After seeing the zombies, Lucien acted quickly. An arrow appeared in his hand from his inventory, already in the pre-fire position of his bow. This method of drawing the arrow directly from his inventory instead of from his back had already proven to be the most efficient and fastest.

The arrow pierced the first zombie's head, right between its pair of red eyes. The two remaining zombies grunted and ran toward him, climbing and knocking over several shelves of medicine from the pharmacy along the way.

The second arrow appeared, tensioned against the bowstring, and was released quickly. The arrow hit the second zombie's head, but it was a rather sloppy and inaccurate shot from such a short distance, causing Lucien to curl his lip in disappointment.

With the last zombie already very close to his location, Lucien felt a slight discomfort in his elbow. He knelt with his right leg, shifting the bow to a diagonal, and took a calming breath before the final shot killed the last zombie with better accuracy.

[You killed 3 level 1 zombies!]

[Obtained x6 Creation Points!]

"Crap!"

Lucien grumbled as he removed his football helmet, shoulder pads, and elbow pads. The first greatly reduced his accuracy, almost to the point where he missed his second shot. The elbow pads were hampering the movement of both his arms.

Although these items gave him a good sense of security, Lucien knew that a true archer needed to be agile and light. And at that moment, he had dressed as one of the warriors from the many games he played with William...

After some more thought, he also removed his knee pads. Keeping only the shin guards and the makeshift forearm protectors.

Turning on a crystal light, he threw it, making it stick to the ceiling with its suction cups, illuminating the entire pharmacy.

Lucien nocked a fourth arrow to his bow; this one was special and had a reddish tip. It made a whizzing noise as it shot forcefully through one of the pharmacy's counters.

"Swish"

"THUD"

[You killed a level 2 zombie!]

[Obtained x4 Creation Points!]

"As always, the level 2 zombies are always hiding..."

"Too bad he didn't realize the light revealed his whereabouts through the pharmacy's surveillance mirrors..."*

Only then did Lucien relax and begin looting the pharmacy. He took the opportunity to collect the zombie corpses, their arrows, and crystals.

The last arrow used was a very valuable one; it wasn't just made from infected bones, its tip was entirely made of crystals. It was able to more easily penetrate the corpses of monsters with powerful armor. But here, it was simply used to penetrate a shelf. After all, Lucien wanted to confirm its effects and see if he still had the strength to kill a resistant zombie after penetrating the shelf.

The result was quite satisfactory, and without wasting much time, Lucien cleaned out the pharmacy, taking all the antibiotics, serum bags, medications for chronic illnesses, syringes, needles, bandages, alcohol, hygiene products, feminine care items*, anti-inflammatories, morphine, antidepressants, and many anti-anxiety medications. The last three would be priceless among survivors, according to the System.

Lucien also didn't waste any valuable items, taking all the cans of newborn formula, protein supplements, granola bars, and vitamins.

After crossing the street and entering the convenience store, Lucien found two dead humans and a Level 1 zombie that had been pinned against a large shelf. After using his bone knife, he killed it and kept its body and crystal.

The convenience store had a lot of junk food, but as always, everything here was extremely high in calories and unhealthy…

Whether it was the snacks with warnings about high sodium and saturated fat, or the chocolate bars with warnings about high sugar content. Of course, there were those products that didn't have these warnings and were healthier; Lucien's mother always insisted on buying them, claiming they were better…

But every child and adult knew that these foods weren't as tasty as their unhealthy counterparts…

When Lucien saw the many freezers turned off and with a bad smell coming from some of them, he couldn't help but feel sorry for the ice cream freezer…

Well, it wasn't like I had the freezer recipe to make one, was it? So until then, he only had a few units remaining stored in the inventory.

Since he was getting items that weren't useful to him but could be exchanged in the future due to their high value, while he took the juices and sodas, he also looted all the alcoholic beverages in the store.

Only after that did he continue moving through the streets. As far as he could remember, he took the opportunity to stop at a small pasta restaurant where he'd been eating with his parents since he was younger. Despite having a few zombies, he managed to get rid of them quickly.

Despite obtaining many bags of flour, spices, and smoked meats that hadn't spoiled yet, all the vegetables in the restaurant had already rotted. After that, he left the place and now only had to walk two more blocks to leave his neighborhood, entering Laura's neighborhood.

But as soon as he reached this last street, what he found sent a chill down his spine. Lucien quickly retraced his steps, only daring to look again after confirming he was well hidden.

So many zombies were gathered on the street that almost none of them could move. They made no sound or move at all. They stood there motionless, almost glued to each other. As far as Lucien could see, this silent horde covered several streets and continued out of sight, heading ever closer to the center of Kaelor city.

"What is that?"

After a long silence, the system responded:

[They're trying to keep warm…]

It was true, even a mutant level 1 or 2, if they spent the night exposed to cold winds and snow, they could freeze in the current temperature. Lucien himself had been constantly shivering since he began this "adventure" due to the minimal amount of clothing he was currently wearing.

"But what happens when the temperature drops even further? Will they be able to survive even the harsh winter?"

[Yes and no…]

[It's just a temporary resistance to prolong their energy as much as possible and allow them to continue hunting…]

[When the winter comes, everyone will be frozen, but when winter ends and the cold subsides, everyone will return to normal; after all, the ZY virus wouldn't let its host die. And among them there will be a good number of level 3 zombies…]

Shaking his head, Lucien had no choice but to leave the street he was about to cross and retrace his steps, taking a completely different route.

After another two hours, he finally managed to bypass the horde and arrived in front of Laura's house. His heart raced at the thought of meeting his childhood crush again. He was always so shy around her in person, almost to the point of being unable to express himself...

But Lucien didn't know yet that this time he wouldn't be able to speak to Laura...

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