Elite Zombies

Jiang Nannan watched in despair as the zombies charged toward her and the others.

As she murmured to herself, she was filled with immense guilt for failing to help her gravely ill mother.

She would have to make her endure the pain of parting once again.

Now, she only hoped that her mother could remain healthy.

She was busy writing a suicide note in her heart, wallowing in sentimental sorrow.

"What are you spacing out for?! You silly child! Run!"

Despite everything, there were still plenty of normal people on the Douluo Continent.

The lead Soul Master grabbed Jiang Nannan and one of the children, one in each hand, and bolted.

The other guard Soul Master behind them did the same.

What were they thinking? Did they really believe that reminiscing about the past would lead to a desperate counterattack?

Knowing they were outmatched, the choice of any normal person was, of course, to run away immediately!

Standing there like a fool? Were they hoping for a protagonist to come and save them?

As for putting up a fight, that was purely a joke.

The enemy had already revealed a level higher than their own side.

Fight?

Fight my foot!

Did they really think everyone on their side was a genius capable of fighting above their rank?

Besides, who knew if this monster had some big boss behind it pulling the strings?

Therefore, the optimal solution was to run.

Run for their lives!

Run to the human territories outside! Even if they couldn't be completely safe, there would be no shortage of hidden weapons they could send out by then.

Although he didn't really approve of a certain Grandmaster.

One thing he said still made a lot of sense.

If you have more rings, more bones, and more power, go all out; if you have fewer rings, fewer bones, just run.

If you can't win, run.

This was the wisest survival rule in this world where the strong preyed on the weak.

The two Soul Masters in the field were, at the very least, experts close to the level of a Soul Ancestor or even a Soul King.

Carrying a few children to escape was still quite easy for them.

Moreover, based on their understanding of typical puppets, they were all short-legged creatures that couldn't run fast.

As long as they could put some distance between them, it would be easy to shake off the opponent in this complex forest terrain.

However, they could never have imagined that what they were facing was something that shouldn't exist in this world at all.

It didn't play by the rules.

Once it had locked onto its target!

A zombie would exhaust every ability it had to attack.

And as everyone knew, small mobs didn't have a mana bar to worry about.

So...

Soul skills! All of them, activate! Activate! Activate!

And this one too!

Fifth Soul Skill! Blazing Lion Corpse Claw!!!

As the soul rings on the zombie's body flashed in sequence.

Its speed increased, its strength grew, and its defense became even more ferocious! It even had a shield.

It had completely evolved into a mobile turret capable of firing flaming claw strikes.

That thing, like it was equipped with a double-speed engine, instantly caught up to the fleeing Jiang Nannan and the others.

At the same time, the flaming claw radiance released by the soul skill struck the guard Soul Master who was running slower.

He was instantly sent flying, landing in front of the lead Soul Master's escape path.

"This...! Gulp!"

The lead Soul Master, who was carrying Jiang Nannan, saw his companion knocked away and couldn't help but swallow hard in shock.

Although he was stunned, the zombie's attack would not stop.

It raised its arm and swung its fist!

It was dodged by a hair's breadth.

"Hoo! Looks like there's no escaping this! Kid, get out of here and stay safe! Da Biaozi! Can you still get up? If you can, get over here and help! If we don't take care of this nuisance, we aren't walking out of this Soul Beast Forest today!"

The lead Soul Master violently threw Jiang Nannan and the child in his hand in opposite directions. He turned around and punched the incoming zombie, forcing it back. Four soul rings—yellow, yellow, purple, purple—appeared above his head before slowly settling onto his body. His appearance changed drastically; his muscles bulged, stretching his loose clothing until it was skin-tight. His black hair was tinged with spots of orange-yellow. Scales matching his hair color then covered his body, and his palms transformed into sharp claws with foot-long talons. It was clear that this Soul Master was an assault-type Soul Master with a scaled beast martial soul.

"I'm alright! It didn't get a solid grip; it's still a long way from killing me!" The Soul Master known as Da Biaozi, who also had four soul rings—yellow, yellow, purple, purple—circling him, held his glowing silver shield martial soul high. He knocked away the zombie that was relentlessly attacking the beast-type Soul Master, then gritted his teeth and spoke. However, looking at the deep, bone-exposed wound on his back, it was clear his situation was not as relaxed as he claimed.

"As long as you can fight, that's enough! Today, we brothers will act like geniuses for once! We're going to defy the odds and kill a Soul King!"

"Fine! Coming to this Soul Beast Forest for this trip will have been worth the price of admission!"

"Kill!" X2

"Ah!" X2

The declaration was cool, but they went down fast. The two were no match for the zombie at all. That thing on the opposite side kept its buffs active constantly, and shields rolled off it one after another. The attacks from the two landed on it with absolutely no effect. It didn't lose a single drop of health. What was even more disgusting was its fifth soul skill. It wasn't a basic attack; it was a pure skill attack with ridiculously high damage. A normal Soul King would be nearly out of soul power after using it a few times, but this bastard acted as if it had no consumption at all, firing off skills ten times a minute. It was completely impossible to fight.

"Uncle Liu, are you guys okay?" Just as the two decided to face death calmly, a young girl's voice suddenly rang in their ears. Upon seeing clearly, it was Jiang Nannan, leading the other two children who were supposed to have escaped, running back!

"Damn it! I risked my life to send you away, why the hell did you come back?!"

"Are your brains broken? You're all soul master seedlings; can't you just take care of my family in the future? Why the hell did you come back?!" The two Soul Masters instantly ignited like powder kegs, cursing up a storm. Then, they forced their exhausted bodies to stand up and block the zombie. Since they couldn't escape, they would end their story like heroes! (It was truly impossible to escape! Even selling out their teammates wouldn't have worked.)

"Ugh!"

"Damn! Fuck, monster!" They still couldn't win, no matter how they fought. While taking a beating, they took a moment to look at the three little brats standing by, dazed and watching the battle. The two instantly felt a sense of, I'm tired, let's just end it like this. It was too stupid! If anyone ever says children on the Douluo Continent are precocious again, I'll be damned if I don't take their name.

However, the development of the world is always dramatic. Just as the two Soul Masters had fallen into despair.

"I finally understand why TV shows always have those idiotic plots where characters have a chance to escape but choose to stay behind just to be eye candy.

I have to say, inspiration really does come from life.

Uncle Long, control the field! And while you're at it, fish those two Spirit Masters out; they're about to be beaten into a pulp."

A clear, youthful voice drifted out from the dense forest, accompanied by a surge of overwhelming pressure.

The pressure was quite effective for crowd control.

It just had one tiny, minor flaw.

The two Spirit Masters, who were already hanging on by a thread, now had half of that remaining life crushed out of them.

Still, trading a quarter of their lives for a chance at survival was a fair deal.

As for pulling a cheat-code comeback?

That was Lu Mingfei's business; it had nothing to do with them.

Besides, the real protagonist had already arrived.

"Hey, hey, hey! You two uncles looked pretty heroic while you were busy getting yourselves killed!

Don't worry, I'm taking over from here!

But I suggest you don't just stand around!

Go teach those three idiots a lesson! They don't even know how to run when they're getting beaten? Do they even know how to head indoors when it rains?

Let them get a taste of how cruel the world can be!"