The three of them exchanged a glance and immediately sprinted towards the direction of the commotion to provide support.

  Xu Duoduo quickly stored all the mutation cores into her space and nimbly followed their pace. By now, she had fully adapted to the battle rhythm of the 3A Special Operations Team.

  Qin Luo scanned their surroundings to ensure everyone was keeping up before giving instructions, "Xiaofei, head to the two o’clock direction. The four of us will go ahead."

  Chen Xiaofei, still circling in the air, responded immediately, "Copy that!"

  The commotion less than a kilometer away grew louder and louder. The buildings in that area, already riddled with holes from being gnawed on by mutated starfish and other sea creatures, were now collapsing entirely under the impact.

  Thanks to his aerial vantage point, Chen Xiaofei quickly reported, "Holy crap! It looks like a giant Australian lobster! This thing is terrifying!"

  Hearing that it was a shelled creature, Bai Shu immediately said, "This one’s for Qin-ge. Neither hot weapons nor cold weapons will be as effective as his electricity!"

  Wang Weihu, while running and dealing with some smaller sea bugs along the way, added, "Something’s off. There are too many bugs here. Everyone, stay alert."

  Xu Duoduo, the little zombie, had become much more agile. She hopped and leapt around, deftly avoiding the harassment of the sea bugs. Her eyes didn’t even blink as she crushed any bug that got close to her, turning them into tiny fragments.

  Qin Luo, as usual, was the fastest. By the time the others arrived, he was already in the fray. His moniker as the "output maniac" was no joke—he charged in with sparks and lightning flying everywhere.

  When Wang Weihu reached the scene, he saw an unfamiliar team in distress. Several of their members were already down, and the remaining ones, upon seeing the 3A team arrive, breathed a sigh of relief before hurriedly reporting their situation.

  "I told them not to provoke it! I told them! That lobster is definitely a three-star creature, but they wouldn’t listen!!"

  The captain of the team shouted in anguish, and from this single sentence, Wang Weihu immediately understood what had happened. "If you can’t handle it, why didn’t you call for backup?!"

  It was simple: they had been too greedy.

  If they defeated the lobster themselves, they could keep all the spoils. But calling for help meant sharing the rewards with others.

  "Enough! Your lives are at stake, and you’re still being greedy? Get out of here!" Wang Weihu barked at them, finding their behavior utterly foolish.

  The distressed team knew they were in the wrong. Being saved by the 3A team today was nothing short of a stroke of luck.

  Did they really think a few Tier 2 ability users could challenge a three-star mutated creature?

  Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

  Bai Shu climbed up a nearby building, looking for a good sniping position. While mutated lobsters might not be vulnerable to ordinary weapons, he could at least provide cover for Qin Luo.

  Qin Luo was having the time of his life. The giant Australian lobster’s pincers were terrifyingly fast, and it could even summon smaller bugs to assist it. Annoying as it was, Qin Luo’s lightning abilities were a perfect counter.

  His attacks bypassed the lobster’s hard shell entirely, electrocuting it directly to its core. Before long, the massive creature was paralyzed and motionless, its shell turning bright red.

  Meanwhile, Xu Duoduo was busy dealing with mutated sea snails nearby. These creatures sprayed all sorts of toxic liquids, which she found incredibly disgusting.

  Frequent use of her spatial abilities made her feel sluggish, but fortunately, the battle ended quickly.

  This mission felt like a relentless grind, wearing everyone down. The mutated sea creatures came in wave after wave.

  Still, with the arrival of reinforcements, it took nearly a full day to clear out the area. By then, the number of mutated marine creatures in I City had been reduced by one-third, revealing much of the city’s original landscape.

  However, everyone was thoroughly exhausted.

  Qin Luo instructed Xu Duoduo to store the lobster, then turned to the others. "It’s getting dark. Let’s head to the I City Survivor Base."

  The commotion had likely attracted other teams as well.

  The Rose Team, the Cheetah Team, and the White Dove Team had all arrived. Seeing the aftermath of the battle, they couldn’t help but marvel at the 3A team’s combat prowess.

  "Captain Qin, it’s getting late. Are you planning to retreat as well?" Mu Mei asked.

  Qin Luo nodded. "We were just about to leave. That’s it for today. The tide will rise again soon."

  He had already noticed the seawater creeping closer in the distance.

  The Cheetah and White Dove teams gathered around Wang Weihu, showering him with praise.

  "Incredible, truly incredible!"

  "Wang-ge, if I were strong enough, I’d definitely want to join your team!"

  "We heard Qin-ge’s commotion from afar. Captain Mu told us not to get in his way, so we only came over after we noticed the tide retreating."

  "Yeah, yeah! Even from a distance, I felt my hair standing on end from the electricity."

  "Captain Qin is amazing!"

  Wang Weihu could only laugh helplessly and urge them to stop talking. "Alright, let’s head to the I City base first. It’s not safe here after dark."

  Just as he finished speaking, the tide began to rise at an alarming speed, prompting everyone to retreat without hesitation.

  Once they reached a safe distance, Wang Weihu quickly brought out their vehicle. The team climbed in without a word. Xu Duoduo scrambled into the back seat, Qin Luo and Bai Shu took the middle row, and Chen Xiaofei hopped into the front passenger seat. As soon as the doors closed, the car sped off towards higher ground.

  The seawater behind them surged upward without warning, defying logic and striking fear into everyone.

  "You guys have no idea how disgusting it was from above. Those bugs were swarming everywhere!" Chen Xiaofei shuddered, rubbing his arms.

  Bai Shu quipped, "So you just stayed up there? What if you’d run into mutated birds?"

  Chen Xiaofei shot back, "I could’ve fought them from up there too. Sure, it uses up my abilities faster, but at least I wouldn’t have to deal with those bugs! Speaking of which, I’m starving. Seriously, I’m so hungry."

  He started fantasizing about returning to the H City Survivor Base and feasting on the mutated octopus they’d caught earlier.

  Hearing this, Xu Duoduo also swallowed hard. They were still over thirty kilometers away from the I City base, so she quickly pulled out a feast: four large portions of zhajiang noodles, a box of char siu pork, a box of braised beef shank, and four bottles of energy-replenishing cola.

  Finally, she coolly said, "Eat!"

  Chen Xiaofei’s face lit up with joy. "Little class monitor, the way you feed us is so badass! You’re truly the most beautiful, kind-hearted little zombie in the world!"

  Bai Shu, receiving his share, couldn’t help but chime in, "Little class monitor, you’re amazing. You cook well, you fight like a pro—what can’t you do?"

  In this day and age, even a simple meal had to start with a round of compliments. Wang Weihu held back his laughter, realizing he didn’t have the eloquence to match these two jokers.

  Qin Luo, on the other hand, laughed outright and handed a food box to Chen Xiaofei. "Old Wang’s driving. You feed him."

  Chen Xiaofei immediately agreed.

  Xu Duoduo, unexpectedly showered with praise, knew they were just teasing her, but she couldn’t help feeling happy. Being with them made it impossible not to smile.

  Her emotional value was maxed out!

  She happily pulled out a mutation core and munched on it. After finishing one, she grabbed a rice ball to nibble on. She could taste more flavors now—this was the happiness of a zombie life!

  As for the upgraded Rubik’s Cube space, she still hadn’t fully figured it out.

  However, all the supplies from before had been neatly organized onto the orange and yellow storage faces. With the upgrade, there were now so many additional slots that it seemed impossible to fill them all!

  https://patreon.com/SuperBC)