47: Chapter 47 Efficient Mining, Level 3 Zombies!

According to Fang Yuan's introduction.

Those people in the corridor were not idle passengers, but volunteers who had come to participate in this clearing operation.

Their reasoning was simple.

Fang Yuan had made it onto the leaderboard, his strength had increased, and he possessed a certain level of combat power, so he could better protect Carriage 5.

In this way, everyone's survival chances would naturally improve, and they wouldn't have to live in fear day and night.

Relying on the strong was the simplest and most effective survival philosophy in the apocalypse.

Soon, Fan Sinian from Carriage 8, Xiao He from Carriage 7, Xu Shan from Carriage 3, and Zhou Jun from Carriage 2 arrived one after another with their respective core team members.

To everyone's surprise, five people from Carriage 6 had also come.

Their entire carriage had been nearly wiped out, with only two dilapidated compartments remaining.

These five were dressed in rags and didn't even have decent equipment; one person held a wooden stick torn from who-knows-where, looking quite pathetic.

The leader was a young man with bloodstains on his face. Upon seeing Lin Xiao and the others, he didn't say a word and immediately bowed down.

"Big brothers, please take us in. We aren't afraid of death; we just want a way to survive!"

To this, Lin Xiao did not show an attitude of disgust.

He had never been averse to three types of people: those who were obedient, those willing to risk their lives, and those who could read the situation clearly.

In the apocalypse, pure kindness didn't last long, but unprincipled cunning wouldn't get one far either.

Yet, people who were still willing to fight for survival in desperate situations were sometimes more reliable.

Seeing that Lin Xiao did not object, Fang Yuan understood his intent and immediately waved, "We still have empty compartments in Carriage 5..."

He paused and continued, "If you are willing, you can move in first!"

The group thanked him profusely, clutched their weapons, and joined the team.

As soon as the brief personnel integration was finished, the cold broadcast voice rang out right on time:

【Please note, the Calamity has arrived. The fifth wave of zombies is coming!】

"Move out!"

Lin Xiao arranged the manpower.

Agile and quick-witted passengers acted as scouts, responsible for luring zombies from the three carriages in front and behind in batches toward the two connecting passages of Carriage 5.

The others relied on the narrow terrain of the connecting passages to build a simple defensive line, assisting the team leaders in completing the final kills.

As for Lin Xiao himself.

The thing he had to do was very simple.

He would roam between the two connecting passages, crippling the gathered zombie hordes and leaving them for the others to finish off.

However, often the simplest things were the most troublesome in actual operation.

The reason, you ask?

His damage output was too high.

The "Rending" trait attached to his double-bladed battle axe caused a continuous bleeding effect.

Originally, the damage wasn't considered high and didn't have much of an impact.

But when stacked with the true damage added by the "Gentlemanly Demeanor" passive, the situation instantly changed.

The speed at which the zombies' health dropped was far beyond what ordinary people could imagine.

Often, after he swung his axe, if Fan Sinian, Xu Shan, and others responsible for finishing them off were even slightly slow and couldn't keep up with the rhythm, the zombies would simply bleed to death, causing them to miss out on kill points and item drops.

Furthermore, after Lin Xiao equipped his full gear, his Constitution attribute had reached 14 points.

This brought amazing endurance, allowing him to wield the heavy battle axe as if it were weightless, his movements fluid and swift, as if he were tireless.

On the other hand, the people responsible for finishing off the zombies were soon panting and covered in sweat.

"Lin, Brother Lin... please take it easy with the hacking!"

"Slow down, slow down!"

"My hands are about to cramp up, I can't keep up!"

Fan Sinian held a sharpened spear, finding opportunities to fiercely jab at the throats and mouthparts of Level 2 zombies.

Compared to previous small-team operations, this was not easy at all; he was so tired his tongue was almost lolling out.

Only by farming with a big shot could one understand what a gap in ability meant.

This was also Fan Sinian's most honest thought at the moment.

