binnovel Chapter 45 Return
Chapter 45 Return
Just after 6:30 in the morning, Li Chenglong finished washing up and knocked on each room door to wake everyone up. By 7:00, everyone had gathered in Li Chenglong's room. After a quick breakfast, Yang Liu asked, "Captain Li, should we go to the hospital first or the school first?" Li Chenglong shook his head: "We absolutely can't go to the hospital. I sensed a very powerful zombie ability, at least level 6 or even higher, but it hasn't moved at all since yesterday. I don't know why. But for safety's sake, we'll skip the hospital." Then Li Chenglong opened the map and continued, "We'll go to the First Middle School. I'm still very interested in that mutated plant there, and I even went out to scout it out last night. I didn't find any zombie hordes in the direction of the First Middle School, although there are still quite a few level 2 and 3 zombies."
Li Chenglong glanced at the four of them again: "We'll take a detour via the side path later. Now that we have an additional level two ability user in our team, we must be careful. Wang Bing, Yang Liu, you two protect Chen Xiaoke; she lacks combat experience. Zhao Liying is only level two; just stick with me. Don't worry about wasting crystals; replenish them when needed." Li Chenglong then planned the route. To travel light, he put Yang Liu and Wang Bing's military backpacks into his storage ring. At this moment, Zhao Liying raised her hand and said, "Captain Li, can I go back to my room to pack my things? It'll only take fifteen minutes." Li Chenglong thought for a moment and agreed, asking Yang Liu to help as well.
Fifteen minutes later, Li Chenglong, seeing that it was almost time, went downstairs to Zhao Liying's room. Chen Xiaoke was stunned by the two large suitcases and two large bags: "Sister Zhao, you have so much stuff?" Zhao Liying nodded shyly. Li Chenglong didn't say anything and simply put the stuff away. After taking a few steps, Li Chenglong turned around: "Are you going to say goodbye to those people?" Zhao Liying shook her head: "No need, let's go." Then the group jumped down from where the rope ladder was. Although the second floor of the hotel was quite high, the physiques of those with superpowers wouldn't cause any harm, especially since the lowest level of superpowers here were all level two.
Led by Yang Liu, the scout, the group slowly made their way towards the school along winding paths, finally arriving after 40 minutes. Li Chenglong and his group went to the rooftop of a building in the residential area outside the school and began observing it. He activated his True Dragon Eye and started scanning. Although the wide-area scan wasn't very detailed, it was enough to detect some powerful zombies or mutated beasts. Five minutes later, Li Chenglong finished scanning and slowly said, "There are two level four zombies and ten level three zombies. It might be dangerous for us all to go. I've also located the mutated fruit tree. You wait here; I'll be back in twenty minutes."
After saying that, Li Chenglong leaped into the air and landed lightly on the ground. He then took a running start and jumped onto the school wall. Zhao Liying asked with some concern, "Won't he be in any danger?" Wang Bing smiled and said, "Captain Li just said his highest level was only four. Back in our food processing plant, when Captain Li was at level four, he could easily kill level six zombie beasts." Chen Xiaoke was very curious after hearing this and pestered Wang Bing to tell her more. Wang Bing then invited a few people to sit down and began to vividly recount the story. Yang Liu was also present and occasionally added to the narrative. Chen Xiaoke was also very excited after listening: "I didn't expect Brother Li to be so powerful at level four! I thought he would recover for a while after that injury."
On the other side, Li Chenglong walked along the school's high wall for a while, then found a spot and jumped down. Based on his previous reconnaissance, the mutated fruit tree was in the green area in the middle of the school. To minimize unnecessary trouble, Li Chenglong used teleportation. One teleportation covers a distance of 30 meters, and combined with his already very fast speed, he reached the central green area in just over ten seconds. After cleanly and efficiently dealing with four level-two zombies, Li Chenglong finally saw a lush persimmon tree growing in the green area. The tree was about 4 meters tall, with dozens of bright red fruits hanging from its branches, each the size of a sesame seed cake. He then activated the Eye of the Dragon: Level-three mutated persimmon tree, mutated from a persimmon tree infected with the zombie virus, and subsequently upgraded by absorbing a large number of zombie corpses, extremely rare. A special persimmon, each one eaten increases all attribute points by 2. Maximum consumption per person: 5 persimmons.
