Duane paused and looked up at David. “You win,” he said, his eyes filled with a hint of admiration. It was not an exaggeration to say that David was the most powerful esper he had encountered in the apocalypse. He accepted his defeat wholeheartedly.

But David didn’t really care about Duane admitting defeat. He had approached this with a playful attitude and didn’t take the outcome to heart. After all, in his view, he would always be the ultimate winner.

“In the apocalypse, there is no winning or losing. Being able to survive is the greatest victory,” David said slowly to Duane. Hearing this, Duane nodded in agreement. He acknowledged that David was right.

At that moment, the mechanical voice of the system suddenly sounded in David’s ears.

Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining a high-grade crystal!

Ding! Congratulations to the host for triggering a hundred-fold critical hit!

Congratulations to the host for obtaining one hundred high-grade crystals!

Hearing the system’s voice, David smiled slightly. One hundred high-grade crystals meant that he hadn’t stayed here in vain. He already had a considerable number of high-grade crystals stored in his warehouse, but David felt that if he wanted to survive in this world, he had to seize every opportunity to acquire crystals. Only with sufficient resources would the hope of survival be greater.

But before David could fully enjoy his happiness, the system’s voice sounded again in his ears.

Ding! Host detected killing of a zombie, acquired zombie ability – Skeletal Enhancement!

Huh? Skeletal Enhancement? Hearing this voice, David couldn’t help but be stunned. He hadn’t expected any other gains besides high-grade crystals. A faint smile once again appeared on his lips.

Naturally, Duane had no idea about David’s unexpected gains. He looked at the remains of the skeletal zombie and said slowly, “Since the Second Red Light appeared, there have been more high-level zombies in the world. These zombies are different from regular high-level ones; they possess strength, speed, intelligence, and even absolute defense. That’s why I wanted to investigate the Second Red Light.”

David naturally understood Duane’s words. He had encountered intelligent zombies and titan zombies. Today, he had killed a skeletal zombie. The world seemed to become more and more bizarre after the Second Red Light. Like Duane, he was also trying to find the reason behind it, but so far, they hadn’t made any progress.

“However strange this world becomes, we survivors are still the masters of this world. Instead of speculating here, it’s better to go home and improve our strength,” David said, preparing to leave. He couldn’t wait to return to the new ability he had recently acquired within the base.

Seeing David about to leave, Duane quickly called him and reached out his hand.

“What?” David pretended to act as if he didn’t know what Duane was talking about.

“Give me back my scarecrow. It was something I had worked hard to obtain,” Duane said, his expression showing a hint of sadness as he remembered the shattered golden bell. Those treasures were his hard work and his guarantee of survival in the apocalypse.

Seeing this, David simply resorted to being mischievous. “What scarecrow? I didn’t see anything. Don’t accuse me falsely,” he said, ignoring Duane’s bewildered expression, turning around, and swiftly leaving the factory.

“What… what just happened?” Duane looked at the suddenly disappearing David and stood there in shock. After a moment, he finally reacted and realized that his precious scarecrow had probably been taken by that guy. It made Duane’s mouth twitch, feeling a pang of pain.

“This guy… he’s really cunning! Isn’t this straight-up robbery?” Duane couldn’t help but hold his treasure chest tightly, afraid that David might suddenly reappear and loot him again.

“Alvin, is this the gift you gave to that kid? It seems like you’re not very interested in the position of Phoenix Rising squad leader,” Alvin stood in the courtyard, leaning on his dragon-headed cane, while Alexander’s voice came through from the void. There was obvious anger in his voice.

Alvin slightly closed his eyes, a hint of shame on his weathered face. He hadn’t expected Duane and that kid to be able to kill the skeletal zombie. It had cost him one hundred high-grade crystals to summon that high-level zombie, and yet it was resolved so quickly by the two of them?

“Alexander, that kid’s strength is at least Level 7 or above; otherwise, he wouldn’t stand a chance against the skeletal zombie,” Alvin pondered and said.

Alvin knew that the strength of the skeletal zombie was comparable to that of a Level 6 esper. If it had only been Duane, a Level 5 esper, he wouldn’t have been a match for the zombie at all. The reason they were able to kill it was because David’s strength surpassed that of the skeletal zombie. This surprised Alvin as well.

“Oh? Is that your excuse for failure? You should know that I’m not someone who likes to hear excuses,” Alexander’s voice rang out, and suddenly, a red lightning bolt flashed across the sky! The red lightning coiled through the clouds like a dragon, as if it wanted to tear the sky apart. The two high-level zombies chained at the entrance became incredibly furious upon hearing the thunderous sound. They struggled against the chains, roaring angrily.

Seeing this, Alvin felt a pang of anxiety. Although he had never seen Alexander’s true form, he was well aware of his ruthless methods. So Alvin quickly bent down and said, “Give me three days, and I will give you a satisfactory answer, Alexander.” As he spoke, he tightly gripped the dragon-headed cane in his hand, and his body trembled slightly.

At some point, the two high-level zombies at the entrance broke free from their chains and were now surrounding him, scrutinizing his every move. The stench of rotting flesh and their incredibly violent and malevolent aura immediately made Alvin realize that their level was likely above Level 8, making them terrifying zombies! This made him even more nervous, afraid that he might say something wrong and anger Alexander. In that case, he would become a meal for these two zombies.

“My patience is limited. I hope you can give me a satisfactory answer in three days. If you mess up again…” Alexander paused, seemingly emitting a faint laughter. .

This caused the two zombies beside Alvin to open their bloody mouths wide, revealing long, jagged teeth right in front of his eyes. It seemed like they could easily devour him with a single bite.

“Alexander, rest assured, I won’t disappoint you this time.” Alvin Suppressing the fear in his heart, quickly reassured him.