"Li Chenzhou!!!"

Gray Bear shouted as he jumped out of the car near the sixth floor. He looked up at the roof, the highest point and the obvious choice for any sniper.

"Hey! Was this gun here for suicide purposes?"

Li Chenzhou leaned out, looked at Gray Bear, and brandished the sniper rifle, shaking his right arm.

His arm had finally regained feeling, and it wasn't damaged. This was only because he was an Awakened, with full Strength and Endurance, significantly enhancing his physical qualities, allowing him to withstand the recoil.

He figured even Duan Lei would get injured using this gun, at least a fracture, because his Strength and Endurance were only ten. Those two attributes enhanced physical strength! Clearly, that wasn't enough to resist such massive recoil!

"Y-your arm...how is it?"

Gray Bear looked at Li Chenzhou's expression, surprised. He thought Li Chenzhou was strong, but not much stronger than himself physically. He expected his shoulder to be shattered, but it didn't seem that way.

"It's alright! But it went numb after firing, couldn't have fired a second shot. Seriously, can anyone even use this thing?"

Li Chenzhou waved his right arm at Gray Bear and asked.

"Nobody can!"

Gray Bear stared at Li Chenzhou's waving arm in shock, then chuckled bitterly.

"Like you said, anyone who uses it is practically committing suicide, so it's called the anti-human sniper rifle – Death Howl!"

"Not a bad name!"

Li Chenzhou examined the gun and asked, "Are there any bullets? I checked, there are only ten in the magazine, and only one magazine with the gun!"

"No! There are no spare bullets for that gun, because nobody uses it! It's just there for show!"

Gray Bear said, "Some people suggested redesigning the gun, because at least a dozen elites were ruined just testing it. But it's a top weapon designed by the military, a matter of prestige, so it just sits there! Who knew you'd pick it?"

"Whatever! I'll make do!"

Hearing there were no extra bullets, Li Chenzhou was annoyed. The Slaughter Mall sold bullets, but not in this caliber!

The mall also sold sniper rifles, but they were expensive, and more importantly, bullet power couldn't be upgraded. They were gunpowder-based, and even the Slaughter Mall's most powerful bullets were only as strong as the one he'd just fired.

Bullets like that might work against Level 2 zombies, but against a Level 3 Strength-type zombie, they'd be useless. As zombie levels increased, firearms would become less effective, especially sniper rifles.

Rotary machine guns, with their high rate of fire, could still be used to harvest low-level zombies or block high-level zombie charges. But slow-firing guns would become useless. Smashing a zombie with the gun would be faster than shooting it! That's why Li Chenzhou hadn't bought a better gun, and was still using a pistol!

Although he couldn't get more bullets, he had nine left. Good enough. Li Chenzhou slung Death Howl over his shoulder and headed downstairs.

"You solved another crisis for us!"

Luo Hong said gratefully upon seeing Li Chenzhou, who looked at Luo Hong and hesitated.

"Come with me for a moment!"

Luo Hong was surprised, but didn't ask, and followed Li Chenzhou out of the war room.

"Gray Bear! Take me to get my car!"

Outside, Li Chenzhou got into Gray Bear's car. His own car was still parked where he'd left it. Now that Lin Qiang's convoy was gone, he needed to retrieve his car and meet up with Duan Lei!

After getting his armored car, Li Chenzhou drove across the grass to Duan Lei's car. He got out with Luo Hong. Duan Lei got out as well, looking at Luo Hong curiously.

"This is Luo Hong! From the mall! This is Duan Lei, my brother. You can treat him like you treat me!"

Li Chenzhou introduced them, then looked at Duan Lei with a questioning look.

Duan Lei immediately understood and smiled at Li Chenzhou.

"The same as before!"

Li Chenzhou's face darkened. He was asking Duan Lei about Luo Hong's color, because he wanted to give Luo Hong an evolution potion!

He wasn't that familiar with Luo Hong, but he had brought out so many people, and seemed worth investing in, especially since they had encountered Lin Qiang, and Li Chenzhou figured Lin Qiang would cause more trouble.

Li Chenzhou needed to check out the zombie horde at the Qin Ting Hotel, and didn't have time to chase Lin Qiang, so Luo Hong and his group needed some self-defense capabilities.

Duan Lei had understood Li Chenzhou's meaning, and "the same as before" referred to when Duan Lei was first testing his skills, referring to the time Li Chenzhou had been "greened."

Since that was the color, Li Chenzhou didn't hesitate. He pulled Luo Hong back into the armored car and said, "Luo Hong, I told you before that strengthened zombies have crystal cores that make people stronger, but I have something better! It can make you as strong as me right now, at least physically. You'll still need to train your shooting and combat skills!"

Hearing Li Chenzhou's words, Luo Hong was shocked, but didn't interrupt, waiting for Li Chenzhou to continue.

"Now you effectively have your own base, and I see your abilities. Especially after encountering Lin Qiang and clashing with them, I think he might come back!"

Li Chenzhou continued, "Judging from the fight, you couldn't resist them, though you didn't have weapons then. Even with weapons, you probably wouldn't be a match for their personnel.

"So... I want to make you stronger, to ensure you can defend yourselves if Lin Qiang comes again!"

Li Chenzhou waved an evolution potion in front of Luo Hong and said, "This is an evolution potion. It can turn you into an Evolver or even an Awakened, but I won't give it to you for free. You can use it, but you'll have to give me two mutant crystal cores from strengthened zombies when I return. Do you accept?"

"Of course!"

Luo Hong answered immediately.

"But there's something I have to make clear first!!!"