Chapter 39 Zombie Dog
Ruan Ning did not choose to return to the base. She found a relatively intact residential building with a wide view in the center of the county town, cleared out the few remaining zombies in the stairwell, and selected a suite on the top floor with a sturdy security door as a temporary base.
She carefully checked each room, and after confirming it was safe, she locked the doors from the inside and barred them with heavy objects. She took out some clean water from her storage space, quickly wiped the blood and dust off her face and hands, and changed into clean combat gear.
Having done all that, she finally allowed herself a moment to relax. With a thought, she took out the "luxury goods" she had previously stockpiled from her space—a small gas stove, a small pot, several packets of hot pot base, and a dazzling array of ingredients: fresh sliced beef, tender shrimp paste, crisp beef tripe, juicy frozen tofu, and vibrant green vegetables.
The room was soon filled with the unique, spicy, and enticing aroma of hot pot. In this city of death, overrun by zombies, this small space was filled with the warm scent of food, creating an eerie yet precious contrast.
Ruan Ning sat quietly by the window, looking at the pitch-black city outside, where only occasional roars could be heard, slowly and attentively enjoying her delicious meal.
Every bite of hot food greatly comforted her tired body and tense nerves. It was her reward for her hard work and breakthrough that day, and also her persistence in maintaining the dignity and vitality of "humanity" in a cruel apocalypse.
Having eaten and drunk his fill, and with his energy restored, Ruan Ning unfolded a simple map he had found in the county town and, by the light of a desk lamp, began to plan his "cultivation course" for the coming week.
Regional division: Divide the county into several areas, from the outer perimeter where the zombie density is lower to the core commercial area where there may be more mutants.
Daily goal: Take the initiative and eliminate zombies. No longer just focus on kill efficiency, but consciously practice different combinations of abilities and combat techniques. For example:
Try to seamlessly combine water binding and ice sealing to control multiple targets.
Practice the changing shape of the water blade, sometimes as wide as a sword for wide-range attacks, sometimes as thin as a thread for precise cuts.
Simulate a siege scenario to train the ability to instantly solidify water shields and defend from multiple angles, as well as the ability to control water tornadoes.
He deliberately reduced his use of superpowers, strengthened his close combat abilities, used a machete to deal with ordinary zombies, and trained his reflexes, strength, and endurance.
Within the absolutely safe base, enter the space, soak in the spiritual spring, deeply recover and cultivate, consolidate the second level realm, and try to explore more possibilities for the application of supernatural abilities.
The next morning, Ruan Ning appeared like a ghost in the eastern district of the county town. She deliberately lured a small group of corpses before putting her plan into action.
"Water Net Binding!" She waved her hands, and a large net woven from flowing water enveloped five zombies. Then, "Ice Crystal Pierce!" Countless tiny ice spikes sprouted from the water net, precisely piercing the zombies' vital points. She was practicing the combination of area control and single-target kills.
Upon entering the commercial street, she encountered more than one superpowered zombie.
A zombie that could spit corrosive slime threw her into a flurry of activity, its water shield sizzling as it corroded. She quickly adjusted her tactics, using a high-pressure water gun to remotely attack its spray organs, then rapidly freezing its joints at close range, finally finishing it off with a machete.
This battle made her realize that she needed a more flexible strategy to deal with attacks of different attributes.
She deliberately led herself into a dead end in an abandoned supermarket, attracting an encirclement of more than fifty zombies.
She abandoned her ability to cause massive damage, relying solely on water shields for blocking, ice gliding for movement, and water binding to slow down key targets, combined with a machete for extreme evasion and slashing kills. When the last zombie fell, she was soaked in sweat, her abilities nearly exhausted, but her eyes shone even brighter.
This pressure of walking on the edge of life and death greatly stimulated his potential.
On the last day of the week, Ruan Ning walked calmly through the streets of the county town. When faced with charging zombies, she would simply wave her hand, and a condensed line of water would flow across the surface, causing the zombies to fall silently to the ground.
Or, with a thought, small patches of ice would form on the ground to hinder the zombies' movement, allowing for a final strike. The use of superpowers became second nature, and close combat skills grew increasingly refined, with seamless switching between the two.
She even began to try to incorporate her mental energy into her attacks to predict the zombies' movements.
That night, she enjoyed another sumptuous dinner, feeling the energy within her body become more concentrated and powerful than it had been a week ago, as well as a significant improvement in her bodily functions.
This week's arduous training has yielded remarkable results. Not only has she completely solidified her level two superpower, but her combat abilities have also undergone a qualitative leap.
The understanding and application of water systems have reached a new level, no longer limited to fixed moves, but truly beginning to grasp the essence of "no fixed form, no fixed pattern".
