Chapter 263: Chapter 139 Overall Base Strength Enhancement 3

Therefore, the number of Ability Users the committee prepared to train for the second batch was no longer six, but fifty!

Now, Wang Tao had plenty of Crystal Cores, more than enough to train fifty Ability Users.

Of course, Wang Tao only made them become Ability Users; as for the subsequent Special Ability Level enhancement, Wang Tao wouldn’t be involved -that would be up to them to hunt Elite Zombies for themselves.

Soon, the registration to compete for the Ability User spots began.

This time, it wasn’t Ren Jie calling the shots from the get-go; instead, everyone was allowed to sign up.

After registering, they just had to show their prowess and then wait for the committee’s notice.

As long as they signed up, there was a chance. However, the final say still rested with the committee.

Many signed up; the base had just over three hundred Hunters, yet over four hundred people had registered, clearly showing that some Ordinary survivors had also signed up.

These Ordinary survivors definitely wouldn’t be selected, but it was still a good thing that they could sign up-maybe they would become Hunters someday. After one day’s time, the candidates for the second batch of Ability Users were finally settled.

Wang Tao personally handed over the fifty Crystal Cores to them, and he exhorted them to do well, placing the heavy responsibility of contributing to the base’s construction in their hands.

Since there were many Crystal Cores handed out this time, the variety was quite diverse as well. It included Mud Swamp, Coughing Smoke, Rejuvenation… even Glutton cores were distributed.

Wang Tao had always been curious if some seemingly less useful Crystal Cores, like Mud Swamp and Glutton, really had no use at all?

So this was also a kind of experiment-letting these people fuse and see whether these Crystal Cores were useful.

Of course, all these Crystal Cores were synthesized by Wang Tao, so the side effects were removed. If there were still side effects, it would be a pure scam. Overnight, these people had all completed their fusion.

Wang Tao specifically gathered them to observe their Abilities.

Surprisingly, Wang Tao discovered some notable differences.

Take the Mud Swamp Crystal Core, for instance, which seemed useless according to its description. But its actual effect turned out to be quite impressive!

The effect of Mud Swamp was “consume energy to create a Mud Swamp surrounding the body.”

An Ability User who had fused with just a Mud Swamp Crystal Core could create a ten-meter wide Mud Swamp around themselves.

Whether human or zombie, anyone in the Mud Swamp would have their speed greatly reduced. Especially the zombies-they could easily get stuck and become immobile!

Naturally, if it were just that, it wouldn’ t be enough to please Wang Tao. What truly delighted him was that the effect of the Mud Swamp was stackable!

He asked five Ability Users with the Mud Swamp to stand together and release their ability; the resulting Mud Swamp was five times larger than before! Furthermore, this Mud Swamp was permanent! As long as the water in it didn’t evaporate and as long as the mud wasn’t removed, the swamp could exist indefinitely!

Wang Tao immediately felt that this was a strong control Skill!

If he could have a group of Ability Users with the Mud Swamp, have them release their abilities all at once, and create a large swamp. Then, lure zombies into the swamp-once they’re in, they won’t be able to move and would be like sitting ducks!

Wouldn’t that be like a sustained version of the Slime Spitter?

Wang Tao thought it was worth a try!

However, there were downsides, of course.

That was, the Mud Swamp was slow to release, not like the Slime Spitter, which could be spat out in one go. The Mud Swamp had to be slowly released, definitely not suitable for immediate combat; one would need to prepare in advance.

And there was another point—the release of the Mud Swamp Ability was somewhat nauseating- the mud would ooze out of body pores and orifices…

According to the Mud Superpower Users, they themselves weren’t uncomfortable, and when the mud came out, they even felt a sense of relief. But it was quite unpleasant for Wang Tao to watch…

Apart from the Mud Swamp, the Glutton Ability was also promising.

The effect of this Ability was “The more one eats and the fatter one becomes, the higher the defensive power.”

Wang Tao specifically found two corpulent individuals to fuse with this Crystal

Core. In the apocalyptic world, corpulent individuals were rare, and these two were the fattest in the Shuize Base.

They couldn’t meet the condition of “eating more” for now, but “becoming fatter” was somewhat achievable.

After fusing with the Ability, their defensive power immediately surged. Wang

Tao had tested them before and after their fusion.

Wang Tao felt that this Glutton Crystal Core was like a weakened version of Toughness. Although its defensive power wasn’t as strong as Toughness, it was a passive Ability that didn’t require energy consumption!

More importantly, the upper limit of Toughness was fixed, relying only on fusing with more Crystal Cores to improve. However, the upper limit of Glutton was much higher; increasing body size, eating more food, and fusing with Crystal Cores could all enhance the defensive power!

Outfit these two corpulent individuals with full armor, shields, and such, and they could be placed at the front as meat shields. If they could also fuse with Power Crystal Cores and Rejuvenation Crystal Cores, the effect would probably be even better!

That was Wang Tao’s thinking, and that was what he acted on.

He immediately promoted these two corpulent individuals as key figures for the base’s training focus.

Wang Tao personally took them out to hunt Elite Zombies, helping them increase their HP. Not many could enjoy such treatment.

But it wasn’t just Wang Tao taking people out to hunt. Wei Zhenguo and the others were also leading some Ability Users to hunt Elite Zombies.

After all, their own powers had reached their limits for now, and there was no way to improve further. It was better to help other Ability Users in the base, boosting the overall strength of the base.

Thanks to the efforts of Wang Tao and the other committee members, a few days later, the overall strength of Shuize Base increased significantly-

All Hunters had over 1000 HP; some Ability Users had over 2000 HP, and others reached over 3000 HP!

As for Wang Tao and the other committee members, they naturally had over 4000 HP each.

With the current overall strength of Shuize Base, it was uncertain whether they could withstand a Gorilla zombie, but they definitely wouldn’t be as hard- pressed as before when facing Hooded zombies.

Wang Tao felt that now was a good time to probe the reality of that Green-eyed Zombie in the hospital…