Flora Bloom took one look at the scene and a smirk played on her lips. With a wave of her hand, she led the group forward, axes raised as they charged into the fray.

At an entrance like this, as long as they didn’t kill all the zombies on the periphery, the ones inside would be blocked by the ones at the front, preventing them from ever swarming out all at once.

For them, this was both safe and efficient.

The group formed a line and began slaughtering the zombies trapped at the market entrance. Caleb, meanwhile, continued his duty of digging out Crystal Cores. Before long, the entrance was piled high with zombie corpses.

One corpse, then two, then three, then four... After thirty zombie corpses had fallen, the market entrance was completely clogged. The zombies inside struggled desperately to push their way out, but they were hopelessly blocked and couldn’t break through. All they could do was snarl and brandish their claws, waving them wildly at the group in a futile display of aggression.

"Whew... Mr. Wallace, light them up," Flora said. "It looks like there are a lot of zombies in this market. Let’s burn some of them first."

At her word, Neal Wallace waved his hand, and five brilliant, dazzling Fireballs shot straight into the horde of zombies inside. Once the Fire Element superpower latched onto a target, it was like a clinging disease, igniting on contact. As the first five zombies caught fire, the flames spread to the ones closest to them the moment they touched. Like a chain reaction, the market was soon ablaze, filled with the nauseating stench of scorched, rotting flesh.

Flora Bloom covered her nose and stepped back, taking a few breaths of fresh air. Ethan Monroe, meanwhile, stood guard at the entrance, ready to defend the group in case of any sudden danger.

A short while later, once he saw that the flames had spread to all the zombies just inside the entrance, Neal Wallace slowly retracted his superpower.

It didn’t take long for the fire to roast the zombie horde inside the market black. They collapsed to the ground as dried-out husks, completely still.

Only then could Flora Bloom and the others get a clear view of the situation inside. Before, the front ranks of zombies had blocked their line of sight. Now that all the zombies near the entrance had collapsed, they could see a vast field of charred husks. A quick estimate suggested there had been about a hundred of them.

The stench of scorched, rotting flesh was already turning Flora Bloom’s stomach. Compounded by the morning sickness from her pregnancy with Polly Bloom, she would have been vomiting her guts out if she weren’t forcefully suppressing the urge.

So she directed the others to handle the task of digging out the Crystal Cores. She waited at the perimeter for them to bring the cores back, taking responsibility for washing both the Crystal Cores and the hands that had dug them out.

From the hundred or so zombies, they managed to dig out over ninety Crystal Cores. Each one was brimming with energy and radiated a brilliant luster, a very satisfying sight.

Flora Bloom distributed the Crystal Cores to Neal Wallace, her father Caleb Bloom, Cynthia Grant, and Ethan Monroe, telling them to absorb them on the spot and try to raise their superpowers to the Second Level.

Meanwhile, Flora Bloom, Jade, and Caleb stood to the side, ostensibly acting as guards, but in reality, they were resting and having a snack. It wasn’t that she was being careless; Vert and the Golden Cicada had already scouted the air and informed her there was no danger nearby. Besides, Monkey Two, Monkey Three, and Armor, whom she had released to forage last night, were also patrolling the area.

Since Flora Bloom couldn’t stand the stench of rot, she had already used her superpower to wash the ground in a ten-meter radius around her. After drinking a little spiritual water to settle her stomach, she finally felt much better.

An hour passed.

Monkey Two and Monkey Three came running back from a short distance away. They looked as if they had been through a major battle, their bodies splattered with foul-smelling juices and putrid flesh. In their hands, they clutched over a dozen Zombie Crystal Cores, which they presented to Flora Bloom like precious treasures.

Flora Bloom used her water to rinse the two of them clean but didn’t take their Crystal Cores. ’After all,’ she thought, ’these evolved creatures in my space also need energy to evolve and upgrade. I can’t just take the spoils of their battles from them.’

Two hours passed.

After washing Armor, who had returned from foraging, and sending the creature back to her space, Flora Bloom noticed movement from the group sitting on the ground absorbing Crystal Cores.

Flora Bloom had expected Neal Wallace to be the first to reach the Second Level, but to her surprise, the first person to open their eyes was Cynthia Grant.

Cynthia Grant handed the few remaining Crystal Cores to Flora Bloom. "Flora, thank you! I finally reached the Second Level. My superpower feels so much more abundant than it did at the first level. Before, I could summon three vines at most to control enemies, but now I can summon five!"

Flora Bloom nodded with a smile. "Congratulations, Cynthia. But from now on, never casually tell anyone your Superpower Level or your abilities. In the apocalypse, you can’t have a mind to harm others, but you must always be on guard against them. Don’t even tell the people you’re closest to, understand?"

Looking at Flora Bloom, who was about her age, lecturing her with the gravity of an old sage, Cynthia was touched by her serious, earnest expression, though she quickly hid it.

"I know, I know," Cynthia grumbled playfully. "You’re so naggy, just like a little old lady."

Flora Bloom shook her head in resignation and turned to Neal Wallace, who was the second to approach.

"Mr. Wallace, how do you feel?"

Neal Wallace gave a faint smile. The confidence in his eyes assured Flora Bloom that the attack power of a Second-level Fire Element superpower was far greater than that of a first-level one.

"Much stronger," he said. "Protecting you all won’t be a problem."

A short time later, Ethan Monroe and Caleb Bloom also came to. They had awakened their powers late, so even after absorbing many Crystal Cores, they still hadn’t reached the Second Level. However, by their own accounts, they were both on the verge of advancing and just needed to accumulate a little more energy.

In their team, aside from Jade and Caleb, five people now had superpowers: one Water Element, one Fire Element, one Plant Element, one Earth Element, and one Gold Ability. Three of them were now Second-level Superpower Users, and the other two weren’t far behind. Even Caleb was someone who could awaken a superpower at any moment.

In the early days of the apocalypse, this lineup was already well-equipped for both offense and defense against small hordes of zombies.

In order to reach the naval military base as soon as possible, Flora Bloom decided they should depart immediately.