Chapter 18: Not Even the Zombies Are Spared (Part Three)

Both second-tier zombies possessed sixty times the strength of an ordinary human—quite standard for their rank. Luffy carved a bloody path and faced the two second-tier zombies head-on. With a force one hundred and ten times that of a human, he dispatched them as easily as slaughtering chickens, sending their bodies flying like rag dolls.

Meanwhile, Zeng Hongsen and his companions were growing weary from the relentless slaughter, their bodies drenched in zombie blood. Each looked as if they had been dipped in crimson. Luffy strode to the front of the zombie tide, his expression grave.

“If you want to become stronger, you must confront these waves of zombies. Keep fighting—only stop when you can no longer stand.”

“Yes,” Zeng Hongsen replied earnestly, nodding. In this apocalypse, the weak perish. He understood that Luffy was pushing them for their own good, and so he fought the zombies with all his strength.

Corpses littered the ground, treasures scattered everywhere. Some of the girls, exhausted from the battle, collapsed and were taken to the back; by the end, no more zombies appeared.

Apart from Luffy, everyone else dropped to the ground, having slain a total of eighteen thousand zombies—every zombie in the vicinity had been exterminated. Luffy allowed them a brief respite before ordering them to extract all the crystal cores. They dug out eighteen thousand in total, and only then did Luffy permit them to rest.

He, meanwhile, went to wash and change into clean clothes. Opening the holographic screen, he saw that second-tier Dragon Blood Pills and second-tier Body Tempering Elixirs were now available in the store—rare treasures. The Dragon Blood Pills cost fifty crystal cores apiece, while the Body Tempering Elixirs cost thirty.

Rather than purchase the standard elixirs, Luffy bought the enhanced version, ensuring their strength increased as much as possible before administering the second-tier elixir, which would propel them to the next tier. Each received ten Body Tempering Elixirs and one second-tier elixir, totaling four thousand eight hundred crystal cores.

Zeng Hongsen took half a day to consume them all, boosting his strength to fifty-five times that of a human, and finally ascending to the second tier at sixty times. Su Ningxue reached second tier with fifty-five times human strength. Zeng Weixin achieved forty-five times, and Zeng Shuna thirty-five times—all now in the second tier.

A single second-tier Dragon Blood Pill could increase strength by fifty times, but when Luffy took one, it only raised his strength by ten times—he had consumed too many before. After ten pills, his strength rose just twenty times. Now at one hundred and thirty times human strength, he stopped taking them and instead bought a second-tier Crimson Dragon Sword, which he slung across his back, donning second-tier Dark Silver Battle Armor before walking toward Zeng Hongsen and the others.

Ten thousand crystal cores remained.

Luffy outfitted them with second-tier silver battle armor and weapons. Soon, only four thousand crystal cores were left.

“All right, let's set out for Nine Provinces,” Luffy said, looking at Zeng Hongsen and his group.

They were excited—finally, they could leave. Their equipment was new and top-grade, and they marveled at Luffy’s ability to produce such wonders.

“How do we get there? There’s too many of us for a car,” Su Ningxue asked, puzzled.

“Train or bus will do,” Luffy replied, heading toward the school’s exit. He had stored wild boar meat in a temporary compartment for later.

Reaching the outskirts, a thousand meters away, he spotted a bus, shaking violently.

“Is the bus... shaking?” Zeng Hongsen remarked, eyes wide.

“Shaking your head,” Luffy muttered, exasperated by his bluntness.

Approaching, Luffy peered through the glass and saw two men and a woman engaged in a sordid act, causing the bus to rock.

Many girls blushed at the sight.

“Ugh... How disgusting, how could that woman act like that?”

Little Dragon Girl emerged, her shoulder draped with the Teddy Divine Beast, cheeks flushed.

“You're watching, too?” Luffy shot her a glare—calling it disgusting, yet watching anyway.

Inside, the woman pleaded, “No... please, stop... I beg you.”

She cried continuously, the two men undeterred, ignoring her pleas.

Luffy kicked the bus door open with a sudden force.

Instantly, both men were terrified, their bravado vanishing as a crowd surrounded the vehicle.

“What... what do you want?” a fat, big-eared man stammered, shocked by the numbers. Where had all the zombies gone?

“What do we want? We want you dead,” Zeng Hongsen said, rushing forward and slaying the two men in one stroke. The woman cowered, trembling pitifully.

With the men dead, the bus was still broken and unusable. They would need another way to reach Nine Provinces.

The woman, in despair, took her own life by smashing her head—no one could persuade her otherwise. Her choice was hers alone.

Luffy led the group onward; the sky was gray and threatening rain, thunder rumbling at the horizon. The massive fissure overhead still spewed dark energy.

Luffy and his group arrived at a nearby train station, hoping a train might pass.

Trains didn’t require electricity like subways.

“Hooo—hooo—”

The train’s whistle sounded, oddly comforting.

Luffy led the group in pursuit. Zombies trailed behind the train, but were quickly left behind—thanks to Luffy and his companions, the area was clear.

They waved at the train, but the engine was pitch black, nothing visible—clearly under someone’s control, it didn’t stop but barreled onward.

“Get on, everyone. Don’t wait for it to stop,” Luffy instructed.

“Understood.” They nodded and boarded the train. Several carriages were for passengers, so Luffy and Zeng Hongsen boarded last, heading to the middle carriage.

Inside, a man and a woman, dressed in wool coats, sat at a luxurious table, dining elegantly.

“Guests, care to join?” the man said softly, looking up at Luffy, his tone calm.

They seemed in their thirties or forties, serene and refined, unaffected by the apocalypse.

“No, thank you. Sorry to disturb you,” Luffy replied, turning toward the next carriage. He opened and closed the door behind him, finding the compartment dark and empty.

“Boss, those two seemed so strange,” Zeng Hongsen remarked, curious.

“Forget them,” Luffy said, uninterested in the pair. Although odd, they posed no threat.

In the next carriage, he found a couple of dead zombies—long deceased.

From ahead, he heard faint moans.

“Ah... mm... ah...” Two men and a female zombie were engaged in a grotesque act.

What was the old man doing?

“Ugh...” Zeng Hongsen retched. These men were revolting, not even sparing zombies.