On the road to the commercial district fifteen kilometers away, five armored vehicles packed with personnel and an M1A1 main battle tank rumbled along the highway.
The blazing sun warped the air with heat and made the vehicles' metal exteriors scorching hot. If you placed your palm against one for three seconds, you could smell the savory scent of roasting meat.
This was the mercenary force Parick had assigned to accompany Xia Leng to the Street of the Living Dead.
Xia Leng had thought they would send at most a few transport vehicles with him. He hadn't expected them to bring along a tank left over from the old era. It showed just how much these corporations valued the discovery of new life forms.
The force was divided into two squads, each with around five elite mercenaries in full combat gear.
Leading the squads were Captain Gilbert, an agile Apocalypse Hunter who commanded Falcon Squad, and Captain Philip, a strength-type Apocalypse Warrior who led Tiger Squad.
They had different roles, and even their equipment varied considerably.
Falcon Squad specialized in ranged combat. Its ranks included snipers, assault riflemen, machine gunners, and even rocket gunners.
Tiger Squad, on the other hand, was geared primarily toward close-quarters combat. Every member wore sturdy powered exoskeleton armor and carried a variety of brutally effective melee weapons. Quite a few of them were even first-tier Apocalypse Warriors.
The two squads were old comrades who worked together seamlessly and had fought side by side on countless missions.
When Falcon Squad sniped enemies from a distance, they first eliminated much of the opposing force's ranged firepower. Tiger Squad then kept enemies from getting close enough to ambush Falcon Squad, allowing them to counterattack.
In short, they each played different roles depending on the terrain. The open wilderness was Falcon Squad's main battlefield, while dense urban environments were the ideal battleground for Tiger Squad.
At that moment, Xia Leng was in the first armored vehicle with the two captains, waiting to reach their destination.
Captain Philip still wore the same haughty expression. He had a cigar in his mouth and smoked as he pleased, paying no mind to the smoke filling the sealed vehicle.
"That's just how he is. Don't take it personally. We'd just finished wiping out a raider camp and have already been sent on another mission, so he might be a little tired."
Gilbert smiled as he explained, trying to ease the awkward atmosphere in the vehicle.
Xia Leng didn't mind. The Blacklight Virus in his body could keep any smoke harmful to his health from reaching him, and it would purify his respiratory tract as well.
"Hmph, tired? I've never known what it means to be tired. Those worthless raiders aren't even as good as rats in my eyes."
Philip gave a disdainful snort.
And he wasn't wrong. A fully armed mercenary squad with strict discipline could wipe out a ragtag band of raiders in the wilderness without losing a single man.
As for why they had lowered themselves to deal with a bunch of savage raiders, it was because some reckless refugee camp had hijacked a Komodo Corporation water truck.
When people were hungry and thirsty enough to be on the verge of death, they could do anything. Desperate for a moment's relief, they had lost their senses and hijacked cargo that would bring disaster down on them.
"Have you been to this street before? Do you know what it's like inside?" Xia Leng looked through the armored vehicle's observation window. They were getting closer to their destination, and signs and billboards were gradually coming into view.
"You mean the Street of the Living Dead? Our company's already short on manpower just dealing with hostile groups. Why would we waste time clearing out these pointless zombies? If you hadn't discovered a new kind of mutated creature deep inside, the company wouldn't have sent us to handle a job anyone could do."
Gilbert smiled as he spoke. He was curious too about what sort of new mutated creature had caught Parick's attention.
While they were exchanging a few words, the entire convoy reached the edge of the shadow-shrouded street.
"Captain, we've arrived. Please give us your next orders." The deputy commander in the passenger seat turned around to ask Captain Gilbert. He was a Baptized One of the Hunter-type, with enhanced eyesight.
"Understood. Have everyone check their gear again. We may be facing mindless, savage humanoid monsters this time, but I don't want anyone getting careless and ending up as their next meal."
Gilbert spoke sternly. Even the brawny Philip straightened up and began checking his exoskeleton armor. His weapon was a titanium-alloy double-edged greatsword over two meters long!
Whatever the mission or the enemy, both squads fought with all they had. That was one reason they had such an impressive record.
Xia Leng wanted to tell them that these living dead weren't mindless. Under the mysterious Zombie King's command, they coordinated with an efficiency that rivaled a disciplined army.
The three of them climbed out of the armored vehicle and looked toward the ominous street, thick with the stench of danger.
The huge billboard Xia Leng had shot down earlier still lay quietly across the middle of the street entrance. The living dead trapped beneath it, however, were gone. Perhaps the others had dragged them away. Dried, dark green blood still stained the ground.
"The billboard up ahead is blocking the armored vehicles. Have a few of your men move it out of the way."
Gilbert spoke to Captain Philip beside him. This kind of manual labor was always their job; his own marksmen could provide cover from behind.
A few soldiers in heavy exoskeleton armor walked over. They were ordinary people, but years of training and the armor's support gave each of them strength approaching that of a first-tier Apocalypse Warrior.
Xia Leng, meanwhile, was watching the street. The horde that had surrounded and chased him earlier was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps they were hiding in the buildings nearby, waiting for their chance to rain down on them.
By then, the soldiers had reached the huge billboard and grabbed it by its four corners to carry it away.
"Hey, if one of these living dead bites us, will we turn into walking corpses like in the movies?"
Philip held his absurdly oversized double-edged sword and asked curiously.
"Ha. You watch too many old-era movies. If one of these living dead gets its hands on you, do you think you'll have a single unbroken bone left?"
Gilbert laughed as he replied. He had once watched three living dead tackle a refugee. In less than half a minute, they had torn him into hundreds of pieces. They wouldn't leave you alive long enough to get infected...
While everyone waited for the obstacle to be moved, Xia Leng suddenly sensed a familiar, ferocious aura coming from the huge billboard ahead!
The soldiers, too, realized that the decaying underwear billboard was far heavier than they had imagined!
Rip—
Suddenly, there was a sound like nylon fabric tearing!
A withered arm, its rotting skin already peeled away, burst through the billboard's layers and grabbed one of the soldiers by the right leg!
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