Preparing to Set Off

Outside the main gate, fragments of zombies were scattered everywhere; it was nearly impossible to find a single intact corpse. Now, Heming and Sheni could safely pass through the street to enter the gun shop and the travel agency.

"Hiss... Heming... Heming... please respond if you receive this... hiss." The radio crackled with sound once more, and this time, Rie sounded incredibly exhausted.

"Rie, this is Heming. What happened?"

"Our police station was suddenly invaded by a monster we've never seen before... As far as I can tell, besides me... only two others managed to escape through the back door... That monster was locked directly inside the station's armory... It didn't appear and attack us until we opened the door... Honestly, it's just too strong... I'm preparing to head to the pedestrian shopping street now... If possible, I hope you can meet me there..."

"No problem, Rie. You need to be careful. I've made it out successfully and am currently heading to the gun shop and travel agency. Once I get the map, I'll rush over to you immediately!"

"Mm... talk to you later then..."

Inside the gun shop, the inventory consisted mainly of standard pistols and shotguns. After searching for quite a while, Heming finally discovered a 5.56mm M16 rifle in an inconspicuous corner. It was undoubtedly a powerful weapon.

Unfortunately, this M16 lacked a grenade launcher; it was equipped with a bayonet instead.

Heming took the M16 and handed it to Sheni. Clearly, Heming was better suited for close-quarters combat, and besides, this was the only decent rifle available. After Sheni tossed aside Heming's pistol and picked up another handgun of unknown make, she smiled at him and said, "Forgot to tell you, my husband is a shooting instructor." She then made sure to carry enough ammunition for her needs.

Heming found himself a crossbow and about a dozen bolts. This weapon was lightweight and wouldn't hinder his close-range maneuvers.

"Supplies are ready. Let's go to the travel agency and get a map first." Heming walked out the door first, with Sheni following behind.

In truth, Heming didn't need to say it; Sheni already understood. She didn't need to fire her gun often; she only needed to provide support in areas where Heming couldn't handle things alone. For everything else, Heming was more than enough.

"Sheni, do you see that? By the entrance of the travel agency—there's a human silhouette, it's transparent!" Ever since Heming had encountered those transparent monsters twice in a row, he had been observing every location with much greater scrutiny.

There was indeed a silhouette at the entrance of the travel agency. Sheni raised the M16 and fired several shots in succession. Blood spurted from the figure, but it didn't fall; instead, it charged forward rapidly.

Fortunately, Heming was prepared. With a flick of his wrist and a downward stroke, the figure was cleaved in two. Heming felt that, as it stood, these transparent creatures were strictly close-range attackers. If they had long-range capabilities, they would be difficult to deal with.

"My god, Heming, look! There are so many coming from over there!" Sheni pointed toward another intersection. The fire there had already been extinguished; the zombies had piled onto it one by one, using their own bodies to smother the flames.

"Don't panic. I still have two Molotov cocktails left. Watch this!" In an instant, Heming threw both bottles, and the entire group of zombies was engulfed in flames in the blink of an eye. "Hurry, let's grab the map and get out of here. I've noticed that the streets further away don't have many zombies!" Heming finished speaking and quickly entered the travel agency.

The lights were still on inside the travel agency, and the place had been ransacked. If Heming wasn't mistaken, someone had been here not long ago, or perhaps there were people upstairs right now.

Heming signaled for Sheni to stay close. The two of them went up to the second floor, and sure enough, there were two white men rummaging through things.

"Hey, hello there!" Heming suddenly called out. He wanted to confirm if either of the two was a fake.

One of the men rummaging suddenly turned his head, while the other turned around to face Heming and Sheni. Heming didn't move to attack because it would take him a few seconds to draw his weapon.

Sheni once again displayed her astonishing marksmanship. The fake collapsed to the ground, leaking green blood.

"Whoa, my god! What did you do? He was a human! My god, you two are lunatics!!!" The other white man, seeing Sheni suddenly shoot and kill his companion, began to curse loudly.

