Chapter 44: An Awkward Encounter

With Tom back in high spirits, everything went much smoother.

"Alright, let's get going," Li Huan said, pulling out a wooden sword from his inventory and tossing it to Mei.

"From what I saw during that battle with the Herrscher, it looks like you know how to handle a sword. Here, use this."

Mei caught the sword and asked, "Thanks, but don't you need it?"

"I've got this," Li Huan replied, showing off a baseball bat and his Dream Hammer. "For me, blunt weapons work better than swords."

Besides, if I used a wooden sword, I might subconsciously use my 'Bare-Handed Blade Catching' technique, and that could backfire, Li Huan thought to himself.

That was the real reason, but he wasn't about to share it—some secrets are best kept.

"Well, then, I'll accept it with thanks," Mei said, taking the wooden sword and giving it a few test swings.

Seeing Li Huan hand something to Mei, Kiana seemed a bit displeased. "Wait! I have something for Mei-senpai too!" she said, pulling out a handgun and handing it to Mei.

"Mei-senpai, take this for protection!"

"Thank you, Kiana."

Li Huan's eyes widened as he saw Kiana give Mei a gun.

Earlier, he'd asked Kiana if she had any spare guns to give him, but she'd told him she didn't have any and basically told him to scram.

Now it turned out she did have a gun after all. He felt a bit cheated.

"Hey! If you had one, why didn't you give it to me?" Li Huan exclaimed.

"Why would I give it to you?" Kiana retorted. "I only have two."

As if remembering something, Kiana fished out a magazine from her pocket.

"But I do have plenty of spare magazines. Want some?"

Li Huan shouted, "What use is a magazine if I don't even have a gun?"

"Then you don't need it, do you?" Kiana said as she was about to put the magazine away. But before she could, Li Huan quickly stretched out his hand.

"Actually, give me a few magazines."

"Didn't you just say they were useless without a gun...?"

"Free stuff is always useful. Now, are you going to give them to me or not?"

Seeing Li Huan's outstretched hand, Kiana muttered, "So weird," and handed over a few magazines.

After pocketing the magazines, Li Huan waved his hand. "Alright, ladies, let's move out."

After this little episode, the trio and the cat headed towards the parking lot.

Their journey was smooth, without anything that could slow them down. With Kiana on their side, not even a swarm of zombies could approach them, and with Mei, the zombies didn't stand a chance.

Moreover, for some reason, the number of zombies seemed to have decreased since they set out.

Before reaching the senior classroom building, Li Huan had observed that the number of zombies on the streets was noticeably higher than it was now.

Mei, however, seemed to have an explanation.

"When I fought that cat earlier, she didn't just use her own power; she also drained all the Honkai energy from the area."

Li Huan watched as Mei casually sliced a zombie in half with the wooden sword while explaining. "As a result, the zombies in this area lost their Honkai energy too. The ones left are just the lucky ones."

"What I'm more curious about is how you can slice through enemies with a wooden sword..." Li Huan mused.

Mei, flicking off the mysterious purple liquid from her sword, casually replied, "My father taught me swordsmanship when I was young. In our family, if you can cut a wooden man in half with a wooden sword, it's considered a sign of proficiency..."

Talking about it seemed to bring up some painful memories, and Mei's expression turned a bit somber.

But that wasn't really Li Huan's concern. He was more interested in the fact that this swordsmanship technique, which could cut a zombie in half with a wooden sword, was only considered a sign of proficiency.

What kind of martial arts was this?

Still, it wasn't as impressive as Tom's skills—Tom was in a league of his own.

As these thoughts crossed Li Huan's mind, he smashed the head of a zombie with his Dream Hammer.

Just like when he hit Tom earlier, the zombie was knocked out cold, star-shaped effects popping up as it collapsed to the ground, lifeless.

"This hammer works even on the undead?" Li Huan looked at the Dream Hammer in his hand, growing more impressed by it.

[It's not just effective against the undead. The Dream Hammer forces anyone, even those immune to such effects, into a state of unconsciousness.]

The system's explanation left Li Huan stunned.

"Whoa, does that mean it's unbeatable?"

[No, it's not unbeatable,] the system replied, throwing cold water on his excitement. [While the hammer can cause most beings to pass out, the duration of unconsciousness depends on the opponent. The stronger the opponent, the shorter the time they stay down. Some might even recover after just a momentary stun.]

Li Huan understood. If it was truly that powerful, the hammer wouldn't just be an ordinary piece of equipment.

[And by the way, the hammer itself is just a sturdier wooden mallet. It can break if subjected to more force than it can handle.]

"Wait, really?" Li Huan was shocked. "I had no idea."

[Just be careful. Don't get too cocky—at least, not yet.]

As they bantered back and forth, their light-hearted atmosphere almost like a spring outing, Li Huan and his group finally arrived at the parking lot.

"This is the academy's parking lot," Li Huan said, eyeing the locked iron gate. "Since this is a building-type parking lot, the door is usually locked, so there probably aren't many zombies inside, given that few people would be here."

"That makes sense. Typically, only staff or drivers would come to a place like this," Mei said, scanning the area for any signs of danger.

"Whatever, we should go in now," Kiana said, raising her gun and aiming at the lock.

"Wait, Kiana," Li Huan quickly grabbed her hand. "Don't waste your bullets."

He turned to Tom and tilted his head towards the gate. "Tom, get that lock open!"

Tom nodded enthusiastically and approached the lock. With a single claw, he fiddled with it for a moment before the lock popped open with a click.

With the lock taken care of, Kiana put away her gun, and the three of them, along with Tom, walked into the parking lot.

However, as soon as they entered, they all came to an abrupt stop.

Directly in front of them was a girl who was walking towards the exit, seemingly about to leave.

She froze in place the moment she saw Li Huan and the others.

An awkward silence filled the space as they all stood there, staring at each other.