Luring Away the Zombie

"We don't have enough people, we need to call for backup."

Zhou Yaning didn't reject the idea, but there were too few people. Only two members of the soldier squad were mobile, and someone needed to watch the vehicle. She decided to call for more backup. Once the reinforcements arrived, they could discuss how to lure the black zombie away.

With her decision made, Lu Chengchuan didn't say anything more.

A little later, Zhou Yaning took out her phone to call for backup. The person on the other end agreed to send reinforcements. After the call, they waited in the car for the others to arrive.

The reinforcements would take an hour or two to arrive, which was a good opportunity to discuss the plan.

"We'll lure the zombie away, and then you'll go destroy the energy source. Give me a rough estimate of how long it will take," she said. She knew Lu Chengchuan wanted the energy source, so she was happy to help him out.

The main reason was that even if they went, they might not be able to handle it. If they failed, they'd be done for when the black zombie returned.

"Fifteen minutes, fifteen minutes at most!"

He had only used about seven minutes to absorb the energy source last time, but the exact time was beyond his control, so he could only give a more conservative estimate.

"Okay, we'll hold it off for fifteen minutes!"

Zhou Yaning had no other choice but to grit her teeth and agree.

Previously, the military had tried driving various armored vehicles into the black mist, hoping to use the weapons on the vehicles to eliminate the monsters, but the vehicles malfunctioned as soon as they entered, and all the instruments became unusable.

They had smashed the firing buttons, but the cannons mounted on the vehicles didn't react at all.

To deal with the energy source, they could only rely on soldiers to blow it up with explosives. Just getting close to the energy source would cost countless lives. Holding off the monster for a dozen minutes was more acceptable to them.

With the plan decided, all that was left was to wait for the reinforcements to arrive.

Around three o'clock in the afternoon, two troop carriers sped in from outside and stopped near the black car on the road. The troop carriers honked their horns three long and one short.

"They're here, honk the horn quickly."

Zhou Yaning said, instructing her subordinate to honk the horn in response to the soldiers.

Receiving the response, the troop carriers approached and stopped. Zhou Yaning got out of the car and called for Li Wang. The two of them walked over. An officer also got out of the troop carrier, and the two sides met. The officer raised his hand in a salute.

"Captain Zhao, did Regiment Commander Huang tell you the specifics before you came?" Zhou Yaning lowered her arm, asking if he understood the mission.

"The regiment commander told me to cooperate with you. Just give us the orders, and we'll carry them out diligently!"

Zhao Zhian wasn't clear on the details, but as a soldier, obeying orders was his nature.

Hearing his firm tone, Zhou Yaning didn't say anything and simply told him the plan. Knowing that they were going to hold off a monster so powerful that even armor-piercing rounds couldn't hurt it, Zhao Zhian didn't show any fear.

The two troop carriers brought thirty-five soldiers. Zhou Yaning told them to rest for twenty minutes before taking action.

"Wait, you hide in the other alley. We'll lure the monster away, and then you act. The faster, the better. I'm afraid more people will die if we drag it out too long."

Zhou Yaning didn't want too many people to die. Some sacrifices were unavoidable, but if they could avoid them, they should.

"I'll be as quick as possible. If the energy source is destroyed, the black mist will definitely disappear." Lu Chengchuan nodded in agreement.

Zhou Yaning didn't speak. She turned her head to look at the strange black mist in front of her, her mind lost in thought.

After the twenty-minute break, Zhou Yaning raised her hand and said in a calm tone, "Let's go!"

With the order given, more than forty people got up and entered the black mist. As they entered, everyone immediately went into combat readiness. Zheng Xin used his stealth ability to scout ahead, returning after more than twenty minutes.

"Captain, there are no monsters on the periphery."

The monsters had run back to the middle and center of the village. With no monsters blocking the way outside, the group advanced cautiously, arriving at the location where they had entered the alley before.

"You guys wait here. The monster will rush out later. We need to hold out for fifteen minutes."

Behind them was a fork in the road. On one side was a pond, and on the other were houses, but these terrains were useless. The black zombie could ignore bullets and charge forward. They needed to keep it moving and engaged, not stand still and defend.

This time, only the Investigation Bureau members would attract the zombie, while the rest would stay here and wait.

Lu Chengchuan and the others slipped into the alley. Looking at the alley's exit, Zhou Yaning and the others hid in the alley, waiting. According to the plan, they would reveal themselves in five minutes to attract the zombie, allowing Lu Chengchuan to take advantage of the situation.

Two minutes later, Lu Chengchuan arrived at another alley.

Confirming that it led directly to the plaza, Lu Chengchuan hid inside, waiting patiently.

He didn't have to wait long. Gunfire and explosions rang out, followed by the roars of zombies. Lu Chengchuan knew that Zhou Yaning and the others were in action.

Not going out immediately, Lu Chengchuan waited a little longer until the intense gunfire erupted before revealing himself.

He quickly ran out of the alley. The black zombie had already been lured away. The plaza, a dozen meters away, was filled only with floating orbs of light and piles of corpses.

Without hesitation, Lu Chengchuan ran towards the orbs of light.

Sytem: Pure energy detected, absorbing.

The moment he approached the orbs, the system's voice rang out, and an invisible force drew the energy of the orbs into his body. Lu Chengchuan absorbed the orbs while observing his surroundings, preventing any monsters from ambushing him.

On the other side, compared to the silence of the plaza, Zhou Yaning's side was much more chaotic.

The black zombie killed three soldiers as soon as it arrived. Armor-piercing rounds were like mud balls against it, having no effect except for a few sparks.

Zhao Zhian was also an esper, and he had brought several other espers, but no one could stop the black zombie, or even those zombies with iron-blue skin.

"Chains! Use chains to bind it!"

If they allowed the zombie to continue its rampage, the forty-odd people wouldn't last long, let alone fifteen minutes, they wouldn't even last a minute and a half.

Chen Long and several others swung iron chains, intending to use them to restrict the zombie's movements.

The others were holding off the remaining eleven Zombies. They were also impervious to blades and bullets; armor-piercing rounds could only penetrate their skin, embedding themselves in their flesh. The impact could push them back, but not truly kill them.

After pushing the Zombies back, the soldiers threw explosives at them, using the powerful force of the explosives to kill them.

Only a minute had passed in the battle. The weaker Monsters had all been killed, but the twelve remaining Zombies showed no signs of fatigue. Everyone still had to proceed with caution.

The black Zombie tore open the body of a soldier. Just as it was enjoying the hot blood, three iron chains bound it, and then two more chains wrapped around it.

Once the Zombie was bound, five people pulled together with all their might. The black Zombie waved its hand and struck the iron chains, making them clang loudly.

The Zombie then began to struggle. It ran forward, and the five people couldn't hold it back. The soldiers next to them quickly came to help, while the remaining soldiers continued to deal with the remaining Monsters.

With the coordination of bullets and explosives, the soldiers killed six Zombies, but they also lost fifteen men.

About ten more were injured, but the injured had to continue shooting; if they didn't fight desperately, they would die.

Seven or eight minutes later, the black Zombie broke the chains on its body. Chen Long and the others' expressions changed drastically. Not daring to hesitate for even a moment, they quickly took out their weapons and continued to attack.