Lights

The mercenary was caught completely off guard by the arm that suddenly reached out from the billboard. He lost his balance and crashed to the ground.

Before he could react, the withered arm surged with tremendous strength and dragged him toward the gap inside the billboard!

Bang!!

Just as he was about to be pulled inside, a thunderous gunshot suddenly rang out above the street!

The withered arm that was about to drag the mercenary into the billboard was severed cleanly at the elbow by a sniper round, freeing him from its grip!

"Those living corpses were hiding inside the billboards?!"

Gilbert lowered the ERG Sniper Rifle in his hands. He had fired that shot, completing the entire sequence of raising his rifle, taking aim, and firing in the blink of an eye!

Aaargh!!!

At that moment, the living corpses' distinctive, shrill roars sounded from inside the billboard—and there was more than one of them!

Rip!

With several more tearing sounds, a few zombies crawled out from inside. They bared their jagged teeth and lunged at the four Tiger Squad mercenaries tasked with carrying the supplies!

But they weren't pushovers. Once they recovered from the surprise, they each drew their own specialized weapons.

Just as one living corpse was about to sink its gaping maw into a mercenary's neck, he gripped a steel battle-axe and swung it backward!

Crack!!

The sharp axe blade split the living corpse's head in two!

The gray crystal inside its skull was the sole source of its movement. Once the axe struck, it collapsed to the ground and lost all ability to move.

The other mercenaries did the same. With their excellent reflexes and combat skills, they quickly dispatched the living corpses attacking them!

The remaining corpses were shot in the head by the Falcon Squad marksmen providing cover from the rear of the formation.

Soon, the street fell quiet once more. In less than ten seconds, all eight living corpses had been wiped out.

"These savage monsters have actually learned to set ambushes?!"

Captain Philip was taken aback. In his experience, living corpses charged recklessly at any prey they spotted. They never waited until their prey was right in front of them to attack.

Fortunately, with the squad's wealth of combat experience, these few living corpses had posed no threat to them.

"Call those men of yours back."

At that moment, Xia Leng, who had remained silent until now, spoke up.

"Why? We're going to attack anyway, aren't we? These living corpses fall apart at the slightest touch. They can't even bite through the outer layer of my men's exosuits."

Captain Philip answered with some pride. The gear worn by each member of his squad had cost enough to support an ordinary refugee camp.

But his confidence vanished in an instant. His eyes widened as he stared at what lay ahead!

From the dark fog inside the street, where the sunlight had not reached in a long time, came a sudden rustling. As the sound drew nearer, it grew into a deafening roar!

The outlines of countless human figures, moving at incredible speed with unnatural postures, gradually appeared in everyone's sight. It was the zombie horde Xia Leng had seen earlier!

Thousands upon thousands of living corpses surged toward them like a rotting tsunami. The overwhelming sight sent a shock through everyone unlike anything they had ever felt!

Even if both squads ran out of ammunition and supplies, they could at most kill a third of the horde!

They could even faintly feel the ground trembling beneath their feet!

The sight surprised Xia Leng as well. He had thought they would encounter the horde only after reaching the center of the commercial district, yet it had appeared so soon at the street entrance, as if warning them not to take another step...

"What are you idiots standing around for? Get your asses back here!"

Philip saw that his men seemed stunned by the sight before them and had forgotten to run. He roared furiously, but the horde's howls drowned him out completely.

By the time the four men came to their senses amid the overwhelming chorus of shrieks, it was already too late to escape.

The dozens of mutated living corpses at the front of the horde opened their bloody mouths and shot out long, barbed tongues. In an instant, the tongues lashed out and wrapped around the men!

The tremendous force tore the four mercenaries apart before they could even scream. Their shattered remains were dragged into the horde...

Yet as they neared the area lit by sunlight, the corpses stopped. They roared at the group from the edge of the street. Even from a long distance away, everyone could feel the rancid wind blowing toward them...

"Well? Compared to the outlaws in the wilderness, how strong are these living corpses? Can we keep going?"

Xia Leng turned to the two stunned captains beside him and asked with a faint smile, his tone tinged with amusement.

Philip's face turned ashen. He wanted to grab the man and hurl him into the sea of zombies ahead. He couldn't stand being looked down on, especially after losing four of his men...

Gilbert looked no better. Had the mission Parick had entrusted to him really failed like this...?

But Xia Leng remained calm as he turned back to the surging mass of zombies.

Just then, he noticed a detail: the zombies had avoided even the reflected sunlight shining off the armored vehicle's windshield. Not a single living corpse was willing to let the beam fall on it.

Xia Leng walked over to Gilbert and asked, "Does your company have any high-powered lights, like searchlights?"

Gilbert immediately understood what he had in mind. Did he want to clear a path with powerful lights?

But would that little bit of ultraviolet light really be enough to make those walking corpses keep their distance?

Still, it was worth a try. He called over his second-in-command. "Konov, do we have the searchlights from our night raid on the enemy camp in one of the vehicles? How much charge is left in the batteries?"

"Uh... I think so. I'll go check right away." At his superior's order, the deputy hurried to inspect the last armored vehicle himself.

"Captain, we brought the lights. The batteries have enough charge to keep the searchlights on for about an hour!"

A while later, the deputy returned with several mercenaries carrying six huge searchlights. Each lamp head was nearly two meters in diameter, capable of casting powerful light a thousand meters away!

"Good. Turn one of them on and aim it at those disgusting things ahead. Let's see if it works."

With practiced ease, several mercenaries assembled the enormous searchlight and aimed it at the densely packed horde.

"Damn it! Let me do it! I'm going to avenge my men!"

Captain Philip strode forward, fury burning in his eyes. He lifted the heavy searchlight with both hands as easily as a woman's handbag.

Click~

The instant the switch was flipped, a powerful beam burst forth, immediately illuminating a five-meter-wide section of the horde!

Aaargh!!!

Less than three seconds later, the zombies caught in the beam let out a chorus of miserable shrieks. A wisp of black smoke rose from their rotting bodies...