Zombie Apocalypse: Reborn With A Farming Space Chapter 5 5: First Battle

Because of the upperclassmen's actions, the zombies were lured to the emergency stairs, where they huddled together and ended up sealed behind the steel door. Though she couldn't take the stairs, the hallway now stood empty of zombies.

Jiao Lizhi pushed the window open and glanced outward. Positioned on the second floor, she spotted a water pipe extending along the exterior wall right beside the window.

She stretched out to tug on the pipe several times, then gave a pleased nod. The pipe was slim, but it seemed solid enough to bear her slender weight.

Scanning the area around her, she tucked the wooden stick away into her space and swung herself out the window. Gripping the water pipe firmly, she started descending it carefully.

Down below, zombies had been pulled in by her smell. Three of them clustered beneath her, growling and stretching their decayed arms upward in an attempt to seize her.

In the vicinity, about twenty zombies roamed scattered. To get away safely, she had to move swiftly and handle the three right under her before their noise attracted the others nearby.

Drawing in a deep breath, she gritted her teeth and loosened her hold a bit. Suddenly, she plummeted down the pipe rapidly. Right before hitting the ground, she pushed off the wall, twisted in the air, and touched down softly with one knee flexed.

The zombies whirled and charged at her at once. With a quick twist of her wrist, the wooden stick materialized in her grasp. Without delay, she dashed at the closest zombie and jammed the pointed tip into its eye socket.

In a fluid strike, she drove it straight into the zombie's brain. Dark blood mixed with foul debris smeared the stick as she yanked it free, letting it splatter to the earth.

"Roar!"

A deep, savage bellow from another zombie echoed nearer from behind, the foul odor hitting her senses hard. Before its jagged claw could tear into her skin, she whirled and unleashed a fierce spinning hook kick straight to the zombie's skull.

Crack!

The impact echoed sharply as the kick hurled the zombie several meters away, its head smashed in. For a brief instant, she froze, too startled to move.

While elemental ability users possessed enhanced physical power compared to regular folks, flinging a zombie through the air with just one kick was unprecedented—especially right after awakening.

Such power belonged solely to strength-type ability holders. For someone with a water-type ability, it was utterly impossible.

Despite her bewilderment, Jiao Lizhi couldn't ponder the strangeness of her power and body amid the fight.

As she snapped back to attention, the third zombie pounced, its talons slashing perilously near her throat. She dodged sideways at the last second and retaliated by plunging the wooden stick into its temple.

Stab!

She poured every ounce of force into it, yet the stick lodged fast. Noticing it hadn't reached the brain and the zombie kept twitching, Jiao Lizhi's gaze flickered with shock.

"Roar!"

The zombie snarled furiously while flailing its limbs to clutch at her throat. Her eyes narrowed as she bent backward to evade, then pivoted aside. Seizing the stick, she shoved it deeper into the skull with all her might.

With a squelch, the stick speared clean through the zombie's head. Instantly, it crumpled motionless to the dirt.

Panting hard, Jiao Lizhi swiped sweat from her forehead. Battling just three zombies had left her body drained and leaden. To endure in this world, she had to build her strength rapidly.

After a short pause to recover, she crouched to extract the wooden stick. As she drew it out, sunlight glinted on something—a tiny crystal nestled in the zombie's putrid brain matter.

The sight of the crystal made her eyes bulge in surprise. She scooped it up, examining it closely in her palm.

"This is… a level one zombie core. How can a level one zombie appear now? It is just the second day of the apocalypse," she whispered, her expression brimming with incredulity.

Though the find puzzled her deeply, she didn't hang around. Hastily, she stowed the crystal core in her space and pressed on to the university cafeteria, dispatching any stray zombies she encountered.

Following each takedown, she probed their brains for additional cores, but none turned up to her dismay.

Arriving at the cafeteria, exhaustion pinned her in place. Once she verified the safety, she slumped against the wall to recuperate briefly.

The path from the girls' dorm to the cafeteria wasn't too distant but not exactly short. Hampered by her low endurance and feeble power, she paused after every two or three zombies slain, dragging the journey out to almost an hour.

From her past life's recollections, the upperclassmen would seize the cafeteria by the fifth day. Currently, they focused on saving students from other structures, bolstered by their remaining provisions.

It was only after depleting those early supplies that they turned to raiding the cafeteria and small market. Thus, she had to hurry and stockpile goods before their arrival.

Having rested over ten minutes, she mustered enough energy and rose to her feet.