Meanwhile, Lin Xiao, rushing between the two connecting passages, had no time to attend to everyone's complaints.

He was immersed in the thrill of efficient ore farming.

Jiang Wanwan and Wen Yiran were each assigned to one of the two mob-clearing points.

Therefore, in his field of vision, although there were no kill notifications or messages about point increases.

The constantly scrolling silver text was truly delightful!

【Obtained: stardust ore · Iron】

【Obtained: stardust ore · Iron】

...

【Obtained: stardust ore · Copper】

...

【Obtained: stardust ore · Silver】

...

With a 10% trigger probability, given the base of hundreds of kills, it was quite substantial.

In a short time, his backpack already contained over a dozen fist-sized, translucent ores.

The ores were in irregular clusters, resembling rough crystal aggregates.

Depending on the quality, energy patterns of different colors flowed across their surfaces.

Lin Xiao's hands itched, so he opened one of the lowest-quality stardust ore in his backpack.

The ore shattered directly.

It turned into two items.

【Obtained: stardust * 10, scrap iron * 3, waste plastic * 1, rubber * 1】

【Obtained: stardust crystal shards * 3】

【stardust crystal shards: Fine particles containing pure stardust energy, can be refined or synthesized under specific facilities or conditions】

"Crystal shards?"

Lin Xiao had never heard of this material; it might be useful later.

This could be considered an unexpected discovery brought about by the 【ore crisis】.

Additionally, even the seemingly unremarkable stardust ore · Iron contained stardust and synthetic materials.

He wondered what kind of rare materials the highest quality ones could yield.

It was truly exciting!

The team operation was proceeding quite smoothly, but a crisis always arrived unexpectedly.

"Three... Level 3 zombie! It's coming from Carriage 6, it's so fast, you guys be careful!"

A panicked shout came intermittently from the Carriage 6 corridor.

The passenger responsible for luring the monsters scrambled to the nearest compartment to hide.

Subsequently, a creature with a bizarre form was crawling rapidly along the corridor!

It looked like an elongated reptile, with thick, short, and powerful limbs.

But its slender body was split vertically, starting from the chest and abdomen.

On each of the split left and right halves of its body grew a twisted, rotting head—and they were human heads!

The skulls were covered by a layer of umbrella-shaped fungi, the blue-purple caps constantly expanding and contracting, as if they were breathing.

And in that huge split in the chest cavity, one could see countless slimy and sticky tentacles constantly wriggling and retracting.

【Fissioner, Level 3 zombie】

【Trait: The closest successful spore parasite, possesses amphibious characteristics, can self-reproduce under specific conditions, and extends a large number of tentacles from the chest split to hunt】

"Damn, this thing can climb walls!"

Someone exclaimed.

Indeed, after the Fissioner rushed to the connecting passage, facing the congested horde of corpses, it did not force its way through.

Instead, it leapt lightly and clung directly onto the wall.

Like a gecko, it crawled rapidly along the walls and ceiling.

It attempted to bypass the frontal defensive line and pounce straight at the human team in the rear!

Moreover, there was more than one of this bizarre Calamity Creatures!

A second and a third one appeared one after another from the spawn points of various carriages, and climbed onto the walls in the same manner.

Regarding this, Lin Xiao did not feel much sense of crisis; on the contrary, he felt even happier.

A Level 3 Calamity Creatures, how many points was that again?

30 points?

In any case, it was another significant income!

While pondering, he looked at Jiang Wanwan, who was trembling slightly at his side.

"Wanwan, low temperatures can slow down this type of creature; try 'Ice Arrow' and 'Ice Breath Technique'."

Who could have thought that in this girl's first time fighting outside, she would encounter such a thorny Calamity Creatures.

But it didn't matter.

Lin Xiao put his arm around Jiang Wanwan's shoulder and said softly, "With me here, there's nothing to be afraid of!"

At the same time, he weighed the sharp battle axe in his hand, his gaze locked on the first Fissioner pouncing from straight ahead.