At the mining base, Yun Huo led Bai Wen and twelve Marine Corpsmen rushing over. As soon as the bunker door opened, Yun Fei Wu, already sobbing uncontrollably, flew into Bai Wen's arms and burst into tears.
Bai Wen's face darkened as he glared at Tai Long and the others. "What exactly happened? Who did this?" he demanded.
Tai Long replied, "It... it should be Zombies. Sister Wang Ya went after them!"
Bai Wen scanned the area, his frown deepening. "Where's Ai Ke Ke?"
"Huh? She was just here a moment ago—"
"We'll settle this later!" Bai Wen pushed Yun Fei Wu away and waved his hand, immediately leading the Marine Corpsmen out.
On the wasteland, two slender figures were locked in combat. Their movements were lightning-fast, their strength immense. The surrounding ground had been ravaged, pockmarked with craters.
At the moment, Wang Ya had a slight upper hand. She grabbed the Beautiful Zombie by the hair and slammed her into the ground, leaving one crater after another. But the next moment, the Beautiful Zombie punched and kicked her, sending Wang Ya flying and carving a long trench into the earth.
"Roar—!" The Beautiful Zombie let out a series of snarls. The wounds Wang Ya had inflicted on her face had already healed, and she charged at Wang Ya again.
Wang Ya wiped the blood from her lips, stomped hard, and shot forward like a streak of light, colliding violently with the Beautiful Zombie.
As the two fought fiercely, a petite figure pushed through the grass and slowly emerged. She stared at the battling figures, her face filled with panic, utterly unsure of what to do.
Unable to gain the upper hand, the Beautiful Zombie grew increasingly anxious. If that bastard returned with reinforcements, she would surely die again—this time for good, because he would undoubtedly burn her to ashes.
Why was this woman so strong? Whether in speed or strength, she was evenly matched, making it impossible to finish her off quickly.
But then the Beautiful Zombie spotted Ai Ke Ke approaching, and an idea struck her. She suddenly delivered a powerful punch, forcing Wang Ya back, then swiftly dashed toward Ai Ke Ke.
"Ke Ke, run!" Wang Ya's heart raced as she sprinted after them. Just as she was about to catch up, the Beautiful Zombie, who had been heading straight for Ai Ke Ke, abruptly turned and lashed out with her claws, aiming straight for Wang Ya's heart.
"It's a trap!" Wang Ya realized in horror, but there was no time to dodge the sudden "Dragon Claw Grab."
"Ahhh—!" At the critical moment, Ai Ke Ke let out a piercing scream. Just as the Beautiful Zombie's claws were about to pierce Wang Ya's chest, a golden light erupted into the sky, outshining even the blazing sun.
"Thud—" The Beautiful Zombie, on the verge of victory, suddenly felt a numbness in her chest. A thick beam of golden light had pierced straight through her, leaving a hole so clean it was as smooth as a mirror, without even a single jagged edge.
She looked down at the gaping wound the size of a bowl. No blood flowed out, nor was there any smell of burning. But the heart that should have been there was gone. Even at the edges of the hole, she could see half of a gleaming Crystal.
Wang Ya didn't hesitate for a second. She suddenly reached out and yanked out half of the crystal.
Without the support of crystal energy, the Beautiful Zombie could no longer hold on, collapsing to the ground with a thud.
Bai Wen led twelve Marine Corpsmen rushing over. From afar, he saw the golden light shooting into the sky and turned his gaze toward Ai Ke Ke.
Her small face was pale now, swaying unsteadily. That golden light had come from her. Who would have thought this little one was also an Ability User? And the power she unleashed was so strong—it instantly killed a mutated Zombie above level three.
He looked down at the Beautiful Zombie's corpse, then at Wang Ya, who was catching her breath. Walking over, he patted her shoulder and ordered, "Burn this freakish Zombie. Let's see if it can still revive after turning to ashes."
SCV's voice suddenly rang in his ear: "Commander, we could collect her DNA. Perhaps we can research the Zerg Gene from her Mutated DNA!"
"What did you say? Z-Zerg Gene?" Bai Wen's eyes flashed.
"Yes, Commander. Wouldn't you love to see the grand spectacle of the Zerg Swarm overwhelming the Zombies?"
"Is that even a question?" Bai Wen immediately changed his earlier order: "Hold off on burning it. Take her corpse back for thorough research. If we encounter another Zombie like this, we'll be prepared!"
"Sir!" The Marine Corpsmen promptly pulled out body bags, loaded the Beautiful Zombie's corpse, and carried it away.
"Hmm? What's that smell?" Just as Bai Wen was about to leave, a pungent odor hit him—it smelled like...
SCV immediately reported: "Commander, that's the smell of natural gas. This place... seems to be a natural gas deposit, what we call a Gas Vein!"
Bai Wen's eyes widened. Today's revelations were overwhelming. First, they obtained a Beautiful Zombie that could help research the Zerg Gene, and now they'd discovered a natural gas deposit. Truly a double blessing.
Bai Wen immediately ordered a search. Finally, beneath a small mound flattened by Ai Ke Ke's attack, they found a hole emitting the acrid smell—this had to be the gas deposit.
SCV advised: "Recommend immediate construction of a Gas Refinery to extract the Vespene Gas."
Bai Wen gave the order, summoning two SCVs to begin constructing the Gas Refinery, which would take 24 hours.
After testing the Gas Vein's concentration, SCV reported: "The purity of the veins on Origin Planet is too low. The ratio to High-energy Gas is 100:1. Meaning, for every 100 units of ordinary gas we extract, only one unit of High-energy Gas can be refined."
Bai Wen accepted this pragmatically: "That's not an issue. What would we do if we didn't have this at all?"
Wang Ya approached, carrying the unconscious Ai Ke Ke, and sighed: "It's all our fault for being careless and not listening to you. Otherwise, Yun Duo and Yan Jiang wouldn't have—"
Bai Wen waved his hand: "No need for self-blame. No one could have predicted this. Just give them a proper burial."
Back in the control room, Bai Wen began preparing to head to BY City—the site where the meteorite fragments had fallen. There was also a research institute there. If they could find clues or meteorite fragments, they might locate a Crystal Vein. Then they wouldn't have to worry about crystals anymore.
The RV wasn't very big, but he still managed to squeeze in ten Marine Corpsmen, leaving two behind to guard the base. Just as they were about to leave, Yun Huo, Yun Shan, and Tai Long came running over.
"Big Brother Bai, can you take us with you?" Tai Long asked.
"You want to come too?"
"Yes! We see how busy you are every day, and we can't help at all. It makes us feel useless. Please let us tag along—at least we can be of some assistance!" Tai Long pleaded.
Bai Wen nodded in agreement. It wasn't right to let them idle around and freeload. Since they had the initiative, he might as well oblige them. So, he had the SCV craft each of them a set of simple Exoskeleton Armor and an automatic rifle before letting them squeeze into the RV alongside the towering Marine Corpsmen.