Black Zombie

An hour later, everyone was ready once more.

They brought armor-piercing rounds with greater penetrating power, along with portable heavy weapons and explosives.

Once everything was ready, they entered the black mist again.

At the edge of the village shrouded in black mist, the zombies that had pursued them earlier had vanished, and even the corpses of the zombies Lu Chengchuan had killed were gone. Zheng Xin turned invisible and went ahead to clear the way while the others followed cautiously behind.

After passing through a small path, they arrived at a T-junction. Going straight led toward the center of the village, while the path to the right also led into the village, though no one knew where it went.

The houses were gray and dim, their doors and windows tightly shut. There was not a sound around them, and the village showed no trace of life.

The black mist Energy Source was ahead. Lu Chengchuan could sense it.

He raised a hand and pointed forward. Zhou Yaning understood what he meant. The black mist Energy Source was right ahead; once Lu Chengchuan destroyed it, the black mist blanketing Little Stone Village would disperse.

She scanned the area to either side. Zheng Xin searched the surroundings as well but found no monsters.

Zhou Yaning raised her hand in a forward motion. The soldiers nodded and split into three teams to watch the front and both sides, while the Investigation Bureau personnel covered the rear.

They all knew there were more than a dozen powerful monsters here, so they did not dare let down their guard in the slightest as they advanced.

When they reached the middle of the village, Zheng Xin hurried back with bad news.

"There are zombies guarding the intersection ahead, along with quite a few monsters."

With zombies guarding the road, they would definitely be exposed if they went any farther. Then the zombies and monsters would surround them again.

"Are there any monsters in the alleys?" Zhou Yaning asked.

There were many houses in Little Stone Village, and the villagers lived in separate areas. Several alleys connected those areas. The paths inside might be complicated, but if there were no monsters, they could enter the alleys and bypass them.

"I'll go take a look." Zheng Xin had not investigated much. He would have to go inside to know for sure.

He quietly slipped into the alleys to scout, while the others stopped where they were and waited for his return.

The surroundings were dim, and they could barely make out whether there was anything within a hundred meters ahead. No one dared relax, afraid a monster might suddenly emerge from the side.

Lu Chengchuan looked into the pitch-black distance. One zombie could give him a hundred days of life. He truly wanted to rush out and kill them, but he had to protect the team as much as possible and could not act recklessly.

After an unknown amount of time, Zheng Xin returned from scouting with news that was neither good nor bad.

"There are no monsters in the side paths, but the roads are pretty complicated."

"We'll take the alleys. No matter how complicated they are, it's better than running into monsters. Move out!"

Zhou Yaning decided on the alleys. In her heart, Lu Chengchuan had always known where the Energy Source was. As long as they had a clear direction, a slightly harder route would not be a problem.

Once the order was passed down, the twenty-odd people immediately headed for the nearest alley.

They first climbed a slope where the villagers had built stairs, making the ascent easy. At the top lay a narrow path leading who knew where, with branching paths on both sides.

"Time for you to lead us."

Zhou Yaning found Lu Chengchuan and had him take the lead.

The Energy Source was directly ahead of them. Lu Chengchuan gave a slight nod and walked to the front.

He led the team forward for around twenty meters. Before long, the road split around a house blocking the middle. With left or right as the only choices, Lu Chengchuan thought for a moment before going left.

After another dozen meters, he found a path leading onward and continued with the team. They wound through the alleys for more than ten minutes before finally seeing the exit.

Lu Chengchuan took the lead and went to the intersection to observe the outside.

The others followed. Zhou Yaning and several others stood on the left and right sides respectively, looking at the scene beyond the intersection.

Ahead was a short slope. At the bottom was a small square, and on the right side of it stood a three-story white house.

This was the center of the village, and the sphere of light they were searching for floated in the middle of the square.

It was the only source of light in the black mist. Anyone with functioning eyes could see it. Wisps of light churned through the mist, making it look strangely alluring.

"What is that? Zombies?"

Zhou Yaning saw several figures in the square. The mist was too hazy for her to tell whether they were people or monsters.

Those figures stood motionless, looking just like zombies.

"They're probably monsters. That pile over there might be people." Lu Chengchuan pointed to the other side.

Zhou Yaning shifted her gaze and found a heap of things on the far side of the square. From its vague outline, it looked like a small mound of flesh piled from corpses.

"Could they be villagers and soldiers who were killed?"

As the two spoke at the front, the people behind them grew curious. They could only hear the discussion and could see neither the figures nor the pile of corpses.

Just as Lu Chengchuan and the others were talking, the figure standing before the sphere of light suddenly moved.

Lu Chengchuan instantly raised a finger to his lips, signaling Zhou Yaning not to speak either.

Zhou Yaning quickly shut her mouth. She had also seen the moving figure. Before either of them could make another gesture, the tall figure ran straight toward them.

It was incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye, it rushed out of the square and reached the bottom of the slope.

They looked over and saw a Black Zombie standing below the slope, its vacant eyes fixed on them. When it saw the people in the alley, it opened its mouth to reveal its fangs and let out a furious roar.

The terrifying roar exploded through the air, and the other figures in the square began to move one after another.

"Run!" Lu Chengchuan shouted.

At the sight of the monster below, his scalp went numb. This zombie was different from the ones he had killed before. It was not merely a different color; it radiated an utterly terrifying aura.

That aura made cold sweat pour from Lu Chengchuan. It was not just him—Zhou Yaning also felt the monster's terror.

Zhou Yaning stood frozen in place, unable to react at all.

"What are you standing there for? Run!"

Lu Chengchuan shoved her, then raised his rifle and fired at the Black Zombie.

The armor-piercing rounds struck the Black Zombie, throwing off tiny sparks. Their warheads lodged in its flesh, but could not penetrate any deeper.

The gunfire jolted everyone awake. As they watched the terrifying zombie steadily approach, Zhou Yaning felt no will to fight at all. She shouted, "Fall back!"

The soldiers fired as they ran, trying to stop the zombie from getting closer.

But the Black Zombie was faster than ordinary zombies. It charged through the armor-piercing rounds and reached Lu Chengchuan, swinging an arm at him.

Lu Chengchuan raised his rifle to block it. The zombie slapped the weapon, sending him staggering back several steps.

As he retreated, the rifle in his hands snapped in half. Looking at the broken gun and the numbness in his arms, a wave of shock rose within Lu Chengchuan.

This zombie was strong—far stronger than he was. He had lost in a contest of strength he had always taken pride in, which was enough to prove the zombie's power.

"Lu Chengchuan, run!"

Zhou Yaning's voice rang out from behind him. Lu Chengchuan threw away the rifle broken into two pieces, turned, and ran back.

As soon as he reached them, the soldiers took out explosives and hurled them behind them.

The zombie happened to catch up just as the explosives detonated, engulfing it in the blast.

The terrifying shockwave struck Lu Chengchuan. He was not far from the explosion, and it was only because his body was strong that he was not sent flying like an ordinary person would have been.

The zombie's roar came from within the flames. No one dared look back as they fled forward with all their might.