Battle Training

June 20, afternoon.

Leon led the Combat Team to a small plaza outside the CDC, where they assembled.

"Everyone, fall in. We're about to begin the training mission."

Aside from Glenn and Daryl, who were out on a mission, there were T-Dog and Merle, along with Aji and the six young people he had brought from Nursing Home Camp. Nine people in total—that was the entire Security Department of Umbrella Corporation.

At that moment, everyone was wearing a set of black heavy full-body armor made by modifying motorcycle leather jackets and pants and inlaying them with iron plates. Six people held metal spears modified from steel pipes and daggers, while three carried police riot shields and gleaming bayonets. They stood together in groups of three.

The armor had been jointly designed and developed by five technicians from the Engineering Department. Leon had named it Black Bear Armor 1.0.

It used materials already available in the Warehouse. Modeled after ancient knights' armor, it was reinforced with multiple overlapping layers of thick cowhide. Metal armor plates had been sewn onto the joints, and it was paired with copper-wire gloves, metal combat boots, steel shoulder guards, and an integrated helmet modified from a motorcycle helmet. It weighed nine kilograms in total and could effectively protect against the slashes and thrusts of cold weapons. Naturally, it was even less vulnerable to the Zombies' primitive scratching and biting.

This was another thing Leon had found extremely strange in his previous life. The characters in the story were all educated and cultured people, yet when faced with Zombies that could only use their teeth and fingernails, they were actually stupid enough to fight them with nothing but flesh and blood. Couldn't they imitate the warriors of ancient times and get themselves a suit of armor?

Even without armor, wearing several layers of high-quality leather clothing should have been enough to block many Zombies' bites.

With nothing but their teeth, could they really bite through steel plates or thick leather? Leon complained inwardly.

All one could say was that the screenwriter was an idiot and had collectively lowered everyone's intelligence.

The members of the Combat Team were also very satisfied with the Black Bear Armor Leon had named. Having a wise leader was wonderful; it was countless times better than fighting alone.

With this equipment, their survival rate against Zombies had increased by at least 90%.

Because of their limited ammunition reserves, survivors had no choice but to deal with Zombies using the most primitive cold weapons.

Even with Leon's abundant resources, he did not have enough ammunition to supply the Combat Team for their daily consumption.

Thus, the training mission was born.

The training mission was a combat mission that targeted a small number of Zombies and emphasized teamwork among multiple people, with the goal of training combat skills and coordination.

This was the Security Department's first training mission. To guard against accidents, Leon decided to lead personally and protect his men.

Several days earlier, he had sent Glenn to carefully scout every building within three kilometers of the CDC and make a simple map. After repeated investigations, they had found a suitable target: a private apartment complex called Maple Leaf Apartments.

It was a real estate rental project operated by a property company, responsible for providing high-quality private villa rentals for the workers in this industrial district.

It had more than eighty small villas, each with beautiful surroundings and its own yard. There was no danger of encountering a large number of Zombies at once due to population density.

This was also one of Leon's future targets. Once he expanded his territory here, this villa complex could serve as a very practical place to live.

It was highly suitable for a combat mission intended for training.

Leon got into his sports car and gave an order over the Walkie-Talkie.

"Target: Maple Leaf Apartments. Everyone get in the vehicles. Prepare to depart!"

Behind him, the team members climbed into three medium-sized pickup trucks in groups of three and answered his order one after another.

"Yes, Boss."

Ten minutes later, all four vehicles arrived at the villa complex known as Maple Leaf Apartments.

Leon got out first, holding a brand-new Compound Metal Crossbow as he surveyed the surroundings.

He saw eight scattered Zombies standing outside the apartment gate a hundred meters away. They seemed to have heard the sound of the vehicles and were staggering toward them.

Leon thought for a moment, lowered the crossbow in his hand, and crooked a finger at Aji beside him. He took a metal spear from him and said to the combat personnel around him:

"A spear is an excellent long-handled weapon. It can accurately pierce a Zombie's skull, push enemies away, and block them while providing us with a safe distance. At a critical moment, it can even be used as a throwing weapon to deliver a killing blow."

"Follow me and watch how a spear is used."

Leon held the spear and assumed several stances from his memories of spear fighting. With steady steps, he walked toward the group of Zombies.

His gaze was calm and utterly unruffled. Facing enemies who greatly outnumbered him, he felt no fear. Instead, he experienced the strange sensation that everything was under control.

He had been in this world for more than ten days now, and Leon gradually realized that the special energy within his body did more than grant him powerful physical abilities.

It also provided him with an invisible yet formidable power: combat wisdom, which could greatly influence the way his fighting ability manifested. Many people called it combat instinct.

Any weapon, any enemy—after observing it for a while and getting a feel for it in his hands, his mind would automatically simulate numerous ways to use that weapon and techniques for dealing with that kind of enemy.

It was not an illusion. This very sensation had transformed him in just over ten days from an overweight executive and shut-in in his previous life into the powerful warrior whom so many people now admired.

His combat instinct allowed him to gradually become adept at fighting, something that had originally been completely unfamiliar to him.

Take the spear in his hand, for example. He had only swung it lightly a few times, yet within a few dozen seconds, he felt extremely familiar with the weapon. He knew how to use it and how to control it, as if he were a seasoned veteran who had practiced for years.

Scenes from various movies and television shows flashed through his mind, showing numerous martial arts masters wielding spears.

The members of the Combat Team clearly had great confidence in their Boss's combat ability. They held their breath and focused, following silently several meters behind him while carefully observing his movements.

When the fastest Zombie stepped within two meters of Leon, he followed the sensation in his mind. He gripped the rear end of the spear tightly with his left hand and tucked it against his ribs as a pivot, then swept hard with his right hand.

The sharp spearhead traced an arc. With a swish, it chopped the Zombie's skull away, the tremendous force spraying out a mass of white brain matter.

Leon lifted his right hand and swung his left hand back. The spearhead flung away the filthy blood, then miraculously turned through another half-arc and returned to its original position.

After noting the second Zombie's position, he did not slow his steps. He planted his right foot forward, slightly bent his left leg, and drove power through his waist. With both hands bracing the spear, he thrust forward. Carried by the force, the spearhead pierced through the second Zombie's forehead like a bullet.

Leon continued in this fashion, coordinating his waist and legs as his arms whirled wildly. The sharp metal spear moved like a dancing serpent, sometimes thrusting, sometimes lifting, sometimes sweeping, sometimes smashing. Every strike hit a Zombie's head with pinpoint accuracy, crushing its brain and stripping away all its remaining life.

When Leon calmly withdrew the spear and narrowed his eyes, savoring the battle he had just fought, eight corpses with pierced heads were already lying before him.

This is incredible. I suddenly feel unstoppable.

The members of the Combat Team behind him were already dumbfounded. They had never underestimated their Boss's combat ability. After all, he had demonstrated his ability to kill thirty Zombies by himself not long ago.

But they had not expected his combat ability to have improved so much in only ten days. Before this, they had never seen him withstand the assault of eight Zombies head-on and kill them one after another with such ease. The Zombies had not even come within a meter of him.

One member who had come from Nursing Home Camp stared blankly, then murmured smugly:

"I told you long ago—the Boss isn't an ordinary person. He knows Chinese Kung Fu."