A minute later, Bob returned holding the corpse of the third level mutated cat. His expression was weird as he pondered how such a mundane cat could be at that level.
'He must have killed it too, right? Damn! He's the real monster here!'
Keeping his thoughts to himself, he passed the cat to Anna who nonchalantly caught it.
"What benefits would this give?" She asked him after digging out its crystal.
Leon shrugged with a faint smile. "Cook it, and see."
Looking at the battlefield littered with zombie corpses, he frowned slightly. If any hostile beast stumbled on this, it'd be a treasure trove for them. And Leon wasn't in line with raising potential threats for the future.
"Gather the bodies. We have to burn them."
The others were surprised by this but complied. It wasn't anything too strange after all.
While the others worked, Old Pipe approached him with a thoughtful expression.
"Don't be offended, but are you really a zombie?"
Leon was slightly surprised. So he noticed...
Instead of answering, he inquired. "Why do you think so?"
The old man rubbed his chin and said. "Although I can't claim to be a great scientist, I'm confident enough to say that you're quite different from other zombies, even the special ones."
Leon remained silent, prompting him to continue.
"How should I put it? Intelligent zombies work with advanced instincts, while you... you don't."
"I don't...?"
"Yes. It might seem like instincts, but it's more of human intelligence combined with a bit of unhinged thinking."
"Heh~ You truly have an amusing way of describing your boss."
"Well, you're quite a brat, too. Haha."
Chuckling softly, Leon's expression turned serious. "Indeed, you're quite right. According to the apocalypse system, I'm called an Undead Devourer. Don't ask me for details."
Old Pipe's expression changed slightly but he nodded, sealing his remaining questions.
"That aside, I didn't expect us to get this much. It's a great haul."
Anna nodded. "Indeed."
Finally, they had gathered all the zombie corpses into a huge pile, much to Leon's satisfaction.
Just when he was about to get petrol from their cars and light the corpses, a sound made him halt.
Caw! Caw!
Looking at the black crow circling in the air, he became slightly puzzled. He had a feeling that sound was meant to call him.
The crow, noticing it had his attention, flew down and landed on the pile.
Now that it was closer, everyone could see that it was a second level mutated beast, given the yellow essence crystal on its head.
'Oh?'
The crow pecked at the zombie flesh, then looked at him again.
Caw! Caw!
Immediately, Leon understood its intentions. It wanted the zombie corpses for itself. This wasn't surprising. It was perfectly normal for a mutated beast to want to eat flesh. What somewhat intrigued him was the fact that it seemed to be asking him for permission.
"That crow is quite intelligent," Old Pipe couldn't help but whisper.
Leon nodded, looking at the beast with a deep gaze.
Waving his hand, he said indifferently, "You deal with it."
Caw!
As if it understood his words, the crow cawed loudly. A few seconds later, the sound of multiple wings flapping filled the air as a flock of first level mutated crows descended on the pile of flesh, cawing repeatedly as they tore into the meal.
At the back, Little Tiger glanced at them and grinned. "Damn! This is awesome. Unfortunately, I don't have a phone to record it."
Unexpectedly, Johnson dug his hand into his pocket and gave him one.
"Oh! Thank you."
Little Tiger was surprised but gladly accepted it and started recording. Shadow gave Johnson a questioning look, prompting him to sigh.
"What? Is it a crime to have an iPhone 17?"
The guy remained silent while Ice also looked over, her expression skeptical. Subjected to their doubtful glares, he gritted his teeth and spat.
"Fine! I stole it a while ago. But hey, it's not like the store needed it anymore, right?"
Indeed, he had stolen the phone after the apocalypse began, wanting to show off. Ice snorted but ignored him, turning to gaze at Leon's back, her thoughts unknown.
After ten minutes, the crows dispersed into the air, leaving only a pile of bones. Their ravenous appetite didn't fail to surprise the team.
The second level crow lingered, throwing one last look at Leon before flying away with its flock.
Beside him, Anna inquired with a frown.
"Isn't this what you wanted to prevent?"
Leon merely smiled faintly. "I have a feeling it's a good choice."
Receiving his answer, she discarded her worries and decided to trust him.
"Alright, enough dilly-dallying, let's go..."
Cassie purred, pulling her brother's arm towards their car.
"I'm driving."
Leon glanced at her in surprise. "When did you learn to drive?"
The girl grinned. "Duh-uh! Don't underestimate your little sister!"
...
Although the ride was rough, they eventually returned to the Glass Tower. Over the next two days, they went around searching for a few things the boss had requested for.
Of course, Leon himself remained in the Tower, practicing forging a new equipment—an armor.
Knowing it would be much more strenuous and complicated than forging a sword, he started with using common steel he found around. As he expected, the first few he tried were unimaginable. Although he had purchased a blueprint from the crucible, he couldn't instantly grasp the forging process.
Fortunately, he quickly familiarized himself with the process and was able to forge the first with ordinary materials. Looking at the breastplates, pair of gauntlets, shins, thigh guards, and shoulder guards, he couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment.
[Ding! User has created a complete armor]
[You have been rewarded with a single moonstone]
Leon examined the moonstone which had magically appeared from nowhere. It was fist-sized, having a silver radiance around it. Although he didn't know its use, he decided to keep it.
'It would be useful in the long run...'
After resting for a bit, he launched into a process of consistent forging with the materials he bought from the crucible, creating ten complete One-Star armors.
[Ding! User has created a complete One-Star armor]
[Brand?]
He nodded. Immediately, a sizzling red mark appeared on the breastplates of the armors, forming the image of the wings of a red dragon spread wide. Unconsciously, a smile appeared on his face.
'Perhaps being a blacksmith is not that bad...'