CHAPTER 3

After careful consideration, Tang Yu decided to leave the city and head to the outskirts. The density of zombies in the city was too high, making it easy to attract players who kill zombies for points. The outskirts were relatively safer, and maybe she could even find a small stream to take a bath.

Tang Yu rummaged through the remaining supplies from the pharmacy and limped out of the store. She hobbled for half an hour with her injured leg before encountering numerous wandering zombies.

Being able to walk safely among them, Tang Yu once again felt that being a zombie wasn't entirely a bad thing.

After walking for a while, she should have covered a considerable distance. However, judging by the height of the surrounding buildings, Tang Yu was still in the city center. She sighed, realizing that walking was too inefficient and exhausting.

She noticed a relatively intact yellow car parked by the roadside. Although the car doors were missing, the keys were still hanging there, and there were some supplies like tissues, lighters, and even a hammer in the trunk.

She opened the car door and tried starting the vehicle, and to her pleasant surprise, it worked.

Initially, Tang Yu was worried that she wouldn't know how to drive, but when she touched the steering wheel, instructions for operating the vehicle appeared on her wristband. These means of transportation from ancient Earth were completely different from the interstellar travel tools. The game had thoughtfully provided her with operating instructions.

So she drove away in this yellow car, leaving the city behind.

As Tang Yu drove, she surveyed the city. Besides the overgrown vegetation and dilapidated buildings, it seemed that a fierce battle had taken place here. Some buildings were partially destroyed by violent explosions, indicating that the weapons causing such damage were probably not meant for dealing with zombies.

Clearly, there was also strife among human players.

Wearing an expression of nonchalance, Tang Yu hummed a little tune, even though it only resulted in a low groaning sound. But that didn't hinder her from entertaining herself. If there was competition among human players, her pressure would be significantly reduced, and she might even be able to take advantage of it in the future.

Tang Yu didn't remember her original personality, so she wasn't just observing the city, she was also observing her instinctive reactions to things. She found that she could adapt to the environment quickly, and her mindset was optimistic enough. She wasn't the type of person to pity others and bemoan her fate.

Satisfied with herself, she acknowledged that she had quite a few merits, except for being a bit ugly and having a slight odor.

The car drove onto an overpass, and at the entrance, there was a pile-up of scrapped vehicles. There were damp traces of gasoline on the ground, as if a major battle had taken place there.

Among the car pile-up, someone had cleared a path for vehicles to pass through.

Tang Yu drove onto the overpass.

The weather was good, with the sun shining brightly. There were no living creatures around, and everything was eerily silent.

However, this eerie atmosphere was quickly disrupted as a semi-enclosed truck came towards her. Tang Yu, realizing the situation, shouted, "Uh-oh, I encountered humans again, and it seems there are quite a few of them."

The other party was clearly surprised as well. The young man sitting in the driver's seat let out a strange cry, then stepped on the accelerator and charged towards Tang Yu.

Tang Yu pressed the gas pedal to the floor, attempting to go straight through, but the driver of the truck was obviously more experienced than her. He skillfully blocked her path, and the size difference between the two vehicles was too great. If they collided, this small battered car would be scrapped on the spot, along with Tang Yu.

With no other choice, Tang Yu quickly turned the car around and drove in the opposite direction.

The shouts from the truck reached her ears: "Boss, the driver... looks like a zombie. Did I see it wrong?"

Upon hearing the person in the front say this, four or five heads appeared from the half-opened rear compartment of the truck, curiously examining the yellow car. "What's that? Let me see."

The sturdy man in the passenger seat held a large cannon and, through the shattered windshield, aimed at Tang Yu's car, saying, "Whether it's a human or a zombie, we'll find out after we shoot."

As he finished speaking, he pulled the trigger. Tang Yu made up her mind and stepped on the accelerator, rushing down the overpass. Just as she left, the cannonball exploded with a loud bang. The powerful impact crossed the broken windows and grazed the back of Tang Yu's head, causing a slow, burning sensation.

Luckily, she wasn't hit directly. Tang Yu was secretly surprised: What kind of weapon is this? It's too incredible.

Fortunately, the cooldown time for this weapon was long, and the second round of attacks didn't come.

Tang Yu's small car was agile, passing through many cars that were stuck together due to being scrapped. The truck, on the other hand, wasn't as nimble, and it quickly fell behind by a large distance.

Tang Yu exited the overpass and didn't rush back into the city. She circled around with the truck following closely behind. Although the truck couldn't match Tang Yu's speed, it still trailed her.

