Chapter 128.1 – Life-and-Death Marathon (19)
◎ Dirty Chin: Please call me Erwuzi ◎
Song Ke originally thought that finding the Zombie King within the vast inner city of Haimen would take quite some effort.
The reality was that as V587 just approached the second iron gate amidst the chaotic crowd, it appeared in front of everyone.
Yes, in front of everyone.
An evacuee from Haimen, by chance, glanced up and witnessed a scene that terrified him to the core. Trembling, his hand pointed incredulously upwards:
“Quick, look! What… what is that?”
Everyone followed where he was pointing at and immediately erupted into a chorus of screams.
Under the dismal moonlight obscured by dark clouds, a deformed monster was climbing the television tower.
Its speed wasn’t particularly fast; its four massive claws methodically dug into the steel structure. The well-developed leg muscles moved rhythmically, displaying an inexplicable ease as it climbed. Upon reaching the top, it grabbed the lightning rod with one hand, flipped over the railing, and unfurled its fleshy wings behind. It sat there like a king on a throne, overlooking its future kingdom with a disdainful posture.
In the dark alleys, evolved zombies and mutant zombies kept teleporting through anchor points. Though their numbers were scant compared to the horde outside the city, the panic they caused was akin to a nuclear explosion. With attacks from both inside and outside, the first two defense lines of Haimen were thoroughly breached, leaving only the inner city on the brink of collapse.
Meanwhile, all the awakeners in the eastern Alliance received the same S-rank commission:
“The Alliance Awakener Headquarters issues an urgent announcement: Haimen (District D135) is facing a large-scale organized wave of continuous zombies led by a Level-4 zombie. All awakeners in various districts are requested to immediately provide support. This commission is designated as a Red Commission. Killing zombies within the specified time limit will earn double points and Alliance currency rewards.”
A steamship swiftly approached the television tower, and from the painted markings on its body, they were participants from the Throne Race Competition.
Two awakeners secured by safety ropes slid down, shouting loudly, “Goodbye to you! The championship belongs to us!!”
Particle guns relentlessly fired at the Zombie King, sparking “clang clang” sounds as the attacks splattered. The Zombie King promptly folded its wings tightly around its small head, appearing from a distance like an uneven egg, deflecting all attacks on its outer skin.
After the first wave of firepower, the Zombie King exerted force from its hind legs, roaring as it stood upright. Its fleshy wings expanded, astonishingly lifting it off the ground!
Its wing, steel-like, struck the steamship, causing it to lose control, spin, and fly out in reverse. Then, its sharp claws gripped the front cabin.
“N-No, no, no…!!” shouted the terrified pilot inside the cockpit.
“Roar!” The Zombie King’s two claws violently pierced through the steamship in an instant.
It landed again, seizing two swaying awakeners, swiftly snapping their safety ropes, and ferociously devouring them. Blood and flesh splattered around as the bone-chilling sound of gnawing bones echoed.
“Fools, too careless,” sighed Zhuang Qingyan, who had witnessed the entire ordeal. Even without direct confrontation with the Zombie King, the commission notice was crystal clear. Not only was it an outstanding battlefield commander, but also an unequivocal Level-4 zombie.
V587 finally squeezed through the iron gate, dashing towards the direction of the television tower.
The residents of Haimen gradually faltered, more and more civilians falling. They could handle ordinary zombies, but when facing radiation-enhanced mutant zombies and evolved zombies, even with all their might, their chances of victory seemed incredibly slim.
The bodyguards around Wang Hu had all perished. His gold necklace was smeared with blood, his once sleek mink now tattered. Leaning on a spiritual weapon, a long sword, he barely stood, panting heavily while confronting five or six Level-2 zombies. His vision covered in crimson, Wang Hu didn’t know how many zombies or surviving Haimen residents were around. His muscles ached, incapable of lifting the sword any longer.
Wang Hu chuckled, glaring at the monster before him, cursing fiercely, “Look at how bad you are, you hill cannon!”
The Level-2 zombies, with low intelligence, were provoked by his taunts and viciously lunged at him.
At the brink of death, Wang Hu silently thought, “Thank goodness my wife and kids are in the basement of the villa… with enough supplies stocked…”
A graceful figure leaped over his head, black hair flying backward at shoulder level. In the person’s hand, a deep blue curved blade formed a crescent shape, brushing past the Level-2 zombie. The zombie couldn’t even attempt to bite before its neck was cleanly sliced!
A mix of black and red putrid blood sprayed out, leaving an empty space in front of Wang Hu. The zombies fiercely attacking him swayed and collapsed.
Song Ke, who had sold him the spiritual weapon, appeared like a deity descending, stepping on zombie heads and shoulders, creating waves of bloodshed as the blade swung.
Amidst the chaos, Song Ke gestured a direction to Wang Hu, “Go there, run!”