"Hey, hey, take a closer look at your companion. That's not a human; it's a type of monster. If you hadn't run into us, you might have been killed by him in a moment. Look closely at the blood he's shedding—it's green!" Heming explained.

The white man looked at his companion's blood; it was indeed green. He immediately quieted down. Staring at the corpse on the floor, he cursed, "God, you really are a wretched thing! Damn you!"

Heming ignored him and began searching for a map, while Sheni stood guard nearby.

"Hey, brother, what are you looking for? Is it a map? Oh, forgot to introduce myself. My name is Yuese, I'm American, and I'm a very skilled sculptor." After saying this, Yuese pulled out a map and handed it to Heming.

"Thanks. My name is Heming, and this is Sheni." Heming took the map and introduced them briefly. Sheni offered a polite smile and said, "Hello!"

Heming studied the map, focusing primarily on several locations: the school, the chemical plant, the police station, the hospital, the library, the central park, the aquarium, and the pedestrian street.

These were the places with the highest probability of finding survivors. However, the police station was off-limits; according to Rie, that monster was definitely something they couldn't handle at the moment. The chemical plant had the "Asian Twin Eagles," Zeng and Deng, so it should be fine. The closest place to their current position was the aquarium, and from there, they could head to the pedestrian street.

"How about we go to the aquarium first to see if there are any survivors, and then head to the pedestrian street to meet up with my companion?" Heming proposed his plan.

Sheni shrugged and said, "Doesn't matter. I'll listen to you!"

Yuese, however, seemed somewhat reluctant. He said loudly, "Who would go to a place like the aquarium? There's no telling how many unknown monsters are there. We should just find a place to hide!"

In reality, Heming had no intention of listening to Yuese's opinion; he had only asked as a matter of principle. Since Sheni had no objections, he prepared to set off. He said coldly to Yuese, "If you want to come, follow us. If not, find a place to hide!" With that, he walked downstairs, with Sheni following behind.

Yuese shouted, "Oh, my god! How can you treat me like this? I'm a famous sculptor! Just wait, you'll regret not listening to me!" He grumbled as he followed behind Sheni.

Passing by the gun shop, Heming picked out a pistol and tossed it to Yuese. Yuese grabbed a pile of ammunition for himself, and Heming, too lazy to bother with him, continued on his way.

The fires on both sides had mostly died out, and there weren't many zombies left; most had wandered off elsewhere due to the flames. Heming had already plotted a route on the map, requiring only a few detours through alleys to reach the aquarium.

In an alley, Heming pulled out the radio.

"Rie, Rie, this is Heming. Please respond if you receive this!"

"Heming... this is Rie... hiss... There's a new type of enemy in the pedestrian street... They are humanoid and transparent... From what I can see, they don't attack with weapons... they just suddenly rush over to hug you... You need to be careful..."

"I've already encountered that type. I've got the map and am preparing to head to the aquarium. If everything goes well, I should be at the pedestrian street soon."

"Don't go to the aquarium or the central park... I just met a survivor in the pedestrian street... He escaped from the aquarium... but he was poisoned and died shortly after... Find a way to get to the pedestrian street first... We'll organize some people and then go to the aquarium together!"

"Alright, I understand. Wait for me a little longer, I'll contact you as soon as I arrive!"

"Mm... be careful... talk to you later..."

Heming put away the radio and said, "Looks like we have to change our route." He then took out the map to plot a new course.

Sheni didn't say anything, her eyes fixed on a few zombies slowly approaching from ahead.

Yuese started yelling, "Shoot! Those are zombies in front of us, shoot them! My firepower isn't enough!" He raised his gun to fire, but Heming stopped him and charged forward with his katana.

One slash per zombie, and within moments, they were hacked into pieces. This time, Yuese became obedient. Seeing how powerful Heming was, he didn't dare speak another word, fearing that if he accidentally got on Heming's bad side, it wouldn't end well.

After putting away the map, Heming said, "We'll take Third Avenue, then loop around the hospital to reach the entrance of the pedestrian street. I think this is safer. Any problems?"

Sheni nodded again, and this time, Yuese didn't say a word; he simply nodded.