Chapter 20 Plunder
William took down the last zombie on the playground, earning himself over thirty First-Level Magic Crystals. However, he found this amount insufficient as he needed to spin the Roulette twice. With such a great opportunity before him, he saw no reason only to take one type of Professional Badge and Covenant Parchment. He wanted them both.
Yet, challenges lay ahead. The campus was teeming with people who had directly mutated into zombies, and with those infected over the past few hours, the numbers had reached a terrifying level.
Although William, as a One-Star Evolver, was quite powerful, he hesitated to confront a group of over twenty zombies at once. Therefore, he had to target areas with fewer zombies.
The playground was an excellent hunting ground. During the disaster, there were few people here, and the wandering zombies mostly came from elsewhere, resulting in lower density. However, in other areas, the zombies had gathered in clusters, a challenge William's current strength couldn't handle.
After some thought, he decided to head back to the teaching building where he had recently defeated the Second-Level zombie Iron Arm to collect the unclaimed Magic Crystals.
Despite being a One-Star Evolver, the exertion from battling his way from the playground to now was draining his stamina rapidly. He had to continue while eating a bar of chocolate prepared.
By the time he returned to the teaching building he had left earlier, his body was showing signs of fatigue. Nevertheless, his gains were substantial.
From leaving Sienna's villa until now, he had collected over a hundred First-Level Magic Crystals and one Second-Level crystal.
These gains within half a day of the apocalypse were unimaginable. In just a few hours, William had accomplished what had taken him over a year in his previous life.
Sitting under a tree in front of the teaching building, William waited for his energy to recover slightly. The advancement of a One-Star Evolver was comprehensive, not only in physical growth but also in recovery abilities.
While the One-Star Evolver had relatively low recovery capabilities, at higher evolution levels, the body's recovery and even self-healing abilities became formidable. William had witnessed firsthand the rapid recovery of the former team leader, an Eighth-Level powerful warrior, who had healed completely within three days after a severe injury.
Five minutes later, feeling much better, William stealthily entered the teaching building, ready to retrieve the Magic Crystals from the zombies he had slain earlier.
However, as he spotted a zombie with its crystal already taken, his eyes widened in surprise. Someone had already discovered the secret of the Roulette and embarked on the path of evolution like himself.
This unexpected turn of events stirred a mix of emotions in William.
While he wished for more individuals to evolve and overturn humanity's position at the bottom of the evolutionary pyramid, he felt irritated by the theft of his achievements.
However, in the harsh reality of the apocalypse, such actions were commonplace. His primary concern now was reclaiming the stolen crystals.
The Tri-Color Roulette did not belong to him. Whoever found it, whoever spun it, and whoever got the reward were the ones who got it. If he missed the chance to spin the Tri-Color Roulette because the magic crystals here had been scooped up, William would be truly devastated.
As he cautiously ascended the stairs, retracing his steps and finding all the zombies devoid of crystals, William's determination remained unshaken.
He decided to continue to a classroom to ensure none were left behind.
Just as he reached the middle of the fourth-floor staircase, voices from the corridor caught his attention, alerting him to the presence of the individuals who had taken the crystals.
"How much is it?"
A somewhat rough voice asked.
"Dug all the ones here, and it is thirty-five pieces," another person replied.
"Right," the previous rough voice responded, "Mr. Hernandez, you are a researcher. You have been looking at these Magic Crystals for a while now. Tell us what have you seen? Have you discovered any uses for these things?"
Henry Hernandez didn't answer immediately. He paused for a few seconds before saying, "This is likely a form of energy. The specific components need to be studied and analyzed in the laboratory before we know, but I think this thing must have some wonderful uses that we don't know about."
"Why do you always talk nonsense," a third voice chimed in, full of disdain.
"It seems that if we want to know the answer, we can only find it from that person," the first voice continued, indicating that they had probably been talking about William.
"It isn't that easy. That person is too powerful, powerful to the point where all of us combined aren't his match," Henry sighed slightly, feeling somewhat unwilling. However, he quickly changed his tone, "But this also indicates that the abnormal strength of that person is related to these crystals."