It actually increases attribute points by 2, and all four attributes at that! Although there's a cap, it's still incredibly powerful. Li Chenglong first stored the ripe fruit in the storage ring's warehouse to prevent spoilage, then transplanted the entire tree to the storage ring's natural area. The mutated apple tree was just 20 meters away. After a month of observation, Li Chenglong discovered that even without using crystals as fertilizer, the apple tree could grow normally, but once placed outside, it gradually lost its vitality and needed crystals. This made Li Chenglong marvel at how amazing this storage ring was.
Just as Li Chenglong was about to leave, two loud roars rang out, followed by a level four zombie and a level four zombie dog charging from both sides. Li Chenglong leaped into the air, dodging the attack. Upon landing, he immediately used teleportation twice, moving to the main plaza in front of the teaching building. The four people on the rooftop also saw Li Chenglong, with another zombie and a zombie dog behind him. Chen Xiaoke sensed their surroundings and said, "Those two are both level four. Let's go help." Wang Bing immediately stopped him, saying, "Our strength is only making things more chaotic. It's good to let Zhao Liying see what's going on with the captain's fight."
Upon arriving at the plaza, Li Chenglong didn't move. He immediately drew his Dragon Emperor Sword, activating his supernatural power instantly. Because he planned to return today, he didn't want to waste too much time, so he went almost at full power from the start. Then, Li Chenglong used teleportation, cleanly decapitating a level four zombie with a single sword strike, followed by kicking away a charging level four zombie dog. With another teleport, Li Chenglong appeared directly in front of the fallen level four zombie dog, plunging his sword into its head through its eye. The zombie dog thrashed twice and then lay still. The entire process took only 10 seconds.
"That's it?" Chen Xiaoke said in surprise. Yang Liu and Wang Bing both smiled and said in unison, "It's that fast." Then Yang Liu glanced at Zhao Liying, whose beautiful eyes were wide open, her mouth slightly agape, looking incredulous. Li Chenglong collected two orange crystals and couldn't help but sigh at his bad luck; both level four zombies had only given him level three crystals. After more than two months of fighting, Li Chenglong and his team had discovered two patterns. First, newly born zombies wouldn't drop crystals; they would slowly form crystals over time. Second, the crystals dropped by newly upgraded zombies, zombie beasts, or mutant beasts were generally one level lower than their current level.
Just as Li Chenglong was about to leave, he suddenly felt an earthquake; the paving stones of the school square were shaking. Suddenly, Li Chenglong leaped into the air, and the ground exploded with a deafening roar, from which a giant snake shot out, lunging at him. Unable to gain leverage in mid-air, Li Chenglong was about to be devoured. "Super Dragon-Phoenix Slash!" Li Chenglong unleashed his power, slashing at the giant snake while using the recoil to dodge its attack. However, due to the haste, his strike missed the snake.
Upon landing, Li Chenglong instantly teleported away from the giant snake and activated his True Dragon Eye: a Level 6 Zombie Snake, mutated from a King Snake infected with a virus, which gradually devours zombies to become a zombie beast. Its stats are: Constitution 200, Strength 208, Agility 190, and Spirit 87. Its ultimate move is the Death Coil, from which no one can escape. The people watching from the rooftop were surprised that a giant snake suddenly emerged from the ground even after the battle had ended. The snake was at least two meters thick at its thickest point and about ten meters long. Zhao Liying asked in a panic, "What level is this snake?" Wang Bing, also losing his relaxed demeanor, slowly said, "It's definitely Level 6. Among the Level 5 snakes I've seen, only Captain Li and Captain Yun haven't detected any fluctuations in their abilities. But I can't detect anything from this snake either, so it's definitely Level 6. Normally it's fine, but Captain Li just fought once; I don't know what will happen."
Yang Liu said firmly, "Definitely no problem. Just watch and see Captain Li's true strength." Li Chenglong looked at the snake; its body was covered in green and yellow scales with a metallic sheen, indicating high defensive capabilities. There's a saying: "Strike the snake at its seven-inch mark." A direct, head-on attack won't work. Actually, there are two interpretations: one is "strike the snake at its three-inch mark," and the other is "strike the snake at its seven-inch mark." Generally, the three-inch mark is the most vulnerable part of a snake's spine, while the seven-inch mark is where its heart is located. Both mean striking the snake's weak point. Snakes primarily hunt using their sense of smell, so Li Chenglong knew that using the Galaxy Starburst Flash wouldn't work; he had to find a way to deliver a fatal blow.
