Lamplight

The mercenary was caught off guard, startled by the arm that suddenly shot out from the billboard, and lost his balance, crashing hard onto the ground.

Before he could react, the withered arm exerted a powerful force, dragging him toward the gap in the billboard!

BANG!!

Just as he was about to be pulled inside, a thunderous gunshot echoed across the street!

The withered arm, which was on the verge of dragging the mercenary into the billboard, was severed clean at the elbow by a sniper round, freeing the mercenary from its grip.

"These zombies are actually hiding inside the billboards?!"

Gilbert lowered his ERG Sniper Rifle. That shot had been his, executed with a series of movements—raising the rifle, aiming, and firing—that took place in the blink of an eye.

ROAR!!!

At that moment, the unique, shrill roars of zombies erupted from the billboard's hollow space, and there was more than one of them!

SPLAT!

Following the sound of the advertising fabric tearing, several zombies crawled out, baring their fangs and lunging toward the four Tiger Squad mercenaries responsible for carrying the supplies.

However, they were no pushovers; once they regained their composure, they each drew their unique weapons.

Seeing a zombie about to sink its massive jaws into a mercenary's neck, the man gripped a steel mountain axe and swung it in a backhand strike!

CRACK!!

The zombie's head was instantly split in two by the sharp axe blade!

Because the grey crystal within the cranium was the sole source of their vitality, the creature collapsed to the ground, completely incapacitated after being struck.

The other mercenaries followed suit, utilizing their superior reflexes and combat training to quickly dispatch the zombies attacking them.

As for the few remaining zombies, they were taken out by headshots from the Falcon Squad marksmen providing cover from the rear.

Soon, the street fell silent once more; the eight zombies had been completely wiped out in less than ten seconds.

"These savage monsters have actually learned how to ambush us?!"

Captain Philip was also stunned. In his experience, these zombies would usually charge blindly at their prey the moment they spotted them, never waiting for the target to get right in front of them before attacking.

Fortunately, given the team's extensive combat experience, these few zombies posed no real threat to them.

"Tell your men to pull back."

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

"Why? Aren't we going to push forward anyway? These zombies shatter at a touch; they can't even bite through the exoskeleton suits my men are wearing."

Captain Philip said with a hint of pride, as the equipment worn by each member of his team was worth enough to sustain an entire ordinary refugee camp.

However, his confidence vanished instantly as he stared ahead, his eyes widening in horror!

Within the black mist of the street, where sunlight had not reached for a long time, a dense, rustling sound suddenly emerged. As the noise drew closer, it transformed into a deafening roar!

A massive number of humanoid silhouettes, moving with unnatural speed and bizarre postures, gradually appeared in everyone's field of vision—it was the zombie horde Xia Leng had seen earlier!!

Thousands of zombies formed a rotting tsunami, surging toward them. The sheer scale of the onslaught left everyone feeling a sense of unprecedented shock!

The number was so vast that even if both teams exhausted all their ammunition, they couldn't hope to eliminate even a third of them!

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

This sight surprised Xia Leng as well. He had expected to encounter the horde only upon reaching the center of the commercial district, yet they had appeared at the street entrance so soon, as if to deter anyone from taking another step forward...

"What are you idiots staring at! Get your asses back here right now!!"

Seeing his men seemingly paralyzed by the scene and forgetting to run, Philip roared in fury, though his voice was completely drowned out by the roar of the horde.

By the time they snapped out of their stupor amidst the overwhelming cacophony, it was already too late to escape.

Dozens of mutated zombies leading the charge opened their blood-filled maws, spitting out long, barbed tongues that instantly lashed out and coiled around their bodies!

Under the immense force of the pull, the four mercenaries didn't even have time to scream before they were torn to pieces and dragged into the sea of zombies...

However, as the horde reached the edge of the sunlight, they stopped in their tracks. They stood at the edge of the street, roaring at the group from a distance, and even from far away, one could feel the stench of decay washing over them...

"Well? Compared to the raiders in the wilderness, how would you rate the combat power of this horde? Can we still continue deeper?"

Xia Leng turned to look at the two stunned captains beside him, asking with a slight, playful smile.

Philip's face turned ashen at the question. He wanted nothing more than to grab this man and throw him into the sea of zombies; the feeling of being looked down upon infuriated him, especially after losing four of his own men...

Gilbert's expression was no better. Could it be that the mission Parick had entrusted to him was going to end in failure like this?

Yet, Xia Leng remained calm, turning his gaze back to the surging mass of zombies.

At that moment, he noticed a detail: the zombies were avoiding the reflected light cast by the sunlight hitting the armored vehicle's windshield. Not a single zombie was willing to let that beam of light touch them.

Xia Leng walked over to Gilbert and asked, "Does your company have any high-intensity lighting equipment, like a searchlight?"

Upon hearing this, Gilbert immediately understood what he was planning. Was he intending to use high-intensity lights to clear a path?

But would that bit of ultraviolet power be enough to make those walking corpses recoil?

Still, it was worth a try. He immediately called over his lieutenant, "Konov, is the searchlight we used during the night raid on the enemy camp still on the vehicle? How much battery life is left?"

"Uh... it should be. I'll go check right now." Receiving the order, the lieutenant hurried toward the last armored vehicle to inspect it.

"Captain, we've brought the lights. The battery charge is enough to keep the spotlights running for about an hour!"

A moment later, the second-in-command arrived with several mercenaries, hauling six giant searchlights. With apertures nearly two meters in diameter, these lights could easily project a powerful beam over a kilometer away.

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

Following his order, the mercenaries skillfully assembled the massive searchlight, pointing its lens toward the dense tide of corpses ahead.

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

Captain Philip walked over, his eyes burning with rage. He hoisted the heavy, giant searchlight with both hands as if it were as light as a woman's handbag.

Click.

The moment the switch was flipped, a beam of intense light erupted, instantly engulfing a five-meter radius of the zombie horde in its glare!

Awoo!!!

Less than three seconds later, the zombies caught in the harsh light let out a series of shrill, agonizing roars, and wisps of black smoke began to rise from their rotting skin...