Chapter Ninety: Arrival in Plant Town

When the others saw the faint red glow that accompanied the white-steel musket as Wang Ling drew it, they realized it was red elite gear and all of them were visibly stirred. Wang Ling smiled and said, “An E-rank red elite weapon. This gun has decent attack power, but the problem is it can only fire one shot a minute. It is far too slow.”

The Arab, Hassan, said, “One shot a minute... Then your musket must have unlimited ammunition and automatic reloading. Still, that rate really is too slow. How many times have you upgraded it?”

“Not once. It is still level 1.”

The old man let out a few cold, mocking laughs, then said, “If I were you, I would upgrade that gun a few more times. If I am not mistaken, once its enhancement level rises, this gun should not only gain attack power, but firing speed as well.”

“Huh?” Wang Ling was momentarily stunned. After all, he had only gone through two main story missions and was still unfamiliar with many things. If he had known that firing speed could improve too, he would have strengthened this weapon even if he chose not to enhance Peach Heart.

“My AK does not have unlimited ammunition. I have upgraded it to level 5. Although its firing speed has not increased, its magazine capacity has gone from 30 rounds at the start to 80. When guns are enhanced, the improvement is not limited to attack power alone—unless it is one of those worthless white-grade pieces.”

Hassan’s tone was cold and stiff, and he did not sound friendly, but this free piece of information was undoubtedly important to Wang Ling. He looked at Hassan’s AK and noticed a faint blue radiance shimmering over the weapon. This gun was a blue-grade item, and having been upgraded to level 5, its power should be greater than that of Wang Ling’s level 1 white-steel musket.

“Very well. Since we have all introduced ourselves, let us keep looking for the remaining four. If all nine of us can join forces, our strength will undoubtedly increase greatly.”

Within this small group, Caslo, who was relatively sociable, clearly took the position of leader. The other three showed no objection, at least on the surface, and Wang Ling had no intention of fighting for control and causing conflict. The group was just about to continue searching when they suddenly heard movement coming from below the hillside.

Three Dreamers had joined together and were charging downhill toward Plant Town. Zombies, roused by the disturbance, swarmed toward them, but the three formed a triangle and cooperated with one another. Like a spinning drill, they carved through the horde, and in the cold flashes of their swinging weapons, one zombie after another was torn apart.

“These three are very strong!”

Wang Ling was startled, but then he relaxed. The Dreamers who came to this world had, for the most part, already experienced seven or eight main story missions. Someone like him, who had only gone through two missions, was a complete aberration and should not exist. With so many missions behind them, even Dreamers who had simply scraped through them without gaining much benefit would already be far stronger than ordinary people.

“Those three look like the Whirlwind Team! A team formed in Dream Space!” Suna squinted for a while, then suddenly exclaimed.

“The Whirlwind Team?”

Caslo’s expression darkened somewhat. The cohesion of a real team was clearly much stronger than that of their temporary, loosely bound little group. If the remaining four Dreamers were all lone individuals, then with four teammates already gathered on his side, he would have a very high chance of bringing everyone else into the group and, at the same time, securing a dominant position within it.

But with another team added to the mix, and with three people on the other side acting in complete unison, they might even draw some of their own Dreamers away.

“One of my friends once told me about that team. The Whirlwind Team has three members. Although they are only an ordinary team formed with currency points, they seem very united. Their name comes from Final Fight, and the abilities of the three members also have something to do with that world,” Suna explained all the information she knew about the Whirlwind Team.

“In any case, having the Whirlwind Team on our side is a good thing for the battles ahead. The only thing to fear is that Dream Space may send a team to the side of Doctor Zombie as well, in the interest of balancing strength.”

Seeing the three of them sweeping forward toward Plant Town, Caslo’s mind was already far too deep and his face, though briefly unsettled, had long since returned to normal. “Come on. There is still one Dreamer left. Once we find him, we will head for Plant Town. With the Whirlwind Team clearing the way, our actions there will be much easier.”

The group had searched the hillside for less than five minutes when the badge gave them a prompt that a Dreamer was nearby.

It was a Chinese woman in her forties, round-faced, a little plump, and dark-skinned. When Wang Ling saw her, he felt strangely familiar with her appearance. Only later did he remember that she looked very much like the woman in Stephen Chow’s film Kung Fu who carried a kitchen knife in a farming village.

Someone who had survived seven or eight main story missions was generally not an idiot. This woman, named Cai Qing, very straightforwardly joined the temporary group. Unexpectedly, she was a Dreamer whose main specialty was strength, with endurance as her secondary specialty.

In truth, in Dream Space, probably nine out of ten Dreamers, after choosing a primary development path, would put their second specialty into endurance. After all, endurance brings physical defense and vitality, and that is the greatest guarantee of survival.

