The Heavy Armor looked like something from the Qin or Han dynasties, forged from pitch-black supernatural metal. Zhao Yin estimated it weighed at least one or two hundred jin.

He could wear it himself, but the strain would cripple his mobility and actually lower his combat effectiveness. Better to give it to Little Monkey.

He could already picture it: Little Monkey activating Giantification, clad in indestructible armor, Spiked Club in hand, tearing through zombie hordes like an unstoppable force. Slaughtering powerful zombies. Harvesting Star Crystals one after another...

Zhao Yin wiped the drool from his mouth and finally remembered he still needed to give the Dress to Song Xiaodao.

He could wear two tops at most. Any more would restrict his movement. The Military Jacket had to stay on the outside. The newly acquired Women's Suit was E-rank-its attributes far outclassed the Dress.

So the Dress would go to Song Xiaodao, who had been eyeing it hungrily for a while now.

After deciding on the distribution, Zhao Yin turned to check on Song Xiaodao.

She had devoured all the freshly peeled Chestnuts and passed out cold. She would not wake for at least five or six hours.

He swapped out his own equipment and sorted the gear for Little Monkey and Song Xiaodao into two separate piles.

Then he called Little Monkey over.

"Monkey. This Heavy Armor and Spiked Club are both D-rank. The best equipment I have. I was planning to keep them for myself, for emergencies. But then I thought about how I raised you from nothing, wiped your ass, cleaned up after you. So I'm giving them to you."

Little Monkey's eyes went round. It stared blankly at the Heavy Armor and Spiked Club.

It remembered clearly. That terrifying Zombie King had been killed by its master with that very Spiked Club.

It never expected its usually stingy master to hand over such a devastating weapon.

"This Heavy Armor is the real prize. Defensive equipment is harder to come by than weapons. Sixty points of Sturdiness-only slightly weaker than that Zombie King's hide. Wear this, and even armor-piercing rounds will struggle to scratch you." Zhao Yin added.

Little Monkey looked up at Zhao Yin, tears welling in its eyes.

"Master, you're too good to me. You should keep this Heavy Armor for yourself!"

Seeing its master wearing only a Military Jacket with a pink Women's Suit underneath, the little monkey nearly burst into tears.

"I said it's yours, so it's yours. Put it on. Go out and kill zombies. Don't come back before dark."

Zhao Yin's expression turned stern, his voice carrying absolute authority.

"Bring back every Star Crystal and Zombie Core you find!"

Why would he let Little Monkey sit idle while Song Xiaodao was unconscious?

With this D-rank equipment, every second of Little Monkey's time translated directly into Zombie Cores and Star Crystals.

Before Little Monkey left, Zhao Yin thought for a moment and handed it thirty Chestnuts, a bottle of Nongfu Spring, and a piece of Filled Bread.

"If you get hungry, eat the Chestnuts. This bottle of Nongfu Spring covers your water needs for the day. No need for other supplies. But the Filled Bread and that bottle of Iced Black Tea I gave you earlier-those are life-saving items. Don't touch them unless it's a real emergency."

Little Monkey nodded eagerly. It craved Supernatural Food, but Zhao Yin's influence had rubbed off. It understood how precious these items were. Save what you can.

Supernatural defensive equipment could resize itself to fit the wearer's body.

Little Monkey donned the Heavy Armor. Without its ability activated, the weight was clearly a struggle. It dragged the Spiked Club behind it as it trudged out of the tent.

The Invisibility Tent fell silent.

Only Zhao Yin remained, along with the unconscious Song Xiaodao and Old Bull standing nearby.

"Master, I... I want to earn merits too!" Old Bull's deep, rumbling mental voice reached him.

As Zhao Yin's other Contract Beast, it had watched Little Monkey receive a Spiked Club, Heavy Armor, Supernatural Food, and water.

Old Bull was burning with envy.

"You want to earn Star Crystals and Zombie Cores for me too?" Zhao Yin turned and asked.

