Chapter 96

The Trade Building.

The Richardson team had cleared about half of the second floor.

Finally, they ran into the second mutant zombie they were hunting for.

Five mutations!

But compared to the last one, which was all about defense, this zombie was way tougher to handle.

"Is this guy's special ability controlling lightning?" Richardson dodged the zombie's attack and cursed loudly.

The zombie was completely wrapped in lightning, making it impossible to get close!

"Let's wear it down first; its lightning can't last forever," Iris suggested, deciding to drain the mutant zombie's energy from a distance.

But Iris didn't fully grasp genetic evolution.

Hearing her plan, Richardson shook his head. "It might be endless. Look, its body is totally merged with the lightning. Or maybe, this guy *is* lightning! Draining it might not work."

Richardson knew how crazy special abilities could get.

After seeing Caesar's forced immortality, Richardson had long realized that this world couldn't be explained by science and common sense anymore.

Newton's law of energy conservation might not apply here.

"Are you sure?" Iris found it hard to believe and thought it was a bit unreasonable.

Even magic followed the scientific law of energy conservation.

Otherwise, how could humans integrate magic with technology?

But now, Richardson was saying energy wasn't conserved, and this zombie could use lightning indefinitely.

"Although it's hard to believe, it seems like the boss is right. This zombie has been blasting us with lightning non-stop, but we haven't noticed any drop in the intensity of its attacks, and the lightning on its body is still going strong," Helen said, looking at the lightning zombie that shattered their common sense, and had to accept this truth.

"Embodied in lightning, can it use lightning indefinitely? This is just too crazy!" Iris still couldn't believe it, but since Richardson and Helen said so, she had seen the weirdness of this lightning zombie with her own eyes.

With a muttered curse, Iris fired off more than a dozen elemental arrows.

Sparks flew.

The lightning zombie's body quickly transformed into lightning, dodging Iris's arrows without a scratch.

Then, raising its hand, it unleashed another series of thunderous bursts.

Anna was the first to dodge.

The speed of lightning was insanely fast.

Even with Helen's warning, Anna wasn't careful enough and got hit by the lightning.

Her whole body instantly felt numb!

Seeing Anna get zapped, Richardson immediately activated the old pocket watch.

"Luckily, it was just a slight shock from the residual lightning," After confirming that Anna was only slightly affected, he breathed a sigh of relief.

In the state of time stop, Richardson began to think calmly.

He could confirm that this lightning zombie had completely transformed its body into lightning.

So physical attacks were basically useless against it.

In other words, this zombie not only had infinite energy but also an elemental, hence indestructible, body. To kill it, conventional methods just weren't gonna cut it!

If they couldn't take it down quickly, things would get really dangerous. With five mutations, its attack power was off the charts. One wrong move and any of them could get fried!

After dealing with the tentacle zombie, Richardson now faced another nightmare!

And this guy's abilities seemed even more unbeatable than the tentacle zombie!

After thinking for over ten minutes, Richardson still couldn't come up with a good plan, which was pretty frustrating.

"If this doesn't work, we might have to retreat. Damn it! Getting our butts kicked by this zombie."

Taking a deep breath, Richardson decided to rush in and try to handle it in the world of stopped time.

But that was clearly not gonna work.

The machete sliced through the zombie's body easily.

Richardson also got a full dose of electric therapy!

This wasn't like Anna's attack earlier, which was just a shockwave. This was a direct hit from the lightning zombie!

"Karen's weapons are great, but she forgot to make them non-conductive!"

Getting zapped by the zombie's lightning, even for a moment, Richardson was in agony on the ground.

Feeling numb from head to toe, he could only joke about it in the end.

About half an hour later, Richardson finally shook off the numbness.

He closed the pocket watch, and time started again.

Looking at the lightning zombie, Richardson saw it was totally fine.

The severed body reformed almost instantly, and it unleashed a ton of lightning at Richardson, who had gotten close again!

The attack was so fast that it caught Richardson off guard.

At the last second, the little black dragon appeared.

It rushed to Richardson and used its small body to block all the lightning!

"Little black dragon!" Richardson shouted, having just felt the zombie's attack himself.

Even with the body of a four-time evolved person, there was still a risk of getting electrocuted.

What about this little black dragon that had just been born?

Angry and shouting, Richardson thought the little black dragon had sacrificed itself to save him.

But then, a familiar dragon roar echoed.

The little black dragon showed why it was part of the Dragon Clan!

This was the Dragon Clan!

Magic immunity, elemental immunity!

That was the black dragon clan's unique talent!

"I'm fine, I even want to go for another round!" The little black dragon turned its head confidently, giving Richardson a reassuring look.

Then, spreading its small wings, it flew straight at the lightning zombie!

The black dragon hatchling was gonna take down the five-time mutant zombie and uphold the honor of the Dragon Clan!

"So this is the Dragon Clan?"

"The little black dragon is so cool!"

"No wonder Lord Dragon was so eager to revive the Dragon Clan, this race is seriously powerful."

"Now I get why the Demon Beast civilization lost to the Dragon Clan back then. This lightning zombie is tough, but the little black dragon is totally OP!"Seeing this, the team members were all stunned. None of them had expected that the lightning zombie, which even Richardson couldn't figure out how to handle in a time-stopped state, would be so effectively restrained by the little black dragon, and even devoured alive!

