"Of course, this time we have the vaccine, so even if someone gets bitten or scratched by a zombie, they won’t die."
The mere thought of this made the man ecstatic.
In the past, fighting zombies had always been nerve-wracking, with everyone terrified of getting bitten or scratched.
It made people hesitate.
But now, with the vaccine, while they weren’t completely fearless, at least they weren’t as restrained.
Killing zombies had become much smoother.
"Right, that’s one thing, but that’s not what I meant. Don’t you think the zombies’ strength... seems a bit off?"
"Off how?" The man was confused.
"Like... their strength feels... too weak."
"Hahaha, bro, are you seriously wishing for stronger zombies?"
The man clapped the other’s shoulder and burst into laughter.
The other quickly defended himself, "No, no, that’s not what I meant... Ugh, I can’t explain it. It just feels weird."
"Bro, don’t overthink it. Isn’t it a good thing if the zombies are weaker? That way, we can finish the fight sooner and go home."
"Yeah, you’re right. Maybe... I’m just overreacting."
The man took a sip of water and didn’t say anything more.
In truth, he wasn’t the only one who felt something was off about the zombies’ strength.
Many others had the same thought.
But no one voiced it out loud.
After all, no one wanted to face hordes of high-level zombies that were hard to kill.
The two men’s conversation happened to be overheard by Yun Xiaoxiao as she passed by.
She paused, her brows furrowing slightly.
She had noticed it too.
Logically, after the ice melted and so much time had passed, the zombies’ strength should have increased by several levels.
They shouldn’t be this weak.
The reason she called them weak was that in every location they had attacked so far, the highest-level zombie they encountered hadn’t surpassed Level 5.
Most were Level 3 or lower, with only the occasional Level 4 or slightly higher.
But even those were rare.
Level 5 and above? None at all.
That was highly unusual.
The reason people still died despite the zombies not being particularly strong was that along the way, they didn’t just face zombies—they also had to deal with mutated plants and animals.
Yun Xiaoxiao’s heart sank.
She hoped... it wasn’t what she was thinking.
Lost in thought, she continued walking.
Qu Xiaobei came running toward her, beaming.
This time, Yun City had sent twenty people to participate in the battle.
Among them were Yun Xiaoxiao, Zheng Yuner, Qu Xiaobei, Ci Wan and her four companions, Tao Mi'er and Liu Tao, Hua Bai and Hua Ye, Aunt Long and her subordinates, as well as Yang Xue and Chong Ming.
Lu Chen and the others hadn’t come because they were responsible for transporting supplies, evolution serums, and vaccines for this zombie extermination campaign.
This wasn’t just for the western region—the east, south, north, and central regions all needed support.
To ensure the safety of the transport teams, each convoy had to be led by someone strong.
Lu Chen, Ling Jing, Xiao Feng, Nie Yizhou, and Lei Ming each took charge of a separate team.
Besides delivering supplies, they also had a special mission: to track down Tong Zhan.
Tong Zhan had never shown himself, and despite Yun Xiaoxiao and the others searching almost the entire western region, they hadn’t found him.
They suspected he might no longer be in the west.
But no one knew where he was.
So, the search continued.
As for Mu Yang...
As the ‘chief steward,’ he naturally remained behind to ‘guard’ the base.
On one hand, it was a precaution in case Tong Zhan launched a surprise attack.
If it came to that, the base needed someone authoritative and powerful to hold the line.
On the other hand, Mu Yang had always been in charge of managing the base’s operations, including the construction of the central base and external trade.
So, it made sense for him to oversee the distribution of supplies this time.
After all, practice makes perfect.
Qu Xiaobei ran up to Yun Xiaoxiao, grinning.
"Xiaoxiao, you said you were going to find food earlier—did you find any?"
Her eyes sparkled with anticipation as she stared at the bag in Yun Xiaoxiao’s hand.
Yun Xiaoxiao snapped out of her thoughts and pursed her lips.
"I did."
"Really? Awesome!"
Qu Xiaobei’s eyes lit up.
Her expression practically screamed, ‘I want some!’
Yun Xiaoxiao generously opened the bag.
Qu Xiaobei immediately leaned in to look—then recoiled in horror.
"Ahhhh! Bugs!"
She pointed at the bag, shrieking, and stumbled back several steps, her face pale with fright.
Yun Xiaoxiao, however, calmly plucked a small white worm from the plastic bag.
The worm was tiny, smaller than her pinky finger.
It wriggled between her fingers, looking almost like a maggot.
Enough to make one’s scalp crawl.
"Is this scary? I don’t think so. Actually... I think it’s kinda cute."
She paused, then—with deliberate mischief—extended her hand, bringing the worm inches from Qu Xiaobei’s nose.
Instantly, the bug seemed magnified several times over.
Qu Xiaobei: !!!
"AHHHHH! So creepy!"
She screamed and bolted, running faster than ever.
As if fleeing from a monster.
Yun Xiaoxiao smirked and tossed the worm back into the bag.
Then, she glanced at the wooden shop door to her right.
Without hesitation, she kicked it.
*Crack!* The door collapsed inward.
Yun Xiaoxiao picked up the bag of worms in one hand and dragged the heavy wooden door with the other, slowly making her way back to where the Yun City team was resting.
The sight drew plenty of stares along the way.
Even though everyone knew how strong Yun Xiaoxiao was, seeing such a small girl hauling a door several times her size was still mind-boggling.
Zheng Yuner, Ci Wan, and the others were sitting inside a hastily cleaned-up milk tea shop.
When Yun Xiaoxiao reached the entrance, she dropped the door.
She pulled out her weapon, ‘Zhan Ye,’ and hacked the door into pieces with a few swift strikes.
The wood splintered into smaller chunks.
Yun Xiaoxiao stacked some of them together, conjured a flame, and set them alight.
After washing her hands, she took out some skewers and started threading... the worms.
Thanks to her many experiences surviving in the wild in her past life, Yun Xiaoxiao’s space was stocked with all kinds of skewers—wooden, bamboo, metal, long, short, and even grills.
She was prepared to roast anything edible.
Seeing Yun Xiaoxiao busy at work, Tao Mi'er and Zheng Yuner walked over.
They knew she had gone out earlier to look for food.
"Little Base Leader, what are you doing? Need help?" Tao Mi'er asked cheerfully.
"Sure. You can help me skewer these."
Yun Xiaoxiao handed her the bamboo skewers and the worms.
When Tao Mi'er saw what Yun Xiaoxiao was holding in her hand, her smiling face froze instantly.
It was... a bug... a worm!
