Due to the diffusion of the Earth Stage aura, the survival instincts of the creatures caused the horde of Corpse Brothers to scatter with increased speed. Soon, not a single Corpse Brother remained on this street.
"Refine them, I must refine them all!" Lin Xia shouted in excitement, having tasted the benefits. She had killed at least two hundred of them.
Lin Xia first refined the Earth Stage Mid-Stage Uzumaki Naruto Corpse Brother. The energy ball alone was enough to push her toward breaking through the mid-stage barrier, not to mention she gained wind-attribute abilities and the shadow clone technique; she could finally make "rasengans" herself in the future.
Next, she refined the Iron Man Corpse Brother, gaining the ability to breathe fire. Its energy core successfully propelled Lin Xia to the Earth Stage Mid-Stage.
Following that were the Hulk, Wonder Woman, Hatsune Miku, Spider-Man, Sailor Moon, the Magician, Snow White, and the Seven Dwarfs—all of them were at least Human Stage Mid-Stage. After a round of refining, she gained physical enhancements, combat mastery, and intermediate self-healing. She also acquired the Scallion Strike, Spider Silk, Spider-Sense, Moonlight Protection, and a fake Moon Tiara Action, along with weird but useful skills like Black Magic: Flesh Missile, infrasound, axe throwing, and maxed-out life skills. Her cultivation had even touched the threshold of the Earth Stage Late Stage.
After a long time, Lin Xia finally finished refining the remaining hundred or so low-level Corpse Brothers. They mostly provided repetitive basic abilities, such as physical reinforcement and agility boosts. However, she did unearth two interesting skills: Basic Stealth and Assault—perfect for her to play the role of an assassin.
By the time she finished cleaning up the battlefield, her cultivation had reached the Earth Stage Late Stage.
"As expected, following Bai Xiaofei pays off. And then there’s Little Vajra..."
Exhausted, Lin Xia reverted to her skeleton form, looking at the five blue reagents she carried. She couldn't help but think, "I really look forward to completing the first transformation or reaching the second. That will finally give me a permanent flesh-and-blood body. No time to waste, I'll attempt the breakthrough tonight. For now, I should go check on Bai Xiaofei and his group."
But Lin Xia forgot that she had just released an Earth Stage aura. Stronger beings not far away had already discovered the battle, and some were already on their way. Among them was the Dark Sun Magician from the Western Dark Council, accompanied by his pet dog, a demon-hound species—Hamu. Of course, there was also the Blood Lotus Cult Left Protector, though he was more concerned with his hairstyle and was just looking for a barbershop on the way.
After Lin Xia left, the Dark Sun Magician and Hamu arrived at the street. Looking at the Bone Spikes everywhere and the Vines growing out of the cracks, yet seeing very few corpses on the ground, they fell into deep thought.
***
The Sanlu Mineral Water incident occurred.
Tap water was used to fill the bottles,
And shipped across the globe.
The virus broke out worldwide.
The unscrupulous boss tried to run,
But was killed by an employee turned Corpse Brother.
***
After Bai Xiaofei and Xiaohui left the presidential suite, Xiaohui put on the designer clothes Bai Xiaofei had found, looking stunning. Seeing a necklace on the vanity, she shyly asked if she could take it; Bai Xiaofei comforted her and agreed, knowing that with the collapse of the world, jewelry was as worthless as stones.
Bai Xiaofei told Xiaohui that the Corpse Brother Virus had spread throughout the world via mineral water. Worried for her parents' safety, Xiaohui wanted to return to S City. Bai Xiaofei pointed out that she lacked the ability and the road was fraught with danger, but Xiaohui insisted. She begged Bai Xiaofei for help, but he refused, as he had to save his girlfriend Xiaowei and had business in H City.
Xiaohui, jealous, decided to part ways with Bai Xiaofei. Worried about her safety, Bai Xiaofei decided to escort her to the military base first before searching for Xiaowei. He suggested that Xiaohui inject a stimulant to become stronger and protect her family. Initially hesitant due to side effects, she eventually agreed after Bai Xiaofei’s persuasion, asking him to protect her during her transformation.
However, getting stimulants from the military proved impossible, so Bai Xiaofei suggested searching for supplies dropped by the military in the H City infection zone. Despite the high risk, they decided to try. Based on her knowledge of military operations, Xiaohui marked potential locations for the stimulants on a piece of paper.
On the way, they encountered two Corpse Brothers locked in a French kiss; the male consumed the female and evolved into the Giant Corpse Brother. A battle ensued. Bai Xiaofei was caught off guard by the Giant Corpse Brother and grabbed by his tongue, then thrown into a wall and injured. When Xiaohui tried to help him, he pushed her away. After enduring an attack, he told her to escape to Sunshine Elementary School and wait for him.
After Xiaohui left, Bai Xiaofei continued to fight the Giant Corpse Brother. His titanium alloy knife got stuck, and he was forced to flee with the monster in hot pursuit. While running, Bai Xiaofei thought of using high-voltage electricity against the giant, but was bombarded with cars instead. Later, encountering the Calabash Brothers Corpse Brother, Bai Xiaofei kicked him toward the Giant Corpse Brother. The giant swallowed the Calabash Brothers Corpse Brother, evolving again, with two beady eyes growing on his chest.
Bai Xiaofei fled to a construction site, where he saved Lulu, who was being hunted by the Bear Corpse Brother, and hid her in a concrete sewage pipe while he went to defeat the giant. At the construction site, he found an open-air transformer cabinet, forced it open, and recklessly caused a power surge. He planned to stand on the cabinet and lure the giant into striking it, while relying on plastic sheets on his shoes to avoid electrocution.
The Giant Corpse Brother appeared, wielding a lamppost as a weapon. Bai Xiaofei expected it to smash the cabinet, but the blow missed. He was grabbed by the giant and nearly killed, only escaping by biting off its tongue. However, the giant turned its attention toward the pipe where Lulu was hidden. To protect her, Bai Xiaofei confronted the monster again. He hurled reinforcing bars at it and finally used a bar wrapped in wires to electrocute the giant. Struggling, the giant short-circuited the power, broke free, but fell into the cement slurry of an underground garage. Bai Xiaofei seized the opportunity to shove a reinforcing bar into the giant's anus, killing it for good.
After the battle, Bai Xiaofei prepared to take Lulu to find the military. While checking the direction from a rooftop, he spotted a massive object moving along the railway, suspected to be a railway gun. He doubted it was the German Gustav railway gun, suspecting it was Yanhuang-made. Meanwhile, the Calabash Brothers Corpse Brother, having been swallowed by the giant, crawled out and hid in the grass. Bai Xiaofei sensed something, but let it go due to Lulu’s question.
The battle left Bai Xiaofei exhausted, but he knew he had to continue facing unknown dangers to protect Lulu and fulfill his own goal.