After I Fully Prepared for the Apocalypse, the Ungrateful Cried with Regret

Crestfall was over 90 kilometers away from Tomorrow Base.

Nina Jacobs thought this distance was far too close.

A zombie that ran nonstop could probably reach Tomorrow Base in less than a day.

And when Audrey Crowley learned that the group was coming to scout Crestfall today, she had surprisingly contributed a helicopter, along with the drones used outside Tomorrow Base last time, and a programmer.

The programmer’s name was Julian Thorne. He didn’t say much, just kept tapping away at the laptop on the table.

”What are you doing?”

Silas Crowley already had a helicopter pilot’s license, and Julian Thorne had been an employee of the Crowley Group before the apocalypse.

”Mr. Crowley, I’m writing a new command script. The flight altitude from last time needs to be increased.”

Julian Thorne replied.

Last time, Audrey Crowley had him try to scout Crestfall with a drone, but the drone seemed to have been destroyed by something as soon as it flew in.

It happened with every drone they tried, so he figured the flight altitude needed to be adjusted even higher.

The vehicle started to jolt more and more violently. The group gradually fell silent, as the number of zombies outside was growing.

At an intersection, the group skillfully clambered out onto the vehicle’s roof. Nina Jacobs immediately conjured a swirling vortex of fire and wind.

To an outsider, it looked like just an incredibly powerful and fast-moving Fire Dragon Roll.

The Fire Dragon Roll sucked in all the zombies that were still gathering behind them, and dozens of them were instantly reduced to ash.

Wayne Warner had already leaped from the vehicle, kicking a group of zombies in front of him into the Thunder Net behind them.

A flash of lightning erupted, and the zombies were carbonized in an instant.

Holly Morgan was using purple thorns to entangle as many zombies as possible, but some of the Mutated Zombies were proving difficult to handle. Seeing this, Nina Jacobs quickly cleared the area around her.

”People might still pass through this intersection. Looks like we need to be thorough and kill all of them.”

Silas Crowley used his Thunder Element Superpower to pull over an abandoned sedan from the roadside. With the car’s instant explosion, the zombies in that direction were blown to pieces.

Inside the vehicle, Julian Thorne watched the scene outside in amazement.

’It seems Mr. Crowley and the others were worried for nothing,’

he murmured to himself.

After finally reaching the vicinity of Crestfall, the group didn’t get out of the vehicle immediately, worried their scent would trigger a disturbance among the zombies inside the city.

Even though they were still three kilometers away from Crestfall.

”How is it? How many are in there?”

Seeing Felix Finch sensing the situation with a deeply furrowed brow, Nina Jacobs didn’t disturb him, only asking her question after he opened his eyes.

”So many... so, so many...”

Felix Finch couldn’t find the words to describe what he was sensing.

It was packed to the brim with zombies.

”At least three million. No, four million...”

After Felix Finch spoke, a chill ran down everyone’s spines.

”How can there be so many?”

Silas Crowley asked in disbelief.

Nina Jacobs gazed into the distance ahead and said, ”It’s not surprising. Keldorn’s permanent population before the apocalypse was over 34 million.”

Four million zombies wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility.

Julian Thorne had finished calibrating the drone. Following Nina Jacobs’s instructions, he programmed it to fly towards Crestfall from the opposite direction.

The projected image quickly appeared on the computer screen.

Every scene was enough to make one’s skin crawl.

Within the city walls, countless dark gray heads were squeezed together, resembling a pot of thick porridge under the scorching sun.

As the drone flew overhead, the heads slowly shifted, focusing their pupil-less ”gazes” on the sky.

The hot porridge began to roil. The mere sound of the drone was enough to make them boil over with agitation.

With this movement, the group realized that there weren’t just zombies on the ground—the buildings, every abandoned car, and even the space beneath collapsed planks were teeming with them.

”Reginald, drive us about a kilometer closer.”

Nina Jacobs said.

She wanted to try out the system’s new Skill: Instant Detonation.

Instant Detonation could be used four times a day.

Crestfall was full of buildings under 200 square meters, making it the perfect place to use it.

Twenty minutes later, while Julian Thorne was using the drone to take high-definition photos, Nina Jacobs activated the Instant Detonation Skill.

All detonable buildings in the vicinity appeared on the panel in front of Nina as red structures, while non-detonable ones were dark gray.

Nina Jacobs locked onto a small building on a street corner. The drone had just swept past it, and it seemed to have a lot of zombies trapped inside.

Moreover, a large number had gathered outside the small building as well.

She also selected three other buildings in the surrounding area.

Immediately after, everyone in the vehicle heard a series of explosions.

[System has detected that Host used the ”Instant Detonation” Skill 4 times, killing 4,912 zombies. System Experience +4,912 points!]

’Four blasts killed nearly 5,000 zombies?’

’The effect was better than I’d imagined.’

’But if I had used the Little Zombie Rats to lure more zombies in beforehand, the effect might have been even better...’

”Did you guys hear that? What was that sound?”

Cordelia asked.

”I heard it. Sounded like explosions, but explosions happen easily where zombies gather.”

Felix Finch considered this a normal phenomenon.

The location of the explosions happened to be an area the drone had already passed over, so it wasn’t caught on camera.

Nina Jacobs was still not quite satisfied. She couldn’t help but call out to the system in her mind:

”System, can the Instant Detonation Skill only be used four times a day? Is there any way to increase the number of uses?”

[Apologies, Host. There is currently no method to increase the number of uses for the ”Instant Detonation” Skill. If Host can upgrade the system level as soon as possible, the number of uses will increase at the next level.]

The system replied.

’So there’s no other way,’ Nina Jacobs thought. She had expected as much.

”My God, what is that?”

Julian Thorne was pointing at a zombie on the screen—one whose entire body was reflecting a metallic sheen.

It was currently cracking open another zombie’s head, digging out a bloody, mangled lump of something, and stuffing it into its mouth.

At almost the same instant, it spotted the drone.

The drone’s camera feed shook twice, and then the words ”SIGNAL LOST” appeared on the screen.

”Drive! Let’s get out of here now!”

Felix Finch said, seeming to have sensed something.

Reginald Sutton didn’t dare to delay. He immediately spun the vehicle around and sped away.

However, Nina Jacobs noticed that the color was draining from Felix Finch’s face.

”Is that zombie chasing us?” Nina Jacobs had also guessed what was happening.

”Yeah. How is it so fast?”

Moreover, Felix Finch had also discovered that a large number of zombies were entrenched on the road ahead of them.

And in just a few minutes, the zombie behind them had closed the distance to only about one kilometer!

”I’ll get out first. You guys go on ahead and kill the zombies. I’ll deal with this one.”

Nina Jacobs decided instantly.

”No! That zombie is probably a Dual Element Gold and Speed type. It’s too dangerous for you to go!”

Felix Finch was almost certain it also possessed the Speed Element.

”I’m a Dual Element user too. Reginald, stop the car.”

Nina Jacobs commanded directly.

She could have taken Wayne Warner with her, but the system map showed a large number of zombies ahead. It was safer to let Wayne Warner go help Felix Finch and the others.

On the highway, which was hot enough to feel like it was melting, Nina Jacobs waited alone.

Just over ten seconds later, a figure did indeed appear in the distance.

’A defensive Gold Element zombie, and it has the Speed Element too.’

Nina Jacobs shook her head. ’This thing is practically the natural enemy of Superpower Users.’

But at that moment, a bold idea surfaced in her mind.

’What if I can use the Divine Wood to control this extraordinary Mutated Zombie?’