Lin Xinghai didn’t know what a huge commotion he had just caused. Of course, even if he had, he wouldn’t have cared.

At this point, he had already led the group on a long, winding route, finally finding a dilapidated but fairly spacious house to enter.

The people following him felt as though Lin Xinghai was just taking detours, as if he were darting randomly through the streets. But surprisingly, under these circumstances, they didn’t encounter a single Zombie.

Finally, once everyone had entered a Zombie-free house, they let out a long sigh of relief.

"The injured get treated, the rest of you get some sleep. Also, set up a watch. I don’t want a second battle tonight," Lin Xinghai said, his voice cold.

"Understood," Sun Tianbo and Xie Shanyong replied in unison.

And as for what came next, Lin Xinghai didn’t need to worry about it. The two of them would naturally make the arrangements.

The only one who had it tough was perhaps Liu Miaomiao. However, before her Superpower was completely drained, she managed to heal the last person who needed treatment.

Of course, due to her limited Superpower, not everyone could be treated. For minor wounds that didn’t affect combat ability, Liu Miaomiao had them take care of it themselves.

Only after they had settled down did everyone have time to pay attention to other things, like the Points leaderboard.

It was then that they were shocked to discover their rankings had jumped significantly in just half an hour.

You have to understand, these members’ rankings weren’t very good. Being within the top 10,000 was already considered quite excellent, while most of them were ranked around 20,000th place.

After all, both Sun Tianbo’s and Xie Shanyong’s teams were only considered mid-to-low tier among the many examinee squads. So, it made sense that the rankings of their members wouldn’t be very high.

But now, even those with the smallest improvement had jumped two or three thousand places, while others had shot up by seven or eight thousand.

This terrifying rate of increase was staggering, and it also gave them a lot to think about.

Lin Xinghai was an absolute game-changer.

The members on Sun Tianbo’s side were overjoyed and excited. Before, they thought that following Lin Xinghai to the city center and getting a "ticket" to compete for the Energy Ball was the greatest benefit.

But they never expected that might just be a small bonus. The real prize was probably killing Zombies with Lin Xinghai.

After all, the probability of successfully competing for the Energy Ball was just too low.

The reason they had to fight for it was that many people on the team didn’t even have the ability to break into the top 3,000.

So the Energy Ball was pretty much their last hope, and of course, they all wanted to take a shot at it.

But now, they saw another hope—an even greater one. How could they not be thrilled and excited?

Even Jin Tong’s two friends, Wu Jing and Zhang Ning, saw their status in the team rise steadily, to the point where they were just a notch below Sun Tianbo.

As for Xie Shanyong’s team, the atmosphere was completely different. They all felt like they were about to miss out on a massive opportunity.

Spurred on by his other members and his own unwillingness to accept this, Xie Shanyong finally approached Lin Xinghai to ask if his team could also join.

Lin Xinghai rejected him almost without a second thought. He wasn’t some soft-hearted saint. They barely knew each other, and who would do something for no benefit?

Besides, Sun Tianbo’s team had been allowed to join because they had contributed ammunition, and Jin Tong’s request had also been an important factor.

Xie Shanyong met neither condition, so of course, Lin Xinghai wouldn’t bother with him.

However, after Xie Shanyong’s persistent pleading and flattery, Lin Xinghai finally agreed to offer him some convenience.

He would allow their team to follow behind his. That way, they could at least enter the city center smoothly on the third day and qualify to compete for the Energy Ball.

Although he didn’t get the answer he wanted most, Xie Shanyong didn’t dare to pester him further. After all, they had just escaped death’s door. Now, by following Lin Xinghai, they could still reach the city center. Compared to the vast majority of teams, they were already quite lucky.

Soon, everyone began to rest one after another.

And for the rest of the night, there were no more incidents. They passed it peacefully.

...

「The next morning」

When Lin Xinghai woke up and checked the Points leaderboard, he was shocked to find that the total number of examinees had dropped to just over 28,500.

In just one afternoon and evening, over 2,700 people had been eliminated—a bit more than Lin Xinghai had expected.

And today would undoubtedly be even more brutal.

On one hand, as they pushed deeper into the city, the Zombie hordes they encountered would become larger and harder to deal with.

On the other hand, everyone had been in peak condition on the first day. Now, the number of teams that were still in good shape was definitely very small.

Furthermore, to deal with unexpected situations yesterday, some teams had probably used up most of their already limited ammunition.

So, it was almost certain that even more examinees would be eliminated today.

"Move out!"

After everyone finished breakfast, at Lin Xinghai’s command, the team once again began advancing toward the city center.

As usual, Lin Xinghai walked at the very front, with Liu Miaomiao, Little Fatty, and Jin Tong following two to three paces behind him in that order.

Sun Tianbo and the 23 members of his team followed close behind, coordinating with Lin Xinghai’s group to vaguely form a triangular assault formation.

Little Fatty glanced at Sun Tianbo, his expression a mix of satisfaction and displeasure.

The satisfaction came from the fact that the man knew his place, obediently staying in the rear. This way, only the Zombies they couldn’t kill in time would fall to Sun Tianbo’s team, so there was no need to worry about them "kill-stealing."

The displeasure also stemmed from this very point: there were too many people.

Before, when it was just the few of them following Lin Xinghai, they usually had to charge back and forth several times to wipe out a horde of over 100 Zombies.

But now, with over 20 people behind them, their numbers had increased severalfold. Even when facing a horde of 200, they could annihilate it in a single charge.

This meant the Points they earned would undoubtedly decrease.

However, Little Fatty couldn’t say anything about Lin Xinghai’s decision, so he secretly resolved, ’I’ll just have to be quicker on my feet and try to kill more Zombies from the front.’

Soon, the team encountered a Zombie horde. As he always did, Lin Xinghai raised his gun and charged straight in.

They pushed forward along the street. Under Lin Xinghai’s lead, they tore through several waves of Zombies in less than ten minutes.

When the surrounding area was clear of Zombies and everyone finally had a moment to catch their breath, Little Fatty opened his Communication Wristwatch to check his Points. Suddenly, he realized that his previous assumption had been completely wrong.