Chapter 4: Superpowers and the price of survival
Marina searched for words in her mind but found she couldn't perfectly describe her feelings from just now, so she had to say, "Just now, I really couldn't move."
Although everyone had seen her surprise in her eyes and had some guesses in their hearts, hearing it from her lips still shocked them.
"If you were a zombie, once you couldn't move, could I then chop off your head without hesitation?" Then Alexa spoke to everyone again, "Zombies that just turned from humans are actually the easiest to deal with. They not only move slowly but also aren't that strong. However, whether you get scratched or bitten, they will transmit the zombie virus to humans, turning them into zombies as well, which is the biggest concern for humans when killing zombies. So if you can kill it from a distance, that's the safest method. If you're already very close, then you should try to find a way to sneak behind it and kill it. Please rest assured that first-level zombies turn around slowly; you'll have plenty of time to take them down, but you must have enough courage." Alexa smiled again and said, "You might still question one person's words. How about this? Everyone can experience it together."
After snapping her fingers, Alexa said, "Can't you all move now?"
She snapped her fingers again before taking back her superpowers.
"Alexa, you're amazing!" Blaire said with admiration.
"Alexa, how many zombies can you handle at once?" Lily asked.
"Alexa, how can we get superpowers?" Hatala asked.
"Alexa, where did the zombie virus come from?" Marina asked.
"Alexa, will gunshots attract zombies?"Ander asked.
"Your questions, I'll answer one by one. First, how many zombies can I handle at once? I could handle ten zombies at first level. Before I was reborn, I was level ten and could kill over ten thousand zombies at once."
Celine rolled her eyes and whispered to Blaire, "I used to be level ten too; I could kill ten thousand zombies back then. But superpowers like ours aren't anything special. Ander can kill a million zombies at once, now that's impressive!"
Blaire looked at Ander with some suspicion.
"On July 4th, Independence Day, the zombie virus broke out globally. Many people fainted and slowly turned into zombies, with only a few becoming superpowered individuals. You're very lucky to be part of the first wave of superpowered individuals. The four of us became superpowered only after getting caught in the rain on August 4th." Alexa explained.
"Getting caught in the rain can also make someone a superpowered individual?" Hatala asked.
Alexa replied, "Though I don't know why, that's indeed the case. As for where the zombie virus comes from? Honestly, after ten years, no one has figured out where this virus came from."
"Does gunfire attract zombies?" Ander asked again.
"It does. But if you have a silencer, you can use the gun, otherwise you can only use knives or superpowers to kill zombies," Alexa added. "In fact, even if no noise is made, as long as you're around zombies, they can smell you and come over."
"Then isn't there nowhere for humans to hide?" Mei asked.
"Don't worry, if they're far away, the zombies won't be able to smell us." Seeing that they were all fine, Alexa continued, "My second superpower is a spatial shield. This is a skill that almost all elemental superpowers can use. The principle is to extract energy from within the body to create a protective shield. In fact, superpowers can use their powers by channeling the energy within their bodies, and then launch an attack. Once that internal energy is depleted, they can no longer use their superpowers."
Seeing that no one had any further questions, Alexa intended to continue speaking, but at that moment, Mei suddenly raised her hand to ask, "Alexa, if what you say is true, does it mean that superpowered individuals cannot continuously use their powers? Also, what do you mean by elemental?"
Alexa nodded slightly and replied, "That's a good question. Superpowered individuals indeed cannot continuously use their powers; if their internal energy is depleted, they're just like ordinary people. Moreover, there are all sorts of superpowers; no one can clearly state how many types there are. However, the most numerous are the natural and elemental superpowered individuals. Natural refers to ice, wind, lightning, etc., while elemental refers to metal, plant, rain, flame, and earth types. With so many types of superpowers, as long as they are used correctly, they can be very powerful. I'll give you an example: if a lightning-type superpowered individual faces a plant-type superpowered individual, you would certainly think that one lightning strike would spell game over for the plant-type superpowered individual. In reality, that's not necessarily true. If the plant-type superpowered individual strikes first, they could use the grass on the ground to bind the lightning-type superpowered individual's legs and trip them, then choke them with the grass, rendering them unable to unleash their powers, and just wait for them to suffocate to death. Now, do you still think plant types are inferior to lightning types?"
"So the strategic application of superpowers is very important…" Marina muttered to herself thoughtfully.
"Alexa, since you were reborn, your body should still be ordinary, so why can you still use superpowers?" Hatala asked.
Alexa fell silent; she couldn't answer that question. However, Anllela Sagra helped her respond, "I'll answer this question. After being reborn, I pondered this issue, and finally, I have a guess: after we kill zombies, we often feel an energy passing through our bodies and entering Ander's space. After purifying that energy, it is then fed back to our bodies, allowing our superpower levels to rise rapidly. This is also why our levels improve faster than others."
