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In the morning, everyone else had already formed teams and left the base to kill zombies. However, Xiao Yu didn’t follow them as usual; instead, she stayed in the base.
Chen Luo said, “Xiao Yu, I’ve already told you about the nature of Mutants. Your job is to find their bodies, remember their precise locations, and then come back to inform me. I don’t expect you to bring back crystals, and I definitely don’t want you to venture too deep into danger. Just do a perimeter sweep.”
Xiao Yu had reached Level 3 two days ago, and she had a camouflage ability that could last up to 15 minutes. The principle of her invisibility was to envelop her entire body, or something she wanted to cover, with her dark energy to achieve invisibility. However, she couldn’t cloak just anything; it had to be something with power levels lower than her own.
For instance, Xiao Yu could cloak herself and the now Level 2 Xiao Hong, but she couldn’t cloak Chen Luo, who was at Level 5, and she couldn’t even cloak Mengyin, who was at the same level as her.
Although the Mutants were dead, residual power still lingered in their bodies, and Xiao Yu couldn’t use her camouflage ability while holding onto a Mutant’s corpse. Furthermore, she couldn’t cloak the source crystal, no matter how well she understood her camouflage ability. While it might be possible to cloak Chen Luo with her if she mastered her abilities to the extreme, there was absolutely no way she could cloak the crystal along with them.
If Xiao Yu were to dig out the crystal and try to move with it while cloaked, it would be like a shining beacon moving in the darkness. Zombies would undoubtedly be curious and approach it.
For now, Xiao Yu’s task was to locate the Mutants, record their positions, and then return to report to Chen Luo. It would be up to Chen Luo to decide whether to retrieve them.
Xiao Yu nodded, saying, “Yes, I’ll be careful. As long as I find a King-level Mutant, I can become the Vice Leader and enjoy a life of luxury with Mengyin serving me delicious food every day.”
For finding a King-level Mutant, anything less than ten thousand points as a reward would be unacceptable. It was only fitting to become the Vice Leader with such an achievement.
The chances of finding a King-level Mutant among low-level zombies were extremely slim. Typically, King-level Mutants were evolved from Level 7 or Level 8 zombies, and it was virtually impossible for Level 0 or Level 1 zombies to mutate into Kings. At least, Chen Luo had never heard of such a case.
Chen Luo reassured Xiao Yu, saying, “Just do your best, take it slow, and don’t rush. We have a long road ahead of us.”
He then instructed, “Xia Haoran, escort her to the outskirts of the zombie area and wait for her there.”
Xia Haoran nodded and rode his motorcycle with Xiao Yu, leaving the base. Chen Luo watched them go and could only hope for Xiao Yu’s safety.
Having the ability to cloak herself didn’t guarantee absolute safety. If Xiao Yu were to approach Chen Luo while cloaked, he might not see her, but he could still hear her footsteps. Chen Luo’s powerful psychic abilities could sense Xiao Yu’s presence. Thus, her mission to find Mutants while cloaked carried inherent risks.
But was there no danger for the members when they went out to kill zombies? Even Xiao Hong had to lay eggs every day to prove her worth.
Xiao Yu’s value lay in her ability to cloak herself. Otherwise, why would Chen Luo have given her chicken immediately upon her arrival just because she was a young girl?
The Thunderbolt King returned with a member who carried a box containing over fifty crystals. The Thunderbolt King was now desperately acquiring crystals. He went out twice a day, killing around fifty zombies each time. He even hired a member to help collect crystals because his paws were not convenient for that task.
Once in the morning and once in the afternoon, he could earn more than two hundred points in a day. The Thunderbolt King sneered at the notion of being in debt, thinking that he could pay it off in just one week, and becoming a Vice Leader with ten thousand points? That would be a piece of cake in two months.
Chen Luo squinted his eyes, thinking that the Thunderbolt King seemed to have forgotten his duties at home, always thinking about points. What if he actually became the Dog Elder?
Chen Guang understood the signal and said ingratiatingly to the Thunderbolt King, “Elder Dog, can you please get me a Red Bull? It’s so hot today.”
“Elder Dog, I know you’re the best.”
The Thunderbolt King felt a bit pleased with himself but kicked Chen Guang, thinking that he was treating him like a big spender. “Wait until I pay off my debt.”
Chen Luo rubbed his chin, realizing that his usual tricks wouldn’t work on the Thunderbolt King anymore. He thought he’d have to find more wives for him and see if he could keep those points.
On the third morning, Xia Haoran brought Xiao Yu to the outskirts. After a brief farewell, Xiao Yu cloaked herself and entered the streets.
Xiao Yu swiftly moved along the streets, wearing the sports shoes specially prepared for her by Chen Luo, which had a very quiet sound when running.
She had limited time, only 15 minutes, and she needed to reserve some power for emergencies. Fortunately, invisibility could be canceled at any time, and it didn’t have to be drained all at once.
Xiao Yu had a natural talent for invisibility.
The mutant bodies could be lurking in every corner, possibly in a certain room, on rooftops, or on the main street. The main street was the easiest to spot. Chen Luo only wanted the dead mutant bodies.
If she saw a zombie lying inexplicably on the main street, with no visible wounds and a strange appearance, then it was undoubtedly a spontaneously dead mutant.
On the third day of her search, Xiao Yu’s pupils suddenly contracted as she spotted a zombie lying in front of a cake shop. There was still some unmelted ice around it, and most of its body was enveloped in cold air.
It was a dead mutant, an ice-type one, but its level was unknown.
Without Chen Luo’s advice, Xiao Yu might have dared to approach and dig out its crystal. However, she understood that even if she did, she would have almost no chance of making it back to the base alive with the crystal.
Xiao Yu’s face lit up with joy. As long as she reported the location, she would earn points. After successfully obtaining the crystal, her points would be determined based on the crystal’s level and the difficulty of retrieval.
Chen Luo had provided her with a personal exchange chart. Ten points could be exchanged for a portion of fried chicken or roast duck for Xiao Yu.
Quietly, Xiao Yu left to meet up with Xia Haoran, who was guarding the outskirts and killing zombies. Together, they returned to the base and reported the news to Chen Luo.
Chen Luo smiled. Had Xiao Yu already demonstrated her value so quickly?
Based on the location Xiao Yu provided, Chen Luo calculated that it was approximately 1300 meters away from the cleared area. It was still in a bustling area because places with few zombies had long been cleared by Chen Luo.
Chen Luo didn’t inquire with Rice whether this expedition might encounter danger. Rice could only perceive events occurring within the next half-hour.
On the way, they encountered over a thousand zombies. Chen Luo pondered the situation and decided to bring all the members along in the afternoon.
Dealing with over a thousand zombies alone was a daunting task. Before, when he faced hundreds of zombies, he mostly frightened them away. Handling such a large number of zombies had been exhausting.
Chen Luo thought to himself, “I need to step up my game. Some members have already reached level four, and I’m only level five. I can’t let the gap widen too much, or it might become a threat to me. It’s too dangerous.”
He realized that he needed to push his abilities to new heights.