Chapter 88: Guests

As expected, he was the first to eliminate a Giant Zombie!

The Electric Shock Blade had truly served him well, its abilities could easily turn the tide of the battle.

"Cloud, are there any Zombies nearby?"

[ No. The roar of the Giant Zombie made a couple of Spitter Zombies flee. ]

"Ah? Did they get scared? I guess that makes sense..." Shane replied with a gentle nod.

Well, before he starts looting and selecting his reward, he needs to ensure that he won't be ambushed by a Zombie. Now that he confirmed that the surroundings were safe, he sheathed the weapon...

The first thing he needed to do was to select two rewards from the options!

[ You can select two rewards: Instant Experience Potion x5, Zombie Cores x70, Random Giftpack x3, 75% Discount Voucher x2, Item Upgrade Crystals x10, Incendiary Bomb x10 ]

This was incredible!

There was even a new option to select, the Incendiary Bombs! Shane was quite curious about this bomb, but after some thought, he believed that his Revolvers that could shoot Burning Bullets would do quite the same job.

After some hesitations, he decided to select the five Instant Experience Potion and the three Random Giftpacks.

Then, without wasting more time, he drank all the potions!

[ You have gained 100 Experience Points ]

[ You have gained 100 Experience Points ]

...

[ You have gained 100 Experience Points ]

"I didn't level up, huh..." Shane muttered after getting a total of 500 experience points. Well, it was quite expected since he had already noticed that after reaching level 15, the number of experience points he needed seemed to have multiplied by more than three times.

Then Shane decided to open the three Random Giftpacks. Once again, they appear in the inventory as gift boxes with a question mark on all sides.

Shane took out one of them and opened it without hesitation. He saw the familiar special effects as the box started unwrapping itself to reveal the gift pack inside.

[ You have obtained a Stealth Gift Pack. ]

"Not bad..." Shane muttered. He no longer wasted his time and continued with it.

[ You have obtained a Weapon Gift Pack. ]

[ You have obtained a Food Gift Pack. ]

"Mhmm..." Shane nodded in satisfaction after seeing the Gift Packs. The Stealth, Weapon, and Food Gift Packs weren't that bad. Although he preferred seeing the Transport Gift Pack as he was quite curious about the folding bicycle, he didn't mind these three at all.

After finishing this, Shane then proceeded with the looting process. He first looted the Giant Zombie as he was already excited to see what kind of items it'd give him.

[ Do you want to retrieve the loot? ]

"Yes..."

[ You have earned 50 Experience Points. ]

[ You have earned 3 Reputation Points. ]

[ Loots obtained: Item Upgrade Crystals x5, Zombie Cores x5, 100mL Giant Zombie Blood, Spirit Breakthrough Bottle x2, Decayed Giant's Tooth, Giant's Hide, Titan's Elixir, Giant's Heart ]

"Awesome..." Shane's eyes lit up after seeing the items he obtained. There was no food or water included, but he didn't mind it at all!

Nonetheless, he controlled himself for now as he still had three Jumper Zombies to loot.

The fourth, a grizzled veteran with a cybernetic arm, grunted in agreement. "Too clean. This was a pro, not your average Survivor. These traces show that the zombie was really the giant one."

The last of them, a figure cloaked in tattered robes, remained silent, their gaze lingering on the shadows where Shane concealed himself.

"We're not alone," they whispered, almost to themselves.

The group tensed, their hands inching toward weapons as they scanned the forest. But Shane remained still, his breath as silent as ever while his form unseen.

After a tense moment, the scarred man shook his head.

"If they're here, they're not interested in us. Let's move on. There's nothing left for us here."

The scavengers reluctantly agreed, their disappointment could be seen as they turned to leave. The mystery of the vanquished Giant Zombie and its unseen killer had surely caught their interest.

However, the fact that the Survivor could kill the Giant Zombie also terrified them a little. After all, there must be a group of strong Survivors around here!

If their leader would make a guess, the group that had killed the Giant Zombie must have at least ten people!

Tap. Tap. Tap...

Shane waited until their footsteps faded into the distance, but he didn't allow himself to relax yet.

Apparently, Cloud had another warning telling him about the presence of another group of people!

'Are they also planning to hunt the Giant Zombie today? Why are they all coming here?' Shane sighed as he followed them at a safe distance; his senses remained alert for any sign of danger.

It wasn't long before the sound of raised voices and clashing metal reached his ears.

Peering through the dense foliage, Shane saw the scavengers confronting two foreign survivors.

'As expected... Not confronting them a while ago was a good decision.' Shane thought as he calmed his breathing with the help of his talent.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The atmosphere between the two groups was tense as the Scavengers fought against the Foreign Survivor, who had some unthinkable strength and powerful weapons.

The Scavengers, driven by the necessity to survive, had the numbers, but the Survivors, armed and skilled, held their ground fiercely.

"Haaa!"

Shane then saw a scavenger, lunging forward with a makeshift spear.

The Survivor, a woman with eyes like steel, parried with a blade that gleamed even in the dim light.

Her companion, a towering figure with scars etched into his skin, swung a heavy club with devastating force, sending another scavenger sprawling!

Boom!

The battle erupted into chaos. Shane watched as the survivors fought back-to-back; their movements were synchronized, and they seemed to have gone through many battles!

No, they seemed to be treating these Scavengers as intelligent zombies!

The scavengers were relentless, but their ragged weapons and haphazard tactics couldn't break the survivors' defense.

"This isn't going to end well... I wonder why they just started fighting..." Shane muttered curiously.

As he considered whether to interrupt them or wait for a winner, Shane saw a Scavenger managed to slip through, aiming a dagger at the woman's back.

Shane couldn't help but grip tightly on his Electric Shock Blade when he saw the woman about to die. However, to his surprise, the woman spun, her own dagger flashing in a counter-arc.

Bam!

The scavenger crumpled, a look of surprise etched on his face as he fell!