Brave Daryl

15 minutes later.

When Daryl, covered from head to toe in dark red flesh and blood, staggered into the horde under everyone's watchful eyes, Kevira beside Leon blinked thoughtfully.

"So these monsters aren't that different from ordinary beasts after all. They can be confused just by using smells and movements?"

After leaving the hospital, the girl had shown no extreme reaction to the gruesome scene of corpses piled like mountains outside. Aside from her paler complexion, she seemed to have accepted this reality with surprising ease.

Leon looked into the girl's sky-blue eyes, nodded, and said:

"For now, aside from their numerical advantage and the fact that you have to destroy their brains to kill them, Zombies really aren't that different from ordinary beasts."

"But don't underestimate their lethality. If they bite you or leave even a tiny scratch, you'll die a few hours later and become one of them."

"There's currently no cure for that."

Kevira nodded with dawning understanding and said:

"No wonder you're all wearing that clumsy, heavy leather armor."

Leon shrugged and continued:

"The world's order is in chaos now. Zombies are only one part of the danger. Without the restraints of the law, some humans have become even more dangerous than beasts."

"And with the difficulties involving food, medical care, shelter, and everything else, you should be able to imagine how hard it is for humanity to survive."

Kevira fell silent for a few seconds before suddenly thinking of something.

"By the way, Mr. Castor, the entire world has lost its water and electricity. Have you ever thought about one thing?"

Leon vaguely sensed what she was getting at, but still couldn't grasp it specifically. He asked:

"What thing?"

The girl's expression grew solemn. After hesitating for a second or two, she spoke:

"I looked into this before. Our country currently has more than a hundred Nuclear Power Plants, while there are roughly four hundred Nuclear Power Plants throughout the world. If a Nuclear Power Plant remains without water or electricity beyond its limits, the reactor will overheat after losing cooling, resulting in a leak—or even an explosion."

"Given the current situation, do you think those Nuclear Power Plants are still operating normally?"

Leon was startled. He had never considered the possibility of Nuclear Power Plant accidents. It had not been mentioned in the plot of The Walking Dead either, but considering the range of knowledge possessed by those brain-dead writers, they had clearly forgotten about something like this.

He fell silent for a few seconds before asking with some difficulty:

"If all the Nuclear Power Plants remain unmanaged, what will happen?"

Kevira recalled for a few seconds, then shook her head.

"I can't say for sure. Most of the Nuclear Power Plants today are equipped with automatic shutdown systems, but none of them have been tested in actual emergencies. No one ever considered that humanity could lose more than ninety-five percent of its population in a single month. Probably no one knows exactly what will happen."

"But I estimate that some of these Nuclear Power Plants will genuinely shut down, some will suffer Radiation leaks, and others will explode. It's possible that before long, our world will have many more Radiation Zones, and our living environment will be filled with massive amounts of Radiation."

As she spoke, Kevira looked at Leon and gave him a faintly mocking smile.

"I'm not an expert in this field. I just happened to learn a little about it. But either way, as long as we aren't killed instantly by an explosion, we should still be able to cling to life in the Radiation for a few decades, right?"

"But there's nothing we can do about it. Could you shut down all the Nuclear Power Plants in the world?"

"Perhaps future humans will evolve bodies capable of adapting to Radiation. Who knows?"

Indeed, this was not something Leon could interfere with or change right now. He gathered his thoughts again and turned his gaze toward Daryl, who was weaving through the horde.

Once they returned to the base, he would find those professors and doctors with the highest intelligence and broadest knowledge and have a serious talk with them.

Daryl, this silent hunk, moved extremely quickly. He showed no fear in the face of the Zombies and had already crossed through two waves of them, reaching the entrance of the supermarket. A Zombie stood rigidly there, blocking his path.

After hesitating for only a second or two, Daryl ducked and charged behind the Zombie. His left arm clamped tightly around its neck while his right hand drove a dagger straight into its temple.

With his body concealed behind the Zombie, he dragged it into the supermarket. He did it quickly and without attracting the attention of the other Zombies.

Leon could no longer see what happened afterward. He could only make out a blurry figure flickering in and out of sight inside the supermarket. Several Zombies standing by the windows were killed and then knocked down.

About six or seven minutes later, loud music suddenly rang out from the small supermarket. It was Michael Jackson's "Dirty Diana."

Daryl had succeeded.

As the music spread, all the Zombies on the entire street were drawn toward it. They turned their stiff bodies and began slowly gathering around the supermarket.

Leon and the others waited quietly.

Once the horde had moved more than fifty meters away from the gun store, he waved at the truck behind him. The engine started, and the vehicle glided silently to the entrance of the gun store.

After getting out, Leon made a quick observation, then decisively drew the Silenced Pistol from the back of his waist. He fired twice at the lock on the gun store's door. The impacts were somewhat loud and seemed to draw the attention of several Zombies at the rear of the group.

He pressed himself against the door and shoved hard.

Crack!

With the sound of some material breaking, the gun store's door opened.

Leon waved to the two remaining members of Daryl's Squad and said quietly:

"Go move all the firearms and ammunition inside onto the truck."

"Move quickly. I'll protect you outside."

After speaking, he drew his own long-bladed cleaver from his back and held it in his hand, quietly waiting for the Zombies to surround him.

Everyone was racing against time. The sooner they finished moving the supplies from the gun store, the sooner they would escape this dangerous area.

As time passed, roughly ten Zombies discovered their movements. One after another, they broke away from the group and lunged toward Leon at the front.

Compared with the last time he had faced thirty Zombies alone, Leon was much stronger now, and his mindset was far more confident. The long-bladed cleaver in his hand was perfectly suited for hacking, while the Black Bear Armor on his body offered excellent protection against the Zombies' attacks.

He no longer chose to fight indirectly. Instead, he charged straight into the horde. Facing the Zombie at the very front, Leon suddenly swept his long blade upward. The edge cleaved into the Zombie's chin and continued upward with unstoppable force, splitting its brain in two.

Leon planted one foot against the headless Zombie and kicked it backward. Using the momentum, he twisted his waist and spun around. The rotation instantly increased the force behind his blade, transforming it into an upward arc of light that sliced through the skulls of two Zombies.

He ignored the two fallen Zombies and continued charging forward. Reaching a Zombie, he swung diagonally. The blade cut into its neck like it was chopping through rotten wood. After a momentary drag, it severed the entire head.

After a few movements, the four Zombies closest to him had all been cut down. Leon breathed slightly harder and quickly adjusted his breathing. He stood with his blade in hand, and only about twenty seconds later, another group of Zombies entered his combat range.

Two minutes later, all ten Zombies drawn over by Leon and the others were lying beneath him, their heads separated from their bodies and reduced to true corpses.

Leon shook the scraps of flesh and blood from his blade. A faint sheen of sweat appeared on his forehead. That frontal assault had been exhilarating, making him feel as if the blood in his body had begun to boil.

He liked this feeling of fighting with his life on the line. Compared with sitting in an office and scheming against those scumbags, it was far more satisfying.

Leon felt that he had been born for this kind of life: drinking hard, eating heartily, and staking his life for glory and wealth.