Yep, after blocking an attack for Richardson, the little black dragon went straight for the lightning zombie, biting its leg.

Then, right in front of everyone, it slowly devoured all the lightning the zombie released.

In the end, it even completely absorbed the essence of the lightning zombie!

Leaving only a dark lump behind.

"Amazing!"

Richardson watched the whole process up close, and the way the little black dragon completely countered the lightning zombie made him give a thumbs up in admiration.

"Richardson, your armor is ready! I can't hold it, I need to evolve!"

Karen's voice came from behind, and as soon as Richardson heard it, he felt a surge of energy in his body, realizing it was time for his fifth evolution.

"I need to evolve too. Number One, Helen, get everyone to rest here!" Quickly calling out to Number One and Helen, Richardson rushed to Karen's side, leaning against her back, and the two of them sat down together to start their evolution!

"Little guy, you're amazing!" With the crisis averted, Iris rushed up and hugged the little black dragon.

To be honest, she had mentally prepared herself. If the Richardson team couldn't handle this zombie, Iris was ready to use her long-range attacks to hold off the lightning zombie, giving the others time to escape.

After all, she was the only one who could safely keep the lightning zombie at bay.

And only Iris had the ability to cover the retreat of the others.

However, after covering them, Iris's fate would likely be death!

Because everyone had seen the lightning zombie's attacks. Its speed was faster than Iris's arrows!

If Iris made even a slight mistake and got hit by the shockwaves, she would probably be electrocuted to death.

So the little black dragon's sudden intervention was like saving Iris, who was ready to sacrifice herself.

No wonder she was so excited!

"It seems like I need to evolve too!" After killing a bunch of zombies along the way, plus the genetic energy from this five-time mutant zombie, Monroe felt the energy in her body reaching a bottleneck again.

"Quick, go to Richardson. Evolving twice in one day, Monroe, you're really the biggest winner," Lily said, pulling Monroe towards Richardson. She gathered the three evolving comrades together for better protection, all the while expressing her envy with a sigh.

"Meeting Richardson, we are all winners." Anna smiled and spoke. Just now, she had almost been killed by the lightning zombie, and even now, she still felt a bit numb in her leg.

But Anna didn't show any fear. For her, as long as Richardson was there, there was nothing to fear. Even in death, she believed Richardson would avenge her.

"Everyone, be careful. Although there may not be any stronger mutant zombies on this floor, stay vigilant." Helen reminded the team not to let their guard down.

The one evolving now was her master. If Richardson had any accidents, then Helen's life would also come to an end. From then on, the world might be missing a cat named Helen."Why do I feel like you're not concerned about Richardson, but just afraid of dying?" Anna teased, lightly tapping Helen's head with her finger.

When Anna got hit by the lightning earlier, she clearly felt Helen trembling.

Obviously, she should have been affected by Anna.

But it was probably to protect Anna that Helen endured the risk of numbness and never left her shoulder.

"How could Helen be the kind of cat who's afraid of death?" Helen said proudly, refusing to admit Anna's speculation.

"Number One, there are zombies coming over there. Number Zero, over there too! Get ready to fight. Lily, stay by the master's side and go into stealth mode."

After barely a minute of rest, the zombies, sensing the death of the five-time mutant and driven by their insatiable hunger for humans, rushed toward them again.

Helen reacted immediately. Leaving Lily to protect Richardson and the others, she quickly directed the rest to start fighting the zombies.

"Today, I'm really tired." Jasmine sighed, taking a deep breath and feeling the signals her body was sending to her brain.

Since arriving at the Trade Building, there had been no break at all.

During the battles, they either faced a continuous onslaught of zombies or powerful mutant zombies, where one small mistake could lead to death!

"But the gains are also great." Number One spoke softly beside Jasmine.

Jasmine was surprised to hear this usually strict mentor comforting her. She looked at Number One with some surprise.

It was in this moment of distraction that a three-time mutant zombie seized the opportunity and bit Jasmine's shoulder.

"You fool, what are you doing?"

The bone whip quickly wrapped around the zombie's neck, and Number One, following the force, jumped directly to Jasmine's side.

With a twist, he snapped the zombie's head off, glaring at Jasmine with anger, no longer showing the gentleness from a moment ago.

Jasmine knew she was wrong and hung her head, not daring to speak.

"Jasmine, come back, Anna will treat you! Monroe, take Jasmine's position." Ignoring Number One's reprimand, Helen ordered Jasmine to return to the center of the team for treatment.

She could see clearly that this three-time mutant zombie was particularly fast.

Even with Jasmine fully focused, she could still be injured by its sneak attack, though it might not be as severe.

"Quickly go back for treatment. The master is evolving now, so we must not slack off at this time!" Gritting his teeth, Number One said, ultimately refraining from reprimanding Jasmine again.

Although her mistake should be criticized, it was clearly not the time to teach a lesson.

At the moment when Richardson felt the intense pain spreading through his body, he activated the old pocket watch.

Time stopped!

The intense pain began to spread, gradually expanding.

From his original sitting position, Richardson turned into rolling on the ground in agony, howling!

He could clearly feel that the pain during each evolution would significantly escalate with each increase in the number of evolutions!

But no matter what, he had to endure it.

Because as long as he could withstand this period of pain, the special abilities he would gain next would be increased by nearly a hundred times!