After Anllela Sagra looked around for a week, she said seriously, "In this apocalypse, the strong are respected. You should consider yourselves fortunate to be Ander's lovers, because, with Ander, your superpower levels will increase so rapidly. If your levels are lower than others, given your appearances, once captured, you will definitely become toys for men and may even be resold multiple times. In the future, there will be other members in our team. Although Ander has allocated space areas for them, they are not all Ander's women. After they kill zombies, their energy will still enter Ander's space, but it won't be fed back to them, so their level-up speed will be very slow."
Anllela Sagra paused for a moment and continued, "Back to the original topic, I used to think that the method of using and enhancing superpowers was like this. However, after being reborn, I have new insights. When zombies die, the energy from their bodies ultimately feeds back to us, and this energy should also help strengthen our souls. I have weak evidence for this; let me give an example. If we follow the original historical development, a psychic superpower user named Maja Strojek would be added to our team. After she kills zombies, the energy that returns to her body isn't much, but her psychic power becomes increasingly strong. What is psychic power? It is the consciousness of the soul. If my guess is correct, this could explain why our superpower levels are only half of what they originally were after we were reborn. What do you all think?"
After pondering for a moment, Hatala asked, "How do others improve their superpowers without Ander's help?"
"At first, we thought the method of enhancing superpowers was like this. However, when we encountered other superpower users, we realized we were wrong. After a zombie is killed, we need to break open its skull, remove the crystalline pineal gland inside the forehead, and place it in our hands. The superpower user then absorbs the energy from the crystal core; this is the most orthodox method of enhancement." Anllela Sagra smiled and continued, "But when we killed the zombies, we found that there was no energy in the pineal gland crystal core. After discussion, we concluded that Ander's space absorbs the energy from the crystal core through our bodies."
Anllela Sagra smiled at everyone and said, "Don't you think that's great? If we had to break open a zombie's skull and rummage through a pile of brain matter for the crystal core, think about it, wouldn't that be disgusting?"
Upon imagining that scene, the five women turned a bit pale.
"Anllela, you just mentioned that the energy would also feed back into Maja Strojek's body. Does that mean Maja Strojek has also had sexual relations with Ander?" Marina asked.
Anllela Sagra smiled even wider. Looking at Marina, she said, "You have to believe me because Maja Strojek and Dr. Priyanka Chopra were both personally invited by you and Hatala to join. I can't be sure of your reasons, but I think, besides enhancing the combat power of the team, you also hope they can help share the load in bed, right?"
Hearing this, Ander quickly lowered his head pretend to be dead.
To add to the humor, Anllela Sagra continued, "When Maja and Priyanka appeared, they were wearing flight attendant and doctor's white coats—wow, that's a uniform temptation! Both of them are stunning beauties; Maja is even the beauty queen of New York State. Maja is one year younger than you, and Priyanka, although a bit older, looks just as young as you do. You're quite lucky in that regard!"
Ander continued to lower his head and pretend to be dead…
Celine thought it wasn't lively enough, so she added more fuel to the fire, "Priyanka's daughter, Aria, is also an 18-year-old Indian beauty! They both serve you together… Hehe, Ander, you're truly lucky!"
What could Ander say? It wasn't his choice of people, but he continued to lower his head and pretend to be dead…
Alexa cleared her throat a couple of times and said, "Actually, both of their superpowers are quite strong and practical. For instance, Maja can use her psychic power to search for nearby zombies, which allows us to know about dangers in advance. After Maja's psychic level increases, she can communicate telepathically with plants and animals and can also launch psychic attacks against zombies and zombie beasts. Later, when her psychic power rises significantly, the psychic shockwave can spread out and kill a large group of zombies at once. Once her psychic power reaches level ten, she can even control humans and zombies, making zombies kill other zombies. Isn't that an impressive superpower?"
Everyone was surprised that superpowers can still be used in this way.
"Let's talk about Dr. Priyanka. Although her superpower is not offensive, she can heal various wounds and diseases. After the apocalypse, various medications are no longer produced, making them extremely precious. If someone gets injured or sick, with no medication available, they can only wait to die. However, with Priyanka around, all of this can be resolved. Although Ander can infinitely replicate medications, he can't regenerate limbs. But once Priyanka's level rises to two, she can do that. After her level increases further, she can even prevent people infected with the zombie virus from turning into zombies. Of course, the premise is that the person hasn't already turned into a zombie. Although there is a premise, this ability is still very impressive. Later, people from other survivor bases came to persuade Priyanka and offered generous conditions. From this, we can see how important healing-type superpower users are. I sincerely propose that we should work hard to cultivate Priyanka in our team so that she can acquire the superpower of limb regeneration as soon as possible. After all, no one can guarantee they won't have an accident."
Everyone agreed with what Alexa said; with Priyanka around, they no longer had to worry about being scratched by zombies, losing hands, or breaking legs. Priyanka could help them restore their limbs, which is a magical superpower!
Alexa finally understood why she and Hatala would invite Maja and Priyanka to join in the future; these two people were really important.