Lynn bit her lip as she looked at the man sitting on the couch, her eyes filled with uncontrollable excitement.
The four of them split into two groups, with Sandra taking the lead to scout ahead. Arnold took her to a psychic node that Clark remembered, taking advantage of the fact that the psychic energy had not yet dissipated. As a mutant, Lynn faced little hindrance and successfully became an Awakened.
"Clark, I'm an Awakened now," Lynn's voice was clear and filled with joy. It seemed as if she had dropped a burden. Her already excellent physique became even more attractive after becoming an Awakened.
Clark watched the two of them, who were clearly excited, with a smile on his face. Four hours earlier, he had seen the information about Lynn becoming an Awakened through the team member panel. However, there was only one Awakened mark, and he needed Lynn to voluntarily show her player panel to know the detailed information. From the expressions of the two, it seemed that Lynn's awakened talent was quite remarkable.
"So mysterious. Is it related to psychic abilities?" Clark pondered for a moment, feeling curious.
Lynn nodded in response, opening her panel and sharing it with him without reservation.
"Character Information: Lynn (0th-tier Awakened, Player Level: 1, Mutant)"
Awakened Talent: A-level Talent - Psychic Barrier (Mental Recovery Speed +30%, Mental Power Limit +50, Psychic Energy Absorption Speed +50%. Activating the Psychic Barrier consumes mental power continuously. During activation, it can provide mental defense protection for a maximum of 2+1 players and can also provide stealth effect.)
"Stealth Effect: Use mental power to create illusions around oneself, hiding one's presence. The stealth effect disappears after initiating an attack." Mutant Talent: Mental Power Sharing, can link with 1 player to share both parties' mental power.
"This talent's effects are enhanced with the Awakened tier upgrade."
After reading Lynn's talent information, Clark took a moment to recover. Lynn's talent was quite extreme. With an A-level talent, it was a tier higher than Arnold's B-level talent. Although it didn't offer any attribute bonuses or even a damage skill, it provided an extreme enhancement in mental power.
Increased recovery, increased limit, and increased psychic energy absorption speed—when these three aspects were combined, it could be said that it pushed the mental power attribute to its limits.
In simpler terms, Lynn had become a mage with rapid mana regeneration! However, if that was all, Clark wouldn't have been so stunned.
The key transformation lay in Lynn's mutant identity. Being able to share mental power made her essentially a human blue buff (automatic mana regeneration aura).
As long as an Awakened cooperates with Lynn's talent, which allows for unlimited skill activation, it can be considered the most desired support for Awakened! Skill activation without limits—had they had this ability in the hospital, both he and Arnold wouldn't have suffered so much.
Clark couldn't contain his excitement at the thought. Lynn and Arnold seemed equally thrilled. He couldn't help but scrutinize Lynn and said, "Very impressive, even somewhat beyond my expectations. So, you and Arnold made it here without encountering any battles, thanks to your talent, right?"
Lynn smiled and nodded, and then her eyes suddenly flashed with a silver light. A unique mental energy wave, like flowing water, covered Arnold's entire body. In an instant, in Clark's line of sight, Arnold's broad figure gradually blurred and disappeared. This was an invisibility effect, giving him a stealth ability similar to that of a rogue!?
Clark hastily used his mental power to probe in Arnold's direction and carefully examined it before expressing his amazement. "The illusion effect is indeed powerful. Even with my current attributes, it's difficult to perceive. As long as it's not facing a powerful mental force, ordinary zombies won't be able to detect it at all. No wonder you were able to arrive so quickly."
Arnold looked quite pleased, as if ignoring zombies was his own achievement. Clark had a somewhat peculiar expression, as he had never expected this. Now, with Lynn's assistance and Sandra's status as a symbiote, each member of the team essentially had the ability to ignore zombies. While the stealth effect would be broken when attacking, whether it was for traveling or launching a surprise attack, this skill was like a divine technique.
In the early stages of the apocalypse game, the massive number of ordinary zombies was the greatest threat. Clark couldn't help but feel emotional, as he hadn't expected that the Lynn he casually "picked up" would bring him such a pleasant surprise.
"So, now I can truly help you in a meaningful way, and I'm not a burden, right?" Lynn walked slowly to his side, her gaze fixed on him, her eyes filled with indescribable emotions. "Also, thank you for being willing to risk such great danger to go to the hospital to find my mother."
Clark was momentarily stunned and didn't intend to hide anything. "I actually didn't have time..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Lynn interrupted him. "Arnold told me about that day's situation. I don't blame you. I actually know what happened there. It's just that I'm a little reluctant. I'm already very happy that you were willing to go for me. In a way, I'm being a bit selfish. Even though that place is so dangerous, I still wanted you to take another look."
Lynn lowered her gaze, a fleeting look of sadness on her face, and her smile seemed somewhat forced. Clark fell silent, unsure of how to comfort her.
"After this mission is completed, we'll go back again. In any case, it's like resolving a knot in my heart," Clark spoke slowly. This was different from before when he only saw Lynn as a "piece of equipment." From a rational perspective, Lynn's newly awakened talent far exceeded his expectations, and as the team leader, he needed to take care of his team members.
From a personal perspective, Arnold had told him about everything Lynn had done to take care of him during these days. Both aspects made it worthwhile for him to revisit the hospital. Moreover, Sandra's sister was also there.
Lynn raised her head, somewhat surprised, and a faint gleam of radiance briefly appeared in her eyes. "Thank you, Clark."
Clark smiled gently and shook his head slightly. But inexplicably, he felt that Lynn's gaze towards him had changed somehow.
"Clark, what's our next target?" Arnold's distinctive loud voice broke the short silence between the two. He rubbed his gleaming bald head and had a big grin on his face.
Clark cast a helpless glance at him. If it weren't for the fact that he had already cleared the nearby two floors of zombies, Arnold's loud voice alone would attract quite a few zombies.
"WD Shopping Center. There are probably more than 20,000 zombies gathered there now."
Arnold was astonished at this information, and he followed Clark's pointing direction. A mall, which was several times smaller than the hospital, actually had so many zombies?
"And our target is to kill the second-tier mutant at the center of the mall, [The Stitcher]!"
Second-tier mutant? Arnold and Lynn couldn't help but exclaim in surprise when they heard this. Even Sandra, who had been silent all along, couldn't help but look at Clark.
Outside the window, it was already dusk, and the blood-red sunset shrouded the building. Clark's gaze turned cold as he walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and looked out at the nightmare-infested place that used to belong to LJ City.