Chapter 30: Crystal Source! The Very Air Smells of Money!

Chapter 30: Crystal Source! The Air Smells Like Money!

The sudden tapping sound caused the zombies above and below to become restless, all surging toward the source of the noise. The mutated beast that had been resting also opened its eyes and stood up. Lin Jiao and Xu Bin instinctively pulled back their heads at the sight. This mutated beast had excellent vision; if they were spotted, it would certainly charge at them.

At that moment, the beast looked toward the eighth floor. The circular design of the department store allowed it to see Lu Feng, who was striking the railing with a steel blade, from its current position. A shrill screech erupted from the beast's throat. It leaped onto the railing, and then, to Lu Feng’s astonishment, sprang onto the railing of the floor above. Its sharp claws hooked into the metal, and it scrambled up to the seventh floor in one go.

"Damn it..." By the time Lu Feng reacted, the beast had leaped again, scaling the railing of the eighth floor.

He could now clearly see the creature. Its overall form resembled a dog, but it was much larger, with sharp claws on all four limbs and eyes glowing with a sinister, crimson light. The zombies on the eighth floor, also drawn by the sound, had gathered nearby.

Lu Feng did not hesitate. He turned and sprinted into the toy shop, pulling out a lighter he had prepared in advance. The mutated beast lunged, chasing Lu Feng into the store. Lu Feng cast a quick glance back at the pursuing beast and ignited the lighter without a second thought.

Almost instantly, sparks erupted, igniting the gas and sending a raging inferno tearing through the room. At the same time, with a mere thought, Lu Feng vanished from the toy shop.

In that fleeting moment, the beast appeared momentarily confused. The next instant, a thunderous explosion rocked the entire building, and terrifying tongues of fire surged outward like an unstoppable dragon. The mutated beast took the brunt of the blast, swallowed directly by the flames. It only had time to let out a single, agonizing screech before falling silent.

The door to the toy shop was shattered instantly. A group of zombies that had just reached the entrance was engulfed by the blast, their bodies torn to pieces.

Outside the Qingfeng Tea House, Lin Jiao and Xu Bin had been monitoring the situation downstairs. The violent explosion shocked them both. That was the exact location of the eighth floor, where their boss was. Then, they saw a terrifying dragon of fire blast out, shattering the eighth-floor corridor railings, accompanied by the mangled remains of zombies being hurled toward the floor below.

The two looked at each other in disbelief. Lin Jiao exclaimed, "That... such immense power! What did he use?"

"Maybe a pressurized explosive or some similar weapon? But those are almost impossible to find these days!" Xu Bin said blankly. Naturally, this was only his guess, but one thing was certain: this boss was more than just a man with a lot of food. After waiting a moment, seeing that there was no further movement below, the two cautiously headed downstairs to check the situation.

...

Lu Feng exited the game and instantly appeared in his apartment. Almost simultaneously, he witnessed the scene of the toy shop exploding and being consumed by fire. He even clearly saw the mutated beast’s body being torn into pieces by the force of the blast, blood splattering only to be instantly scorched dry by the flames.

In his mind, a series of prompts appeared:

[Impurities cleared!]
[Congratulations, you have killed a mutated Slaughter Hound. You have gained 100 experience points!]
...
[Congratulations, you have killed a zombie. You have gained 5 experience points!]
[Congratulations, you have killed a zombie. You have gained 5 experience points!]
......
[Congratulations, your level has increased!]

Clearly, the 100 experience points had come from the mutated beast. Compared to the 5 points from a zombie, this was indeed a boss-level gain. It was no wonder that survivors with guns were helpless against it.

At the same time, Lu Feng once again felt a warm current flowing through his body—a comfortable and wondrous sensation. Moreover, this time, he could clearly feel an increase in his physique and strength. He immediately opened his character attributes to check the data:

Character: Lu Feng
Gender: Male
Level: 4
Strength: 7.5 (Average: 5)
Agility: 7.5 (Average: 5)
Stamina: 7.5 (Average: 5)
Spirit: 0
Experience: 75/800.

