The gray-green fog was creeping closer.
As they stared at the nearby walls and machine-gun emplacements, pairs of pupils lurking in the darkness gradually reflected a crimson glow.
It was six o'clock. Clear Spring City had just entered nightfall, and the temperature was not yet too cold.
For the spore clouds filling the air and the fruiting bodies lurking in the underground passages, night was the best cover.
The evening wind had barely begun to blow when visibility on every street in the northern suburbs had silently dropped to less than fifty meters amid the stillness.
As she watched her children, Xia felt quite pleased with herself.
The only pity was that the humans had cut off all the branches of the underground tunnels in the northern suburbs. Otherwise, she could have infiltrated fruiting bodies behind them and launched a sudden attack.
The plan would have been even more perfect...
"Go, my children."
Overlooking those bloodthirsty souls with unseen eyes, Xia, standing upon the crimson fungal carpet, let out a silent cry.
"Turn them into nourishment for new life—"
"Devour them!"
"Roar—!"
The resounding roar completely tore apart the silence of the night. The mutants charging toward the defensive line were like a sudden downpour, and the killing intent rushing at them nearly made everyone hold their breath.
Long tongues of flame erupted from the enormous wall that towered like a dam. Shells streaked through the fog and landed on the ruined streets.
Waves of fruiting bodies fell in droves, but those behind them quickly surged forward to fill the gaps.
The flashes of explosions were like stones tossed into crashing waves, unable to stir even the slightest ripple in that turbulent tide.
At the defensive line less than a kilometer from Boulder City.
Watching the tide surge forward