Chapter 48: Corpse Fruit, Explosion
Huahua’s appearance was completely unexpected to Su Ning. After all, she had always thought Huahua was just a plant.
But now, looking at the flower behaving obediently like a puppy, Su Ning couldn’t help but feel surprised.
“The Starfruit not only gave Huahua consciousness, but also granted it a new ability: [Nutrient Condensation]…” Su Ning murmured to herself.
However, what exactly does this ability do? That could only be discovered through practice. Su Ning looked around at the countless zombie corpses scattered on the ground, her heart filled with curiosity and anticipation.
If Huahua could transform these corpses into some kind of fruit, what kind of scene would that be?
“Huahua, let me see what you can do. Try swallowing these corpses,” Su Ning instructed softly.
Huahua seemed to understand her and began to act without hesitation.
Although it moved very slowly, it was indeed approaching the zombie corpses.
That’s right—after awakening, Huahua’s roots could now slowly move. Although the movement was sluggish, it undeniably added flexibility and mobility.
Huahua’s calyx curled around the corpses like a pair of nimble hands, effortlessly tossing them into its giant mouth. Every gulp was so decisive, as if these zombie corpses posed no threat at all. The eerie chewing noises that followed sent chills down Su Ning’s spine.
“Crunchy…” Su Ning muttered to herself.
The sound was disturbing, but it also confirmed Huahua’s powerful digestion and devouring capabilities.
In no time, the zombie was completely digested and consumed by Huahua, leaving no trace—as if it had never existed. Su Ning stood to the side, witnessing the whole process, gaining a much deeper understanding of Huahua’s ability.
She realized that Huahua could not only devour zombies but also completely digest and absorb them, converting them into its own energy. This ability was both shocking and exciting, and it filled her with hope for the future.
After Huahua finished eating, a plum-sized fruit began to grow beneath its calyx. The fruit appeared translucent and faintly glowing, sparking Su Ning’s curiosity. She wondered whether these fruits possessed any special abilities. After all, Huahua’s previous fruits had extraordinary effects.
Su Ning remembered when Huahua was still a Corrosive Devourflower, it had once borne a fruit called the [Corrosion Fruit]. Although it wasn’t edible, once it exploded, it released a powerful corrosive substance that dealt great damage to enemies. Unfortunately, Su Ning had never gotten a chance to test the Corrosion Fruit’s power herself.
Now, Su Ning’s eyes fell on the plum-like, dark-colored fruit. She observed closely and noticed it was different from the previous Corrosion Fruit.
Activating her Scavenger’s Eye, data about the fruit appeared in front of her:
[Corpse Fruit]: Condensed essence of a zombie’s entire body. Extremely toxic. When consumed by a human, it triggers the Zombie Combo Meal—a painless mutation into a zombie! When consumed by a zombie, it slightly increases its strength. It emits an irresistible lure to zombies.
For humans, accidentally eating a Corpse Fruit would mean receiving a complimentary Zombie Combo Meal—painless transformation into a zombie. However, for zombies, these fruits were like rare experience boosters.
“Corpse Fruit?”
Su Ning carefully picked one and examined it closely.
“As expected of something condensed from the entire essence of a zombie… It’s as if all the zombie virus was gathered into one place. No wonder it’s so pitch black.”
Instead of focusing on the danger to humans, Su Ning was more interested in the potential stat boosts it could offer to zombies. While useless and dangerous to humans, this fruit could significantly benefit the zombie kind—an upgrade item made just for them.
The Corpse Fruit emitted an invisible aroma that drew in zombies. As Su Ning held the fruit, the zombies that were previously attacking the [Digging Zombie] and the [Bulletstorm Zombie] suddenly changed course and rushed toward her. But after Su Ning nimbly dodged, she realized they weren’t trying to attack her—they just desperately wanted the fruit.
Seeing this, Su Ning marveled, “I didn’t expect the Corpse Fruit to have such a strong attraction to zombies—far beyond my imagination.” She quickly stowed the fruit safely in her backpack.
Once the fruit was put away, the surrounding zombies gradually calmed down and resumed wandering.
Su Ning couldn’t help but sigh, “Those guys went completely nuts just now. This Corpse Fruit really is something else.”
She then checked her backpack where two insects were still in the process of awakening: the Corpse Worm and the Emerald Bee.
These two were elite creatures she had handpicked from the swarm due to their great potential.
If one Huahua could bring her such a huge surprise, then what could these two newly awakened insects offer? What powers would they gain? What help could they bring?
Su Ning’s approach started to shift significantly.
She went from scavenging supplies to actively collecting zombie corpses.
In her eyes, the streets full of zombies were no longer terrifying monsters—they were usable resources.
“Thankfully, zombie corpses don’t take up individual grid spaces like [Burrowing Zombies] do.”
Corpses could stack.
Su Ning looked at the growing number of corpses in her inventory and sighed. “Turns out corpse-collecting is just as exhausting.”
So far, she had accumulated 12,454 zombie corpses.
“But I’ve already completed three-tenths of the kill quest,” Su Ning thought with delight.
With the combined efforts of the Digging and Bulletstorm zombies, she had slain over 20,000 zombies.
Just as she was about to set off again, a series of explosions suddenly rocked the sky.
The shockwave hit—Su Ning’s mind went completely blank, as if time had stopped.
Once she recovered, she quickly looked to the southeast—the direction from which the explosions had come.
“What happened?” she wondered in confusion.
She squinted and saw thick, black smoke rising in the southeast, blotting out the sky.
Nearby zombies seemed affected by the explosions too and began shambling toward that direction.
“That way…” Su Ning’s heart skipped a beat, recalling the place where Ning Wu’s family had planned to go.
She remembered little Ning Taotao saying there was a group of humans gathered in that area—likely a human or player settlement.
As she watched the smoke rise from the explosion, an ominous feeling welled up in her chest.
“Was this explosion meant for zombies… or for people?”
(End of Chapter)
