Chapter 82: A New Stone
In any case, Traceless Breath Talent was still better because of his current equipment. The items he received from the Crypt Crawlers were just too good for that particular talent.
Shane then proceeded to loot the last Survivor Zombie.
[ Do you want to retrieve the loot? ]
"Yes…"
[ You have earned 30 Experience Points. ]
[ You have earned 1 Reputation Point. ]
[ Loots obtained: 2 Item Upgrade Crystal, 2 Zombie Cores, 500mL Water, 5 Bread, Mining Skill, Animal Whisperer Talent ]
[ You have reached the limit of Survivor Talents. Animal Whisperer ( Uncommon ) was not added. ]
[ Do you want to remove one of your current Survivor Talents to accommodate the Animal Whisperer Talent? ]
[ Hint: You can only have 4 Survivor Talents, but you can check the Reputation Store occasionally, and perhaps you'll find a Talent Expansion Pack! ]
'I guess I can help Harper once I add the Iron Mine to my territory.' Shane mused as he didn't think twice to refuse the Animal Whisperer talent.
He wasn't even sure if he would get to find other animals in this zombie-infested world. Lucky was simply too unique as this dog was given by the system or was trapped in the gray fog with Anna.
As for the animals who weren't lucky enough, Shane wasn't sure whether he could really find them.
In short, this talent was useless in this apocalypse.
After looting them and seeing their bodies disappear, Shane's attention was drawn to the scattered Walker and Runner Zombies everywhere.
With a helpless smile on his face, he started his looting process.
He had to start working now if he wanted to clear these corpses in his estate.
[ You have earned 5.5 Experience Points. ]
[ Loots obtained: Item Upgrade Crystal x1, Zombie Core x1, 500mL Water, 100mL Walker Zombie Blood, Spirit Enhancement Bottle x1 ]
[ You have earned 5.5 Experience Points. ]
[ Loots obtained: Item Upgrade Crystal x1, Zombie Core x1, 500mL Water, 100mL Walker Zombie Blood, Spirit Enhancement Bottle x1 ]
[ You have earned 5.5 Experience Points. ]
[ Loots obtained: Item Upgrade Crystal x1, Zombie Core x1, 500mL Water, 100mL Walker Zombie Blood, Spirit Enhancement Bottle x1 ]
The Walker Zombies gave him the usual loot. There wasn't anything new about them, so Shane wasn't too excited about it. Nonetheless, with the amount of water he was getting, he was already thinking of a nice long bath after this was over.
He believed that he deserved it after such a difficult defense against the horde of Zombies…
[ You have earned 5.5 Experience Points. ]
[ Loots obtained: Item Upgrade Crystal x1, Zombie Core x1, 500mL Water, Stale Bread x1, 100mL Runner Zombie Blood, Spirit Enhancement Bottle x1 ]
[ You have earned 5.5 Experience Points. ]
[ Loots obtained: Item Upgrade Crystal x1, Zombie Core x1, 500mL Water, Stale Bread x1, 100mL Runner Zombie Blood, Spirit Enhancement Bottle x1 ]
[ You have earned 5.5 Experience Points. ]
[ Loots obtained: Item Upgrade Crystal x1, Zombie Core x1, 500mL Water, Stale Bread x1, 100mL Runner Zombie Blood, Spirit Enhancement Bottle x1 ]
"So much stale bread…" Shane muttered as he saw the Stale Bread… It would've been better if he had normal bread instead, but nonetheless, Shane accepted the free food.
As he continued with his looting process, Shane heard a very familiar sound…
[ You have leveled up. ]
[ Trade Function limit release. ]
[ Hint: You can now trade up to 10 items at the same time in a single trade. You can also start trading with other survivors without adding them to your Friend List as long as you initiate the trade function first. ]
[ You have obtained 1 Special Item Upgrade Crystal. ]
[ Hint: This special item is only available to the first 5 Survivors to reach level 17! ]
"Nice… Let's continue!"
Shane didn't bother checking this item for now as he wanted to gather everything he could get in this looting session before checking them all once he could relax or once he got on his bed.
"Whoa~ Did we really kill so many of them?" Shane was surprised since, even after 20 minutes, he wasn't done yet!
Furthermore, he actually leveled up once more!
[ You have leveled up. ]
[ Survivor Store upgrade. ]
[ Hint: Two additional items will be added in the Store Items that will be available for 7 days! ]
[ You have obtained 1 Special Item Upgrade Crystal. ]
[ Hint: This special item is only available to the first 5 Survivors to reach level 18!
