The Abused Heroine Stops Pretending [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 78.1

“Argh!” The zombie shrieked in pain as the blade pierced the back of its neck. Enraged, it pounded the ground, its arms flailing uselessly to reach the insignificant pest clinging to it.

Tang Jing’s knife was buried deep in its neck, the entire blade driven in without resistance, thanks to the bullet hole Ye Yuanhua had previously made with his sniper rifle.

The zombie thrashed violently, but Tang Jing clung tightly to the hilt, refusing to be thrown off. With each movement, the wound torn by the blade grew wider.

Xu Yushu leaped onto the zombie’s back, plunging her hand into the gash Tang Jing had created. She seized its spine and yanked hard. The once-roaring zombie collapsed lifelessly onto the ground.

The battle had drained them all. Only when the zombie was truly dead did they dare to relax, collapsing onto the ground, too exhausted to move.

Ye Yuanhua, who had tumbled down the slope, had merely been knocked unconscious. Su Zhen finally allowed herself to breathe a sigh of relief.

They didn’t dare rest for long. After extracting the crystal core from the zombie’s brain, they quickly drove away.

The sight of the goose-egg-sized crystal core left them all speechless.

Was the size of the core determined by the creature’s body mass?

The cores extracted from human zombies were only as big as marbles, but this one, taken from the ape-like zombie’s skull, was several times larger.

Tang Jing and the others initially planned to backtrack and find an alternate route, but Xu Yushu stopped them.

With the little zombie’s help, she effortlessly flipped the cars down the slope, clearing the road.

Once the two zombies finished their task, they trotted over to Tang Jing, eager for praise. She smiled and patted their heads. “Senior, you’re amazing! And so are you, little one!”

Watching the harmonious trio, Zhou Tiantian felt a pang of envy. If she hadn’t broken up with Aqing back then, would she have?

She shook her head. There were no second chances in this world, and besides, Aqing had been too rigid being with her had been suffocating.

But seeing how effortlessly Tang Jing handled the senior made her doubt her own choices.

“Let’s find a place to rest first,” Su Zhen suggested. “We can let these two test whether they can absorb this crystal core.”

After all, they weren’t the same species. It was unclear whether the core would be compatible.

“Agreed.” Tang Jing had been thinking the same thing.

Everyone was exhausted, and traveling now would be unwise. It was better to rest and recover before continuing their journey.

They hadn’t driven far before reaching a fork in the road. One path led straight toward City S, while the other veered off the highway into City A.

The two cars headed toward City A, though they had no intention of entering the city today. Instead, they found an isolated, single-family courtyard in the wilderness to settle in.

Three months into the apocalypse, the abandoned house was coated in dust.

But after staying in houses filled with corpses, this place felt almost clean to Tang Jing and the others.

Su Zhen and Ye Yuanhua took the main room, Tang Jing and Zhou Tiantian each claimed a bedroom, while Xu Yushu and the little zombie followed Tang Jing.

After spending so much time together, the two zombies had grown closest to Tang Jing, especially Xu Yushu, who practically wanted to stick to Tang Jing every single moment.

By now, the tape over her mouth had been removed, and the ropes around her wrists had been untied.

When they had tried to untie the rope around her waist, she had stubbornly refused, insisting on being bound to Tang Jing. In the end, Tang Jing had no choice but to tie it loosely so she could quickly break free in case of an emergency.

It was still early in the day, and Su Zhen wanted to test the differences between the crystal cores, so he asked Xu Yushu to give it a try.

The little zombie baby also wanted to test it, but Tang Jing picked him up and set him aside. “Wait your turn.”

The little zombie blinked his big eyes, looking utterly aggrieved.

Tang Jing remained unmoved. No one knew what the situation with these crystal cores was like, and if Xu Yushu tested them first, they could retreat quickly if anything went wrong.

Xu Yushu looked at Tang Jing, who nodded in response.