In front of the emergency passage of the third defense line, municipal hall staff shouted hoarsely, “Quick, civilians, enter the safe zone!”
Awakeners from Haimen rushed in from outside the city, clearing an evacuation path and safeguarding civilians. To prevent any traitors, everyone voluntarily exposed their features, facilitating inspection.
Exhausted, Wang Hu held onto his precious spiritual weapon, pushed along by those behind him, following the crowd, smoothly entering the safe zone.
The near-death experience left his mind blank until much later when Wang Hu suddenly realized, “Damn, buyer shows and seller shows are really not the same.”
Meanwhile, the Zombie King at the top of the television tower suddenly disappeared.
…
Elsewhere, within a substation, Dirty Chin in sentinel uniform arrived at their destination. Despite the shrill alarms sounding continuously, they remained seemingly oblivious. Vigilantly surveying their surroundings, a hoarse sound emanated from their throat. Dozens of Fallen followed suit, emerging and swiftly clearing the area with machine-gun fire on the personnel. Despite their appearance, they operated like a disciplined sentinel force.
Dirty Chin led their counterparts, placing super magnets in every nook and cranny of the substation, causing the radiation levels to quickly exceed safety standards.
They waited quietly in place for a few seconds. Suddenly, the Fallen beside Dirty Chin began emitting a dark glow all over their body. Black whirlpools appeared beneath their feet, intense awakened energy fluctuations in the air. Gradually, gruesome Level-3 zombies emerged one after another.
“Roar!” These creatures’ nature was sheer carnage. Just as they landed, they followed the scent of fresh blood and dashed wildly towards the streets.
The skin of the Fallen anchoring the portal turned crimson, their body uncontrollably swelling like an inflated balloon. Then, with a shudder, their blood vessels burst, exploding into a pile of flesh with a “bang,” slowly collapsing. However, the whirlpool didn’t stop; the zombies continued to be incessantly transported, stepping on the corpse.
“Ah?!” The remaining Fallen exclaimed in bewilderment.
Dirty Chin didn’t expect such an incident to occur. It visibly paused, but quickly grasped something, its expression turning grim.
The capacity of the anchor point was limited, and the number of Fallen was far from enough to transport all the elite zombies.
If an anchor point could hold 40 zombies and now forcibly stuffed in 100, the elites were sent in, but the Fallen, as hosts, met only the fate of self-destructive explosion. The Zombie King was cunning and arrogant, treating all zombies as pawns, disposable at any moment. After all, they lacked consciousness, being merely manipulated.
However, Dirty Chin knew that the Fallen were different from zombies. They were willing to follow the Zombie King not because they wanted to but because they didn’t want to associate with dirty humans. They aimed to build their own homeland for a free life, not to sacrifice themselves in vain!
As this realization struck Dirty Chin, it emitted an angry roar from its throat.
The Zombie King had deceived them!
“Ah!! Ahh!! Ahh!!” Dirty Chin grew increasingly furious, howling loudly.
It wasn’t like Braided Head, clueless about the mission details. It knew the Zombie King’s plan inside out.
After calming down, Dirty Chin almost immediately decided to turn against them. It issued commands, leading its kind to dismantle the super magnets. It was due to these items’ existence that the spatial zombies could exceed their limits and transport 100 elites. If they lost the support of the super magnets, the anchor point could revert to its original capacity, sparing its kind from further deaths!
The release of abilities had a certain interval. As long as they acted fast enough, they could disrupt the rhythm of the spatial zombies.
The Zombie King at the top of the TV tower quickly noticed something amiss. The speed at which its elites came in slowed down, and their numbers dwindled significantly. Ultimately, it was because the super magnets were rapidly decreasing, and Haimen didn’t become the new magnetic pole as it had anticipated.
The Zombie King’s front claws bent the railing, its sinister gaze fixed in a certain direction.
Descending from the TV tower, it swiftly crossed the rooftops, chasing after that group of disruptors.
With a loud bang, the Zombie King descended from the sky, landing in front of Dirty Chin and the other Fallen, hoarsely issuing a string of low commands.
“Ah! Roar, roar, roar—” Dirty Chin’s face revealed fierceness, not only refusing to comply but also aiming its gun at the Zombie King.
Behind, another Fallen exploded due to the strain caused by the anchor point. This time, all the elites that emerged were mutant zombies. Dirty Chin keenly noticed that among them was the spatial one, perhaps itself or maybe the Zombie King realized something was wrong and, taking the last chance, transported itself first.
Under the control of the Zombie King, this group of mutant zombies didn’t immediately disperse. Instead, they surrounded Dirty Chin.
The Zombie King’s eyes glinted with murderous intent as all the mutant zombies lunged at Dirty Chin, attempting to tear it apart.
**TN
Buyer Shows and Seller Shows – Buyer Shows is the picture sent by the customer after buying a certain product; Seller Shows is a picture of a merchant’s product / it’s like models wearing the item vs customers wearing the item