Then, Li Chenglong crossed his wrists, his hands forming claws: "Galaxy Explosion!" Five enormous orbs of light flew directly towards the giant serpent charging again. The orbs flew extremely fast, and the giant serpent had no time to dodge, being struck directly, resulting in a loud explosion and billowing dust. Taking advantage of the momentum, Li Chenglong leaped into the air: "Super Dragon-Phoenix Slash, maximum power!" The power of the Dragon Emperor Sword suddenly increased to its maximum, followed by a dragon's roar and a phoenix's cry. A golden dragon flew out, accompanied by a fire phoenix, heading straight for the smoke and fire. Then, another explosion struck, the shockwave forcing Li Chenglong to retreat repeatedly. However, Li Chenglong knew that victory was not yet assured, and quickly took out the Demon-Slaying Bow to begin charging.
He drew his bow as if to shoot an arrow. As energy flowed in, a beam of light gradually appeared on the bow, and its power increased with each passing moment. Meanwhile, the smoke from the explosion slowly dissipated, and the giant serpent gradually crawled out of the crater. Its scales were damaged in many places, and a disgusting black liquid seeped out; even one of its eyes was blind. The giant serpent hissed angrily, opening its blood-red maw and charging straight at Li Chenglong.
Li Chenglong revealed a satisfied expression; this was the moment he had been waiting for. When the giant snake, its jaws wide open, charged to within three meters of Li Chenglong, the Demon-Slaying Arrow's power reached its peak. He then fired the arrow, which transformed into a streak of light and plunged into the snake's mouth. The moment the arrow left his lips, Li Chenglong hastily retreated and lay prone. Immediately afterward, a violent explosion erupted ahead, the shockwave shattering all the windows of the school building and snapping several poplar trees as thick as bowls in two. A massive mushroom cloud rose from the snake's location, lingering for a long time.
A few minutes later, the smoke finally dissipated. Li Chenglong arrived at the site of the explosion and found a huge crater five meters deep. The giant snake had been broken into several pieces. With a thought, Li Chenglong stored the zombie snake's corpse in his storage ring. Although it couldn't be eaten, it would be perfect as fertilizer for the two mutated trees. Li Chenglong picked up the cyan crystal and examined it for a while before starting to walk away.
As soon as Li Chenglong arrived at the front of the residential area, he found several people already waiting for him. Chen Xiaoke skipped over, "Brother Li, you're amazing! You killed two level four enemies in a row within minutes, and then you even killed a level six giant snake!" Yang Liu also stepped forward and said, "Captain Li, you've worked hard. Come in and rest for a bit." The group went to the rooftop of the apartment building again, and Wang Bing brought out several sofas from somewhere for them to sit down. Li Chenglong had indeed expended a lot of energy in the battle, but it was still manageable, since his strength, thanks to his Dragon-Phoenix Physique, was more than twice that of someone of the same level.
The group chatted for a long time. Li Chenglong took out some ripe persimmons. Zhao Liying, seeing the large red persimmons, asked curiously, "These are persimmons? How come they're so big?" Li Chenglong smiled and explained the benefits of persimmons to them. Everyone was surprised to find such a good thing. Normally, an average person's attributes are only 5 to 6, while top athletes can reach 8 to 9. Eating one persimmon can increase all attributes by 2 points. Li Chenglong took out persimmons and gave one to each person: "This mission was quite successful overall. Not only did we gain new team members, but we also obtained a precious mutated persimmon tree. This is a reward for you. If you perform well in the future, you'll get more of these." The four of them happily washed the persimmons with water and began to eat. After taking a bite, Zhao Liying exclaimed in surprise, "Is this really a persimmon? It tastes better than the best fruit I've ever eaten!" Chen Xiaoke, disregarding her image, ate heartily, repeatedly saying how delicious it was. Li Chenglong was happy to see them enjoying their meal so much.
Li Chenglong glanced at his watch; it was already past 1 p.m. He said to the group, "Let's go home today. I need to report the situation; it seems our plan to attack Linhai City will have to be postponed." Yang Liu nodded, "I didn't expect something so powerful. Only Captain Li and Captain Yun in our base can handle it." The group packed their things and went to the entrance of the residential area. Li Chenglong took out his SUV from his storage ring. He had Wang Bing drive, while he sat in the passenger seat, and the three women sat in the back. After an hour of winding driving, they returned to the Dawn Base.