When Ji Taixian and Wang Zongxuan were dragged over, they were both sporting black eyes.

Xie Ning silently averted her gaze as a Metal Spike suddenly shot out from her hand. She aimed it at the zombie’s head in the pool of blood and poked around. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

At first, the onlookers were confused, but then they saw the young woman pry a glittering particle from the zombie’s head.

"Here." Xie Ning turned and tossed the particle to Gu Chen.

He raised a hand and caught it, a look of surprise on his face. "What is this?"

"I have no idea," Xie Ning said, feigning confusion. "I just saw something shiny when you split the zombie’s head open and figured I’d pick it up for a look."

"I know! I know!" Ji Taixian, his face bruised and swollen, eagerly raised a hand, looking like a star student desperate to perform.

"Speak." His brother shot him a look of utter disgust.

Ji Taixian quickly forced a grin, then hissed and clutched the corner of his mouth. "This should be a Zombie Crystal Core," he muttered under his breath. "It’s common knowledge from movies and novels. Superpower Users can absorb them by holding them in their hands. Bro, you should try it! Try it!"

"Like hell I’d believe you! Bro, don’t listen to him, he’s just making that up!" Zhai Ruobai hurriedly interjected.

"Bro, it can’t hurt to try!" Ji Taixian muttered, then grimaced as he turned to Xie Ning. "Miss, you’re worldly and wise, what do you say?"

He’d been beaten so badly he was resorting to honorifics. It was clear the buffoon had been thoroughly intimidated by Xie Ning.

"Perhaps you can have your ’bro’ get some experts to study it?" Xie Ning offered a possible course of action.

’Of course I know this is a Crystal Core generated by a First-tier Zombie, but I can’t say it out loud.’

’Actually, the buffoon was both right and wrong, because Crystal Cores can’t be absorbed directly by the human body.’

’Forcibly absorbing it would likely lead to one’s body rupturing and death.’

’In my previous life, it was an expert team who, after some research, announced that an element could be extracted from Crystal Cores to catalyze a Superpower User’s promotion.’

’After a rigorous filtering process, this refining agent was used to create Promotion Potions that could accelerate the development of human Superpower Users.’

’High-level Medicine was practically priceless, and in my past life, I never had the spare cash to buy such a luxury.’

’What’s more, from beginning to end, I was always just a pathetic Small Space Superpower User—a tragic figure whose superpower never showed any signs of promoting, no matter how many zombies I killed.’

’The rich all upgraded by drinking potions. The poor had to kill zombies nonstop for a chance to promote their own superpowers.’

’And me...?’

’My small Space Ability back then was like it had rusted over, refusing to budge an inch!’

’If my teammates hadn’t taken such good care of me along the way, it’s hard to imagine what would have become of the old me.’

"Boss, does that mean we lost out? All those zombies we killed earlier—didn’t we miss out on a lot of Crystal Cores?" a gruff voice asked, interrupting Xie Ning’s thoughts.

She turned to see a brawny, middle-aged man with huge, muscular arms striding toward them.

Gu Chen raised an eyebrow. "I’m not so sure. It seems the slower zombies we killed earlier didn’t have these in their heads."

"Thank you, kid," Gu Chen said, turning to smile at Xie Ning. "If the research yields any results, I’ll be sure to inform you."

’He’s a good guy,’ Xie Ning thought, mentally giving Mr. Gu another point in his favor. ’This man really gets it.’

Just then, an SUV sped over and screeched to a halt nearby. Two soldiers in uniform quickly disembarked, escorting an elderly man.

"Chen," the old man said, waving him over. "We have a particularly urgent mission."

"Excuse me for a moment." Gu Chen gave Xie Ning a slight nod and strode away.