In the corridor stood Jason, the ringleader of the thugs from the school cafeteria, along with his two henchmen. In addition to them, there was the nearsighted male teacher and four or five students.
At that moment, these students crouched on the ground, digging Magic Crystals from the bodies, while Jason, his henchmen, and Henry stood aside talking.
Just as Jason was about to continue speaking, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a mysterious figure in the direction of the stairs. He was immediately shocked, roaring in anger and pointing to William with something in his hands.
William inwardly cursed his missed opportunity. He knew he missed the best chance to approach these people.
However, he was an evolver, after all. At that moment, his body suddenly exerted force, and the blade in his hand swung toward the bespectacled man holding a bag of Magic Crystals.
Since he couldn't subdue all these people, he wanted to get the crystals at least!
William could simply walk out. With his strength, dealing with these few people who didn't evolve would be easy.
However, as he stole a glance, he surprisingly discovered that three of these people held semi-automatic rifles!
Although he was powerful, he didn't reach the point where he could ignore firearms. It even made him consider giving up the idea of taking those thirty-plus Magic Crystals.
But faced with the temptation of the Tri-Color Roulette and professionalism, William still decided to gamble in the darkness. Unfortunately, he was discovered as soon as he had come out.
William's sudden appearance startled Henry. When Henry saw a deadly blade swinging toward him in the beam of a flashlight, his legs immediately turned as weak as noodles.
Coincidentally, his weak legs caused him to lose support, and he collapsed, narrowly avoiding the blade.
William was surprised. Without hesitation, he changed his attack, aiming toward Henry once more.
In times of crisis, people could burst into quick thinking. In extreme fear, Henry keenly grasped the key to the whole situation, the Magic Crystals in his hands.
So, he shouted loudly and hurled the bag of Magic Crystals at William.
This action saved his life. William stopped to catch the bag of crystals. After a momentary pause, he retreated.
At that moment, the gunfire finally rang out.
From the moment William discovered it to when he retrieved the crystals and retreated, the whole process only took a few seconds, a very brief period. However, if faced with trained marksmen, this time would be enough for them to pull the trigger multiple times.
However, whether it was Jason or his two henchmen, they fired a gun for the first time. Understanding how to load bullets and how to open the safety was already challenging for them. Asking them to immediately pull the trigger upon encountering an enemy was clearly demanding.
The result was that it wasn't until William had retreated that they realized what had happened and hastily fired.
Bullets streaked through the corridor, flying erratically in the confined space, but none aimed at William. Being their first time firing, they hesitated while pulling the trigger, and their control over accuracy was nonexistent.
So, they watched helplessly as the figure swayed back and forth in the corridor and then disappeared at the stairs.
Jason looked very ugly. He didn't imagine at all that with so many people on his side and three rifles, someone could rush in, grab something, and walk away unscathed. It was a complete underestimation on his part!
He yelled, "Useless bunch, go after him!"
Seeing the person risking his life to snatch the Magic Crystals back, Jason confirmed the importance of these things. The guns in his hands gave him enough courage, and with a command, he led others to chase after William.
Jason was filled with determination. He felt that the apocalypse came for him. Not only had it allowed him to enjoy young female students he would never encounter otherwise, but it also led him to find firearms in the armory. Next, all he needed to do was to figure out the purpose of those crystals, and then he could become as powerful as that person, or even more powerful! At that point, he could do whatever he wanted in this city!
However, he ultimately overestimated his and his men's abilities. By the time they chased out of the building, they completely lost sight of the person, only to be met by zombies drawn by the gunfire.
Back in the broadcasting room on the playground, William finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He misjudged the situation earlier, never expecting those people to have guns. If it wasn't for the strong attraction of the Magic Crystals, he would consider giving up.
But thankfully, he managed to snatch back the Magic Crystals.
The appearance of mutant creatures and the rapid adaptation of humans to the apocalypse also made William feel a sense of urgency. He knew that he had to become stronger even more quickly.
Squeezing the Magic Crystals in his hand, he threw these hard-earned items into the Tri-Color Roulette.
