Time-Limited Task

Ning Yu darted across the rooftop, moving in the opposite direction of the thermobaric missile's trajectory. She watched as the warhead, trailing flames, flew toward the zombies still gathered around the statue.

"BOOM!"

The intense overpressure and high temperature struck the area, turning the plaza into a sea of fire. The orange-red glow appeared like a small sun even in broad daylight.

[You have killed a common zombie, gained 20 points]

[You have killed a common zombie, gained 20 points]

...

Ning Yu returned to Shen Yiyue's side while listening to the pleasant notification sounds in her mind and experiencing the rush of rapidly accumulating points.

This kind of attack was truly satisfying - efficient, effortless, and profitable.

Ning Yu checked the numbers. Although the thermobaric missile had cost 5,000 points, she had not only broken even but earned an additional 1,000 points. Most importantly, killing them one by one would have been exhausting.

Shen Yiyue couldn't clearly see what had happened over there, but the intense explosion and flames were enough to excite her.

She put down the RPG she had been carrying, setting it aside. The barrel was slightly warm from the continuous firing.

Seeing Ning Yu return, she turned and said:

"Yu... this is so much fun!!"

Ning Yu looked at her excited expression, feeling like she was a child who had just received a new toy.

"The zombies inside should be mostly cleared out, let's go in..."

She was about to ask Shen Yiyue to join her in clearing out the remaining small fry in the food street, to thoroughly clean up the area.

But suddenly she sensed something rapidly cutting through the air.

She whirled around, shouting:

"Get down!"

Shen Yiyue was startled by Ning Yu's sudden shout but immediately dropped to the ground.

A monster familiar to Ning Yu was attempting to ambush from behind Shen Yiyue, its swift form already reaching her rear.

It was the first mutated zombie type she had ever encountered - a Glutton.

"SHING!"

Blood Kite let out a sharp cry in Ning Yu's hand. Her strength was now far beyond the level where she could only fight a Glutton to a draw.

Just as Shen Yiyue crouched down, Ning Yu's Blood Kite had already slashed out, cleanly cutting off the monster's attacking claw.

"ROAR!!"

The Glutton hadn't expected its sneak attack to fail, let alone have its incredibly hard claw so easily severed.

It stomped the ground hard, trying to quickly spring away, looking at Ning Yu with fearful eyes, immediately realizing how terrifying this human was.

It planned to retreat briefly before attempting another ambush.

Unfortunately, when it looked up, it saw Ning Yu's eyes beginning to turn red, and the blade in her hand trailing blood butterflies.

Under Blood Kite's buff, Ning Yu's physical abilities had reached an astounding 20 points.

With the additional boost from Embrace of Fire, continuing to fight might push it even higher.

Now, her speed was far greater than before, so when the Glutton tried to retreat through the air, Ning Yu instead charged forward even faster, appearing before it.

[Detected: Glutton (Low-rank)]

[Position: 12 o'clock, less than 1 meter, vertical difference less than 1 meter]

[Weakness: Lower abdomen]

[Ding! Weakness revealed, Death Lines will be drawn for the host]

As Detection (Intermediate) activated, she saw the Death Lines drawn on the Glutton's abdomen.

So that's where your weak point is.

Ning Yu revealed a cunning smile. If she had known about this weakness before, even with lower physical abilities, the fight would have been much easier.

The Glutton tried to raise its other claw in defense, having nowhere to escape in mid-air.

Ning Yu's Blood Kite was already raised.

A blade light, precise as surgery, cut along the Death Line on its lower abdomen, slicing through both the defending claw and the creature itself.

"Die."

Ning Yu kicked off its head, using it as leverage to leap backward.

The bisected Glutton fell straight to the ground, the kick sending its corpse crashing down.

"SPLAT!"

It had been killed with a single slash from Ning Yu, smashing into pieces on the ground, its green blood making corrosive hissing sounds as it spread.

[Ding! You have killed a low-rank mutated zombie Glutton, gained 500 points]

[Blood Kite upgrade experience +50]

Ning Yu frowned, remembering that experience used to be +100, but now it was only +50.

This meant Blood Kite was becoming pickier about its food, while using her own blood for experience was still more efficient. Was it forcing her to level up through self-sacrifice?

[Ding! Task triggered: Kill two Gluttons within 720 seconds]

[Task reward: 2000 points, 1x 50% discount opportunity in the shop]

[Current progress: 1/2, 700 seconds remaining]

The belated system notification rang in Ning Yu's mind, causing her to quickly look back.

What's going on? There were two? That means...

The other Glutton was in the opposite direction from Ning Yu, apparently planning to ambush her, but she had moved first to kill the one attacking Shen Yiyue.

Facing a mutated zombie alone for the first time, Shen Yiyue showed no panic. This one was attacking from her front.

She activated Future Reading, easily dodging the Glutton's ambush by moving to the side, then immediately fired a shot at its head.

Seeing this, Ning Yu, who had rushed to Shen Yiyue's side to protect her, suddenly stopped.

Although the task was time-limited, there were still over 600 seconds left. During this time, she only needed to stay near Shen Yiyue to prevent any fatal injuries.

These 600-plus seconds would be Shen Yiyue's training time against the Glutton.

Ning Yu couldn't protect her forever; she needed to develop the ability to face these mutated monsters on her own.

Of course, if she had immediately told Shen Yiyue about the Glutton's weakness, those two shots might have already killed it.

After all, combining Death Lines with Shen Yiyue's guaranteed-hit Future Reading was simply too overpowered.

But since the purpose of this outing was to train Shen Yiyue, Ning Yu just moved to her side while keeping her blade lowered.

"This one's yours. Show me how much you've really improved."

Ning Yu stood beside her, speaking with complete trust in her voice.

If those twenty or thirty common zombies were the appetizer, this one definitely counted as the main course.

"Alright."

Shen Yiyue didn't say much, already in combat mode, her body tense and mind highly focused.

The Glutton, having failed its sneak attack, had retreated, shaking its head where it had been shot, beginning to heal its wounds.

It stared at the two humans with hesitant eyes, seemingly unsure about facing them both.

But when it saw its companion's corpse in the distance, its grotesque face showed an expression of fear.

It was equally cunning - with a twist of its body, it stepped onto an air conditioning unit and fled backward.

Running away when it couldn't win!