Chapter 32: Congratulations, Survivor, you've leveled up
Mia wiped the cookie crumbs from her mouth and nodded eagerly.
"Great! This is fantastic!" she exclaimed.
"And, it's not easy for us to come out here. It takes over two hours to drive here. We might as well take this opportunity to accumulate more experience points and level up," Mia added.
Alex nodded as he loaded bullets into his pistol.
"Alright, that's settled then. Later, you'll drive, and I'll be responsible for killing the zombies," Alex said.
Mia hummed in agreement, then asked, "Do you have a battle plan?"
After a brief moment of thought, Alex replied, "Here's what I'm thinking. Do you see that grassy area ahead? We'll douse it with gasoline, then drive the car to lure the zombies over. I'll shoot to attract them, then we'll set the grass on fire and give them a good roasting."
"Once the fire is lit, we can quickly drive to the left side of that hill. Our range will be enough to finish them off," he continued.
Mia applauded the plan.
"Great idea, Alex! You're so clever!" she exclaimed.
Alex felt a bit embarrassed by her praise.
He noticed that Mia was now completely obedient to him, praising everything he did.
This tactic was entirely based on the zombies' lack of intelligence, as they only followed their instincts.
Alex suddenly wondered if there would be zombies with intelligence in the future.
Otherwise, as survivors' strength rapidly increased, these mindless zombies would gradually pose less of a threat.
Alex had watched plenty of zombie movies before.
Usually, towards the end, there would be mutated zombies or higher-level zombies.
But for now, Alex wasn't worried about such things.
It was crucial to reach level 10 first and receive the system's body enhancement.
As for whether there would be mutated or higher-level zombies in the future, Alex was confident that he would still be able to thrive when that time came.
Alex and Mia got out of the car together and began pouring gasoline onto the grass.
Their efficiency was impressive, and soon the entire grassy area shimmered in the sunlight with a glossy sheen of oil.
After pouring the gasoline, Mia got behind the wheel and drove straight toward the zombie horde.
Alex crouched on the roof of the car and began shooting as they approached.
If any zombies slipped through, he pulled out his crossbow to finish them off.
Soon, a horde of zombies started running towards them.
After attracting the attention of the zombies, Alex shouted to Mia from the driver's seat, "Turn, follow the planned route we discussed earlier. Drive slowly, we need to lure the zombies over."
Mia followed his instructions.
As they neared the prepared gasoline trap, Alex continued to harass the zombies with gunfire. When they were close enough, he holstered his pistol and lit the torch he held in his hand.
As their car drove over the gasoline-soaked grassland, the zombies also fell into the trap.
Alex threw the torch into the grass.
Whoosh! A fierce fire erupted, instantly igniting many zombies and trapping them within the burning grass.
At this point, the two arrived at the hill they had mentioned earlier.
Looking at the raging fire on the grassland, Alex was still unsatisfied.
"The fire is still too small. Let's give our dear zombie brothers a bigger fire," Alex said as he took out a gasoline can from his backpack and, relying on his strong physical fitness, threw it into the grass.
With more fuel added, the entire grassland burned fiercely, even spreading to the nearby forest.
Alex heard many zombies roaring from within the forest.
The sustained combustion of gasoline caused significant damage to the zombies.
This crude method was much faster than using pistols and crossbows on the hill.
Alex didn't care about environmental conservation; surviving was all that mattered.
After watching for a while, Alex pulled Mia back to the car.
Standing on the hill, they were both soaked in sweat from the heat waves generated by the flames.
They turned on the air conditioning and continued driving towards the next zombie gathering point.
Because the fire here was too large, it attracted the attention of nearby survivors.
They began discussing in the chat channels but couldn't figure out what was happening.
User 984594: "Damn, let me send you guys a picture. Look, how did the forest catch fire over there? Arson? Spontaneous combustion? (Attached photo of the burning forest taken from a distance)"
User 893743: "Haha, with this weather, it shouldn't spontaneously combust, right? It rained acid for a whole day a few days ago. How could it spontaneously combust? It's definitely arson."
User 943853: "Isn't anyone going to put out the fire? Trees are also life."
User 947254: "Ah, in this post-apocalyptic world, are you talking about firefighting and disaster relief? Let's not even talk about the lack of water. Who would risk their lives like that? Do you think being a firefighter is easy?"
User 234323: "Oh my god! The Buddha's light is so dazzling! Since you feel the need to save the trees, why don't you go put out the fire yourself?"
User 654554: "The living Buddha has appeared. User 984594, send your coordinates and let this living Buddha save all beings!"
Many survivors were speechless at such nonsensical comments.
In this world, they were still thinking about firefighting and disaster relief.
How did the other party manage to survive until now?
Luckily, Alex was too busy driving to check the chat channel.
Otherwise, he would have surely confessed that he started the fire.
Let's see how Survivor #984594 confronts him.
Alex drove while listening to the system prompts.
His experience points were steadily increasing, getting closer to level ten.
[Gain 1 experience]
[Gain 1 experience]
[Gain 1 experience]
...
[1 experience needed to level up]
As he was about to level up, Alex noticed the experience bar wasn't increasing.
It was obvious that the wildfire had burned all the zombies in the forest, no longer providing experience points.
Alex was a bit speechless.
Just then, a zombie appeared not far from the front of the car.
Alex hesitated for a moment, then stepped on the gas and rushed forward.
With a bang, the zombie soared through the air in a graceful arc.
[Gain 1 experience]
[Congratulations, Survivor, you've leveled up! Keep up the good work!]
After knocking the zombie away, he successfully reached level ten.
In an instant, Alex felt his physical abilities skyrocketing.
It wasn't just a leap in strength and agility, but an indescribable sensation.
Alex felt like he could now jump from the second floor without a scratch.
Mia, sitting in the passenger seat, sensed the change in Alex and exclaimed with delight, "Alex, you leveled up? That's amazing!"
"Yes, I leveled up. Let's head home now. We'll figure out what changes this upgrade brings when we get back."
Alex pressed down on the accelerator.
The car's RPM increased, and the engine roared restlessly.
Since they had leveled up, they didn't plan on continuing to the next zombie gathering point.
After all, they had been scavenging for supplies and hunting zombies for two or three days, and it was time for some rest.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone