<h4>Chapter 31: Mia''s First Kill</h4>


    Thest thief was trembling on the ground,pletely paralyzed with fear.


    He hadn''t expected the tables to turn so quickly.


    From the moment Alex pulled out the P92 pistol until now, just one or two minutes had passed, and all hispanions were lying in pools of blood.


    The thief begged for mercy, bowing his head.


    Facing death, he didn''t feel it was inappropriate to sacrifice some dignity.


    In fact, he almost wished he could bash his head to show his sincerity.


    However, Alex paid him no attention and aimed directly at his thigh, firing a shot.


    After ensuring there was no chance of escape, he handed the P92 pistol to Mia.


    Mia understood Alex''s intention.


    He wanted her to take matters into her own hands and spill some blood.


    In this apocalypse, one had to be ruthless to survive longer.


    Alex frowned, saying, "Mia, there''s no need to pity them. Look, they''re all armed, obviously intending to rob and kill. People like this, you kill them when you have the chance, no hesitation. Think about what they would have done if I weren''t by your side. What do you think the consequences would be?"


    Mia naturally understood.


    If it weren''t for Alex, tonight would have been something more painful than death for her.


    She took a deep breath and slowly raised the gun.


    But understanding was one thing; actually pulling the trigger was another matter.


    After all, it was a human life.


    Except for psychopaths, hardly anyone could do it calmly.


    Alex sighed inwardly.


    It seemed he needed to give her a little push to help Mia ovee this psychological barrier.


    Only by oveing this barrier could she truly qualify to survive in the world of the apocalypse.


    Alex stood behind Mia, holding her slightly trembling hands, aiming at the surviving thief.


    His broad shoulders brought a strong sense of security.


    In a soft voice, Alex whispered in Mia''s ear, "Don''t be afraid, I''m right here."


    The thief on the ground, facing the dark barrel aimed at him, looked somewhat despairing.


    Strong will to survive made him endure the intense pain, dragging his wounded leg, limping towards the vi gate, wanting to escape.


    Alex pressed down on Mia''s finger resting on the trigger.


    Bang! The sound of the silenced gunshot rang out, hitting the thief''s head squarely.


    The immense impact directly blew the thief''s head apart, sttering brain matter and blood with a gushing sound.


    Mia dropped the gun and ran quickly to the bathroom on the ground floor of the vi, vomiting uncontrobly.


    In truth, Alex felt a bit queasy too.


    Although it wasn''t the first time he had killed someone, it was the first time Alex had seen such a vivid, bloody scene.


    He was somewhat worried that Mia might be psychologically scarred by it.


    After a while, Mia emerged from the bathroom, her face pale.


    Alex approached her with concern.


    Just as Mia was about to speak, she caught sight of the headless body lying in the vi and hurried back into the bathroom.


    With a sigh, Alex cleaned up the vi and sent Mia back to her room to rest.


    As for whether Mia could ovee the psychological barrier, it would ultimately depend on her.


    ...


    Alex could sense that Mia had changed that day.


    He wasn''t sure how she had ovee her psychological barriers, but afterwards, Alex tried taking Mia with him to scavenge supplies in zombie-infested areas. Faced with zombies, Mia was no longer as frantic as she had been at the beginning; instead, she calmly raised her crossbow and killed the zombies.


    Swish! Swish! Swish! The zombies in front of Mia fell to the ground, motionless.


    "Not bad, Mia. Your aim has been getting better these days," Alex praised with a smile after dealing with the zombies himself.


    Mia smiled back.


    She was d she could be of help to Alex.


    "Because I''ve been practicing hard," she replied.


    It was the third day of their partnership in scavenging for supplies.


    With their umted experience, both of them had be physically fit.


    Even Mia could run for kilometers carrying heavy loads without breaking a sweat, no less than a special forces soldier.


    After dealing with the group of thieves who invaded the vi, they changed their original n.


    With the survivors'' levels and resources improving, the entire city began to connect.


    Survivors started arriving in the vi area where Alex and Mia were stationed.


    Some survivors, filled with distrust, chose to live in nearby vis.


    There were also some foolish survivors, like Ethan and the previous group of thieves, who had malicious intentions.


    But in the end, Alex took them out, hanging their bodies on the public flower beds in the vi area as a warning to others.


    Since then, the survivors who settled in the vi area understood Alex''s strength and dared not cause trouble.


    However, considering the increasing number of survivors, it was possible that some powerful survivor groups might arrive in the future.


    If they didn''t prepare in advance by leveling up and gathering resources, when that day came, it would be difficult for Alex and Mia to defend the vi with just the P92 pistol and unlimited gasoline.


    They couldn''t just surround themselves with walls soaked in gasoline, could they?


    In that case, they wouldn''t need anyone else to set it on fire—they''d burn themselves alive.


    In a post-apocalyptic world where resources were scarce, their refuge was still located in the most obvious vi area, making them unable to be hoarders for self-preservation.


    So, Alex and Mia chose to proactively drive to more distant areas withrge zombie poptions to search for supplies and level up.


    During the leveling process, Alex noticed that after reaching level 5, the increase in physical attributes seemed to decrease significantly.


    Before, each level-up would provide a substantial boost.


    But it made sense—if they continued to level up as before, by the time they reached a dozen levels, their physical fitness would probably enable them to take on zombies head-on and tear them apart with their bare hands.


    Unconsciously, both of them had leveled up several times already.


    And Alex was on the verge of reaching level 10.


    ording to the system, survivors would undergo body strengthening and a transformation upon reaching level 10.


    Alex was somewhat excited.


    At this point, he had already reached the level of a special forces soldier in terms of physical fitness.


    If there was another round of body strengthening, wouldn''t that mean reaching the pinnacle of human physical fitness?


    Alex nned to level up to level 10 today to see how much it would enhance him.


    He hoped not to be disappointed.


    Because they were in a zombie hotspot quite far from the vi area, Alex and Mia had enough zombies around them to farm experience points.


    If it were the previous Alex, without unlimited gasoline, encountering so many zombies would have made him turn tail and run without looking back.


    But now, with a car and homemade Molotov cocktails, Alex just wanted to say, "Bring it on."


    As they replenished their stamina inside the car, Alex told Mia about his n to reach level 10 today.


    "Mia, I''ve reached level 9 now. I''m nning to push through and reach level 10 today to see how my body changes."