Survival in the Apocalypse: Max Level Drop Rate with Abundant Resources

A somber atmosphere pervaded the heart of Kyoto.

The enormous golden pillar of light had long since dissipated, replaced by a golden core suspended in mid-air. It was taller than a person, composed entirely of an unknown golden crystal, its surface covered with densely packed runes. These runes slowly swirled, and with each rotation, a pale golden halo spread outwards, like a sleeping heart gently beating.

The heart of Kyoto.

The heart of this city is also the most crucial strategic point in the battle against the zombie horde. Once touched by the rotting zombies, the entire city falls, all players' levels decrease by three, rewards are reduced by 30% for a month, and gold coin consumption increases by 50%.

That's a price no one wants to pay.

At this moment, the area within a 500-meter radius of the core has been completely cleared. Residents, players, and merchants who were originally active in this area have all been evacuated to the depths of the inner city. The doors and windows of the buildings on both sides of the street are tightly closed, and all passages into this area have been blocked by reinforced concrete barricades and barbed wire.

On the innermost side of this blockade, less than a hundred meters from the core, more than a hundred players were scattered around, gathered in twos and threes. Some were sitting, some were standing, some were talking in hushed tones, some were checking their equipment, and some were resting with their eyes closed.

These players' equipment was clearly a level above that of ordinary players. Even the worst equipment they had was bronze-level, with many wearing silver-level gear. Their levels were generally between 12 and 15; while they couldn't compare to Shen Xi and Ming Ying, they were already among the top players in Kyoto.

Top 100 in the Kyoto City Championship.

Before the zombie horde descended, Lord Wu'an urgently ordered all the top 100 players in the tournament to be transferred to the core of Kyoto to form a core guard team. These people may not be the strongest, but they are definitely the most experienced in combat. To fight their way out of more than two thousand participants and enter the top 100, each of them has experienced countless life-and-death battles.

The temporary commander of the core guard was a woman in her early thirties, wearing a dark red leather armor, with two short daggers hanging at her waist. She had short hair that reached her ears and sharp, piercing eyes.

Her name is Liu Qing, ranked seventh in the Kyoto Championship, a level 12 Assassin. Although not a hidden class, she has extremely rich combat experience, having soloed a level 15 boss, the Corpse, in the first stage of the championship.

Liu Qing leaned against a concrete pillar, arms crossed, eyes closed, trying to rest. But her ears were constantly listening to the sounds around her; no rustling or movement escaped her notice.

"Sister Liu, what exactly is that fire over in the south district?"

A young man in his early twenties approached, his face still smeared with black blood. His name was Zhao Xiaodao, a level 13 berserker ranked fifteenth in the Kyoto Championship, wielding a double-edged battle axe thicker than his arm.

Liu Qing didn't open her eyes: "I don't know."

Zhao Xiaodao scratched his head: "I bet it's Tai Chuqian's. Look at the merit list, he has over 8,000 points, while the second place only has a little over 100. That difference is outrageous."

"Who else could it be but him?" A woman in a mage's robe interjected. Her name was Su Muqing, a level 13 elemental mage ranked ninth in the Kyoto Championship, holding a staff in her hand, the crystal at the top of the staff still glowing faintly.

Su Muqing adjusted her glasses and continued, "Wu'an Jun is in the East District, and he only has a little over a hundred merit points. Na Luo is in the West District, and he only has a little over a hundred as well. General Sun in the North District is even worse off; he didn't even make it into the top five. Apart from Tai Chu, who else could accumulate over eight thousand merit points in such a short time?"

Zhao Xiaodao swallowed hard: "Over eight thousand... how many rotting corpses did that take to kill?"

"At least a thousand." Su Muqing's voice was calm. "And most of them should be elites and leaders, otherwise they wouldn't have that much experience. Didn't you see the level rankings? Tai Chu jumped from level 24 to level 27, a triple jump."

"Three consecutive promotions?!" Zhao Xiaodao's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "Is this even human?"

"He's not human, he's a god." Su Muqing's tone was complicated. "The god of the China region."

Zhao Xiaodao fell silent. He looked down at his battle axe, then at the number on the merit list, and suddenly felt that his axe was a bit heavy.

Liu Qing opened her eyes and glanced at the two of them: "Stop talking, stay alert. Although the area around the core has been cleared, no one can guarantee that no rotting corpses have infiltrated."

Zhao Xiaodao nodded quickly, gripped his battle axe tightly, and scanned his surroundings. Su Muqing also stopped speaking, the crystal on her staff glowing faintly, ready to cast a spell at any moment.

The surrounding players were mostly focused on the towering flame in the southern area. Some said it was a hidden skill of the Primordial Beginning, some said it was the effect of some forbidden item, and others said it was a projection of a divine beast summoned by the Primordial Beginning.

But whatever it is, everyone has reached a consensus: Tai Chu, the number one in the Huaxia region, truly deserves the title.

Just as everyone was discussing the matter, a sharp alarm suddenly sounded.

"Waaaaah—waaaah—"

The sound was piercing and urgent, something that hadn't been heard in Kyoto for a long time. The last time it was heard was on the first day of the apocalypse, when rotting corpses appeared in large numbers in the city.