“Gunslinger, your main attribute is agility and your secondary is strength. That kind of allocation gives you respectable attack power, but it also makes you easy to kill. You should invest some attribute points into endurance; only then will your survival improve,” Caslo advised Wang Ling kindly.

Once the six of them had gathered, they began advancing toward Plant Town. With the Whirlwind Team plowing the way all along, the zombie density, already not too high, dropped even further. And since all of them were merely ordinary zombies, weak in combat, there was no danger or difficulty in dealing with them.

Caslo and Cai Qing were both strength-oriented specialists, and the two of them took the lead. Caslo actually fought with two weapons: a double-bladed axe in his right hand and a steel trident in his left. His movements were steady and powerful; whenever zombies surged up, they were either cut down by the axe or pinned through by the trident.

The round-faced Aunt Cai Qing wielded a thick club that glowed green and was, in fact, a green set item. It was called the Orc Club. Any zombie that came close was smashed in the back of the head, its skull bursting apart with a single blow. She looked extremely fierce; her strength was very likely even higher than Caslo’s.

The Japanese man Yamada used a samurai sword. As an agility specialist, his movements were exceptionally swift. Every strike was aimed at the necks of approaching zombies. Severing those soft necks in one cut was highly efficient, used little stamina, and also killed the zombies completely at once.

Old Hassan’s AK did not have unlimited ammunition. He carried three magazines, for a total of 240 rounds, and had to reserve them for critical moments. So he drew an Arab curved blade instead. It was not as good as Elliot’s Damascus steel saber; it was only an E-rank blue weapon. He would occasionally slash out with it and kill the zombies that slipped through the defense of the three men ahead.

Suna’s throwing daggers were a crowd-clearing skill obtained from killing minions in the world of the FC game Ninja Turtles 3. They had already been upgraded to level 7, allowing her to launch seven daggers at once. After being thrown, they spread outward and covered a very wide area, and each volley consumed only one point of mental power, making them extremely practical.

As for her Capoeira kicking technique, it was not the Brazilian combat dance of the real world, but a fighting skill possessed by a pocket monster named Hitmonlee in the world of Pokemon. What she had gained from that creature was, to put it simply, a continuous spinning kick performed while supporting her body with both hands in a handstand.

The five of them formed a ring around Wang Ling, protecting him at the center.

Placed in the middle and treated as the one to be protected, Wang Ling did not need to lift a finger. In any case, killing zombies brought no benefit at all, so he was happy to take it easy, walking along with his hands clasped behind his head. The little Hatsune on his shoulder had been frightened by the sight of the zombies and had already returned to the spatial bag. With that nuisance gone, he could devote all his attention to observing the people around him.

A person’s character can often be seen, to some extent, in speech, action, and behavior. Gaining an initial understanding of these people would also help with the actions to come in this world.

As they advanced while slaughtering zombies, it took more than an hour before they reached the outskirts of Plant Town. The town had in fact already been infiltrated by zombies, but the main horde had not arrived yet. Only the low-grade zombies of the vanguard posed little threat, and there were not too many of them, scattered sparsely through the streets.

“There are no battle plants on the outskirts of town! Or rather, all the battle plants on the outskirts have been wiped out by the zombies! It looks like things are even worse than we imagined!” After seeing the town’s condition, Wang Ling’s expression turned extremely serious.

Unlike Wang Ling, who remained relaxed, the other five were all gasping after the long battle. Caslo wiped the sweat from his face and said, “Our house base has been marked on the badge. Everyone, hurry on. There may be battle plants defending it.”

The six of them moved toward the marked house base. When they reached a narrow path in front of it, they suddenly saw a nut nearly as tall as a person, resembling a yellow boulder, rolling toward them along the constricted trail with a thunderous rumble. The group hurriedly scattered.

The nut rolled past where they had been standing and continued toward the rear. Then a zombie on the path behind it was crushed beneath the rolling nut and instantly turned into a pile of rotten flesh. Everyone felt their skin crawl. If one were knocked down and then pinned beneath that thing, it would be anything but pleasant.

“Did those three guys from the Whirlwind Team do this?” Yamada’s face darkened with anger and ferocity. “Baka, those bastards!”

“No, definitely not them. This nut should count as a one-time item. It is very effective against large groups of monsters, so it would be a waste to use it on us,” Wang Ling said with a smile. “Besides, their Dreamer’s side will not enter until a day later. The Whirlwind Team is on our side, so they can’t possibly stir up conflict now. I know who threw the nut. Let’s go. Our target is right ahead.”

As they proceeded along the path, three more nuts rolled past them in succession. This time even Wang Ling was getting somewhat annoyed. After they passed through the dangerous trail, they saw a man standing before a house ahead. He had a frying pan on his head, a yellow beard and yellow eyebrows, thick body hair, bulging eyes, and an utterly deranged look about him.