[ You have obtained 1 Recruitment Stone. ]
[ Hint: The Recruitment Stone is a single-use item that a Survivor can trigger in order to recruit a helpful inhabitant of this continent. ]
"Now… This is interesting…" Shane muttered as he certainly felt that the six items in the Survivor Store that were only available for 24 hours weren't enough.
The addition of two items locked for 7 days was definitely a great addition.
As for the Recruitment Stone, there was no way Shane didn't feel excited about this. After all, he was also expecting a new inhabitant today! It means that he could have two additional people in his estate today! He had no idea what they could do for him but whatever it was, he knew that it was better to have many skilled people in his shelter!
Nonetheless, because there were still corpses of Zombies that were mostly caught in the traps, Shane stopped the urge to check them out and continued with his looting process. He even had to ask Cassius and Mara to take the corpses in the pitfalls.
[ You have earned 5.5 Experience Points. ]
[ Loots obtained: Item Upgrade Crystal x1, Zombie Core x1, 500mL Water, Stale Bread x1, 100mL Runner Zombie Blood, Spirit Enhancement Bottle x1 ]
[ You have earned 5.5 Experience Points. ]
[ Loots obtained: Item Upgrade Crystal x1, Zombie Core x1, 500mL Water, 100mL Walker Zombie Blood, Spirit Enhancement Bottle x1 ]
Soon, Shane completed the looting process.
He immediately asked Cloud if he still needed the blood of the Walker and Runner Zombies since it had already taken quite a lot of blood.
[ Yes. It helps me increase the Searching Range and also helps me predict the possible mutations of the Zombies. ]
Cloud replied.
With that said, Shane decided to just give all the Zombie Blood to the A.I.
Anyway, he doesn't have any use for them, perhaps only until he gets some kind of Alchemy Skill since he couldn't really think of another idea of where to spend them.
Even if it came to the time when he needed blood samples, he could also get them from any Zombies around with his Complete Loot Talent.
Finally, Shane had the time to check his current status and inventory.
Survivor Name: Shane Wells
Title: A.I. Rebellion's Chosen One, Fairy Realm's Lone Survivor, Seeker of Secrets
Level: 18
Vitality: 190/190
Spirit: 1,000/1,000
Strength: 47
Agility: 81 (+34 )
Luck: 20
Perception: 20
Inventory: Memory Sphere x21, Item Upgrade Crystals x305, Zombie Cores x495, 190L Water, Bread x85, State Bread x75 100mL Cryptic Crawler Leader Blood, Acid Pouch x14, Spirit Enhancement Bottle x465, Spitter Tongue x1, Light Blue Orb x1, Starlight Silver Ore x5, Abyssal Iron Ore x5, Phoenix Copper Ore x5, Power Core x5, Special Item Upgrade Crystals x2, Recruitment Stone x1
Survivor Skills: Firearm Mastery, Fishing, Woodworking, Metalworking, Axe Mastery, Lockpicking, Leadership, Parkour, Hacker, Controlled Body Heating, Fast Swimmer, Taunt, Mining
Survivor Talent: Complete Loot ( Legendary Talent ), Otherworldly Mechanic ( Legendary Talent ), Territory Lord ( Legendary Talent ), Traceless Breath ( Rare Talent )
Reputation: 19
Shane looked at his status, and the first thing he noticed was his lower Agility Points. After wearing his Shadowmeld Tunic, he should have a total of 46 additional Agility Points instead of 34.
However, because he removed the Crawler Fang Dagger on him, the 12 Agility Points had disappeared.
Apparently, as long as the dagger was on him, he could benefit from its effects. The weapon does have to be held by his hands.
***
After Shane was done with the looting process, the damage in the estate's surroundings was now visible to all of them.
'Well… This should be expected…' Shane thought as he knew their fences weren't sturdy enough… They simply don't have the capacity to make a stone wall that would surely stop the low-tier zombies.
Anyway, he then called for everyone as they should be starting with their reconstruction already… They should have a proper defensive line before the end of the day!
Everyone in the shelter nodded in agreement, understanding the importance of securing their shelter.
Harper and Leo focused on making new fences, while Gene assisted Mara and Cassius in assembling the wooden fences. They were planning to rebuild the traps after the fence was secured.
Of course, as everyone started working, Shane decided to use the Recruitment Stone. After all, the one he'd get to recruit this time might be someone capable of helping them in the reconstruction of the estate.
Shane swiftly took it out of the Inventory System. It was the familiar black stone with an engraved character on it.
As he held it for a few seconds, the notification he had been waiting for appeared.
[ Do you want to activate the Recruitment Stone? ]
Without hesitation, Shane replied. "Yes!"