Chapter 107: A Wearisome Defense

The scavenger Singh spoke with thick, white brain matter mixed with blood still staining the corners of his mouth. Seeing this, even the Dreamers present—who had killed many in their respective plot worlds and possessed strong nerves—felt an intense wave of nausea. The fat man who had just greeted the "Chrysanthemum and Blade" team could not hold back and began to retch.

"There are still main quests to complete in this world, and nine hostile Dreamers to face! Singh, you’ve killed one of our own just now. Do you want to be erased for failing the main quest? Or do you want to die at the hands of the enemy Dreamers?" The captain of Chrysanthemum and Blade, Yamato, glared at Singh, his voice low and trembling with suppressed rage.

"Don't be angry, relax. Didn't I say? I killed her only because I hate it when people scream in front of me... Besides, this woman was dirt poor. Killing her only netted me 1,600 points. Damn it..."

Singh cursed, then licked the brain matter off his hand with his tongue and shrugged. "Don't worry. As long as we have common enemies, I won't cause any trouble before they are dealt with. So... shouldn't we go see Dr. Zomboss? Hehe, zombies—I love them, because they love brains too. Hahahaha... I think Dr. Zomboss and I will have a lot to talk about..."

He pulled out a container, scraped the remaining brain matter from the fallen woman's skull into it to serve as a gift for the zombie doctor, and began humming a tune as he walked toward the castle, ignoring everyone else.

Only after the terrifying scavenger had left did the group breathe a sigh of relief. The bespectacled boy collapsed to the ground, drenched in cold sweat.

"Damn it, why did we have to run into that pervert?"

The three members of Chrysanthemum and Blade looked grim. After a moment, Captain Yamato spoke to the others: "Singh is a notorious pervert in the beginner's zone. He once chopped an opponent into small pieces and ate them in the arena, which is how he earned the title 'Scavenger'."

"That match was public. Judging by his performance, he is very strong among Dreamers of the same level. The most terrifying thing is his speed of movement and attack, and the way he uses that black dagger to strike fatal blows at weak points... Just like before, he crippled that woman before she could even react, then used the dagger to peel open her skull. When facing him, even in a peaceful scenario, you must be fully focused!"

"During this mission, Chrysanthemum and Blade can protect you, but each of you must pay 2,000 currency points or provide items of equal value. Furthermore, you must strictly follow our will while in this world."

Under the heavy pressure exerted by Singh, everyone paid the points and was temporarily incorporated into the small group. Subsequently, prompted by the main quest, the party set off toward the castle to seek an audience with Dr. Zomboss.

Meanwhile, at the house stronghold in Plant Town a hundred miles away, no one knew that the opposing side had not only arrived but brought a pervert with them. As midnight passed, Wang Ling and the others were awakened by Hassan. Only Dave, the plot character, remained fast asleep on the sofa.

Outside, the zombie army still swarmed, as if the entire town had been submerged, leaving only this house behind. Wang Ling scanned the plants in the yard and keenly noticed that a few more had been added.

Hassan explained that since morning, killing zombies had dropped five Peashooter seeds. He had used the sunflowers planted by Dave and the watering can found in the house to grow them, turning them into cards before planting them on the lawn in the front yard.

Learning that killing invading zombies could yield plant seeds lifted everyone's spirits. Since enemy Dreamers could strike at any time, the group took their positions.

Hassan, wearing a bucket helmet, climbed onto the roof and hugged his AK, scanning the surroundings with intense concentration. Caslo, Cai Qing, Suna, and Yamada stood in the front yard, wearing bucket or traffic-cone helmets and holding weapons, vigilantly watching the road ahead. Wang Ling moved a chair to the backyard and sat down, wearing a metal bucket on his head that provided 1,100 points of damage absorption.

Time passed slowly, from afternoon to night, yet no enemy Dreamers appeared. Aside from the three types of zombies seen earlier, only Pole Vaulting Zombies had emerged, but their durability was extremely low and they could not break through the firepower of the combat plants.

After night fell, Dave suddenly ran from the house to the front yard and told them, "Good evening, neighbors. I think... those zombies won't let up on their offensive... You'll notice that fighting at night is different from the day... Well, your field of vision will be reduced by the darkness, and those night owls—the Small-shrooms in the yard—will join the battle..."

"But... don't be careless. There are usually more enemies at night..."