The next day, Ruan Ning had just dealt with a few ordinary zombies and was preparing to leave the county town when a series of sharper and more urgent barking and scratching sounds, different from the howls of zombies, came from the alleyway to her side. She immediately stopped, gripped her machete tightly, and focused her mind intently.
The next second, three dark figures darted out of the alleyway like ghosts! They were incredibly fast, far exceeding the speed of ordinary zombies, and carried a strong stench of decay.
These are three zombie dogs! They resemble large wolfhounds in size, but their fur has largely fallen off, revealing dark red, rotting muscle and stark white bones. Their eyes are cloudy and whitish, drool drips from their mouths, and their sharp teeth have become longer and yellower, gleaming with an ominous luster.
Their limbs also seemed to have mutated, with sharper claws that made a teeth-grinding "scratching" sound when they scratched the ground.
Almost instantly upon appearing, the three zombie dogs displayed an astonishing cooperative hunting instinct. Instead of swarming at once, they instantly dispersed, fanning out towards Ruan Ning! One of them growled and feigned an attack from the front to draw her attention, while the other two silently and rapidly approached from the left and right, targeting her legs and flanks!
"Such speed!" Ruan Ning felt a slight chill. This speed was even faster than the agile zombies she had encountered before!
Facing the feint attack from the front, she did not rashly strike. A fierce gust of wind swept in from the left, and she suddenly turned to the side, her cleaver slashing out horizontally with a sharp wind!
"Clang!"
The blade collided with the zombie dog's hard skull, producing a metallic clang! Although the strike knocked it back and left a deep gash on its skull, it failed to kill it outright.
Meanwhile, the one on the right had already taken the opportunity to pounce forward and opened its foul-smelling mouth to bite her arm!
"Water Shield!"
A small but solid water shield instantly appeared on the outside of the arm.
"Crack!" The zombie dog bit into the water shield, but was blocked outside. However, the powerful impact still made Ruan Ning's arm go numb. The water shield fluctuated violently and almost collapsed.
The three zombie dogs, having failed in their first attack, immediately retreated, circling Ruan Ning rapidly, searching for their next opportunity. Their movements were extremely agile and perfectly coordinated, launching lightning-fast pounces and bites from different directions. Ruan Ning's machete missed several times, or only managed to inflict non-fatal cuts.
Ordinary slashes are unlikely to kill them instantly; their skulls seem exceptionally hard, and their movement trajectories are unpredictable.
"I can't compete with them in speed or attrition!" Ruan Ning realized the problem. Her superpower was being used up more than she had anticipated, and she would be worn down if this continued.
She observed closely and found that although these zombie dogs were incredibly fast, they seemed to rely entirely on instinct and some kind of enhanced hunting coordination, lacking real "thinking" and "adaptability" in their movements.
When the three zombie dogs charged at him in a triangular formation again, Ruan Ning's eyes sharpened, and she held nothing back.
"Ice Vines - Imprisonment!"
She stomped her foot, and a powerful burst of icy energy erupted from her in a ring, instantly freezing the ground! The claws of the three charging zombie dogs were instantly stuck to the solid ice, their momentum abruptly halted, their bodies tilting forward due to inertia, emitting confused and angry howls.
Now!
"Water Blade - Strangulation!"
With a wave of his hands, Ruan Ning instantly conjured dozens of rapidly spinning, thin-bladed water rings in the air, like flying death saws, shooting precisely at the three zombie dogs that were temporarily restrained with a piercing whistling sound!
*Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!*
The water blades mercilessly sliced through the zombie dog's relatively vulnerable neck, joints, and the wounds inflicted by the cleaver earlier!
One zombie dog's head was severed, and two others were also severely injured, their limbs almost completely severed, lying paralyzed on the ice, struggling and howling in vain.
Without the slightest hesitation, Ruan Ning lunged forward. With a swift motion, the cleaver precisely pierced the eye sockets of the remaining two zombie dogs, shattering their brains and ending their lives.
The battle ended, leaving only three rapidly decomposing dog corpses and a chaotic expanse of ice on the street.
Ruan Ning was slightly out of breath, feeling her superpowers being depleted much faster than when dealing with the same number of zombies. These zombie dogs were fast, well-coordinated, and had strong defenses, and their claws and fangs likely carried a more potent zombie poison, making them much more troublesome than ordinary zombies.
She dug open their heads and found three crystal cores with energy fluctuations significantly stronger than those of ordinary zombies, but slightly weaker than those of level two zombies, and their colors were also deeper.
"Zombie animals... they have indeed appeared." Ruan Ning put away the crystal core, her expression solemn.
This means that any living creature in the wild could become a threat, further shrinking humanity's living space. She cleared away the obvious ice marks she had left behind and continued on her way with even greater caution.
This encounter with the zombie dogs served as a wake-up call for her—the crisis of the apocalypse was far more than just zombies transformed from humans.
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