The goose-egg-sized red crystal core seemed to have liquid swirling inside.

Xu Yushu placed her hand on it and closed her eyes. Soon, red energy flowed through her hand and into her body.

This was the first time everyone had witnessed a zombie absorbing a crystal core so directly. After a long wait, Xu Yushu showed no signs of distress. Instead, the dark veins on her face gradually receded, and her skin became indistinguishable from a human’s except for the lack of color.

Knowing they were still waiting for results, Xu Yushu forced herself to stop absorbing after a while. When she opened her eyes, her pink-blue irises had turned completely blue.

“So there’s no difference between these crystal cores?” Zhou Tiantian marveled, staring at her senior’s eyes.

Su Zhen placed his hand on the crystal core, wanting to feel it for himself, but unexpectedly, an accident occurred, the energy from the core flowed into his body through his hand.

Ye Yuanhua panicked and yanked him away, checking him over. “Brother Su, are you okay?”

Su Zhen looked at his hand in astonishment. Seeing how frightened A-Yuan was, he patted his shoulder reassuringly. “I’m fine, don’t worry.”

“What happened?” Tang Jing asked.

” I can actually absorb this crystal core,” Su Zhen said, carefully assessing his condition before opening his eyes. “I don’t know if it’s just my imagination, but I feel much more energized.”

Tang Jing stepped forward and placed his hand on the core as well, experiencing the same phenomenon.

Tang Jing and Su Zhen exchanged glances, coming to the same realization. They quickly pulled out the crystal cores they had saved for Xu Yushu and the others from their backpacks and tried absorbing one but nothing happened.

Recalling the earlier details, Tang Jing handed a crystal core to Xu Yushu. “Senior, try absorbing only half of it.”

Xu Yushu could only understand simple instructions, so this more complex request left her tilting her head in confusion.

Tang Jing then demonstrated, placing her hand on the core for a few seconds before pulling away.

Xu Yushu seemed to grasp the idea and did the same, absorbing energy for a few seconds before removing her hand.

Seeing the crystal core still intact, Tang Jing sighed in relief and praised, “Good job!” She then picked up the half-absorbed core and tried absorbing it herself to her surprise, she could draw energy from it as well.

This outcome left everyone stunned.

“Let’s test this further,” Su Zhen suggested.

Tang Jing had the same thought.

The group took out all the crystal cores from their backpacks, selecting the lowest-grade pink ones for Xu Yushu to absorb one by one.

Currently, Xu Yushu has reached the blue intermediate level and has little interest in lower-grade crystal cores. The energy within pink crystal cores is too minimal for her, so she briefly touches each one to absorb their energy before moving on.

Crystal cores drained of energy turn into pink dust, while those remaining intact still contain energy.

Soon after Xu Yushu absorbed energy from all six crystal cores, Tang Jing and Su Zhen began their own attempts.

Ye Yuanhua initially wanted to take on the task himself, but Su Zhen gently squeezed his hand, signaling him not to worry.

After absorbing just one crystal core, both Tang Jing and Su Zhen felt an unprecedented clarity in their minds, as if something faint had emerged within their consciousness. However, the sensation was too subtle, so they picked up a second core.

This time, the experience was more direct something tangible seemed to form in their minds, resembling a crystalline structure.

Tang Jing opened her palm, and the crystal core crumbled into dust, scattering with the wind.

Yet, neither of them paid attention to this. Instead, they were astonished by the crystal core that had manifested in their minds.

“What’s wrong?” Ye Yuanhua noticed the unusual expression on Su Zhen’s face and grew restless, regretting not having taken the task upon himself earlier.

“It’s a good thing,” Su Zhen reassured him, urging him to stay calm.

“What do you mean?” Zhou Tiantian was burning with curiosity. She had been so nervous watching them experiment with the crystal cores that she had retreated to a corner. Now, seeing that they were fine, she dragged her chair back over.

