Xu Duoduo nodded.

She still felt a little embarrassed, but if eating could help her level up faster, she was more than happy.

Thinking about all those one-star mutant cores, though, made her feel like her jaw was already tired.

During the night watch—

The four of them, plus a zombie, cleared out all the nearby mutant insects and looted several pastry shops along the way. The tools in those shops were quite useful.

Bringing them back to the base would allow for more dessert shops to open.

Later, it was the Leopard and White Dove squads’ turn to stand guard.

The entire 3A team went back to catch up on sleep.

Until the alarm rang.

Everyone hurriedly ate a simple breakfast and set off.

They were heading toward the power stone mine.

It was a light snow day. The snowfall wasn’t heavy, but the temperature had plummeted, and the wind was strong.

Suddenly, headquarters came online with a warning: extreme weather was approaching, and a storm would hit the country of Wa in approximately 36 hours.

Wa was a small island nation, and severe weather could be dangerous.

Everyone acknowledged the warning.

They needed to speed up. Qin Luo morphed his ears and tail into those of a wolf and ordered, “Full speed ahead!”

Everyone responded in unison, “Understood!”

Xu Duoduo ran behind the big dog, watching his furry ears twitch in the cold wind. She listened for movement from time to time—he was too cute!

She had the urge to reach out with her little claws.

But there was serious business to take care of, and even a zombie couldn’t drag the team down.

It was like someone had pressed the fast-forward button. The group advanced at high speed. Yesterday, they had just arrived and were still getting used to things, especially operating under the complete darkness of Black Sun. Even Xu Duoduo had to adjust to the green-tinted visuals of her night vision goggles. Fortunately, today, they had adapted quite a bit.

While fighting, Xu Duoduo also collected supplies. She burned through her energy quickly—her white eyelashes trembled from the strain. She continuously drank the nutrient solutions Professor Ji gave her and even crunched on two-star and three-star mutant cores to replenish her energy.

Everyone was exhausted.

But the mission was urgent, and no one complained. They just kept pushing forward.

“Three o’clock direction, fused mutant detected—estimated at three-star level.”

“Southwest direction, local mutant earth pigs detected. Weak spots: neck and brain.”

“Watch out, mutant birds overhead! They belong to the Red-Clad Priest’s nectar-eating species. Attack method: biting. Weakness: wings.”

Bai Shu truly lived up to his reputation as a walking encyclopedia. Among the 3A team, he had studied the most materials—whenever he had spare time, he was always reading up on something.

He knew the most.

Xu Duoduo had been cramming knowledge as well, but as a little zombie, her brain wasn’t very quick. Her genius aura had greatly diminished, and naturally, she couldn’t compare to Bai Shu.

Still, having just one expert in the team was enough.

The other members attacked according to Bai Shu’s analysis of weak points, making their progress incredibly fast.

The Leopard and White Dove squads were stunned. As expected, there was no one ordinary in the 3A team!

Every single one of them was incredibly strong!

Qin Luo was always in command. Due to 3A’s unique formation, he was the main damage dealer, and everyone usually followed his lead.

This arrangement allowed them to perform at their best.

Observing his teammates, Qin Luo noticed that Xu Duoduo had already started replenishing her energy, let alone the others.

“Prioritize using firearms,” he instructed. “Only use abilities if necessary, and don’t drain yourselves completely.”

Running out of energy was an awful experience.

Everyone acknowledged the order.

A round of gunfire rang out—bang! bang! bang!

Occasionally, the explosion of marble bombs echoed through the battlefield.

Qin Luo turned to Rose Squad and the Leopard and White Dove teams. “Send someone over. We still have plenty of marble bombs.”

They had received a generous supply as a mission reward from headquarters.

Rose Squad was already exhausted. Physically, the female members couldn’t keep up as well. But Mu Mei declined, “Captain Qin, we don’t need them for now.”

They still had enough explosives.

Qin Luo shot down a few mutant earth pigs and replied, “Alright.”

Then he turned to a certain little zombie. “Xu Duoduo, there are a few fat pigs over here! Come and collect them—stop fighting. Just follow me and rest for a bit.”

He even asked if she wanted him to carry her.

Xu Duoduo acted cool. “No.” She turned around and swiftly collected the pigs.

Qin Luo sighed.

Fine, fine. Acting tough now—let’s see if she complains when she collapses into a soft, exhausted zombie later.

Unlike 3A, the Leopard and White Dove squads had far fewer resources. They immediately ran over, eager to collect the explosives.

Qin Luo handed them each fifteen crates. “Use them wisely—don’t accidentally blow up your teammates.”

Even though marble bombs had a small blast radius, precision control was still necessary.

Lie Yang and Xu Ge, the two squad leaders, responded immediately.

“Got it, Qin-ge!”
“Understood!”

They ran back excitedly to regroup with their teams.

The newcomers were thrilled.

Throwing the bombs felt like playing with giant firecrackers—each toss landed perfectly. Headquarters had designed them well, with an explosion radius that was easy to control, minimizing friendly fire risks.

It was just plain fun.

The newbies enjoyed it immensely. Plus, by using explosives instead of abilities, they had time to recover some energy.

Qin Luo’s advice was spot on.

Overexerting abilities could lead to complete energy depletion—an experience he had gone through once and never wanted to repeat.

Their endurance paid off.

After five hours of full-speed travel, they finally reached the power stone mine.

Only to fall silent.

This wasn’t a mine at all—it was an entire city reduced to ruins.

Buildings were collapsed or leaning at odd angles.

Power stones were embedded everywhere—in the ground, in the walls—densely packed.

Chen Xiaofei couldn’t help but exclaim, “Why does this power stone mine look like this?”

Last time, when they went to City E, they hadn’t participated in the power stone collection mission. Too many space-ability users were there, and they were worried Xu Duoduo might get exposed.

Seeing a power stone mine firsthand now left them speechless.

Bai Shu took out a tablet and filmed the area, his tone calm. “Didn’t you notice? Power stones only appear in areas completely abandoned by humans.”

That meant City E was likely in a similar state.

The realization was heavy.

Qin Luo spoke up. “Let’s go. Start digging. Everyone, get into position.”

Wang Weihu sensed the earth beneath him. “I’ll try to unearth them. You guys just focus on collecting.”

Rose Squad arrived as well. Mu Mei offered, “We’ll handle the digging—you guys pick them up.”

Her squad was full of plant ability users, giving them an advantage. They could loosen the ground and pry out the power stones, making collection much easier.

The international squads hadn’t arrived yet.

This place was a major power stone mine—whoever gathered the most would win.

Unlike along the planned route, where scattered stones were allocated to individuals, here, there were no divisions.

Everyone immediately agreed and began gathering power stones.