After providing some information, the eccentric fellow returned to the house to sleep. Wang Ling returned from the backyard and told Caslo and the others, "We still have more than four days left. Staying highly alert without sleep for long periods is impossible. Eventually, we will have to join the fight against the zombies, and the enemy Dreamers will surely launch a surprise attack while we are exhausted."

Caslo was also worried. He rubbed his hands and said, "How about we divide into two teams and rotate rest and guard duty during the day? If we encounter enemies, we wake the others. The main problem is that we don't have enough manpower. Why not... call out your summoned characters again?"

"During the day, the view is clear. As long as there is one person on the roof, they should be able to watch the backyard. At night, I'll act as bait in the backyard to lure attackers. The four Kung Fu masters and the Blood-Vein Dragon must only be released when necessary. As for now, I will summon three Dark Warriors. We are short three Dreamers; these three have unique builds, which is a bit troublesome, but if we dress them up and give them weapons, they might pass for Dreamers."

The Afro Dwarf was 1.5 meters tall and too thin; the Thug Hercules was 2 meters tall and too muscular; the Hippie Fat Man was of normal height but too obese... However, there was no better choice. After changing their clothes, Wang Ling equipped them with traffic-cone helmets. Caslo, having some E-grade basic gear, gave them daggers, iron hammers, and hand axes.

Just then, the plants in the yard faced a crisis. A large number of zombies holding screen doors were blocking the other zombies as they approached the yard. The bullets fired by the plants hit the screen doors with a loud clatter. The Fume-shrooms, which had no attacks that could penetrate the screen doors, struggled to deal with these zombies. If the zombies broke through, they would likely lose some plants.

"Let's go, take them out!"

Caslo and Cai Qing, the two strength-specialists, were eager for action. Yamada wanted to see if the screen doors could be looted. The three rushed onto the lawn, using axes, steel forks, orc clubs, and samurai swords to slaughter the zombies. Wang Ling raised his white-iron musket to shoot at the leading zombies, while Suna provided long-range support with her throwing-knife skill.

The combat plants possessed a degree of intelligence and did not fire at their own Dreamers. Before long, Caslo obtained a wooden key, which unlocked a chest containing a screen door. Yamada and Cai Qing each harvested a plant seed.

Seeing such benefits, Wang Ling stowed his musket and rushed onto the lawn. He had told the others he was a Dreamer with primary agility and secondary strength; showing the ability to kill screen-door zombies wouldn't attract attention, as these monsters were weak.

Holding a meteorite-iron spearhead in his right hand and a heavy alloy shield in his left, he waded into the zombie horde with light footwork. The screen doors could block plant bullets, but not a spearhead thrust at the head. Like a dancer, Wang Ling killed them one by one. After taking down a large group of screen-door zombies, a new type—the Newspaper Zombie—began to appear.

These monsters, wearing glasses, floral boxers, suits, and ties, would suddenly increase their speed once their newspaper was destroyed, which was a bit of a nuisance.

After wiping out this wave, Wang Ling obtained a wooden key from a Newspaper Zombie. He summoned a chest and found a newspaper inside.

"Zombie Newspaper: Type: Special Armor; Rating: E; Attribute: Blue Equipment; Defense: 1 point; Ability: When equipped, the newspaper blocks attacks from the front. It has 150 points of durability and can absorb a total of 150 points of base damage. Once the durability is exhausted, the newspaper is destroyed and cannot be repaired."

It was a practical piece of minor gear, though its durability was low, far inferior to screen doors or bucket helmets.

The night gradually passed, and more than ten plants were added to the lawn. No Dreamers had attacked all night. Being kept in such a state of tension was undoubtedly exhausting, so the sleep-deprived group split into two teams. Wang Ling, his three summons, and Hassan formed one group to keep guard outside, while Caslo, Yamada, Cai Qing, and Suna took a short rest.

The intensity of the zombie wave on the second day was much greater than the first. The appearance of numerous Buckethead Zombies forced Wang Ling to frequently enter the lawn with his Dark Warriors to help the plants. The benefit was that he harvested two more bucket helmets and unexpectedly obtained a Jalapeno seed.

After rotating shifts, when night came again, the group—feeling immense pressure—remained outside together to withstand the new wave.

Wang Ling had a premonition that the enemy Dreamers were likely to arrive soon. Sitting on a bench in the backyard, he held the Zombie Newspaper in his hand, pretending to read it, while his mind remained on high alert, scanning the surroundings.