Chapter 48 Cleaning Up the Battlefield
The morning light pierced through the clouds, illuminating the village camp that looked as if it had been ravaged by blood.
The clamor of battle had subsided, leaving behind a shocking scene of devastation and an overwhelming stench of blood. Exhausted survivors forced themselves to begin dealing with the aftermath of the battle.
The three members of Ruan Ning's team helped each other to their feet.
Everyone was covered in dark red blood and grime, mixed with their own sweat, making them sticky and uncomfortable. They found a broken vat in the courtyard, and Ruan Ning put some water in it to simply wash off the most obvious dirt on their faces and arms. As for the dirt on their bodies, they could only endure it for the time being.
"Damn it, these beasts have vicious claws!" Lin Yan grimaced as she treated the deep, bone-revealing wound on her arm, tightly bandaging it with a clean strip of cloth.
Zhou Min leaned against the wall, her face still pale, her eyes closed as she focused her mind, slowly recovering her over-exhausted mental energy.
After a brief tidying up, it's time to reap the rewards.
The group began clearing away the piles of mutated cat and dog carcasses in the courtyard.
Ruan Ning precisely dissected their skulls with her dagger, feeling around inside. Unlike the zombie crystal cores, the crystal cores of these mutated animals were usually smaller, more mottled in color, and contained a frenzied energy.
"Twenty-three in total, twenty-one crystal cores." Ruan Ning washed the blood-stained crystal cores with water and spread them in her palm. These crystal cores varied in size, and most of them were cloudy gray, light green or dark red, and their energy fluctuations were more unstable than those of zombie crystal cores of the same level.
Ruan Ning glanced at her exhausted teammates and calmly said, "The points will be distributed according to our contribution. I controlled the battlefield and got the most kills, so I'll get nine. Lin Yan held the line head-on and got the second most kills, so she'll get seven. Zhou Min provided crucial early warnings to prevent us from being ambushed, so she'll get five. Any objections?"
This is the unspoken rule of the apocalypse: the more you work, the more you earn—fair yet cruel. Lin Yan grinned, offering no objection. Zhou Min nodded weakly, acquiescing to this arrangement.
Ruan Ning handed the crystal cores to them one by one. Although these mutated crystal cores were more violent in energy and more difficult to absorb, they were still effective in enhancing their supernatural abilities.
The atmosphere became even more somber in the open space of the camp.
Those who died in last night's battle were carried out one by one and neatly arranged together. There were soldiers whose throats had been bitten off, and superhumans whose bellies had been ripped open. There were a total of seventeen bodies, including the member of the Thunder Leopard Squad who was bitten to death by a pack of mutated cats.
There was no time for grief, nor the means to hold a proper funeral. The commander, his face grave, gave the order: "Collect their identification tags, their remains... cremate them all together to prevent them from turning into zombies, and let them depart cleanly."
The soldiers silently piled the collected wood, broken furniture, and some kindling under the body. No one spoke; only the dull thud of the firewood clattering together filled the air.
Lei Bao stood before the corpses of his teammates, his face so grim it seemed to drip water. His fists were clenched, and faint crackling arcs of electricity crackled around him. In the end, he could only spit out a bitter spit, turn away, and not be able to bear to look any longer.
A fire-type ability user stepped forward, took a deep breath, and spat out blazing flames from his palm, igniting the pile of firewood.
Orange flames rose up and quickly devoured those once vibrant lives.
Thick black smoke billowed into the morning sky, carrying the distinctive smell of burning flesh that permeated the entire camp. Many people watched the flames silently, their eyes numb or glistening with tears.
In this apocalyptic world, death is the norm, but every time I witness my companions turn to ashes, my heart is still struck with a heavy weight.
Ruan Ningjing gazed quietly at the flickering flames, the firelight shimmering in her calm eyes. She recalled her own fate in her past life, how similar it was to this present situation.
In this life, however, she would never allow herself to end up like that again.
The flames gradually died down, leaving behind a pile of charred remains and ashes. The soldiers stepped forward, carefully collected the ashes, and took them back to the base to be given to the family.
"Organize the vehicles, take stock of the damage, and depart in one hour!" The commander's hoarse voice rang out again, breaking the heavy silence.
The pressure to survive forced people to break free from their grief. The crowd silently dispersed, checking the damage to the vehicles, changing the spare tire, replenishing ammunition, and distributing food and water to fill their stomachs and regain their strength.
Ruan Ning carefully put away the mutated crystal core she had been allocated, glanced at Lei Bao, whose face was still pale in the distance, and then looked towards Pingzhou City.
The road ahead remains long and fraught with danger. Last night's battle was merely a small rehearsal. She must absorb these crystal cores as quickly as possible to increase her strength in order to survive the upcoming crises and achieve her goals.
The convoy set off again, carrying the scent of gunpowder, blood, and death, crushing through scorched earth and heading forward.
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