. It made one think of those disgusting sci-fi movies where organisms produce offspring before dying, and usually, these offspring are both ugly and nauseating.

Liu Mu cautiously but quickly used the tip of her knife to pry open the flesh on the surface of the thing, and saw a transparent stone amidst the tangled blood vessels. It was oval-shaped, thumb-sized, and looked like polished crystal.

She picked up the stone, her expression grave; she had seen this thing... before.

But the last time she saw it was inside the brains of mutated Zombies. They were called Crystal Cores. But, she had never heard in her past life that Mutated Animals also had Crystal Cores!