Everyone's expression changed instantly.

Liu Qing suddenly stood up, her gaze sharp as a knife, scanning her surroundings. Her ears twitched slightly, catching every unusual sound in the air. Zhao Xiaodao gripped his battle axe tightly, his muscles tense, ready to charge at any moment. A blinding white light shone from the tip of Su Muqing's staff, and a fireball spell had already taken shape.

"There are rotting corpses," Liu Qing said in a low voice, "and quite a few of them."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a series of disordered footsteps echoed from the end of the street. They weren't human footsteps; they were dragging, heavy footsteps, the sound of fingernails scraping the ground.

A rotting corpse.

And it wasn't just one, it was many.

The first rotting corpse rushed out from around the corner. It was an ordinary rotting corpse, level 8, wearing a tattered sanitation worker's uniform, its bluish-gray skin covered in lividity, its cloudy eyes gleaming eerily in the darkness. It opened its mouth, letting out a low growl, and lunged towards the core.

Then came the second, the third, the fifth, the tenth, and so on.

Ordinary rotting corpses surged out from the end of the street like a tide; they weren't moving fast, but their numbers were overwhelming. They were densely packed, layer upon layer, crowding the entire street.

But this is only the beginning.

Behind the ordinary corpses followed several elite corpses, each noticeably larger. Their skin was not the usual bluish-gray, but a dark red, their muscles were bulging, and their arms had mutated into enormous bone blades, gleaming with a chilling light under the streetlights.

Further behind the elite corpses, several enormous figures loomed in and out of sight. These were mutated corpses, over three meters tall, covered in thick bone armor, heads bowed, charging forward like raging bulls. Each step they took caused the ground to tremble slightly.

Liu Qing's pupils contracted slightly.

Heavy armorers, bone-blade butchers, darkwing predators, and even a carrion leader.

These rotting corpses shouldn't be here.

They should have been held back on the outer defensive line by Lord Wu'an, General Wang, and General Sun. But now, they've appeared in the core area of ​​Kyoto. This means that a defensive line has been breached. The rotting corpses are pouring in through that gap, heading straight for the core.

"Looks like some rotting corpses have infiltrated." Liu Qing's voice was icy. "Brothers, stay alert, don't let these beasts reach the core of Kyoto!"

More than a hundred players responded in unison. No one backed down; every one of them who made it into the top one hundred of the tournament had crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Rotting corpses? They'd killed far too many.

Zhao Xiaodao, carrying his battle axe, grinned and said, "You've come at the perfect time. I was just worried about not having enough merit points."

Su Muqing pushed up her glasses, and the crystal at the top of her staff shone with a dazzling white light: "Don't be careless, these corpses are of a high level, and there are quite a few of them."

Liu Qing didn't participate in their conversation. Her gaze swept over the surging corpses, her mind rapidly analyzing the battle situation. There were at least a hundred ordinary corpses, a dozen elite corpses, five or six mutated corpses, and a corpse leader.

This force, if placed on the outer defensive line, would require at least a battalion to hold off. They only have a little over a hundred men, all elite, but a direct confrontation would result in significant casualties.

More importantly, she didn't know which direction the corpses had come from. East District? West District? South District? North District?

"Sister Liu, where did these rotting corpses come from?" Zhao Xiaodao asked the crucial question.

Liu Qing was silent for a moment, then shook his head: "I don't know. But one thing is certain: at least one line of defense has been breached."

Zhao Xiaodao's expression changed: "East District? Impossible. Lord Wu'an is in the East District. You know his strength. He couldn't possibly allow the Corpse to break through."

Su Muqing also spoke up: "The West District has the fewest rotting corpses and the most solid defenses, so it's impossible."

"As for the South District..." she paused, "with Tai Chu here, the South District will never fall."

Zhao Xiaodao nodded: "That would be the North District. The North District has the most complex terrain and the weakest defenses. Although General Sun is experienced, he lacks sufficient troops. If the Corpse Corpses break through from the North District, it is indeed possible."

Liu Qing remained silent. Regardless of the direction of the breakthrough, the most important thing now was to defend the core. She took a deep breath and began to deploy her forces.

"Ranged teams, prepare for the first wave of attack. Once the zombies are within range, unleash your full firepower and try to kill as many as possible in the first wave."

"Melee team, spread out in a fan shape. After the ranged attacks end, you guys go up and hold the corpses a hundred meters away from the core. Don't retreat, not even a step."

"Assassin group, hide. After the rotting corpses and melee group are engaged in combat, flank from the side and prioritize killing elites and mutants. Don't linger in battle; retreat after you've finished them off."

"clear!"

The hundred-plus players quickly dispersed and took their positions. Ranged players retreated to higher ground near the core, securing advantageous positions. Melee players lined up in three rows a hundred meters in front of the core, with shield warriors at the forefront, and berserkers and swordsmen in the second row, ready to take over at any time. Assassin players disappeared into the shadows on both sides of the street, waiting for the best opportunity to strike.

The rotting corpse was getting closer.

Two hundred meters.

150 meters.

One hundred meters.

Stay tuned to "Riding a Cow", "Cola Novels", and every update of "Survival in the Apocalypse: Max Level, High Drop Rate, and Abundant Resources".