Chapter 52: Growing Stronger Through Slaughter? The Golden Scheme!

“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!” Gu Lang raised his hand and unleashed a barrage of ice spikes, shredding the zombies into pieces. Green light dots flew out, caught swiftly in Gu Lang’s palm.

“This wave of corpses is practically a dungeon run—the attribute points are as good as free!” Gu Lang checked his stats; he’d already reached seventy-five points. But that was only secondary; the real prize was the silver zombies.

Including the spider zombie he’d captured earlier, he now controlled twelve. Six of them were the ‘medicated’ mid-tier silvers, one was a late-stage silver spider zombie, and the remaining five were early-stage silvers, which, with further ‘medication,’ would soon reach the mid-tier as well. With this level of force, he could crush most people in this apocalypse.

Yet, Gu Lang still felt immense pressure.

He looked up. Not far away, a massacre was unfolding. The golden zombie, riding a bicycle, was single-handedly slaughtering its way to Sun Hai’s position. The golden zombie was too powerful; Sun Hai was helpless, only able to stall for time. Survivors were being butchered one by one, and the Sun brothers were on the brink of disaster.

“Sir Gu Lang, should we go and scavenge?” Li Muwan’s eyes gleamed; this might be an opportunity to profit as the fisherman.

“No need. The Sun brothers are mere pawns—not as valuable as these zombie resources,” Gu Lang replied, withdrawing his gaze and glancing at the blonde girl, Lisa.

Name: Lisa
Rank: Gold (Renowned)
Charm: 100
Speed: 100
Strength: 100
Intelligence: 10
Skill: Irrigation
Irrigation Fruit: Slay an enemy to permanently gain one attribute point, until reaching the threshold for gold rank. At that point, the skill goes dormant and requires flesh to reactivate. Upon awakening, the skill itself advances to gold rank. Note: Attribute points can be stored and gifted to others, but the skill will permanently vanish upon doing so.

Monstrous!

Leveling up through carnage—wasn’t this the same as cheating? Gu Lang had been shocked upon discovering this skill. No wonder this golden zombie was so feeble, and it didn’t even need to be tamed to recognize a master. It was a rare zombie, one that would grow stronger simply by slaughter.

Currently, its attribute points were only at mid-tier silver, but in a corpse tide, how quickly could it kill?

By Gu Lang’s calculation, Lisa could reach gold rank within half a day. He had to use this tide to capture enough silver zombies, stockpile skill points, and break through to gold. Once he advanced, he could use the copy card and claim a golden wife for free. With Lisa, he would have two golden concubines at hand. When that happened, his power would soar, and even golden zombies would fall before him.

“Now’s the time—while the golden zombie is distracted by the Sun brothers, let’s keep grinding!” Gu Lang continued to hurl ice spikes, mowing down a swarm of bronze zombies. He fought his way forward, inching ever closer to the city’s core.

...

“According to intelligence, there’s a special zombie parasitizing that well. Its skill is Irrigation Fruit; as long as it kills, it can provide attribute points,” said Huang Jin, leading his brother Huang Tianlong swiftly across the battlefield. As they moved, he explained the mission’s details.

“So, if we use this corpse tide to slaughter masses of zombies—and even survivors—we two brothers can enjoy the fruit and both attain gold rank,” Huang Tianlong followed silently, suddenly asking, “How many Irrigation Fruits are there?”

Huang Jin paused before answering evenly, “The intel suggests more than two.”

Huang Tianlong glanced at the fiercest part of the battlefield. “And these people—are you just abandoning them?”

Huang Jin sneered, “Anyone below gold is an ant. Their sacrifice to delay the golden zombie is worthwhile for me.”

Huang Tianlong kept silent, watching his brother’s twisted expression. Their relationship was far from harmonious.

Soon, they reached the courtyard where the well was sealed.

“Don’t act rashly. Opening the gate activates the well, but there aren’t enough corpses yet,” Huang Jin said, casting his gaze across the battlefield. Suddenly, he spotted Gu Lang.

Gu Lang was fighting through the corpse tide, accompanied by two or three powerful figures. They wore black robes, their faces obscured, but their aura marked them as silvers.

“So the kid’s been hiding his cards—these are all mid-tier silvers. No wonder he survived the joint siege by the three great families,” Huang Jin snorted, but made no move.

“Big brother, prepare yourself. Go lure the zombies over,” Huang Tianlong laughed, seeing through Huang Jin’s plan. “You want to use Gu Lang’s hand to slay more zombies and feed yourself.”

Huang Jin glanced at his brother. “Not just that—Gu Lang himself is food.”

Huang Tianlong nodded, his form fading as if vanishing from sight. Moments later, a swarm of zombies was drawn by Huang Tianlong’s shadow, charging straight toward Gu Lang.

Watching his brother’s retreating figure, Huang Jin muttered, “Big brother, your stealth ability is perfect. I wonder if, once I reach gold rank, I can steal this skill?”

...

“Gu Lang, I detect zombies approaching—five of them are silver rank!” the little girl suddenly warned.

“Silver zombies? Why are they gathering? There should only be a dozen or so on the battlefield,” Li Muwan sensed something was off. Since when were silver zombies so common?

Gu Lang snorted. “No rush. I’ll send my zombies to check it out.”

With a command, the puppet zombies hidden all around moved into action. Gu Lang’s zombie control was like telepathy; he could order them remotely, making them act with near-human intelligence.

News returned quickly.

“It’s the golden brothers—they’ve lured the zombies over.”

Gu Lang murmured, curiosity piqued. “Why would they do that? Is it just to trap me?”

Suddenly, Wen Wen came over, her voice sweet and childish. “Gu Lang, I saw them coming from the well, but they didn’t open the gate.”

The well?

Could it be—they’ve discovered Lisa too?

Gu Lang quickly connected the dots to the Irrigation Fruit. Recalling what Sun Tian had once said—they wanted to kill the gold rank. Otherwise, the gold would kill them, making them cannon fodder. Gu Lang hadn’t believed it at first, thinking it was merely a saying. But now, it seemed all too real.

Gold intended to kill and harvest corpses.

Everything started to make sense.

“No wonder—no wonder such a place would have a well. Rare zombies like this shouldn’t be found in the wild. There’s a good chance Lisa was set aside by the gold rank, waiting for the corpse tide to irrigate the well. Who would have guessed I’d get there first?”

Lisa looked at Gu Lang, dazed and childlike. She hadn’t grown enough to speak.

“So, these zombies are clearly coming for me—to use my hand for the kill? Heh, but with so many silver zombies, I should thank you!”