The man reloaded the cannon, and the second round of artillery fire came. The airflow nearly flipped Tang Yu's car, and the other people on the truck's rooftop also aimed and fired at Tang Yu. Tang Yu estimated that there were a total of seven people.

Being chased and unable to fight back left Tang Yu feeling angry. Her gaze turned cold, and she calculated in her mind. After circling inside the city, she pulled away from the truck, creating some distance. Taking advantage of a momentary opening, she returned to the overpass.

Tang Yu skillfully parked the car among the pile of scrapped vehicles, blocking the entrance to the bridge. Then, before the truck could catch up, she quickly broke the fuel tank with a hammer.

Completing everything swiftly, Tang Yu hurriedly distanced herself, while using a piece of cloth to tie the lighter and hammer together. She heard commotion from behind and turned around to see that the truck had already reached the entrance of the overpass.

The young man in the driver's seat saw Tang Yu standing alone and didn't pay her much attention, so he shouted, "Hey, are you a human?" But the man in the passenger seat was not in the mood for small talk. He had already loaded a new shell and aimed at Tang Yu.

Tang Yu didn't answer, and in reality, even if she did, the other party wouldn't understand. She quickly used a piece of cloth to secure the lighter's switch, keeping it ignited. Then, wielding the hammer tied to the lighter, she swung it with all her strength, and the hammer flew in front of the yellow car.

The man in the passenger seat didn't pay much attention to her actions and placed his finger on the trigger.

With a loud bang, flames erupted out of nowhere. The lighter ignited the fuel on the ground, setting the yellow car ablaze. The fire then spread to the nearby scrapped vehicles through the residual gasoline on the ground. The consecutive explosions caused the flames to soar into the sky, quickly engulfing the figures on the truck.

Ding! 

The sound of elimination rang from her wrist as Tang Yu glanced at the screen. Her score had skyrocketed from 10 points to 80.

Not bad, she only needed 20 more points to unlock the basic skills.

Having killed seven people in a row, Tang Yu felt no fluctuation in her heart. Besides knowing that this was a game, she also had an indescribable sense of indifference.

After the explosion, instead of quickly leaving, she searched for any remaining drivable vehicles along the overpass. After all, there was still a distance to the city exit, and she didn't want to travel on foot.

However, even after searching for a while, she didn't find any operational cars. After lingering for a moment, the flames at the explosion site gradually diminished. Tang Yu pondered for a moment and decided to head back to the original location of the truck.

The people inside the truck were already burnt to a crisp, and their bodies were unrecognizable. They were most likely unable to transform into zombies in such a state. Tang Yu surveyed the inside of the truck, and the man's extraordinary weapon in the passenger seat was already shattered into pieces. 

"What a pity." Tang Yu shook her head. If it hadn't been destroyed, she could have salvaged it.

She then circled around to the truck's cargo area, where some flames were still burning. The surroundings were charred and black. She was about to turn around and leave when she suddenly caught a glimmer of sunlight reflecting from a corner of the cargo area. Tang Yu paused and turned back, using her hand to brush away the debris on the ground. A sharp, silver military knife appeared before her, seemingly an artifact left behind by someone in the truck.

The entire knife was silver, with a handle made of some black stone-like material. The blade was about 30 centimeters long, and the explosion hadn't caused any damage to it. Even the burnt debris that had stuck to it easily fell off.

This was an unexpected surprise. Tang Yu held the military knife in her hand and unconsciously performed a sword flourish, as if some muscle memory allowed her to feel a familiar sensation when touching cold weapons.

Tang Yu searched around again and finally found a scabbard next to a charred corpse. It was made of the same jade-like material as the knife's handle and had thus escaped the destruction of the explosion. Tang Yu sheathed the knife and used a piece of torn cloth to fasten it around her waist.

Ding. 

A light sound came from her wrist, and Tang Yu opened the electronic screen, finding a new entry in the weapons section.

"Weapon: Obtained the military knife 'Jing Long [Dragon Fury].' This knife is incredibly sharp and invincible. Level 1, Attack +5%."  

'Oh?' Tang Yu raised an eyebrow. She liked the somewhat edgy name, Jing Long.

Because she couldn't find a usable car, Tang Yu had to walk. Although her leg injury looked severe, after half a day, the pain had subsided, and she didn't feel much discomfort. Tang Yu tried to avoid putting weight on her left leg. Finally, after crossing the overpass, she noticed that the surrounding houses visibly became more dilapidated , indicating that she was moving away from the city center.