Old Bull looked down at its front hooves. Killing zombies was no problem. But even if it killed them, it had no hands to dig out the Zombie Cores and Star Crystals.

"Master, Old Bull is willing to kill zombies for you. But Old Bull also has a big secret to tell you," the water buffalo said mentally.

Zhao Yin raised an eyebrow. "A big secret?"

There really did seem to be something hidden about this water buffalo. The mass animal mutations had only started a few days ago, yet it had already evolved to E-rank-even faster than Little Monkey, who had been following Zhao Yin the whole time. Something was off.

"Earlier, Old Bull almost got you killed, Master. It was because of this secret. It all started with how I became enemies with those zombies..."

This water buffalo was not the farm ox Zhao Yin had assumed. Before the apocalypse, it had not lived in this village.

It was just a beef cattle purchased by the Guangzhou City slaughterhouse. It had been force-fed with growth hormones and harsh industrial methods at a cattle farm. In truth, it was barely a year old.

At the slaughterhouse, it watched its companions die one by one. Their hides sliced open while they were still alive. Water injected into their muscles. Their bodies processed into various beef products.

Those scenes filled it with terror every single day. It had long hated humans, but it was powerless to do anything.

Then, late one night over a month ago, it was led into the production workshop. It thought it was about to die.

But then the meteor shower came.

The production workshop collapsed. The water buffalo was buried under the rubble.

Fortunately, the slaughter racks held up part of the debris, leaving it a small pocket of space. Nearby lay the stomachs of several slaughtered cattle, still containing remnants of grass and moisture.

The water buffalo barely survived for a month. A few days ago, on the verge of death, it suddenly felt strength surge through its body. It smashed through the collapsed roof above its head.

And stepped into the apocalypse.

The first thing it saw were the butchers from before. They had all changed. They wandered aimlessly through the ruins of the slaughterhouse.

The water buffalo did not understand what had happened. Rage took over. It charged, knocked them all down, and trampled them with its iron hooves until they were nothing but pulp.

It discovered its strength had become absurdly powerful. It rampaged and slaughtered wildly. Slowly, it realized those humans had turned into some other kind of monster-and their strength was gradually increasing.

Over time, the water buffalo started taking injuries during its rampages. It had to avoid large zombie hordes. When thirsty, it drank dirty water. When hungry, it ate newly sprouted grass.

Two days ago, the water buffalo accidentally wandered into that Industrial Park. There, it found a shrub bearing two bright red fruits.

Even from a distance, the water buffalo could smell their fragrance.

That strange, intoxicating scent still haunted it.

It ate only one fruit. Immediately, agonizing pain tore through its body. It collapsed unconscious. When it woke, it found its strength had surged dramatically. It had also gained an Iron Armor ability.

Confidence restored, the water buffalo prepared to eat the remaining fruit.

But then the Zombie King-the overlord of the Industrial Park-appeared.

A brutal battle erupted between bull and zombie. In the end, the water buffalo was wounded and fled to the outskirts. That was when it encountered Zhao Yin the night before.

At that time, the water buffalo had been drawn from afar by the scent of the Chestnut Tree's leaves. It sensed something similar between the Chestnut Leaves and that mysterious shrub. So it ate them-and discovered they could heal its injuries.

The water buffalo knew Zhao Yin had knocked those leaves down. Because of that, it ultimately chose not to kill him. After its wounds healed, it left, planning to return to the Industrial Park and seize the remaining fruit...

What happened afterward, Little Monkey had witnessed and reported to Zhao Yin.

"That shrub-were its leaves needle-shaped? Branches multicolored? The whole plant covered in a layer of golden fuzz? And the fruit bright red with faint golden threads running through it?" Zhao Yin asked.

Old Bull's eyes widened in shock. "Master, how do you know?"

Zhao Yin's breathing grew heavy. In an instant, everything clicked into place.