Seeing Jeffry walk farther away, she quickened her pace to match his wide strides.
She kept observing the surroundings, which were clear of zombies or mutant zombies. After walking for quite some time, Jeffry stopped in front of a steel door with a keypad beside it.
The smell of formalin wafted into her nose as the door opened. She was startled to see many large tanks with transparent glass. However, her attention was drawn to one tank containing a mutant zombie, resembling the one she had seen in the mall before.
Unconsciously, she began walking closer to the tank with sparkling eyes.
"Isn't this different from the other zombies?" Jeffry asked, shifting his gaze towards her.
"Hmm, this one looks bigger," Karina replied, her eyes fixed on the mutant zombie.
"Just like the one you encountered earlier, it's too dangerous and can't be killed with regular bullets."
"So how did you capture this one?" Karina asked nonchalantly.
"What do you think?"
"Judging by its destroyed body, maybe with a bomb?"
"Exactly. But even with its body destroyed, it's not entirely dead."
"Not dead? How do you kill it?" Karina asked, feigning ignorance, a hint of curiosity etched on her face.
"I don't know. We're still observing it," Jeffry replied, unsatisfactorily for Karina. She was certain Jeffry knew something, and she also suspected he was the last to return.
However, if Jeffry had returned last, wouldn't he have purified the zombie core already? But until now, she hadn't sensed any core in anyone's body, except for hers.
"Why did you bring me here?" Karina asked, turning toward Jeffry.
"The mutant you tried to face earlier, be careful not to rush in alone," Jeffry nervously said, unable to reveal his true intentions, considering all he'd done to signal Karina.
As far as she knew, Karina's character in the movie was very curious about new things related to zombies, and in the movie, Karina was also the one who developed research on crystal cores. Although it was too early to find a way to purify them, he wanted the crystal core research to progress quickly. He was tired of searching for ways to purify it himself.
He had read many research journals and deployed numerous top scientists to study it. But to no avail, the results were poor, and he had even wasted many resources. Maybe he had to patiently follow the novel's plot, waiting for Karina to join the research team.
Grouuh!
Suddenly, a rumbling sound came from outside. Jeffry quickly rushed to the control room to check the CCTV, and on the screen, many zombies were seen attacking the building.
Karina shifted her gaze towards the mutant's tank and saw one of its eyes open. No wonder all the zombies were gathering around this building; the mutant zombie wasn't dead yet and was calling for the horde.
"Don't worry, this room is made from quality materials," Jeffry said to reassure her.
However, the zombie horde grew angrier because their leader, the mutant zombie, was still inside, and the walls began to crack from the repeated hits of the zombies' heads.
The defense was breached, and the zombies rushed to protect the mutant zombie. Karina glanced at Jeffry, who was busy with his communication device, and hurried toward the mutant to take its crystal.
"Karina…" Jeffry shouted, seeing Karina leave the control room.
But Karina ignored Jeffry's warning. She had rested earlier, so her energy was replenished. Swiftly, she started shooting the zombies. Luckily, the mutant was still weak. She quickly moved through the zombie horde and climbed the transparent glass tank holding the mutant.
Jeffry wasn't idle either; with his rifle, he helped Karina kill the zombies.
Once on top of the tank, Karina tried to break it with her pistol, shooting at the transparent glass several times, but it barely made a scratch on the surface.
Seeing Karina attempting to break the tank, Jeffry ran back to the control room and used his fingerprint to press a button. Though he didn't know exactly what Karina was doing, he still wanted to help her open it.
Karina, who was still firing with all her strength, saw the tank slowly open. Without thinking further, she immediately stuck her pistol into the mutant's head, and disgusting green blood mixed with the smell of formalin made Karina want to vomit.
With her hand, she reached into the hole she had made and took out the green crystal core. It seemed easy for Karina, but it would have been difficult for anyone without a purified crystal in their body.
Excited by obtaining the green core, she quickly dashed out of the room without even considering the zombies.
With a joyful expression, she walked outside, eager to absorb the energy from the crystal. Spotting a car in front of her, with the keys hanging nearby, she started driving toward the villa. 'Haha, it seems Lady Luck is on my side,' Karina thought cheerfully.
But it seemed she had forgotten something. Furrowing her brow, she tried to remember. But what was it? Oh well, she had just obtained a high-class zombie, and she brushed aside the thought.
The sun was beginning to set by the time Karina arrived at the villa. She began the purification process, and as usual, she had to destroy the core. This time it was from a high-class zombie, so it was more difficult to break.
Karina paused for a moment, hoping that the tool for grinding the crystal cores had been developed. That way, she wouldn't have to manually destroy them and could produce more stock solution more efficiently.
"Hufff," she exhaled, blowing out a puff of smoke from her cigarette. The sensation was satisfying as the energy from the high-class zombie crystal filled her body. She was grateful to have obtained that mutant in such a short time, and she thought she owed Jeffry a thank you.
"Hah, Jeffry?"