Su Qi placed the bloody, cracked fire axe beside him.
He reached out to turn on the tap, and the rushing water washed away the grime.
he wasn't very dirty himself, blasting through the hordes of zombies every minute with the small cricket pistol.
Unhindered all the way.
They had now successfully broken through the zombie pursuit and were nearing the safe zone.
in this empty school, by the iron gate impeding further entry, they could finally rest for a bit.
Jiulin was somewhat exhausted—physical strength and energy were limited after all and, despite the burst of power from the energy drink, it was only temporary and short-lived, leaving him aching all over now.
He smiled wryly, collapsing to the ground. "I need a break; I haven't felt this... weak in a long time."
"Really, I kind of miss it," Su Qi muttered to himself.
"I haven't experienced this kind of primal combat in a long while either."
Jiulin widened his eyes.
"Primal with that gun in your hands?"
"I was the one fighting primitively the whole way up!"
"Cherish the battle we just had," Su Qi did not answer but patted his shoulder, "It's not going to be that simple moving forward."
He spoke with a double meaning.
Implying that the current situation wouldn't last, as they had just fought their way here, blasting through obstacles, healing, strengthening, using tools—all open paths for them to grow stronger.
That meant... there would be more intense clashes later on.
And also, pointing towards the future.
They would face a true Descent of the Abyss.
he was also telling the truth, for his enemies often represented extreme danger.
Zombies, these monsters, seemed almost innocent like children and were considered quite cute in his eyes.
"Then we can only stay here for a bit," Jiulin recovered his breath and glanced at the map display on his wristwatch.
"We haven't reached the safe zone completely; we're on the edge, and..."
"In two minutes, the infected area behind us will spread here."
he looked back and could clearly see a vast expanse of pale green fog encroaching.
"You can go ahead, I'll wait a bit longer," said Su Qi, not in a hurry.
Jiulin was startled. "Why?"
Su Qi slightly lifted his head. "Remember the procedure mentioned in the rules before? During it... there will be an airdrop Descent."
"But there's nothing here," Jiulin looked around and then up at the Sky Dome.
Su Qi spoke softly, "But it's in one hour."
Su Qi's gaze slowly withdrew. He had spotted the question mark on the Sky Dome long ago, which was the yet-to-reveal drop point of the airdrop.
He knew the location of each airdrop.
He didn't really care about finding airdrops, since he just had to wait for the next Equipment update.
But this particular airdrop over his head was strange, as all others were within the safe zone.
This one was outside and delayed by an hour.
other airdrops were already descending one by one.
Thus Su Qi was intensely interested in it.
"Brother Su, although I don't know how you knew there would be an airdrop falling here, but in one hour..."
Jiulin looked at the approaching poison fog behind and the distant growls of the zombies.
"Are you sure... we can stay here for an hour?"
the green fog was visibly nearing from afar, and the zombie roars became increasingly frenzied.
The school's iron gate rattled loudly.
"And with so many zombies, each becoming stronger."
Jiulin's eyelids twitched feverishly as some zombies began to mutate, their withered bodies now visibly more robust, and a strange strength infused within them!
The sound of hitting the iron gate grew louder!
Yet Su Qi lightly said, "Without these zombies, I probably wouldn't last an hour."
"Killing them bursts out items, albeit at a low chance, but all related to strengthening, resisting infection."
Su Qi had already pulled up a chair and sat down: "Once the infected area covers here, they will become my blood packs."
Jiulin's pupils slightly dilated: "That's insane."
Although Su Qi spoke simply, Jiulin could clearly see the underlying peril, potentially straddling the line between life and death every second.
That pistol, although powerful, he knew could only burst once a minute.
Staying here for twenty minutes was simply impossible.
"Brother Su, there's no need to take such a risk."
"There's a saying, the greater the storm, the pricier the fish." Su Qi smiled lightly.
Jiulin ultimately couldn't persuade Su Qi.
He also wanted to stay and help, but Su Qi told him that having two people would make it exponentially harder.
Not to mention the possibility that he was holding him back.
he wanted to leave his own gun to Brother Su, but Su Qi didn't accept.
Jiulin gritted his teeth and left first, as he had an even more important mission to fulfill, per their earlier strategic plan—to gather faster and then face the battlefield...
"I'm leaving all these here."
Jiulin, before departing, left behind all the strengthening drinks, potions, and so on that he'd obtained from killing zombies.
He earnestly said, "Brother Su, don't you die."
Then he scaled the wall, carrying a fire axe, and fought his way out.
Meanwhile, Su Qi observed the three items he left behind, his eyebrows slightly raised.