After walking for a while, Tang Yu discovered a small electric scooter in the warehouse of a grocery store. Although it had run out of power, she could still pedal it like a bicycle. She gathered some supplies and even found some shampoo and shower gel, which made her happy. With a cheerful heart, she hopped onto the electric scooter, followed the operation instructions, and chose a small road to leisurely ride toward the outskirts of the city.

From a distance, Song Lengzhu and her group heard the sound of an explosion. However, they were dealing with a troublesome group of zombies at the moment. By the time they reached the overpass, only a few scattered flames remained.

A beautiful girl from behind Song Lengzhu stepped forward and surveyed the scene. She said, "Captain Song, it seems to be Cheng'er's team. We saw this truck when we had a confrontation with them last time."

"Oh?" Song Lengzhu raised an eyebrow. "Cheng'er's team is not weak either, and they possess high-level weapons. Who could have taken them down?"

Everyone shook their heads, looking puzzled. While their team had encountered Cheng'er's team before, it wasn't a direct conflict, and no one had injured anyone. However, Cheng'er's team had more members, and in the process of competing for resources, Song Lengzhu's team had suffered some losses.

"They must have left the city in this direction. Let's go and investigate." Song Lengzhu ordered. She was afraid that an formidable team had entered their game and not knowing about them would pose a threat to their survival.

By the time Tang Yu reached the outskirts, it was already evening. She encountered many zombies along the way and even impulsively looted a lighter from a zombie's pocket. As a result, that particular zombie started running after her on her electric scooter.

Tang Yu then realized that if she made physical contact with a zombie, it would follow her. To verify this, she casually slapped a few zombies, and soon a group of stumbling zombies followed behind her electric scooter.

The scene was hilariously absurd, and Tang Yu couldn't help but laugh. However, these zombies could protect her safety, so it wasn't all bad. Tang Yu slapped a few more zombies.

The road beneath her feet changed from concrete to yellow soil. Except for a few patches of farmland and dilapidated brick houses, there were no signs of human habitation. Tang Yu abandoned the electric scooter and walked into a forest. She needed to find a water source.

Unlike other zombies driven by the instinct to consume humans, Tang Yu could suppress her instincts and choose her own food. With her consciousness intact, she was like an infected zombie that hadn't fully succumbed. She would get hungry, thirsty, tired, and feel pain, which she considered a good thing. She couldn't bear to imagine herself consuming human flesh—it was too disgusting.

After entering the forest, the remaining specks of light were blocked by the leaves. The surroundings were pitch black, making it difficult to see clearly. Tang Yu considered waiting until tomorrow before venturing further into the mountains. However, she noticed that the zombies behind her seemed more energetic than during the day.

She slapped her forehead and realized that the night is her domain. What was there to be afraid of? She should be cautious of human players during the night.

With a limp, Tang Yu led the group of zombies deeper into the forest. They circled around the slopes of the mountain for a while until they finally heard the sound of a stream.

Several small streams flowed down from the mountain and converged into a clear pool at a relatively calm spot. The water then continued to flow downstream due to the terrain. Tang Yu used a lighter to observe and found that the water quality was relatively clean. Although the pool was not large and only reached her knees, it was enough for her to clean herself.

Tang Yu went upstream first and used empty bottles from her backpack to collect some water to drink. Then she returned to the edge of the pool and used her clothes to wash her hair, arms, and legs. The other zombies roamed nearby, occasionally glancing at Tang Yu. Despite being a zombie herself, Tang Yu still found it somewhat disturbing.

Soon, the strange mucus on her body was washed away, revealing her original skin color. However, it wasn't particularly attractive, her skin remained pale and bruised, but at least her clothes were clean. As a result, the putrid smell on her body diminished significantly, covered by the scent of the shower gel. One wouldn't notice it unless they sniffed carefully.

Tang Yu was happy that she was finally no longer smelly. However, just as she was about to step onto the shore, the nearest zombie suddenly launched an attack towards her. She retreated to the edge of the pool and realized that the previously friendly zombie companions had unknowingly surrounded the small pool. They bared their teeth, drooling disgustingly at her.

Could it be related to the smell?

Tang Yu pulled out her weapon, "Jing Long," and quickly analyzed the situation. Her own smell had disappeared, and her behavior was different from other zombies, so they must have identified her as a different kind.

It was a disaster. She had intended to recruit a group of bodyguards but ended up making enemies instead.

Now she had no way to restore her smell, so she stood in the pool, assessing the current situation.

Fighting was likely futile. There were more than twenty zombies here, and her injured leg prevented her from outrunning them.

Tang Yu cursed herself for being careless, wondering why she hadn't refrained from slapping a few of them.

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