Gathering Place, Absolute Submission

A deep sense of helplessness rose from the bottom of his heart. Even Jin Wuqian, the leader, felt that nothing he did now could turn the tide.

"No, I can't die yet!"

"If worst comes to worst, we can only abandon this Gathering Place and carve out territory somewhere else."

"But after spending so long and finally managing to build up a team, is it really going to fall apart just like this?!"

A profound unwillingness surged through Jin Wuqian's heart. His eyes reddened as he faced the oncoming zombies, roaring in fury.

"Fight these walking corpses to the death!"

"Either these beasts die, or the thousand people of our Gathering Place are buried with them..."

"What we do is up to you..."

"Everyone, kill!"

Gunfire rang through the air as countless humans operated the firearms in their hands, aiming at the zombies and firing.

The results were obvious. A swath of zombies fell instantly, exposing a large stretch of empty ground, but even more zombies quickly filled it again.

Roaring and crowding together, they surged toward the crude defensive fortifications.

"Idiots, aim for the head before you shoot!"

"Damn it, who told you to keep the trigger held down? I don't have enough bullets here for you to waste!"

"Heavy machine gun, hurry! Aim at that Tank Zombie and fire in bursts!"

"Quick, quick..."

The defensive works erupted into a chaotic din, curses and screams blending into one.

The zombie horde was a dark mass like storm clouds, sweeping in like a tide that blotted out the sky and covered the earth. The horrifying sight left many people with no chance to think.

They only knew to pull the trigger desperately, not even hearing the clicking sounds when their ammunition ran dry.

Leader Jin Wuqian was still trying to bolster his men's morale, but the terrifying Tank Zombies had already charged beneath the fortifications and were battering the wall.

Several Speed Zombies had even rushed onto the wall, unleashing a horrifying slaughter.

Screams rang out within the fortifications. The piercing cries sent morale plummeting, and although many people still held weapons, they were looking around frantically, trying to escape.

"All of you, charge forward..."

"Zombies are everywhere. There's nowhere to run."

"If we don't get rid of them, they'll get rid of us..."

"Die, monsters!"

Leader Jin Wuqian desperately activated his flames. A ball of orange fire instantly blasted into a Tank Zombie.

With a bang, the fireball exploded, and the scorching heat set the Tank Zombie's entire body ablaze.

The scattered flames also ignited many other zombies. In an instant, over a hundred zombies turned to ash, dead beyond death.

Although an Ability User's attack was powerful, he had also caught the attention of a Speed Zombie.

A blur flashed past, and sharp claws slashed across Leader Jin Wuqian's neck.

Bright red blood sprayed out, and his body fell limply to the ground. A thought surfaced in his mind.

I should have run away first...

Is the Gathering Place really finished just like this?!

Just as he was about to close his eyes, he saw a streak of silver light sweep across the wall, swift as lightning.

Even the Speed Zombies could not react before that silver light. Heads flew one after another as they were killed outright.

"Someone came to save us."

"Brothers from which Gathering Place?"

A faint smile appeared with difficulty on his pale face, and Leader Jin Wuqian slowly closed his eyes.

Just as the crude wall fortifications were on the verge of being breached, a streak of silver light flashed past like lightning. The Speed Zombies that had charged onto the wall were swept clean in just a few breaths.

Then that silver lightning flashed beneath the wall as well, shooting straight at the Tank Zombies. It pierced through their eye sockets and flew out through the backs of their heads, carrying out clumps of whitish matter. They were dead beyond death.

In the blink of an eye, that silver lightning had swept away every Mutated Zombie—the greatest threats of all—and killed them all.

The surviving humans in the Gathering Place wore expressions of utter disbelief, scarcely daring to trust their own eyes.

What had happened?

Why had those Mutated Zombies become so insignificant, swept away by the silver lightning in the space of a few breaths? It was simply unbelievable.

At that moment, a voice suddenly rang out overhead.

"Submit to me and become my servants."

"I can protect your lives. Even if a zombie horde besieges you, I can still keep you alive."

The clear voice rang out as a figure descended from the sky and landed atop the defensive works on the wall.

He stood tall and straight. His clothes were strange, yet spotlessly clean. Countless corpses lay beneath his feet, while the silver lightning stopped in front of him.

In his right hand, he held a strange small black banner. His cold eyes swept over everyone around him.

"That's a flying sword?!"

"An Ability User who can control metal? A metal-element Ability User?"

"Or an Ability User who can manipulate magnetic fields?!"

At last, someone saw clearly that the thing resembling silver lightning was actually a floating longsword, suspended there in defiance of the laws of physics.

"Another Ability User has appeared, and he's an extremely powerful one."

"I've never heard of anyone who could kill dozens of Mutated Zombies in an instant."

"He wants to become the leader of the Gathering Place?! But the battle isn't even over yet, and the zombie horde is still here. Isn't that just a fool's dream?"

His posture as he descended from the sky intimidated many people.

But the zombie horde surrounding them had not dispersed. Sharp howls echoed all around, and yet they remained silent in response to Zheng Yi's terms.

"Since no one objects, once I deal with this zombie horde, you will become my subordinates."

"I saved the lives of your entire Gathering Place. The agreement is made. From now on, your lives belong to me..."

"Anyone who dares defy my orders will be killed without mercy!"

Before his words had faded, the figure turned around. The Soul Devouring Banner in his hand fluttered in the wind, Azure Nether Flame spreading over the pole and flowing onto the banner itself.

Thick black mist surged forth. From the rolling black mist emerged forty-nine Netherworld Soldier Vengeful Spirits, their claws covered in Azure Nether Flame. They surged like a tide, roaring as they charged toward the zombie horde.

These Netherworld Soldier Vengeful Spirits were all elite ghost creatures left behind after devouring one another.

And with Azure Profound Fiend's Azure Nether Flame added to them, their killing power increased greatly. Their claws could tear open zombie skulls.

A sweep of Azure Nether Flame passed through the horde, and a swath of headless zombies immediately fell.

It had to be said that compared to ordinary zombies, these Netherworld Soldier Vengeful Spirits, meticulously refined by the Soul Devouring Banner, were simply too ferocious.

In a short time, under those terrifying attacks, the zombies rapidly dwindled at a visible rate. Their power was even greater than guns and cannons.