A street littered with zombies, black blood flowing endlessly!
Jiang Tianqing stared in stunned disbelief at the ground ahead of him. How could there be so many dead zombies?!
He took a trembling half-step forward, wanting to get a closer look, but the moment his foot moved, he froze in place. His eyes filled with raw terror. As far as he could see, there was no end to the horror—the dead zombies were stacked layer upon layer, piled high like some grotesque mountain. They didn't look like they'd been killed by headshots one after another. Instead, they looked as if they had plummeted from the sky and smashed into the ground in a hideous crash. That was the only explanation Jiang Tianqing could come up with; he couldn't imagine any other possibility that could create this nightmare scene.
In such abysmal visibility, Jiang Tianqing's heart was gripped by overwhelming fear. Just the zombies he could make out already numbered over a hundred—all of them dead. He had no idea what lay further ahead, nor could he fathom what kind of earth-shattering battle had unfolded here.
Had the army arrived? Otherwise, how could there be a field of zombie corpses like this?
Faint, hoarse roars still echoed from somewhere up ahead, barely audible through the deafening roar of the torrential rain. Jiang Tianqing stopped advancing. He suddenly retreated several steps, pressing himself tightly against the wall, too terrified to make a sound.
The fighting was still going on—what the hell had happened up ahead?!
Time felt like the Grim Reaper himself,f counting down with merciless precision. The pouring rain gradually began to ease. The waterfall-like crashing slowly faded until it vanished completely. Yet the sky remained pitch black—night had already fallen in the wake of the storm.
No lights. No illumination whatsoever. Once the rain stopped, an eerie, absolute silence swallowed everything.
Ding Siyao, who had been drenched in the downpour for nearly two hours, wiped the water from his face. His fingers—locked on the sniper rifle the entire time—were completely numb. The darkness ahead was impenetrable; he had no idea what had happened. Not even a mosquito's buzz broke the silence. How had the battle gone?
Most importantly… where was Chu Han?!
Li Yi and Wei An's arms were already aching and trembling from holding the rain shelter. The moment the rain finally stopped, they quickly lowered it—but neither dared to move. The surroundings were too quiet. Terrifyingly quiet. The endless zombie roars that had filled the sky earlier had completely disappeared. Not a single sound remained, and they couldn't see anything ahead.
An endless wave of dread flooded their hearts along with the darkness of night. What had happened to Chu Han?
Just as Jiang Tianqing was about to lose his mind from the suffocating, unknown terror of the endless dark, several beams of light suddenly pierced the sky. Immediately after, the rhythmic thump of helicopter rotors rose—growing louder and closer by the second.
Jiang Tianqing, along with Ding Siyao, Li Yi, and Wei An—who still hadn't dared to move—were all stunned. They instantly looked upward, shock and questions exploding in their minds at the same time.
Helicopters? And more than one!
The lights flared brilliantly. What began as specks in the distance swelled into blinding beams, illuminating the entire street as clearly as daylight.
The instant Jiang Tianqing saw the light, he froze. Then, almost instinctively, he looked straight ahead—and the sight hit him like a thunderbolt. He nearly screamed out loud. His face drained of all color in an instant.
The whole street… was covered in corpses!
Ding Siyao, Li Yi, and Wei An were equally shaken by the scene before them. Only now did they understand why there wasn't a single sound—because all five thousand zombies were dead. The mutants were dead. Not a single research personnel had survived.
The long street was paved with bodies from end to end, stacked layer upon layer, raising the road itself by nearly a full meter. There wasn't a single gap left. Black blood spread outward with the rainwater. Beneath their feet, what had once been asphalt was now completely soaked in dark, viscous blood.
All dead? How was this even possible?!
That had been a horde of five thousand zombies, plus a hundred mutants, and a fully armed squad of counterfeit soldiers. How could that entire combined force vanish completely in just two hours?
Could someone have dropped bombs while the rain was falling?
The very next second, everyone's hearts clenched at the same time.
Where was Chu Han?!
Inside one of the incoming helicopters, An Ze—dressed in a crisp, spotless military uniform—brushed the dust from his clothes, especially patting his shoulders with meticulous care. The uniform felt a little uncomfortable, but he refused to take it off.
Sizzle!
The intercom crackled with static. Then a young yet steady male voice came through: "Reporting, Major General. We have reached the destination."
An Ze snatched up the handset, his tone dripping with arrogance and absolute confidence: "Land."
Direct landing, no reconnaissance needed. This was the order An Ze had already given en route. After all, it was only a hundred mutants. What else could mutants do besides control zombies? He had always scorned Commander Mu's orders. That old bastard had actually saddled him with such a boring, unchallenging mission—and even told him to go look for Chu Han?
Seriously? He was a Major General! Sending a full-fledged Major General out to hunt down some second-order evolver?
Only that senile fool could think up something so ridiculous!
Filled with contempt and simmering rage, An Ze's eyes narrowed viciously, irritation churning in his chest.
Sizzle!
The intercom suddenly crackled again: "Reporting, Major General. There's a situation ahead."
"What now?!" An Ze snapped back impatiently. "Didn't I say land?!"
The voice on the other end trembled: "But—"
"Shut your mouth!" An Ze roared. "Land! I don't care what the situation is—land first! My head's spinning from this damn rotor noise; it's giving me a migraine!"
"Yes, sir."
Splash!
Puddles exploded outward as the helicopters touched down. One after another they settled across the area, their glaring searchlights—whether by accident or design—swept straight across the street, bathing every single corpse in merciless, blinding clarity.
Thud!
An Ze stepped out of the helicopter in his gleaming military boots, spine ramrod straight. But before he could even take a second step, his knees buckled violently. He nearly pitched forward onto his face. His eyes widened in pure terror as he stared at the nightmare before him.
"What… what the hell is this?!" In that instant he looked nothing like a Major General. He looked like a pathetic coward who had never seen a zombie in his life. His voice cracked as he shouted in panic: "What is all this on the ground?! How did so many zombies die?!"
A squad of fully armed soldiers had already rushed over. One of them snapped to attention and saluted: "Reporting, Major General! We have no idea what the exact situation is!"
"Then go find out right now!" An Ze's legs were so weak he could barely stand. He had come to deal with mutants, not walk into a goddamn zombie tide! There were at least five thousand corpses here—definitely a large-scale horde! He had brought so few men. Fighting was out of the question. Right now he desperately wished he could just spin around, jump back into the helicopter, and fly straight back to Shangjing. Screw it—he'd resign his Major General rank on the spot!
Just as An Ze was scared half to death, his gaze suddenly flicked sideways. He spotted Ding Siyao not far away, sniper rifle still resting on his shoulder, wearing an unmistakable "What the hell are you doing here?" expression on his face.
"Ding Siyao?! What are you doing here?!" An Ze blurted out in shock.