Water Plant

Wang Tao finally understood why, during the ten or so days he had stayed at home, he had never seen any vehicles outside or heard any commotion.

There were few survivors outside, for one thing. More importantly, this thing was really damn good at attracting zombies!

With a horde of zombies following behind the car, he could not stop. And the faster he drove, the louder the noise became, and the more zombies followed him... It was a vicious cycle!

If the roads had been clear, the zombies definitely would not have been able to outrun a car. But the roads were littered with obstacles, severely slowing him down. Sometimes he even had to ram through barricades, which not only affected his speed but also created tremendous noise...

Seeing that he was not only failing to widen the gap with the zombie horde, but that more and more zombies were gathering behind him, Wang Tao realized he might have been too reckless. Driving a car at a time like this was still far too dangerous, even if he headed toward less populated areas.

Yet the more dangerous the situation became, the calmer Wang Tao felt.

"I can only try this!"

After reaching a small alley, he slammed on the brakes.

He grabbed his weapon, got out, and shut the door in one smooth motion.

Looking at the sea of zombies behind him, he immediately darted into a narrow alley.

The zombies had a clear target: Wang Tao. After he entered the alley, they rushed in after him.

Inside the alley, Wang Tao turned left and right. After running for about half a minute, he could no longer see the zombies because of the buildings blocking his view, but he could hear movement all around him.

With a flick of his right hand, a needleless injector appeared in his grasp.

Stealth Potion (Medium): After injection, conceals your presence and makes you less likely to be discovered by zombies. Duration: 1 hour. Cooldown: 12 hours. Friendly reminder: Best used during the daytime.

Without hesitation, he rolled up his sleeve, aimed at his arm, and pressed the injector's switch.

"Pfft~"

A faint sting shot through him, but Wang Tao did not even frown.

Below his Health Bar, he saw a status icon labeled "Stealth (Medium)," followed by two lines of text—

Duration: 59:59

Cooldown: 11:59:59 (Using the same type of potion during the cooldown has no effect.)

Soon, Wang Tao felt his body growing colder and colder. His breathing slowed, and his limbs became increasingly heavy.

"...This thing isn't poisonous, is it?"

Feeling the changes in his body, Wang Tao could not help feeling a little uneasy.

Fortunately, after roughly three to five seconds, his body temperature stopped dropping, his breathing steadied, and his limbs were only slightly numb. His movements were not significantly affected.

The greatest change was that Wang Tao could smell a decayed odor wafting from his body... exactly like the smell of a zombie! "Concealing my presence means turning my scent into a zombie's scent? Making zombies mistake me for one of their own? That actually makes sense..."

After Wang Tao injected the Stealth Potion, the zombie horde seemed to lose its target. The sounds around him grew quieter and quieter, and soon there was barely any noise left.

Wang Tao gathered his courage and went back to take a look.

Inside the alley, a huge group of zombies stood there blankly, seemingly at a loss.

Wang Tao took a few steps closer. The zombies did not react.

He moved a few more steps closer. The zombies still did not react.

Only when Wang Tao was about three meters from the foremost zombie did it finally turn its head and look at him with its cataract-clouded eyes.

Wang Tao was ready to run at any moment, but the zombie merely looked at him without making any move.

When he was two meters away, the zombie finally moved. But instead of attacking, it slowly walked toward Wang Tao.

This did not look like a zombie spotting a human. It looked more like the zombie had sensed something and wanted to come inspect it.

Wang Tao did not dare test it any further. There were still hundreds of zombies in the alley.

He immediately ran away, deliberately making some noise with his footsteps.

Upon hearing the sound of walking, the zombies gradually turned to look at Wang Tao's retreating figure. But aside from a few zombies shambling after him, the rest did not move.

"Looks like zombies don't search for prey through a single sense, but make a combined judgment using multiple senses... The human smell on me is gone now. As long as I don't make too much noise, these zombies probably won't be interested in me..."

He emerged from another alley and returned to the vicinity of the pickup truck.

There was not a single zombie around the pickup; they had all been drawn away. Wang Tao got in and started it.

"Vroom~" The vehicle let out a low hum.

This time, he did not dare drive too fast. The pickup was new, and it was not very loud at low speeds. Combined with the fact that he no longer carried a human scent, it presumably would not attract much attention from the zombies...

After slowing down, he was indeed much safer.

Even when some zombies saw the vehicle passing by, they only chased after it for a couple of steps before losing interest and stopping. Perhaps, from their perspective, they had seen a zombie driving a car?...

After wasting so much time, the airdrop had long since landed.

Fortunately, airdrops released a plume of red smoke after landing. With no tall buildings nearby to block the view, the smoke was clearly visible.

"It's to the north. I can take Outer Ring Road!"

Looking at the red smoke, Wang Tao immediately drove toward the outer ring.

There were noticeably fewer abandoned vehicles on Outer Ring Road, and naturally fewer zombies as well.

Wang Tao increased his speed slightly and even deliberately ran over two lone zombies.

Obtained: Blade *1

Blade: Crafting material

Obtained: Tin Can *1

Tin Can: Crafting material

He had obtained two new crafting materials and gained 10 Health.

Only after confirming that he was safe for the moment did Wang Tao have time to inspect the loot from the Screaming Zombie he had run over earlier.

Screaming Potion (Small): For 10 minutes after consumption, allows the user to emit a piercing, prolonged scream. Cooldown: 12 hours. Friendly reminder: Screaming causes a certain degree of damage to the vocal cords. It is recommended not to speak for the rest of the day.

"This is good stuff! Zombies are sensitive to sound. It might be able to lure them away at a critical moment! It has some side effects, but nothing serious!"

Wang Tao instantly thought of countless scenarios where he could use a Screaming Potion. He could even set up a trap, scream to draw the zombies over, then kill them one by one...

But now was not the time to fantasize. He quickly checked the smoke's location.

"That spot... should be the Water Plant! I can turn off at the T-junction ahead..."

"Hm?"

But after turning onto the side road, Wang Tao suddenly heard a faint rustling from the woods across the road.

He glanced sideways, and his pupils abruptly contracted.

A massive black shadow more than three meters tall flickered in and out of view among the trees. He could not make out its exact appearance; he could only see its red-glowing eyes and... 10000/10000.

Ten thousand Health!