On the 19th day post-apocalypse, the group began a thorough sweep of the mall, eliminating all potential threats.
They particularly fortified the passages between the underground supermarket and parking lot with various barriers.
Understanding the interconnectedness between the parking lot and office buildings, they sealed off potential entry points to prevent sudden zombie influxes into the supermarket.
Once internal threats were neutralized, they cleared out new zombie appearances outside the mall with bicycles, cars, and various barriers, creating a secure buffer zone.
They then began transporting supplies by driving vehicles up to the mall entrance.
"Thanks to your team sending people to help us clear out, dealing with so many zombies would have been tough!" someone remarked gratefully.
Seeing things fall into place, Quentin relaxed as the first batch of supplies was nearly loaded onto a truck.
"Mutual benefit, win-win cooperation, right?"
"By the way, boss, Gabriel mentioned yesterday that there are specialized fishing boats on the island that can catch a lot of seafood?"
"Yeah, that's right. Interested in using them?"
"We don't really have anyone who knows how to use those things! I was just thinking, since you have seafood there, could we use Corpse Core to procure some?"
"Oh, that's no problem at all. Just talk directly to Gabriel about it."
"Alright!"
Upon hearing this, Quentin immediately went off happily to find Gabriel.
Meanwhile, Elijah gazed towards Azure Isle. Just moments ago, he sensed unusual fluctuations in the consciousness thread.
Based on experience, someone or some zombies had definitely advanced!
Unfortunately, the distance of this mall had exceeded Elijah's mimicking capabilities, and he wasn't sure who had advanced!
However, judging by the timing, it was likely one of the four zombies controlled by Abigail.
As expected, shortly after, Elijah received successive unusual consciousness fluctuations from three more consciousness threads.
All four zombies had advanced to the second tier!
This delighted Elijah, who couldn't help but glance proudly at the 26 zombies lined up neatly behind him.
Over the past couple of days, he had gradually contracted them, all fed with Corpse Core.
Previously, the fire zombie could only generate flames the size of a lighter, with high temperature but limited combat use, though its passive resistance to burns was more practical.
Now, at the second tier, Elijah could summon fist-sized flames and cover his fists with them, forming effective fire punches.
He could also launch these fire punches, causing small explosions, a useful skill for combat.
The water manipulation zombie could now gather more water and control it more freely, although its effectiveness was highly dependent on the environment.
In a desert, it might only satisfy thirst, but by the sea, it could conjure large masses of water and manipulate them to drown someone by covering their head, though this had limited use against zombies but could coordinate well with Hannah.
The strength zombie underwent significant bodily changes, growing taller and more muscular, evolving from a 1.5-meter small stature to nearly rivaling Elijah in size, with well-developed chest muscles.
This worried Elijah slightly—would Lily's chest also grow when she advanced to the second tier?
Her current size was just right—soft, comfortable, and supportive—but any larger would be cumbersome and less aesthetic!
The final claw zombie did surprise Elijah. Its claws had been strengthened to be even harder, and its arm and leg muscles had noticeably increased.
It could sprint at full speed without much lag behind Elijah, a Tier 3 ability user who had also received enhancements from Gabriel's abilities.
If this zombie were not under his control and instead infiltrated a group of corpses, it would be a nightmare for awakened individuals.
Even Abigail's Tier 2 defense ability, Copper Skin, might not fully withstand its steel claws.
After observing and testing the changes and abilities of the four zombies, Elijah nodded satisfactorily.
If half of the other 26 zombies could awaken useful abilities, he would be content.
Thinking about cultivating them to Tier 2 made Elijah feel invincible. He now had more confidence in venturing out in the future.
Abigail was visibly pleased with her newfound large group of subordinates. Without saying anything, the zombies automatically began to organize themselves into formation, except for a couple of individuals. Elijah was delighted to see this!
Sure enough, Abigail commanded these zombies through a special signal that only zombies could receive.
The prerequisite was that these zombies had to be able to be commanded by Abigail.
Back in the mall, Elijah had already encoded Abigail's information into the Seed of Consciousness of these zombies, except for the two exceptions.
Now, those two zombies stood there blankly, not following the movements of the others.
Confirming his suspicions, Elijah finally relaxed.
As long as Abigail and this group of zombies remained under control, he could breathe a sigh of relief.
Next, it was up to time to see what miracles this group of zombies could produce.