Chapter 95

After chatting about Amon, everyone seemed to chill out a bit.

Monroe got a boost from Iris, who told her that Amon was Lord Dragon's top follower. That really fired her up!

But she knew she was just a third-tier Sorcerer. Forget about taking down Lord Dragon, she couldn't even handle a punch from Amon.

"Alright, let's keep moving!" Monroe, being the energetic youngster she was, bounced back first and rallied everyone to continue.

"Oh, my first special ability is elemental manipulation. I don't fully get it yet, but when I evolved the second time, I was scared of getting another weird ability, so I just powered up this one." Monroe suddenly spilled the beans about her ability, leaving everyone stunned.

She might be naive and innocent, but she wasn't dumb. Even though she was still figuring out how to deal with Serpent Lord, who had saved her life, Monroe knew the Richardson team had her back. During her first evolution, she almost got chomped by a zombie. But this time, she felt calm and at peace.

"So, you powered up an ability you don't fully understand again?"

Everyone was shocked, and Iris was fuming!

"Isn't that just reckless?"

"I think I get it a bit. I just don't know how to use it properly," Monroe mumbled, looking down like a scolded kid.

"It's okay, we can talk to Helen. She's super smart."

Richardson quickly calmed Iris down and signaled everyone to help.

Karen caught on and chimed in, "No worries, trust Helen. She's got a weird temper, but she's reliable. She'll help you figure it out. Let's get moving and prep for the next fight."

Karen pulled Monroe out of the small shop.

The others took turns soothing the angry Iris.

It was clear Iris had high hopes for Monroe's magical talent and wanted to mentor her. So, finding out Monroe had wasted a precious evolution chance naturally ticked her off.

"Getting mad shows you care, Iris. It's obvious you have a soft spot for her. No need to deny it, we all see it. As for Serpent Lord, let's wait for Monroe to think it over, then have a serious talk. If she just wants to repay the favor, complete the deal with Serpent Lord, and take down Lord Dragon, she can join your crew. But if she's got other ideas or deals with Serpent Lord, there's not much we can do."

Richardson smoothly shifted the topic to Serpent Lord.

From Monroe's story, everyone learned that the Serpent Lord roamed the Earth like an observer. By chance, he stumbled upon Monroe, a magical prodigy, and got curious about the mix of magic and genetic evolution, so he saved her.

Even the so-called deal—asking Monroe to help kill someone—was just a vague goal. After all, Lord Dragon was a powerful seventh-tier being! No matter how much of a prodigy Monroe was, who knew how long it would take her to reach the seventh tier?

"I think when she shared her special ability just now, she made up her mind. When we all shared our evolution gains, Monroe and I could see everyone was looking out for us. I'm cool with it since these abilities aren't my main combat tools, and sharing isn't a big deal. But Monroe, I could tell she was all over the place emotionally. She must've made a choice already; why didn't she ask me more questions when she evolved? What if this ability turns out to be useless?"

Richardson's attempt to change the subject didn't really work.

Iris, still a bit heated, circled back to what had initially ticked her off.

But she was definitely calmer now.

Just like magical talents, there were no useless magical talents, only useless Sorcerers.

"Never mind, let's call Helen back later and really dig into Monroe's special abilities. For now, let's go fight and not waste everyone's time."

Iris quickly pulled herself together, showing off her strong emotional control, a skill honed from her assassin background.

Richardson was a bit taken aback by how quickly Iris calmed herself down.

"Let's go!"

"Yeah, let's get to it!"

Scratching his head, Richardson and Iris finally left the relatively safe shop.

Following Helen's lead, everyone kept exploring.

As soon as they stepped out, the number of zombies shot up.

The sounds of battle drew the zombies in, just like before.

The team members quickly got into their positions.

Even Anna had to swing a knife and take down zombies now and then.

There were just too many of them!

"I swear, even if we didn't eat or sleep and just kept killing for a year, we wouldn't clear this building! Compared to the hotel, this place is like a nightmare-level game!" Karen grumbled as she took down a zombie and moved on to the next, clearly frustrated but not yet at her breaking point.

"They're just weak zombies. We just need to push a bit harder; they can't really hurt us. Oh, Lily, if you're tired, come over here and rest for a bit. No need to stay invisible all the time." While comforting Karen, Richardson also spoke to Lily, who had been invisible by his side.

Her stealth mode drained her mental energy.

However, with her increased strength, her mental energy had also gotten a big boost, so she could keep it up for a while.

"It's okay, I'm getting used to the enhanced stealth," Lily's voice suddenly came from 15 feet away, startling Anna.

"Have you been by my side this whole time?" Anna asked, surprised to realize Lily had been there all along, invisible.

Before, if she paid close attention, she could somewhat sense Lily's stealth.

But now, after leaving the shop and fighting for nearly an hour, Anna hadn't even noticed Lily was right there."Feeling like I'm amazing again?" Lily's voice was playful, and even though she stayed invisible, Anna could imagine her sweet, smiling face. Without missing a beat, Anna praised her, "Of course, our Lily is getting more and more impressive!"

