Chapter 46 - Preparations Are Ready (Part 1)
Bai Zemin felt a great amount of pain coming from inside his wrist. The pain was such that he was forced to grit his teeth to prevent a grunt from escaping his mouth. However, that excruciating pain soon began to turn into itching, extremely uncomfortable itching! Fortunately, that feeling was also short-lived, probably thanks to Kang Lan's skill.
Kang Lan's face turned completely pale and her previously red lips began to lose their color as if she was suddenly suffering from some kind of illness. She staggered slightly at the sudden dizziness that hit her mercilessly, fortunately, Bai Zemin had already expected something like this to happen due to the fact that he himself had experienced the same feeling during his battle against the First Order Blazing Beetle after spending all of his Mana abruptly.
"Good job, Kang Lan." Bai Zemin smiled slightly at her and nodded as he gently supported her while keeping her from falling.
"No... It's nothing." She forced a smile. Although she was exhausted and felt somewhat nauseated as a consequence of using all her Mana in such a short time, she actually felt extremely satisfied since receiving such praise from Bai Zemin, who was usually indifferent and casual with others, meant that he really appreciated her previous act no matter how small it was.
He looked at Cai Jingyi and said in a deep voice, "Cai Jingyi, support Kang Lan and help her rest."
Cai Jingyi nodded and quickly stepped forward to support her and they both retreated inside the building.
After freeing himself, Bai Zemin looked at Fu Xuefeng and Zhong De in front of him and began to give a series of simple orders and instructions about what they were to do next.
* * *
Meanwhile, Liang Peng, Chen He, and Shangguan Bing Xue were preparing to start and implement the third part of the plan to defeat the zombie. Although they weren't 100% sure if it was a First Order evolved creature or not, in this new world where death was only half a step away it was best to prepare as best as possible to even fight the weakest enemy.
"This should be enough." Shangguan Bing Xue retracted both hands as she panted softly. Her chest was rising and falling steadily as a small bead of sweat slowly slipped down from her beautiful face that now looked sickly white instead of perfect white as before.
In front of her was an ice stake about half a meter long. Along the length of the ice stake were ice spikes about five centimeters long that pointed outward. It was a weapon with great piercing power, capable of entering the target's body with ease and, because of the spikes along the body in the opposite direction, it would be extremely difficult for anyone who was pierced by it to break free easily.
"Are you okay?" Chen He asked as he patted her back.
"You don't need to worry. I'm fine." Shangguan Bing Xue shook her head gently and took a step forward to pick up the ice stake to take a better look at it.
Although the stake was extremely thin as a stick and looked extremely fragile, Shangguan Bing Xue was confident in her creation. After all, she had consumed 90% of her Mana, which was why she was so mentally exhausted.
Not only had Shangguan Bing Xue concentrated practically all her Mana into this small half-meter ice stake, but she had also packed every bit of her magical power into it and had focused every cell of her brain into her creation. To say that this ice stake was the strongest and most enduring weapon she had created so far with her ice skill was by no means an exaggeration.
To test her theory and to check the strength of the object, she asked Liang Peng to hit the ice stake with his hammer while using all his strength.
"If this thing breaks don't blame me later." Liang Peng couldn't help but scratch his head as he looked at the small stake.
"If it can't resist at least that much, then the plan we came up with earlier will never work in the first place." Shangguan Bing Xue replied coldly.
Liang Peng shrugged his shoulders and raised the hammer high. With loud roar, he struck downward with all his might as he made use of the weapon's weight to the perfection.
Bang!
With a mighty bang, the ground shuddered as if it would collapse at any moment and several cracks appeared extending over a meter long. However, to Chen He's surprise and Liang Peng's disbelief, the ice stake under the hammer that had taken the brunt of the impact actually didn't even splinter since it still released that bone-chilling coldness that seemed to be able to freeze everything.
"Impressive!" Chen He praised honestly.
That earlier strike should have been able to knock down an entire wall but the ice stake that Shangguan Bing Xue crafted withstood it like it was nothing!
Shangguan Bing Xue also nodded and a hint of satisfaction flashed in her eyes.
"I see you guys are done here," Bai Zemin returned, directly jumping to the upper floor and entering through the window. Although such a thing was impossible in the past, with his current stats such a thing was no longer a big deal.
"All done here." Chen He replied as he looked at him curiously and asked, "The things on your side, finished?"
"Finished." Bai Zemin responded and sat in a corner while checking his left hand.
Before, Bai Zemin estimated that he would need at least one more week for his fractured wrist to fully recover. However, he was pleasantly surprised to discover that he now only needed approximately five days to fully recover.
The reason for this was, naturally, the Lesser Healing skill used by Kang Lan on him.
Of course; Kang Lan's Lesser Healing skill alone was not the reason for Bai Zemin's quick recovery. The other important reason was his overwhelmingly high Health stat which, compared to a normal person, was speeding up his healing process almost tenfold!
With 90 Health points and Kang Lan's skill along with his high magic power compared to a normal person, the speed at which Bai Zemin was recovering was simply astonishing. Bai Zemin estimated that, with treatment twice a day for three days, his broken bones would be reattached and repaired.
A small smile appeared on his face as he thought about how incredibly great the difference in power was between the past him and the present him. Bai Zemin couldn't wait to see what the future held for him.
Of course, first he needed to survive the next battle in which a scratch meant death. Only then was it possible to think about a possible future. However, if he couldn't survive even that much, then it meant that somewhere along the way, sooner or later, he would end up falling.
While Bai Zemin checked his physical condition, Shangguan Bing Xue had sat down in another corner to recover the consumed Mana. After all, she was an essential fighter in the upcoming battle.
Moreover, occasionally, she looked in his direction with complicated eyes; there was hate, but there was also gratitude; there was approval, but there was also rejection. Complex and opposing emotions were constantly mixed together.