After leveling up, all his bodily stats had reached 7.5. While 7.5 might seem only 2.5 higher than the average of 5, when converted, it meant he was 1.5 times stronger than an ordinary person. This level of strength was enough to crush a normal human, which was why the sensation of increased power was so pronounced this time. It was a significant qualitative improvement. In the real world, many people did not even reach a level of 5, as 70% of the population suffered from sub-health conditions.

Lu Feng turned his focus back to the game world. The toy shop was in shambles; the walls were blackened, the main door was completely destroyed, and the walls were cracked, with one side blown open into a large hole. Inside, many stuffed toys were engulfed in flames, which had triggered the department store’s fire suppression system, spraying a dense mist of water. It seemed the store's fire system was still functional.

Lu Feng observed the scene and, seeing that the shop was clear, re-entered the game with a thought. A pungent smell of charred fabric and roasted meat immediately hit his nose. The mutated beast was a truly gruesome sight—its body was mangled, and half its head was missing.

Just then, sounds of fighting drifted from outside. Lu Feng stepped out and saw Lin Jiao and Xu Bin dealing with zombies that had been drawn to the vicinity.

As the last zombie was dispatched, the two entered the toy shop, staring in shock at the carnage. From the wreckage, they could gauge the immense power of the explosion. They both turned their gaze toward the shattered head of the mutated beast. Xu Bin stepped forward, split the beast's skull with an axe, stirred it, and fished out a white crystal. He then grabbed a toy to wipe the brain matter and blood off the crystal.

Xu Bin hesitated for a moment while holding the crystal, then finally handed it to Lu Feng. Upon seeing the crystal, Lu Feng recalled a piece of information from the game’s background lore:

This was a "Crystal Source," a type of biological crystal. Some mutated creatures formed these crystals in their heads. They could be used as an energy source or as currency in the world of *After the Apocalypse*, with their value determined by the amount of energy they contained. Some special crystals even had unique properties, though the official records were incomplete.

Curious, Lu Feng took the crystal and used his "Inspect" function to reveal its information:

[This is a Crystal Source from a mutated Slaughter Hound. It is of high value and can be used as currency or energy. Energy Value: 13.5!]

It was exactly as expected.

"Let's go, to the sixth floor!" Lu Feng hadn't forgotten his main objective. All the effort spent dealing with this beast was for the jewelry store, wasn't it? Lin Jiao and Xu Bin immediately followed behind. After this incident, they looked at Lu Feng’s back with a newfound sense of respect, a shift from their previous purely transactional employer-employee relationship.

Due to the earlier commotion, many zombies on the sixth floor had been drawn to the corridor outside the jewelry store. Lin Jiao and Xu Bin didn't need any orders; they stepped forward to clear them out. Lu Feng also wielded his steel blade, easily cutting down the zombies rushing toward him. With his strength and agility now 1.5 times that of an average person, he found slaying zombies to be quite effortless.

[Congratulations, you have killed a zombie. You have gained 5 experience points!]
...
[Congratulations, you have killed a zombie. You have gained 5 experience points!]
...

Not long after, the zombies outside the jewelry store were cleared. Lu Feng gained another 135 experience points, bringing his total for Level 4 to 210/800. The boost in physical strength had actually made him interested in slaying zombies; after all, leveling up improved his body. In the future, he could even come in to slay some zombies after a meal to help with digestion.

The door to the jewelry store was opened, and Lu Feng walked in. Looking at the gold in every display case, he felt as if the air itself was filled with the scent of money. The quantity of gold jewelry here was clearly greater than at the previous shop.

He exited the game with a thought.

[Impurities cleared!]

He ignored the routine prompt, walked to his closet, and took out two brand-new travel bags he had prepared earlier. With another thought, he re-entered the game, tossed one of the bags to Xu Bin, and ordered, "Help me pack up all this gold jewelry."