"Number One, you told me to save energy during fights before. How am I doing now?" Lily sought some praise, while Jasmine checked in with Number One about her performance.

"So far, you're doing well. Your progress is fast, but don't let it make you arrogant. Remember, emotions are just tools. We need anger to fight, so let yourself be angry when you need to. But when it's not necessary, try to stay calm. In a world full of danger, our job is to protect our master and make sure we fall before they do when things get tough," Number One's advice was serious and solemn.

Or rather, this wasn't entirely Number One's own thoughts, but the spiritual concept left by Cathy, who had passed on.

"Monroe, aside from the magic stuff, for now, you should stick with Number One like Jasmine and learn from him. Tonight, I'll introduce you to the Battlefield World. Once you're familiar with it and awaken your magical talent, I'll start some targeted training with you," Iris added, not forgetting to guide Monroe.

Even though Iris had been really angry just a moment ago.

"Looks like we're all here to practice. Everyone's getting better," Karen rolled her eyes and walked over to Richardson, clearly wanting someone to chat with.

"So you think I'm free?" Richardson joked, feeling honored to be chosen by Karen, and then swiftly took down a second-tier mutated zombie.

Their fighting had become like factory work, performing repetitive mechanical actions.

"Of course, look around. Everyone's busy, even the cat's busy commanding. Who else has time to chat with you?" Karen laughed, ignoring Richardson's feelings, and continued, "Tell me about Candle Dragon."

"I still don't quite get it. What special abilities does this Dragon Clan, Candle Dragon, have?"

Hearing Karen's question about Candle Dragon, Richardson thought for a few seconds. Then, while fighting, he explained, "I asked Helen about this. In the records of the Demon Beast civilization, the Dragon Clan doesn't have regional distinctions, but they excel in different ways. Some Dragon Clans are better at magic, while others prefer physical combat."

"Of course, this isn't a fixed concept. The Candle Dragon, a standard member of the Dragon Clan, excels in magic and has the ability to alter the flow of time. To explain, when I activate the Dragon Transformation and take the form of the Candle Dragon, my perception of time flows about ten times faster than yours. All your actions will appear in slow motion to me, regardless of your strength, as this is a forced conceptual ability. For instance, even Amon, a tenth-tier Sorcerer, would move ten times slower in my perception. Naturally, if at the tenth tier, the slow-motion effect were amplified to a hundred times, I might not be able to see the opponent's movements clearly."

Richardson's explanation was thorough. Karen listened with great interest.

The companions who were chatting nearby didn't know when they stopped and gathered around to hear Richardson talk about Candle Dragon's abilities.

"Oh my, that's insane! Conceptual abilities? Richardson, are you sure you're not some secret offspring of one of the Lords of creation? Why are your special abilities so overpowered? Forget about being immune to magic as a Black Dragon, now you also have the Candle Dragon that can mess with time? Why are we all ability users, but you just happen to be so exceptional?" Karen couldn't help but joke after hearing this.

But the envy in her tone was clear, making everyone laugh.

In fact, Karen's humor almost got Anna caught by a zombie.

Luckily, Lily, still in stealth mode, noticed in time and took the zombie down.

"Illegitimate child? Nah, but if they want to be my sons, I'll think about it!"

Richardson played along, showing he could keep up with Karen's craziness.

The two of them bantered back and forth, starting a playful argument.

Their fun banter was as entertaining as a thrilling drama.

"I swear, once I finish this mission, I won't let you clowns off!" Angry Amon appeared again in the cafeteria of Avery High School.

Holding a bag of raw food, he gnawed on it in frustration.

It wasn't that Amon was foolish and didn't know how to eat cooked food. He just couldn't risk exposing himself right now.

He already knew there was a sixth-tier mutated red-clothed zombie in the school, and the four followers of the Lords were always hunting for him.

If he dared to use an open flame now, then Amon would truly be foolish!

In today's encounter, if Richardson hadn't suddenly brought the red-clothed zombie over, Amon might have been injured again, or even defeated and forced to flee.

It was also fortunate for this red-clothed zombie; otherwise, Amon probably wouldn't even have the chance to eat raw food now.

In a dim corner, a sudden sound was heard.

Amon instinctively jumped up from the ground, dropping the raw food in his hand, and looked over warily.

The figure of the red-clothed zombie slowly appeared.

However, seeing its leisurely movements, it seemed that it wasn't here to fight.

"You? You're not here to fight?" Amon, a veteran from the Battlefield World, naturally had a keen sense of hostility.

Realizing that the red-clothed zombie had no intention of attacking, he quickly squatted back down and continued to eat the raw food in large bites.

The red-clothed zombie made some gestures, and although Amon couldn't fully understand them, he got the gist.

"You mean. you want us to join forces and trap those four guys from earlier? But can I trust you? Wait, you're clearly a zombie. How do you have intelligence?" Amon looked at the red-clothed zombie with suspicion, feeling something was off.

This guy actually came to him to form an alliance and wanted to trap the four Lord followers from earlier!

"Are you a proper zombie? Are you sure you're not someone in disguise?"