“Mom, how are things over there? Are you and Dad okay…” Taking advantage of a break, Sally made a phone call to her parents who were far away in another country. Although the world was currently engulfed in a zombie crisis, communication networks were still functioning for the time being, and phones and the internet were still accessible.

“Good to hear you’re okay. Take care of yourselves.” Sally’s eyes became red, and her voice choked up. Although she learned that her parents were temporarily safe, the severity of the disaster weighed heavily on her, especially considering her parents’ advanced age.

The possibility of never seeing her parents again made Sally feel suffocated. “Yeah, I’ll take good care of myself. I’m with my friends, and it’s safe here.” After chatting with her parents for a while, Sally wiped away her tears and reluctantly hung up the phone.

At that moment, David, who had been resting with his eyes closed, opened his eyes. He glanced at his watch and realized that Sally’s phone call had lasted for 36 minutes. However, David didn’t rush her; Sally’s actions had impressed him, and he had gained a certain level of approval for her. 𝘰𝑣𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

David planned to establish his own base in the near future. Originally, his initial plan was to recruit individuals with supernatural abilities and various technical talents. In theory, ordinary people like Sally were not his top priority. However, Sally’s notification about the outbreak of zombies made David ultimately decide to bring her along.

Moreover, Sally seemed to have good capability and adapted quickly. Plus, considering that Sally was a company owner, she had some management experience. In the future, when David establishes his base, her management skills might come in handy.

“Are you ready? If you are, we’ll set off.” David asked Sally as she put away her phone.

Sally looked at David apologetically and said, “Sorry for the delay. I’m ready now.” David waved his hand, indicating that it was alright. Suddenly, Sally thought of something and curiously asked David, “By the way, don’t you want to call your family?”

David paused and said, “I don’t have a family.” Sally realized she had said something wrong and quickly apologized, “Ah… I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.” She regretted it, blaming herself for being nosy.

However, David’s expression didn’t seem to change much. “It’s fine, let’s go.” David didn’t pay much attention to it. He stood up and walked toward the interior of the supermarket.

Sally found it increasingly difficult to understand David. When he killed people, he had a cold and ruthless demeanor, like a bloodthirsty executioner. But when she talked to him, he seemed like a silent and reserved boy next door. Suddenly, Sally realized that David seemed to be heading in the wrong direction. She hurriedly followed him. “David, aren’t we going out through the main entrance?”

David shook his head. “No, we’re going to the underground parking lot.” Before the outbreak, David had already scouted this supermarket several times.

He had planned the escape routes in the supermarket several times to ensure that he could escape unharmed even in the worst-case scenario. There was a freight elevator in the back of the supermarket that directly led to the underground parking lot of the mall. Normally, only supermarket employees knew about this freight elevator.

David had rented a car and parked it in the underground parking lot of the mall several days ago. With zombies roaming outside, it was very dangerous to rely on just their legs to escape. Although he was confident in facing dozens of zombies at once, as the saying goes, many ants can bite an elephant. If he accidentally got surrounded by a horde, even with armor and genetic potions, his chances of survival would be slim.

When David brought Sally to the freight elevator in the back of the supermarket, Sally became even more convinced of her thoughts. David must know something to have made such detailed plans. However, Sally didn’t inquire further; everyone has their own secrets, and she wouldn’t actively ask unless David revealed them.

As David pressed the elevator button, in the instant the doors opened, a zombie in work clothes suddenly burst out of the elevator and lunged at David. Sally was startled and let out a scream.

David reacted swiftly, dodging the zombie’s attack with a sidestep, and then swiftly beheaded it with a knife. Carving open the zombie’s forehead revealed a perfectly formed mutated crystal inside.

David stored the crystal in his storage space, and the system’s prompt sounded:

[You have obtained one mutated crystal, critical strike effect increased by 100,000 times!]

[Congratulations, you have obtained 100,000 mutated crystals!]

One crystal went into the bag and instantly turned into 100,000 crystal cores, which was incredibly satisfying. The only regret was that the mutated crystal was too small, and its energy content was not substantial. “It looks like I need to collect more mutated crystals during these three days, and it would be even better if I can find advanced ones.” As time goes by, zombies will continue to evolve.

Zombies several years later, even the most ordinary ones, are in an entirely different league compared to the present. As for mutated zombies after evolution, ordinary people are even less likely to be their match, only those with supernatural abilities can deal with them.

Some zombies and mutant beasts that possess elemental powers also have mutated crystals with special colors. For example, the crystal of the fire element is red, and it provides additional benefits to fire-based ability users.

They can obtain more energy from the crystals and even have a certain probability of comprehending the elemental skills possessed by the former owner. But no matter what, even these lower-quality mutated crystals are valuable in the post-apocalyptic world.

David heard that some supernatural abilities related to forging and crafting require mutated crystals to create special weapons and items. So, it’s definitely not a problem to stock up on a few mutated crystals. David retrieved his knife into the storage space and took the elevator down to the underground parking lot with Sally.

The underground parking lot was very quiet, and the sound of David and Sally’s footsteps seemed particularly clear in this silent environment. The somewhat oppressive atmosphere made Sally feel a bit scared, and she instinctively moved closer to David. Only by leaning against David could she gain a sense of security.

Soon, David found his car parked in the underground parking lot. It was a sturdy Jeep Wrangler with a high chassis, perfect for off-roading. Since David had a storage space, he didn’t need a vehicle that could carry a lot of goods; it just needed to be sufficiently sturdy.

Just as the two were getting ready to get in the car, suddenly, David heard a commotion of footsteps in the distance. “Hey, wait for us, young man!” David turned his head and saw five young people in work uniforms running towards them.