The gas cans were right in front of them. As long as they killed that weeping Mutant, they could obtain three cans of gas. This forced Yan Yu to re-evaluate the creature's threat level.
She did not want to easily give up this opportunity, and neither did Bai Mu. No matter what, clearing the Script was their top priority, and gasoline was a mandatory story item they needed to acquire.
Bai Mu mentally assessed the Mutant's threat level. Judging by the gruesome state of the corpse, her aggressiveness went without saying. However, her physique was very frail. Her skin and skeletal structure were still at the level of a normal human, and she had not grown any sort of animal-like keratin carapace.
Aside from those iron-like claws, she did not display any other notable abnormalities.
There was a very high probability that bullets would be effective against her. Her arms and nails were her greatest offensive weapons. Small-statured Mutants were generally very fast, but she did not seem to be the highly perceptive type. Even after Bai Mu and Yan Yu entered the room, she had no reaction and continued spinning in circles on her own.
If they could sneak up behind her, pull out a shotgun, and blast her in the head, they could probably finish her off.
Among the many Mutants Bai Mu had encountered, her overall strength felt only average. At the very least, she was nowhere near the level of the Iron Skeleton. If the Iron Skeleton was considered a boss, she was at most an elite monster.
After all, this was merely a challenge guarding a resource point in a D-grade Script. With Bai Mu's current methods, killing her would not be a major problem.
However, the gunfire might alert the Zombies outside and trigger a horde.
What about fighting her directly in melee with the Fire Axe?
No, that creature could forcefully twist a person's head right off. Her strength was on an inhuman level, and Bai Mu was not confident in achieving a complete victory in close combat. When facing this kind of Mutant that would go Berserk at the slightest provocation, a one-hit kill was the safest approach.
Aside from the shotgun, was there any other way to keep things as quiet as possible?
Bai Mu looked at the scalpel in Yan Yu's hand and gently tugged on her arm.
The two exchanged a glance and quietly backed away, leaving the dark space and returning to the empty reception room.
"Commander, if your scalpel hits, are you confident you can take down that Mutant?" Bai Mu asked in a hushed voice.
"You want to make a move?" Yan Yu whispered back. "Did you not see that corpse? That thing is far too dangerous."
The temptation of three cans of gas was immense, but the corpse served as a glaring warning. She did not want to risk her life this early on. The Bloody Nurse set gave her incredible offensive capabilities but offered zero defensive power. If the Mutant pinned her down, she knew she would die a gruesome death.
"But we have to find gasoline eventually, right?" Bai Mu reasoned. "That is just how Paradise arranges its Scripts. Even if we found gas cans somewhere else, we probably would not be able to avoid fighting tougher enemies anyway."
Yan Yu fell silent for a moment. Bai Mu was right. Their presence here was no accident; everything had been meticulously arranged. In a real apocalypse, maybe you could get lucky and scavenge a free meal, but this was Paradise—an abyssal realm that shared a name with heaven but was practically indistinguishable from hell.
Giving up the three gas cans in the children's play area would give the Players a temporary breather, but it would also waste precious time. It was a choice between risking time or risking combat.
The former was completely out of their control. Finding gasoline elsewhere would rely entirely on luck, and they might end up having to turn back anyway. The latter, however, allowed them to determine their own victory or defeat. The rewards of victory were obviously massive. Those three cans of gas were enough to start a vehicle. By killing that Mutant, they could smoothly head downstairs, start the car, blast right through the first hurdle, and save a significant amount of time.
Should she leave the choice to luck or take it into her own hands?
As a D-grade player, Yan Yu did not hesitate for long.
Suppressing her fear, she spoke softly. "One blade might not be enough. To inflict a fatal wound, the throwing knife would have to pierce her skull, but I am not sure about her physical endurance. The difference between her and those ordinary Zombies is simply too vast."
"What if two blades hit the mark?" Bai Mu asked.
Yan Yu pondered for a moment before replying. "The chances of killing her with two blades are very high. My skill is called Bloody Flying Knife. Upon a successful hit, it deals several randomized slashing attacks. If it fails to kill the enemy, it also triggers a bleeding effect. This bleeding damage can stack. If I land consecutive hits in a short amount of time, I can trigger a massive Blood Burst for explosive damage."
"Actually, I have a crowd-control item." A block of butter, half-wrapped in greaseproof paper, appeared in Bai Mu's palm. "I think we can give it a try."
"That Mutant should be the only one inside. Any other Zombies that heard her crying would have definitely been lured over, but when we went in, she was the only one crying. I do not think she considers Zombies to be her own kind. She attacks whoever disturbs her. All the other Zombies must have been cleared out by her, so she is the only one we need to deal with."
Yan Yu looked down at the properties of the butter and asked with an odd expression on her face, "Are you sure you can throw it accurately? Right at her head?"
"If I were not confident, I certainly would not have brought it up," Bai Mu replied. "We are on the same team here. If you cannot kill her, Commander, I will definitely die too. I would never gamble with my own life."
In the end, Yan Yu was persuaded by Bai Mu.
However, she also noticed that Bai Mu was different from ordinary people. It was as if he completely lacked the emotion of fear, remaining calm no matter what he encountered.
"Are you really just an F-grade player?" Yan Yu could not help but ask.
"I would not lie about that," Bai Mu stated.
"If we clear this Script, let us add each other as friends," Yan Yu said.
"Sure, we can talk about it once we clear this," Bai Mu nodded.
Getting back to business, the two decided to sneak into the children's play area once again.
With Bai Mu holding the butter and Yan Yu gripping a throwing knife in each hand, the duo silently stepped into the pitch-black room.
Sob... sob...
Sob... sob...
The sorrowful weeping echoed through the darkness as they slowly and silently approached the source of the sound.
Last time, they had been too far away to clearly see the Mutant's attributes. This time, as she wandered into the sunlight once again, the two finally saw her data:
[Name: Witch]
[Type: Zombie]
[Grade: Rare]
[Note: She despises flickering lights and loud noises, but she fears darkness and loneliness even more. She weeps as she wanders in the dark because she cannot find her way home, and outside, there are only terrifying strangers. When those strangers disturb her, her body becomes consumed by fear, and she can only try to force her surroundings to be quiet. But once everything falls silent, she becomes even more afraid, endlessly crying in the hope that someone will hear her pleas for help and take her home.]