Su Zhen adjusted his glasses, carefully examining the crystal core in his hand as he pondered something.

Meanwhile, Tang Jing walked to a corner and effortlessly lifted a table with one hand. Raising an eyebrow in surprise, she smiled. “I didn’t expect such a gain.”

Zhou Tiantian’s eyes sparkled. “Aing, did absorbing the crystal core make you so much stronger?”

Ye Yuanhua also looked at Su Zhen with excitement, but Su Zhen’s expression remained grave.

“Su-ge?” Ye Yuanhua called softly.

“Hmm.” Su Zhen snapped out of his thoughts, glanced at Ye Yuanhua, and then said to Tang Jing, “The fact that humans can absorb crystal cores is both a blessing and a curse.”

“How so?” Tang Jing sat down, ready to listen intently.

The others also perked up their ears.

“If the utility of these crystal cores is discovered, they could easily fall into the hands of a select few. If their power is harnessed for the benefit of humanity, then it would be worth it. But what if those people use the cores to manipulate others? What do you think the outcome would be?”

Tang Jing hadn’t expected Su Zhen to think so far ahead. She chuckled and shook her head. “I wasn’t thinking that far. All I know is that with these crystal cores, our strength will improve, and we won’t be as helpless against zombies like the one we faced today.”

Su Zhen considered this and smiled. “You’re right. Why worry about that now? Our priority is survival.”

As for what others might think or do, it wouldn’t affect them for the time being.

The last two crystal cores were given to Ye Yuanhua and Zhou Tiantian to absorb.

Initially, Zhou Tiantian was hesitant, but after seeing Ye Yuanhua absorb one without issue, she finally dared to try.

Su Zhen noticed her cautious behavior and smiled meaningfully but said nothing more.

Thanks to this groundbreaking discovery, everyone slept soundly that night.

Standing guard was left to Xu Yushu and the little zombie baby. The two undead were especially active at night, remaining full of energy without needing sleep. Over the past half-month, Tang Jing and the others had gradually assigned them night watch duties.

It must be said, this method was indeed excellent, and the hearing and perception of the two zombies were even sharper than theirs.

Perhaps due to absorbing energy, Tang Jing could actually sense faint energy fluctuations nearby one wave blue, the other pinkish-blue emanating from Xu Yushu and the little zombie baby sitting by her bed.

Xu Yushu felt her probing energy and turned to look at her.

The next day, the group slept straight until dawn. They had an exceptionally restful sleep and woke up feeling refreshed, partly thanks to the energy cores they had absorbed the night before.

Now, they had one remaining red goose-egg-sized energy core and two blue ones.

Su Zhen suggested, “Why don’t we let Xu Yushu and the baby split these cores? Next, we should head into City A to explore.”

Their vehicle’s supplies were nearly depleted, and their ammunition was running low. With three days of driving still ahead to reach City S, it would be wise to restock beforehand to prepare for any unexpected situations.

“Agreed.”

The little zombie baby received the two blue cores, while the red goose-egg-sized one went to Xu Yushu.

Soon after, the little zombie baby successfully advanced to an intermediate-level zombie, and Xu Yushu’s blue eyes now carried a hint of red, indicating a slight increase in her level as well.

“The higher the level, the harder it is to advance. Looks like we’ll need to hunt more monsters.”

Before setting off, everyone checked their equipment to ensure everything was in order, then got into their vehicles.

The little zombie baby rode with Su Zhen’s group, while Xu Yushu joined Tang Jing’s car. This way, if they got separated in the city, each group would still have a zombie for protection.

From a distance, the once-prosperous City A now stood as a lifeless ruin, casting a somber mood over the group.

Who could have imagined that in their peaceful era, they would suddenly be thrust into an apocalyptic age? Humanity had suffered devastating losses, what was once a population of over a billion had dwindled to less than a hundred million, perhaps even fewer.

No one could predict what the future held.

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