Destination

When everyone heard the commotion behind them and looked back, the rearmost armored vehicle had already been swallowed by the sea of corpses, buried beneath a mound of bodies. The vehicle was nowhere to be seen...

They hadn't even covered half the distance, and the fifty-member mercenary squad had already lost ten people—nearly a fifth of their force!

"Those monsters... Is someone controlling them...?"

Gilbert had seen the whole thing in the rearview mirror, but there was nothing he could do. He could only watch helplessly as the living corpses slammed into the last armored vehicle with their bodies, knocking it over and burying it...

Philip's mouth hung open, and he couldn't get a word out.

If the refugees they'd wiped out before were rats, then these living corpses were a pack of hyenas on the African savanna in the old world, waiting for the right moment to strike the deadliest blow!

Xia Leng still looked calm, but every muscle in his body was tensed, ready to abandon the vehicle at a moment's notice.

After all, rather than get trapped inside this metal can and wait for the living corpses to pry it open, he would rather use the same method as last time and escape on his own.

He'd thought Komodo Corporation's armored convoy could really force its way into the center of the street as planned. But before the tide of corpses, it proved just as fragile as anything else...

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Next, the four remaining armored vehicles were struck by chunks of corpses to varying degrees. Once the blood of the zombies covered these searchlights too, the horde would launch its full-scale attack!

"Damn it! Everyone, get your asses in gear! Some of you, climb onto the roofs and clean the blood off those searchlights. Don't let them get completely covered!"

Captain Philip was good at turning fear into motivation. He jumped to his feet in a fury and issued orders to his subordinates over the communicator.

This kind of dangerous, physically demanding work usually fell to the Tiger Squad.

And they lived up to their reputation as a battle-hardened mercenary unit with professional training. Faced with this desperate situation, the fighting spirit carved into their bones came surging out.

The Tiger Squad members in their exoskeleton suits didn't hesitate or back down. They opened the roof hatches, climbed onto the armored vehicles, tore off their clothes, and desperately scrubbed the dark green bloodstains from the searchlights!

Meanwhile, the Falcon Squad members were busy too. They leaned halfway out of the vehicles, gripped the handles of the mounted heavy machine guns, squeezed the triggers, and fired wildly at the horde as it kept hurling chunks of corpses at them!

Aahhh!!!

Rat-a-tat-tat!!!

Roar!!

The mercenaries' roars, the whistle of bullets, and the living corpses' howls blended together, forming a grand symphony!

No one even considered retreating. In a place like this, there was nowhere to run, so all they could do was fight the living corpses to the bitter end!

"All drivers, floor it! No matter what, I'm going to see that Living Corpse King! Tanks, blast us a path! Stop saving ammunition for the company!"

This time, Captain Gilbert roared into the communicator as he gave the order. His eyes had gone bloodshot. On a battlefield where life and death hung in the balance, all his gentlemanly manners had been thrown aside!

Boom!!!

The tank, its cannon already loaded, fired at the living corpse horde ahead as soon as the order was given!

The shell landed with another deafening explosion. Flames and a shock wave swept through the living corpses near the impact site, blasting them to pieces and sending them flying in every direction!

In this contest between human technology and mutated creatures, technology had the slight edge after all. Under the tank's fire, the ferocious, violent living corpses were torn apart, their flesh and bones blown in every direction.

Thanks to their seamless teamwork, the convoy sped up once more, and no more chunks of corpse smashed into the searchlights and covered them in blood.

Even Xia Leng couldn't help but look at the two squads with new respect. But they still hadn't reached the center of the Street of the Living Dead, and everything remained uncertain.

With the four remaining armored vehicles and the tank charging ahead at full speed, the group drew closer and closer to their destination, leaving a trail of corpses in their wake!

But retreat and flight weren't in the zombies' vocabulary either. The closer they got to the center of the street, the more frenzied the living corpses became!

Their numbers showed no sign of dwindling. They pursued the convoy in a vast, relentless tide!

At last! After nearly ten minutes of racing through this intensely oppressive chase, they finally saw the landmark building at the heart of the commercial district: the Trade Tower!

Just as they'd expected, the central plaza was also packed with living corpses, so densely that the sight made their scalps tingle!

But under the searchlights' intense beams, the corpses howled in frustration and parted to make way. The convoy continued until it came to a safe stop in front of the Trade Tower.

"Spread the vehicles out in a radial formation, so each one is covered by the others' searchlights!"

After Gilbert arranged the convoy in a secure formation, everyone gripped their weapons and climbed out of the sturdy armored vehicles, their faces grim.

"Do you need a weapon? Looks like you don't have anything you're comfortable with."

Before they got out, Gilbert noticed that Xia Leng was empty-handed, apart from a pistol at his waist with no bullets.

"Just give me any durable melee weapon," Xia Leng replied indifferently. The terrifying journey seemed to have stirred no emotion in him at all, earning the two captains' admiration.

The five searchlights formed a circular "safe zone" in front of the Trade Tower, keeping the dense tide of living corpses at bay. The corpses outside the circle let out shrill, furious howls at the people within.

Under the combined pressure of what they saw and heard, the mercenaries panted, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.

They held their weapons at the ready, aiming at the endless tide of corpses all around them.

They all knew that if the living corpses surged forward, even an unlimited supply of ammunition wouldn't help. Holding their weapons was nothing more than a small comfort for their overwhelmed minds.

Xia Leng raised his head and looked at the Trade Tower before him.

The intense sense of danger he'd felt when he came here alone before had vanished, and the pair of purple eyes was gone too.

Had the Zombie King moved elsewhere because they'd made too much noise on the way here, or was it deliberately hiding its presence?

Whether it was here or not, they had made it this far. In the end, they would have to go up and take a look. Perhaps they could find some clues.

"Captain, the searchlights' batteries should last about forty minutes. But we'll need them to light the way back, so I recommend we spend no more than half an hour inside this building."

Just then, his deputy hurried over to report to Captain Gilbert. The searchlights were as good as protective charms to them. If their batteries ran out before they escaped from the Street of the Living Dead, they would be left with nothing but bones...